The mermaid's expression changed at Viola's question.
"Ivy was taken by the sea witch. She believed Ivy was you and took her by mistake. But it was discovered later that she wasn't you, and she was thrown into a dungeon at the bottom of the sea."
Viola's breath caught. The sea witch again? What did she want from her?
The mermaid continued speaking, seemingly unaware of Viola's reaction, or perhaps simply unwilling to stop.
"But my mama secretly let her out. She's your mother's younger sister, and she couldn't just let her niece die like that."
"My mother is the mermaid?" Viola found herself asking in surprise, even though she wasn't entirely convinced everything the mermaid was telling her was true yet. She had wondered more than once which of her parents was the werewolf and which was the mermaid, and it turned out the mother who had heartlessly given her children away was the mermaid. The realization only gave her more reasons not to accept that part of herself.
