by M. Schaefer
“It was a Sunday, and nobody is ever there on weekends except the good Professor Seamore. That merman never leaves. Shelleen had studied under him when she went to the university,” King Dolphinium explained.
“That is the merman Kincade mentioned to me earlier. He said Professor Seamore had been waiting to meet me,” Destiny said tentatively, knowing it was not a coincidence.
“Well, of course he does! He was there when you were born.”
Destiny’s head swam, not quite understanding. “What do you mean, Grandpa?”
“Shelleen went to him for help. She knew the university had containment pods in the laboratory. She wouldn’t be responsible for causing some horrible epidemic among merpeople and she wouldn’t risk having you born topside.”
His reddened eyes beamed with pride as he spoke. “Oh, no! She was resourceful and smart! She did what she needed to do!
“What is a containment pod?” Destiny asked, confused.
“It is similar to a giant enclosed test tube. We use them to contain sick creatures and plant life, in order to find cures or study effects of various contaminants in a way that doesn’t risk infecting others.”
“Oh, scientific lab stuff. I understand,” she said, wondering if she would get the chance to see one. Then, she couldn’t help but to ask. “Do they have a giant cork at the top?”
King Dolphinium’s lip twitched slightly, like he wanted to smile, but a great sadness held his lips at bay. “I am afraid it is a little more complex than that,” he said, gently.
“Do you think I will get the chance to see one?” she asked hopefully.
He was quiet for a moment, as if carefully picking his words. Destiny watched his face, taken aback by the amount of sheer pain she saw reflected in his eyes.
“Yes, Destiny, I will be taking you there myself… shortly. You see…your mother.” He seemed to be struggling with the words. “She is…Your mother is…”
He rubbed his fingers on his temples and mumbled to himself, “How do I say this?”.… “Destiny, she is still there…frozen… in that very moment. She has remained there for over thirteen years.”
Destiny felt the blood rush from her face and her whole body felt as if it had instantly turned to jelly. She could barely find the strength to speak. “What do you mean, Grandpa?” she choked, in barely a whisper. “Did you say my mother is still there?”
Her head swam with all the unanswered questions of a lifetime.
He nodded solemnly and answered, “Yes, Destiny, she is in a containment pod.”
“Why?…Frozen?” she asked in disbelief.
Hot tears of truth welled up, and silently poured down her cheeks, leaving a wet trail that glistened. She wanted to give way to her emotions and let the pent-up, wracking sobs escape, but she knew at this moment she needed to be silent and listen.
“She couldn’t risk exposing you any more than she had to. Right after you were born, she held you a moment, kissed you goodbye and used the stone to freeze herself. She had no choice. She would have died or possibly infected others.
She has remained there ever since. Waiting.”
“Waiting?…For what?” she sobbed.
“Waiting for us to find the cure. Waiting for you to grow up and hopefully wake her up. Waiting to continue the life she deserves,” he answered quietly. “Waiting for Destiny”…
His voice trailed off.
Destiny lifted her hand unconsciously to touch the stone around her neck. It seemed to burn under her touch. She was overwhelmed by the thought of wearing such dreadful power. With a simple wave of her hand she could change the course of a life… even her own. She had the power to change the life of another. It had seemed good when it saved her from the shark. Now, she was unsure.
“What do I do, Grandfather?” she asked. “Please tell me.”
Chapter 8
Mertopia University
It was just a short time later that Destiny found herself next to her grandfather, speeding along in what looked like a motorized, two seated egg, to the Mertopia University. The utter shock of knowing her mother was frozen alive by the very stone that now hung heavily around her neck had ebbed only slightly. Time seemed to cease to exist. Her mind and heart felt numb. The vivid underwater landscape passed like a blur as they bounced and turned, but she barely noticed.
What would she tell her dad? Would he even believe her? Destiny wished he were here with her now. She would curl into his huge arms like she did when she was a little girl and he could hug her fears away.
