The Twins from the Sea

Chapter XXVIII

Her abrupt confession made Ophelia laugh for a moment, before looking back down at the compass in Amphitrite's hands. She took it from her, cradling it gingerly. She noticed that the needle pointed eastward. Her face screwed up in confusion, distinctly remembering having been headed west.

    "So what, exactly, did you do?" she asked. Amphitrite beamed excitedly.

    "Oh, I thought you'd never ask!" she exclaimed, joining Ophelia at her side. "This compass, for all of eternity, will, if you wish it to, lead you to the one you love most."

    Amphitrite didn't need to explain any further. Ophelia's hand flew to her mouth, tears stinging her eyes. "Moana," she whispered, clutching the precious compass in her hands.

    "Yes, my love. Wherever your wayward sister is, this compass will point you to her. Of course, if you wish, just tap the glass three times and it will be a normal compass again. We can't have you lost on your way to find her," said the sea nymph, kindness radiating from her eyes. "Now, there's no time to lose."

    Ophelia moved forward and wrapped the sea nymph in a tight embrace. Amphitrite then closed her hands around Ophelia's, still clutching the precious compass.

    "Take care, dear Ophelia. Be vigilant in protecting this compass. It possesses a magic that could be very dangerous if put into the wrong hands. My trust is with you," whispered Amphitrite, slowly backing away. With a warm smile, her figure started to fade away from view.

    "Thank you, Amphitrite," Ophelia called after her. "I am forever in your debt."

    "Save your kingdom, and we'll call it even, love!" said the sea nymph, and Ophelia watched her disappear into the inky black sea.

•••

   
    It was extremely rare for Moana Sun Murray to feel absolutely, truly, paralyzingly frightened. And now, as she followed the giant, brooding cyclops into a thicket of seaweed, was one of those rare instances. Moana spotted a branch of driftwood wedged in the sand beside her, and on impulse, she grabbed it and wielded it before her. The cyclops turned around, and upon seeing the young Siren clutching a small piece of wood as a weapon, rolled his eyes and scoffed. Moana bristled in irritation.

    "What are you looking at, beastie?" she said, circling the stick in the air like a baseball batter at the plate. The cyclops gave a menacing chuckle.

    "You're going to need more than that where we're going, miss," he said. A sharp chill ran down Moana's back, every voice in her head screaming at her to run away as fast as she can. She gulped and spoke, trying and failing to keep her voice steady.

    "Well, you're going to pr—protect me, aren't you?" Moana stammered. The cyclops stopped dead in his tracks, and turned around sharply after a brief moment's hesitation.

    "Protect you?" he asked, sounding a strange mix of confused, hurt and angry. "Protect you? What reason could I possibly have to protect you? You kidnapped me. Imprisoned me. Forced me against my will to lead you across the ocean to your almost certain death? With nothing, nothing in it for myself. For being a people 'against cruelty', it seems to me like you are pretty damn cruel," growled the cyclops, exploding in anger.

    "Cruel? You dare to accuse us of being cruel to you? We have not done one thing to hurt you. We've fed you, given you shelter, and not done one thing to try to get information from you. It would have been so easy to get the guards to torture you. You think I don't know that you're hiding something? That I don't know that I'm more than likely walking straight in to my own death? Because the answer to both of those questions is yes. Yes, I do know that. I have about as many reasons to trust you as you have to protect me. For all I know, we could be prancing around in the middle of the ocean, while your army attacks my kingdom, my mother and my family!" Moana said with a roaring passion, feeling a sudden urge to unload all of her pent-up emotions.

    "Do you think it was easy for me to leave everyone behind, run off into the distance with no one to protect me? To leave my own sister behind? I miss her so much," she said, beginning to choke up. "I know I can never be as clever or wise as she is. But I thought that maybe if just this once I could do something brave, stand up for what I believe in, that people might see me to be as good as she is. And now I know that that's right. I'm stupid for doing this. A complete idiot. I'm walking straight into a trap with no one to protect me. My sister always tells me I'm so brave, but right now I am not. I am so... so scared," she sobbed, gripping the stick in her hands until her knuckles turned white. "I need you. I can't do this by myself. Is all this fighting what you really want? Do you really want to see Jade Bay fall? Why? What have we done to you? To all of you... you monsters fighting this war?"

    The cyclops was silent.

    "What do you want from this? Treasure? Power? The monstrous satisfaction of seeing innocent people suffer? Are you that cold and heartless?" screamed Moana, inching closer and closer to the cyclops' ugly, scarred face. His enormous chest rose and fell as he breathed heavily, becoming more agitated by the second. Moana was just inches from him, and she felt his putrid breath on her face.

    "Answer me!"

    "Enough!" roared the cyclops, seething with anger. With a roar he shoved Moana away from him, knocking her onto her backside. He strained with all his might against his chains, and when they held fast, he turned and began to run back out of the kelp patch. Moana scrambled upright and bolted after him. With her quick fin she caught up to him easily. He stood with his back toward her, attempting to break his chains under a rock with his foot on top of it. Clutching the driftwood, she rushed forward will all the speed she could muster. She raised her club, poised to strike, and watched as the cyclops' chains snapped, and slid off of his previously concealed, massive hands. She dropped the wood in shock, and before her reflexes caught up with her, it was in the cyclops' possession. So Moana stood helplessly as the cyclops swung the club, connecting with her skull with a sickening thud.

hello all! some very exciting news... i've entered this story in the 2017 Watty's !!! so, dear readers, i need your votes and comments more than ever! as always i love and appreciate you all. thanks for reading.