Celeste

21.

"Do you think sea dragons are real?"

Diamond stops to think about it, a half empty fish trap in her hand.

"No. It's a myth. Nothing more." She concludes, begining to fill the trap again with bait.

"I thought you guys were myths and now I am a myth myself." I put the filled trap back in its hiding place.

" There's a difference between hiding and myth." She doesn't sound so sure.

"What difference is that?" I ask, passing the other trap over. A fish wriggled inside.

"It's... Er..."

I wait for her answer. "Well? Any possibility of sea dragons?"

"Any possibility of land dragons?" She resorts, snatching the trap from me.

I think about it, hiding my smile.
"Oh, yeah. Loads of dragons. They pull coaches."

"Really? How cool! Do they breathe, ah, what's it called. Fiyah?" She asks.

"Fire" I correct. "And yeah, that's where we get it from." I giggle.

"Oh, wow! I wish I could go and see the land..." Diamond sounds wistful.

I twist around in shock. "You've never been up there?"

She looks sad. "Yeah. Ruby wants me to take over some day. I only sit on a rock and sing, half submerged. I'd like to walk on land one day. Try these things called "toes" oh, and that fire stuff, too! You are so lucky, Celeste."

I giggle a little. "It's so strange that you've never been up there." An idea pops up in my head.
"Hey, you could come with me if you wanted too. You could say to ruby that you want to oversee taking someone up to land."

Hope glimmers in her face. "You would do that for me? Oh, you and I are best friends."

"I promise. Anyway, we've changed subject. Sea dragons?"

"Oh!" Her face lights up. "I've seen a carving of them! In the back of the mosaic entrance! I was counting the tiles and found one! It was next to a sea witch. Apparently they work together."

"Sea witch?" I ask. She looks worried.

"No one told you about a sea witch and her hag stones?"

"Tell me!"

"Oh, ok. Let me think now...
Sea witches can grant wishes, but twist them so that they don't work. if you wanted gold, she would give you a golden collar and chain and bind you to her forever. The only way to break a curse is to break a hag stone, which are simply stones with a hole in them."

I frown. "That seems easy."

Diamond shakes her head. "Not so down here. Let me warn you, do not enter any contract with them. Not even answering a "will you come in" or a "hungry, dear" or anything like that, ok?"

She looked serious, so I nodded. "Ok."

"Good. I wouldn't want you being cursed." She said, slightly more at ease.

I grinned. "Race you to the fountian!"

Her dark eyes narrowed. "Oh, you're on."

Our fish trap job forgotten, we dart for the fountian, only a faint line in the distance. She shoots off, launching through the sand, sending swirling particles in her wake. "Eat my sand!" She laughs.

I put on more speed, and tickle her scales, swimming past as she stops to laugh.
"You little...!"

I grin widely, the fountian bubbles in sight. But then she's at my side, armed with a long braid of sea weed. She snaps it in my direction, and I loop out of the way, snagging the other end of the rope, pulling hard.

We've evolved into a superspeed tug of war, bickering, not looking where we're going. A shout, and we collide into someone, sending up great billows of sand and alge peices

I look at the newcomer, laughing. Mitch must've been painting, because now he's covered in green, sand sticking to it. He splutters and sneezes.

Diamond and I look at him, hiding grins. He glowers, a green blob floating off his nose.
I let out a snort. A smile dances on his mouth, what's visible of it anyway.

I only have a second before he's on me, spreading the paint anywhere he can. He rubs his face on mine, laughing while I scream curses. Diamond joins in the tussle, nimble fingers tickling, saying something about revenge.

By the time it's over, we all have smears of green all over, matting in hair, thick on my skin.
Mitch pokes me on the side.
"Your fault."

I fein shock. "What? That wasnt-"

"Race you to the fountian, you said. Tickled me, and then we crashed into him" diamond adds, attempting to smooth over her hair, to no avail.

"Let's go to the currents, we can clean up there" Mitch says, poking a splodge on his skin.

Just outside the borders there is a narrow gap in the rock which pushes water out fast, blasting away all dirt... As long as you can hold onto it.

'it' is a ledge of dark rock cresting out of the sand with smooth handles and even longer braids to attach yourself to. The first time I had washed myself, I was ripped away from the rock, and ended up in a patch of corral, far enough away that the rock looked like a line.

I was picking corral peices off my tail and hair for weeks.

"You ready?" Mitch asks, tightening the rope. I nod, hunched down against the rock.
"One..." Diamond starts.
"Two..." I say, gritting my teeth.
"Three!" Mitch finishes.

And then we're out, ropes pulled taunt, the current ripping through us, flailing about like fish on a line.

A helpful octopus pulls us back in once we're clean. Undoing the rope once we reach safety, diamond leaves him a fish as payment.

"I don't think I shall ever get used to that..." I grumble, tugging at my hair, which has stuck up in every way it can.

Diamond and her tight curls feel the same way, knotted into a clump. "I think it's time for a haircut."

I agree, and together we make our way to Mitch's house, where we get a rare pair of shears, and begin cutting.