This is a short story for a wattpad competition that involves taking a classic tale and changing it by giving it your own twist. The story I have chosen is "The Little Mermaid" which in its transformed version is called "The Voice"

Hopefully, you will enjoy it.
Please comment your views at the end of the story, I would love to know what you think about it.

[3161 words]
~•~

Ariel walked along the shores as waves crashed against the sandy beach. There was something really calming about the ocean even if it was uncertain and raging. Ariel loved the seaside. He would often come to the ocean when he didn't want to stay at the giant castle. His mother brought him here as a child and ever since she had passed away, Ariel would come here to escape from his father, the great king Triton who showed his affection only when he needed his presence at a public meeting to show off his son, the son whose ideas and thoughts had been sculpted by his mother alone.

This particular morning, prince Ariel was walking bare feet on the sand and was being trailed by a rather enthusiastic Sebastian. Sebastian was a little redhead boy. Little, not because of his age, he was as old as Ariel, he was just smaller in size. Sebastian's father had been the general of the army and when he had died, king Triton had made him stay at the castle for three reasons. First, his father was the king's greatest soldier. Second, after hearing of his death, Seb's mother had committed suicide so he had no parents. Third, Ariel, the prince, had grown really close to the little redhead boy in the time when he felt alone. Sebastian was his only friend.

Sebastian was walking a few steps behind Ariel, picking up seashells. It was something that he really enjoyed. He was telling Ariel all about a new idea that he had when he suddenly shrieked and jumped back. Ariel turned around to see Sebastian staring at the sand where there was a hole and a little red crab had crawled out, scuttling away into the ocean.

"I'm not gonna lie Seb, that crab kinda looked like you when you blush"

Sebastian pouted, his button nose did a cute little wiggle. Ariel laughed and pinched his cheeks, making him blush. "See, I told you. Look at yourself all red" which earned Ariel a tongue teasingly sticking out of Sebastian's mouth.

Ariel would have made another comment, he loved teasing Sebastian buthe was interrupted by a high pitched scream. Both boys spun around to look at a girl standing at the edge of the cliff, surrounded by a mob of angry villagers. Although the prince wasn't allowed to go into public places without a body guard, he made exceptions and escaped often to help people. This was no different.

Ariel rushed to the crowd to see what had happened. At first the people kept shouting but soon the people realised the presence of the prince and made way for him. "What happened?", He asked an old woman standing in the crowd. "Disgusting people I tell you, she was kissing a girl. A GIRL! What has the world come to? Thank you for coming here prince. Show her where she belongs, she deserves to be DEAD." At the mention of the last word the crowd errupted in cheers and the prince visibly recoiled from the crowd. He ran to the side of the girl at the edge of the cliff. She had brown and pink lips and cheeks that were stained with tears. She sat there defeated and refused to look at anyone. The prince crouched down to look at the girl. He placed a hand under her chin and lifted it to face him. "What is your name?"

"E-Erica"

"Is it true Erica? Is this all because you kissed a girl?" The girl recoiled and looked away. "Don't listen to these people, they don't know what love is", Ariel whispered.

At this the girl looked up at the prince, eyes full of shock and hope.

The prince stood up straight and looked at the crowd. "You have all been dismissed. Please go back to your houses."

"But what about the girl?" "We want to see her die" various voices called.

"I believe pronouncing a death sentence is not in the hands of the people but in those of the royalty. Besides, you wouldn't want to go against the orders of the king's son, would you?" The people shuffled away, murmuring about injustice and fear. Once everyone was gone, Sebastian appeared into view. His head was down and he was biting his lip. "Sebastian, can you help me take Erica here, to the palace?"

The boy looked up at Ariel. "Of course."

As they snuck into the palace with the new girl, Sebastian spoke up, "That was very nice of you, to take her side and not those village folks"

Ariel sighed, "what threatens people is what they have never seen before. They don't know what love without boundaries is and most of them are old and stubborn, no thanks to dad who works only for the older generations while suppressing the younger to prevent the flow of new ideas and imagination, as if pleasing the old will do any good with changing times." Sebastian smiled at his friend and gave him a little hug to earn a smile and a pat on the head.

They got one of the servants to clear up a room for the girl and told her to not tell anyone of her presence. They asked them to provide the girl with anything she wanted and to not let her come out of the room or all would be for nought.

Once this was sorted, everyone headed back to their rooms and Ariel found himself alone in his room, again, lost in his own thoughts, again. He sat on his bed, thinking about a certain red haired boy. He often thought about him but what happened that day had made him think to greater limits the 21 year old prince thought about what it would feel like to have his best friend's lips placed on his. The thought made him sad because he knew that he wouldn't be accepted by his father if he ever said that out loud. The king wouldn't care that Ariel was his only son and would dispose him off for not following his rigid narrow minded methods of running the society. He would dispose him off, just like he did with aunt Ursula.

Ariel's eyes lit up. Aunt Ursula, of course. He knew who would understand him, who he could talk to. He knew exactly who to contact and for the second time that day, he escaped from the castle without his body guards noticing.

