by Hannah Reed
“It was about a month ago. Ethan was keeping it secret. I just saw a message on his Iris.” No need to mention how she had been looking at the messages appear on his watch when he left it at April’s one evening.
“The legged was angry at him for not mentioning that he was a mer, and so Ethan broke it off.” Setha twisted her bag on top of her tail. “From the messages, it looked like Ethan was shocked at the legged’s anger.”
Clyde seemed overly interested in this information. Even more interested than Setha had been when she peeped at the messages.
“And anything else?”
Setha thought intently once more. Had anything else unusual been happening…
“April’s powers have been intensifying. She doesn’t like to worry anyone by talking about it, but they’ve been progressing at an alarming rate.”
King Nathaniel looked up at this.
“How exactly are they manifesting?” Clyde asked.
“Well, they aren’t changing too much at the moment. Her wielding control is getting worse when she is emotional,” Setha said looking down at her bag. “Oh, and she is experiencing more and more pearl blackouts, uh when memories resurge in her brain brought up by the pearls.” Her hands were gesticulating now. “And her Tenebrasco pearl keeps on glowing for some reason. But we aren’t sure why that is and all her pearls glow a lot.”
Setha felt like she was waffling but the King was giving her his full attention now. He seemed to be concentrating hard on something. His hand paused in mid-sea above Titan who looked up reproachfully at the pause in his petting. Setha was worried that she had spoken out of turn. Before she could apologise or change the subject Nathaniel spoke.
“How old is April?”
Setha stared blankly, blinking in surprise before answering, “She’s nineteen Your Majesty.”
“I thought so, I just wanted to confirm,” Nathaniel said. “Then April should not be experiencing these changes yet. Her powers shouldn’t fully mature until her twenty-fifth birthday.”
“Maybe she is advanced for her years Your Majesty,” Clyde offered looking between the two.
“No. That is the way the pearls work. If April’s powers are maturing early something is making this happen. Or something has gone horribly wrong,” Nathaniel said his voice trailing off at the end.
“Your Majesty I’m not sure I understand…” Clyde started but Nathaniel cut him off mid-sentence, talking as if he was reminding himself.
“The powers of the firstborn are governed by the same rules of the original pearl wielder. The process has never changed. April is showing the early signs of intensification, which should only happen two years before her twenty-fifth birthday. During this period, the firstborn is at their most vulnerable. Until they are able to access the full range of their powers the pearls have more control than at any other stage.”
“The pearls have the power?” Setha asked.
“Yes, the pearls we wear are not merely wells of power, they are balls of energy and sometimes they like to expend their own influence.”
Setha stared in confusion. She had never heard the pearls spoken about in this way.
“The pearls are alive then?” she asked.
“Yes and no, different pearls have different intelligence and conscious levels if you will.”
“Oh…” Setha tailed off. Clyde looked between the two again not sure who would say something interesting next. He seemed to be vibrating with energy as he jogged his tail up and down.
“And back to April Your Majesty. So, the convergence of early powers has never happened before? There have been no exceptions?” Clyde asked.
“No,” King Nathaniel answered. Clyde beamed looking positively delighted at such grave news.
“Then this must be the key?” exclaimed Clyde. Setha had no idea what the key was, and she was almost certain Clyde didn’t know either. At Setha’s blank look the King explained.
“The twenty-four hours before the firstborn turns twenty-five are the most dangerous. The heir becomes completely incapable of control. A special cave has been used for millennia. It is inlaid with Tenebrasco pearls. As long as the firstborn is in the cave they are protected and their powers are kept at bay.” Clyde raised his hand but Nathaniel continued before Clyde could interrupt him again. “While they are in this state of ‘uncontrol’ a Tenebrasco pearl wielder could control them. There are horrible myths, awful legends which detail the horrifying actions of a controlled first born.”
“The city of Atlantis?” Setha asked without thinking.
“Exactly, to get revenge on his brother’s advanced nation, Galatia took control of the first born and commanded him to wield the vines to grow and wrap around the inhabitants so they were tied down and then sink the island. An entire nation was wiped out in under an hour.”
Setha sat in shock. Clearly, that wasn’t true it was just a myth. Clyde seemed to be experiencing the same issues.
“Surely, surely not. April couldn’t do all that.”
“No,” Nathaniel started and Clyde visibly relaxed “Not for another six years,” King Nathaniel finished.
“But, there aren’t any Tenebrasco wielders left, there haven’t been any for centuries?” Clyde said.
Nathaniel sighed, “Theoretically April and I could wield the Tenebrasco pearl power, but I’ve never connected with it and neither has April. The power remains dormant.”
Clyde nodded unsure of what to say. The three sat in silence for a moment. The large room seemed to grow even larger.
“Right…Thank you Setha for shedding light on this situation,” Clyde eventually said while floating into an upright position. He seemed determined to find a positive conclusion to this meeting. Setha followed suit, she looked over at the King who was looking into the distance.
