PART 2
Arista:
Arista swam down the halls of the palace. (Completely
oblivious to the insanities of her sisters.) After the
concert there had been many people congradulating her.
She always smiled and said 'thank you'. There had been
one in the audience who had particually caught her
attention...
"He was CUTE." she mumbled to herself. She had
thought that maybe he had been looking back at her but
she didn't know... She had caught him looking at
Adella too... And why SHOULD he be looking at her.
Adella was... well... ADELLA. She had decided that she
wanted to go riding to take her mind off it. It always
made her feel better. She swam quickly to her room.
She let her hair fall loose and locked her door. She
swam out the window and towards the stables. She
patted her black seahorse, Blackfire, on his nose. I
haven't seen you for a while my friend. She led him
out of his stall and climbed on his back. She swam off
back in the direction of the castle entrance where the
guests would be exiting. maybe she could catch a
glimpse of that prince...
Attina:
I went into my room, so that I could examine this human treasure. I
had never thought that I would see something so beautiful.....
Suddenly Ariel and that fish friend Flounder of hers came and knocked
on the door. She asked me for a book, or something. I became very
suspicious. I never could understand her. Her fish friend flounder
began to say something, and I just ignored it. I never really liked
him, and I always wanted to be Ariels best friend. She had never
given me a chance though. Finally I said, "Ok, you may come in
Ariel, but I must insist that your little fish freind stay out."
I realize that this sounded very harsh, but it was for the best. She
came in, and I shut the door, so that Flounder couldn't see into my
bedroom. Ariel started looking aroung for something, when I suddenly
saw that her hands were glowing bright gold. I looked down at my own
hands, and noticed that they were glowing too.....
Aquata:
I was in my room after the show, when I suddenly remembered something
that I had to do in the library. I looked down at myself, and
suddenly realized that my hands were glowing. I decided to go to my
sister Attina and see what I could do about this. Attina knew about
this stuff. I was very startled. I had never seen this type of
thing before. It must be from that human thing...... Now, where did
it go?? I just don't know. I am very scared, and decided not to
tell anyone, seeing as though that would tell Daddy that I had held a
human thing.
Flounder:
The door was slammed in my face as I try to at least have a glimpse of Attina's room. I wondered why she did not want me in her room. Oh well, she never really liked me. Maybe she never really listened to the stupid things I said that's why she did not notice that I just told her that we are spying on her. Whew! It's good to be ignored sometimes.
When Ariel was already in Attina's room, I thought of I was gonna do out there? "Maybe I should try to eavesdrop. Does Attina really have Ariel's whoozit?" I whispered. I pressed my ears to the door, but of no use. I could only hear mumbles.
"Aha! While Ariel investigates here, maybe I should investigate somewhere else too. Now, who were my suspects? Andrina and Adella! I'll visit Andrina first and find out if she is our culprit." I told myself.
While I was scheming my spying plan, a dark, big shadow seemingly enclosed me. I freaked out! I started shouting, "Merghost! Big ugly merghost!" I tried to swim as fast as I can away from the shadow but I couldn't. I thought it was just fear that was keeping me from swimming away. But I realized that something was holding my tail! Oh no! The merghost!!!
"Flounder, what's up with you?" the shadow said. I trembled. It spoke to me. Suddenly, I recognized the big powerful voice that spoke. I tried to turn around a little and whew! It was King Triton.
"Uh- sorry your highness. I- I, well, i though you were ah- ..." I mumbled.
"You thought I was a merghost? Hahaha!!! You should stop thinking about such things. Now, why were your thoughts seemingly preoccupied with many things? What have you been thinking?"
The King actually asked me what I was thinking!!! I didn't know what to tell him. If I tell the truth, I would definitely get Ariel into a very bad position. i didn't want to do that. So I thought of something.
"Y-your majesty, I was just ...er... (don't slip now Flounder)... I was just thinking of the things I have to pack for the vacation. ariel told me that I can come."
"Good. I was just thinking of that too. Maybe you can help me pack for a while..."
Oh no!!! What about the investigation?! I have to help Ariel. But right now, I don't seem to have a choice. I wonder where Sebastian is. He should be doing these kinds of things... I mean like, assisting the King. I should be with Ariel! *:(
Ariel:
Ariel
I tried to keep from smiling as I swam into Attina's room. I had gotten in, step one complete! Poor Flounder was left out in the hall. Why did Attina object to him coming in? I swam around slowly, looking for any sign of my whoozit. I glanced at Attina's big bookshelf. She must have as many books as the school library!
I was about to casually ask to borrow some jewelry (an excuse to see if my whoozit was in her jewelry box) when I heard Attina gasp. I turned quickly to see what was wrong. My sister was staring at her hands, her mouth open in a mixture of shock and horror. I saw instantly what the problem was, Attina's hands were glowing! What could have caused that? I swam over to her.
"It's okay Attina, I'm sure this stuff will come off." I tried to reassure her. I held out my hand to grip her's and have a closer look. But to my surprise my hand was the same odd gold color.
