“No offense, but I’m not sure you do. Alexis, you were born into this life. I wasn’t.” I said.
“You have spent your entire life believing this world didn’t exist. Most adults who find out, their minds can’t handle it. I want you to understand that I comprehend struggle and conflict, even if it isn’t the same as yours.”
“Ok,” I said, “I get that.”
“I want to help you get to a point where the struggle is less. You know? Your mind needs to accept this as real and not just a dream. I don’t think you ever will if you have the illusion that our race is perfect. You need to know how the pieces fit together and trust me; our culture has many flaws, just like the humans.” Alexis said.
I slowed my pace, matching my tail strokes with Alexis. My mind broken as it was, didn’t keep me from recognizing a real friend when I saw one. Alexis wanted me to know this side of her, this past, the least I could do is listen.
“Perhaps…Could I show you again? It’s a lot easier to let you see what happened versus telling it.” Alexis said.
I nodded. Alexis placed her hand on my forehead, this time she sang. It was different. A heavy melody flooded my mind. The song was full of sorrow and yesterday’s past. I drifted, a burst of color ran through my vision and once again, I was transported to another time, overlooking a much younger Alexis and the young mermaid with raven hair.
“Come on! Let’s go, Addiana! You’re going to get us caught!” Young Alexis yelled.
“Oh my Titan, calm down Alexis. You are seriously the most straight and narrow Mer I know. Just because you’re royalty doesn’t mean you’re never allowed to have any fun!”
“We aren’t supposed to be here,” a whimper escaped young Alexis’s face, and her tail swayed back in forth, “and you and I both know, it’s not fun that you seek!”
“Fine. Go home. I’m staying with or without you.” Addiana yelled back.
Addiana swam on, leaving Alexis behind in the coral. I could see a deep underwater cave. Its opening was lit with an eerie glow. She swam with purpose, chin lifted high, and straight towards the mouth of the cave. Her red fire tail glowed as she got closer and once inside, she became surrounded by light.
Alexis whimpered, swimming back and forth. She swam forward, as if going towards her friend, and then hesitated, only to duck back behind the tall coral.
“Addiana! Come Back!” she cried.
Turning, Addiana locked eyes with Alexis.
“You know I can’t. I have to know,” and she swam deeper within the cave, her fiery tail and fins glowing, getting smaller with each stride forward until nothing visible was left.
The absence of her friend gave Alexis the courage she needed, and she burst past the coral entering the mouth of the cave, her deep violet scales becoming illuminated the further she went inside.
The cave was eerily similar to the tunnel we had entered, and I couldn’t help wondering if they were connected as I watched the vision unfold before me.
Alexis had made it through the tunnel, swimming into another opening within the cave. I felt her fear as she finally reached Addiana. Within the opening sat a large shell. The shell was an unusual black color and bore goldlike writing on its outer layer. I didn’t have to read the writing to understand that it was old and powerful. The black shell opened, it’s lower half deep, like a dish. In its center stood a large pearl. The pearl swirled with light.
“Addiana, please. You shouldn’t be here. Neither of us has a right.”
Addiana ignored her friend and swam circles around the onyx shell and the pearl that rested within it. Finally, she stopped, and with that same defiant look and set chin, she reached out and touched the pearl.
Instantly the light burst forth stronger, swirling in a fury, and glowing until it became a bright and dark fusion of multifaceted shades of red. It rose to the cave ceiling, and as it swirled and widened, it wrapped its red light around Addiana, carrying her with it. I could hear Alexis scream, but all I could see was Addiana surrounded within the light. Her tail glowed brightly within its circle. Without warning, the light opened, releasing its hold on her. There stood, suspended above the pearl, a mirrored crystalized image of Addiana. She shook with fear as she looked into her own face and as she lifted her hand to touch the cheek, it spoke, stilling her outreached arm.
“You have come, you have dared, you have asked for a fate that was not meant to be shared. Now that you are here, you cannot leave until the question within your heart is known.”
Alexis still stood at the mouth of the opening, body shaking, panic in her eyes. Addiana looked at her friend and nodded. It would be done. She had to know.
“I need to know what happened to my mother, the truth,” Addiana said to the crystal face.
The crystallized image stretched her arms wide and opened her mouth. A song left her lips, a tale of the unknown, a story that told her mother’s life.
“I knew a raven-haired beauty, one with wild eyes, and strength in her stride. She bore the symbol of Atlantis, a trident mark on her side.
She grew into a Merwoman, one without fear. But something was wrong inside of her; she had a hunger so fierce.
The hunger grew, forcing her to search for something to fill its demand. It was an unquenchable desire, one that she couldn’t define.
Her people favored her, but their admiration could not quench the appetite that grew within her soul.
She swam to the surface, once finding peace and solitude. Who knew it would begin here? This was when her life took a turn for the worse.
Instead, she found a boat and a handsome face, a stranger of the human race.
The stranger was overwhelmed with her long beautiful red tail, captivated by her image; he dared not look away.
He wanted nothing more than to catch the raven-haired beauty, she laughed with relish at the chase, feeling alive, even if the moment was fleeting.
