The Unknown Realm #4 (Waverly Stump and The 7 Realms)

XXV

Waverly ran out of air fast.

She thrashed about in a desperate attempt to swim back to the surface, but her struggle only drew her farther down. Her nose and eyes burned, and the frightening image of her last underwater encounter sprang to the hull of her mind. Panic made her drown even quicker, but as she struggled on, she felt a pair of arms wrap strongly around her midsection.

Her first thought was that Judson had come to save her, but then, Judson was not a very good swimmer, and she had dropped far beyond sight underwater. Her head broke through the surface the next second, and she panted for breath, coughing and spluttering. When she finally had the time to register her savior's face, she smiled and exhaled in relief.

"Hello, Niana."

Niana's eyes were bright with excitement, and she still had her arms wrapped around Waverly so that her face was directly under the latter's chin. She gurgled and tilted her head multiple times.

"It is very wonderful to see you again, and if you are wondering how I'm doing, well, I am quite alright now." Waverly said.

The water bopped her and the Nixie around, growing colder with every passing second. Sooner than expected, her teeth began to chatter.

"I need a favor, Niana." She went on.

A sudden pull on her midsection made her gasp in shock, but she quickly discovered the reason for it; another Nixie had used her as some form of support to draw herself to the surface. The creature was unbelievably heavy, and had almost dragged Waverly all the way under, possibly without even meaning to.

"Oh, hello." She greeted the intruder then turned to Niana again. "I need you to help steer a really big ship out into the ocean. I don't know if you can do it all by yourself, or if you would probably be needing assis—"

Another forceful yank made Waverly trail off with a quivering gasp. A Nixie surfaced right behind her, and another behind that one.

"Say, how many of you are here together at the same time?" She asked then yelped when another pull forced her jaw into the water.

A red haired Nixie like Niana came up to her left. It began to baffle Waverly why there were so many Nixies, but even if she asked, she would get no answers because the creatures were incapable of speech.

Instead, she pointed to the cavern. "Over there! The ship is over there."

As if waiting for her to say so, the Nixies began to swim with her in the direction. Soon, she caught sight of Judson sitting cross legged on the sand in front of the water. At the sight of the advancing creatures, he hurriedly stood and gaped at the crowd.

"Was this your whole idea?" He asked as Waverly waded up to him, stretching out a hand to help pull her out of the water then handed over her beige coat. He had been fumbling with its big, brown buttons while he sat.

"Yes. I'm sure you've met Niana and her sisters before now. They are here to help us."

Judson excitedly walked closer to the Nixies, but they all simultaneously moved back as if afraid of his approach. He halted, feeling a pang of slight guilt and opted to wave in greeting instead.

"I did not get to say thank you the last time we met." He said to Niana. The Nixie blinked up at him in silence. Yet, it was a sort of reverential silence.

"The circumstances then did not permit me to, but now that you are all here again. . . thank you."

Niana gurgled slowly, and her face lifted as if pulling back into a smile. The other Nixies collected behind her with their gazes planted on the water. They all seemed very nervous, and the awkward scenario made Judson even more uncomfortable.