“What is that?” Violet murmured in her small delicate voice, unlike my own, which was strong and powerful.
“It’s the world...” Bear stumbled forward, observing the item with such care. This was the first I had heard him speak since we had arrived in this oddly placed circus.
“Indeed it is the world.” The rabbit chuckled. “I have the world in the palm of my hand.”
“Hoof.” Violet corrected, to which the Rabbit laughed, “Indeed child.”
“How did you know that was the world, that he has?” Violet aimed her question at our human counterpart.
“I have seen it on maps. Though it never really looked round it always looked flat... but the markings are the same.” he pushed some hair from his forehead and stepped closer, “may I?” He looked at the globe, without so much making eye contact with its possessor.
“Go ahead,” it replied.
“There... there is my home, I’m pretty sure at least.” Bear trailed his finger over one of the sections.”
“And there is the ocean. So that is where you are from, though I’m not too sure what part.” he looked at Violet, who squinted her eyes at where Bear was pointing.
“And this is where you're going.” the Rabbit hit a heavy hoov onto the clouded section of the sphere... my home. He looked at me with a wicked grin, his large eyes narrowed, “That is your home. And the destination to which you are all going.” He looked at me, unwavering, the others following his stare. “You will encounter troubles, not only on your journey, but upon your destination, as you look for clues to fix your predicament,” he looked at Bear, who was going through stages of good health and falling ill. It appeared to happen in cycles. I wondered what he meant by encountering troubles on our journey into my home. Would my return home not be safe? No doubt I would be scolded for bringing outsiders back home, but to what extent?
The rabbit spun the world on his misshapen hoof. “You must hurry on your journey for each of you is needed back home. Your own homes.
“What's going on?” Violet asked, worry spread curtly across her face. She always had this look, like there was more going on in that head than she let off.
“Ha! Oh child. I cannot tell you that. Well, I can. But I’m not going to. You must hurry back and see. Once you have finished on your journey, of course.” He laughed, setting us off to our next destination.
CHAPTER Fifteen
Sage
“A merman” I repeated slowly. Trying to comprehend the words that were being spoken to me. His spell over me was strong, I could feel it, pulling me closer to the boat's edge. His sweet voice, lulling me.
“That’s right,” he said almost sarcastically. Was he mocking my naivety? I didn’t care. I wanted to be near him. “Where are you from?” I asked instinctively.
“The ocean.” He chuckled, “You're a cute human.” His words sent my cheeks red.
I batted long eyelashes at him, “But where in the ocean specifically?”
“Islanda.” his face turned more serious. “Do you want to see it?” His copper eyes burned into mine, not even taking a beat to blink.
My heart pounded, “Islanda?” A lump was forming in my throat. I knew I shouldn’t, but his pull on me was making it sound like the most beautiful adventure. One of the men on the boat stirred, kicking my leg and pulling me away from his gaze. He ducked back into the current.
When I was sure no one was awake, I cleared my throat and he came back to the surface, “What your name?” I enquired, making the connection with his honey gaze.
“Aalton.” he smiled sweetly, his sharp teeth shimmering in the moonlit atmosphere.
“Aalton” I repeated, washing the name around on my tongue. What a sweet name. Music to my ears. I didn’t know why I was thinking this way. I was never one to fuss over the male breed. Especially a mermaid, I said to myself in a hushed tone, choking over the word Mermaid.
“Merman.” Aalton corrected.
“Of Course.” I hummed.
“So do you want to come and see my home?” he urged again, I think you would enjoy it. There are a lot of pretty things there that drive the girls back home crazy.
Through my wavering haze, I remembered, only for a moment that I had a cause, a reason for venturing this far into the ocean. “Do you know of a mermaid that came to the surface to take a human? My brother was taken a few days ago and I'm trying to track him down.”
He faltered before answering my question, a dark look crossing his eyes. “Yes. I know the one. Follow me and I will take you to her.”
I felt my face light up. Finally someone that could help! “I might actually have a chance to find Bear now.” I mumbled excitedly.
“Bear?” Aalton asked, a scoff made its way through his tone.
“Yes, Bear.” I said in all seriousness, slightly offended now by his reaction.
“Humans have ridiculous names.” he rolled his eyes.
Someone began to stir, followed by others. I shoved Aalton’s head down instinctively. “Come and find me tonight.” I whispered.
“Crew, let's continue our journey!” I stood at the end of the ship, pulling my belongings onto my shoulder. They grumbled but did as I said, taking their places and picking up an awe for every few men.
CHAPTER Sixteen
VOILET
What could be happening back home? I bet Esmeralda was causing trouble because she didn’t want me to leave. She was such a nuisance. I hadn’t thought much about home since I left, but this strange Rabbit had me worried. Especially since the fox, and the Canine had told me to trust the creatures in the line. There was a lobster at the last post. I took that as a sure sign, being a creature from home and all. It bit Iris, which amused me. She would never survive where I was from. Though, I had to admit, I was beginning to become fond of her, despite her ways.
