The Sea of Change

by Tina Engel

  When I was done I wrapped a towel around myself, and looking down, I noticed that my diamond was glowing a light orange glow. Was there something happening around me that I wasn’t aware of?

  I headed back into the room and got just a few feet from my bed, when I saw movement in one of the portholes. It was the face of a water fey. He looked at me and I look at him. We just stared at each other for some time.

  I remembered then, that I wasn’t in my human glamour, I was the fey princess. Should I worry that this creature knew who I was? I didn’t get the feeling that it was bad. He smiled at me then and put his hand on the glass. I walked over and placed my hand over his, with the window between. I felt strongly that he was here to help. He smiled again and then disappeared into the water.

  So what was I thinking, as this water fey vanished into the dark stormy waves; I guess I can’t walk around naked. Anyone could be watching since there were no curtains on these windows. Yes, that was what I was thinking.

  I grabbed some clothes and headed back into the bathroom, where I dressed and put on my human veil. I headed out to the galley to help Trevor with dinner preparations, and Lily tagged along. I guess she’d had enough alone time. Will she behave herself? We will see, I thought.

  I had the best time, cooking with Trevor. He was a short, slightly overweight man in his 50’s, with dark hair to his shoulders, and had it pulled back in a ponytail. He had tattoos covering his arms and I assumed they were elsewhere too. This was his human covering anyway. I still couldn’t quite figure out just what type of fey he was. At times I thought he looked like a leprechaun. My vision of what a leprechaun looked like when I was human, anyway.

  Trevor was funny and jolly and he really did enjoy his job, but he really didn’t like to bake the sweet treats, so I got the job of baking cookies for the crew. He told me stories about the captain and their past adventures on the water. Trevor really admired Captain Adam Banks and had been with him for just over 15 years. I so enjoyed this feeling of normalcy, and before I knew it, it was dinner time.

  The meal we prepared was like any meal that a human would eat. We had lots of fresh vegetables that we prepared by roasting them in the oven with lots of garlic and oils. Trevor prepared a large fish on the grill, with sliced onions, garlic and lemon slices.

  I asked what kind of fish it was and his answer was, “A species that lives at the bottom of the lake.”

  His look was a bit odd, when he said this, so I decided not to ask exactly what kind of species. Maybe I didn’t want to know.

  I made a simple butter cookie since Trevor didn’t have a lot to bake with. Shortbread cookies are always easy and delicious.

  We put on a pot of coffee to go with the warm cookies, after dinner. The coffee was made with freshly ground coffee beans. The beans were a light brown color and Trevor told me they were from his home land.

  I asked where that might be and his answer was, “Far from here”. Again, I let it be.

  The crew all piled into the galley, except for the one crew member who had still been on shore when we arrived at the boat, earlier in the day. He would stay up top and take care of things while the rest of the crew ate and relaxed. He would come down and eat later. I still hadn’t met this crewman but wasn’t too concerned.

  As for Lily, after traipsing around the kitchen for a while, she jumped up on the top of a shelf and situated herself so that she faced the door. I guess she wanted no surprises, and would be the first to see anyone, if they entered. She was a good watch cat. But was she watching over me or was she protecting herself? That was the question.

  When everyone was seated, Trevor and I brought out the food and Lily decided to join us in the dining room area. She again found a shelf high enough so that she could keep an eye on the doorway. We all ate and laughed, as the men all told stories of their adventures and they had many funny stories to tell. They liked to pick on each other, but it was all in fun.

  This team had been together for years and they were family, even though they all came from different places. By the time we were done with dinner and stories, I was feeling so normal that I didn’t want the evening to end.

  As I listened and laughed throughout dinner, I realized that I could almost see through the glamour that each crew member was wearing. I was seeing things differently, more clearly, without even trying.

  At one point, as Trevor was coming back to the dining room with the cookies and coffee, for a split second, I saw him in his true form. Yes it was what I would think a Leprechaun would look like.

  I thought of Ireland and wondered if that was where he was from. The other crew members were definitely pixies, like Rose, and I guessed that they supplied the protein, as Brett had said earlier in this adventure, for himself, Adam and maybe the crew member up top. What did Trevor required besides this food, I wondered.

  I thought about Rose up on deck, and I hoped that she was enjoying herself as much as I was. What could she be doing was beyond me, there was no sun for sunbeams to drink in, and the energy from these fey seemed positive and jolly.

  The door to the galley opened then, and in stomped the crew member that I hadn’t met yet. Lily stood up, with her fur sticking up all over, as she hissed at him. He hollered to one of the men to take over up on deck so he could eat, and the mood all around turned sour and cold.

  The crew got up and headed out as quickly as possible. I got the feeling they didn’t like this man very much, or they were afraid of him. Maybe it was a little of both. Adam, Brett and Lily stayed, as did I.

  Trevor started to clear the table and I started to help, but he stopped me. Trevor insisted I had done enough for him and I was not to do the cleaning. He was looking forward for tomorrow to come, so I could help him with breakfast. I was going to make pancakes, and he was eager to add this to his menu. The boys got tired of the same old things, day after day. I was intrigued though, they were pixies, they didn’t need this food, but seemed to eat and enjoy the camaraderie of meal time.

