Artemis and Caspian: The Awakening

Chapter Eighteen

The mermaid leaned on the river bank, fangs bared in an unsettling smile. Artemis politely smiled back, still unsure of the her intentions. After a few moments of tense silence, the mermaid noisily splashed her tail in the water and shifted her weight so she could lean on her elbows.

"Not much of a talker huh?" she mused, taking a piece of her violet hair and twirling it between her fingers. "Kilder warned me of that." She cocked her head and sized up the young savior.

"Lucky for you I talk a lot so we shouldn't have any issues." Artemis cast her eyes to the ground under the intense scrutiny and kept quiet. The mermaid huffed, irritated and pushed herself up until she was sitting on the river bank.

"Fine, whatever. Let's get started." She shoved her arm in Artemis's face. "Serena." Artemis shook her hand delicately and Serena pulled it away.

"Lesson one, mermaids aren't subtle creatures, we get directly to the point. That means no more prissy handshakes." Serena offered her hand again and Artemis took it more forcefully. Serena's eyes lit up with what the witch could only describe as a dull kind of excitement.

"Better."

Serena shoved her face close to Artemis's until they were only inches apart. Artemis's heartbeat quickened and she felt shivers run up and down her spine. Her mother told her horror stories as a child of mermaids dragging prey to the bottom of the ocean, never to be heard from again. She'd never seen a mermaid this close before and her body began to react involuntarily, the hair on the back of her neck rising.

"Good," Serena said, apparently unaware of Artemis's discomfort. "Lesson two is eye contact, mermaids live in clans where eye contact is essential for communication so when we train we make eye contact. Got it?" Artemis nodded her head yes and Serena cracked an amused grin.

"You're scared of me aren't you?"

The grimace on Artemis's face told her everything she needed to know. Serena let out a snort and pulled away from her.

"Don't be. I only eat gullible sailors." She pointed a finger at Artemis. "Are you a gullible sailor?" This time Artemis shook her head no and Serena gave her a nonchalant shrug.

"Then you'll be fine."

Serena's weird comfort made Artemis relax a little as the mermaid pushed herself back into the water. She slapped the water next to her.

"Get in."

When she hesitated, Serena rolled her eyes and explained.

"The moon and the tides are connected. Creatures of the moon can channel the goddess's energy better when they're in the water, so get in."

This time Artemis did what she was told, hiking up her skirt and wading into the river, letting the cool waters lap against her legs. When she reached Serena, the mermaid gently placed a hand on Artemis's forehead.

"Hm," she thought aloud muttering incoherent, fractured sentences about the savior's power.

"Your power is strong," she concluded, closing her eyes. "Your sightseeing power is in there somewhere, I can sense it."

"How do I use it?" Artemis asked as Serena drew on an oval shape on her forehead.

"Well, it's called sightseeing for a reason, isn't it? The power of past sight works almost like a third eye but instead of seeing things in the present, you see things in the past." Serena snapped opened her eyes and jabbed Artemis in the arm.

"Don't get too cocky though. The goddess only sends you visions she wants you to see so don't think you can just see anything anytime you want."

"Ok," Artemis agreed under her breath and Serena threw her arms up in sarcastic amazement.

"So she does talk!"

This made Artemis chuckle and the mermaid put her hands on her hips.

"Thank the gods. Ok," Serena began again taking a deep breath, trying to center herself. "Close your eyes and sense your power, once you see it in your mind's eye, ask it to show you an image from your past. If you lose your sense of reality, don't freak out, that means it's working."

She surprised Artemis by placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry my savior, the mermaids have had the gift of past vision since the beginning of time, I swear by the moon goddess that nothing will happen to you. I'll guide you safely through your journey." Artemis relaxed into her touch and softly closed her eyes.

Once again she could hear the faint sound of whispers as she saw her powers coursing through her soul, beaming with a bright purple light. The sounds from the outside world began to disappear as she breathed in deeply. When she was ready, she silently prayed to the moon goddess.

"Show me an image of my past."

Before she could even finish her thought she felt her grip on reality slip away. Everything became hazy, her senses came to a complete dull and a great calm swept over her. Artemis could no longer tell whether she was awake or in a dream, a purple mist in her vision faded away to reveal the very same clearing she had closed her eyes in.

"This can't be right," she thought confused. "I'm here in the present, how is this the past?" She tried to shake herself awake again but couldn't.

"This has to be some trick," she reasoned suspiciously, looking around for any signs of Serena or Caspian. When she saw nothing, she made her way down to the river.

"I'll just shock myself awake," she figured reaching down to scoop some water from the river. To her horror, the water ran right through her hands. Undeterred she tried again to no avail. Despite her better judgment telling her to panic, she felt strangely calm. Curious, she tried to pick a flower but couldn't, the stem of the flower kept passing through her transparent hand. She was a ghost, a phantom, wandering through the world like an empty shell. She strolled downstream a bit, disoriented.

"What are you trying to show me?" she wondered aloud, tilting her head up to the sky, searching for a sign. When she was answered by silence she continued her trek until she finally saw it. She saw herself laying on rocks in the river with Caspian pointing a sword at her throat.

"Who are you? Why are you following me?" he demanded, clearly scared. Artemis gawked in amazement and calmly walked to him, touching his arm to make sure he was real. She saw herself laying in the river with a hand behind her back, slowly pulling a knife from her boot.

"Following you? I wasn't following you." she said calm and collected.

"Yes, you were," Caspian threatened, pushing the knife closer to her throat.

"No you're mistaken," she heard herself growl, "I'm not!" Then it happened, the entire fight, right before Artemis's eyes. She saw her and Caspian touch hands for the first time, electricity sparking in both of their eyes. She saw the massive waves crash by the river's edge, the trees dangling by their roots and whipping their branches through the air. She saw herself paralyzed in front of a colossal wave and saw Caspian push her out of the way. She saw the tree come down, Caspian pull her close, the wave tower over them then nothing.
All at once the sounds and sights of the clearing came rushing back and she snapped her eyes open. Serena was holding her above the water, murmuring a prayer. When she saw that she was awake, Serena helped her up. Artemis blinked rapidly to try and clear her mind, still in a trance.

"Well my savior," Serena asked, lips curling up in a curious grin. "What did you see?"