Post by WickedElphie on Apr 20, 2009 11:01:58 GMT -5
Bittersweet Symphony, for those of you who may not be aware, is my in-progress multi-chapter Little Mermaid fanfic. As of right now the prologue and first ten chapters have been written and everything up through chapter nine is available at Daring to Dream: cbl.orcein.net/thelittlemermaid/fanfic.htm#wickedelphie
For consistency's sake I'd like to have the first chapters up here before I continue. So look for a new chapter every couple of days until I'm all caught up.
Without further adieu, the prologue and first chapter:
A collector's piece indeed . . .
Every detail exactly as she said . . .
She often spoke of you, my friend . . .
Your velvet lining, and your figurine of lead...
Will you still play, when all the rest of us are dead?
“Prologue”-The Phantom of the Opera
Prologue
“And then what happened?” Eric asked Ariel as they sat together on the beach.
“Well, I realized that if we could just get everyone else in Atlantica to remember their friendships, then we could stop the Manta ...” Ariel trailed off, biting her bottom lip and playing with her hair absentmindedly, as she tried to find the right words to finish the story.
Of course she was very grateful that she had words to find again. It had only been a month or so since her ill-fated bargain with the now-deceased sea witch and she still remembered what it was like to be without her voice. Remembered what it was like not to be able to talk, or sing, or laugh, or scream, or cry. It had been like losing part of herself, and she hated remembering the helplessness of it. Unconsciously, she shuddered and briefly touched her throat.
Eric noticed but didn’t remark on it . He knew that she hadn’t fully gotten over her pain at Ursula’s hand, and truthfully neither had he.
Eric had always considered himself a strong person, but with one siren song from the witch’s stolen voice he had become an obedient doll in the hands of a master puppeteer. The worst part was that though his memories of his time under the spell remained hazy and indistinct even now, that didn’t stop the lingering shadows from haunting him in his nightmares. He reminded himself that what was past was past and that he and Ariel had a future that couldn’t be anything but bright.
“Are you alright, sweetheart?” he asked gently, though he still startled her.
“Sorry, Eric.” Ariel apologized with a blush, “I was just thinking. It‘s nothing.”
He smiled reassuringly, “That’s ok. Now, you were just telling me how you came up with a plan to stop the Evil Manta.”
She furrowed her brow in concentration, “Right. Well at first Flounder and I tried talking to everyone, but we weren‘t getting through to them at all. So I…”
“You sang to them.” Eric finished.
Ariel looked at him searchingly, a bit unnerved at his accuracy, “How did you know that?”.
He just smiled and shrugged his shoulders, “Lucky guess.”
Ariel shook off her unease and laughed. Of course he would realize what she had done. He knew better than anyone how she used music as a way to reach out to others. The sound of her giggles was music to Eric’s ears and he couldn’t help chuckling too.
He put his arm around her and tenderly kissed her forehead while Ariel leaned to place her head on his shoulder. Every day he was falling a little more in love with her.
"Oh man, not dat again," Sebastian muttered as he scurried out from behind the small rock near the two lovers and headed into the ocean. He swam as fast as his claws could carry him to the palace of the Sea King to give his report.
He loved that girl, and Eric was all right as far as humans went, but the pair of them didn’t go two minutes without making ‘da eyes’, or saying sweet nothings, or all the rest of it. It was almost more than a confirmed bachelor-crab could take. Not to mention that crazy chef was always lurking around.
At least he was only ordered to “watch over” Ariel until the wedding. Then Eric was on his own. The small crab couldn’t deny a certain malicious glee in imagining the prince trying to keep up with Ariel’s thirst for adventure. The image never failed to bring a smile to his face.
Again, he liked the boy well enough, but after the grief he’d been put through trying to get the him to pucker up-well, a little anxiety and heart pounding terror mixed with the idea of trying to explain what happened to King Triton with just a dash of incredulity at how Ariel got herself into these situations in the first place wouldn’t kill him. Probably. Of course in truth, he wished them both bliss. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t tease Eric or enjoy the imagery.
