Caution! This story contains thoughts of Ariel older than the rebellious sixteen year old we last saw in The Little Mermaid. If such thoughts do not appeal to you, press now! You think this is enough blank space? This is your last warning! After reading it again, I noticed that it's pretty depressing with a little too much violence, maybe. Since it is an unfinished work, I might (probably will) change it. Of course, by the time I finish it, The Little Mermaid will probably be on its fifth theater re-release. Actually, at the rate I work on it, it'll never be finished. **************** The Mermaid Song by Steve C. Liu Based on the motion picture, The Little Mermaid. Notes: I've named Eric's kingdom Eridani in this story. If you can figure out where that's from, you must be me. Timeline This story takes place around forty years after the time of The Little Mermaid. Eric has long since passed away and Ariel has finally left this earthly world. Basic Plot At the funeral of Dowager Queen Ariel of Eridani, the Crown Prince Anthony (age 20) and his younger sister Princess Adriana (age 15) recount the strange tales of Ariel and Eric's courtship. Soon after the funeral, an invading army lays waste to much of the kingdom. King Andrew leads an army from the royal palace but is ambushed not far away and the castle is sieged. Queen Violet manages to flee with the royal children into the forest surrounding the castle. Queen Violet and the children are dying of hunger so they venture to the nearest town in search of food. But a search party lead by invading Prince Angus spies them and attacks, trying to kill the last of the royal family. Anthony tries to protect his mother and sister but they are driven back against a cliff where they tumble into the sea below. The next morning Anthony and Adriana wake up on the beach but Queen Violet is missing. Adriana cries over the loss of their mother while Anthony vows to avenge his parents and drive out Angus and his army. He gets Adriana to stop crying and move away from the exposed beach. They wander along the cliffs when they come across a cave. They hide inside and explore its depths. They come across a beautiful gallery of stalagmites and stalactites where they decide to stay and rest. There in the faint light provided by a candle lantern, Adriana hears the musical dripping of water in the cave and remembers her mother singing her a song taught to her by Ariel. She then sings it herself quietly in the awe-inspiring view. Next day they leave the cave to find food. Anthony sets off to try to obtain some from the village and warns Adriana to stay hidden. Adriana gets bored and starts flipping seashells into the deep sea. She stops when she spies a ship sailing up the coast. But she's seized from behind by two of Angus' men. They drag her to the longboat coming to shore from the ship, put her aboard and return to the ship. There she's thrown into the brig while her brother, returning with loaves of bread in his arms, watches. He stares at the ship sailing off as a group of soldiers come running out of woods. They are one of the scouting parties for the remaining part of the royal army. They lead Anthony back to base to help plan the recovery of both princess and kingdom. Adriana meanwhile is lying in the corner of a dark room in the enemy when a pair of guards drag her out and take her up top to face Angus. Afraid of what Angus wants, she breaks free, jumps overboard and tries to swim to shore. But she's so weak after two days without food that she tires and sinks below the waves. Her last thought was the mermaid song and the vision the lyrics conjured up made her relax as the watery world faded away. She awoke to see the ocean floor. Adriana opened her mouth in surprise and was amazed that she could breath under water. She then noticed her legs were gone to be replaced by a dark green tail. She tries to swim but her tattered dress gets in the way. She rips the lower half off and immediately sees better results. She swims off to explore under the sea. Adriana sees light from an underwater cave and goes to investigate. As she draws closer she hears the music of a flute. Peering around a corner she sees a merman playing the flute. She watches in some surprise and her tail accidently knocks over a treasure chest. The merman stops playing and looks toward Adriana. She learns that his name is Urchin and asks her several questions about the merworld. He answers them and asks her who she is. When she answers and says that she is really a human princess, he looks worried and says that they must immediately see the king. Urchin leads her through the hidden passage to the Royal Palace of Atlantica and to the king's throne room. Here King Triton still rules the merworld. He first gets mad that another mermaid has disobeyed the royal command to not interfere with the human world because of the remnants of her dress, but Adriana manages to convince him that she is a human princess. Triton then wants to know how she became a mermaid then. Adriana doesn't know but a fish courtier reminds Triton of the mermaid's song that the ancient merpeople used to turn humans to merfolk during the old days. Triton replies that none of the merfolk are allowed to continue that practice and the mermaid song, although still sung, never is heard beyond Atlantica, where the song has no effect since there are no humans. Adriana wants to know more about mermaids and finally asks about her grandmother Ariel. Everyone in the room becomes sad as the memories of the young princess of the sea return. But Triton asks her how she knows his daughter and Adriana tells him she was her grandmother. She is welcomed with open arms into the royal family and they all want to know about Ariel's life above the sea. But Urchin realizes that Ariel must have taught Adriana the mermaid song. Adriana asks if they already knew that Ariel had passed away. They nod and Urchin says he had found the casket and they buried it near the palace. They ask Adriana to sing something to see if she inherited Ariel's voice. She agrees and sings another song Ariel made, about the wondrous things beyond the beach. Back on land Anthony is learning what it takes to lead an