“I know this is all rather shocking,” King Dolphinum said, taking one hand off the U-shaped steering wheel to pat her slender arm. The egg instantly lurched sideways, so he wrenched the steering wheel hard in the opposite direction. The egg instantly spiraled dangerously out of control. Destiny heard a horror-struck scream and suddenly realized it was coming from her! They careened downward bursting through long sea grass like an angry underwater lawn mower until he suddenly swerved again, missing a rock pillar by mere inches. She felt like a scrambled egg as her grandfather finally gained control and settled them back on course as if nothing happened.
“Ho! Ho! Ho! I’m sorry about that, Destiny. I forgot how touchy the steering is in this UWDA.” King Dolphinum laughed, his belly jiggling merrily.
“UWDA?” she asked dumbly, breathing slowly to try and calm her wildly, beating heart.
“Under Water Driving Apparatus. I don’t normally get the chance to drive it around! Those fuddy-duddy secret service merpeople frown on most fun things. They seem to think it could be dangerous!”
“Oh,” Destiny choked, trying to seem shocked. She looked in the tiny rear view mirror and noticed two other UWDAs, littered with shredded sea grass, following at a safe distance behind them. She was instantly flooded with relief. At least if they crashed there would be help!
They traveled for quite a while before they spoke again. Destiny was absently listening to the humming sound of the motor and watching the trapped air pocket slosh around on the dome shaped glass above her. It made her feel like she was in a fishbowl, quietly swaying and dipping in the current.
She focused on the passing scenery, trying not to think. They passed a crevasse with a big, red octopus twisting its strong tentacles around a helpless fish, pulling it closer and closer to its jaws of doom. Poor fish…She could relate. She couldn’t ignore the truth any longer. It was the reason she was here and she needed to find out all of it…no matter how painful.
“Grandpa?” Destiny asked, her voice trembling.
“Yes, Destiny?”
“Did anybody find the cure for my mother?” she asked, wishing she could take back the words as soon as they left her lips. Her stomach twisted in anticipation.
“Why,…yes, we did. Years ago in fact,” he answered solemnly.
She slumped in her seat, relief flooded through every bone in her body. Could she still have a chance to get better after so long?
“I don’t understand, then. Why is she still frozen?”
“Well..we found the treatment for her disease when you were about three years old. A year or so after your mother froze herself, other sea creatures came down with it, too. Professor Seamore was eventually able to isolate the bacteria and find the cure. We have a vaccine, now. All merpeople in Mertopia have been immunized. Only … all attempts to unfreeze your mother to give her the treatment were… unsuccessful,” he whispered sadly.
“Why? Couldn’t anybody else use the stone in the necklace?” Destiny asked.
“The power of the sea stone is only usable by the one for whom it is intended.” He leaned over and whispered like he was going to tell her something very important. “Sea stones are passed down through generations, but they will only work when the inheritor is ready to take on such an immense responsibility. I like to think of it as a kind of a safety feature.
“In other words, if you aren’t its intended, it won’t work. That keeps the power from falling into the wrong hands and such. Many
stones have been lost over the years. I imagine many are in topside museums or trinket boxes, with their keepers never having any idea what they actually possess. It is a necessary shame, really, but in the case of my daughter, it carries a very high price.”
“But why does it work for me when my mother is still….here?” she stumbled on the last word not knowing quite how to say it.
“Well, to be honest we didn’t know for sure that it would. I mean, we were all so hopeful,” he said, smiling at her proudly. “But it is rare, you know, for one so young to be able to control it, especially, with a sea stone as powerful as yours.
“Really?” Destiny asked, hope and excitement creeping into her voice.
“Really. I know of some stones that slept for generations or simply lost their power while waiting.”
“You mean the intended merperson was never ready?” she asked, feeling honored and totally inadequate at the same time. Perhaps it was all a huge mistake.
“Grandpa, do you think the magic stone could be wrong?”
He chuckled slightly, “Perhaps, Destiny, but not in your case. You are your mother’s daughter and she intended it to be yours. You are now the rightful owner… or it simply wouldn’t have accepted you or even worked at all. Sea stones are true gems of the sea and their power lies only here…on land, they are merely ornamental.”