But what Sebastian didn't know was that there were others watching Ariel and Eric, and not all with innocent intensions…
In an old castle on a small island, a figure lurked in the darkness of the tower room. He watched the happy pair in an image reflected in an ornate mirror.
The dim light of the dying fire revealed that he was tall and wore his dark hair in a ponytail, but his face remained hidden in shadow. In a corner a small figurine sat on a table, a music box with the forms of a boy and girl in the midst of a dance.
He moved his hand as if to touch the image of the princess, but pulled back, waving away the likeness of the couple, distorting it into a violet haze. The man finally spoke, "It has to be tonight.”
There was an answering chorus from the mirror, “Are you certain?”
“Yes. If we do not have her before midnight, all our planning will have been for nothing."
"Tonight then. Just make sure you handle your end. I‘ll take care of the rest."
Though the room was still dark, it was easy to imagine the figure‘s predatory smile, "And soon her power will finally be undone, and I will finally have everything I’ve ever wanted."
The haze formed together again, seemingly of its own accord, into an image of Ariel, but only Ariel.
"Everything."
And once more he moved to touch her face.
I still get lost in your eyes
And it seems that I can't live a day without you
Closing my eyes and you chase my thoughts away
To a place where I am blinded by the light
But it's not right
Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything that I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to
The one thing that I tried to hold on to
“Goodbye To You”-Michelle Branch
Chapter 1: Goodbye To You
Ariel sighed in Eric's arms as they watched the sun set together.
"It really is lovely, isn't it?", his voice interrupted her reverie.
"Yes, lovely." She pulled out of his embrace and stood up. She couldn't expect him to understand how the glory of a sunset was tainted for her now. That the beauty was lost to a memory of watching a ship grow smaller in the distance. Soon she would forget and be able to watch the everyday miracle without feeling a twinge of pain. Soon.
Eric quirked his eyebrow, confused. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Of course not. I just got hot all of a sudden, that's all." It wasn't a complete lie. She'd been feeling uncomfortable for days; smothered by itchy barely-familiar fabric and something she couldn’t quite name.
He smiled gently before getting up to join her, even as he saw her look to the sea and breathe in the lingering spray, "Grim wanted to go over a few things before dinner. Do you want to go in now?"
She shook her head, her red mane blowing in the breeze, "I'll stay out a few more minutes."
"You sure?"
"Yes, "Ariel replied almost teasingly. "Go", she laughed, spinning to kiss him, "I'll be fine."
Eric chuckled to himself as he touched his lip, mock bowing, "As my lady wishes." And then he was gone.
Ariel watched him leave and then sighed again. She loved being with Eric, she really did, but it was nice to have a moment to herself. She stared back at the ocean; it looked dark in the dimming twilight and seemed to stretch on forever. 'Forever lost', a treacherous piece of her heart seemed to whisper
Most of the time the rest of her heart could sing back 'Eric, Eric, Love' and that would be that, but sometimes when she was alone and a salt wind blew from the sea...
She missed them. She missed timid Flounder and animated Sebastian. Playful Spot and graceful Gabrielle. Her father and her sisters. Urchin. Sweet earnest funny Urchin who'd left months ago to seek his fortune. Her friend and surrogate brother who was always up for any adventure no matter how strange or scary.
Ariel let herself grieve for a moment for every what-might-have-been, before sighing one last time. She had made her choice and she didn't regret it, not really. Eric was her match. He understood her in ways she couldn't explain in a thousand years and in turn she almost knew him better than she did herself. From the moment they had met there had been a spark, a connection that was almost eerie. They were simply meant to be.
The former mermaid looked up. It was dark now, but the sky glittered with stars. She was ready to meet Eric. She started making her way across the sand but stopped abruptly. She heard something in the distance and began to turn around, unknowingly echoing her fiancé's movements some weeks ago.
"I'm sorry, I hope I didn't startle you."
Ariel jumped. Not two feet away was a man who had not been in sight a minute before.
Smiling kindly, she replied, “Just a little. Don’t worry about it.”
