For the first time in her life, Ursula was too upset to eat. Anxiety and anger whittled away at her body each day. She swaddled herself in gowns, piled on more necklaces to obscure the growing definition of her collarbone. Her hair was left down to float about her face; an updo would only draw attention to her changing jawline and prominent cheekbones.

At night, her phantom limbs ached. This was a new experience as well, and one that ruined sleep. She would toss and turn, unable to get comfortable, until the eels came and stood in for her missing tentacles. Somehow they knew what to do--one would lay along her left hip and straighten its body to fill the space where her tentacle had been, and the other would do the same on the right. The pain would dissipate, and she would drift off for a couple hours.

In the haze between sleep and wakefulness, an epiphany tried to surface repeatedly. There was something profound about losing these two limbs and finding two limb-shaped familiars at the same time. She was sure of it. But the exact message, the lesson, never broke through to her waking consciousness. Confusion and uncertainty reigned at all hours of the day and night.

Once a week Ursula visited the Leviathan to vent to Siddikah. There was no one in Atlantica she could confide in regarding her illicit relationship, after all. Yet Siddikah's patience and sympathy waned over time. A month into the breakup—if that's actually what it was--a topic of endless speculation on Ursula's part--the Squid Witch snapped.

"If it's not going to work out with him, what's preventing you from staying here and apprenticing with me?"

Ursula glared at her. "Let's not talk about this right now."

Siddikah glared back. "Very well."

Ursula shoved a mass of hair away from her angular face with irritation. "I wish I could get all that human stuff from Alphon's quarters and show it to you. I bet you could tell me what all those little devices do. You seem to know so much about that world." She looked pointedly at Siddikah's belongings surrounding them: objects of human origin were everywhere. "May I ask you, finally, why you have all this stuff? And how you got it?"

"Oh, this is all flotsam and jetsam," the sorceress replied. Ignoring questions she did not want to answer was as easy to her as performing magic.

Ursula felt an odd thrill at these unfamiliar words. "Flotsam? Huh?"

"Flotsam and jetsam. They're human terms, squirt. Flotsam is wreckage from a ship you find floating in the water. And jetsam is the stuff that's washed ashore. Humans are forced to throw perfectly good things overboard when their ships are in peril and they need to lighten their load."

"I see. I never go looking for such things. We are forbidden to own anything like that in Atlantica." Ursula leaned forward. "But how do you know human terms like these?"

Siddikah just winked.

"Ugh!" Ursula cried out in frustration. She wanted answers, yet was vaguely pleased to have something besides Triton to sulk over—and Siddikah delivered.

A whirl of disturbed sand rose between them, cutting through the tension. The two watched as Ursula's eels played hide-and-seek with Planete. The monster croc was snapping his jaws playfully near their tails as he chased them and the eels were hissing with laughter, their eyes rolling back in their sockets in crazed delight.

"I know this makes no sense, given the meaning of the terms 'flotsam' and 'jetsam', but that's what I'm naming my eels."

"Really?" Siddikah chuckled.

"Yes. A peculiar sensation came over me when you spoke the words. I knew their names would simply come to me, just as the two of them did."

"You're really progressing, sweet plum. This is much less forced than Barry the Barracuda," Siddikah teased. "So, which is which?"

Ursula answered in a whisper. "The one that favors my left side—which is the one Planete has cornered over there—that's Flotsam. And the one that favors my right is Jetsam." She sat up straighter and called out to them. "Flotsam! Jetsam!"

They raced each other to their master. Jetsam took up his station at her right hip, and Flotsam came to her left. They looked up at Ursula with adoration, and she beamed at the Squid Witch.

"The two of you should team up on Planete," Ursula murmured to her familiars. Their eyes widened with excitement. The pair nuzzled her violently to express that this was the best idea they had ever heard. Then Flotsam and Jetsam gleefully took off after their dinosaur playmate.

***

Ursula had been avoiding her parents for some time. She didn't want to endure their visual survey of her, their concerned looks, their questions. But the guilt was starting to eat away at her, along with everything else, and the day after she named her companions she decided to drop by her childhood home. She hoped that Flotsam and Jetsam would provide a distraction, or at least serve as a topic that could be introduced if things got uncomfortable.

She put her pearls on top of the mound of necklaces she was already wearing and grabbed an armful of gowns and robes; some of her clothing had become simply unworkable. A short swim from her house rewarded her with the loving smiles of Melisande and Dismas. Melisande gasped softly when she hugged her adopted daughter, but made no comment. She and Dismas pretended to be interested in Ursula's new pets; this was a relief to all parties and they fell into easy banter that lasted over an hour. Ursula could feel her elders exchanging glances nonetheless, and knew what was passing between them.

