The Twins from the Sea

Chapter XI

As the tips of Moana and Ophelia's toes dipped into the cool depths of the unknown water, they knew that nothing would ever be the same again. With a splash, they found themselves launched into what appeared to be a reef, judging by the coral and the salt water that Moana tasted on her tongue. They frantically swam to the surface and a panicked Ophelia gasped for breath. She pushed her now sopping wet hair out of her eyes and turned in a circle, treading water. Moana could sense her sister's fear and swam over.

"Hey! Woah, woah, woah. It's okay! Calm down, O!" she said. "We're fine! We're fine," she cooed.

"We're not fine! Where are we? What are we doing here? And in case you didn't notice, there is no land anywhere in sight!" Ophelia screamed, flailing around in the water. This enraged Moana.

"What are we doing here? We got ourselves into this, and whether we like it or not, we are going to finish what we started. If these Sirens, or whatever, sent us here, obviously they're not going to just let us drown. Have a little faith!" she yelled. Ophelia blinked, and buried her face in her hands. She turned her back to her sister, and let out a long sigh. Moana shook her head and kicked up her feet to float on her back to rest. Ophelia took a deep breath and plunged underwater. Even with the blur from the water, she could make out colorful coral and bright fish darting underneath her. For about ten minutes, Moana and Ophelia switched off resting and exploring. Then, all of a sudden, something inexplicable happened, and it was something that Moana and Ophelia would never forget.

From a distance, Ophelia spotted it. A dark shadow, rapidly approaching. Ophelia saw it and started nervously swimming backwards. Moana noticed and looked in that direction. When she saw it, instead of swimming backwards, she curiously swam forward. It swam with lightning speed and reached them within a matter of seconds. When the creature emerged from underwater, the two sisters couldn't believe what they were seeing. The creature was beautiful, in an odd sort of way. It had long blue hair, and horizontally blinking, small eyes that looked to be of solid gold. Its skin was a pastel shade of blue, accenting its hair beautifully. With high cheekbones and defined lips, it reminded Moana a bit of Angelina Jolie. Well, a strange, blue-skinned Angelina Jolie. Looking down into the water, the girls saw a very long torso wearing a sort of bandeau top that was dark green. When Moana and Ophelia saw the creature's tail, everything they had ever seen about mermaids erased from their minds. It was extremely long, with a fin at the end that was c-shaped and ridged along the end. As the girls stared, open-mouthed at their new companion, a slight smile formed on the creature's lips.

"My name is Aikaterine," she said, with an accent that Moana and Ophelia had never heard before. "And I cannot believe this day has come. What are your names?"

Moana elbowed Ophelia. "Er... I'm Ophelia, and ah, this is my sister, Moana," Ophelia said. Aikaterine's eyes widened excitedly, then she shook her head, to keep her mature demeanor.

"You are in no shape for the journey to Jade Bay," Aikaterine said. Ophelia nodded slowly. That was true; both girls were exhausted. Moana just kept treading water, speechless.

"Take my hand," the Siren said, and Moana immediately swam forward, eagerly grasping Aikaterine's hand. Ophelia hesitated.

"Where did you say we were going?" she timidly asked.

"Jade Bay," Aikaterine said, a hint of confusion in her voice.

"W-why," Ophelia said, with an uncharacteristic stammer, "should we trust you?"

Aikaterine seemed caught off guard by this. She thought for a brief moment, and in the silence even the waves seemed to anticipate her response.

"You should trust me," she said intensely, "because there are a large number of people depending on you. And if I wanted to harm you, I would have just left you here to drown."

Ophelia considered this, and decided that trusting this mysterious Aikaterine was the right decision, for a reason she did not yet know. Then, she too swam forward and grabbed the Siren's hand, ready for whatever was coming her way.

Or so she thought.

_________

so for those of you who are wondering how to pronounce Aikaterine it's "aye-cat-air-eene" ;)

and I couldn't decide on a chapter photo so I just went with a pretty ocean shot taken by my good friend

hope you enjoyed :)