The stranger was dressed completely in black, from the cloak that covered his dark military-style buttoned jacket to his boots. Even his hair was raven in its ponytail. Gloves covered his hands but his face and neck were pale. His other features were obscured in the moonlight, but was something familiar about him. Like she had met him before. But how could that be?
“Oh, but for troubling such a beautiful lady I deserve far worse.” He had a strangely melodic voice. It had an almost hypnotic quality about it.
“Oh, no. Please, it wasn’t your fault.” She blushed, not used to this kind of attention and a little nervous.
The man chuckled, “Perhaps, but I’d still like to make it up to you. Over dinner perhaps?”
Ariel blinked, dizzy all of a sudden. “Thank you, but I was just on my way to meet my-my.” Then without further warning her knees buckled and she began to fall, but she never hit the ground.
Someone was holding her. A voice crooned, “Careful, easy.” She tried to focus on the speaker but everything was fuzzy and her head tilted towards the sky, “So familiar. Why- do I know you?” And then the stars went out.
Back in the castle Eric tapped his fingers, anxious for Grim to wrap up the conversation. His friend and trusted advisor was brilliant, but had an unfortunate ‘talent’ for delivering information in the most tedious way possible. When Grimsby finally finished, the young prince practically ran to the dining room. He blinked when he realized Carlotta was the only one waiting for him.
“Ariel didn’t come in yet?”
The kindly housekeeper shook her head, “I’m afraid not, dear.” Sensing Eric’s concern, she added, “Oh now, she probably got distracted by something. Perhaps that young friend of hers has come back. Why don’t you head outside and check on her, hmm?”
“I’m sure that’s it.” Eric’s voice sounded hollow even to him. There was no reason to worry, but he had a bad feeling, deep down. Just as he had sensed something had been off when he had first seen Ariel (while he was fully awake that is) and she had been unable to speak, he felt that something was wrong now. He left for the beach as fast as he could, but a cold dread had settled inside him.
When Eric stepped onto the shore he was the sole human being on the sand. “No, please, no.” He gazed around frantically, hoping for some sign of the redhead, but there was none.
“Ariel!” he called in desperation, “Ariel!”
“Ari-el!”
For consistency's sake I'd like to have the first chapters up here before I continue. So look for a new chapter every couple of days until I'm all caught up.
Without further adieu, the prologue and first chapter:
A collector's piece indeed . . .
Every detail exactly as she said . . .
She often spoke of you, my friend . . .
Your velvet lining, and your figurine of lead...
Will you still play, when all the rest of us are dead?
“Prologue”-The Phantom of the Opera
Prologue
“And then what happened?” Eric asked Ariel as they sat together on the beach.
“Well, I realized that if we could just get everyone else in Atlantica to remember their friendships, then we could stop the Manta ...” Ariel trailed off, biting her bottom lip and playing with her hair absentmindedly, as she tried to find the right words to finish the story.
Of course she was very grateful that she had words to find again. It had only been a month or so since her ill-fated bargain with the now-deceased sea witch and she still remembered what it was like to be without her voice. Remembered what it was like not to be able to talk, or sing, or laugh, or scream, or cry. It had been like losing part of herself, and she hated remembering the helplessness of it. Unconsciously, she shuddered and briefly touched her throat.
Eric noticed but didn’t remark on it . He knew that she hadn’t fully gotten over her pain at Ursula’s hand, and truthfully neither had he.
Eric had always considered himself a strong person, but with one siren song from the witch’s stolen voice he had become an obedient doll in the hands of a master puppeteer. The worst part was that though his memories of his time under the spell remained hazy and indistinct even now, that didn’t stop the lingering shadows from haunting him in his nightmares. He reminded himself that what was past was past and that he and Ariel had a future that couldn’t be anything but bright.
“Are you alright, sweetheart?” he asked gently, though he still startled her.
“Sorry, Eric.” Ariel apologized with a blush, “I was just thinking. It‘s nothing.”
He smiled reassuringly, “That’s ok. Now, you were just telling me how you came up with a plan to stop the Evil Manta.”
