by Hannah Reed
“This,” April said waving the book. “The mer don’t like to live deep underwater as it’s too far away from the surface.” She read aloud in a mock serious voice. “I mean seriously, not that it would be freezing and dark if we all swam around at the bottom of the ocean.”
“I’ve always wondered what a mer city looks like,” Alex piped up.
“You haven’t seen one?” April asked, putting the book down in her lap.
“Well no, not a recent one. We only have photos leftover from before the Great Divide.”
“Oh.” April tapped on Ethan’s Iris pad that was still useless for contacting anyone while they flew so high above the sea. She wielded water out of the jug on the table with her Factus powers and created an iced screen. Alex and Connor watched on in awe.
“Come and have a look,” she said. The two brothers moved over to join her on her couch.
“I’m sure Ethan has some photos on his Iris.” She flicked through images on Ethan’s Iris then tapped to project them onto the ice screen. She was hoping to find an aerial shot of Hanaria.
“Here we go.” April smoothed the frozen water so the picture was crystal clear. Alex leant forward and touched April’s instant ice screen in wonder.
“See, so I think he must be quite close to the surface here. And this is a photo looking down onto the western part of Hanaria.”
Connor moved closer to the screen but as his arm touched April’s he recoiled. Thinking he didn’t have enough room April instinctively moved closer to Alex. Connor, for what felt like the hundredth time since meeting April, mentally kicked himself.
“This is the main shopping area really.” April pointed to a circular arrangement of buildings. “And this over here is one of our national beds, I think you call them parks.”
“So, this isn’t the bottom of the ocean?” Connor asked.
“No.” April looked at him incredulously. “It would be so dark!”
“How does it work then?”
“Most of our cities are built on floating islands within the ocean. Then most of our high-speed transport happens below the city.”
“How does it float?” Alex asked.
“Umm, I don’t know the exact science, but it is like a series of giant weighted bubbles,” April said and received confused looks from the brothers. “They were invented by a powerful pearl shaman. They need to be maintained every day.”
“I see,” Connor said.
“So, there you go, that is a mer city,” April shrugged.
“It would be cool to see one in real life,” Alex said. His eyes glued to the screen.
“You should come and visit,” April said smiling up at him.
“That would be cool,” Connor replied.
“You can kind of understand the initial hatred can’t you,” Alex said quietly.
“Hatred?” April asked her voice rising.
“Yeah, imagine no longer having access to the sea April, but knowing that a whole world continued without you,” Alex said. “It must have been maddening.”
“I suppose.” April nodded, staring at her home. “But, it doesn’t warrant these attacks.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Alex said. April looked up again at the tone of his voice. Alex seemed to be on the verge of saying something.
“Alex…” April started.
“Right, I had better get back to my programming,” he said and pushed up from the couch and went back over to his laptop.
“Are there any more photos April?” Connor asked.
“Umhmm,” April handed the ice block to Connor and pulled different images out of Ethan’s Iris for him. She looked over at Alex and saw the tightness in his shoulders. Instinctively she sent a wave of Curo energy over her friend. She smiled as she saw his shoulders drop and heard a sigh escape his lips.
CHAPTER 23
After a late dinner, April made her way to Megan’s room. She was still not impressed with being babysat but making a fuss didn’t seem worth it. She changed into pyjamas and crawled into bed ready to fall asleep. Just as her eyes closed a purposeful knock sounded on the door.
“Can I come in?”
“Umm-hmm,” April said. She tried to lie in bed with her eyes closed as Megan entered the room but after ten minutes of Megan clattering around, she finally opened them.
“How was your day?” she asked sitting up.
“It was good thank you,” Megan beamed. “Just organising the kitchen for our new supplies tomorrow.”
“Excellent,” April nodded and pulled the duvet up around her. Her plan to fall asleep fell apart as Megan proceeded to bombard her with questions about mer life.
“So, when you hear an animal and you can understand what they’re saying, does it sound like a human?”
April stared at Megan for a split second before responding to check she was being serious.