The hunger inside her grew to its fullest, it urged her by instinct, and she began to lull him forward.
She sang a sweet song to the handsome human, and he fell beneath her spell. A kiss was all it took…”
“STOP IT! STOP IT! SING NO MORE!” Addiana screamed
Addiana covered her ears, tears streaming from her eyes. Each tear glowed and floated away from her face. Her red tail swung side to side, and she screamed for the crystal light to stop. It was all to no avail. Once begun, the light wouldn’t stop until the truth was revealed.
The voice of the crystal image only grew louder, the song smothering Addiana’s screams, and filling the cave with the rest of the story.
“His breath caught beneath the open waters, she felt his life enter inside her.
He had met his fate within the waiting arms of a beautiful mermaid. She had found her hunger finally satisfied and knew what lay before her.
Trying to live separate lives, she kept the truth hidden from her people, marrying a handsome Merman and giving birth to two Merchildren.
Frequently she was called to the surface for her hunger. Frequently she would escape, and fill its desire.
The children that lay inside her only made the unquenchable hunger worse; she found herself escaping more and more until their birth.
One Merchild was born with a white tale like his father, the other a red tail like her mother. The joy of the birth could not last, for the same curse lurked inside the daughter, the girl with a trident on her side.
Upon seeing the trident on her daughter, the mother filled with anguish.
She swam with her young daughter, unable to withhold the tears, for she knew the curse that would taunt her child until the end of days.
An act of mercy was on the mother’s mind as she gave a kiss and hug goodbye.
She unsheathed her blade and pressed it to the merbaby, hesitating…unable to do what she sat out too.
She did not know; she could not understand, the shared curse between herself and her daughter.
&n
bsp; If she had, then perhaps Addiana’s fate would not be so, for when the mother took her own life, the full insatiable curse became whole.
As her life left her body, the father felt a strange pull and knew all was not well with his family.
He swam in a fury, guided by that unknown pull, to the place the mother had taken her Merdaughter.
His child alive, the mother dead beside her, he cried out in pain and came here to ask the same question.
Guilt and anguish filled his soul, his heart a shell of what it once was. He vowed to keep the secret buried and the curse dead to all.
He hoped his daughter would not hunger, would not heed the curse’s pull.
He thought he had succeeded, but we know better. The curse lies in wait, ready to release its insatiable hunger, for the day the mermaid turns sixteen.
None can escape the mark of the trident, for here this day I can tell you, child, it has awakened inside of you.”
The song ended as abruptly as it had started and the crystallized image began to break apart and fade. Alexis cried and swam towards her best friend, ready to help her any way she could. A curse did not mean she had to succumb to the same path as her mother.
As she swam to reach Addiana, Alexis’s violet tail brushed against the swirling pearl. Once more light burst forth in a fury, spinning wildly and entangling Alexis in its sparkling web. The colors surrounded and melded into one. Hues of violet filled with swirls of onyx and surrounded Alexis. Another mirrored image appeared, this time showing Alexis’s face.
“You have come, you have dared, you have asked for a fate that was not meant to be shared. Now that you are here, you cannot leave until the question within your heart is known.”
“Please, I didn’t mean to. Help me help her.”
Alexis’s outstretched hand pointed towards Addiana, her body laying on the ground. The being within the light seemed to soften, and this time a new song was sung.
“Unyielding some may call you, but those who are close, know the truth.
You are the daughter of a king, never wavering in your resolve when the time to do right presents itself.
You are the leader to come, some may try and stop you, but there your future is sealed.
The strength inside you is worthy, for you have not lost sight of who you are.
A request you’ve asked, not one for yourself.
A request you’ve made, with intentions pure.
This request I’ll grant, a future still unknown, but yet a chance.
With all that is to be, you now can share the same burden.” The crystallized face sang.
Both Alexis and Addiana were lifted into the crystal light, a whirl of colors surrounding them.
“This new burden will be heavy and weigh harsh on your future to come.
As the war rages inside you, you must not give in.
But still, it’s true…your friend will have a chance.
A battle she must endure, but less will be the hunger inside her.
A chance given, a new hope birthed.
But a warning is made, should she succumb to the curse,
Should she give in, even only once…
The burden you share will be no more, and the hunger will never cease to leave.
A warning made, the same to you, should you succumb to the curse.
If you give in, the shared burden will cease, and the hunger will never ease inside you.
For the curse only needs one, one to devour, and once found…it will consume her.
A chance you ask and a chance I give you.
May Poseidon stay strong inside you and may Atlantis’s trident not win the war on your soul.”
With the last sentence sung from the crystal image, the light began to fade. The mirrored imaged face drifted and pulled apart, re-emerging as a swirl of violet and red colors. Both mermaids spun inside the swirl of light. The violet light surrounded Addiana, and the red hues encompassed Alexis.