  The member of the crew that I hadn’t met yet, sat down across the table from me. Lily had jumped down from the shelf, meandered over to where I was sitting, and leaped up into my lap. She didn’t lie down as usual, but sat there staring at him. The fur on her back was still a bit ruffled and puffy. She wasn’t purring, but growling quietly. I could feel the vibration more than hear it. I put myself on high alert, since Lily and the Lava pebbles in the diamond seemed disturbed by him.

  Adam introduced this person as Jordan Davis, Adam’s right hand man. Jordan and Adam had been friends from way back and had bought this boat together. Jordan was not fey, that I could tell, but had very negative energy that surrounded him. He looked to be about Adams age, as a human that is.

  Jordan had reddish colored hair and so many freckles that they seemed to almost run together, so his skin was quite brown and splotchy. He was about Adam’s build, but a little shorter and quite muscular. He really wasn’t a bad looking man, but the negative energy and the sour glare that he gave, wasn’t attractive at all.

  Jordan grunted a response to the introduction and proceeded to eat in silence. Adam made a few comments about Jordan not having a lot to say, but when he did talk, you listened. Adam laughed as he said this. He also told us that he trusted this man with his life, and that surprised me.

  Fey can tell if a person is good or bad, usually, and if Adam trusted this person, who had such negative energy flowing out of every pore in his body, then I must have been missing something, and so was Lily.

  Brett and Adam discussed with Jordan the strategies they came up with, for the next few days of fishing, and Jordan shared in the conversation with one and two word sentences, along with grunting and nodding.

  Lily never laid down in my lap, and continued to stare at Jordan, her fur never relaxed either.

  As for Trevor, he took all the dishes away, and then the food when Jordan was done. Trevor would give me funny looks, however, from the kitchen every once in a while, some were comical, as
if he were making fun of Jordan, but other looks were that of displeasure. I would talk with Trevor tomorrow and get the scoop on this very strange man that Adam seemed so fond of.

  Brett would give me an apologetic look now and then, as if to say, sorry about all this work talk, but I didn’t mind much. I was sitting next to a porthole and was enjoying the view. It was night now, so all was dark in the sky and waters below.

  The porthole being at water level, allowed me to see water at times and sky at times, depending on how the waves pushed the boat. We had lights up top, so I could see shadows when the water surface was visible. Occasionally, when the side of the boat was tipped due to the motions of the waves, the light would shine in a way that I could see shadows in the water down below, too.

  I tried to make out just what the shadows were. In the night sky, I imagined the rainbow, struggling to break through the clouds, and the shadowy movements were the times when they clashed against each other. The water’s below, however, my imagination was a bit darker and menacing; the thought of the large octopus that was trying to take the boat down in my dream.

  My imagination got the best of me at one point, because I could have sworn I saw a large tentacle, glide past the window. At that point, I decided I had enough of the sightseeing in the dark and the talk of fishing, so I excused myself from the table.

  Lily jumped from my lap as I started to get up, and she headed to the door in front of me. As we reached the doorway, Jordan bellowed, “Watch yourself missy, this boat has dangers that you can’t see, but they can see you! Don’t venture into areas that are meant for crew only.”

  Thinking this statement from this very strange man was odd, considering he hadn’t paid me any attention since he came in, I looked to Brett for reassurance.

  Brett just gave me a quirky smile, shrugged his shoulders, and said, “You heard the man, stay out of trouble.”

  We left the kitchen and I headed towards the door to go up top. I wanted to see if Rose was still up there. I also wanted to ask her questions about this Jordan Davis. Had she seen him when he came on board? Could she drink from his negative energy, and what was that energy? I wanted to see our surroundings in full view also, instead of just from the small porthole, so I could let go of the thoughts and ideas that were floating around in my head, put there from my dream.

  Lily didn’t seem interested in going up, but headed down the stairs that went to the crews bunks. I thought for a moment that I should retrieve her before she got into trouble, but I really didn’t want to go down those steps, where my dreams had taken me earlier in the day.

  Up on deck, the wind was still blowing but not as severe as before. It was dark and misty, with spray from the waves washing aboard occasionally, along with the mist from the skies.

  The light from the boat went around in circles, like a searchlight, so I could see all around the boat, but only as I followed the light. So, if I thought I saw something out in the waters, it was there and then gone just that fast, as the light hit it and then went to the next spot.

  There was a light that shinned just on the deck also, so that was comforting in itself. I could see the entire deck, and Rose was not there. I went up to the control room, but only one of the crew members was there steering the boat. I then headed to the front, where Brett and I had stood earlier in the day.

  There were several lights that shown out front and into the waters. The light beams seemed to shine bright and strong but then just stopped, as if hitting a wall, but it was just the black and eerie darkness, of the night.

  I was alone, not a soul around. I walked to the front of the boat as far as I could go, and holding onto the railing, I looked out as my eyes followed the beam of light to the end, where it smashed into the dark wall of night. My vision was much better in this fey body than my human one, so as I continued to stare into the darkness, I could see just past, into a world that I didn’t know if I wanted to enter or not. My curiosity over just what I could and couldn’t do, got the better of me though. I wanted to see farther out, to see just what was lurking out there, beyond the lights beams.