Ursula was the youngest daughter of the current king's father, which means the old king's youngest child and Triton's little sister. She was his favourite because she was bold and not afraid of judgement. She was never one to follow rules and had strong opinions about situations. She was never one to back down due to fear of public judgement.

When the king died and his place was taken by the then 24 year old Triton, he had kept the princess in the house, but as soon as she had turned eighteen, he had kicked her out of the castle for trying to change the ways of the society. She always wore men's clothes unlike the women in the town. She dressed in black and walked around with her held high. Some despised her for her outlook towards the society but everyone was scared of her, because the woman was never scared to throw a punch and her violence left nasty bruises and scars to last a lifetime. She had not even fought for her place in the castle. She had just told her brother that she would not want to live in a household where people restricted their imagination and would gladly walk away.

These days Ursula lived on a hilltop, in a house she had built herself. She would collect and grow herbs and berries to create medicines and antidotes. She was the only one in town who knew about it, so all the sick and needy relied on her and chose not to piss her off. She had hated Triton's way of ruling so much that when Ariel entered the woman's house, he found himself pressed up against the wall with a knife at his throat.

"Aunt Ursula, it's just me! Ariel!"

"How do I know you're telling the truth? The codeword?"

"Pythonidae"

The knife was removed from his throat and Ariel rubbed it to make sure it was still there. "What's with the snake name codes, why can't it be oyster shell or rubbing alcohol I don't know"

Ursula laughed and looked at the boy "because darling, no one knows about them, besides snakes are wonderful creatures, their venom can be used in medicines. Did you know that?"

"Yeah, I hear it everytime I come here."

"So what problem brings you here this time?", She asked as she motioned Ariel to take a seat along with her at the table and poured out tea for the two of them.

"It's dad again. Well not directly, indirectly" "hmm tell me about it"

"Aunt Urie, have you ever felt like you want to know what it feels like to kiss a girl?"

"Tried it today morning. They didn't have the courage to get me, heard they dragged the girl away. I couldn't find her when I went back."

Ariel choked on the tea. "That was you?"

Ursula sighed, "yes, I wish I could save the girl. I was too late."

"Wasn't she a bit to young for you?"

"She wasn't. She looks young but she is way older than you."

"We're still talking about Erica right?"

"So you know her?"

"Well I kinda hid her in the castle, away from the villagers."

Ursula looked up at Ariel with hope in her eyes. "So she's alive?"

"What? Oh yeah"

"Tell me why you're really here?"

Ariel's voice betrayed him. "I- I kinda sorta might have a- a teenie tiny liking towards a- a...guy"

"Is it Sebastian?"
"What n-no", Ariel laughed awkwardly but when he saw the seriousness on Ursula's face he straightened. "How did you know?"

"The way you look at him speaks a lot. Those who judge it, won't see it but those who know how it feels would see it in the blink of an eye."

Ariel relaxed a bit. "Actually, there's another problem. You know how I said my dad was involved? I can't openly express myself. He would throw me out and as much as I would love to get away from there, this town doesn't deserve a king like him. I was wondering if you could help me with convincing him to accept me. I can't live like this you know. It hurts. Plus my dad has started with the marriage proposals and I don't want any princesses. I want a prince, my prince."

Ursula let out and audible tch sound. "If you think you can convince him you are wrong, it will never work."

"Then what do I do?"

"I can help of course, but it is a tough decision to make. You know that I don't offer my help just like that. I want something in return." Ursula got up and slowly walked around to a table and started inspecting the things kept there.

Ariel was scared, but he was extremely eager to refuse. "What do you want?"

"Never mind that right now. That will come later. First you have to agree to do what I say. It might be uncomfortable bit it's for your benefit." She grabbed a syringe in between her fingers and slowly took off the cap, revealing the sharp needle.

Ariel stiffened, "I don't know. How am I supposed to agree if I don't know what you are talking about?"

"I won't tell you unless you agree"

He hesitated but in his desperateness agreed. Ursula smirked. She replaced the cap and threw the syringe at the boy. "That dose is enough"

"Huh?"

"Inject it into him."

"But there's nothing in here"

"Exactly, it will make it look like a heart attack which shouldn't come as suspicious because of his obesity and diabetes."

"You want me to kill my father?"

"That's the only way to go son."

Ariel stared at the needle in shock. He gulped. "What do you get out of this?", he choked out.

"My payment starts when he dies and you become king"

"But, won't you want to be the queen?"

"No, I never liked the royalty but I like the privileges that come with it. Here take this." She handed him a little fragrance bottle. "Chloroform. Ask him to test it as a perfume or something and when he faints, use the syringe."

"But he's still my father"

"By genetics, not by love. Here, let me ask you a question. How many times do you meet me in a year?"

"Approximately ten to fifteen times"

"And how many times do you meet your father?"

"Everyday"

"Are you closer to me or him?"