Destiny felt a little better with the hope that she might be able to do something…anything, to help her mother. Seeing her…even frozen, after so long seemed like more than she had ever dreamed of. She tried to ignore the deep-seated fear that suddenly gripped her heavy heart. What if she couldn’t unfreeze her? What would she do then? Before tears could start, she quickly changed the subject.
“Do you know Kincade very well, Grandpa?”
“Ahh…Prince Kincade of the French Polynesian Sea,” he said, thoughtfully rubbing his beard.
“I believe he is quite an astute exchange student. He was sent here a few years earlier than most, to study at the Mertopia University under Professor Seamore. He often stays at the palace as a guest.”
“Prince?!!” Destiny exclaimed, shocked. “I mean… he doesn’t seem the type, if you ask me,” she stammered, trying to hide her embarrassment. Why was she embarrassed, anyway? She was a princess for goodness sake! Of course, she certainly didn’t feel like one! She felt slighted that he didn’t mention that tidbit of information before.
“Well…I guess he is just about as much of a prince as I am a princess! It just seems kind of funny because I thought he was like a regular boy. Well, .. a rather stiff regular boy. And….well, I certainly don’t feel like a princess. I can’t stand all that prissy hair stuff,” she rambled.
Her grandfather’s lip twitched into a smile and he seemed amused as he answered, “Oh ..I see. You have a crush on him.” He pointed a plump finger at her in mock accusation. The word crush pierced through her like a foghorn. In horror, she realized her only chance was to deny it with the venom a cobra would have envied! “OH NO!… I NEVER!…. I WOULDN’T!” she practically shouted, red-faced and melting into her contoured egg seat like a spineless yolk. Destiny puffed up her bottom lip and jutted out her chin, and crossed her arms stubbornly, trying to look very interested in the view out of the window.
King Dolphinum’s lighthearted chuckle was answer enough. She knew she was found out.
Destiny decided to keep quiet and NOT talk about Kincade, though she allowed her thoughts to drift in his direction. She hoped he would be at the university when they got there. He did start this adventure with her and it made her feel better to have someone around her own age along. Yeah! She liked him for his age and that was it! It had nothing to do with being handsome and utterly charming…A dreamy sigh escaped before she could snap herself out of her daze. She totally had a crush on Kincade.
The landscape started to climb upward like it had on the trip with Kincade and Manta. A brigade of sentry barracudas emerged from the deep and paced around the egg protectively. Watching their sharp teeth and streamlined bodies slice through the water sent a shiver down her back. They really gave her the creeps.
They crested the top of the dormant volcano and started to dive steeply into the mammoth crater of Mertopia. Destiny’s ears crackled like microwave popcorn as they descended. She had to yawn in order for them to quiet down. The whale bubble sculpture came into view, and she knew they would be landing soon. She saw some merpeople bustling around town, but no one seemed to notice them. She was surprised when they passed by the entrance with the sign that read “Mertopia University.” They headed further down the rocky side, toward what looked like a forest of huge rock-like mushrooms that sprouted oddly from the sea bottom. She sat up straight up in her seat to look around. They were so amazingly strange, like a Dr. Seuss land.
“What are those, Grandpa?” she said, in awe.
“Old lava pillars. They happened a long time ago when lava came up from the deep, then cooled in the water,” he explained. “They are quite fun! This was my favorite place to play when I was a merboy.”
Suddenly, Destiny watched one of the huge mushrooms tops slide open, exposing the entrance to a dark tunnel that had been completely camouflaged. As they motored through, the mushroom door slid shut behind them like a topside garage door. She was impressed!
“That was way cool!” she said, beaming.
As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see a glowing green strip of light that guided their way through the narrow tunnel. Every few moments, their egg would scrape and crash to one side or the other, jolting her in her seat. It reminded her of bumper cars at the fair. There wasn’t much difference in the motion.