  “Are you there?” I spoke, to the nothingness out in front of me; the darkness that could swallow me up at any time. “Are you out there just waiting to pounce, or are you there waiting for the time to help me on this journey? If you’re there, tell me, what are you? If you’re the octopus I saw in my dream, how is that possible? You should be living in the salty waters of the oceans. Maybe it doesn’t matter what waters you live in, or maybe there is a water way, far down in the depths of these lakes, that connect to the seas in which you live. I feel your presence and am telling you now that I will not fear you. You will not stop me!”

  I stood there, just looking, peering out over the dark, rough waters and the sky black with clouds and rain. Yes, it was raining now, and the wind was making a howling sound as it whipped around the part of the boat that housed the control room up above.

  I felt a presence then, just below to the left. I could see movement, ever so slight, there in the dark, just at the surface of the water. I stepped back and turned in that direction slowly, and looking down, I saw the water fey, holding onto the lower railing.

  He knew I saw him but he wasn’t afraid or worried. He didn’t swim away, but he didn’t come on board either. We both just stared at each other.

  I decided to make the first move. There was a crate, not far from where I stood, so I went over and sat down, never taking my eyes from his. When I was situated on the crate, with my legs positioned in the direction of the walk way, back to the door that led down below, I opened my mouth to speak.

  “You’ve been following us since we left the docks. Are you just curious about me, or do you have a purpose for being here?” I questioned.

  He just looked at me with those large round eyes, as if he was looking deep within my soul. I had the human glamour on, but I sensed he could see the real me.

  He spoke. “I’ve been sent here on a mission from Queen Anahita to keep you safe from what lurks in the deep. I will be with you throughout your journey on this lake, my lake. If you need anything, think of me and I will be here.”

  He put something on the deck and continued. “This is the plant food that you require. I’ll bring you more each evening to this spot, also there’s no Great Octopus here in my lake. That doesn’t mean however that there is no danger, out there somewhere. It can hide in many shapes and sizes. Be cautious.”

  As I opened my mouth to ask him his name, he slid down into the dark waters and was gone. I stood up and went over to the spot where he had been. Picking up what he had left, I saw that it was red algae that looked like it had just been pulled from the water floor minutes ago. I thought this algae only grew in the Mediterranean Sea. How curious, I thought, and wondered how to cook it. I stood there, looking out into the dark waters, wondering just where he was but knew that he wasn’t far.

  I returned down the narrow walkway, and into the lower decks to my room. Brett was standing outside my cabin door, talking with Rose. They both turned to look at me as I reached the bottom step.

  “There you are”, Brett said, “I was wondering where you had disappeared to. Rose was up on deck and hadn’t seen you. Where were you?”

  I was baffled by this, because I had looked everywhere for Rose and hadn’t seen her.

  “I was up on deck.” I said. Looking at Rose, I commented, “I was looking for you Rose. Where were you? I didn’t see you anywhere.”

  “I was sitting on the top of the control room, in my fey form. I found it humorous watching the others from up above. As the men came up to the deck after their dinner, there was some very interesting, negative energy that they were emitting. Not as interesting though, as the man who was here controlling the boat, while you were all down enjoying yourselves. He was sending out some troubling energy. I couldn’t read this energy, but it was quite tasty. I was just telling Brett about this.” Rose said.

  Well that answered one of the question
s, I had for Rose. What was the negative energy though?

  Brett and Rose looked down at what I had in my hand. “This is a gift from a friend. Let’s go into the cabin and I’ll explain.” I said.

  We went into the cabin and shut the door. I put the algae down on a table and as we sat around it, I told them all about this curious water fey I had seen, when we first came on board. I then shared with them, the conversation we had. I also told them about my dream, so they understood the part about the Octopus.

  I picked up the Algae, and looking at Rose, said, “So do you suppose that Trevor knows how to cook this stuff, combining it with your blood? Yes, I know he is fey and everyone else on board except that Jordan Davis character, and you both know it too.”

  Rose and Brett looked at each other, and then back to me with a bit of a smile on their faces.

  Brett said, “I knew you were seeing things more clearly, but have been trying to stay out of your mind. It is hard though, Princess. You are such an open book to me. What are you seeing exactly?”

  I was sure he was in my mind more that he was letting on, but I answered his question anyway.

  “Yes, I see more of the fey world every day. Rose and I talked earlier about everyone on board being fey. I’m pretty sure that Captain Adam is like you Brett, and the crew are pixies like Rose. Trevor is something I’m not quite sure of yet. He reminds me of what I thought a Leprechaun would look like when I was human.”

  Rose was staring at the algae on the table, not really paying attention to what I was saying to them.

  She said, “Princess, maybe you can just eat this stuff and then drink from me?” Rose looked to Brett with questioning eyes.

  “Did this water fey say anything about how you are to consume this stuff?” Brett asked.

  I shook my head, and we all just sat there looking at the algae that was dripping water from the table to the floor.