“Sorry I couldn’t be of more help,” she said turning to shake Clyde’s hand.
“You were a lot more helpful than you think Setha, thank you for coming in,” Clyde said.
Then unexpectedly the King floated up and shook her hand too.
“I’m sorry about your loss King Nathaniel. I hope April is found soon,” Setha said trying to stop tears from clouding her eyes.
The King nodded kindly. “I hope so too, thank you Setha.”
Setha swam out of the room with Titan and Tarzan following in her wake. Patting them at the entrance she shooed them to head back towards the King. She left feeling confused. April clearly didn’t know that her powers were behaving out of the ordinary. Setha supposed that if April were more willing to learn about her powers then maybe a shaman would have discovered these abnormalities. Setha swam to the gates and was swiftly ushered out. Setha mentally recapped the conversation with Clyde and the King. Trying to think if there was anything else she should have told them, she almost swam into a school of grumpy mahi-mahi. She didn’t need Communico powers to understand they were annoyed. She made her way to the ray stop. Tapping her Iris, she checked once more whether April had contacted her, or if even Ethan had messaged her. But, there was no word from them. There was only a message from her Grandmother asking if she would be back in time for dinner. The ray bus appeared and Setha swam on and took a seat at the back. She leant her head against the window and put her ear drops in. With the volume up high she tried to forget the pressing feeling of uselessness closing in around her.
CHAPTER 15
The rain poured down outside splashing onto the veranda. April felt like kicking herself for not taking up Alex’s offer to go to the mainland yesterday. She was so tired she thought that one-day to relax would be okay. But, now looking at the weather she didn’t need to be a marine expert to know there was no way a boat was sailing. She focused her Tempus energy and tried to calm the waves. But, the toxins in the water started stabbing her brain. Pressing her hands against the window she screwed up her forehead and pushed harder against the waves, forcing them into submission. Beads of sweat gathered on her brow from the pain.
“Argh.”
She collapsed her head forward onto the window. Her breath came in shallow gasps. April straightened herself up and opened the door. She strode outside towards the sea. The rain stormed down but she ignored it, she came to a stop at the edge of the ocean. April breathed in deeply and raised her hands in front of her. She channelled her Factus and Tempus energy. Pushing the deep navy energy out of her hands she pushed the waves flat. The sea roared in response but started to calm under her pressure. April started shaking from the toxins. She looked down at her hands in shock. Her arms were leaden but she strained to keep them strong. The poison started to sweep through her system again. She clung to her focus but she could feel herself losing her hold over the waves. A searing pain stabbed her brain again and she dropped her arms.
April stood looking out at the sea. Her arms heavy she wrapped them around herself. Suddenly she shivered. The rain seeped into her skin and she looked down at her bare feet white against the sand. A moment too late she stepped back from the oncoming tide. She doubled over lifting her feet up in agony. Gripping her toes in the sand she tried to ignore the pain. With one last look at the sea she walked away back to the house. Derek, the caretaker, shouted something at her through the rain. She smiled, but couldn’t hear him. She opened the door and made her way to the shower.
The lock clicked shut as she turned the handle, her hand dropped and she just stood there for a moment, her head hanging forward. Tears slowly streamed down her face. Threading her fingers through her hair she stepped away and moved under the shower. She slid down the wall and waved her hand to start the shower. The water rushed down and she let it soothe her. Her Factus powers flooded through her and she glowed a faint white.
“Stop it,” April said to herself. She opened her eyes, wiped her tears and stretched out her legs. Leaning forward she massaged her sore feet. There had to be another way off the island she thought. But, she couldn’t swim, the weather was too dangerous for travel and she had no way to communicate with another mer. April wondered if anyone was looking for her. Surely her Dad would be able to find her. Maybe he was the cause of the storm, April thought. She looked around nervously and then dipped into her Commutavi powers, a glow of purple later her tail appeared. Concentrating on the sparkle of her scales she ran her fingers over them. It felt wrong to be on land in her mera form but it comforted her. She would just have to make the most of being a legged and hope no one found her out until the storm passed or the mer found her.
~
The next morning, April snuck out of the guest room early and trod lightly into the lounge. She paused to feel the fluffy rug between her toes. Although she was getting used to being on land long term, shoes were still not to her taste. Settling onto the couch she located the remote and turned on the TV. This had become her routine for the last few days. Megan, the friendly housemaid, had lent April a selection of her clothes. April wore these with a couple of extras supplied by Rosetta. Today she was wearing her favourite outfit. It was a grey t-shirt dress with tassel fringing. April thought it was hilarious. When she first tried it on she twisted from side to side in the mirror to see the tassels splay out. She felt like a squid and it was so comfortable. The legged fashion was so similar yet so different from mer tastes. April couldn’t quite put her finger on it. April preferred wearing dresses and letting her legs be free. Her land wardrobe at home consisted mainly of tunic dresses. As a mera, she dressed quite conservatively but with lots of colour. She had never gotten into the ‘Tail Tight’ trend of tail covers, they made her feel so restricted.
