RIPPLE

{Twenty Six} Lachlan's Return

It's the day of Lachlan's return. Day 30.

        Most of Poseidon's Godly relatives have thankfully left, though few stayed to support Poseidon and his wife through their dark times. Hades wouldn't give anymore information on Merrick, but continued to reassure them that he was very happy in his new position, which left me with an awful feeling clenching my gut.

        My own mother and father were still here to see if Lachlan comes back. If he doesn't, they'll probably succeed in attempting to drag me back to the depths of Atlantis, back to a colorless world without Merrick and Lachlan. But I'm still thankful they're here, and I think my sisters are happy to be leaving soon — eager to leave one world for another — ready to stretch their tails and venture into the open sea.

        Lachlan hasn't come home yet, and I sit around the meal hall eating ouch, expecting to hear from the handmaidens that a ship is arriving. But I listen to my sister's excited chatter and nothing happens.

        Almost as predicted, I find my way up to the beach after lunch, and walk up the familiar path towards the top of the island. It's not hard to imagine Merrick climbing soundlessly behind me. I feel him with me now, guiding my footfalls in the sand — the wind that tickles my neck — he never left this world — even though I knew his soul really did go to the Underworld.

        Merrick's grave is on the other side of the island, marked with a cross headstone and fresh roses. It was too soon and too painful to visit him by myself, so I stayed up here to keep a lookout for Lachlan and tried to think about something other than the wedding that should have taken place tomorrow.

        I didn't want to marry Merrick, and he didn't want to marry me. But we were still friends. My father's words echoing back through the wind: you could learn to love him. Without Merrick, I was being allowed out here more often without a time limit, though the silence isn't exactly welcoming.

        A familiar face comes up the pathway, and I try to smile but can't. Glimmer is slightly breathless and looks as though she's absolutely glowing. “Mind if I join you up here?” she asks first, even though she knows already I'll say yes. “You look like you could use some company.”

        I pat the rock beside me, and Glimmer comes to sit behind me. She's never been up here before, and it almost feels like an invasion of privacy. But I smile as I see her gaze out at the open ocean before us. “The view is so beautiful,” she says. “No wonder why you spend so much time out here.”

        She sits behind me pretzel-style.

         Something I always loved about Glimmer is that we can somehow communicate without words. She can sit in silence but still remain comforting by her presence alone. She has an internal light around her. She knows I'm waiting for him.

        “Will you miss this when you go back to Atlantis?” I couldn't help but ask a timid, quiet question.

        Glimmer smiles, “Of course I will. But I know where home is Nerissa, and it's not here.” She never said any of this back at the Sinclair's palace, and then again I never asked. “The colors, the food, the people . . . Everything about this world was so tempting and beautiful . . . but I know where I belong, and soon you'll know too.” She flashes me a confident smile.

        I don't know how long we've been sitting here, but its been long enough for me to imagine the worst. It's long enough that the wind grows slightly colder and goosebumps rise on my arms. I'm thankful she's still here waiting. Glimmer hasn't given up hope yet either, though I know hours have passed.

        “I never apologized for shoving you the other day,” I bring my knees up to my chest. “You were just trying to help, and . . . and I hurt you.” It was obvious in her gaze that morning that she wanted to offer anything she could to take a little pain from my shoulders. “I'm sorry, Glimmer.”