"What is this?" Attina asked, grabbing a cloth and rubbing at her hands.
"I'm not sure." I responded. I examined my own hands. Hmm, the gold looked about the same as the color of my whoozit. Could it be? If I was right, then that meant Attina had to have held my treasure. I couldn't think of anything under the sea that would have cause such a strange glow. If only I had paid more attention to Seaology class! "Is it coming off?" I questioned Attina.
"Not much." She frowned. "What can we do?"
Just then we heard Daddy's voice in the hall. I signaled Attina to be quiet. We didn't want Daddy coming in, I had no idea how to explain this!
"Attina? Dear, are you done packing?" Daddy asked through the shell door. Attina glanced at me, looking nervous.
"Uh...yes Father!" She finally said.
"Wonderful! Do you mind helping your sisters? I want everyone ready first thing in the morning."
"Of course Father." She called. No reply came. Attina and I both let out sighs of relief. Thank goodness he hadn't asked to come in.
"Now, before we can get this glow off our hands, we need to know what caused it." I told Attina, giving her my best Aquata imitation. "Any idea?"
Andrina:
"I knew it! You did take it!" Adella accused me.
"No," I corrected her, "I looked at it, but I put it back, honest!" I looked down at my hands, which were glowing! Then I looked at Adella's. "Have you looked at your hands lately?"
"What do my hands have to do with..."
"For some reason, both of our hands are glowing." I interupted. This was unbelievable. We must have both touched something...the locket! It was the only thing I had remembered touching all day that was out of the ordinary. We had to hide somewhere. If Daddy saw us like this, a lot of questions would be fired at us and he would find out that we had posessed a human thing.
Triton:
"Good! I was just thinking of that too! Maybe you can help me pack for a
while."
He swam around in circles quickly. "Umm... sure your majesty."
"Could you go on to the room? I'd like to check on Attina for a moment."
"S-s-sure!"
"Thanks Flounder... you're a good guppy."
I watched as he swam away and I knocked at the girls door.
King Triton:
"I want everything ready first thing in the morning!" I called into
Attina's room.
There was a pause. "Uh... yes father!"
I thought about going in to talk with her further... it'd been a while
since I spent any quality time with my daughters, but we'd have plenty of
time for that on our vacation.
"Wonderful! Do you mind helping your sisters? I want everyone ready
first thing in the morning."
"Of course father!" I heard her call as I swam down the hallway.
Yes... tomorrow, we'd be relaxing in the chilly waters of the Arctic.
I looked ahead and saw Andrina and Adella swim out slowly and start down
the hall going away from me... but something wasn't right.
"Girls!"
They slowed to a stop.
Adella spoke up first, "Yes father?"
They both held their hands behind their back.
"Girls... what are you hiding behind you backs?"
They slowly withdrew their hands and held them out... they were glowing!
"Wha... how? Did some sea witch put a spell on you? Oh, my poor
daughters! How did this happen?"
Flounder:
I was following King Triton in the hall. he called out to Attina and then to Andrina and Adella. Somehow, King Triton sensed that there is something wrong. Just then, we saw Andrina and Adella's hands glowing. What happened to them? I shriveled. I could've sweat cold sweats if it were possible for fishfolks to. King Triton was thinking about some sea witch. But I have never seen anything like this my whole life! It must something more powerful than a sea witch. "Maybe they were possessed!" I managed to say in my husky, frightened, soft voice.
King Triton was so worried. I was so frightened. What has been going on here while me and Ariel looks for her missing whoozit? A wild thought suddenly crossed my mind "Whoa! Andrina and Adella were two of my suspects! Attina's the only one left. If Attina's hands are glowing too, the human thing must have caused such a powerful magic! Oh, and Ariel's hands must glow too. Good for me, got no hands to touch it. It must be the spirit of the girl in the picture. I never knew humans can be so powerful. Or maybe that whoozit was cursed... or ..."
"Flounder!" King Triton shouted. "What have you been thinking? We are trying to solve this mystery here. Do you know anything about this?"
"It must be something they both touched!" I blurted out in fear of the king's powerful voice. Ooops! What did I just say?
Ariel
Attina looked guilty to me. She stared at her hands, and seemed to be thinking something over.
"I guess it had to be something we have both had our hands on." She mumbled.
"Gee what could that be?" I asked, with a slight sarcastic tone in my voice. I swam right up next to her. Attina bit her lip and tried to avert her eyes. I'm sure by now she could tell I knew the truth.
"Alright Ariel, I...found...a human thing, it may have caused this. But, that would mean that YOU touched it too."
"Well, I guess we'll BOTH be in hot water if we can't get this glow off our hands." I said. How come Attina was interested in my whoozit? As far as I knew she was completely against humans and their things...much like just about everyone else in the sea. Maybe she wanted to turn the gold human treasure in to Daddy. And get me beached in the process. But WHY would Attina want to make waves (trouble) for me? "Why did you take my human thing?" I blurted.
