A Merman's Tale

Fates: Chapter Twenty-Seven

 Seirra

     I walked away from her and had to force myself to breathe again. Her eyes had such an impact on me that I could only be thankful that I was wearing a pair of sunglasses. I had seen glimpses of Margaret from the visions Doris and Marina gave me but nothing, nothing compared to being beside her again. She had been close enough for me to touch but I needed to restrain myself because I knew that doing so would baffle her. It was, to be honest, almost too painful to remind myself that she couldn’t remember me.

      Her face, well, her face was lovelier than I remembered. She was dressed just like the Margaret I knew. And the way she had looked at me felt just like before—just like when she knew and loved me. A thought kept echoing in my head even after I crossed the gates of the cemetery: I could finally be with her forever.

      Of course, it wouldn’t happen if Margaret chose not to go with me. But if I convinced her enough, then there was no reason why she couldn’t choose to become a mermaid. It was possible that she would die but I couldn’t afford to think about that yet.

      There was just too much at stake: Marina, Aquania, and me.

     If I couldn’t go back on time, the enchantment Marina placed upon herself might kill her. She might have been simply curious but if she wasn’t completely immune with aging, the spell would absorb all of her energy until she was drained and lifeless. The fact that she fainted immediately after she cast the enchantment could be proof of that. And then the veil. I need Margaret to keep the veil from being destroyed. It was my duty to Aquania.

      If there was one thing however, that I feared for the most, it was for me. To live without Margaret even after knowing we were meant to become the Fates, was like an existence with no life. It was absurd—how fast and how deep I fell for her—but perhaps, ours was never a simple love story. We were, after all, from two different worlds. But more than anything else, I knew she was the one for me.

      My feet continued to move until I reached Marina’s previous apartment building. I was lucky enough to get her unit before it was rented to someone else. Convincing the caretaker to give it to me was easy enough especially since every employee in the building seemed to be drunkards. It was less complicated for me to stay in this kind of place where I didn’t need to show proof of my identity or other types of documents. Besides, I just needed a place to stay for a week.

      I gave the employees time to clean off the rooms when I left to visit Grampa’s grave and was thankful to find it clean by the time I came back. They hadn’t bothered adding any kind of furniture besides the necessities. The entrance wasn’t too wide with the first door on the left being the bathroom. There was a sofa, a television set and a small dining table with four chairs in the middle of the main room while the bedroom was furnished with a queen-size bed, one cabinet, a bedside table and a chair. All the rooms were painted blue.  

      I needed to find a way to get close to Margaret again without being overly suspicious but so far, the only other human beings I’ve encountered were the apartment’s employees and that female photographer from the beach.

      Well, that woman seemed friendly enough and maybe, just maybe, she knew someone who knew Margaret. Perhaps I should find that photographer first. She had mentioned something about being in a gallery. I only knew two galleries based on what I remembered of Grasveld Aisles. One was an art gallery that showcased paintings and the other one seemed to have a more varied collection. I decided to visit the second one. If she was a photographer, then she was most likely to be there.

      I left the apartment again after asking the Key for fresh clothes—jeans, rubber shoes and a green shirt; then I began my way to the south of Grasveld Aisles. A short bus ride along Harbor Drive brought me back to the beach and then eventually to the southeast part of the city. After asking for directions, I found myself in front of a gallery called ‘Le Medicci’. The artworks on display by the windows were all sculptures but it was obvious that they also sold paintings and other kinds of art. I pushed the door open and pretended to look around just as a normal customer would.