"You"

"Exactly"

Ariel pondered over this. He was having a headache when Ursula interrupted. "I know a lot about how living as a royal works, I just never wanted to be a part of the politics. Take it from me, backstabbing is the key to survival in the political business."

After hours of convincing and another cup of tea for his headache, he made up his mind. He would do it. He thanked his aunt and started preparing for his crime.

The next day, Ariel successfully managed to seclude the king. "Father? I wanted to ask you something"

"What now?"

"I would prefer somewhere more private."

"Ok"

King Triton followed his son into a room. He looked around the room in disgust. "What is this smell?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't think this would happen, here, spray this near your nose and inhale it. It should keep the smell away." Ariel handed his father the spray bottle containing chloroform. The old man sprayed it and took a whiff of the sweet smelling gas. "Hmm... Much better, wait I-"

The man felt dizzy, he could not see clearly. Ariel ran to his father calling to him in fake concern, but his father would never know it was fake.

Once completely sure that the man was unconscious, Ariel decided to insert about 10 ml of air which wouldn't kill immediately, but slowly. In less than a day, the king would be no more.

The king woke up in his room, unlike the room where he had been earlier. He saw his son sitting by his side with a sweet smile when he realised the man had woken up. "I'm glad you're okay father. The way you fainted scared me. Are you feeling sick? I think you should call your sister, she would know how to heal it."

"Absolutely not. That woman is not entering this castle, no matter what."

"O- okay father" The son left his father there in his room while the maids helped around.

Later that day, the old man lay on his bed. He felt weak. He had a pain in his chest. He slowly grabbed a mirror and looked to find his lips turning blue. He was scared.

"AAAAHHH!" A sharp pain shot into his left shoulder. Listening to him scream people ran into his previously empty room to find the old man writhing in pain. No one knew what to do except panic and just like that, the king lost his life.

His son came to check on the lifeless body. His eyes held tears, half fake half real. Even if he was cruel, he had been his father.

~•~

His death was later announced while people decided to quickly get Ariel on the throne before someone else tried to seize opportunity on the vacant throne.

The corridors were bustling with servants organising everything.

In his room stood the young man in front of a mirror, adjusting his new attire. This was specifically designed for him. The designer had been reluctant about it because no one had ever worn something like that before.

Ariel stood proud. He wore a short black top that exposed his toned abdomen. Over this he wore a short white coat with golden designs, paired with a similar set of pants that flared a little at the base. Ariel adjusted his coat and watched as people fixed his hair.

Once he was done and ready for the coronation he asked to be excused, only to be left with Sebastian.

Both sat at the edge of the giant bed. The smaller boy was fidgeting. He would look at Ariel every now and then and Ariel wouldn't miss the blush.

After some silence, Ariel finally gathered up the courage and spoke. "Hey Seb, there's something I need to tell you"

"What?"

"I have no idea how to go about this"

"It's okay", Sebastian placed his hand on Ariel's arm and smiled. Ariel could no longer contain himself.

"Mind if I show you instead."

"Go ahead"

Ariel panicked a bit but slowly eased down under Sebastian's encouragement. He looked up at the boy.

Ariel placed his palm on Ariel's cheek and smiled, "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do." He leaned in, closing his eyes, wanting to relish the moment however long it lasted.

When his lips touched the other's, he felt sparks light up in his body. Their lips danced together elegantly. Ariel didn't want to pull away but he had to.

It was Ariel's turn to get flustered. He quickly looked away from his friend and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry", he whispered again and again until he felt an arm.

Sebastian wrapped his arms around Ariel's and pressed his face into his chest. "It's okay"

Ariel looked up shocked but wrapped his arms around Sebastian in a hug, not wanting to let go.

~•~

After the coronation, Ariel sneaked out again to talk to his aunt. "I can't believe I did it". He sat at the little table, his head held in his hands.

"Good for you, now the deal."

Ariel nodded asking her to continue.

"First of all, I would like to know that even if I'm not going to come to the castle, I'm allowed to."

"That goes without saying", said Ariel.

"Second, I would like you to hand over Erica, you have hidden her long enough."

"Sure"

"And Third..." She snickered.

~•~

"The king's orders say...

Anyone is allowed to love whoever they like, regardless of their gender orientation.

No one is allowed to hurt, call out offensive names or mentally harass such individuals.

Cases against people who refuse to follow the previous statement may be brought to the king anytime.

Any offenders to this law will have to face jurisdiction at the hands of the king."

And just like that, she became the voice. Ariel may be king but the voice behind everything was Ursula's. Ursula had become Ariel's voice. Not that Ariel minded, all they did was working together for a better future.

~•~

So this is it. Please comment on what you think about it.

I have grown kinda fond of this story and imagined it in detail. However, the word limit was restricted.

but if you want I can write an extended version of this story. That is, I will write it only if people do like this story. So if you want a longer version of this story, comment on the side. If I have the support, time, will and energy, I will write it.

Other than that, thank you for reading. Please don't forget to vote and comment.

Thank you
✨Aster out ✨