As he rounded the bend near his dwelling, he collided with Marietta, Prince Caspian’s intended. Though startled at meeting the mermaid on the path during the time intended for resting, Tuck bowed in greeting. “Good tide, Marietta. Are you well? Have you a need to be met?”
Marietta’s dark eyes were shots with veins of red, radiating deep, dark pain. “Good tide, Tuck. What brings you away from your slumber?”
I asked you first, Tuck thought. But he did not give voice to the defense. “Sleep does not come easy to me of late,” he admitted, instead. “A swim around the city often aids me in finding rest.”
Marietta folded her arms over the neck adornments she had draped across her chest, covering her torso. “I can sympathize with your plight. I, too, struggle with sleep. Though swimming aimlessly about has not yet brought any degree of relief for me.”
Because you’re too busy snooping about. Marietta—known to employ cunning intrigues as a means of advancing her ambitions—had sought him out, though he could not begin to guess why.
“I am sorry to hear this.” He shoved open his dwelling door, intending to bid Marietta good tide, but the dark, empty space prompted a recollection of his own bleak future. He turned again to face Marietta. “Would you care to sample some paihana?”
Her fin flicked with interest. “Paihana? I do not recognize this word.”
During their first tides in Atlantis, Maui took residence in the palace as a guest of the Sea King. He warned Tuck against interacting with Caspian, or his future mate. Though certain that Maui’s instructions were intended as protection, Tuck could not disregard the forlorn mermaid’s deep sadness. This was a feeling he understood well. “Paihana is a wonderful concoction first created in Oceania. It has risen as a popular mixture, since varieties have evolved to suit the taste of many. Paihana alters the mind, and relaxes the body.” He nodded at the way she clamped her arms around herself. “I shall find one that will help you sleep.”
A large bubble of doubt left her gills, but Marietta accepted the invitation, joining Tuck inside. “Is this a dangerous substance?”
Tuck cleared away the tablets and guided Marietta to perch on the stool usually occupied by Maui. “Perhaps for younglings. Or an ill, or fragile Mer. Though some blends have proven to aid in healing, as well as relaxing. Each formula is different in potency and variety.”
He retrieved his finest paihana vessels and placed them between them on the platform. “We shall start with a mild one. First, I must ask. Have you ever been stung by the venom of a nudibranch? Or perhaps a banded sea krait?”
Marietta curled her long, talon-tipped fingers around the vessel, narrowing her eyes at the empty inside. “I do not believe so. But, I was once infected by a yellow sea anemone.”
Satisfied with the answer, Tuck rose from his perch. “I shall retrieve the yellow paihana. It is a good formula for beginning.” He disappeared behind the curtain that kept his sleeping cavern private, and then descended to the hidden grotto, where he selected a large conch shell, filled with a bright yellow concoction.
Before subjecting a future queen to the new substance, Tuck observed Marietta through the veil of the curtain. She was well known as the most desirable mermaid in all of Atlantis, but despite the praise of the Mer, she did not stir within him the same besotted tingles he had experienced for the betrothed he’d left behind.
He approached the platform, and used his eating tool to slice a portion of paihana into each of the empty vessels, offering the first one to his guest.
“You must try this,” he told her. “One portion, and then I will see you to your dwelling, as caution requires.”
Rather than object, as Tuck had expected, Marietta lifted the vessel to her lips and sipped. Soon, the redness cleared from her eyes, and a smile stretched from cheek to cheek. “Oh, I enjoy this flavor,” she declared. “And you are correct that it numbs the mind and relaxes the body. I should like a supply of my own, for it has made me ever-so-sleepy.”
The conch contained little more, but paihana had become a specialty, and Tuck knew he could produce many more vessels for the future. “Perhaps. Let us first await the full effects. Meanwhile, I shall accompany you home.”
Marietta’s dwelling was not located far, but between his place and hers, the paihana loosened her tongue. “Caspian does not wish to join with me,” she confessed. “He petitions his father for an illegal visit to land. I fear that if he goes, he shall never return. I will be left without a mate, and without a future.”
