Claxton 2: The Curse of Poseidon

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Atlantic Oracle

        Ash felt nothing but warmth in the Chamber of Reestablishment. It was so comfortable; he didn't want to leave the glowing water he rested in. Deep within the shrine was a pool of special water, and this pool was where he was. It's water helped his injured brain heal. Thanks to it, finally the swelling had gone down, and he started to come to again.

        The young fairy's bright, blue eyes slowly opened, and he blinked as he continued to float. The first thing he saw was the shrine's blurry but gorgeous, blue ceiling. It was quiet in here. Peace. For the first time since before the feud, Ash felt peace – thirteen years later. Totally soaked, he sat up. His hair looked brown when it was wet, but the dirty blonde color would return when it dried. He turned his head in each direction and still tried to figure out where he was. Normally he would know, but his mind was currently a blank due to his brain injury, and also from the fact that he had been lying dead for the past six hours. Ash couldn't even speak, but he did notice that he was breathing pretty heavily.

        The Scottish Fairy's eyes landed on the pool's edge, and he saw it was surrounded by a ring of rocks – a small rock wall. He rolled over the side of it, hitting the soft ground, but he stood up. Ash tiredly but curiously examined the strange patterns and murals on the chambers' rocky walls. They glowed like the shrine's pool. He stopped under one mural that showed a picture of a wingless fairy speaking to a group of sprites. The fairy held a crusader sword in his left hand. Ash was totally unaware that that was him he was looking at. He was a bit out of it right now.

        Passing the mural of the wingless fairy, it wasn't long until he stumbled upon another one. This one showed a picture of a young, female fairy. On her head of long, brown hair, she wore a crown. It was like she was a princess or something. The picture illustrated her fighting against a mysterious shadow that had eight, Kraken-like arms. This was Makenna Delling, but because Ash's mind was currently a blank, he didn't recognize her. Right now, his sore brain focused on trying to think of way to get out of here. Before he made an attempt to, he peeped over his shoulder to the mural of Makenna and cautiously studied it. Something about that fairy in that painting was familiar to him, but what? Ash would hopefully remember soon.

        It wasn't long until he found himself back under the somewhat familiar mural, and he reached his hand up to the female fairy. Just before he could touch her, he heard a sound off to the right and glanced in that direction. The sound came from a medieval-style rocky door that had a pattern of Ethelinda in its heart. Ash curiously watched as the pattern glowed up, and the door slowly opened. Creeeaaak. When the creaking stopped, the young Wizard Fairy officially was free from his six-hour spa treatment.

        Splash! The water let Tracey go the second his transformation ceased, and he hit the ocean. He ended up twirling a bit when he did because he wasn't exactly used to his new wings yet. It also had been over a year since his last pair. Closing his eyes, Tracey spun all the way down to some sand and seaweed. When he landed, a cloud of sand spewed up around him. The transformation wore him out a bit, but he stayed strong. He at first didn't believe he had new wings, but he did notice his hair had grown shorter. It freaked him out though when he noticed it strangely had changed color underwater! Aside from being shorter, his hair had changed from black to blonde with black highlights. The young man reached up and grabbed hold of the curved tuft of hair on top of his head, pulling it down so he could examine it. This was so weird! What on earth had happened to his hair?

        It wasn't long until he heard a woman's voice. It was different from the voice he heard before. "Tracey."

        Merlin's apprentice turned in the direction of another section of shimmering water. He gasped at what he saw in front of him and retreated back a few feet. Staring into his golden brown eyes was a beautiful creature who looked like a cross between a mermaid and a sea lion. Most of her body was white, and she had a long, fish-like tail. The tip of it was cyan. Long, light pink hair trailed down the back of her head, and a tiara-like structure adorned her forehead.