Memories

Prologue

  Prologue
I speed swam through the waters, running (well swimming) away from the guards whom were ordered to protect me from the "dangers" of the oceans, aka they were assigned by my father. I looked behind me and saw they were slowly gaining speed. I groaned and tried to swim faster.
"By the order of the king of Atlantis, you must return to the city at once princess- AGH!"
They were bothering me, so I blasted them with a stream of water. Not much, but enough to confuse them. I smirked, swimming faster. It's not like I didn't like my family. It's just that I was so different from everybody else that I was basically an outcast. They all treated me differently from the rest of the royal family and I always felt unwanted by my own people. Everyone except towards my big brothers and sisters. They're all so loving. They always made sure I was included, even if they're also scared of me. I only made an excuse to run away like this whenever someone in the kingdom makes me feel weak.
Anyways, I poked my eyes out of the water once I was far enough and looked around the area. The only way was through a river. I groaned. Of course the flow of the water is the opposite way. No bigee. My tail was fast enough and as far as my mermaid senses could tell, the rough waters ended in a mile anyways. I moved my tail at least sixty mph through the river. Once I got to the calmer part of the waters, my breathing was heavy. I poked my head out of the water to scan the area. I tilted my head when my eyes landed on a little girl in a white gown talking to big mushrooms with faces. The mushroom things said something and the girl turned towards my direction. I gasped and immediately ducked underwater. The girl poked her head over the water and giggled. I raised an eyebrow. What a strange girl.
"Don't be afraid. The forest didn't let you pass the border for nothing. It must mean something." She smiled.
I continued to stare at her through the water, hesitant.
"How do I know if I can trust you...?" I asked through telepathy.
She simply smiled.
"That's on your own hands. But I promise I won't hurt you." She held her hand out.
I slowly swam to the surface, unsure. Once my head was out of the water, I blinked at her. She giggled and smiled sweetly at me.
"Hello there! My name is Elaine." She continued to hold her hand out for me.
I brought my hand out of the water slowly and I shook her hand.
"M-My... Name... I-Is... Gemminia Dour..." My words were shaky because of the new unfamiliar air.
"Well nice to meet you Gemminia! Would you like to come out of the water in your human form and I can get you something to eat?" She offered.
"H-humans? I've heard of them from s-stories, but f-father said they are just a m-myth." I drew my hand back into the water.
"Really? You've never seen a human?" She looked at me, shocked, then shook her head, "Well, if you come out then I'd be glad to share some stories about them!"
"How can I when I don't even know how to change forms?" I hung my head in disappointment.
"Like this!" She snapped her fingers.
Branches came out of nowhere and gripped onto my arms and tail. I squealed as my heart almost exploded from fear.
"Don't be alarmed! This tree is helping to bring you to the fountain of youth."
"What's the fountain of- WHOAAAH!" I screamed as the branches whipped me fast towards the top of a tree.
I got dropped into a medium sized pool of water, it looked like. My tail flicked and I jumped when I saw the girl floating beside me. My eyes widen. Floating...
"It's a nice view from here isn't it?" She asked, pointing in front of us.
I looked in the direction and my eyes widened. We're so far up and my stomach felt sick, yet it truly was a glorious sight.
"This land you're in is the land of the fairies." She smiled.
"F-fairies?!" I backed away a little.
"What's wrong, Gemminia?" She floated closer to me.
"Please don't hurt me!" I held my hands up in front of my face, making a ball of water emerge from the pool.
"Wow! You have powers too?!" She asked excitedly.
I stared at her in shock. Too?
"I'm... I'm not the only one?"
"Of course not! All of the fairies have powers. Do not all of your mermaid folk have powers?" She tilted her head, floating to sit near the edge of the pool.
I sighed then swam to the edge too. I placed my arms outside the water onto the edge of the grass. I rested my cheek on my arms and stared at her with a sad expression.
"I'm the only one." I admitted.
She frowned.
"Well maybe I can teach you a little something." She stood up and smiled at me, "I will also help you to gain the power of changing into a human."
"R-really?! You'd do that for me?!" I smiled big.
"Well of course! We are friends now, right?"
"But... How can I ever repay you?" I bowed my head.
"Just by coming here everyday. I'm sure that won't hurt, right?"
I smiled then nodded.
"Right!"
From that day forward, I came to her every day. She told me stories about the humans, she taught me a little about my magic, she tried to help me transform. It took me many years to accomplish, but one day, I was able to transform.
"I- I did it!" I cheered, stumbling a bit.
She caught me, laughing.
"Why of course! I knew you had it in you! It didn't take long at all!"
"What are these things anyways? They're dancing!" I giggled, pointing to my feet.
"They're toes, silly! They're like that."