This surprised Tuck more than anything else he’d learned this tide. “Why would Caspian remain ashore? Atlantis is his home. The kingdom, his to rule.”
“Perhaps a fear.” Bubbles streamed from her gills. “He has long wished to know more of the human who gave him life.”
“Ah.” This same desire had driven Maui. Indeed, the two had dedicated their lives to experimenting with potential ways to breathe on land. In the beginning, Tuck had believed that Maui’s drive would dispel as they came of age, but he had since discovered the opposite to be true. Were he unable to resume his life ashore, Maui would go mad.
Tuck saw Marietta inside, but did not follow, as such an entry was not proper. “Sleep now, Marietta. Should you wake feeling ill, swallow this.” He withdrew from his pouch a segment of the creature from whom the paihana had been made, and pressed it into her hand. “It will help.”
As exhaustion overtook Marietta, she wished Tuck a good tide and closed herself inside, leaving Tuck to recede to his dwelling, where he imbibed on many more helpings of paihana—alone.
By the grace of Poseidon, Maui squeezed through the melted breach within moments of the current’s adjustment; a new tide for the occupants of Atlantis. Few Mer had yet emerged, leaving the swim paths deserted. Knowing he could not navigate the palace unseen at such a time, he swam for Tuck’s dwelling, already concocting an excuse about how he’d succumbed to exhaustion, and spent his sleep there, as he’d done so many tides before.
He pushed inside, surprised to find Tuck wide awake, an empty vessel at his elbow, and a half-etched tablet on his lap. Sensing his friend’s anguish over their imminent parting, Maui deposited the bulky, human pouch on a shelf, and then dug into the food box. He withdrew a helping of seaweed, flavored with the oils of delicate jellied eels, and dumped a serving in front of Tuck. He then perched at the platform upon his usual stool, preparing to discuss the outcome of his excursion and future in the below.
While Maui rose with the tide, Tuck had no choice but to remain below. Knowing this caused an intense agony that left him wishing to curl into the netted comfort of Tuck’s spare hammock. But it was through this agony that Maui came to understand the currents of destiny. If all could not escape, one Mer must remain to preserve the secrets of escape, so that future royals would never again have their choices stolen.
Tuck narrowed his eyes, head bobbing as if muscle control failed him. “It appears as though this experiment has proven successful. Have you obtained the necessary proof?”
“I have.” Maui chewed his seaweed and swallowed, bracing both hands on the platform. “Moments after the scales impressed upon skin, my gills pulled closed, and air rushed down my throat, into my chest. It did not last long, but I found breathing as a human exhilarating.”
Gaze focused on the platform, Tuck brought the vessel to his mouth, seeming to realize it was empty as it arrived at his lips. A jet of tiny bubbles shot from his gills. “I am delighted for you, my friend, for this is the outcome you have desired from the beginning.”
Tuck had never lived ashore, never visited the surface. The two had grown inseparable in youth, and over time, Tuck had studied at Maui’s side, developing his own desire, a longing to experience land, to interact with the humans they’d studied. Unfortunately, their most recent experiments had forfeited more lives than Maui cared to number, proving correct the devastating theory that Tuck’s wishes, his aspirations, could never be realized.
During his first tides
below, Maui recalled experiencing a similar ache, and understood that the only acceptable remedy was for Tuck to find a new purpose, establish new goals. Though Maui could not be present to assist him in reaching those goals, he could fill Tuck’s head with ideas, plans, perhaps even reminders of all they had learned, and the many things they had yet to try. “My heart aches, knowing that you cannot join me in this final outcome. You understand that I have always planned to arrive upon my homeland, with you at my side.”
Tuck lifted his gaze to meet Maui’s. “Yes. As you understand that I could never keep you from destiny. It is enough reward to have helped you find absolution.”
“Parting from you will not be easy.” Maui stretched across the platform to squeeze a hand on Tuck’s shoulder. “But I shall go, trusting that the only brother I have known, will continue our progressions, bringing knowledge to the culture of Mer, and in doing so, will find his own happiness.”
