by Susan Fodor
I moved too quickly, bumping my head savagely. Blood trickled down my face, but all I cared about was the glowing orb ahead. Rabid hope overtook me at the prospect of getting out of the dark and into the light. I fell to my hands and knees, crawling toward it, ignoring the sharp rocks.
Each step felt like it took eons, my heart was beating so fast, I could feel it in my throat. I finally crawled into the light. It was intoxicating after being in the dark for so long. I closed my eyes, waiting for them to adjust before I emerged from the hole. Daniel, Mum, Sophia and Dr. Conneely were huddled around Kerensa’s old table.
“Hey,” I greeted lamely, “can someone give me a hand here.” My hands were grazed and mildly bleeding from my furious crawl. The blood from hitting the roof had congealed matting my hair.
Daniel turned and ran the two paces to pull me out of the cave. I held him close breathing in his sea scent and letting the cool of his hands on my back, draw me back into the land of the living. I was so emotionally spent, there were no tears left to shed at the happy reunion. After a long while, Daniel let me go, allowing Mum to hold me.
“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” Mum reprimanded, hugging me fiercely.
“I’ll try not to,” I sincerely agreed.
Mum continued to keep her arm around me as we stood in a circle grinning stupidly at each other for a moment. I realized that one of our number was missing, “Where’s Charlie?” I asked worried. Every terrible scenario played through my mind in the nano-second it took to receive an answer.
“He’s having a rest after breaking a rib,” Dr. Conneely replied clinically.
“What?” I asked concerned. “Is he ok?”
“He’ll heal quickly,” Dr. Conneely assured me, his calm was contagious. “After a few transformations he will heal right up.”
“What happened?” I asked, the back of my neck tingling with concern.
“I fell into a chasm when we came after you,” Daniel admitted blushing. “Charlie jumped to catch me, and pulled me back up. He hit the rock hard, he pulled me up with a broken rib. I’m going to have to take that guy to the gym when we get back, he looks muscular, but it’s a farce.”
“Hey,” Charlie grunted, emerging from behind the curtain. “I resemble that comment.”
Daniel and Charlie laughed. Their bromance had blossomed while I’d been locked in the cave, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. I hugged Charlie fiercely, causing him to groan. I let go, feeling guilty, but was glad that Charlie and Daniel were safe.
“Thanks for saving Daniel,” I said appreciatively, smiling into his caramel eyes.
“Any time,” Charlie said, trying to sound cool, but sounding cheesy.
I laughed, glad to be reunited with everyone.
Mum pushed a bottle of water into my hand and Charlie’s. “Keep hydrated,” she ordered. I snapped the safety cap unscrewing the lid and took a drink. My body shivered in appreciation as I skulled the water. It gave me renewed energy and kindled my hunger.
“Where’s Arthur?” Dr. Conneely asked, remembering his brother-in-law.
“He’s dead,” I said, the words leaving a sour taste in my mouth.
“You killed him,” Daniel exclaimed, with a look of surprise and pride.
“Noooo,” I replied, shaking my head in disbelief that anyone would think that. “He kidnapped me so that he wouldn’t have to die alone. He’s still there in a cave.” I motioned to the manhole shuddering.
“May as well leave him there.” Dr. Conneely shrugged. “He’s got no living family or friends, no one will look for him.”
His statement made me sad, Arthur had reaped the harvest of the discordant seed he had sown in his life. No one would bring flowers to his grave or think of him. I decided that I would remember the soft look in his eyes and the fact that he had tried to save me.
I was about to protest, and insist that we give him a proper burial, except Daniel put his hand on my shoulder. “We need to leave right away to make it back in time for the parley. We need to go.”
I nodded seeing the self-sacrifice in Daniel’s eyes. He’d assumed that I didn’t get the Heart of the Sea and that he was returning to die.
“Let’s go,” I agreed a mischievous glint in my eyes. “But before we do, I just wanted to show you this.”