I could feel what the young Alexis felt. Lifted within the light, Alexis burst with red hues. A searing pressure took hold within her, the weight of the ocean surrounding her lungs. A scream left her lips as the pressure tightened its hold. Black dust, shimmering in the light wrapped around her side. Finally, the pressure eased, the black dust removed itself, leaving only a small mark on Alexis’s side in the shape of a trident.
The light was nearly gone, all that remained of the glorious colors were swirling inside the pearl. Alexis grabbed Addiana’s hand, and they looked at each other, words unspoken. A new bond made.
The dream was pulled away from my mind and once again I was back in the tunnel, swimming beside Alexis, processing all that she had shared.
Destiny and Home
I tried to grasp all that I saw. The intensity of the prophecy and the emotion that linked Alexis to this memory, both laid strongly on my heart. With the vision gone I was left to focus on the tunnel and our journey home. Alexis swam beside me, and I knew she was giving me time to process. Up ahead I could see my daughter Lauren swimming with her new friend, and I felt a familiar fierce protection towards her. I couldn’t help but compare it to how Addiana’s mother must have felt when she discovered the trident on her child.
I looked at Alexis and tried to see if she still bore the trident mark on her side.
“You won’t find it.” She said.
I felt the crimson red of embarrassment slip up my cheeks. Alexis gave a weak smile in return.
“It’s ok. I know it’s natural to want to know, especially after seeing the story of my past. The truth is, I wish it were still there but the trident left long ago. It disappeared after Addiana gave in to the hunger.” She said.
“I’m sorry,” I said, touching Alexis’s shoulder for comfort.
“I am too, but it truly was a long time ago,” Alexis reached into the satchel draped across her slender frame. She pulled out a necklace. It was a tiny black shell on a silver chain. I could see the gold markings on its outer layer and knew that it was formed in the likeness of the shell from Alexis’s memory.
“I want you to have this,” she said, and I allowed her to reach over and place the necklace around my neck.
“I kept this to remind me of our human and beast nature. Both living side by side in our species with a careful balance. Anytime you start to doubt or struggle to come to terms with who you are, look at the shell. You have a destiny to play, one that I can’t explain. Only you can find it, but I know it includes your daughter by your side.” Alexis said.
“Thank you,” I ran my thumb and forefinger across the black shell’s surface. Something seemed eerily familiar.
“Wait,” I said, “This necklace. It reminds me of something.”
Alexis smiled, “It should. When you were taken, the necklace helped me find you.”
“I don’t understand,” I said.
Alexis slowed her pace and stared at me.
“I know. I’m sorry. I hate that you were tortured. When my daughter and I found you, we couldn’t get to you in time. I knew you weren’t ready to change just yet. Your body was just finding its way as Mer. The first change is always the most difficult. I placed the necklace around your neck before they took you. I wish I could have stopped them.” She said, tears pooling in her eyes.
“I don’t blame you.” I said, “You know, I remember this necklace now. I used to grab onto it. It broke through my fantasy. The one the others used to try and trick me. I thought the necklace belonged to me…it felt so much a part of me.”
“I’m glad I placed it on you,” Alexis said, “it has a spell on it. A truth spell.”
I looked down at the black shell necklace, wondering what kind of truth it revealed. Worry began to fill me.
“Don’t be afraid, please,” Alexis said, “the spell helps you remember the truth. To know who you are, for better or worse.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing,” I said, remembering the bodies
from my last meltdown. Guilt filled my soul.
Alexis placed her hand on my shoulder.
“Please don’t say that. What happened was terrible, yes…but not intentional. You aren’t like my friend Addiana. You’re more in tune with your human side. I think this necklace will help you find the balance between the two. I used to wear it when I had the trident mark.” She said.
“Why me, Alexis? I’ve wanted to ask you that a long time. Why go to the trouble of helping me adjust to this magnitude? I’ve caused a lot of grief to my newfound home, the people I killed…” shudders ran through my tail at the memory.
“Shh. I know we must face that side of you, but trust me when I tell you, I know the difference between a person who can’t change and one that can. What you did was an accident, that doesn’t make you a monster.”
I flicked my tail in agitation and couldn’t help the bitter ring that surrounded my words as I sent my thoughts back to Alexis.
“Killing that many people of a dying race seems pretty horrific to me. I don’t know if I can control it. I just know I don’t want to hurt my daughter.” I sobbed.
“Stop it,” Alexis picked up the pace, and my cast down head snapped up in surprise.
“For Poseidon’s sake, stop pitying yourself, Myra! I have seen a world of mistakes and monsters through both human and Mer species. You are not one of them. My best friend turned into a monster. Do you know what a true monster is Myra? It’s someone that shows no guilt or remorse for the harm they cause. The curse swallowed her whole, but she let it! Don’t let the mistakes you’ve made make you feel unworthy of existing. Suck it up and learn. We didn’t know what you were capable of then, now we do, and you have a teacher staring right at you.”
I looked at Alexis and couldn’t help the smile on my face. She returned that smile with a knowing look, and I gasped at her outstretched hand.
“Welcome home.” She said.
Thank you for taking the time to read Diving in Deep, the third short story in The Triton Series. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated. Thank you!
Diving in Deep Page 3
