“But father, I’m the eldest, why wouldn’t I be next in line?” Ursula said in confusion, a lost look in her expression.
“You may be my eldest child, but you are not fit to rule by Atlantican law. The law clearly states that the crown goes to the next eligible male,” Poseidon explained patiently; sympathy clearly written on his face, which only made Ursula feel worse. She loved her father, but his steadfast regard for the law of Atlantica had always irritated her. Even as a young child, Ursula had felt different; she was wild and free, not staid and a stickler for the rules, like her father and brother.
“Triton is the next in line, by law. The people will accept only him, it’s tradition.”
“But it is so unfair father, I should be queen!”
“Ursula, daughter, I love you dearly, but tradition must be upheld. When I pass….”
“Father, don’t say that!”
“When I pass, our people will need you both to be strong. The kingdom has to appear to be united so that we do not allow those who would exploit these weaknesses to use them to their advantage.”
“But father….”
“THAT IS ENOUGH!!! The law is the law, and you would do well to remember that!”
Tears welling in her eyes, Ursula turned and swam away, the usually-vivid purple scales of her tail dimming to dark burgundy with her sadness. Ursula was a very rare mermaid, in that her scales changed colour in tune with her emotions – a rarity that only occurred every few hundred generations.
Swimming until she could swim no more, Ursula looked around, finally taking in her surroundings, which until now she had not noticed. Fear gripped her heart as she realised that she had swum into the forbidden area, just outside of Atlantica – the Sea Witch’s lair.
It had been many years since her father had defeated the old Sea Witch, but it was still forbidden for Atlanticans to venture into her lands, for fear of any dangers that may still be lurking. At that moment, Ursula didn’t care for rules; rules were the reason she was so miserable. “To the abyss with rules,” Ursula thought, “who needs them!”
Feeling her courage building in the face of her defiance, Ursula decided to swim down and explore a bit – after all, what danger could there be? The Sea Witch had been gone for years now. She approached the giant structure, feeling tendrils of fear and doubt sneaking in, as she passed below the giant bones of the once immense creature whose remains formed this great monument.
Ursula had always been curious, not content to just accept things, as the rest of the denizens of Atlantica did. Venturing deeper into the building, she eventually came upon a large chamber that housed an array of items that Ursula had never seen before. In the centre, sat a large stone bowl that raised up from the ground, as if it had sprouted from it. To the side, there were shelves filled with books and unusual bottles, covered in algae from the passing of many years without being touched. Ursula could see that no one had been there in quite some time, and this somehow helped to ease her nerves a bit.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Ursula pulled a book from the shelf and wiped away some of the algae. “Magical Origins,” she read aloud. Unfastening the clasp, she slowly opened the book. All of a sudden, a bright light shone forth from the pages. Startled, she slammed the book shut and threw it across the room, cowering to the side in fear.
A few moments passed, and Ursula calmed down, realising that she had not been harmed. However, it had left her shaken, and suddenly she didn’t feel as safe as she had before; nervousness replacing her defiance and bravery. Swimming swiftly from the cave, she decided to return home and hopefully lose herself in the revelries of that night’s celebrations; her earlier upset dissolving in the face of her unease. A party with her friends was just what she needed; however, she would not be telling anyone of today’s adventure. They wouldn’t understand, and it could get her into further trouble with her father. It was best kept a secret – her own little adventure and defiance.
***
Several years later
It had been two days since her father had passed, and Ursula still couldn’t believe it. It all felt like some horrible dream, and it had happened so fast. One moment he had been there – healthy and attending to matters of State. The next thing she knew, Ursula had been told that he was gravely ill. She had rushed to him, concern and worry overriding all else.
When she had finally arrived at his room, Triton was already there. Their father was lying in bed, pale as the underside of a ray, which made Ursula pause at the door in shock. As she stood there, trying to muster the courage to enter, she heard Triton and her father talking.
“Triton, for the sake of the kingdom, you must. I am not long for this world, and when I pass, you must take your rightful place on the throne.”
“But father, I cannot keep this from her, she has a right to know!”
“YOU MUST!!! I have spent years guiding you so that you can take the throne one day – I am just sorry that the day has arrived sooner than I expected. Ursula is not fit to rule; the Oracle was very clear on this. The Oracle prophesised that, should Ursula be given the crown, the seas will be at her mercy, and Atlantica will be in peril. This is why I changed the law all of those years ago to ensure that this never came to pass. I am sorry to burden you with this, my son, but you need to know how important it is that you take up the throne. Do not let your emotions cloud your decisions, as the very safety of this kingdom rests upon that.”
