Dome of Atlantis

Chapter 11

     I sat on the my bed holding the familiar diary I had pulled out of the bookcase. I hadn't had the chance to look at all of it before Edric came and took it away from me. He handed it back to me like a gentleman once we got inside the palace.

     I opened up the diary once again. Edric's little face greeted me. I skimmed through her diary looking for merman and elf or Rainier and Maxwell just to see if I could find more information on the two. I kept skimming until one page caught my attention.

          Dear Diary,

     I love Rainier and my dear Edric, but I miss home. I need to get back. I read that a portal opens up for 5 minutes when a true love's kiss happens. The portal is supposed to happen near where Maxwell has been helping me put the ship back together. I don't think Rainier would be happy with me at all if he found out Maxwell's been helping me try to get home. There's no way I'd be able to take Edric there without him talking about Maxwell to Rainier. He's been learning a lot now, especially talking. He's quite fascinated with airplanes and motor cars just like little boys are.

     I remembered Edric asking me questions about airplanes when we made our trip to the ship. I turned the page and kept skimming, but I couldn't find more information that would help me. I shut the book and looked around. I sat up and watched as my imprint on the bed slowly faded away. I put the book up and heard silent footsteps outside.

     The footsteps came to my door and stopped. After a little bit I heard the steps fade away from my door after waiting a bit.

     My curiosity got the better of me and I headed to my door. I quietly pushed my door open and peeked my head out of the frame to look around. spotted Edric walking away from the palace.

     Should I follow him? I thought.

     Before I fully acknowledged my thought, my footsteps started to follow Edric's trail. I followed him out to the beach and watched him sit down in the sand. He leaned back and allowed his hands to meld into the sand behind him so he could lean back and look at the dome. He lifted his head straight up to examine the dome as a whole.

     "Care to join me Vivian?" he asked.

     I froze in my tracks now that I realized my cover was blown. I wrapped my arms behind my back and shyly walked over to Edric.

     Edric patted on the ground next to him and tilted his head to look over at me.

     I sat down next to him where he patted the sand.

     His hair laid gently to his side and he was barefoot.

     "Do you not have guards follow you around Edric?" I asked him.

     "I don't need them when the dome is around the island. Mer-folk can't stay on land long and they're pretty vulnerable out of the water," he spoke.

     I looked away from Edric's gorgeous face and looked up at the dome. "Why do elves and mer-folk not get along? I know they don't because of this whole dome situation, but were they never friends before?"

     "There's so much history between elves and mer-folk, but I honestly don't remember learning about us and the mer-folk ever having peace in the past. Honestly, I wasn't included in many elf outings or learnings when I was little. My maid kept me safe along with guards and would only teach me things about the island and  how to survive. The only history I learned was to protect women from mer-folk."

     "What about men? Do men get serenaded to their death?"

     Edric looked over to me. "They do have the siren song that supposedly lures people to the mer-folk. Were you not lured by that merman's song when I found you next to our sleeping guard?"

     "I would've been able to resist it actually. I was just more curious, and to be honest a little worried when I saw him as a prisoner."

     "I was afraid he'd try to eat your heart if you were to fall in love right away."

     I chuckled at his comment. "It doesn't work that way."

     "What do you mean?" he asked.

     "You have to get to know them a lot better than just see them."

     Edric sat in thought for a while. He looked over to me. "I just was worried that a merman would have some sort of ability to make you fall in love with them."

     If that were possible and Maxwell were bad he could've killed your mom sooner if Maxwell really did kill her, I thought, but kept my lips shut. I did not want to hurt Edric. "Edric, what if you and your merman captive talk."

     Edric looked at me as if I were crazy. "You want us to talk?" He looked confused.

     "I know he's your captive, but he did save my life."

     "To make you fall in love with him and eat your heart!" he said and stood up off of the sand.

     He started to pace around me.

     His movement made me nervous so I stood up and watched him turn to look at me.

     "Vivian, I can't do that. There's no way I can let a merman go that will try his best to turn you against me. . . I mean us and eat your heart. That's suicide for all of us elves."

     I felt my throat tighten and tears start to well up behind my eyes. "You think I don't know that. Did it not occur to you that sometimes I think it might be suicide for me to talk to you? You can't even trust me enough to let a merman go or give him something more comfortable since he did save me from drowning."

     Oh no, oh no, I thought when I felt tears start gushing behind my eyes until some escaped. "I just want to go home. Why is all this pressure put on me to figure out who to trust." I turned away from Edric and went to go back to my room.

     I felt a grasp at my wrist and gasped. I turned my head around to see Edric holding my wrist.

     He looked surprised at what he just did and let go. "I'm sorry Vivian," he whispered.

     I turned around and started jogging back to my room while wiping my tears away.