CHAPTER 2: THE SEARCH BEGINS
Ariel sat up groggily and slowly lifted her hand, brushing upon her bruised eye. The dazed look upon her face quickly changed into rage. “My child! That cursed father of yours took my darling Melody! Eric, I want her back!” Ariel turned her head searching for her husband. She saw him lying on the ground with Max (the family dog) whining at his side, gently nudging his arm. Ariel rushed over to the prince, and carefully turned him over onto his back. Gently she laid her head onto his chest searching for a heartbeat. There was a pulse, and he was breathing. There wasn’t much she could do until he woke up, which shouldn’t be too long. She figured all she could do was what she had done when she first met him: sing a little tune. It wasn’t much, but it was all she could do at that point.
Not long after she began to sing, Eric’s chest heaved up and down as he coughed multiple times. His eyes began to flutter, and he let out a moan. “Dad. Oh man, I can’t believe him.” A wave of relief swept over Ariel. Eric was alright, and that was one step towards finding Melody. “Eric, look at me. We’ll find her, and when we find your father, he will be in a lot of trouble. First thing we need to do is go tell Daddy what happened.” Eric slowly opened his eyes and looked at his wife. The calm smile he gave her quickly melted into a frown.
“Tell me that he didn’t do that to you. Tell me my dad didn’t give you that shiner.”
“I could tell you, but that would be lying.”
“Oh, Ariel…” Eric went to embrace his wife. She backed away from his inviting arms.
“Don’t worry about me. Melody is who we need to worry about.”
“You’re right. However, I can’t help wondering, does Harmony know about Melody? Wouldn’t she have seen her if she took her tiara?” Eric got up and brushed himself off. “I hope your father didn’t have to go through the trouble of answering Harmony’s questions.” Ariel gazed out at the sea, and something caught her eye.
“I think she knows. Harmony?” Ariel called out. Harmony stuck her head out from behind the rock, and swam towards her parents. “Why aren’t you with your Grandfather Triton?”
“I came to see her. I want to meet my sister.”
“Well, the only thing is…” Ariel looked to Eric for help.
“Harmony,” Eric began, “Melody was… kidnapped.” Harmony stared in shock at her parents. She had come all this way, and for what? To find her sister was kidnapped?
“Who did it?” The voice had come from behind them, and further up the beach.
“Arista? Why are you here?” Ariel watched her older sister with suspicion. “You are aware that I’m married now, right? I don’t need you to watch over me,” she giggled at her own joke.
“I’m not here to watch over you Ariel.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Daddy sent me to keep an eye on her,” she looked over at her niece, who was currently attempting to convince her father to allow her to stay with him and her mother.
“Ah,” Ariel replied. “So how’d she find out about her sister?”
“Her tiara. When she left it there and I picked it up.” Harmony had finished arguing with her father and had decided to jump into the conversation.
“If I may intervene ladies, I think we can talk about how the girls met later. Right now, we need to focus on Dad and Melody. First place to look would be his castle.” Eric turned towards the castle and hollered for Grimsby. The old man hobbled down the stairs as fast as he could, and took a long pause at the beginning of the beach to catch his breath. He continued the rest of the way to Eric with a fast walk.
“Yes, Eric?” he responded, still trying to catch his breath.
“I need you to gather the entire guard, tell them that when I was crowned King after my father resigned, they swore an oath of loyalty to me, and anyone that has aided in the act of the kidnapping of Princess Melody will be put to death. However, anyone who confesses to aiding my father in the kidnapping will be given his life, but released from my service. Now, go!” he ordered when he saw hesitation in Grimsby’s face.
“Yes, Eric,” he bowed and hobbled back to the castle. Eric turned to his daughter.
“I know you’re tired, Melody always is when she comes home. You can stay in her room. It’s down the hall and to the right- the one you’re never allowed in when you visit.” Harmony knew that room all too well. For many a year she had wondered what was concealed behind that door. To enter through the door to whatever was beyond seemed… almost unnatural. She turned to ask her father if he’d take her there, but she could see he was busy discussing the current issue with her mother and aunt. Melody was more important at that point, so she headed into the castle. She walked down the dreary hallway that contained the royal family’s rooms. Along the wall there was various pictures of family members, up to her mother and father. It was the one next to them, however, that caught her eye and caused her to stop dead in her tracks.
It was a portrait that she was all too familiar with- or so it would seem at first glance. One would think that the picture of the mature princess with the radiant smile and confident gaze was her, however, Harmony knew better. The girl’s hair was worn in a bun, with delicate white pearls laced around her neck and hanging from her ears. Harmony never wore earrings. She never wore white pearls, they were always black. And most importantly, one could never find her wearing a pink satin dress.
“They change it… every time I come. They… they really wanted to keep us from knowing about each other.” she said for no reason at all. A tear traced her right cheek, and she let it fall to the ground. Quickly, she finished her walk to the forbidden room, and opened the door without hesitation. What awaited her was almost an exact replica of her own room, with little adjustments. The walls were teal underneath, with darker forms of it sponged on top, to give it a watery feeling when the light shined on it. The bed had been designed to match a giant clam (although Harmony’s bed was a giant clam, she couldn’t hold it against her sister if she didn’t have one. After all, Melody lived on land, and giant clams just aren’t that easy to find). The pillows and quilt were made of the finest silk she had ever seen, and they had bubble-like designs on them. Various posters hung on the walls that were of some land-dwellers’ most popular bands, and clothes as well as make-up was scattered everywhere. She headed to the vanity, and noticed a little velvet box. Carefully she opened the box, and found a shiny glass sphere sitting on a velvet cushion. The sphere began to glow, and she could see everything that went on in the Atlantican palace. Her grandpa was currently sitting at his throne reading a letter from her mother most likely.
“They all love her. She is my sister. Well, to find out who she really is, I need to talk to her, so I better look for her.” Harmony scurried over to the wardrobe and threw her shells and skirt to the floor. After carefully choosing through the way to dressy clothes, she had found something that would suit her purposes. A pair of shorts had been lying all alone in the back, and a teal halter top stuck out from under a pair of shoes. She grabbed some sneakers, and threw her hair into a pony tail. The last bit of preparation she had to do was lock the door to the room. So she did.
As carefully as she had done back home, she walked swiftly to the window, and searched to see how far the ground was. Luckily for her, a big patch of ocean was waiting for her, and going for a swim was the last thing she wanted to do. Trying to find another way to escape, Harmony noticed a tree branch to the right of her window. Very carefully she climbed up on the windowsill, trying not to fall. Then, with all her might she leaped, and luckily caught the branch. Swiftly, she swung her body onto the branch and scurried down. When she hit the ground, she looked around to see if anyone was watching. When she was sure no one was there, she ran north, hoping to find her despised uncle whom had supposedly kidnapped her mystery sister.
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