Part of your world

A Tiny Spell

"She can help me?"

The eel closest to them just smiled as the two continued out the door. Seb took a moment to asses his options, the way they saw it, he had three:
Go back on his decision to not return home and face the possibility of living out the rest of their life miserably
Stay where he was while he figured out where to go and what to do while having no resources or ideas on what to do next
Go and find out what their Aunt Ursula thought she could do to help them

Sparing one last glance at the ruins of the piano that had once stood pride of place in his collection, Seb followed after the two morays. He owed his aunt a visit.

He wasn't sure how long he followed the eels through the ocean, far enough that he realised at one point, he didn't recognise anything around them, they were certainly very far from the palace.

His aunt's place wasn't hard to miss, partly on account of it being the only structure for miles and miles of open ocean, and partly for the air of foreboding the building seemed to carry as puffs of strangely colored smoke poured from any opening they could find.

Seb slowed their pace slightly, beginning to rethink how smart this idea really was, only to find himself being pulled back along by a slimy tail wrapping itself around his wrist and pulling them closer to the building that Seb couldn't bring himself to see as a home.

The moment Seb felt himself being pulled over the threshold, a sense of panic settled within him, clutching Carlos's glasses towards them as of they would bring some form of comfort, Seb simply loitered by the doorway of the strange house, unsure if he would be able to turn and run even if he wanted to.

"Sebastian, how nice to see you"

Seb had no idea where the voice came from, the room seemed empty aside from themself and the two moray eels, who had slunk back into the shadows, apparently now confident that Seb wouldn't get cold fins again.

"Aunt Ursula?" they called into the dimly lit room, cringing slightly at the way their voice shook.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" the voice replied, Seb could vaguely make out a shadowy figure sat by the top corner of the room, where the rocky walls opened to a smaller cove engulfed in shadows, Seb could guess that was where his Aunt Ursula was hidden.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met" Seb responded, frowning slightly they had heard plenty of stories about the sea witch over the years, but they were quite sure he had never actually met the woman.

"Oh, I don't suppose we have, an easy mistake to make considering how much you look like your dear departed mother"

Seb shifted uncomfortably at the mention of his mother. Despite their hesitance as to whether Ursula was really as bad as their father made her out to be, it felt strange to discuss his mother with her.

Finally, his aunt began to move from the shadows as a black tentacle emerged from the darkness.

Fairly soon the woman had made her way fully into the brighter light of the room that Seb could only think to describe as some form of haunted kitchen.

Seeing her did nothing to alleviate Sebs slowly rising panic as she stood, in what they considered a far too casual manner, in the centre of the room, her eyes raking over Seb as he shifted uncomfortably by the doorway, her tentacles seemingly with a mind of their own were tossing around bottles of brightly coloured liquids as the two of them hovered in an uncomfortable silence.

"So Seb, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

The witch had a bright smile painted on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes, it was worryingly clear that this was a routine that she had practised time and again. Seb thought back to what the eels had said, 'Ursula deals in matters of the heart', and found themself wondering how many unsuspecting merfolk had been drawn to her cavern of spells in the same way he had.