Dome of Atlantis

Chapter 7

I slipped through the door and headed as far down the hall in the palace as I could. I could hear people talking in the distance, but it was it faded to no noise. I tried different door knobs until one of the doors gave away.

The room looked beautiful. Beautiful velvet colors were draped across the room and floors while hints of dust and spiderwebs decorated bookcases nearby. I walked over to get a better look. It looked as if the room had been taken care of, but no one lived in here anymore. I turned back and walked back out into the hallway.

I walked into a massive kitchen. It smelled as if people had just cooked an extravagant meal before the search and left without a trace. I walked around and saw a floorboard handle. I reached down and pulled up. A cellar opened up below me. I crouched down to smell wet dirt and an old nostalgic mustiness in the air.

Footsteps echoed in the distance along with a guard muttering to himself. "Why do I have to watch that stupid merman?" he said and walked towards the kitchen.

I quietly walked down a few steps and shut the cellar door silently. I listened while his footsteps echoed above me and on the cellar door. I sat down on the wet steps and waited for a while until I heard him start walking again and his footsteps grew silent. When I knew the coast was clear I pushed the door open and looked around.

No one stood in the kitchens.

I heard beautiful humming in the background and looked around. I wonder if the merman is singing again, I thought. I walked around the rest of the hall rooms and couldn't find a single trace of Ben. Is there a hidden prison room by the merman? I furrowed my brow and walked with determination to the merman's room.

The guard was sleeping once again and the merman stopped his humming.

I looked up to the gorgeous merman. I watched him and he watched me while I walked around his cage and along the walls for any secret rooms that might be hidden behind his cage.

"You're looking for your friend?" the merman asked me quietly.

I stopped my walk and looked back at him. I steadied myself and looked at him straight in the eyes. "I'm not going to fall in love with anyone here and I'm not going to let anyone eat my heart." I stood up straighter. I was quite surprised at the words that came out of my mouth, but I was glad that I wasn't cowering in fear.

"Well I would hope you wouldn't let anything terrible like that happen anyways. Did you and your friend have a chance to go look at the crash site?"

I turned my head to look at the sleeping guard. "Does your humming put him to sleep or is he just tired all the time?"

"A bit of both, you didn't answer my question."

"Yes we did. Why did you want us to find that ship?"

"There used to be a lady on that ship just like you. She crash landed here just like you too. The elven king at the time was the one who stole her heart."

"How do I know it was a merman that didn't eat her heart?"

"I thought that maybe there'd be a clue about her on the ship."

I looked at him curiously.

He looked back at me with a curious face and leaned closer to me in the water tank. "You did find something didn't you?"

"I don't know who to trust. Have you seen Ben around?" I asked.

"Your archaeology friend?"

I looked surprised at him and then nodded.

"I'm sorry I haven't. I've heard this guard muttering about him though. Let me tell you something that might help you with your trust."

"I'm just going to go ahead and trust myself," I said.

"This information won't hurt. The more you find information on the lady from the shipwreck, the more you will find out that the elven king stole her heart. If you're looking for proof, you might take a better look at the new elven ruler. He seems to have similar features of a human and an elf don't you think?"

I stopped and looked at him closely. "You're saying Edric is half human half elf and his dad killed his mom?"

"I didn't say anything, I think you're the one that needs to determine that for yourself. None of the elves want you to know the truth," he said.

"I'm going to go now," I told the merman.

"Ok miss Vivian, don't go and fall in love with that elf."

"Or you," I said and pointed my finger at him while I started to walk away.

"I'm too irresistible," he said and laughed.

I turned my head to look better at him.

He raised both his hands up in defeat. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It'll be safer if you don't fall in love with anyone. My name's Proteus, what is yours?"

I stopped my walk. Should I tell him? I thought to myself.

"Edric knows your name does he not?"

I looked up at him. "Vivian," I told him. "That's all you get. Bye for now." I said and turned around. I could feel his smile on my back.

"Hope to see you again Vivian. Remember: don't trust Edric," he said behind my back.

I smiled a small smile and walked away. He seems nice but they both do. I'll have to double check his words. If Edric is half human half elf, that means his mother did fall in love with the elf king. She mentioned something in her diary. I'm going to have to reread what she put in that book and talk to Felix about what I found out, I thought.

The sun was starting to set again. I needed to get back to my room and act sick once again. I hope Ben is ok. What did he mean by not trusting the elves. Curses, I forgot to ask the merman why the elves would want to eat my heart instead of the mermen since the dome is mostly protecting the elves. They would need a better excuse than that because merfolk can survive under the water. I walked over to my bed and sat down. I crawled back under the covers and waited until everyone came back from the search.

I heard a knock on my door. I got out of bed and walked over to the door to open it.

Felix looked worriedly over at me. "We need to go back to the ship pronto Vivian," he said and walked into my room to talk in secret.