“Yes, father, I understand. I just wish we didn’t have to keep this from her.”
“I know, my son, but you must! If Ursula were to learn of this, I fear what would come of it. Promise me that you will keep this secret and protect this kingdom, above all else!”
“I promise, father.”
Heart pounding and tears welling in her eyes, Ursula had turned and fled, a flurry of emotions warring inside of her, and playing across her scales in a kaleidoscope of colours. How could her father have done this? Didn’t he love and trust her? Why would he trust this Oracle over his own flesh and blood? Ursula wasn’t evil; she had only ever wanted to rule so that she could make her father proud, and ensure that Atlantica remained a prosperous and peaceful kingdom. Eventually, Ursula had calmed down and decided to confront her father on all of this, but she had been too late. Triton had admonished her for her absence – hurt and grief clear on his face, lacing his words with anger.
Gliding near the front of the funeral procession, Triton swam to Ursula’s left, stoic and silent as they made their way towards the burial grounds. He hadn’t spoken to her since that day, and Ursula had decided not to mention what she had overheard – if he wanted to be like that, then fine.
They arrived at the cave, entering into its expansive central cavern. The cavern was broken up only by the five large crystal columns that ran from the ground up to the ceiling of the cave – each one glowing with its own unique inner light. Within the centre of the cavern, lay a large crystal plinth which was connected through a network of channels to the massive columns. They interwove with each other as they spanned out from the plinth, like the nets which humans used to capture fish.
Her father’s body was placed upon the plinth, and the ceremony began. The gathered merfolk started singing the customary song of sending, and, as Ursula joined in, she felt a mixture of sadness, confusion, and anger at the situation. She loved her father and missed him greatly, but he had lied to her all of her life – why would he do such a thing? As the song rose to its crescendo, the plinth began to glow brighter and brighter, until finally a dazzling flash of light occurred; temporarily blinding Ursula. Blinking back the light, she looked ahead, and all that remained on the plinth were a few floating sparks of light – shimmering down onto its surface in a glistening sparkle, and dissipating within seconds of landing.
It was said that this ceremony returned the energy of those that had passed, back to the magic of the ocean – so that those that were lost were never truly gone.
Ceremony over, Ursula joined the procession as it left the cavern and returned to the city. Her brother remained silent on the journey back to Atlantica. Finally, though, Ursula could take the silence no longer; grief and anger warring inside of her.
“IS THIS HOW IT’S GOING TO BE?!” she yelled, in a burst of emotion.
“What?” Triton replied, looking confused.
“This! The silence and passive hostility!”
“What do you expect of me, Ursula? You couldn’t even be bothered to be with father when he was dying! Too busy swimming about in your own selfish world!”
“SELFISH!? SELFISH!!!? I’ll tell you what is selfish! How about you and father plotting behind my back to keep the fact that I am the rightful heir to the throne from me! Treating me like an enemy, without even giving me a chance – all because of what? Some stupid, mad Oracle’s guesswork?!”
“You heard?” He sounded dismayed.
“Yes, I heard! I heard you promise father to deceive me! I heard him state that he had changed the law and that he has lied to me all of these years, based on some madman’s ravings!”
“It’s not like that.” Triton sighed defeatedly.
“Oh, no? Well, tell me then, what is it like? Because I must be missing something. I don’t see how you both can trust some stranger over your own flesh and blood?!”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“TRY ME! Or are you too much of a coward to admit that I’m right; and that you’ve both decided that I’m evil and not fit to rule – even though you know that I should be the rightful heir! All based on some stupid old Oracle that probably couldn’t predict the future if their fins depended upon it. Some stranger that has no business deciding my fate, or how I will act. You would believe them over me?! WHY?! AM I THAT MUCH OF A DISSAPOINTMENT…?”
“BECAUSE IT WAS MOTHER!” Triton blurted out, before covering his mouth in shock.
“What?” Ursula exclaimed, surprise deflating her anger in an instant.
“Father told me that the Oracle who predicted this… it was Mother.”
“It’s not true!” Ursula exclaimed, shaking her head in wide-eyed disbelief.
“It was the last prediction that she made before she died. Father made me promise not to tell you, as he didn’t want to upset you. It’s why he did what he did. He didn’t want to see you hurt, but he couldn’t ignore it either.”
“I don’t believe it!”
“It’s true Ursula,” her best friend Amalthia chimed in. “I was there when your mother received the vision. Every word of it is true, and Poseidon made me swear not to tell you. I’m so sorry.”
“NOOOOOOO…!” Ursula shrieked, turning and swimming away – unable to bear it anymore. Tears flooded her vision as she swam as fast as she could.