Bear, on the other hand, was becoming more solemn by the day and it was showing. While at first, his sickness seemed to come and go, at this point we needed to find him a cure and we needed to find it fast or else, his demise would be on our hands. Mine and Iris’s. Me, since I offered to help him in the first place, and hers, because she said she would find a cure and get us to the Isle of fairies before it was too late.
The journey so far hadn’t been as taxing on my body as I thought it would have been. Sure, when I first had my legs removed, I was in the most excruciating pain that I had ever experienced, though as time went on, I began to realise that it was worth it. One, because I could never get this kind of experience back home and would have lots to brag about to my sisters and future children, and two, because I didn’t really want to face what was going on back home despite how much I missed those pearly gates.
When we were children, Esmeralda and I would talk about the future, about who would be the better ruler between us when the time came.
“Obviously it will be me,” she said in a matter of fact tone, sweeping her flawless red hair across her shoulder, landing it on her back. The way it settled, always had me jealous. Though, I didn’t think wasting time spending hours on end brushing my hair was worth it to achieve the desired result... not when there was so much exploring to do. “ha,” I replied, mockingly, “how could you be the ruler that our kingdom needs when you just spend all day brushing your hair? what kind of skill would that bring to our kingdom? what our kingdom needs is someone to actually rule” I said, waving a cone shell in her direction.
“Is that right? Well, I don’t think you could do that, since you're never here!” She dragged out the last two words. “How could you be there for your peoples every request, when you’re always away exploring?” I fell onto the soft sand, a chuckle erupting from within me. “Perhaps neither of us are fit to be queen.”
“Maybe one of your sisters will take the throne” she suggested. Causing us to both break out in a fit of laughter. “yeah right”. I lay my back down on the soft sand beneath me, gazing up at the rippling water above. “I guess when the time comes, one of us will be chosen.”
“I think you're right.” she sighs, joining me on the soft sand, her hair floating around her.
A jolt directed us forward, causing my eyes to fly upward. Above the golden mane was the long line of conspirators ahead of us. This was going to be a long and daunting trip- each creature, more peculiar than the one before, spilling untold truths of our futures. I would rather not know to be honest. All it was doing was delaying my return home even more.
Directly in front of us was a woman. She was no ordinarily women, I could tell by the way her skin and clothes were almost see through, as though she were a ghost; again, I had only heard of a ghost from tales back home, and though I didn’t believe many of those stories, the things I had seen since starting my journey across Sugarland had contradicted my original thoughts on many things. She swayed as if being hushed by a lullaby and held a goblet in her hand. A puff of dark smoke smouldered around her figure. Her brown hair was pulled into a slick bun and had a pink flower tucked into its strands. Her look was outdated as if she were not from this century. Her face displayed sadness, emptiness, loneliness. She made me feel sad.
As we crowded around her, waiting for her to speak, though never expecting, as some others before had seemed to have no voice... Iris squeezed my hand, sadness spreading across her delicate features, “She lost her son and husband to illness, she lived years of loneliness before perishing herself, only to be trapped in the spirit world. She wonders around, exuding sadness and loneliness. She can be dangerous and doesn’t usually speak when spoken to. We should move on.”
“How do you know?” I went to speak but Bear took the words from my mouth.
“I can hear her thoughts.” “I can hear all their thoughts.” the words escaped her lips in no more than a whisper, not to arouse suspicion. As we continued on, Bear's cloak brushed against the woman’s garment. She shrieked out like a cougar in the night.
Terrified, I pulled on the horse’s mane to hurry it along, when she spoke. “WAIT.” her voice boomed across Sugarland, causing an uproar in the patrons ahead. Creatures were bowing their heads, while others were screaming out. We recoiled in fear, the horse rising to its back legs. We stilled as a group, not wanting to move a muscle in hopes of not making the situation worse. “Come back to me. Now. What do you want?” Her voice was stern and equally as terrifying.
“Uh... nothing. Sorry to have bothered you.” Bear tensed, his face draining of colour.
“Then why do you bother me?” She roared, her strength gaining by the second.
“Sorry, I-I didn’t mean to touch you.” He looked as though he were about to burst into tears. I felt for him, I did. He kept messing up along the way and it wasn’t making our job any easier. Though I’m sure he knew that and it was making him feel bad.
She looked carefully at him and then to Iris and myself, “Well, now that you have my attention, what do you want?”
Bear looked up at her with hooded eyes and sheepishly answered her, “Do you have any advice for the road?”
She took such a long time to answer that we almost made a run for it, when suddenly, she looked down at us from her elevated height. “Keep your eyes on the road ahead, keep a close eye on each other and never get distracted. If you do, you might just lose one of the members of your party.” We took that advice as a parting gift and quickly moved to our next suiter.
CHAPTER Seventeen
BEAR
I sat in my cell, unable to move far from my constricted space. Thoughts were running through my head a million miles a minute. How did I get here? What was happening back home? Was this all worth it? Right now it seemed as though we would never get out of here. The place that was meant to bring healing, imprisoned me instead. Us. All of us I’m different corners of the kingdom. No communication and no way of planning an escape.