“Well no, it sounds like that specific animal.”
“Oh, then how do you understand them?”
“I don’t know. It’s like being born with the ability to understand all the animal languages. Each one sounds different.”
“That’s so interesting.” Megan’s mindless chatter and probing questions about mundane merness at least temporarily distracted April from thinking about her more pressing issues.
“What’s that?” Megan asked. She gestured at April’s hands. Without realising it April had picked up the shiny black stone once more. She was repeatedly turning it over in her hands. It felt cool to the touch no matter how long she held it. The cold was soothing though.
“This? This is the stone I found at Beaulieu Falls,” April said. She didn’t feel like going into the details now and had avoided talking about it with Alex and Connor. It felt like a dark power had consumed her temporarily.
“Can I see?” Megan asked her face lighting up. April leant forward and passed it to her.
“Oh, it’s surprisingly heavy,” Megan said.
“Is it?” April asked incredulously. She thought the exact opposite. April watched as Megan turned the stone over in her hands. She was mesmerised, and as she watched the stone rotate dark flickers rippled over April’s fingers.
“You know, I think I’ve seen something like this,” Megan stepped around the bed and went over to her suitcase. Suddenly, the dark energy in April’s fingers darted towards Megan.
“Here it is,” Megan said. She stood up and turned back towards April. “Your hands,” she gasped and gripped the book.
“What?” April looked down to her hands. She turned them over but she couldn’t see anything.
“Your hands,” Megan repeated. Her feet stayed firmly rooted to the spot with the book now raised like a shield.
“There’s nothing here,” April reassured her confusedly. Megan didn’t move.
“I promise.” April held up her hands as evidence. She twisted them around. “See.”
Megan visibly relaxed. “I must have imagined it,” she said and climbed into bed. “It looked like black light was weaving out of you.” Megan giggled nervously. April buried her fingers in the duvet self-consciously.
“Anyway, look.” Megan flipped through the book to a page titled Devil’s Hole. She pointed to a picture of a collection of large, slightly disfigured spherical stones. They were all completely black like April’s. There was just something different about them. Even in picture form, they seemed to radiate energy. They looked more like precious gems than stones.
“I think I’ll sleep now,” Megan said. She handed the stone back warily and turned off her light.
“Goodnight,” she said while rolling to face away from April.
“Night.”
April dimmed her bedside light and sat and read the book.
“Devil’s Hole or Le Creux de vis is located on the North Coast of the largest of the Channel Islands, Jersey. Devil’s Hole is a natural crater with a blowhole. The crater is 100ft wide and the blowhole 200ft deep.” April read the summary and felt a chill along her arms. It sounded like a
Tenebrasco pearl cave. She put the stone down and turned off the light. She was determined to sleep.
But, while Megan’s breath deepened and slowed April was alert. She lay in the small cabin bed and listened to the buffeting of the air against the giant plane as they hurtled through the night sky. She turned over and puffed up her pillow. Could she join Kayla at Yelta and lead the fight? Should she find her Dad and assist him? April had no idea how wars were fought. Was this a war? Should she just focus on learning to control and wield her powers? Her confusion jumped her back and forth between half-formed and seemingly impossible solutions. Eventually, she lay still staring up at the ceiling, her entire body aching with indecision. By morning she was exhausted. It was still early but she decided to give up on sleep. She slid out of bed quietly so as not to wake Megan and slipped out the door. April moved over to the window in the hall and saw a wall of grey cloud. She summoned her Tempus energy and wielded it to part the clouds. All it revealed was another layer of dense grey clouds. April focused harder and tried to push through that layer too, but only more fog appeared. With a disparaging look, she walked away.
April slid the doors open into the main cabin and was glad to find Alex sitting there with his laptop.
“You look exhausted,” he said.
She smiled at him weakly. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Do you want to talk about anything.”
“Not right now,” April said. “What are you working on?”
Alex was sat on the floor leaning against the sofa while he typed away. He hadn’t stopped typing while talking to April.
