Ariel's tail flicked wearily through the darkening currents. Her red hair floated behind her like a banner of fire in the deep blue. She had been swimming for what felt like hours, chasing currents that twisted and turned until she no longer knew which way was home. Exhaustion pulled at her fins, but relief bloomed in her chest the moment she saw it.
There, rising from the seabed like a crown of coral and gold, was the silhouette of Atlantica.
The kingdom glowed faintly in the twilight of the ocean, its towering spires and grand arches barely visible against the last traces of daylight filtering from the surface. Ariel smiled weakly. "Finally."
She was late, very late but she was home.
As she swam closer, however, the smile faded.
Something was wrong.
The usual bustle of merfolk and colorful fish darting through the streets was gone. No guards patrolled the outer walls. The glowing lanterns that normally lit the boulevards were dim, many of them completely dark. An eerie silence pressed against her ears, broken only by the soft rush of water and the distant creak of coral.
Her heart beat faster.
She pressed on, swimming through the empty streets toward the palace. Not a single mermaid. Not even a passing school of fish. It was as if the entire kingdom had been emptied… or silenced.
The grand gates to the palace stood wide open. No guards. No familiar faces. Ariel's stomach twisted with growing dread as she slipped inside.
The grand hall, usually bright with music and light, was dim and oppressive. Strange shapes lined the marble floor, hundreds of twisted, shrunken forms of polyps. Their deformed bodies were rooted to the ground, arms frozen mid-reach as if they had been begging for mercy when the curse took them. Their wide, glassy eyes followed her every movement, silently pleading.
Ariel's breath caught in her throat. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't.
Then she saw them.
At the far end of the hall, suspended in a glowing cage of dark magic, were her sisters.
"Alana! Arista! Aquata!" Ariel cried, darting forward. She reached the bars in seconds, clutching the cold, enchanted metal with both hands. "What happened?! Where's Father? Why is everything—"
Her sisters' faces paled with horror the moment they saw her.
"Ariel!" Arista gasped.
"Run, Ariel!" they shouted in unison, voices cracking with panic. "Get out of here! Now!"
Confusion flooded Ariel's mind. "What are you talking about? I don't—"
A low, silky voice slithered through the water behind her. "Oh… look who's finally home. Our little mermaid has returned."
Ariel spun around.
Standing at the center of the hall was… herself.
Her own red hair. Her own blue eyes. Her own face staring back at her with a mocking smile. For one heartbeat, Ariel thought she was seeing a reflection. Then the image glitched, rippling like water disturbed by a stone. The illusion shattered and reformed in an instant, revealing the true form beneath.
Ursula.
The sea witch's full, menacing figure loomed before her, tentacles drifting lazily in the current, her purple skin glowing with dark magic. A cruel grin spread across her face.
"All the pieces are finally here," Ursula purred, gesturing grandly at the caged princesses and the forest of polyps. "We just need your dear father to complete the set."
Ariel's blood ran cold. She backed away, heart hammering. "What have you done?"
Ursula threw her head back and let out a maniacal laugh that echoed through the empty hall, sending chills down Ariel's spine.
Before Ariel could even turn to flee, two dark shapes shot out from the shadows, Flotsam and Jetsam. The twin eels opened their jaws and unleashed crackling bolts of electric energy.
The shock ripped through Ariel's body like lightning. Every muscle seized, her vision blurred. She tried to scream, but only a weak gurgle escaped as her body went limp, sinking slowly toward the cold floor.
From a small crevice high in the wall, two pairs of terrified eyes watched everything.
Flounder trembled violently, his fins shaking.
"Ariel!" he whimpered, starting to swim forward.
Sebastian's claw clamped down hard on his dorsal fin, yanking him back.
"Don't rush in, you fool!" the crab hissed angrily, voice barely a whisper. "Do you want to end up as one of those polyps too?!"
"B-But Ariel needs help!" Flounder stuttered, tears welling in his big eyes.
"We will help her," Sebastian said, his usual theatrical flair replaced by grim determination. "But not like this. Not with our tiny strength, we need to warn the King. I will swim to Olympia and find him. You… you go look for help. Anyone... anyone who can fight that witch."
Flounder nodded shakily, though doubt clouded his face.
The two friends slipped out through a narrow gap in the palace wall. Once outside the cursed halls, Flounder stopped in the empty, silent streets of Atlantica. The weight of the task crashed down on him.
He floated there, alone in the dark water, and muttered helplessly:
"…Who would I even call for help?"