Ariel watched as Prince Eric kissed Vanessa. The priest declared them husband and wife. Eric was smiling but his eyes were glassy due to the spell. Her heart was shattered. She had tried to stop the wedding. Scuttle attempted to disrupt the ceremony but one of the palace guards shot him. Arial watched him fall from the sky and he was dead. Prince Eric was now under the spell of Ursula and her long-time friend and connection to the human world was dead. Sebastian was on trial for helping her flee and the danger he had put her in. He would likely face death for his crimes. Flounder had fled the kingdom in disgrace. She could not reconcile the fact that she had ruined so many lives. _Why couldn’t she just have been happy with her life_? She had everything but was ungrateful and greedy. She wanted more, she wanted something impossible. She should have just given up and married someone her father chose. Anything would be better than the deal she had made with Ursula.

She sat on the beach watching the wedding party go into the castle. Vanessa looked out into the ocean and closed the door. Arial knew it was a matter of time before Ursala put a spell on everyone at the party so she could find Arial and claim her side of the deal.

Arial barely had 5 minutes of peace before she heard something drop into the water. She saw Ursala’s swimming up towards her. A malicious grin on her face. Arial’s body became clammy and she was filled with absolute dread.

Ursula swam up close to her. One of her tentacles caressed Arial’s face. It felt sticky. “Sorry dearie, if only he loved you”. A tear fell from Arial’s eye directly into the water.

Arial wiped her tears. She had no response, not that she could say anything even if she wanted. Her voice was still trapped in the shell tied to Ursula’s neck. It sat there reminding her of her failure.

“Poor Princess, she had everything but gave it all up for a prince who no longer loves you. Now you’re mine,” Ursula snapped her fingers. She was grinning, her eyes filled with malice.

Arial felt her lungs shift back into gills. She leaned into the familiarity. Maybe it would be okay? She could figure it out. Maybe Ursula would eventually let her go back to her father and family.

Suddenly, she felt her body shrink and become slimy and slender. The sensation of her hair brushing against her back went away. Her vision became worse but she was able to smell remarkably well. _What is happening_? she thought, _what did she do_? She looked at her reflection in the water. She no longer saw her reflection as a red-headed mermaid. Her face was gone and what she saw was something that made her scream if only she could. The face staring back at her was a thin face of an eel. She realized she had become one of Ursula’s pets.

She felt a push and slid into the water. She adjusted to the ocean in her new form. She felt the instinct to generate waves in her body so she could move through it. She decided to try to swim, maybe she could be faster than Ursula in this form. She tried to swim quickly deeper into the water. She suddenly stopped she felt a tether of magic that pulled her back. It felt like she was on a leash and could not move forward. Arial realized this was part of the deal. She belonged to Ursula now.

“Don’t fret dearie, I have lots of tasks for you to do” Ursula smiled, gloating over her victory. “Now, you’re going to help me kill your father, and because of our deal, there’s nothing you can do about it”.