Asriyah was cursing as she swam through the dark tunnel. The pink scales on her tail were shimmering and shining brightly, making their path visible. All Artemisia could do was try to calm her down. But nothing was working. Asriyah was mad and upset with Esmerelda. Why couldn't she had just left with them? And what was that massive eruption that had occurred when they left? And how did the door disappear? So many questions. Too many questions. All these thoughts in Asriyahs head were beginning to give her a headache. And that's when she heard the whispers again. They were more like pleas for help but it sounded very soft and dreamy. "Ale...Alesandese? Can you hear me? I'm coming for you!" Asriyah began to swim faster.
"Asriyah, were you 'earing 'im again?"
"YES! YES I NEED TO FIND HIM. I NEED TO MAKE SURE HE DOESNT ESCAPE!" Asriyah was swimming so fast that Artemisia had to hold on to her collar bone, which was poking out noticeably.
"I THOUGHT YOU WERE MAD AT 'IM?!" Atermisia yelled. The whishing and whooshing of the tunnel had turned them both deaf, for they were now yelling to each other.
"I NEED TO SEEK OUT THE TRUTH! HE'S MY TWIN FLAME. I WANT TO HEAR HIS SIDE OF THE STORY!" She began to slow down, and eventually sat on the dark tunnel floor, the light in her tail slowly fading. She was gasping for breaths now. "I'm tired. I have no energy. I think that's why my tail is getting dimmer."
Artermisia had jumped off her shoulder and swirled in the air, transforming to her original size. "Good thing I bought some boiled starfish, 'ey?"
"Boiled starfish?" Asriyah looked disgusted. "How about some fish or something?"
Artermisia gasped. "We can't 'ave fish! Fish are our ancestors! We evolved from them! Fish are sacred." She took the boiled starfish out of the pouch on her stomach, and fed it to Asriyah. "An' just remember, beggars can't be choosers."
As much as Asriyah hated to admit it, she liked the taste of boiled starfish. "So..." she mumbled, her mouth full. "...I'm guessing you chop the limbs off starfish 'cause they can grow them back?"
"Yeah. We don't like 'arming creatures. Not like you 'umans."
"Now let's not forget, I'm a mermaid now." She looked at her tail, which was becoming brighter and brighter. She could see Artermisia's face clearly now, and the pictures on the wall behind her. They were equivalent to cave paintings in the human world. She got up and edged her face closer to the wall.
"The beginnin' for all mermaids" Artermisia murmured.
"You're telling me everyone in the mermaid world drowned?" she asked. "What about when they find the bodies."
"Tha' never 'appens love. When you drown in the ocean you never return to the human world."
Asriyah stroked the pictures gently. "So this is how I was born?"
"Yeah" Artermisia said, her tone happy. She swirled and tranformed to her smaller self, perching herself on Asriyahs shoulder. "This is 'ow you were born. Like every other mermaid. But you're different. You are more than just another life here. You are bravest in its purest form." Asriyah diverted her eyes from the drawing to Artermisia. "I know this is a bit diffcult to get your 'ead around. But I can feel it in me tha' you'll do what's right. You don't give up. You ain't a quitter." Asriyah responded by giving her a sad smile. She began swimming along the tunnel.
Asriyah eventually broke the few minutes of silence between them. "What if I turn out bad? Or what If I'm the bad guy? And Alesandese is too? Then what am I supposed to do? I don't want to live like that."
Artermisia smiled at her. "You're a good soul. An' I can sense that." She stroked Asriyah's shoulder in comfort. "You're worryin' you know? So things di'n't get off to a good start. But you ain't rude. You're a good 'un. Honestly."
"But Alesandese is a murderer. How is someone like that supposed to be my soulmate? I'm not trying to crush your hopes but, expect the unexpected I guess."
"Or maybe you're the reason why Alesandese is here."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Asriyah stopped swimming to observe Artermisia. "He's here because of me? That can't be right. I heard his voice months before my re-birth."
Artermisia raised her eyebrows. "Well somethin' 'ad to 'appen to get you two to together." They began swimming again, with Asriyah's mind full of unanswerable questions.
_____________________________________________________________________________
After what seemed like hours of swimming in the tunnel, they had reached a dead end. "Up 'ere!" Artemisia whispered. Asriyah had felt the ceiling before coming across a small, wooden door. She opened it and light had poured in, her head poking out. "Ah, we're at the bays!"
"Wow, was it really this far?" Asriyah asked. She squinted at the ships and many humanaids walking around and carrying big barrels everywhere. They were all dressed in scruffy, ripped clothing and boarding huge, old fashioned ships with broken planks hanging down by the side. "How am I supposed to get on the wooden deck if I can't walk?" Asriyah whispered.
"We 'ide in them boxes."
Asriyah moved back into the tunnel and in the corner was a pile of huge, wooden crates. "Is there water in them?"
"Asriyah, ya' plonk! there's water everywhere! You just don't feel it in buildings an' stuff."
Asriyah wore an astounded look. "I never thought about that you know." She'd never really given it much thought apart from now. Guess she needed to learn how the mermaid world worked if she wanted to survive. "Right, looks like we're getting in these crates then." She began to lift the heavy lid of one of the wood boxes, and climbed inside, Artermisia still sitting on her shoulder. A few minutes later she could hear people coming down and lifting the boxes up. "This is a heavy one!" one of them yelled. Asriyah decided that she was never sitting on jellyfish juice again.
"Maybe we should go to sleep. It's gonna be a lon' journey."
"Yeah you're right." Only now had Asriyah realised how tired she was, because within minutes, both had drifted off to sleep, the sound of crashing waves unheard by them.
