Princess Leia and the Merman, Part 6

They finally came out of the darkness and into a series of coral reefs, these a little brighter than the ones they'd been trapped in. She had never seen so much coral, in such amazingly bright colors! It was like swimming though a rainbow. “If...when I get back,” Leia said, “I'll have to write a book about this place!”

The trail came to a stop at an enormous mound of purple, pink, and green coral. It seemed to go on forever, blocking everything in its path. “Maybe we could try climbing over it,” Leia started.

“Or we swim,” Luke added. “It...just coral. Not...so scary.”

The dogfish didn't agree. He moved back from the coral, whimpering. A tentacle shot out when he touched it with a fin. No matter how much Leia and Luke tried, their friend just would not budge.

Leia shrugged and started climbing over the coral. She was careful not to break anything or get caught in it, after the incident in the low-lying mound. Her fingers had only pulled her up a few steps when, to her shock, the mound started moving. It moved...and it growled.

“Leia!” Luke managed push off, ignoring his ruined boots. “Watch...out!”

Moving coral was a new one on Leia. Her tutor told her that coral moved when it was young, before it developed its hard outer skeleton, but this...this was something else. This coral had long, hard tentacles that stretched very slowly in all directions. Pink and purple jaws opened to reveal a yawning gap between branches. Two pinkish stalks popped out, glaring at Leia. The mound rose to fill every single crevasse of the coral garden's exit.

“What...do we...do?” Luke looked genuinely concerned. “Not...bad. We woke it...up. Just...mad.”

“Mad? It's just angry?” Leia's hand slid over something cool and smooth in her waistband. “Maybe we can play for it. They say music soothes the savage beast.” She held out the flute. “I only hope this works underwater.”

“I could...play.” Luke took it. “I can...play...I think. You sing. You were...good...singer.”

“Thank you.” She smiled. “Do you remember that lullaby, the one Mother used to sing for us? She used to put us to sleep with it when we were little.”

Luke shrugged. “I could...try.”

Leia started to sing the slow, gentle tune. Luke followed along, playing the flute. It didn't make much sound, but it seemed to work on the coral. The stalks drooped and fell back into the branches. The tentacles dropped to the ocean floor. She swore, the moment the mound fell against the ground, it started to snore. Even the dogfish helped, patting it with its fin to calm the creature.

Tiny flashes of light streamed overhead the moment the mound was down and sleeping. The trio swam slowly and as quietly as possible over it. The dogfish stuck two pieces of seaweed on either side of the mound, presumably where its “ears” were.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Jabba was roaring with anger in his throne room. The pearl showed the trio swimming over the living mound, as clear as the sea on a summer day. “Fett!” he snarled.

Fett was already there, standing behind the throne, mechanical trident in hand. “You bellowed, oh mighty one?”

“I don't want any of your sass!” His boss smacked the pearl. “I want you to detain the princess. Don't kill her. If you kill her, so help me, you'll be the one who ends up getting fed to the sharks. Bring her to me. Do what you want with the dogfish and the slave. I already have the slave's soul. They're of no use to me.”

“Good.” He patted the mechanical trident. “I just want to have a little fun.”

“Have all the fun you want.” Jabba glared at him. “Just bring me the girl alive. I want her soul.”

Boba bowed mockingly before his employer. “As you wish.” Jabba uncorked a bottle, allowing the yellowish liquid to flow around Fett. When it disappeared, he too was gone.

Jabba turned with satisfaction to the pearl. “If Fett doesn't get her, the Stone Cliffs will. No merfolk can make it over that. They're sheer rock. This is the end of the line for you, Little Beauty, and that brother of yours!”

His hoots of laughter could be heard for miles throughout the ship's graveyard.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Now what do we do?”

The rock wall in front of them was sheer granite. It seemed to go on forever. Leia couldn't see the top of it, not even standing on Luke's shoulders and the dogfish's back. “We can't...swim.” Luke shook his head. “Too...far. Too...long.”

Leia brushed her fingers against one narrow ledge. “Could we climb it?” She placed one foot against it. It held. She grabbed hold of a rock and pulled herself to the next ledge.

The dogfish whimpered, upset over being left behind. Leia looked over her shoulder as she propelled her feet to the next ledge. “Oh, stop. You're a much better swimmer than we are. You could probably swim up there faster than we could climbing.”

“Leia,” Luke called when she was already a quarter of the way up, “wait...for...me!”

“Don't be a slowpoke!” His sister laughed and pushed herself onto the next ledge.

It wasn't an easy climb. The ledges were narrow, and many of them were eroded by years of seawater tumbling over them. There were a few times she almost lost hold of the rock, or the minerals under her feet crumbled, leaving her barely able to hold on. “Be...careful!” Luke called under her. The dogfish propelled himself past her, his tail swishing like crazy.