army so that he may reclaim his kingdom. A spy brings the news that Adriana had leaped into the sea and Anthony's heart breaks even more. But there is no longer anything to hold him back from beginning an attack the next day. Adriana has changed out of the dress and now wears some borrowed seashells from one of Ariel's sisters. She wants to go back to the world above despite everyone else trying to convince her otherwise. She goes up to see if she can find her brother. [Note: If it's possible to not imitate "Under the Sea" too much, we could do something similar to try to convince Adriana to stay a mermaid.] Anthony is staring out over the sea when he sees his sister emerge from the surface. He runs out to her and she swims into his arms. To his surprise she is a mermaid and she babbles on about the merworld. He calms Adriana down and asks her if she can return to human form. Adriana replies that if Triton could turn Ariel into a human, he should be able to change her as well. But she doesn't want to change, not yet. Anthony tells her about his plans to attack at dawn tomorrow and asks her to see if Triton can help them since he can control much of the weather. Adriana agrees, tells her brother to meet her in the same spot just before dawn, and dives below the surface. When Anthony returns to shore, Adriana is waiting with Triton. After the introductions Anthony asks Triton if he can do anything. Triton says that the merfolk should not interfere in human affairs, but since Anthony is his great-grandson, he would send a fogbank rolling into the enemy camp. He waves his trident and as the fog swirls around, he and Adriana return below. Anthony leads the charge of his troops and they attack Angus's camp. Anthony, of course, prevails and storms into the castle to find Angus. He runs to the top battlements where Angus is waiting with a hypnotized Queen Violet. Usual threats and stuff occur and Angus orders her to leap over the edge. Anthony calls out for her to stop and just before she steps over, Queen Violet snaps backs to reality. She runs away as Anthony attacks Angus. They fight around the castle. They eventually wind up on the top of a tower overlooking the sea. They fall in together. Adriana drags her brother to safety but Angus slowly sinks below the waves by the weight of his armor. Adriana is then returned to human form by Triton's trident and the two return victorious to the royal palace with the crowd cheering. The End Songs: *The Mermaid Song Hush, little one, And listen to my song, About the world beneath the waves, Where the mermaids dwell, There is a life, That is merry and carefree, Where you may swim the seas, Amidst the fish and me, In peace and harmony, There true love remains, And poems and songs are made, Beautiful sights and sounds, Just waiting to be found, The treasures are many, Just waiting for you, And the mermaids are, Waiting for you too, Mermaids, mermaids, Ladies of the waves, With shimmering tails, And necklaces of pearls, Mermaids, mermaids, Ladies of the waves, Flowers in their hair, And voices that charm, When you hear the song of the mermaids, It will change your life and mind, Peace and harmony, you will find, When the mermaid's song fills your ear, So if you hope and you pray, Then maybe someday, Lady Luck will bestow upon you a gift, And allow you to hear the mermaid's song. *The World Above When I saw the world above the waves, Its sights and wonders amazed me, The tall trees and majestic mountains, The rolling plains and sloping valleys, The world above is a wondrous sight, Mother Nature has blessed me indeed, Though the world below has its charm, It cannot match the beauty above, The white clouds and blue sky, Green grass and the setting sun, More beautiful sights than I can describe, Filled my eyes and then some, The song of the birds was an earful, And smell of flowers was a noseful, This world above is certainly a wonder, The people are friendly and kind, Their graceful dances and sorrowful tunes, Romantic stories and lovely faces, Life here on the world above, is so delightful to love. More Detailed Storyboard: (Rather, what I've written so far...) A gray and cloudy day over the seas. A ship draped in black sails into view. On the deck a man wearing black and a gold crown is addressing a somber crowd. Behind him is a closed black casket. "... And now, we return the body of Her Majesty Ariel to the sea from whence she came. We will never forget the love she had for the world and will miss her always." A funerary dirge played as the pallbearers lifted the coffin and lowered it over the edge of the ship using ropes. When they finally reached the sea, they cut the rope and the coffin sank beneath the waves. The people started to separate. Many leave below deck, others stand talking in quiet whispers. A young man and a young lady is left. They wear both are wearing gold coronets beside their black attire. "Grandma Ariel is really gone now, Anthony" says the girl. "Yes, Adriana," he replies, "She was always so full of life although sometimes I wondered if she was alright." "What do you mean?" "You remember all those stories she had about being a mermaid. They were fun when we were young but they grew boring." "I know it sounds strange now, everyone knows mermaids are a myth, but Grandpa Eric believed in it. He insisted that he really did kill a giant octopus." "They must have been hiding something. Mermaids indeed! Maybe Grandma Ariel was a peasant or something. You know princes have to marry princesses." "Let it go. The story doesn't hurt anyone." *** End progress *** Please don't bucket me for the songs. It is supposed to be Disneyish so it needs songs and I don't do a lot of songwriting. If you would like to have a go at them, feel free to do so. Personal criticisms: It lacks a good ending. It started okay but after the two are separated, I lost any idea of what I wanted to do with it. I wanted to have Adriana remain a mermaid but couldn't come up with a good way to do it. (Marrying Urchin is not an good option!) A lot of it is pretty much your standard fantasy story (maybe all of it). Suggestions, help, useful criticism is welcomed. Enough babbling! Let's go watch The Little Mermaid again!