The Mermaid Prophecy (On Hiatus)

Chapter 15

(Authors Note: A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR BEING SO PATIENT!! I had some sick kiddos to care for this past week and with the Holidays just around the corner, things were already crazy busy :/

But now I'm back, all the chapters have been edited and we are officially switching to Eric's point of view :) I hope you enjoy!!!)

Eric

In the wee hours of the morning, just before what would have been sunrise, the screaming starts. My eyes shoot open and find the cabin in disarray.

Some sailors run towards the deck, most are returning after battling unforgiving winds and rampant waves.

Those who return tells stories of waves more than 50 feet tall while shivering under whatever blankets could be spared and begging Poseidon, to calm the waves. 

It's my worst fear. And this time I'm not asleep.

Thunder rumbles the wooden ship.

"It's your fault," a sailor yells, jabbing a finger at Vanessa. More sailors join in agreeing with him, all blaming the unfavorable weather on her. 

They back her into a corner like a scared animal, but I know from experience that at any moment she can pull out her venomous fangs and bite like a snake.

"It's nobody's fault." 

I step in front of her, covering her from the wandering eyes of the sailors. Some eyes wander more than normal and I can't blame them. She has no pants on for heaven's sake.

My own eyes have been glued to her since she stepped outside the castle in.. that. I mean, no matter how I look at it, they're definitely my clothes. But the way they hang on her is just... sinful.

Half of her bosom is exposed more than any beer wench. Her perfectly curved legs are on open display. 

And my belt around her waist makes it almost impossible to leave anything to the imagination, showing just how curvaceous her small frame really is.

That paired with her innocent eyes and the obliviousness on her face has been more appealing than I had expected. I can only imagine how every other man on the voyage was feeling.

Focus Eric.

"So we've run into a little bit of bad weather, we've been through worse. And we'll get through this too." I don't know if that's necessarily true, but it sounds good in the moment.

The sailors look at each other. "With all due respect, you haven't seen those waves little prince." Lightning flashes outside the windows.

"Still, he's right." Grimsby pipes up behind the sailors. All heads turn to face him. "We just have to wait out the storm, we'll be fine." 

We hear screams from outside.

I see long, brown hair flash by out of the corner of my eye. She wouldn't. One look behind me confirms my suspicions. She would.

"Vanessa!" But she's already run up the stairs and out onto the deck. 

I gulp. And then I'm tearing after her taking the steps two by two up to the top. I call her name but my voice is drowned out by a peal of thunder.

It's almost impossible to see and when I can finally see, the waves crash down over us. I try to stand my ground but the water is too strong and pushes me against the banister of the boat and knocks the wind out of me.

"Eric!" I hear her before I see her.

Everything moves slowly. I see her charging across the deck towards me, her hair whipping across her face, her frosted eyes wide and hand extended towards me.

As I lift my hand up to accept hers, the ocean opens up and swallows the ship whole.

***

Voices chatter above my head, their words too quick for me to understand... or so I thought. But even while listening intently, the words don't make sense.

After opening my eyes, I'm sure I must be dreaming. 

Vanessa holds me loosely in her arms, my head resting on her lap. And she speaks an unfamiliar language with two... things.

The things resemble women. Both have dark hair, both are breathtakingly beautiful and both wear dresses made of... water?

Upon second inspection, the two women looks like they could be twins with only slight differences. One has a beauty mark near her eye and wears a crown of coral. The other has a beauty mark near her mouth and wears a crown of shells.

Yes, it's not what I was expecting, but I wasn't sure I was dreaming until I saw that these things wrapped us in a bubble. 

Not just us, but the whole ship, was being protected in this bubble. And then even stranger... they were calming the storm around us.

One made the storm itself her focus, the other worked on settling the waves until both were satisfied and the sea was at peace again. And this is what convinced me that I was dreaming. 

The great news is, if I'm dreaming, at least that means I'm alive, right?

"Kymopoleia etafuthi Benthesikyme, moita na tibi hakkulu." The things nod.

"Va-Vanessa?"

Her eyes immediately find mine, moisture wells up behind them. "Eric," she wraps her arms around me more tightly and lays her head on my chest, embracing me.

"In all the seas.. what did you think you were doing following me onto the deck like that?"

And yet again, I'm confused. 

Not because she asked that question. That question sounds very much like her actually, and it makes me wonder just how much my brain has really been affected by her to be able to be so convincing in my dream.

No, I'm confused as to why she would think that I wouldn't go after her.

"What did you think you were doing going out onto the deck in the first place? The sea is no place for a woman."

Apparently my mind decided to translate foreign languages for me from that point moving forward, because when the things glare at me and question me in unison, I understand. "Excuse you?"

"Kym, Kyme, it's okay." Vanessa says.

"My scales 'it's okay'," coral crown says. "Just who does he think he is to talk to you like that?"

"He's nothing but a lowly human," shell crown hisses. "He should be thanking us for saving his life."

Okay, whether my brain is translating or not, something has been lost in translation.

"Wait. Aren't we all human?"

The three woman eye each other, talking with just their eyes. No one answers.

"Vanessa?"

She slowly turns her head, her eyes unwillingly follow and meet mine. She opens her mouth to speak but before she can, her eyes roll into the back of her head and she falls forward onto my chest.