Part of Your World

Poor Unfortunate Souls

"Poor Arius..." Flounder sniffled.

"I didn't mean to tell, it was an accident!" Sebastian insisted.

Their chatter was interrupted by a large shadow swimming over them. They noticed that with two mysterious eels with a yellow eye each, Arius swan with them.

"A-rius? Where are you going?" He swam up to Arius' face. "A-rius, where are you going wit' all 'dis riff-raff?"

"I'm going to see Ursula," he responded without giving it much thought.

Sebastian gasped, trying to pull him back by his tail. "A-rius, no! She is a demon, she is a monsta!"

He glared back. "Why don't you tell my father? You're good at that." He brushed him off his tail, swimming away.

"But...but I..." Shaking off his guilt, he said to Flounder, "Come on!"

-

Flotsam and Jetsam swam towards a purple light in Ursula's lair. Arius stopped, rethinking going in, until they beckoned, "This way..."

He followed them in, passing shriveled up polyps, shrinking down upon seeing him. Arius looked at them disgustedly and a bit afraid. One latched onto his arm, screaming, but he pulled away, stopping at the entrance.

"Come in...come in, my child," a voice called. "We mustn't lurk in doorways...it's rude." A purple octopus crawled out, her tentacles spread out. "One might question your upbringing." She reached over, tussling Arius' bangs. "Ohhhhh, is this how they're wearing their hair back at the palace nowadays?"

Arius cringed away from her as she tossed his hair away from her.

"Of course, I wouldn't know." She let herself drop down completely. "I've been banished forever by your dear. Old. Daddy." She showed all her teeth through her big, painted lips, uglier than Arius could have ever imagined when she snarled at him, then thing away with absolutely no grace, but obviously the star of her own show. "Reduced to living in the wretched hovel for all eternity. And for what?" She pretended to let out a sob, looking even uglier, if possible. "Because I was ambitious?"

The eels looked back at her sadly.

"Because I made a few pitiful attempts to elevate my station in life?" She flopped onto one of the eels, her butt in the air.

"You tried to overthrow my father!" Arius reminded her, exasperated by her pity attempts.

Ursula laughed, waving him off. "Oh, these things get so blown out of proportion." More seriously, are added as she swam to her vanity, "At and rate, I've reformed. I only do good these days. Now then." She sat, rubbing hair gel in. "You're here because you have a thing for this human. This, er, princess girl. Not that I blame you. She is quite a catch, isn't she?" She chuckled, Arius trying not to swim away from just how weird this octopus lady was.

"Well, angelfish." She took out a shell-looking thing and squeezed it, red coming out. She coated her lips with it as she said, "The solution to your problem is simple." She pursed her lips, smacking off the excess. "The only way to get what you want...is to become a human yourself."

Arius gasped lightly, asking in disbelief, "Can you...do that?"