The smile that Tuck mustered did not reach his eyes, yet Maui could sense the familiar determination he’d come to know so well. “I fear that without your assistance, it will be a long search.”
“However long it takes, happiness can be located, even for those forced to stay below.” He tapped a finger on the tablet nearby. “Even in my determination to live ashore, my life has been content. Our friendship has brought me considerable joy. The only joy I might ever have experienced during my tides here.”
Tuck turned away, reeling wordlessly to the secret cavern space. Moments later, he emerged, juggling two vessels of colored paihana. “In your absence this tide, I reflected upon our failed experiments, and all that we have learned.”
Maui laughed, sticking a finger into the purple gel and then licking off the residue. “There is joy in paihana. That was a fun lesson.”
Another vessel remained on the platform, not far from Tuck’s empty one. Tuck scrubbed it clean with the remains of a sponge-fish, and then placed it in front of Maui, filling it with a healthy portion of each colorful gel. “Considering the stifling laws of Atlantis, I fear many residents live devoid of pleasure. Perhaps I will allow them to purchase some, however temporary.” He sipped from his refilled vessel until his smile stretched into his eyes. “I do not believe that demand will be a problem.”
“As rumors spread, so does knowledge of decadent pleasures.” Maui also sipped, relieved to know that Tuck already had ideas for what came next. “Will you ever go back to Oceania?”
Tuck tipped his vessel, staring into the gel. “Perhaps. Once I am assured that my friend, Maui, does not retreat to Atlantis in need of finding me.”
Four tides passed. While Maui and Caspian urged the Sea King to allow the Prince one short visit to land, Tuck rearranged his dwelling, adjusting the placement of the platform, lining the walls with shelves on which to display his offerings and creations. He swept clean any sign of day-to-day living, and opened his heavy, wooden door to guests, offering each a taste of paihana, and then setting a price according to variety.
He solicited Marietta’s help in spreading news of the venture, while keeping the nature of his concoctions secret from the Sea King. A daunting task, indeed, but the mermaid proved cunning with movement, and adept with words.
On the fifth tide, moments after the city lights darkened, heralding the time for sleep, Tuck propped open his door to a crowd that filled his available space, and spilled out into the swim path. The demand became such that he enlisted Marietta to assist him in serving. Just before the dawn of wake-tide, they sent the last remaining Mer home, and closed the door on Tuck’s first successful period of business.
Marietta perched on a stool, folding her arms and watching Tuck clean the surface of the platform. “Who would have believed that Maui’s suspicious friend could serve such a need in a city like Atlantis?”
“Not I.” Tuck laughed, reveling in satisfaction at the end of a whirlpool of a day. “But I am happy to have brought joy to so many.”
Marietta gathered her belongings. “I am happy that you share this new and wonderful concoction. I hope you will not leave Atlantis, soon. At least, not without sufficient storage of paihana.”
“As long as the Sea King allows it, I shall remain.” Grinning, Tuck secured a covered vessel of the yellow blend that had first sparked the idea, and pressed it into Marietta’s hands. “Thank you, my friend, for helping determine my newest purpose.”
The light in her eyes dimmed, but Marietta’s smile remained intact. “Thank you for this. I shall need it in the coming tides. The Sea King has decreed that Caspian, Prince of Atlantis, shall be allowed one visit, a period of respite with which to seek his mother on land.”
A knot formed in Tuck’s throat. It would be done then. Caspian was going ashore, followed by Maui. And he and Marietta would both learn how to move forward.
Convincing King Tangaroa to allow his son a life-risking visit to land, had been a daunting task. If not for Tuck’s suggestion that they ply the Sea King with paihana, Maui’s mission would have failed. It required copious amounts of the fire coral blend, to bring out the King’s melancholy, during which Caspian plead for the opportunity to gain closure from his human mother.
In the end, Tangaroa had one condition. Maui must surrender his collection of creatures. Years of hunting, capturing, experimenting. And one more devastating loss for Tuck.
