~Layla the Little Mermaid~

Chapter One: The Sunken Ship

Seagulls soared over the skies of Magix, and dolphins jumped in and out of the water playfully, when they looked up to see a gigantic ship come up out of the morning fog. The sea creatures hid underneath the water while the ship passed, and popped back up when it did. The Royal Ship of Magix made waves in the crisp, clear sea water as it moved along. The crew on board pulled up a net of fish from the side of the boat as the rest of them hoisted the sails, revealing a beautiful mermaid statue on the front of the ship, and Prince Nabu was helping them maintain the ship.

"This is so great!" The prince of Magix declared, "The sea air and the wind blowing in our faces. It's the perfect time of year to be at sea!" Nabu's cheery attitude was then changed when he saw his good friend Riven looking a little on the green side.

"Yes," He began, "just peachy." And then he threw his head over the side of the boat to puke.

"A strong wind and a cooperating ocean!" a sailor shouted happily, "King Teredor should be in a good mood."

"King Teredor?" Nabu asked in confusion

"The ruler of the mer-people, my prince." The sailor explained, "Every good seaman knows about him."

"Mer-people." Riven huffed, "Nabu, don't listen to his crazy stories."

"They aren't stories, they're the truth!" The sailor shouted, pointing a live fish at him, "I'm telling you they live deep in the depth of Magix's oceans." But as the sailor continued, the fish wanted to struggle on of the sailor's grip. It landed on Riven's face as he tried to grab it, but it got away and fell back into the waters of Magix. It took a deep breath of water and swam deeper into the ocean. The little fish the swan across seaweed, and pretty so, mer-people began to follow it. Mer-people of all sizes followed it across the ocean floor, far and wide, toward the beautiful Androsian palace that shone brighter than the sun up above. The numerous mer-people entered the palace doors and gathered into the grand auditorium, where fish with trumpets played the music that would announce the king's arrival. Once the music had played, a tiny seahorse appeared.

"Announcing the King of Andros, Teredor!" it declared, then the king rode out on a giant seashell being pulled by dolphins. He was rode to the middle of the stage and used his magic staff to create what looked like fireworks for the people of Andros to enjoy.

"And now, the composer of this performance, Saladin!" The little seahorse announced once again as a littler shell came in with a crab riding it, it was being pulled roughly by two small fish. The fish got a little rowdy, but once the crab got them settled, he rode along side the king.

"I am truly looking forward to this, Saladin." King Teredor told him.

"Don't you worry, my king. This will be the best concert I have ever put together." Saladin assured the king as he touched down on the rocks with his giant shell, "And your daughters will be just beautiful!" Then, the little fish pulling Saladin's shell wanted to pull again, making the shell flip upside down, and Saladin had to climb back up.

"Especially my Layla!" King Teredor replied.

"Oh yes!" Saladin agreed, finally getting back in his shell, "She has one of the most beautiful voices in Andros, and her eyes are the deepest sea green."

"She got them from her mother." Teredor sighed.

"If only she'd attend the rehearsals at least." Saladin thought out loud as he rode on stage as the mer-people of Andros clapped for him. The lights went down as he touch down beside a podium and pulled out the sheet music for the concert. As he set it down, he tapped his conductor's baton a few times, then began to instruct the orchestra. One by one, Teredor's daughters all came out of clam shells, singing their parts flawlessly. However, when they all were about to open the last one, which contained Layla, she was no where to be seen, and the entire performance was ruined. Saladin gasped in shock, and King Teredor was not at all impressed.

"Layla!" He shouted furiously, "Don't tell me she swam off again!"

At the same time, a young mermaid named Layla, with dark skin and wavy dark red hair had uncovered yet another sunken ship that she expected to find lot's of human treasures for her collection. She gaped at the scene before her for a minute when she heard a voice calling her name.

"Layla, wait up!" It called.

"Well, hurry Anne!" Layla laughed,

"You know I can't swim as fast as you!" Anne shouted, she was another mer-maid who was best friends with Layla even since they were kids. Layla just stared ahead at the sunken ship.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Layla asked in awe.

"Yes, its great." Anne replied hesitantly, "Now can we get going?" And then she began to swim away, but Layla grabbed her hand.

"You're not turning chicken now, are you Anne?" Layla asked in a teasing way.

"No, it just looks dangerous in there, and you know your father would freak if we got hurt." Anne told her.

"All right then, I'll go inside, you just stay out here and watch out for sharks." Layla suggested, knowing Anne did not want to do that.

"Okay, I'll watch out for sharks out here." Anne began as Layla swam into one of the portholes of the boat, "Sharks! Layla, don't leave me out here!" But when she swam into the same porthole, she got stuck.

"Layla, I can't get out!" She called, "Help!" Then Layla turned around to go and help her best friend out of her jam.

"Oh, Anne." Layla laughed, pulling on Anne's arms.

"Do you really think there'd be sharks around here?" Anne asked Layla.

"Don't be such a baby, Anne." Layla told her.

"I'm not a baby!" Anne protested as Layla finally was able to pull her friend out of the porthole. While the two mermaids were talking about sharks, one passed by the hole right after they had gone. Anne and Layla both swam within the ship.

"Oh this is just great." Anne though sarcastically, "Adventure, thrills… danger everywhere you look…" And then she screamed and swam ahead to Layla, causing the two mermaids to collide.

"Are you okay, Anne?" Layla asked when she heard a crashing sound that resulted when Anne swam to her.

"Yeah I am." Anne told her.

"Are you sure?" Layla pressured.

"Yeah." Anne reassured her, and then they continued their descent into the bottom of the ship. They both swim into a room where Layla saw the most extraordinary thing ever in her life.

"Oh, look Anne!" She cheered, "Have you seen anything this awesome before?" Layla then picked up the little tool that they had discovered, turns out it was what humans would call a fork.

"Sweet!" Anne thought out loud, "What is it?"

"I don't know, but I bet you that Chatta will!" Layla answered her as a shadow drew near the window they were by.

"Did you see something?" Anne asked worriedly as Layla swam away to look at some of the other treasures of the room.

"I wonder what this could be?" She asked, picking up a pipe.

"Layla!" Anne cried out.

"Would you calm down." Layla told her, "Nothing is going to happen." But Anne turned around to see the shark approach. It broke through the window as Anne screamed in fear.

"Shark!" She cried, "We're toast!" And so, the shark followed Layla and Anne around the ship as the two mermaids tried to avoid it. The monstrous beast destroyed the ship with its body trying to get to the girls. Layla got away, but left her bag, and had to do some dangerous swimming to not get hurt to get it back. Then they swam towards the portholes, Anne trying to get through, and Layla having to push her through. They made the shark chase them around an anchor before getting it caught in the top. The shark attempted to struggle free, but was unsuccessful.

"Serves you right, you overgrown bully!" Anne shouted courageously only to be snapped at by the shark and then she swam away to follow Layla.

"You really are a baby, Anne." Layla laughed teasingly.

"I am not!" She protested once again as they headed towards the surface of the ocean.