Twisted Wonderland Book 3: The Merchant from the Depths

Chapter 26: A Morning Blueprint

Later in the night, everyone has fallen asleep for the night. Soon, Briar begins to dream once again. Briar opens her eyes to find herself at some strange lake.

"Huh? Where am I now?" Briar wonders.

She looks at the large lake, with trees, and the moon line.

"This place looks beautiful here. I wonder if this is a romantic evening?" Briar says.

Suddenly, Prince Eric and Ariel appear and the lake is riding in the rowboat at night.

Eric says, "you know, I feel bad not knowing your name."

And suddenly, a red crab, named Sebastian along with two pelicans and a turtle appear.

Sebastian whispers, "Ariel. Her name is Ariel."

Hearing the name, Eric has asked Ariel and she nods in reply. And Eric learns that her real name is Ariel.

Eric smiles and says, "Well, that's kind of pretty. Okay, Ariel."

Briar watches as Eric and Ariel are having a romantic evening together. The two lean closer to kiss each other. Briar remembers that if Ariel kisses him, she'll remain human. But suddenly, the boat flips over and the two fall into the water.

"Huh? What happened?" Briar wonders.

Suddenly, the two moray eels from before have appeared and they laugh as they shake their tails. Briar realizes that they're the ones who knocked the boat.

Suddenly, she hears Ursula's voice, "Oh, she's better than I thought. Well, it's time Ursula took matters into her own tentacles!"

The scenery changes and Briar has found herself in the bottom of the sea. Ursula appears along with a merman. He also has long gray hair and a beard, and is wearing a crown and holding a trident in his hand. He also has a blush color tail, and is wearing gold cuffs on both of his wrists.

She also sees the two moray eels, both have Ariel, who has changed back into a mermaid, held captive.

The merman called King Triton says, "Ursula, stop! Let her go."

Holding a contract, Ursula says, "Not a chance, Triton! She's mine now. But, I might be willing to make an exchange... for someone even better. Now King Triton, do we have a deal?"

Soon, the dream disappears and Briar is still fast asleep in Leona's bedroom.

Briar sits up in shock and rubs her eyes.

She mutters in thought, "So she wanted to steal everything from the start, and try to make sure the deal turned in her favor. Talk about unscrupulous business practices..."

Briar then falls back asleep for the night.

The next day, Briar and the others are starting to wake up.

Briar is deeply in thought and begins to think of something, "That seemed awfully realistic. Almost like it wasn't a dream at all..."

Leona wakes up as well as yawns, "Rrrr... Mnnngh..."

Briar smiles and says, "Morning Leona."

"Huh...? What, you're up already?" Leona questions.

And says with an annoyed expression, "You sure are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Meanwhile, because of you, I'm sleep-deprived... Tch. I guess today IS the third day of the agreement. Just remember that come sundown, I'm kicking you guys out, no matter how this goes down. Have your things packed and ready to go."

"Don't worry, I remember," Briar says.

Time until Azul's contract expires: One day

Sometime later at the courtyard, Briar and the others explain to Jack, Deuce, and Jack about the plan for today. After explaining the plan, Ace, Deuce, and Jack remain silent.

Then Jack asks, "Are you serious right now?"

"That's right," Jasper says.

"We're paying the Atlantica Memorial Museum a visit today," Briar says.

But Ace quickly says, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... I thought we agreed that nabbing the photo under the sea was a no-go because the Leech brothers would stop us!"

Then Deuce says, "This plan seems reckless, even by my standards..."

Then Grim tisk, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Okay, kiddos, listen up and I'll go over the plan..." he then coughs and hacks from his mouth.

Ace asks in concern, "You okay there? Got a furball or somethin'?"

"No! I'm still gettin' over all the yowling I did yesterday," Grim says.

"It's kind of a long story," Sereia says.

Then Grim says, "Mm, anyway, back on topic. Here's how this is gonna go..."

And with that, Briar and the others explain the plan that needs to be done.

Ace, Deuce, and Jack exclaim in shock, "WHAAAAAT?!"

"Dude, are you serious?! This is crazy bold!" Ace asks, shocked.

Deuce is just as shocked, "Wow, Briar. I always knew you were gutsy, but this is a fresh reminder."

"Will this really go the way you hope, though?" Jack asks.

We've exhausted our leads and we have one day to go. Briar's idea is all we've got, Not even a whole day, either. We've only got until sunset," Deuce says.

Then Ace says, "I guess anything beats sitting on our thumbs waiting around for sundown."

"All right. Fine. Stressin' over what-ifs won't get us anywhere," Jack says.

He calmly smiles and says, "I gotta say, Briar—nothing stops you once you put your mind to something."

"You better believe it," Briar says.

Then Ace says, "Sometimes our bud here's a tad TOO daring, but what's life without a little spice?"

Ace smiles and says, "Okay, guys! Let's roll!"

"Time to get ourselves a photo from the Atlantica Memorial Museum!" Grim says with a smile.

With that, Briar and the others make their way to the Mirror Hall in order to get to the Atlantica Memorial Museum.