Twisted Wonderland

A Morning Blueprint

You feel a gentle breeze and the sound of water lapping at the shore. You open your eyes and you see a beautiful moonlit lake with weeping willows trailing their branches through the water. Fireflies glow all around the lake, almost looking like stars.

A boat comes into view. You crouch in the tall grass as you see the boy, Eric, and the mermaid from before. You notice the mermaid didn't have a tail anymore, but had human legs instead.

Guess she got what she wanted.

"You know, I feel really bad not knowing your name." He says to the girl. "I could try to guess."

He lists off a bunch of terrible names and the girl shakes her head at all of them. A little crab leans from a cattail to Eric.

"Ariel. Her name is Ariel."

"Ariel..." Eric tests out the name. "Ariel?"

The girl vigorously nods her head, smiling broadly.

Eric laughs. "Okay... Ariel."

The two lean close, almost nose to nose. Just as they were about to kiss, the boat tips over, sending them into the lake. You gasp when you see the two eels swim away. They clasp their tails together like a high five.

You feel yourself being pulled into the water and you find yourself back in the octopus woman's lair. You sit atop a coral shelf, looking down at the scene below. The woman glares into a bubble that shows her what happened on the lake.

"That was close. Too close. That little tramp!"

You flinch at her vicious tone.

She swipes at the bubble, making it vanish. "She's better than I thought."

Using her many legs, she grabs different ingredients and throws them into the cauldron. "We'll it's Ursula took matters into her own tentacles!"

She laughs menacingly. "I'll have Triton wriggling like a worm on a hook!"

The scene changed again and you're in another part of the ocean. You peek your head around a tall rock you're behind. You see a merman with a similar green tail like Ariel had. He wears a crown and has a trident by his side.

"Ursula stop! Let her go!"

Ursula grins as her eels restrain Ariel who now has her tail back.

"Not a chance Triton!" Ursula smirks. "She's mine now! We made a deal."

"Daddy I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

"But I might be willing to make an exchange..." Ursula interrupts Ariel. "For someone even better."

Ursula holds out a golden paper to the merman. "Now King Triton, do we have a deal?"

Triton looks defeated. Your heart aches, relating to their similar situation. You feel yourself being pulled away. Ripples fill your vision and you close your eyes.

She wanted to take everything from the start.

You open your eyes and see your back in Leona's room. The morning daylight shines through the windows. You sit up and rub the sleep from your eyes.

Is it just me, or are these dreams connected to real life?

You stand up and move to Leona's bed. You sit next to the sleeping lion. Leona stirs and lets out a yawn. You gently nudge his shoulder.

"Hey, sleepy head."

Without warning, Leona grabs you and pulls you down onto the bed. He wraps his arms around your waist, holding you tightly.

Leona grins at you. "You sure are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Meanwhile, because of you, I'm sleep-deprived."

You smile at the lion. "I wouldn't be too worried though. You usually find time to take extra naps."

Leona scoffs. "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."

"You wouldn't kick little ol' me out, would you?" You giggle.

"I could let you stay," A mischievous twinkle flashes in his eyes. "But you'd have to get rid of the third wheel."

"Grim?" You ask. "I don't think I could. He may get me into more trouble than I can count,"

Leona chuckles. "You got that right."

"But he's also helped me get out of those messes. He's also the only one who's also unfamiliar to this world like me. It's hard to find someone like that here."

Leona mulls over your words. "I guess I can see where you're coming from."

You smile and wrap Leona in a hug. He stiffens, taken by surprise. "What are you doing?"

"I'm giving you a hug. What's it look like?"

Leona shakes his head but smiles and returns your hug. "I'll never understand you, little herbivore."

You laugh. "Don't worry, I don't even understand me."

You walk with Jack and Grim in the school's courtyard. Jack stops as soon as he sees the Heartslabyul boys waiting for you.

"Are you serious right now?"

You place a hand on his arm. "We need all the help we can get."

Jack flicks his ears. "Yeah but, do we really need help from those guys?"

You laugh. "I'm sure."

You stop next to Deuce and Ace. "We're paying the Atlantica Memorial Museum a visit today."

Ace waves his arms. "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!"

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

Grim shakes his head, tisking at the two. "Okay, kiddos, listen up and I'll go over the plan-"

Grim breaks out into a cough. Ace quirks an eye at him. "You okay there? Got a furball or somethin'?"

Grim glares at Ace. "No! I'm still gettin' over all the yowling I did yesterday." Grim clears his throat. "Mm, anyway, back on topic. Here's how this is gonna go..."

After Grim finishes explaining the plan, the three boys were taken back in shock.

Ace turns to you. "Dude, are you serious? This is crazy bold!"

Deuce smiles at you, nudging you with his shoulder. "Wow, Y/N. 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." Deuce says to the wolf. "Y/N's idea is all we've got. Not even a whole day, either. We've only got until sunset."

Ace shrugs. "I guess anything beats sitting on our thumbs waiting around for sundown."

"All right. Fine." Jack relents. "Stressin' over what-ifs won't get us anywhere." Jack smiles at you. "I gotta say, Y/N, nothing stops you once you put your mind to something."

You bring a hand to cover your giggle. Ace grins and wraps an arm around your shoulders. "Sometimes our bud here's a tad TOO daring, but what's life without a little spice? Okay, guys! Let's roll!"

Grim rubs his paws together. "Time to get ourselves a photo from the Atlantica Memorial Museum!"