The Mermaid Prophecy (On Hiatus)

Chapter 4

Arsulu

"You can live just fine here in Atlantica. And I thought you liked that one boy, what was name, Clavius? What ever happened to him, hm?"

Unconsciously, my hand reaches over and rubs against the inside of my left wrist where my royal crest imprints my skin. "No, there's no one here for me."

A hearty laugh echoes through my shell, "now how could you possibly know that?"

"Triton, they treat us like pariahs. Both Morgana and I." My hands start moving faster than the words coming out of my mouth. 

"It's like there's the royal seven who can control the islands and the elements and you guys are all amazing and loved by everyone in Atlantica." I pause.

"And then there's us, the two freaks that don't have any of those abilities and worse, we were born 25 years later."

Even though I am agitated, I remind myself that Triton has never seen how the mer of Atlantica look at us. And secretly, I'm happy that he'll never have to experience the pain that accompanies it.

Rather than listen to Triton try and convince me once more that we are desirable, that we are wanted, that we aren't accidents and whatever else may pop into his mind at that moment, I clamp my hand over his mouth as soon as it opens. 

"Just once, couldn't I do something for myself? Live for myself? Would that really be such a bad thing?"

We hold each other's gaze for what seems like a full moon tide cycle. Different from my earlier battle with Proteus. 

Our gaze speaks novels worth of emotion. Triton conveys his endless and unconditional love. I share my loneliness and sense of loss. 

He sighs and removes my hand from his mouth.

"Fine, on one condition." I smile, teeth on full display. "You have to tell me where you're going. I can't sit here and be worried about my baby sister."

I sink my teeth into my bottom lip. Any other hair-brained request could have been easily fulfilled without much fight.

Steeling my nerves and squaring my shoulders, I try to make myself look larger than we both know I am. 

This is more for my own mental preparation for the last battle than an intimidation tactic for Triton.

"I'm going to the surface."

Triton lets all of five seconds pass before his temper is unleashed. His voice so loud, the glasses hanging from the ceiling in my shell rattle and shake.

"You can't go there by yourself, you're only thirteen! Those people are barbarians. What if they hurt you? What if you get stuck there? Do you even have enough magic to get there in the first place?" 

"I'm fourteen, thank you very much," I say matter-of-factly, but my statement falls on deaf ears.

He rambles on and on walking me through every possible bad case scenario.

No, he would have to actually include me in the conversation to be 'walking me through' the situations. But surely, he has thought of every possible thing that could go wrong and then some.

I return to my perch and wait for him to run out of ways to tell me he clearly does not approve or until he passes out from water deprivation. I'm not quite sure which will happen first.

The seaweed near my shell entrance sways. Someone has entered the royal chambers. The person clambers around and swims into a few other shells causing a ruckus before I hear the shrill voice attached.

"Triton," I whisper cutting him off from some new grave peril he has found with my trip. He continues explaining why he thinks I'm making terrible life choices, clearly not hearing me or not caring. 

I cover his mouth once more with both my tiny hands and shush him.

We stay quiet for some time and hear a shrill laugh down the strait. His eyes widen and I feel mine mirror his.

"It's like you summoned her," Arsulu hisses.

Triton pulls both of my hands down off of his mouth. "Me? You're the one making bad life choices!"

"She probably heard you shouting all the way from the kingdom," I seethe.

Looking around the shell I am reminded that it is perfectly whole, no entrance or exit besides the threshold. There's no other choice but to make my own way out.

"Okay, we only have two choices here. Option one, you let her find us so she can ruin my birthday just like last year. And let me remind you, that this option includes several hours of time that I will have to endure her squeaky laugh, nasally voice and obnoxious attitude. Several. Hours. On my birthday," I grind out each word for emphasis. 

"Or option two, you let me go now and I can enjoy the best birthday gift that both you and Proteus could possibly give me."

Triton shakes his head, "I still can't believe that Proteus agreed to this."

"Triton," I warn him.

He takes a deep breath and squeezes his eyes shut. "Fine! Fine. Just, make sure you come back." I quickly peck him on the cheek and a moment later, place a hand on the outer wall of my shell. Pieces of the shell fall away until the hole is about my size.

I grab my satchel and swim through the hole. Turning around I blow Triton a kiss and close the hole behind me. 

Working quickly, I fetch the mirror out of my sack and hold it against my head. I picture where I want to go in my mind and the mirror comes to life. It shows me the way to the human world and the best path to take.

A merman bumps into me and turns. His mouth is open with some lame apology he was about to utter about not looking where he's going or something of that nature. Instead, when he sees who he has run into, his eye brows disappear under his long bangs and he forces a smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

He says nothing but scoots past me as if nothing happened. And with that reminder of who I am here and with one last goodbye to my home, I turn tail and swim out of Atlantica.

Author's Note: Chapter was originally published October 23, 2019 and revised November 22, 2019.