She pulled a blanket over her bare legs and hugged her knees into her chest. She was avoiding wielding her Factus powers to heat the air in case people noticed that there was always a bubble of warmth around her. But, it was very tempting in the air-conditioned room. Staring at the TV she waited impatiently for an update on the ‘Mer Terrorist Attack.’ She fiddled with the tassel fringing on her sleeves. So far it seemed like the news reporters had nothing to go on. They kept on repeating the same news and revealing more CCTV footage. April sighed in frustration. She jumped as the curtains rustled from the wind emanating from her. She breathed back in and the wind calmed. She looked around to check no one had seen her Tempus outburst. Her powers were getting restless and all she wanted was the news.
“Good morning!”
April turned around in surprise, “Connor!” she exclaimed. April gathered the blanket around her. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Are you okay?” Connor said, standing awkwardly in the archway.
“Oh, I’m just umm frustrated with the lack of information.”
Connor looked quizzically at April and came and sat down next to her.
“Are you still frustrated at the loss of your memories?” he asked sympathetically.
“Umm, yes...” April said while shifting slightly further along the couch. She fiddled once more with the tassels. She was frustrated at a lot of things, at this very moment she was most frustrated that Ethan’s Iris was still not working. She presumed it was the poisonous water surrounding the island. But, she was hoping she would find a signal somewhere.
“I feel like we should be doing more to help you April,” Connor said staring at her intently.
“Connor, you’ve already done too much. You’re letting me stay here until I get my head figured out,” April smiled kindly at him. “You heard what the coastguard said on the phone. Until I can remember any details of my life they can’t help to relocate me. And I don’t want to make a fuss when all I need is time.”
“It looks like the weather has calmed down today. Maybe we can try the boat again.”
“Maybe,” April said non-committedly.
“I suppose after your last boat venture you’re not super keen to get back in one,” Connor laughed.
April meekly laughed too.
“But there must be a way to trigger your memories.” Connor grabbed his tablet from the coffee table and started pulling up quizzes again. April groaned internally, not this again. He kept on finding more quizzes or experiments to try and draw the memories out of her. It was really sweet, but it was getting more and more difficult to keep track of her fictional half-remembered life. Part of her wanted to just tell them the truth. But, she continued with her memory-loss story to help explain why she couldn’t contact anyone for help.
“It’s fine really Connor. Maybe we should do something fun and see if we can trigger the memories through emotions….” April trailed off, as she had no idea what she was talking about.
“Hmmm, yes that could work,” Connor said excitedly. “We should go to the beach, play some volleyball or go for a swim with the dolphins, oh or maybe some jet-skiing now that the sun is coming out.”
April nodded in agreement until he reached swimming.
“Uh no, I don’t think the beach is a good idea. How about somewhere inland?”
“There is a natural pool which I think is fed from a little estuary from the sea, we could go there. Have a picnic. There is a rope swing into the pool,” Connor said in a rush. He was leaning closer towards her with each of his suggestions.
Did all his ideas have to involve seawater she groaned internally. She tried a different tactic.
“That sounds like an excellent idea. But, what I mean Connor is that I don’t have a … swimsuit.” Is that what they’re called? Swimsuits. Connor didn’t question her so she mentally high fived herself.
“Oh, I didn’t think of that.”
April actually felt rather sorry for him. He looked so deflated. She was just about to console him.
“I spoke to Derek, the boat needs some repair work after the storm, but it should be ready to take April to the mainland tomorrow. I could lend you a bikini for today though.”
April and Connor turned abruptly at the voice from the archway. Standing there was Megan, Rosetta’s assistant.
“Megan, that would be very helpful. Thank you,” Connor said.
“That’s excellent news,” April said standin
g up in excitement at the prospect of no longer having to feel guilty about enjoying herself on Shell Island. Wait a second no, April realised as she clocked onto the second part of Megan’s sentence. April rushed to speak, “Oh no Megan there is no need for you to go to more trouble, thank you for the offer.”
“I don’t mind, really. It’s no trouble,” Megan said helpfully “Come and try some on.”
Connor was already standing and ready to follow Megan out of the room. April didn’t know what to say to stop them.
“Wait,” April called frantically. They both turned and stared at her.
“I… ummm…I can’t swim. I don’t know how to swim.” There we go, that sounded plausible she thought. For some reason Connor’s face fell. What had she done now? April struggled to see where she went wrong this time.
“You can’t swim. April. No wonder you’re in shock.” Next thing she knew he was back across the room holding onto her hands. She looked up into his eyes and was scared at what she saw there. He was focused on her with such intense care. April had never seen someone look at her like this before. She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. Just then Alex walked into the room.