Origins

Origins VIII

The water was freezing! I saw Nico disappear and I jumped in after him. It was kinda stupid, considering that I couldn't swim. I was glad it was dark out. If anyone saw me, they would've cracked up from me flailing my arms and legs around frantically, trying to swim. I felt something swim quickly past my face.

"Another boy," I heard a feminine voice say.

"That's the second one," another voice said.

"I wonder if he knows the one with the red hair, Caly," I heard a third voice say. I knew what they were.

Mermaids.

I wondered briefly how many there were. I closed my eyes and tried to activate my Nico Sense, which in retrospect, was a pretty bad idea.

Mainly because I didn't have a Nico Sense.

I decided my best bet was to continue trying to swim forward. I tried to mimic moves that I'd seen from David Wilkie and got water up my nose for my trouble. I saw a flash of red in front of me. I tried to move towards it and then felt a mossy hand grab my ankle. A mermaid caught me. Instantly, a bubble formed around me and I could breathe. The hand carried me deeper as effortlessly as if I were a piece of seaweed. After far too long, we stopped, and Nico was there too, in an air bubble of his own, but unconscious. Then I heard a sound. It was beautiful, tantalizingly so. I remembered that I read about the Sirens from Greek mythology. I wouldn't be surprised if that was what this sounded like. I looked around, and saw that it was the mermaids singing. I saw Nico move, and he slowly stood up. As Nico and I locked eyes, the mermaids started to swim away, and our bubbles started to move closer together while also following the mermaids to wherever they were going. Eventually our bubbles merged. Nico's first instinct was to hug me.

"Peter, where are we going? I'm scared!" he said, frantically.

"I don't know," it really hurt for me to admit that I didn't know something, "But we're probably safe. I don't think they'll eat us."

"EAT us?!" Nico said. I smirked. I knew for a fact that they wouldn't eat us. But I enjoyed scaring him.

Nico was curled up in a ball at the bottom of the bubble when a young merman passed us buy. I raised my hand and he stopped.

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked. The merman let out a boyish laugh.

"Why, you're going to the sea king, of course!" he said, then spun off into the inky blackness.

The sea king! I wondered. We'd be meeting royalty. I heard Nico mutter something about the different varieties of kelp, his ashen face a stark contrast to his bright red hair.

After floating for what seemed like forever I saw something in the distance, shining like a lighthouse on a stormy night at sea. It could only be one thing. The sea palace. As we grew closer, it took my breath away. It was shining sapphire, with golden turrets rising higher than an underwater castle should be able to. It seemed to stretch for miles along the seafloor! I heard a harp playing with singing more beautiful than the Westminster Abbey choir. There were large windows at the front which I could see through clearly into what I guessed was the throne room. I didn't have to guess for long as our bubble was swept by the current into the chamber I'd seen before. At the front of the chamber was an ornate throne made out of amethyst, a contrast to the gold that covered the rest of the room. Sitting on the throne sat a king who looked more like royalty than the Queen. He looked like a pretty chill guy, for the most part. He looked like he was ready for a day at the beach, and he was wearing a short-sleeved button down shirt with a floral pattern. He had lines around his eyes and face, but it wasn't from age. It was from smiling and laughing a lot. I'd recognized those same lines on Criciro's face. He had a trident sitting in a glorified cupholder next to his throne. He waved his hand, and the bubble popped, unceremoniously dropping Nico and I to the floor.

"I'd usually let you bow, but popping the bubble seemed like a more fun option in this case," the king said smiling. He stood up. That's when I noticed that he had legs instead of a fish tail.

"My name is Andrei. I am the king of the sea."

"Kring. Krab. King?" Nico said, stumbling over his words. Andrei seemed to find that amusing.

"Yes, child. I am king," he turned and went back to sit on his throne. "Now, seeing as you know my name, I think it's only appropriate that I know yours."

Nico glanced toward me. I knew the look he was giving me. It was the same look he'd give me whenever we got caught in the act of doing something bad by a stranger. He was asking if we should use our real names. I nodded.

"I'm Peter. Peter Pan," I said.

"My name is N-Nioc...I mean...Nico. Nico Young," Nico said, still tongue-tied. Andrei smiled at that as well. He turned to the mermaid at his side.

"Calypso, please leave us. I'd like to speak with these two in private," Andrei said. Calypso bowed and swam out leaving us alone, standing in front of the ocean king.

"Now, then, we have much to discuss," he said, leaning back in his throne. I glanced over at my boyfriend. His face was still ashen (he had regained a little color), but I could tell one thing. He was terrified. And, even though I didn't show it, so was I.