Chapter 7

"Liam!" Louis called out to his friend, who was leading him through their hideout, "why can't you just tell me what this is all about?"

"You'll see," Liam said, turning the corner, into their cavern, "It's a surprise!"

Louis turned the corner and gasped. The birthday present Harry had got- the handsome statue of himself- stood in the middle of the cavern, waiting for the merman. Louis hugged Liam tightly, "Oh, Liam, you're the best!" Louis swam up to the statue and grinned widely.

"It looks just like him! It even has his eyes!" He giggled, then began to talk to the statue dreamily, "Why Harry, run away with you? This is all so- so sudden." He laughed, spinning around towards Liam, and gasped.

"Daddy!"

Stepping out of the shadows, King Triton looked angry and disappointed at his son. Liam hid behind a wooden chest while Zayn hid a bit away behind the king.

"I consider myself a reasonable merman," the sea king spoke calmly, though his tone was furious, "I set certain rules and I expect those rules to be obeyed!"

"But Dad, I-"

"Is it true," Triton pressed on, "you rescued a human from drowning?"

"Daddy, I had to-"

"Contact between the human world and the merworld is strictly forbidden! Louis, you know that- Everyone knows that!"

"He could have died!" Louis reasoned, weakly, as he moved from the front of the statue to behind its right shoulder.

"One less human to worry about!" Triton waved his hand.

"You don't even know him," Louis sneered.

"Know him?! I don't have to know him," the king shouted, "They're all the same! Spineless, savage, harpooning fish-eaters! They're incapable of any feeling-"

"Daddy, I love him!" Louis screamed, then gasped, realizing what he had just done. He hid behind the statue's back as Zayn and Liam's eyes grew wide, terrified of what the king's reaction.

"No," King Triton whispered, before growing louder, "have you lost your senses completely? He's a human, you're a merman!"

"I don't care," Louis admitted, his voice cracking slightly.

"So help me, Louis, I am going to get through to you!" Triton yelled, "And if this is the only way, so be it." The sea king's trident glowed as he began shooting at all of Louis' human treasures. Jewelry exploded into small pieces and painting were ripped to shreds.

"Daddy, stop, stop it!" Louis screamed, jumping from behind the statue to grab his father's arm. With Louis no longer guarding the final item in his cavern, the king turned and pointed his trident.

"Daddy," Louis pleaded, "No!"

The trident shot at the statue, blowing it to smithereens. As soon as the bubbles disappeared, the place where the statue had been was now completely empty. Louis choked on a sob as he lay himself on the empty spot. As he cried, his father's anger disappeared and slowly filled with guilt. Zayn and Liam watched the king leave before approaching Louis.

"Louis," Zayn mumbled, apologetically, "I-"

"Just go away," Louis whispered, weakly. Zayn frowned, leaving the cavern with Liam following not far behind. As Louis sobbed in the middle of the cave, two eels slithered their way down towards him.

"Poor child," One comforted, though its voice was anything but.

"Poor, sweet child," The second repeated, sounding just like the first. Louis lifted his head, worriedly, hearing the voices and sat up on his elbows. "He has a very serious problem, hasn't he?" The first nodded, knowingly at him, as they both swam in circles around him. "If only there was something we could do," the second cooed at the merman. "But there is something," the first revealed.

Louis hesitantly muttered, "W-Who are you?"

"Don't be scared," the second comforted.

"We represent someone who could help you," the first said while the second slithered around Louis, who tried to shy away.

"Someone," the second continued, "who could make all your dreams come true." The first slithered down, brushing itself along Louis' head, messing with his hair. Louis huffed, fixing his hair as the eels continued, "Just imagine, you and your prince, together forever."

"I-I don't understand," Louis shook his head, confusingly.

"Taylor has great powers," the second whispered, causing Louis to gasp. "The sea witch?" Louis asked, "Why thats- I couldn't, I- no! Just go away!" He hid his face back into the rock and the eels began to slowly swim away.

"It was only a suggestion," the first eel said, swishing his tail and knocking a rock towards Louis. The young merman turned towards the rock as it landed next to him, noticing that it wasn't a rock at all. It was part of the statue- Harry's face, still in tact. Louis picked it up and stroked its cheek. He clenched his eyes, knowing he would probably regret his decision.

"Wait!" He called to the eels.