On the seventh waking tide, Maui rose, inspecting his cavern to be certain nothing of value had been left behind. Though the palace, and everything inside, technically belonged to the Sea King, Maui could not imagine his uncle missing simple items, such as serving vessels and eating tools. Neck adornments. Chips of gold used for bartering in the market. Etching tools and tablets. He’d transferred it, small amounts at a time, into Tuck’s hidden grotto.
It was not enough. Never could he repay what Tuck had been to him, and for him, but he would not disappear without doing whatever he could to further his friend’s future endeavors.
Caspian entered, unannounced, eyes frazzled and fin quivering with nerves. “I cannot stomach the morning meal. When do you wish to proceed with our voyage?”
Maui inspected the strip of scales, which he intended to keep. “Soon. I must first retrieve the token which will give you breath upon reaching the shore.”
Caspian stiffened, urging Maui into the hall. “Do not delay, then, Maui, lest I lose my bravado.”
But Maui refused to be pushed, for he did not expect to experience this place again—ever. “In time, Caspian.” He retreated to a notch, cut into the stone above his hammock, and retrieved the pouch he’d accepted from the human female. Beneath the pouch, he noted an errant stack of tablets he’d failed to deliver to Tuck, and opted to leave them where they lay. He spun back to Caspian. “A gift. You shall have use for it upon your arrival ashore.”
He unpacked the pouch, doing his best to explain each item, and how it should be worn. Then, he repacked them inside the pouch, and strapped it onto Caspian’s back.
Caspian’s fin quivered with terror, but his eyes radiated with excitement as he saluted Maui with the traditional Atlantian royal greeting. “Thank you, Cousin. I shall repay this favor someday.”
Maui played along, unwilling to explain that after parting at the surface, they would never meet again. “Of course. I expect nothing less.” He allowed himself to be steered out of the room, forced to leave the tablets behind, as a relieved calm settled inside him. Once he arrived at his own destination, the Sea King would never again be able to reach him.
* * *
During his final trek to Tuck’s dwelling, Maui absorbed everything he could. The powdered silt that dusted the swim paths. Deserted shells that marked the way. Dwellings and market stalls created with everything from harvested clay, to pearls and mother of pearl, to seaweed huts that collapsed with each rising swell. The pouch he hauled weighed more than any he had carried before, urging him to make haste.
He found his friend gathering vessels from the previous night, and piling them upon the platform
to be cleaned. Maui dumped the last of his possessions on the platform, so that shiny adornments and other items of value spilled out. “I’ve left nothing behind,” he announced. “Save a few tablets. But the Sea King cannot punish me, if he cannot find me.”
Tuck’s busy hands stilled. “You mean to go this tide, then. With Caspian?”
Maui closed the distance between them, lowering his voice to avoid being heard. “Once I am assured that Caspian has reached land, I shall depart, and emerge upon another beach, far from my cousin. I will never return to Atlantis, for if the formula should fail, leaving Caspian to perish, the Sea King will feed me to his sharks.”
Tuck’s dark skin tinted momentarily green. “And me.”
Maui shook his head in denial. “For this purpose, I have kept your identity from the Sea King, as well as from Caspian—from all who know what is about to transpire. You shall be safe here, at least for a time.”
Tuck frowned, twisting his hands together as he followed Maui into the grotto. “Marietta knows.”
Maui retrieved the pendant from the solution, stowing it in his pouch, along with a tiny, sealed clamshell that held the full potency of the serum. He inspected the seal, pressing his lips together in thought. “Tuck, promise me that if my actions bring you into danger, of any variety, that you will flee Atlantis.”
“I promise.” Tuck covered Maui’s hand with his, forlorn emotions causing both to quiver. “We have created only one pendant. If Caspian is to wear it, how will you survive on land?”
Maui held the clam, pinched between two fingers. “Caspian’s token need only last for a time, as he shall return someday to accept the role of Sea King. Mine must last forever, as I plan to remain ashore until my last breath. Therefore, once I know, once I witness, with my own eyes, the success of the serum on my cousin, I shall swallow my own.”
Dawn Of Hope: Charity Anthology Page 20