The Mermaid Prophecy (On Hiatus)

Chapter 2

Arsulu

Smashing my small hands against his muscular chest, I try to free myself. But there will be no escape today. I am clearly not that lucky.

I continue to beat repeatedly and push hard before finally freeing myself from his grasp.

"Ah, dear brother. Wouldn't it also be polite to not scare me out of my scales?"

A smirk graces the older male's face. His white hair for once is pulled back at the base of his neck rather than wildly exploring it's surroundings. Without a moment's thought, he plucks the mirror from the air and bunches it in his cloak.

I feel shock permeate my face.

"Wait," I beg. I lunge for him and his cloak but my brother easily evades my advance and strides toward the nearest hedges. With him, the light of the labyrinth also disappears.

I groan dramatically knowing that he is far enough ahead that he won't hear my tantrum. Eventually, I follow behind, my three steps equal to one of his.

Giving up on keeping pace with him, I drag my feet and stomp through the tide pools, drenching the edges of my already revealing skirt and causing chaos in each miniature ecosystem.

"Proteus," I whine.

His cloak sways behind him as he continues to walk.

No answer.

We walk in silence until the entrance to the cave appears in the distance. Once I see it, I snort angrily.

Proteus chuckles and continues towards the exit. Each blue light extinguishes as he passes. The familiar smell of salt fills my nostrils again as we get closer to the entrance.

I can't just let this go. Not this time.

I slow my movements and fall further behind. Slower and slower until I finally stop all together. I cross my arms over my chest and tap my foot as I wait for him to notice. The tapping sound echoes through the small enclosure until Proteus turns as well.

"No arguing Arsulu."

"C'mon Proteus, it's my birthday. Can't I just have one teeny little peak?"

"One 'teeny little peak' becomes hours at a time with you. I will not be the reason you are late for your own birthday celebration. Mum would kill me and don't even get me started on our brother."

"Mum won't mind."

"Our brother will."

Alright dear brother. Just remember, I tried the easy way.

Sucking in a deep breath, I squeeze my eyes shut and scrunch my face together until I can feel the heat rising to my cheeks. When I open my eyes again, a single tear falls down the side of my face.

"You wouldn't dare."

I think we both know I would sweet brother.

I think about my favorite pet that recently passed and my eyes water with more ammunition. Unintentionally, my lip quivers and shaky, shallow breaths escape rapidly with a hissing sound. I feel another tear inch to the edge of my eyelash.

"Ugh, fine. You win. But you can tell Triton what happened this time when you miss the celebration he has been planning for months."

Proteus lifts the thick fabric near his chest and removes the mirror from his cloak. He saunters over and drops the mirror into my now outstretched hand.

Almost immediately, my breathing returns to normal as I push away the sad memory. The crocodile tears dry up leaving only my triumphant smirk. My brother rolls his eyes and turns back around on his heel.

"Well? Aren't you going to look with me?"

Ignoring me, he continues through the now dark cave only stopping once reaching the entrance. "Come now, be honest my love. I am a seer you know. I am pretty sure that the whole point of a 'seer' is that I can 'see' what your real plans are."

I feel my eyes widen and my mouth drops open and then shuts. I suck in a shaky breath, hold it, and open my mouth once more ready to throw out the first excuse that comes to mind.

"Tsk tsk," Proteus leans against the threshold of the cave, cutting off my ill-attempt at an excuse.

"I wonder if I should be insulted that you thought you could hide your little trip from me." He angles his head left and then right allowing the thought to sink in. Even as he mulls this over, he finds time to chastise me. "Do close your mouth little sister or one might question your upbringing."

My mouth shuts immediately.

A warm smile spreads across his face. "Just be careful up there, okay?"

My heart does a flip in my chest. Warm blood rushes through her veins, erasing the ice that had previously chilled me to the bone. I flash him a toothy grin and with arms open wide, I sprint towards him for a well deserved hug.

Unable to slow down in time, we collide and both fall over the edge of the waterfall.

The rushing water wraps around my body as I fall. The roar of the waterfall drowns out all sound around me. 

The hair on the back of my neck rises and I swallow, hard. Shutting my eyes, I wait for my heart to race faster until I can't feel the separate beats anymore.

Once I feel just the one fluid beat of my heart, the familiar incantation slips past my lips and is lost in the deafening white noise of the waterfall. And I hit the water.

Author's Note: This chapter was originally written in October 2019 and revised in November 2019.