"Yes?" The both asked, expectantly.

~~~~~~

"Poor Louis," Liam groaned, waiting outside the cave for his friend.

"I didn't mean to tell him!" Zayn defended himself, pleadingly. "I swear! I- Louis?" Liam spun around and noticed the merman swimming away with two eels.

"Louis!" Zayn called after him, as he tried to catch up. Louis ignored him and, stubbornly, held his nose up in the air.

"Louis," Zayn pleaded, now close by his shoulder, "what are you doing?"

"I'm going to see Taylor," Louis stated, determinedly.

"The sea witch?!" Zayn gasped, pausing momentarily, before paddling quickly and yanking on Louis' tail, "No, Louis, you shouldn't-"

"Why don't you tell my father," Louis snapped, flicking the crab from his tail, "you're good at that!"

"But, I..." Zayn's face crumbled for a moment in hurt, which Louis failed to notice. Once Liam caught up to him, Zayn furrowed his eyebrows in determination, "C'mon!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis held his breath as he entered Taylor's lair. He gasped, noticing quickly how the entrance floor was scattered with wrinkled, stringy creatures that seemed to stare at him. "This way," The eels, Loki and Hatchi he learned they named, swam ahead, unfazed. Louis gulped, swimming along the side of the cave, until one creature snagged his wrist. He squeaked, hurriedly freeing himself and hovering quickly out of their reach.

"Come in! Come in, my child," Taylor welcomed, causing Louis's attention to be averted from the creatures. He swam around the corner, noticing a hole in the cave, where her voice was coming from.

"We mustn't lurk in doorways," Taylor emerged from the hole, her bottom-half, octopus legs spreading out as she landed, "It's rude."

Louis hesitantly came closer as Taylor turned her back and slunk towards a mirror to sit down.

"One might question your upbringing," she teased, chuckling lightly, "Now then, you're here because you have a thing for this human- this prince fellow- not that I blame you. He is quite a catch, isn't he?" She giggled as Louis blushed slightly. Taylor applied some lipstick from a small seashell.

"Now, angel fish, the solution to your problem is simple," she paused to smack her lips together loudly, "the only way to get what you want, is to become a human yourself." Louis gasped, "Can you do that?"

Taylor hid her evil smirk, turning towards Louis with a fake sincere look.

"My dear sweet child, it's what I do. It's what I live for- to help unfortunate mer-folk, like yourself. Poor souls with no one to turn to."

She stroked Louis' cheek, causing the merman to shiver slightly. Taylor noticed his fear and slithered away, with Hatchi and Loki wrapping themselves around her.

"I admit that in the past I've been a nasty. They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch," Taylor smirked at her pet eels, then floated back towards Louis.

"But you'll find that nowadays, I've mended all my ways, repented, seen the light, and made a switch," Taylor noticed Louis' suspicious look, adding, "True? Yes!"

"I, fortunately, know a little magic. It's a talent that I always have possessed," She flicked her wrist, causing the mouth of her cauldron to open, "And lately, please don't laugh, I've used it on behalf of the miserable, lonely, and depressed." She waved her hands, causing the steam from the cauldron to form the shape of two mer-people, one skinny, weak merman and an obese mermaid. She turned to her eels and whispered, "Pathetic."

She turned back to Louis with a look of pity, "These poor unfortunate souls, in pain, in need! This one longing to be thinner, this one wants to get the girl and do I help them?" With the snap of her fingers, the two mer-folk became trim and attractive, and they swam into each other's arms.

"Yes indeed," Taylor smiled, before sighing, disappointedly.

"Now, it's happened, oh, once, maybe twice, when someone couldn't pay the price, and I'm afraid I've had to rake them across the coals." With the wave of her hand, the couple shriveled up. Louis gasped in realization as he realized they had taken form of the grotesque creatures just down the hall.

Just outside of Taylor's lair, Zayn and Liam hovered nervously in the entrance. Slowly, Liam swam forward, leading along Zayn who was holding onto his back tail. They passed quickly by the remains of past mer-people and peeked in at the conversation Louis and Taylor were having.

"Yes I've had the odd complaint," Taylor quickly shut the cauldron, causing Louis to jump back slightly. "But, on the whole, I've been a saint! Now, here's the deal," she yanked Louis forward, so quickly that they were face-to-face for a moment before Taylor leaned back and lead him back towards the cauldron. Louis couldn't help but stare at the tentacles in disgust, politely pulling them off his shoulder.

"I will give you a potion that will turn you human for three days. Got that? Three days," Taylor used one of her tentacles to turn Louis' attention back to her. "Now listen, this is most important." She opened her cauldron and small images began to form as she described them, "Before the sun sets on the third day, you've got to get dear old prince-y to fall in love with you. That is, he's got to kiss you- not just any kiss! The kiss of true love."

