Time for Midnight

Chapter 11: Trapped in her Vortex

                     During Midnight's swim home, "Forget something, Midnight?"

                                    Midnight froze in place but said nothing.

                                                     "What'd you do all day instead of hanging out with me?" the other merperson asked, curiously. 

                                           Midnight could tell from their voice that they were a mermaid.

                                                             "Answer me." the mermaid said as Midnight slowly turned around.

                                                                     "I hung out with some royal merman." Midnight replied. He then swallowed. "Hold on, why does it matter to you where I was?"

                                                              "I was only, curious." the mermaid replied as she began to swim around him. Her curly orange hair trailing behind her like a flame.

                                      Midnight watched her in confusion. "What's with the circling, Paradise?"

                                      "It's something River taught me." Paradise replied. "She said guys like it."

                                                           "Well, I don't." Midnight admitted. "So, please stop."

                                                                         Paradise ignored him and kept going, seemingly in a trance.

                                                "Paradise, did you hear me?" Midnight asked with worry in his voice.

                                                                   Paradise didn't answer.

                                                              "Paradise, stop!" Midnight exclaimed, panicked now. He swam out of the vortex, she was creating and stopped in front of her.

                                  She tried to push him away so she could keep going but he refused to move.

    He wrapped his arms around her as he looked at her, trying to figure out what's gotten into her. Suddenly, he heard someone approach. He turned to see who it was and it was a mermaid. The mermaid looked like Shimmer. "Shimmer, did you do this to Paradise?"

                                              "Oh, you poor, poor fool." the mermaid said.

                       "That didn't answer my question." Midnight pointed out as he backed away, a little.

                                                          "I'm not Shimmer." the mermaid admitted.

                             "Who are you, then?" Midnight asked, trying to sound less scared than he was.

                                                           "My name is Mean Shimmer Song." the mermaid replied. "But everyone knows me as Suffer Song." She then revealed her true appearance.

                                                               "Ok, Suffer." Midnight said as he rolled his eyes at her. "Undo this trance you have placed Paradise in."