“It’s a hacking software I’m developing,” Alex said. April came and sat down beside him while he showed her page upon page of code. He tried to explain his years of work.
“It’s almost sophisticated enough to hack into any database now,” he said proudly. April rested her head on Alex’s shoulder while he continued to talk about his programme. When he put his arm around her shoulders and started subconsciously fiddling with her hair she was surprised but comforted. Like this, she could almost pretend she was back home nestled on the sea sponge watching TV with Ethan.
A tall man was standing over her. April looked to his hand and was alarmed to see an electric leash. He snatched it back and she fell down onto her knees. As she raised her head pain pulsed through her body. She noticed blearily that the leash was emitting electricity. With each shock she arched her back and screamed. But, it wasn’t her voice. Suddenly, she was outside of her body looking on. It was a man on the floor. She would recognise him anywhere. It was Ethan.
“Ethan,” April cried. Alex jumped up. April’s lips had turned blue and she was shivering. She cried out once more. “Ethan!”
Connor ran into the cabin and knelt beside her.
“April, April. Can you hear me?”.
“Connor, go and get Megan and bring some blankets to cover April. She’s freezing,” Alex said. He tried to reposition her so she was lying down against the couch. Connor looked torn, not wanting to leave April’s side. “Go!” Alex said.
“He can’t, he can’t!” April screamed. Her eyes were wide open but she stared past Alex.
Alex shifted April’s head onto his lap. She was starting to emit a faint blue glow. He recognised her lack of control from the oasis clearing. He rubbed her forehead and spoke calmly to her. “I’ve got you April. You’re safe. Come back to me.”
The man with the leash was bearing down on Ethan. “Use the pearls,” he shouted “Go on, I know you can do it. Is that not enough pain for you?” Suddenly he lashed out again across Ethan’s back. As his howl of pain curdled April’s blood she ran at the man, trying to force him to stop. But as she reached out to grab his arm she found herself powerless like a spectre looking on at the horror. As she turned back to face Ethan she sobbed in apology. Then she saw her pearls wrapped around his wrist. Instinctively she let her powers reach out to him. Doing what she did best she wielded her Curo pearl energy to reach out and cover Ethan whole. His screams stopped and he looked up and smiled. “April” he whispered as he collapsed.
“Ethan!” April blinked and was shocked to find that she was still on the plane.
“April? What happened are you okay?” Alex asked
April stared up straight into Alex’s eyes. He looked bewildered. But, looking into those eyes she made the connection.
“Frederick,” she whispered.
Alex laughed nervously in relief. He couldn’t help himself. “My brother this time?” And April started laughing too. There was nothing funny about the situation, but once again Alex had been there for her and managed to bring her back to reality.
“Frederick, your brother. I met him at the Peace Conference. He danced with me.”
Connor passed April a steaming mug of hot chocolate while Megan tucked a blanket around her. April could feel her cheeks going red. The most powerful mera in all the oceans and she was reduced to a shivering child by a mere dream.
“He was threatening Ethan in the dream. No … he was punishing him or attacking him. Shouting at him to use them.” April said her voice cold. Every time she thought about it she wanted to attack Frederick for what he was doing to Ethan.
“Who is Ethan?” Alex asked.
“Ethan is the mer Prime Minister’s son. Ethan’s Mum and April’s Mum are best friends as they grew up together.” Connor explained. “I read up on the emails we were sent for the Peace Treaty,” he said shrugging his shoulders.
April nodded, “Yes, Ethan’s like a brother to me.”
“And what did Freddie want him to use?” Alex asked.
“Describe the vision fully April,” Megan said crossing her legs over.
April looked up at Megan. “Vision?” she asked.
“Well yes. It sounds like you were having a vision. Don’t powerful mer experience those when their power develops?” Megan stated looking between the three of them.
Alex looked deeply impressed at Megan’s knowledge.
“April’s powers aren’t ready to develop. She’s too young,” Connor responded condescendingly with his newfound mer intel.
“Then what’s going on?” Alex interjected.
