Part 3: The Cave

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It was isolated and dark, covered in kelps and moss. Ursula needed a place to spend some time alone with her eels to cool down a think over what happened. She crept inside the eerie tunnels until she found it led to an open space with light common in from an open part in the ceiling.

It looked quite calming, the sun rays poked through the top making the rocky interior glow. It was large enough to keep Ursula from getting claustrophobic but small enough that it felt like the walls were hugging her.

Ursula placed her delicate body on large boulder in the center as her hair laid perfectly behind her. Why hadn't she found this place earlier in her life? When she had to escape the troubles at school or the quarrels with her father. Ursula wasn't always headstrong and empowered, she used to be delicate and sensitive. It's been five years since she was able to relieve herself the way she did today. Her strength helped her cope, but it wasn't enough. All she wanted was to rule, to prove her birth given right, and now she wonders if she's ruined her chance.

The next few hours at the cave were spent playing fetch with flotsam and jetsam. Ursula felt at bliss, she didn't feel the tension she did at the castle. She just laid on her rock and stared at the bright abyss above her. Ursula knew she had to return to the palace soon one more hour then I'll go back she thought to herself.

Sleep overtook her instead. Ursula lied down on the rock with flotsam on her left and jetsam on her right. It somehow felt more comfortable then her bed.

The dream that was placed in her head hadn't match the tone of the cave ,however. It replaced her worry and concern with fear.

Ursula was 12 years years old, playing with the oysters. She was comparing her darkened reflection in each one vigorously rubbing them to make them shinier. After cleaning the last oyster however, the face she had seen wasn't her own. It looked similar in the mouth area and the eyes, plump red lips and deep blue eyes, but the rest bore no resemblance. The lady in the oyster had a rigid structure and lengthened nose against Ursula's plump cheeks, but most obvious was her facial expression.

Her eyes drooped and looked vacant, her mouth slightly opened but was wordless. The lady's cheeks were sunken in and her skin got more pale as every second passed. Her pupils refused to meet Ursula's and her face just looked hollow. Ursula's stomach knotted at what seemed to be a familiar face, but foreign at the same time.

Before Ursula could make out the meaning in her dream, she woke up to a loud thud near her. It took her several seconds after waking up to steady herself after a state of disorientation. Her attention then quickly snapped to the source of the noise, her father, standing in the doorway of her cave.

Ursula hastily stood up and her eels in response got up with her. No one had said a word, Ursula just tightened her hands in apprehension. She didn't know how much time had passed in the cave but it must have been a while, because Thalassis looked furious.

He held a kingly stance, clutching the beloved trident. That is how Ursula knew how serious matters were, her father never carries the trident unless there is an emergency. It was gold and beautiful, it matches the exact height of whoever bears it. The trident is also immensely powerful, it has the ability to create kingdoms and destroy them, which is why it has remained safely in the hands on the royal family.

"Ursula you embarrassed yourself, me and the entire kingdom. Do you not understand the damage that you just caused? Do you think the committee will let you rule? Do you I would let you rule after this fiasco?" Thalassis exclaimed, his voice boomed through the cave, the walls starting to shake.

Ursula didn't say anything, she just stared at her father in shock, the anxiety of the castle flooding through her.

"You have no regard for anyone except yourself. Yes, you are probably the most intelligent and capable mermaid in this kingdom, but you take it all for granted. I tried to be easy with you all these past years but you forget that they were difficult for both of us. You act like you want to rule this kingdom but I question that, maybe you are more like your mother than you care to admit" Thalassis continued but he paused after his last sentence realizing his mistake.

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