She decided to get the hard part over with and handed two gowns to Melisande. "So could you take these in a little at the waist?" she asked breezily.

"That's one option. But the shoulders and bust should fit properly as well. Perhaps we should take all new measurements. If you want to go into my room and disrobe—"

"Ah, no. I'm a bit pressed for time, actually," Ursula lied. No way am I explaining my missing tentacles to you today. She grabbed measuring tape from a nearby table and looped it around her waist. "Here," she said, as Melisande bent forward to read it. "Just go off the waist and maybe scale everything else down just a bit."

"You know it doesn't work like that. And you know you can't take accurate measurements while dressed in an oversized gown, Ursula." Melisande crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. "What's going on with you?" her expression asked.

Ursula pretended not to notice; Siddikah was rubbing off on her. "I guess not. I'll come back soon and we'll do it the right way," she said.

"Well, leave these two," sighed her aunt as she set the gowns down behind her. "I'll see if I can figure something out. But your robes are entirely too big and we should start from scratch with them."

Ursula kissed her cheek and lingered there a moment, pressing her temple into Melisande's. One day soon you'll know everything. She hoped Melisande understood the reassurance she meant to convey with her prolonged goodbye. She tried to tell Dismas the same through a lengthy hug.

Once home, she locked her pearl necklace away. She had worn it to gratify her aunt, but it was too painful to wear otherwise. She could do without the constant flood of memories.

***

The next morning, Ursula found her gowns folded neatly on her doorstep. They fit perfectly. And they felt so sleek and light! As much as she didn't want to draw attention to herself, Ursula had grown weary of being swallowed up by so much excess fabric day in and day out. She decided to take a small risk and wear one of the altered gowns to work.

She was surprised to find herself behind Sebastian and Prince Ganeon as she neared the temple entrance.

"Good morning, Your Grace. Sebastian."

They turned to face her. Ganeon startled. Sebastian bowed.

"I hope this arrangement is proving beneficial to you, Sebastian."

The crab nodded eagerly and bowed again.

"I'm glad. Please don't let me keep you from your appointment. Give my regards to Orrechi."

A final bow and Sebastian was zooming through the great hall, leaving a very uncomfortable prince in his wake.

"Prince Ganeon? A word, please?"

"I need to get back—"

"Of course the labyrinth is safe!" she chirped loudly for the benefit of others in the vicinity. "It won't change form when anyone is inside. Come, I'll show you."

"Ursula, really," he spluttered as he swam beside her toward the maze. It was shifting, as it was prone to do in the early morning hours, but ground to a halt once they slipped through a gap and took refuge inside.

"Does he plan to speak to me again? I have a terrible feeling about this," she began.

"Are you quite well?" he volleyed. "You look very...tired."

"No, I'm not well. Because Alphon has spies. He bragged about that to me. Before long, someone will tell him that Triton is no longer under my protection. And then—"

"I can't control Triton. I can't make him talk to you or do anything else, for that matter."

"Ganeon, you're the one who made such a thing out of the separation of powers! You absolutely have influence here, and to be honest, I blame you for—"

"You know what, Ursula? From the very start, my advice about the separation of powers came out of a concern for all parties involved. You don't seem to understand that in all your anger. It...it came from the heart. My heart. Now, good day to you." He turned and rushed away, landing himself just seconds later in a coral intersection that gave him pause.

"Go left!" she called after him, as if she knew what today's configuration was. He looked over his shoulder at her, then went right to spite her. Ursula laughed. She had never seen this side of Ganeon before.

Over the course of the morning, Ursula fielded questions about the state of her health from Ephram, then Amoret, then Cosmas. Her stomach would tighten as they gazed upon her diminished frame or studied the hollows of her eyes. Here it comes! she moaned internally as she watched each one formulate their delicate questions. What was I thinking, wearing this?!

She told each concerned party the same thing. "I'm tired, is all. It's the crazy workload around here. When are these animal attacks going to stop?" Then they would nod sympathetically and say something like "why don't you take a few days off to rest—it'll do you so much good."

She assured each one that she would do so very soon.

***

She went to bed rather depressed that night. "Do I really look that bad?" she asked the eels as the three of them settled in to sleep. The pair shook their heads no. "Liars," she whispered, petting them in the darkness. 

Five hours into a dreamless sleep, she was pummeled awake by her companions. One was at each ear.

"Attacks!" they shouted noiselessly. They had never communicated telepathically with Ursula before now, but their message was unmistakable. 

"ATTACKS!"

Triton.