The End is Near

Chapter 31

19 July 2045 – Pacific Ocean

The water whispered to Athena, its voice echoing through her spirit. Her nerve endings jolted to a new level of wakefulness, her pupils dilating from sensory overload.

'You know where to go', the voice of the ocean whispered.

She dove under and took a deep breath smiling in exultation when it didn't result in her drowning. Between one heartbeat and the next her legs became once more the tail she had been born with. Her pace quickened as the magick of her people took hold. With sure, strong strokes she went deeper and deeper into the ocean and the warmer shallows became colder currents.

Her heart sped up and the urgent call went from a whisper to a loud song of welcoming. The tearing uncertainty, she had known before, and the feeling of loss and guilt had no place here.

The colors brightened as she passed shimmering rainbows of coral and fishes like the brightest of gems. The larger predatory sharks and fishes watched her uncertainly as she sped by and she laughed out loud for the joy of speed and movement that was like flight.

The sense of homecoming and belonging grew until she saw her first underwater Rae. He stared at her, with a trident in his hand, and a look of surprise on his face. He stood uncertainly barring a symbolic boundary, as there was nothing but open ocean on either side of him.

She paused in front of him, "May I pass?" she asked. The words weren't audible like they would be on land, but he heard them in some way as he nodded. Beyond him the coral grew wilder and higher in even more colors. There was the suggestion of streets and structures that could have been dwelling places, but all so harmonious that they appeared as natural as any of the fields of coral she had passed before.

At the end of the main 'street' there was a structure that soared higher than the rest. In front of this structure was a gathered assembly of hundreds. The sentry clearly has a way of communicating with his rulers without moving from his post. His rulers. My rulers? Or was it the Ocean I heard that they heard too?

The sad eyes of the Queen met hers immediately, with a question and a yearning that pierced her heart. The King stood next to the Queen at the forefront and all the others were arrayed in support behind them.

The Queen was gorgeous, each feature carved in cool white marble offset by dark eyes and hair. It's my face. My eyes. My hair.

Athena closed her eyes, opened them again slowly. How can I have missed you without knowing of you?

The childish part of her that wanted to rail against fate and lies was abruptly silenced. She was here and this female in front of her was here. They had both faced loss and it was neither's fault.

I can't regret the lies my human family told, they loved me! They couldn't have known what they cost you.

"Hello – mother," she spoke around the lump in her throat.

The Queen darted forward and hugged her, swirling her around and murmuring, "My darling, darling girl! I cannot believe that after all these years you are home with us. I never, ever lost faith."

She was quietly laughing and crying at the same time and so was Athena. Then her father was there and holding them both. Were there any words to describe what it felt like to be swung around and around in the middle of the ocean and feel like the entire underwater world was welcoming you home?

They eventually released her and her mother held her at arm's length. "You must tell us everything that happened since you were taken from us. Now that you are here, we shall never let you go again."