Zayn and Liam began to swim closer towards Louis, in fear of what he was doing, unaware of Loki and Hatchi sneaking up behind them.

"If he does kiss you before the sun sets on the third day, you'll remain human permanently. But if he doesn't, you'll turn back into a merman. And," She trailed off, smirking eviling as she quickly closed the cauldron, "you belong to me."

"No Louis!" Zayn shouted, before the eels wrapped themselves up tightly around him and Liam.

"Have we got a deal?" Taylor asked sweetly, turning Louis' face back around to face him.

"If I become human," Louis thought out loud, frowning slightly, "I'll never be with my father or sisters again."

"That's right!" Taylor exclaimed, like the thought hadn't come to her before. She shrugged, "But, you'll have your man. Life's full of tough choices, isn't it? Oh! One more thing! We haven't discussed the subject of payment! You can't get something for nothing, you know?"

"But I don't have-" Louis started, before Taylor interrupted, "I'm not asking much! Just a token, merely a trifle! You'll never even miss it. What I want from you is- your voice."

Louis froze, holding his throat, "My voice?"

"You've got it, sweetcakes. No more talking, singing, zip!" Taylor explained, popping the "p".

"But without my voice," Louis asked, "how can I-"

"You have your looks," Taylor interrupted, "your pretty face! And don't underestimate the importance of body language!" Taylor shook her hips, jokingly, before swimming towards her cabinet, which was a giant seashell. "The men up there don't like a lot of blabber," She continued, "They think someone who gossips is a bore. On land, it's much prefered for partners not to say a word. After all, what is idle prattle for?"

Taylor began to throw several ingredients into her cauldron as she explained, "They're not all that impressed with conversation. True gentlemen avoid it when they can. But they dote, swoon, fawn over those who withdraw. If you hold your tongue, you'll get your man."

"Go ahead, make your choice," Taylor waved her hands, then suddenly, the cauldron fog formed the image of Harry. Louis's eyes widened as he smiled at the dashing prince.

"I'm a very busy person, and I haven't got all day," Taylor said, extinguishing the mirage of Harry. "It won't cost much, just your voice!"

Her voice softened as she stroked his innocent face, "You poor, unfortunate soul. It's sad, but true. If you want to cross a bridge, my sweet, you've got to pay the toll."

Suddenly, a golden scroll appeared in front of them, with the word, "Contract" at the top, along with a fishbone pen.

"Take a gulp, take a breath, and sign the scroll," She stated, as if it were that easy. She leaned back, whispering to the eels, "Hatchi, Loki, now I've got him."

Louis sighed deep with determination. Zayn and Liam could only watch in horror as their friend signed the contract quickly, writing his signature "Louis" with a smiley face.

Taylor smirked as she flicked her wrist and the contract rolled itself up and vanished. Taylor waved her arms across the cauldron, chanting, "Beluga, sevruga, come winds of the Caspian Sea!" The cauldron glowed an eerie blue, giving the whole room a creepy hue, as a small tornado began to form around Louis and Taylor.

"Larynx, glaucitis, et max laryngitis, la voce to me!" Taylor finished, raising her arms. Suddenly, two wispy arms appeared from the cauldron smoke.

"Now, sing," Taylor commanded. Louis gulped, then began to vocalize softly.

"Keep singing!" Taylor demanded, controlling the hands. As Louis sang louder and stronger, the hands hovered closer and closer to him. Then, they slipped into Louis' mouth and down his throat, before pulling out a small, glowing ball. Louis listened closely and realized the ball was singing, but with his voice. He clamped his throat, in fear, but it was too late. The hands placed his voice in a seashell that was around Taylor's neck. Taylor formed a bubble around him and she used her powers to split his tail in half and form legs.

With a burst of light, the bubble exploded and Louis was flailing around, unable to breathe. Zayn and Liam were next to him in a second, helping him swim out of the cavern and towards the surface. Taylor laughed maniacally as the trio swam away.

Louis emerged to the surface, throwing his head back and breathing deeply, with his friends beside him to carry him to shore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max barked along the beach as Harry sat on one of the rocks, playing his ukulele. (A/N I know it's a flute, or piccolo, whatever. But this is a modernized parody, so there are, and will be, a few slight changes.)

He stopped strumming, realizing he was playing the same tune that the mystery person sang to him. He sighed, "That voice. I can't get it out of my head!" He knelt down to pet Max, who sat and looked at him curiously.

"I've looked everywhere, Max," Harry said to his dog, "Where are they?"

~~~~~~~~~

WE BE STOPPING HERE FOR NOW!! I'M FINALLY FINISHED WITH SCHOOL SO BE PREPARED FOR MANY SUMMER UPDATES!!!

I love you all so much, your comments mean the world to me. It's amazing to know that so many of you enjoy this story. THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Comment/vote/fan?