Celeste

19.

Two weeks later...

Mitch had been acting strange since taking the pearl. He was more energised and often woke in the night with adventure and curiosity in his head.

My pearls had come in handy too, helping heal Benny when he got an infected crab bite that left his tail black and green and his eyes glassy.
I had one left, and I kept it in a ramshackle cubard salved from the wreck. Ruby didn't have much to say about it, simply,
"Be careful who you give them to."

Over half my time down here was up. In just five weeks, Mitch and I would go to rosewood.

I often wondered what had happened whilst I was away. Did Samantha Gilbert still like satin and lace? Or did she go for silk and ribbons with her gossiping group of swirling skirts and batting eyes. Maybe she was married already, spending some poor fellows money on bracelets and ear buds.

Did Gloria still feed the fish? Or was the pond dried up, and Gloria gone.

Is my father still looking for me? When mother vanished, he combed the seas night and day. I didn't see him for almost a whole year, and when he staggered in the door, dress in hand, I cried alongside him.

A knock on wood distracts me from my troublesome thoughts.
"Celeste? I've found a really cool corral group with rainbow fish, almost like our tails! Do you think we could go there and catch one? Maybe it's something to do with our turning into mermaids. If not, we can place traps, or just explore-"

I let out a groan of exhaustion. There may be no concept of time down here, but the alge dim and shut down during the night, leaving jellyfish in windows the sole source of light. This is the third night he's dragged me away for something. Yesterday it was advice on redecorating his house, before that he wanted to paint me on a cloth, and before that it was to catch night fish.

I sigh, rolling out of the blanket with a stretch. It gets chilly during the night, so I put on my coat, a green sea silk thing in layers. It keeps out some cold current, but I still shiver slightly despite it.

Mitch is still talking, and I grit my teeth in anger, before calming myself.

Though Mitch has been a pain in my tail, there have been...
Perks.

A smile curves my lips at the memory of yesterday when we abandoned a half drawn layout of the house, and spent the time doing something much, much better. Lips battling, hands grasping...

"Celeste? You still sleeping? Don't make me send Nina in there!" He laughs. I shove aside the curtan doorway. "Don't you ever sleep?" I huff, crossing my arms.

He grins, eyes flashing. "Why sleep when I can bother you?" He teases, ruffling my hair. I growl, baring my (surprisingly sharp) teeth at him. He laughs harder.

"Why can't we go during the day?" I ask, still glowering.

He cocks his head, "I don't know. It's boring during the day." He then takes off, Sam chattering at his side. Nina looks sleepy. She wearily squeaks.
"Join the club." I pat her nose before joining the straps and taking off, following Mitch's jellyfish, who manages to barely keep up despite loops and exuberant twirls.

Nina seems tired too, boredly watching Mitch and Sam darting in-between jagged rock, looping around them, laughing.

Nina and I stick to the outskirts of the obstacle course, watching with weary sighs and grumbling chatter. We seem to be in sync too, both wanting to go back to bed.

It continues on and on untill I almost fall asleep on Nina, stifling a yawn. Mitch rockets up to us, grinning. His eyes are much brighter than before, like the sun is caught on a magnifying glass, concentrated and burning.

"What are you waiting for?! Let's go!" He exclaims, launching into the dark.

In comparison I am like a sea snail dragging through the sand, muttering to myself. "Wish I'd never have given him the stupid peal. Now I'll never sleep. I'll look like Mrs newt soon, with big bug eyes."

We crest over a sand hill, or, more accurately, Mitch does, yelling my way, "Look! Look!"

I stop alongside him. "Oh. Wow." I yawn, "it's like the hundreds I've seen before. Yay."

He pouts. "Don't be like that, cel. We can explore!" He casts his arm wide, at the lines and lines of corral in rainbow colours, even in the dark I can see the flash of fish.

Mitch unclips himself from Sam, who looks almost as tired as I am. "Race you there!"
And then he disappears into the dark. I sigh wearily, including myself too.

Nina chatters in question.
"I know. But last time I left him he got stuck in a too-tight hole."

Nina settles down next to Sam.
"Show off." I tease, before following Mitch into the maze of corral.

It is actually quite pretty. If I weren't so tired I would hunt the fish, almost as rainbow emiting as Mitch said. They eye me with curiosity and fear. I stick my tounge out at them, giggling as they dart safely into the shelter of the corral.

"Mitch? I give up. You win." I shout, looking around. I can't see him anywhere. No sliver of fin or tuft of hair anywhere. "Mitch?"

"You make it too easy, Celeste."

I jump, sharply turning as he grins, right beside me. "You ass! You scared me." I put my hand on my heart, which pumps in a way only fear can make it do.

"Good!You should be scared! It might wake you up." He laughs.
"Come on, I found something."
I take his offered hand and he leads me away.
"The corral must attract bits of clothes, they get stuck in it, look!

I blink in supprisingly at a stream of clothes snagged, flapping in the the current. "Wow..." I say, awed. Mitch darts off to Investigate.

A few stray jellyfish hover, illuminating scraps.
I hover over a navy jacket, unhooking it from the corral.

The jellyfish provides enough light so that when I turn it over, I can see the neat stitching; captian Jake Reed