I pulled the worn brown leather pouch from my pocket; everyone’s eyes were transfixed by it. Slipping my hand into the pouch, my fingers brushed the hard surface of the object that would save Daniel’s life. I pulled the large clear quarts stone shaped like a starfish into view. The light danced off its surface, making it look like a diamond; it looked cold as ice, but it felt warm to touch, producing its own heat.
“You found it.” Charlie grinned, unsurprised.
Mum and Daniel’s face beamed with pride, Sophia was weeping with relief. Dr. Conneely was unmoved, as though he had never doubted my ability to fulfill my part of his vision.
The Heart of the Sea caught my attention as it warmed my hands. I gazed into its depths. My vision blurred and cleared and I could see an underwater city with two tall spindle spires, and bright light illuminating every inch of its beauty. The view zoomed in on the right spire, revealing countless windows leading to rooms. In one window sat a girl in a wedding dress with her face in her hands. Even without sound the motion of the girl's shoulders betrayed that she was crying.
The scene unfolded before me, as though I were observing from the window. Her white veil pooled around her head, moved by neither wind nor water but something otherworldly. A stunningly handsome young man with tawny brown hair rushed into her room and she backed against the window, her golden hair rippling. He crossed the room, wrapping her in his arms; he pulled the veil out of her hair and let it flutter to the ground and he gently claimed her lips with his.
I knew that I was watching Adrian and Celeste Conneely; they had been in love and he was convincing her to run away with him. Without seeing Celeste’s face, her body language communicated her waning resolve to stay. Looking into Adrian’s sincere eyes would have made me follow him anywhere. I could understand why Celeste had gone with him, she couldn’t see any other way for her to be with the man she loved. She would sacrifice it all for him.
Within a few minutes she was ready to leave. She glanced around her room, the four poster-bed fashionable over a hundred years ago, the wardrobe full of fancy gowns, symbols of the life she was about to farewell. Coral and starfish decorated her room, a glowing ecosystem swarming with warmth that left her cold without Adrian’s love.
Celeste lifted her long silk gown to step onto her bed and she pulled the glowing starfish in my hands from the wall. She turned and looked out the window revealing her face for the first time. Celeste looked out the window like she was looking straight at me. I gasped, as I recognized her face. I had seen her face thousands of times in the mirror staring back at me.
The picture blurred as Celeste disappeared with Adrian. I struggled to catch my breath after the vision.
I looked up at Dr. Conneely.
“What did Celeste look like?” I asked him, knowing the answer before I asked.
“Just like you,” he replied simply.
“We need to go,” Daniel enthused, too excited to care about Celeste’s looks.
My mind was still reeling at the realization that I was Celeste’s doppelgänger. I clumsily pushed the Heart of the Sea back into its leather pouch and into my pocket.
Celeste’s face swam before my eyes. She looked just like me, the same ridge in her nose, the same brown eyes. Her hair was blonder, but it was the same neither curly nor straight weirdness as mine. It had to mean something, why else would I have seen the vision?
While the others celebrated our acquisition of the Heart of the Sea I fell into my own thoughts. I wished that I could talk to a mermaid, they no doubt would have some kind of theory. Daniel might know, but he wouldn’t tell me because he thought it was superstition. There had to be more to the story. It was all too contriv
ed. I smiled at the realization that Mum would think it would be fate or God’s divine will. After the day’s events, the idea of providence was not such a leap of faith.
Within minutes the floorboards were returned to their place, and our group was ready to make the trek across the moors in the moonlight. The wind had blown the clouds away revealing a jeweled night sky. The waves crashed against the cliffs, an owl hooted in the distance, and my body ached for home.
Daniel and Sophia had pulled ahead, while Mum helped Dr. Conneely navigate the rugged terrain. I hung back, relishing the crisp open air after being underground for a quarter of a day. Daniel’s irrepressible laugh reverberated across the moors, causing me to smile.
“You’re quiet,” Charlie commented, as he gingerly picked his way across the dew soaked grass.
“Got a lot on my mind,” I replied noncommittally. While I needed to talk to someone, I was worried about Daniel misconstruing my friendship with Charlie.