“You’re both right. And, I don’t know. Maybe something is wrong with my powers. I don’t know. The dream felt so real, but I couldn’t do anything. They couldn’t hear me I couldn’t stop him.”
“Is there anything else you can remember?” Megan enquired. Her thirst for mer knowledge was insatiable.
April’s hand reached for her neck. She usually tugged on her pearls when she was stressed. And it hit her “My pearls,” she said. April’s head swam, could she have accessed her pearls at this distance? How was it even possible? The others were looking at her expectantly to explain.
“The night of the Peace Conference I tripped, Ethan and I swapped pearls.” She held up her wrist to show them Ethan’s watch. “I had to give him my necklace… In the vision, he was wearing my pearls. And when I saw them, I reached out to my pearls and I… I healed him. But I can’t have. I’m so far away.” But, even as she questioned its plausibility she was certain it wasn’t just a dream. It had been real, she was sure of it.
“You glowed kind of a blue colour, that’s the colour of the healing pearl right?” Alex asked.
“How did you know that?” Connor asked in surprise.
“The Lost Prince in Prince Triton, his sword was inlaid with sky blue pearls,” Alex said.
“So he could save a life for every one he took,” April finished smiling at him.
“You used your power through a vision. That’s incredible April,” Megan said looking on in awe. Alex noticed how much more confident Megan seemed whenever mer were the topic. Maybe Connor would finally take notice of her.
“The real question is why did Freddie have your friend?” Connor asked.
CHAPTER 24
Swimming through the streets of Hanaria, Setha stopped and stared at the magazine display window. There on the cover of some trashy tabloid
magazine was a photo of Ethan and April. Setha recognised the outfits immediately. It was a photo taken of them the night of the Peace Treaty. They were pictured hand in hand in a bizarre shell garden maze. Laughing together in a candid shot they looked like the perfect couple. The unimaginative title splashed across the bottom of the page read ‘How far will you go to get your true love?’ Setha swam into the store and purchased the magazine. It had been a week now and there was still no news on either of them. Well, no real news she thought ruefully. Once seated on the ray bus to the hospital, Setha shook out the magazine and started reading. Her face was set firmly in a grimace of disgust.
Two weeks after the bombing at the Peace Conference and, although tensions are high, nothing is happening. As each side waits patiently for the other to make the first move it’s advised to stay safely in deep waters as much as possible. This is not the time for a legged fling!
However, one couple we suspect might be benefitting is Princess April Meridia and the Prime Minister’s son Ethan Vale. The two deny any such liaisons at the moment, but you know old corals have a habit of re-growing. Neither has been sighted since the bombing and the extremists are jumping foolishly to the conclusion that they’ve been kidnapped. But, we here at TIDAL WAVE believe differently. Anonymous tips have been sent in from mer who have spotted this fabulous couple at remote locations across the oceans. Could the bomb that has been a catastrophe for many be the ultimate excuse for a couple in the limelight to escape... But, they won’t be able to escape us for long. Message our TIDAL WAVE Iris if you have any sightings of the gorgeous couple and we shall be sure to keep the rest of our readers updated.
In the meantime… Take our quiz, how far will you go to spend some private time with your lover - would you set off a bomb or merely hide in a shell closet?
Setha closed the magazine. She did not need to take the stupid test. How ridiculous could some mer be? Rolling the magazine up in her gold seaweed tote she angrily swam off the ray bus as it pulled up outside the hospital. Setha had filled her Dad in on the events of the past week. He seemed to be recovering at the moment and she looked forward to seeing him react angrily to such an article. Cooper was passionate about the privacy of individuals. He himself endured many a scandal when her Mum was being accused of affairs in different tabloids over the years. On second thought, maybe it was better not to tell her Dad about the article. Her musings on the subject brought her right outside her Dad’s door in the Catfish ward. Suddenly, a tremor shuddered through the water. A hiss followed shortly after. Setha looked around in alarm and entered hurriedly into her Dad’s room. He was sitting up in his bed.