She furrowed her brow in concentration, “Right. Well at first Flounder and I tried talking to everyone, but we weren‘t getting through to them at all. So I…”
“You sang to them.” Eric finished.
Ariel looked at him searchingly, a bit unnerved at his accuracy, “How did you know that?”.
He just smiled and shrugged his shoulders, “Lucky guess.”
Ariel shook off her unease and laughed. Of course he would realize what she had done. He knew better than anyone how she used music as a way to reach out to others. The sound of her giggles was music to Eric’s ears and he couldn’t help chuckling too.
He put his arm around her and tenderly kissed her forehead while Ariel leaned to place her head on his shoulder. Every day he was falling a little more in love with her.
"Oh man, not dat again," Sebastian muttered as he scurried out from behind the small rock near the two lovers and headed into the ocean. He swam as fast as his claws could carry him to the palace of the Sea King to give his report.
He loved that girl, and Eric was all right as far as humans went, but the pair of them didn’t go two minutes without making ‘da eyes’, or saying sweet nothings, or all the rest of it. It was almost more than a confirmed bachelor-crab could take. Not to mention that crazy chef was always lurking around.
At least he was only ordered to “watch over” Ariel until the wedding. Then Eric was on his own. The small crab couldn’t deny a certain malicious glee in imagining the prince trying to keep up with Ariel’s thirst for adventure. The image never failed to bring a smile to his face.
Again, he liked the boy well enough, but after the grief he’d been put through trying to get the him to pucker up-well, a little anxiety and heart pounding terror mixed with the idea of trying to explain what happened to King Triton with just a dash of incredulity at how Ariel got herself into these situations in the first place wouldn’t kill him. Probably. Of course in truth, he wished them both bliss. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t tease Eric or enjoy the imagery.
But what Sebastian didn't know was that there were others watching Ariel and Eric, and not all with innocent intensions…
In an old castle on a small island, a figure lurked in the darkness of the tower room. He watched the happy pair in an image reflected in an ornate mirror.
The dim light of the dying fire revealed that he was tall and wore his dark hair in a ponytail, but his face remained hidden in shadow. In a corner a small figurine sat on a table, a music box with the forms of a boy and girl in the midst of a dance.
He moved his hand as if to touch the image of the princess, but pulled back, waving away the likeness of the couple, distorting it into a violet haze. The man finally spoke, "It has to be tonight.”
There was an answering chorus from the mirror, “Are you certain?”
“Yes. If we do not have her before midnight, all our planning will have been for nothing."
"Tonight then. Just make sure you handle your end. I‘ll take care of the rest."
Though the room was still dark, it was easy to imagine the figure‘s predatory smile, "And soon her power will finally be undone, and I will finally have everything I’ve ever wanted."
The haze formed together again, seemingly of its own accord, into an image of Ariel, but only Ariel.
"Everything."
And once more he moved to touch her face.
I still get lost in your eyes
And it seems that I can't live a day without you
Closing my eyes and you chase my thoughts away
To a place where I am blinded by the light
But it's not right
Goodbye to you
Goodbye to everything that I knew
You were the one I loved
The one thing that I tried to hold on to
The one thing that I tried to hold on to
“Goodbye To You”-Michelle Branch
Chapter 1: Goodbye To You
Ariel sighed in Eric's arms as they watched the sun set together.
"It really is lovely, isn't it?", his voice interrupted her reverie.
"Yes, lovely." She pulled out of his embrace and stood up. She couldn't expect him to understand how the glory of a sunset was tainted for her now. That the beauty was lost to a memory of watching a ship grow smaller in the distance. Soon she would forget and be able to watch the everyday miracle without feeling a twinge of pain. Soon.
Eric quirked his eyebrow, confused. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Of course not. I just got hot all of a sudden, that's all." It wasn't a complete lie. She'd been feeling uncomfortable for days; smothered by itchy barely-familiar fabric and something she couldn’t quite name.
He smiled gently before getting up to join her, even as he saw her look to the sea and breathe in the lingering spray, "Grim wanted to go over a few things before dinner. Do you want to go in now?"
