Sinbad couldn’t see anything for the heavy fog that surrounded him. He wasn’t sure where he was or how long he had been there. But none of that seemed to matter. He just continued to walk straight ahead.
After some time a faded figure appeared in front of him. As he got closer it was easy to see who it was.
“Ariel?” Sinbad said and stopped a few feet away from her. He smiled, surprised to see her safe and sound.
“I missed you so much,” he started. “I thought you were… you were dead.” He almost whispered the last word, as if it wouldn’t be true if he didn’t say it loud enough for anyone to hear. But Ariel didn’t seem to pay attention to what he said.
Sinbad’s smile faded when he realized how grimly she was staring back at him. It felt like they were silent for an eternity. Sinbad didn’t dare say anything when she had that look on her face.
He noticed that she broke their eye contact by moving her gaze further down, to around his chest. He looked down to see Odette resting her head on his chest. He realized he was having his arm around her waist, but didn’t move besides looking up at Ariel again.
“Uhm.. I…” he started, not knowing what to say.
“It seems like you have been enjoying yourself,” Ariel said emotionless.
“It’s not like that,” Sinbad said, trying to defend himself. “It was just…”
“… a mistake?” Ariel said with disbelief. Sinbad stared at Ariel for a while. That was what he had intended to say, but somehow it didn’t seem fitting. It wasn’t a mistake. He had made up his mind. That was what he wanted. He had thought it through so many times.
“I’m glad to see you have moved on,” she continued in a voice so bitter that it was clear she didn’t mean it. It was almost as if he could feel the cold coming from her voice. No, not if… he actually could feel it. He hadn’t noticed it before, but Ariel’s body was so cold that it affected her surroundings. It became even clearer as she moved closer to him and Odette, who was still standing right next to him.
“But why wouldn’t you?” Ariel said while she walked closer, slowly moving her gaze to Odette’s stomach. “I’m sure you two will be happy with your…” Ariel stopped suddenly and looked Odette in the eyes with an evil smirk. “Oh, I forgot. I took care of that little problem.”
Sinbad looked at Odette’s stomach as he saw Ariel slowly moving her hand towards it. Odette wrenched slightly when Ariel placed her ice cold hand on her stomach. “It’s all gone now,” Ariel said slowly.
“Get away from her,” Sinbad shouted as he flung his arm out after Ariel. Instead of pushing her away as he had intended, his arm went right through her. He stared at her in shock.
The fog around them started growing thicker by the second. Sinbad could barely see Ariel anymore. Suddenly he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. Ariel was standing right behind him, standing on her toes to reach his ear. “Enjoy your little whore, you asshat,” she whispered.
The cold feeling from Ariel suddenly disappeared. It was replaced by the feeling of drowning. He couldn’t breathe. The fog was too thick. Everything turned white. He couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t feel Odette by his side. He could feel nothing but the fog.
Then everything turned black and he could breathe again. Sinbad opened his eyes. He found himself in the little room with Aladdin. He wiped the sweat of his forehead with the back of his hand.
He stared at the ceiling while he tried to remember everything he had just dreamt. Parts of it were blurry. Ariel always seemed so angry in his dreams. A part of him was beginning to hate her for it, even if the dreams were just created by his own imagination. But it was only because she had done what she did to Odette. He hadn’t been able to see it clearly back then, but it was such a horrible thing to do to someone. And yet Ariel was the one who was angry, mocking Odette, calling her names.
“Why a whore?” Sinbad whispered to himself eventually. Then he remembered. Odette was a prostitute. Or had been. Out in the real world. He realized that he tended to forget that sometimes. It had been that way with Megara as well.
Now that it had got in his head he started wondering if that was why Odette had slept with the villain. Because that was a natural thing to do for someone like her? He shook his head. He had been just as bad, he was in no position to blame anyone else for sleeping around. He felt guilty for having blamed her for that. Even if it had hurt him, she hadn’t done him wrong. He just had to get over it and move on.
Sinbad sat up and leaned his back against the wall. He glared at the sleeping Aladdin for a moment while he wondered when he’d see Odette again.