I sighed. Iris was the only one that could free us, but even she was trapped. I thought about our entrance into the strange, jungle like death trap. Our bodies were flying in different directions inside the pink hurricane. It was an experience I will never forget. The woman ahead of us was ghostly, terrifying and unlike any woman I had seen in my lifetime, though in the past few weeks, I had seen so many different kinds of women that I was beginning to question what I thought was a woman all along.
The women in the isle of fairies seemed to rule the land; very unlike my own home. They had pointed ears, were large in stature and had very severe tempers. The men bowed to them, whimpered when they shot a look of doom in the poor guys direction, and cowered away when they were struck. I was truly in an alternate universe. “They may seem cruel, but they are fair.” Iris had whispered in my ear after we had been shot out of the hurricane and into the Isle of fairies, where her mother and the rest of the hierarchy were waiting for us. Their glares shot daggers through me. I definitely understood how the other men felt. Violet however, glared back at them. The fearlessness of a woman, I will never understand.
A few short moments later and we were being tossed into cells of iron bars and told of our treason. “You will never leave these gates. You are now my prisoners for all your days to come.” Glenda’s powerful voice barked at us. I lost all hope. I would never be healed now. Slumping back into a hunched position, I inspected the cell with my eyes. Vines were taking back their home, wrapping themselves around iron poles and my cell itself was taken over by lush greenery. Other outcasts lingered around my cage, doing chores for the Faery queen. There was one thing they all had in common. They were all men.
CHAPTER Eighteen
Iris
“I can’t believe my mother actually imprisoned me.” I scoffed to Gerry, crossing my arms. Gerry was in a kind of imprisonment himself. Though unlike mine, his sentence was a lifelong servant role. He served my mother, whatever she may need from this side of the Isle. Him and the others in this service were not to ever venture to my mothers side. This was for those born into a curse; meaning somewhere along the line, his ancestors offended the hierarchy and now he was here to pay for their sins. One of the typical job titles for people like this, was that they were to keep an eye on the prisoners, feed them and tend to their needs. However, there hadn’t been anyone in these cells in thousands of years. So the lucky trio got to be the ones to break that streak.
Though Gerry and I should have never met before today, I often ventured to this side of the Isle exploring. My mother caught wind a few times, when spies would spot me and run to their queen. Of Course this would get me scolded and lectured about where I wanted to end up; but I didn’t care. The risk was worth the reward. The reward being that I got to see things other people in the Isle never did.
“You know your mother, she likes to make a point.” Gerry continued to sweep leaves from the same spot about five feet from my cell.
“It’s more than that. She’s onto me. She saw what I was doing down there in Sugarland. She just can’t stand anyone doing magic. Of Course they teach us about magic and how to perform it in school, but we are never to use it. It’s like a trap. They are setting us up for failure.” I waved a twig with a few rogue leaves in the air.
“Your mother loves you. I am sure she is just trying to teach you a lesson.” He didn’t look up from his sweeping.
“Ha. A lesson. Sure. How can you even say that after what she put you through? A life of torment. A life of loneliness.” I stared at his back, waiting for him to turn around.
“I made my own bed child.”
“No, your ancestors did.” I shook my head at his logic.
“And that is a berdan I must carry for my days to come.”
I felt sad for him. I could see his helplessness and that he really felt that he was trapped. But, if he had accepted it, then who was I to try and convince him otherwise? “Well, will you get me out of here, if not yourself?”
“And end my life right now?” He shook his head with sorrow.
“She won’t kill you. She’s not that cruel.” I bartered.
“Not to your kind...” he wouldn’t
look at me.
“What do you mean... my kind? You are a faerie too Gerry...” now I was just confused. Mother could be cruel, but not to the extent he was implying... could she?
“Let’s just say she will do whatever it takes to make a point.” He began to move away from my cell.
I let his words linger.
How bad could my mother have been? Did she have a secret life, a secret way of doing things that I wasn’t aware of? I did tend to stick to myself most of the time... Maybe her actions had slipped my attention. Or was it that she was a different person when she was on this side of this side of the Isle?
CHAPTER Nineteen
Voilet
I had been thrown into a metal box, a cage. This was far worse than any form of punishment back home... because this was foreign. I had no idea what was going to happen to me or if i’d ever get my tail back and return to the ocean. I cursed myself in every word of every language I knew. How could I have been so stupid as to trust a faery? I had let my better judgement slip away and my infatuation for Bear and adventure take over me like a plague. I may as well have left my brain back on the glassy shore along with my tail. Or better yet, not come at all.
I was meant to be the new leader of Islander, yet here I was trapped in a foreign country, and willingly might I add. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. “Can you help me?” I called out to someone walking by, but they ignored me. “Ha. Don’t worry about me. I’m not a Faery, I don’t deserve any attention.” I slumped back into a pile on my new legs, fingers wrapped around the bars. I brushed one of my long pearlescent nails on a vine, it wrapped around the bar as if it owned it. Plants on land were strange, and even stranger in this place. They resembled colours similar to those back home, with their bright pinks and blues, greens and purple, and orange. Orange was my favourite. This one though, was a mixture of all the colours and seamlessly blended from one to the next as the leaves climbed the pole.
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