"Thank you so much, Elaine! I couldn't have done it without you!" I hugged her tightly.
"Why of course! You've been coming all this time! But you might want to put on some clothes before anything..."
I looked down at myself and blushed a deep red. Oh brother... I covered myself up and Elaine laughed, snapping her fingers. In a second, my body had clothing.
"Cute!" I smirked, examining it.
"My brother made it. Before he left, that is."
"I'm always asking you about the humans, but I've never asked about yourself." I sat on the ground with my legs crossed.
Almost till dawn, we had a whole session on our lives and who was in it. Our friendship seemed to grow even stronger after that. And with each day passing, things were good for the time being. But eventually, all good things have an ending.
One day when Elaine and I finished talking, I sensed something wrong in the waters as soon as I stepped in the river. My eyes widened and I immediately dove into the water, swimming at the highest rate I could. I continued until I stopped when I came face to face with a ruined city. Dead bodies laid all over on the ocean floor. They all had armor, well most of them. Lots of blood floated through the water. My eyes started watering, seeing all my people just dead. I swam up to a mother whom was carrying her infant, both of them were dead.
"This shouldn't be..." I grabbed the baby's fragile little hand and ran my thumb over the back of it.
I searched around the area, calling for my father and brothers and sisters or anyone at all. I had a worried expression on my face the whole time until my eyes widened when I reached a building that was crashed. The room was lined with thrones and the velvet walls were shredded. All the thrones except my own were occupied. Actually, mine was left completely untouched. The whole Royal family was tied up in their own thrones and they all had gags. Their bodies had many bruises and cuts, it was too hard for me to look at. I couldn't take it after that sight. I screamed at the top of my lungs, pulling my hair, and cried and cried till I had no more tears or feelings left. Once I had no more emotion left, I quickly swam to what was left of my room, I grabbed a bag I sewed myself and stuffed it with important things I thought I'd need. I swam back to the throne room to grab jewelry off my deceased family. Elaine told me that to earn food or anything, humans traded stuff to get things called money. Hopefully, I could make a living out of this for a few centuries. My eyes widened as I remembered something. I looked around for my father's trident, the only keepsake I could have of him. But I searched for hours and nothing came up. I groaned in frustration. I started swimming away from the city but stopped after a few yards. I turned back to face the city one last time. I frowned with sadness.
"Goodbye, Atlantis. Princess Gemminia, daughter of King Triton, fourth princess of the royal family, is no longer part of the court. I'm sorry." I muttered the last part then speed swam all the way to Elaine.
Elaine was waiting for me there when I arrived. She looked worried but relieved when I popped out of the water.
"I was so worried about you! As soon as you stepped into the water, you sped off as if you were scared of something. It scared me and- wait what are you doing?" She stared at me as I changed into human form and walked towards the tree.
"I have no home..." I stopped and looked up at the tree, "you don't mind if I stay here for a little while, do you?" I turned to her.
She smiled softly and sighed in relief.
"Of course! As soon as we get up there, I want to know what you saw."
I explained to her my terrifying sights and she gasped in horror after every time I mentioned someone dead.
"I'm so sorry, Gemmia. You can stay here as long as you want." She squeezed my hand.
"Thank you..." I laid on the ground and closed my eyes.
The next morning, I kept thinking and thinking and I'm sure it made Elaine a bit worried. Many days later, I finally came up with a solution. Surely, I wouldn't have stayed there forever anyways so I made a hard decision.
"I know what I need to do." I stood up, pounding a fist into the palm of my hand.
"And what is that?" Elaine looked up at me.
I smiled sadly at her. I didn't want to leave her like this but...
"I need to find out who did it, who murdered all my people in my city. And by doing that, it... It means..." I looked over at her.
"You're... You're leaving?" She looked up at me with a sad expression.
"Yes... Hopefully not for long. Especially since I'm pretty determined to figure it out."
"Well, then let me give you something." She floated over to where a bunch of branches collided and picked something up.
She came back and handed me something, hiding it between our hands.
"So you'll always remember me... Best friends for life, right?" She held her arms out for me with tears in her eyes.
"Best friends for life and beyond!" I cried and squeezed her tightly.
After a few minutes of just hugging, she let go and sighed.
"Will you do me one last favor?" She grabbed my hands.
"Anything." I nodded.
"Find my brother, will you? And tell him to please return. It's been two hundred years already since he's been gone."
"Of course! I'll give him a little beating too since he's been gone for so long." I smirked and winked.
She laughed a little. She sighed then we started walking to the edge of the forest.
"Good luck on your journey, Gemminia Dour. I will always remember you. I wish you the greatest luck." She bowed her head then started floating away.
"W-wait! Elaine! I-I'll be back! I promise! Someday!" I yelled to her as I saw her alive for the very last time.