Before Attina could answer we heard a commotion in the hall. Curiosity got the best of me, and I quickly swam out the shell door without even thinking. Attina was close behind me. I stopped short when I saw Daddy, Flounder, Andrina, and Adella. Attina was going full speed and bumped into me from behind. We both flew forward a couple of feet in a stream of bubbles. Daddy turned to face us, and we saw anger and confusion in his eyes. I glanced at Adella and Andrina and was surprised to see that they too had glowing hands! I tried to hide my hands behind my back, but it was too late.
"What in the seven seas is going on here!?" Daddy boomed.
My sisters and I all started talking at once, trying to explain. Too bad we hadn't had time to get our stories straight.
Adella:
"I looked at it, but I put it back! Honest!" Andrina said.
'Then why is my human heart treasure missing?' I was about to
ask.
"Have you looked at your hands lately?" she asked.
"What has that got to do with..." I looked at my hands and
saw that they were glowing. I gasped and saw that Andrina's hands
were glowing as well.
"What is this?" I asked her, trying to rub it off. "Is this
another prank?"
"No!" she cried. "I didn't do it!"
"Well...it's not coming off!" I said, scrubbing my hands
harder.
"Adella," she whispered. "You don't think this has something
to do with the human thing from your jewelry box, do you?"
I looked at her, trying to keep tears from forming in my
eyes. "If it does, and Daddy sees our hands, we're in serious
trouble. Wait a minute! I got that golden heart from Ariel when she
dropped it. If that's what caused our hands to glow, then her hands
will be the same way! We have to find her so we can be sure of what
caused this."
"She's probably in her room, packing. I'll bet Daddy's still
talking with the dignitaries--we can go find Ariel right now,"
Andrina said, leading the way.
We cautiously swam through the halls of the palace. I
clenched my fists, hoping that the glow would be hidden.
"How are we going to explain this to Daddy?" I asked
Andrina.
"One thing at a time," she whispered to me. "First we have
to find out what caused it, then maybe we can figure out a way to get
rid of it before Daddy sees us."
"What else could cause something like this?" I whispered back
to her. "Now I know why Daddy says that human things are so bad."
"Calm, down, Adella," my big sister urged.
"Girls!" My father's voice said from behind us. We were
caught. I turned slowly to face him.
"Yes, father?" I asked, hiding my hands behind my back.
"Girls... what are you hiding behind you backs?" he asked.
I knew there was no way out now. I hesitated, then held my hands
out so Daddy could see them glowing.
"Wha... how?" he stammered, looking puzzled. "Did some sea witch
put a spell on you? Oh, my poor daughters! How did this happen?"
"A seawitch!" I cried. "That must be it! It must be some
kind of magic spell!" It couldn't be that heart-shaped human thing.
Ariel had collected lots of human things, and her hands had never
glowed before. Well, not that I was aware of, anyway.
"Daddy, can you help us?" I pleaded. "Please! I can't go
around with glowing palms!" In my mind's eye, I tried to picture
what the handsome mer-prince would say if he saw my hands.
All of a sudden, Ariel came swimming out of Attina's room.
She stopped short before us, with Attina right behind her. Bubbles
flew everywhere, but I could see that they too had glowing hands!
Ariel tried to hide her hands behind her back, but we all saw them.
"What in the seven seas is going on here!?" Daddy boomed.
Since her hands were glowing, too, I knew that the human
thing might have been the cause of it, but I liked Daddy's idea
better. "The sea witch must have cast a spell on all of us..." I
started to say, but we were all talking at once. Unfortunately, we
all said different things.
Attina:
"I am not quite sure what caused it, " I said, trying to sound as if I didn't know anything, "maybe it was something we did." I hoped Ariel wasn't thinking and knew of what I'd done.
"You know about the human thing, don't you?" she said curiously. I always believed in answering truthfully, so I had to tell her.
"Yes," I said, "but I found it in our sisters jewelery box."
"Do you think that this thing did it?" she asked, not even caring that I had took it.
"Maybe," I said, "why don't you get it out of the jewelery box over there, and we'll check it out." I pointed towards the jewelery box, and suddenly it floated toward Ariel. Maybe this thing is something special........
Alana:
I hummed to myself as I packed my hair ornaments. I was so excited
about our family trip--I just couldn't wait to get up to the Arctic!
As I carefully laid my pearl head band in my bag, I thought about
tonight's performance. Everyone had been so worried that Ariel
wouldn't show up on time. Thank goodness she did and the performance
went well.
I sighed and put my packed bag on my vanity. I was all packed and
ready to go. I knew I should go to bed so we could get an early
start the next day, but I was too excited to sleep. I laid back in
my giant clamshell bed and stared at the kelp on the ceiling waving
back and forth in the tide. It was so hypnotic, I was getting
sleepy.
All of a sudden, a loud whinny jolted me awake. I swam over to my
window and saw Arista riding off on Blackfire, her seahorse.
Curiousity got the better of me and I decided to follow her and see
where she was headed.