“You know you can talk to me,” Charlie said sincerely.
I paused looking into his caramel eyes, knowing that I’d told him a thousand secrets in our forgotten past. That made it easier to talk to him, but I was uncertain of how to even voice my thoughts.
“It’s weird,” I confessed, looking away. “I think I’m Celeste’s doppelganger; I saw her in the Heart of the Sea. I don’t know what that means...”
Charlie smiled reassuringly. “You don’t need to know right now; you’ll know when the time is right, just like with everything else we’ve done this week.”
I smiled fondly at Charlie. “Oh, shucks, you’re like my own personal cheer squad,” I teased, feeling better.
“That’s what I’m here for,” he replied genuinely.
“What are you here for?” Daniel interrupted jovially, as we caught up at the cars.
“For general good times,” Charlie laughed.
“Preach it,” Daniel said, gently bumping fists so as not to further injure Charlie.
As the cars snaked their way through the darkened moors of Cornwall, I worried. Celeste’s eyes had been pleading. The vision had been shown to me specifically; I felt like she wanted me to do something, but what?
goodbye
I had thirty-six text messages when we landed in Melbourne on the day of parley.
Jaimie, Tamara, and Tammy were in a tizzy due to my absence and lack of communication. Ten minutes after I texted them that I was feeling adequate for visitors, they arrived at my house. I feigned illness in my flannel pyjamas as they talked incessantly about Mr. Porter's newest crime against fashion and how Miranda hadn't been in school either. After hours of analysing what Miranda was up to and what we could do to make winter formal the best dance ever, they reluctantly left so I could recuperate.
Even though I wasn’t sick I needed a nap. I’d slept fitfully on the plane, unable to get comfortable or still the racing thoughts in my mind. I felt like there was something I had to do, but I couldn’t work out what.
Our house had a strained air about it. Despite Charlie’s constant lame jokes and Mum’s feigned cheeriness, things were not usual in our home. Mum, Dad, Charlie and I ate dinner in unusual silence. Dad knew that I had changed and he was happy for me, but it also left our future as a family in limbo. None of us wanted to broach the topic of whether Mum and I would return to the colony or what it meant to Dad if we did. He was the only father I’d ever known and the thought of leaving him left a gaping hole in my chest that refused to stop aching.
I hadn’t been in a hurry to transform because I didn’t want everything to change. I wanted things to stay the same for a while, so I could get used to the idea of being a selkie princess. I wasn’t super psyched about running around naked either.
It wasn't just Dad I didn't want to leave behind. After five years of suffering high school, I had graduated to coolness; and being able to give my friends a bearable high school experience---even for a few months---was something I wanted to do. I didn’t want to leave everyone to Miranda’s mercy. I wanted to finish what I'd started. I was embarrassed to admit that I wanted to go to winter formal and be a debutante. I wanted to get my high school diploma and graduate with Jaimie.
All the things about high school that I'd endured were more endearing, than moving to the bottom of the sea or a crappy rock. Perhaps it was a case of “better the devil you know.” I wasn't ready to abandon my life on land without serious thought and discussion. The funeral faces we were all wearing, was all I needed to know that now was not the time to change everything.
The time for parley crept up on us as we each wrestled with our individual concerns. Mum and I lingered in the entrance to our home with Dad, needing to go but too afraid of what morning might bring. I didn’t know how much power King Leo had, could he order us to stay? Would he keep Mum and I against our will? I shuddered at the uncertainty of my future.
Dad's eyes were moist with unshed tears as he held me close; it was so strange for him to be affectionate. He proceeded like a robot, hugging me mechanically, his words forced.
Mum had clearly coached him on what to say to me. "Mya, I love you. You are beautiful and you will always be my daughter."
I let the tears roll down my cheeks as I hugged Dad, breathing in his unique scent of Old Spice shaving cream and something akin to sauerkraut. I laughed through the tears, unable to release all the pent up emotions of the moment, let alone of the past week.