She was more than half-way up the rocks when the first boulder came crashing down. She just managed to avoid it by swimming to another ledge. “Luke, watch out!” She waved a hand where her brother could see it. “I think someone's up there!” Indeed, she swore she could see something green, red, and silvery in the light at the top of the cliff.

Another series of rocks rained down over them. One just scraped Leia on her left, leaving her side red and torn. It hurt like hell, but there was no way she wasn't going to continue. She had to find Han and get to the end of this maze. She wasn't going to lose him, and she sure as hell wasn't going to give up her soul the way Luke lost his.

Her legs and arms became more and more sore the higher she went. Her fingers cramped. It was becoming harder to hold on. Two fingers just grasped the craggy top when two sharp needles stabbed them. She screamed...then threw up the other hand, trying to grab at the thing that stabbed her.

Three wicked-looking prongs easily lifted her up to the top, dropping her on her rear on the ocean floor. “You!” It was the oddest trident she'd ever seen, more liked a three-pronged-crossbow...and it was aimed right at her. “You're one of Jabba's shark men. You were the one who helped capture Han!”

The half-shark, half-armored man bowed before her as she floated upright. “Seems I'm well-known, even among human princesses.” He raised his mechanical trident. “My boss sent me to bring you back alive. He didn't say just how much alive.”

“You bastard!” Leia pulled out her sword. “The only way I'm going back to Jabba is with Han...and with Jabba's head on a pole. I won't let him get away with this anymore!”

Fett's mechanical trident was faster than Leia expected. One grazed her left shoulder as she swam out of its reach. She screamed, but still went at him with her sword. The girl got as close as she could, slashing at his tail. He hissed when she left a deep cut in his tail, just under his torso.

“You little bitch!” Fett smacked her across the face, his armor leaving a stinging cut on her cheek. “I don't care what Jabba wants. For that, you die.”

The bounty hunter was about to shoot her again when a familiar set of dogfish jaws clamped onto his fin. He shrieked like a girl as Luke grabbed his arms, yanking him back hard. Leia swept the sword into her hand, stabbing him in the tail.

“Son of a...” He tried to swim back, but the ragged cut in his tail limited his mobility. “You'll pay for that!”

“Later.” She glared at him. “I know Jabba's been sending his boys after me ever since I entered the maze. I saw them at least twice. That mummy-fish man was his, wasn't he? So was the lizard-man. Tell Jabba I'm going to make it through this maze whether he likes it or not. If he sends anyone else to stop me, they'll end up in far worse shape than just being hit on the head with a rock. I will hack their tails off and feed them to the nearest sea monster!”

Luke's glare was nearly as frightening. “I...not...slave. Not...go...back. Ever.” The dogfish just opted for looking menacing.

“I won't forget this.” Fett finally limped down the cliff, his tail not moving. The others turned towards the exit just as a yellow light engulfed the defeated bounty hunter.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“YOU IMBECILE! HOW COULD YOU LET THEM GO?”

Fett had never seen his boss this angry. He'd fed at least six slaves to his pet tiger sharks, sending the others scurrying to opposite sides of the wreck. He slammed his fat fist down on the throne and turned a whole school of angelfish into very ugly snails.

“Look, boss,” Fett complained, clutching his sore tail, “it's not a total loss. I got the girl on the arm and on the side with a rock when she was on the cliff. She's injured. The slave's still weak from your spells. He won't be able to help her forever.”

Jabba turned to his potion shelves. “You were going to kill her.”

The bounty hunter clutched his sore tail. “Yeah, and?”

“You're my best man.” He handed one of the bottles to Boba Fett. “Get to the center. Most of these bottles will help you stun those creatures blocking the paths. The last one will take care of Solo and Prince Luke. Don't bother with the girl. She's no longer your concern.”

Fett tried to bow again, but he wound up settling for a quick “As you wish” before sauntering out. He nearly lost two bottles on his way out and had to go back for them, cursing loudly.

As soon as he left, Jabba swept another bottle into his hands. “I can see I'm going to have to deal with this myself.” He popped open the green glass vessel. “It'll be worth becoming this ugly to get that soul.” He swallowed the contents of the bottle in one gulp.

The same green liquid that consumed Han wreathed around Jabba. He screamed at first...but his screams became wild laughter as he saw what was happening to him. His fat limbs stretched out, became strong and slender. The heavy torso and body metamorphosed into a broad, muscular chest. His short, stubby tail became long and smooth, with gold and green scales that glittered like a scavenger's treasure. Thick golden hair grew from the top of his head.

“Now,” he boomed, “for the final touch.” Among the bottles and jars on his shelf of evil magic was a single lavender clam shell. He'd used this enchanted shell to trap Solo's voice after he'd agreed to trade it for human legs. He flipped the shell open, allowing a white light to flow into his mouth.

“Well, sweetheart,” he sneered, watching the trio in the pearl, “let's see how well you do when you're dealing with the master.”