The Coral Crown

Chapter two

I screamed, and all the air flew from my lungs.

"Don't be afraid," the nice mermaid said. "It's who you're meant to be."

"What the heck are you talking about?" I asked, afraid of them now.

"Haven't you noticed that you're talking and not needing air?" I realized she was right, and a scary thought crossed my mind. Is this really where I belong? I calmed down quickly and saw that they were no longer carrying me, but still supporting me. "Can I try swimming?" I mumbled, not sure of myself.

A mermaid who I'd seen in the cave chuckled and said, "If you think you can handle it," in a sarcastic tone.

"Leanna!" The nice mermaid said in a scolding tone. I got the impression that she was the leader.

The mermaids holding me counted and on three, released my arms, giving me time to prepare before actually letting go. I immediately started to sink. Fast. In an instant, Leanna was pulling me back up to the group. Maybe she wasn't as bad as she seemed. When she had shown me how to stay in place by flicking my tail back and forth...... (It still sounded weird to say that sentence- my tail.) Anyway, after she showed me, everyone started to introduce themselves. There was Leanna, the nice mermaid who I'd found out was named Alexis, and the other four mermaids named Maria, Kayla, Morgan, and Andrea. I learned that everyone had a name that reflected a trait of their personality. Leanna's name meant "graceful," Alexis' name meant "protector of mankind," Kayla's name meant "wise," Maria's name meant "bitter," Morgan's name meant "soft and gentle," and Andrea's name meant "courageous."

I liked that and wondered if it was true for me, so I asked Kayla, and she asked me my name. I had forgotten that I hadn't introduced myself yet. I felt bad and said, "Oh gosh, I forgot! I'm sorry! My name's Dylan."

Everyone looked at me and gasped.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Alexis, could it be her?" Andrea asked hopeful.

Alexis pulled everyone over to a place out of my earshot. Maria strayed from the group and started to circle me with a scowl on her face.

"You made a big mistake showing up here, princess," she whispered in my ear. The growling tone in her voice made me cringe.

Just then, Alexis called me over, and I swam as fast as I could, wanting to get away from Maria. I was still getting used to my tail, so my fastest wasn't very fast. Maria and the others left, and I was alone with Morgan.

"Dylan," Morgan started out in a soft voice, that I could only guess was going to deliver bad news. "You weren't supposed to show up for another hundred years."

"What?" I asked, felling lost.

Morgan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "You're the legendary Princess of the Sea," she said doing her best to be as gentle as she could. She didn't say anything for a while, and I assumed she was giving me time to process it. When I just stared at her, she began to say something that would change my life forever.

"You're not supposed to be real, Dylan."