Sea Love (on hold)

Chapter 1

     Dawn came early, the sun flashing off the ripples in the ocean. Seraphina dipped a toe into the crystalline waters on the Atlantic Ocean, relaxing in the stillness of the morning. She eased herself off the dock and onto the sandy sea bottom, walking slowly to avoid injuring the creatures that swam around her feet, nuzzling her bare legs. Seraphina giggled, then dove under, letting the water flow around her. She sank to the bottom and waited for her friends to arrive. First to come was Merlenna, her green sea turtle. Following close behind was Syrah, a beautiful gray bottle-nose dolphin. Both of them chirped happily, glad to see her. They glided toward her, as lithe in the water as a cougar is on land. Seraphina swam to meet them, breathing normally. It was a strange ability she had discovered when she was little. It had been an unusually warm day and her adoptive parents had taken her to the ocean for a day. One of the older children had dunked her and wouldn't let her up, forcing her to gulp water. Much to her surprise, instead of drowning, Seraphina took the oxygen out of the water, then expelled the water. It came as naturally to her has breathing, which was a simplified version of what she was indeed doing at that moment. Shaking her head to clear it of the cobwebs of memory, she focused on the present. Where would her friends take her today? At the age of 21, Seraphina was a free willed spirit, but somehow contained the ability to be serious at all the appropriate times. Always in some sort of trouble, she had a child-like curiosity with everything new. Today, that sense was stronger than ever. Of course, settled in the back of her mind was a prophecy that had been told by a traveling gypsy. The fortune teller had declared that at 21, Seraphina would finally embrace her true self, and become a key part in a battle that would ultimately decide the fate of the world. Everyone thought the gypsy was insane and senile, so for the most part the prophecy was ignored. But today, Syrah and Merlenna were leading her to an area she had never been to before. Oh, it was beautiful enough, with exotic starfish, brightly colored coral, and diverse ranges of fish, all normal for a reef. No, it wasn't the inhabitants that warned her. It was the strange sense of fearful majesty coming in on the currents. She could feel these water paths pulling her, all leading in one direction- an ocean abyss. Seraphina struggled vainly, trying to pull away from what seemed to be certain death. Her friends had disappeared, leaving her alone. Then, with a whoosh, she was pulled down into the deep.