Magic

Chapter 12: The Chief

Olaf pointed to the mermaid. "I wish those were real. Then they can save us."

"They are real, Olaf." Rapunzel smiled. "You know, a friend of mine fell in love with one once."

Olaf goggled at her with a large smile. "Really? Can you tell me?"

As Rapunzel told Olaf about when Hook Foot fell in love with Seraphina, she wondered if they ever saw each other again. She hadn't seen Seraphina since she left and while she did see one of the concerts of Hook Hand and Hook Foot last year, Rapunzel hadn't asked about her. The brothers had been touring all over the world so maybe they'd run into Seraphina somewhere.

"Wow, that was what happened?" Olaf asked. Rapunzel nodded at him. "I hope that Hook Foot and Seraphina will see each other again."

"Me too."

Olaf's mouth dropped and he let out a gasp. "Hey, maybe Seraphina will help us!" he exclaimed. Before Rapunzel could reply, Olaf began shouting for Seraphina. "Seraphina! Can you help us? Seraphina—"

Rapunzel quickly shushed Olaf and gave him an apology for telling him to be quiet. She thought that she heard something splashing nearby and didn't know what it was. At first, she thought that maybe Seraphina happened to be in the same area as them, however, there didn't seem to be any sign of her. Her heart thudded at the possibility that something was nearby and she gestured for her friends to remain silent.

They remained still in the basket for what felt like an entirety. All they could hear was the water splashing underneath them. Rapunzel peered out into the water, searching all over to see if there was anything nearby. She expected to see something pop out of the ocean, yet she only saw the calm waves bobbing. After a moment of observation, Rapunzel decided that they were fine for now. She must have misheard something or her mind was playing tricks on her.

"What was that?" Olaf asked, peering over the edge of the basket and back at Rapunzel. "What do you think that was?"

"It could've been just a fish," Rapunzel suggested. She stared at the waters around her again for any sign of land. "We are in the middle of an ocean, after all, Olaf." Pascal chattered to her. "I know, Pascal. I want us to get out of this soon too."

Rapunzel felt an inch at the back of her throat and her mouth was dry. She opened up the little basket that Henry packed them. Fortunately, he had packed them some water. Unfortunately, they didn't have much left, and being under the blazing sun yesterday made things worse.

"Olaf? Pascal? Do you guys need water?"

They both nodded and Rapunzel took out the jar. After she removed the lid, she peered down and her heart heated up. From the looks of it, there was only enough water for two of them. Without hesitation, she allowed Olaf and Pascal to take a slip until the jar was empty.

"What about you?" Olaf asked, worriedly. "Aren't you thirsty too?"

After she put the jar back on, she shuddered at the idea that unless they found land soon, Olaf and Pascal would be thirsty again.

Pascal peered up at her with concern and chattered to her. "I'll be fine, you guys. I can wait until we stop," Rapunzel assured. "We'll find land soon and then we'll get more water." Pascal chattered to her. "I'm sure that it won't come to that, Pascal."

Olaf peered at the water and gasped. "I have an idea! We can drink from the ocean. We could just fill the jar with water and we'll be fine!"

"I know that you're trying to help, Olaf, but we can't drink saltwater."

"Why not?"

"Saltwater would do more harm to us than good," Rapunzel explained. She admitted that it was tempting to fill their jars with saltwater with them being surrounded by water and the sun dehydrating them. But she'd read about the effects of saltwater and didn't want them to suffer the dehydrating consequences of drinking out of the ocean. "I know that it looks like we could drink from it, but we can't. When we find land, I promise that we will find water."