“Grandpa, are the secret service merpeople coming, too?” she asked. She noticed that they hadn’t followed them into the tunnel. Perhaps they didn’t want to chance driving so close to her grandpa. She couldn’t blame them.
“Oh, they are never far. No doubt staking out the place, doing secret, spy stuff.”
“Oh,.. sounds like fun,” she answered. They always did that sort of thing in her favorite spy movies.
They followed the green lights until the tunnel opened up into a small cave that housed a tiny underwater parking garage. As they approached, she saw another UWDA parked. It had a giant suction cup attached to the front, holding it in place. Destiny wondered if there would be enough room for her grandpa to get out of their “egg” if they parked next to the other vehicle.
“Parking is the tricky part,” he said, wrinkling his forehead.
That was not good news! Destiny braced her feet on the rounded, floor, turned and clenched the back of her seat for dear life! Open sea was tricky enough! The horrible thought of him attempting to park in this tiny space was enough to turn her spine to jelly.
He maneuvered the egg back and forth with the grace of a battering ram, taking turns crashing into the parked UWDA and the rocky sidewall. Loud grating and crashing noises echoed through the cave like shockwaves, sending sediment flying from the cave bottom like a whirlwind until they were surrounded in a cloud of dirt. Destiny couldn’t see a thing. She wondered if that would be a problem for her grandfather, then giggled to herself. There wasn’t anything left he hadn’t hit anyway.
“Grandpa? Do you have insurance?” Destiny asked, through jittering teeth.
“Huh?” he replied, raising one brow, like he was in deep concentration. “What’s that?”
“Oh, ..never mind,” she giggled.
After a few more thrashing jolts, King Dolphinium finally seemed happy with his egg’s position, planted sideways and directly on top of the other UWDA. He pressed a button and the motor turned off.
“Here we go. Ho, ho, ho,” he laughed merrily, looking quite satisfied.
Destiny sank into her seat like a relieved jellyfish. Her arms and leg muscles ached from holding on so tightly. “Good job, Grandpa,” she squeaked out, giving him a thumbs-up and trying to sound supportive.
He pushed a purple button on the steering whee
l and the window popped up and slid back with a bubbling noise. She waved her arms madly in front of her face, trying to clear the silt that rushed in. That only made it worse.
“Be patient, Destiny. It will calm on its own,” King Dolphinum said.
Patience was not her strong point, but she refrained from waving…even though she really wanted to.
After a moment of utter boredom, the cloud settled to the bottom. To her surprise, Kincade was by the entrance door, holding a giant suction cup. Her heart gave a little leap at seeing him again, and she threw him a relieved smile. She was happy he was here…because he was close to her own age, of course!
He was wearing a long, official-looking blue tunic that covered part of his beautiful tail. It had a gold embroidered emblem in the shape of a coiled sea serpent wearing a crown. The image was sewn extravagantly on both sleeves and around the neck. It occurred to her that his outfit would make him look like a complete dork topside! She could go as far as saying that he looked like he was wearing a dress…but down here it made him look handsomely prince-like, with his dark hair wildly floating about him.
Kincade’s lip was twitching like he was trying not to smile as he approached the UWDA and attached the suction cup to the front, and then stepped to her side. Without a word, she looked away quickly, her cheeks pinking. What had gotten into her?!
“Pleased to see you, Kincade. How did you know we were here?” King Dolphinium asked pleasantly.
“Hello, your Majesty. To be honest sir..we…well, ..heard your arrival. I thought you might like some assistance tying off the UWDA,” he said, his face turning a matching pink.
“Oh? You thought we needed help, did you? Well,…I thought you came to see my granddaughter,” he said gruffly, tossing a quick wink at Destiny.
She felt her jaw drop and she was stunned utterly speechless. How could he even suggest such a thing! Out loud! Not to mention in front of her!
Her cheeks instantly felt like they had just exploded in a blazing furnace. She had the sensation of being pricked with a thousand needles. She couldn’t even look in Kincade’s direction. It didn’t matter that she hoped it was true! She held her breath and waited for his answer.