Mermaid Princess Ariel led Rhine and Aurora, riding the big fish, through the ocean currents. Along the way, Rhine refreshed the Transformation Spell on the dog-turned-big-fish to keep the spell from expiring.
They passed through foam-churning whirlpools and mud wastelands bubbling with heat before entering a grim forest formed of coral polyps.
Humans who had drowned and sunk to the seabed, along with one or two merfolk who had died in accidents, hung throughout the Coral Forest as eerie white skeletons.
Whenever aquatic creatures passed through the forest, the coral polyps came alive, extending their "arms" to seize them, hoping to keep those living beings here forever.
This place really was terrifying. Anyone who lived somewhere like this wouldn't be considered a good person. Rhine thought.
Mermaid Princess Ariel felt frightened as well, her heart pounding.
She kindly warned her two human friends, "The Sea Hag has a very strange temper. When you see her, speak properly and be polite. Whatever you do, don't provoke her!
"She knows terrifying Black Magic. Even my father—the ruler of these waters—doesn't want to anger such a dangerous sea Witch!"
Ariel worried that the two humans from the land underestimated how frightening the Sea Hag was.
The Mermaid Princess did not really understand how quickly humans grew up, but the two children looked even younger than she was, so she began to think of herself as their older sister.
She wanted to protect the two children and did not want them to be eaten by the Sea Hag over a careless remark or some other mistake.
—Though Ariel was not sure whether the Sea Hag would really do such a thing, everyone said the sea Witch was so terrifying that it was not impossible.
What was so special about that? Who didn't know magic? Who wasn't an important person highly valued by a ruler?
Aurora could not help wanting to retort after hearing the Mermaid Princess, but after glancing at her silent teacher beside her, she suppressed her competitive nature.
I only know a few little tricks myself. But Teacher's magic must be far more refined than the Sea Hag's! Aurora thought.
From their earlier conversations, Aurora had sensed that merfolk did not seem to have any greater mastery of magic than humans on land.
—This fact was completely different from the legends! The tales that "mermaid songs summoned storms to destroy ships" and "mermaids lured sailors onto reefs to their deaths" truly seemed to be nothing but misunderstandings.
Merfolk were far from the evil creatures described in human books. They were kind and weak beings, just like most humans.
Could merfolk and humans perhaps come to understand each other better? Aurora could not stop wondering.
"Ariel, why are you going to see the Sea Hag? You're a princess of the sea, so you must have run into a great difficulty, right?"
Aurora asked the Mermaid Princess swimming ahead of them.
Ariel raised her chin slightly, infinite warmth shining in her eyes as though she had recalled a beautiful memory.
"After I turned fifteen, I was allowed to rise to the surface. From then on, I fell in love with your world of humans on land, and with you lovely humans.
"Your world is much bigger than ours. You can sail across oceans, climb mountains that rise into the clouds, and you have endless forests and fields."
At this point, Ariel showed a hint of disappointment. "Sadly, I can't truly enter your world. You can ride a big fish into the sea, but I can't go onto land."
She continued, "Not long ago, I fell in love with a human. He is a noble prince, a handsome young man. Well, he is a little older than you two.
"I saved him from a shipwreck caused by a storm, but I had no choice but to leave him.
"I want to be with him forever! I want to share his soul.
"But my grandmother told me it was absolutely impossible. She told me to give up on the idea as soon as possible and abandon this pointless fantasy. How could merfolk of the sea remain together with humans of the shore for long?
"I thought that since ordinary methods wouldn't work, perhaps the Sea Hag's magic could help me turn into a real human!"
After hearing Ariel's answer, Aurora roughly understood what had happened.
Could Teacher help her somehow? If he could, then Sister Ariel would not need to beg the Sea Hag for help, would she? the golden-haired girl thought.
Aurora carefully considered the Mermaid Princess's predicament, then suddenly widened her eyes and asked with great seriousness:
"Sister Ariel, why can't merfolk of the sea and humans of the shore be together for a long time?"
What a strange question. Ariel thought.
She was just about to answer when she choked on her words, nearly going rigid in the water.
Right, she had never thought about it carefully before: why could merfolk of the sea not be together with humans of the shore? What exactly was the main obstacle preventing me from being with a human?
It should be the fish tail, right? Old Grandmother said that humans all considered tails exceptionally ugly, and that only "two legs" were normal.
Was that really the only reason?
Could humans truly not accept a mermaid's tail? Or was it because, without legs, I could only stay by the shore and could not go farther inland?
Then if the one I loved were not a prince but a sailor who spent all year at sea, could we be together?
Ariel felt her head growing a little too full, but fortunately, they had already reached their destination—a sticky clearing within the Coral Forest.
There stood a house built from white bones.
"This is the Sea Hag's home."
The Mermaid Princess introduced it to her two human friends.
—Though it was actually her first time here as well, she still acted like an older sister.
"Later, you should tell the Sea Hag your wishes first. Then it'll be my turn," Ariel said. "You only want to ask her a question, so I don't think you'll have to pay too heavy a price."
Thinking of this, Ariel could not help feeling worried.
The wish she sought was no simple matter. What price would the Sea Hag demand?
Who would have thought that one day, I'd seek out another magician to grant my wish? Rhine thought, finding it rather ridiculous.
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