She barely heard Triton and Amalthia calling after her as she swam, hurt and grief building inside of her. She just wanted to escape. Her whole life had been a lie. Everyone she cared about had lied to her for years. Even her own mother had condemned her when she was only two years old. She needed to get away from it all, she couldn’t face anyone – she couldn’t trust anyone either.
She kept swimming, trying to think of somewhere that she could go to escape. Suddenly, she remembered the perfect place. The Sea Witch’s lair. It was perfect – no one would ever think to look for her there. It was forbidden to go there after all, but what did Ursula care? She would rather risk the dangers there, than return to the palace where she had been lied to and labelled as evil by her own flesh and blood.
***
It had been a couple of days since Ursula had run away, and she had not been bothered by anyone. She’d cleaned and tidied the room, deciding that if she was going to stay there, then she may as well make the most of it. The first night had been rough, due to the eerie stillness and the turbulent emotions she had swirling inside of her, but she had come to feel safe in the cavern as the night had passed by; nothing came here for fear of the place. The absence of any living soul comforted Ursula, she wanted to be alone, after all, and once you got past the eerie stillness of the place, you could appreciate the calm and solitude that it had to offer.
She had even been brave enough to open the book again, the one that she had opened so many years before – still lying on the floor where she had thrown it. Steadying herself for the light that had shocked her the last time, she had found that it was simply magical illumination, not dissimilar to that possessed by the pillars in the burial ground’s chamber.
She had read through the first few chapters, distracting herself from her thoughts, and learned that magic originated from the ocean itself and that it was an innate quality within her people. This had shocked Ursula, as she didn’t recall any magical merfolk in history, other than, of course, the ruler of Atlantica; who could channel magic through the power of the trident. However, she had always thought that it was the trident itself that held the power and not the wielder.
As she read on, she discovered that the reason for this was that magic was a part of them and not something that they could control. As such, they couldn’t access this magic without the use of a talisman such as the trident. However, she also remembered the stories of the Sea Witch, and how she too had been a mermaid. She wondered how she had achieved her control over magic, without needing a talisman. Maybe, if Ursula could learn to harness this power, she could prove to the kingdom that she was fit to be ruler of Atlantica – as she, alone, could harness magic without the use of a silly item. Maybe then, she would, at last, be accepted as the true and rightful heir.
Finally, she found a passage in another tome that referred to the process of accessing this power. To Ursula’s delight, the old Sea Witch had all of the ingredients in her collection of bottles and jars. The only thing that Ursula was a bit unsure of was the passage at the end, which stated that a price would need to be paid. It was vague, but hey, Ursula would happily pay it if it meant that she could finally get what she wanted.
Following the instructions, she added the ingredients to the large stone bowl in the centre of the room, careful to add just the right amounts. With each new ingredient, the contents changed colour, bubbling, and emitting a colourful cloud. At the last ingredient she paused, shock freezing her actions. She re-read the line again, horrified at what she had to add next – maybe this was the price the warning referred to; as in her opinion it was a very steep ask. Instead of a lock of hair, as she thought the spell had asked for, it was actually her entire length of luxurious purple hair.
She loved her long purple hair, almost as much as she loved her lovely purple tail. They were unique and what made Ursula who she was. This was a truly high cost. Would she really be willing to chop off her lovely locks to fuel the spell?
After a few paused moments of contemplative thought, Ursula decided that she could do this. After all, hair grows back, so it would only be temporary. Lifting a coral dagger from the shelf, she bundled up her luxurious mass of hair, and in one swift movement, cut through it all.
A single tear tracked down her cheek, mourning the loss of her prized mane before she strengthened her resolve and shook off her silly sentimentality over something so temporary.
Moving forward, she dropped her hair into the vessel and watched as it was swallowed up by the mixture – the colour changed, bleeding out to a vivid purple as if her hair were colouring the entire contents.
As it reached the edge, a cloud of purple started falling from the rim of the bowl, sinking to the floor and creeping towards her, growing in size.
As it reached her, it started climbing higher and higher up her body, until she was completely bathed in the purple haze. She felt a tingling sensation all across her body, that started to get hotter and hotter until Ursula feared it would burn her.
Suddenly, she realised what was happening. She released a bloodcurdling scream as the spell took hold.
After all, she had read about the origins of magic and knew that mermaids were tied to their power. As such, the price was indeed high. As for being able to wield this innate magic for themselves, it turned out that the price was that she could no long
[If you enjoyed this and would like to see more, you can read more of the authors work at www.mikeflynnauthor.com]
For more fantastic articles from our latest magazine issue ‘Disney’, please click on the below link:
F&F Winter 2019: Disney