"I love you too, Dad," I cried softly, unable to hold it in. Fear and love swirled in me like a blizzard, covering my heart in floods of emotion. I rushed outside, knowing that Dad didn’t appreciate tears and drama. I wanted his last words to me, to be pleasant ones.
I waited with Charlie outside as my parents said goodbye. For once Charlie wasn't cracking jokes; he gave us the space we needed while ensuring my safety. Mum was surprisingly together as we piled into the car. I wanted to ask her what she’d said to Dad, if we were coming back tonight, if we would ever see our home again. Her ragged sigh told me that she didn’t know anymore than I did.
"Have you got it, Mya?" Mum asked.
My fingers ran across the Heart of the Sea in my jeans pocket. I nodded too distressed to speak.
"Let's do this then; let's change everything." Mum smiled bravely, covering her sorrow.
atlantis
Unlike the first parley I’d attended, there was a tingle of excitement that thrilled through both the selkies and merfolk. The return of the Heart of the Sea had already made a change in the way the meeting was conducted; both parties met on the same beach, without the inlet separating them. Both sides waited eagerly for Daniel to deliver the verdict on the jewel's ability to reinstate light to the sunken city.
I stood regally between my mother and King Leo, as naked as the day I was born. The wind examined my unclad body in a pervy way, making me wish even more for the lights to return to Atlantis, so that clothing could be worn again. It made sense that a culture bathed in darkness wouldn’t feel the need to cover up, but it was freaking me out to be naked for the entire world to see.
Daniel had met us under Queenscliff Pier to accompany us to parley. He hadn’t said a word when I’d stripped off, though I felt his eyes wander over my body making me blush. Charlie never looked below my face, his eyes were like magnets glued to my pupils, which had surprised me after all the naked jokes he’d made during changing.
The wind blew across my body raising goose bumps; it took all my self-control to not run back to the boat for a t-shirt and underwear. I wouldn’t survive on seal rock; I hated being naked in front of other people. I tapped my fingers gently on my thigh, wishing that Daniel would return quicker and deliver the verdict that the city was up and running, so everyone could go home.
The selkie pup’s parents stood behind us, distraught due to being separated from their children. Cordulla stood in front of us, enjoying having her attributes out for the world to see. She glared at my body with disapproval, hoping to make me flinch, but I kept my chin raised st
oically. Eventually she had taken to ordering around the huge contingent of finfolk that had accompanied her, to pass the time.
Finally Daniel emerged from the sea, his muscular body illuminated in the moonlight. I had kept my eyes from wandering below his chest. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to check out his junk, it just seemed weird to do so.
Miranda had brought an issue of Cosmo to school, it had 50 Shades of Penis. It had amusing names penned under each specimen---that experience had convinced me that boys looked better with their jocks on.
“He totally looks like Thor,” Charlie whispered, teasing.
I half grinned, wondering if princesses were supposed to smile. The royal sea-folk were somber; I didn’t know if that was because we were meeting with our soon to be former enemies or if royalty were supposed to look like they’d stepped in dog poo all the time.
"It didn't work," Daniel said frustrated, trudging up the bank.
"What do you mean, it didn't work?" Dr. Conneely asked confused. He stood with the selkies, as the merfolk had hissed at him when he’d approached them. Dr. Conneely was like a shadow, appearing and disappearing at whim.
"I mean I put it in the right spot and nothing happened," Daniel replied, raking his fingers angrily through his wet hair. Charlie was right; Daniel did look like Thor. I kept my eyes resolutely above his waist to ensure that I didn’t spontaneously combust from embarrassment as much as the fear of giggling like a drunken schoolgirl.
"Did you jiggle it?" Dr. Conneely asked, seriously.
Daniel gave him a withering look.
"Its effectiveness is not our concern," King Leo voiced. "We release the lives of the prince and queen in accordance with the Heart of the Sea being returned. We demand the children you have captive."
While King Leo didn’t care about the lights returning to the city, I did. The whole purpose of our exercise was to return things to the way they had been before Adrian and Celeste had run away. In my mind that included getting the lights back up and running, and hopefully not being enemies anymore.