She shook her head, her red mane blowing in the breeze, "I'll stay out a few more minutes."
"You sure?"
"Yes, "Ariel replied almost teasingly. "Go", she laughed, spinning to kiss him, "I'll be fine."
Eric chuckled to himself as he touched his lip, mock bowing, "As my lady wishes." And then he was gone.
Ariel watched him leave and then sighed again. She loved being with Eric, she really did, but it was nice to have a moment to herself. She stared back at the ocean; it looked dark in the dimming twilight and seemed to stretch on forever. 'Forever lost', a treacherous piece of her heart seemed to whisper
Most of the time the rest of her heart could sing back 'Eric, Eric, Love' and that would be that, but sometimes when she was alone and a salt wind blew from the sea...
She missed them. She missed timid Flounder and animated Sebastian. Playful Spot and graceful Gabrielle. Her father and her sisters. Urchin. Sweet earnest funny Urchin who'd left months ago to seek his fortune. Her friend and surrogate brother who was always up for any adventure no matter how strange or scary.
Ariel let herself grieve for a moment for every what-might-have-been, before sighing one last time. She had made her choice and she didn't regret it, not really. Eric was her match. He understood her in ways she couldn't explain in a thousand years and in turn she almost knew him better than she did herself. From the moment they had met there had been a spark, a connection that was almost eerie. They were simply meant to be.
The former mermaid looked up. It was dark now, but the sky glittered with stars. She was ready to meet Eric. She started making her way across the sand but stopped abruptly. She heard something in the distance and began to turn around, unknowingly echoing her fiancé's movements some weeks ago.
"I'm sorry, I hope I didn't startle you."
Ariel jumped. Not two feet away was a man who had not been in sight a minute before.
Smiling kindly, she replied, “Just a little. Don’t worry about it.”
The stranger was dressed completely in black, from the cloak that covered his dark military-style buttoned jacket to his boots. Even his hair was raven in its ponytail. Gloves covered his hands but his face and neck were pale. His other features were obscured in the moonlight, but was something familiar about him. Like she had met him before. But how could that be?
“Oh, but for troubling such a beautiful lady I deserve far worse.” He had a strangely melodic voice. It had an almost hypnotic quality about it.
“Oh, no. Please, it wasn’t your fault.” She blushed, not used to this kind of attention and a little nervous.
The man chuckled, “Perhaps, but I’d still like to make it up to you. Over dinner perhaps?”
Ariel blinked, dizzy all of a sudden. “Thank you, but I was just on my way to meet my-my.” Then without further warning her knees buckled and she began to fall, but she never hit the ground.
Someone was holding her. A voice crooned, “Careful, easy.” She tried to focus on the speaker but everything was fuzzy and her head tilted towards the sky, “So familiar. Why- do I know you?” And then the stars went out.
Back in the castle Eric tapped his fingers, anxious for Grim to wrap up the conversation. His friend and trusted advisor was brilliant, but had an unfortunate ‘talent’ for delivering information in the most tedious way possible. When Grimsby finally finished, the young prince practically ran to the dining room. He blinked when he realized Carlotta was the only one waiting for him.
“Ariel didn’t come in yet?”
The kindly housekeeper shook her head, “I’m afraid not, dear.” Sensing Eric’s concern, she added, “Oh now, she probably got distracted by something. Perhaps that young friend of hers has come back. Why don’t you head outside and check on her, hmm?”
“I’m sure that’s it.” Eric’s voice sounded hollow even to him. There was no reason to worry, but he had a bad feeling, deep down. Just as he had sensed something had been off when he had first seen Ariel (while he was fully awake that is) and she had been unable to speak, he felt that something was wrong now. He left for the beach as fast as he could, but a cold dread had settled inside him.
When Eric stepped onto the shore he was the sole human being on the sand. “No, please, no.” He gazed around frantically, hoping for some sign of the redhead, but there was none.
“Ariel!” he called in desperation, “Ariel!”
“Ari-el!”
