Fire Consumes All

Aurora dropped Miranda, who landed in a drunken pile, and started to shake as she saw the flames eat up the pier. For a moment, she was overtaken by the memory of white hot heat searing flesh and agonized cries. She shut her eyes tightly against the scene, as if it was all a figment of her imagination.

Someone came and grabbed her by the waist, scooped down to get Miranda and started to lug them both to a safer place. The person was shouting her name. “Aurora! Can you hear me? Open your eyes. Aurora!” It was Merrick. He had gotten Grant to the platform, and now he was hauling them both back. Sweat and soot covered him.

She opened her eyes, angry at herself for being a coward, angry at the enemy for putting her through this again. Gritting her teeth, she shoved Merrick and Miranda away and off the pier, away from the fire, turned, and ran back into the flames herself. She heard Merrick shouting at her to come back, but she didn't look back.

Jumping over the burning railing, she prayed to god that she didn't burn herself and jumped into the water. She attacked blindly, seeing a dark shadow moving in the waters. The water was dark, but the surface was lit up from the fire.

Aurora and the enemy clashed, and she allowed herself to take on her own form. Her body burned as she writhed underwater, the sea boiling as she became bigger and transformed. Her attacker backed away as she reared up and out of the water, knocking the some of the burning pier out of the way. Flames, wood, and debris rained down in the night as Aurora growled menacingly.

She spotted the group of mermaids too late. Something sharp pierced her side and a net was thrown over her. Aurora roared her displeasure and thrashed around, trying to free herself, but only getting more tangled. Aurora looked down and saw the one who attacked them, a satisfied look on his face.

Drakon Lelouch, the one who made her suffer so long ago, had an evil glint in his eye as Aurora screamed and struggled more. She looked over to see Merrick, Grant, and Miranda all staring at her, mouths open in shock. They were too distracted by her to see that another net had fallen over them.

Another sharp object jabbed into her side and she screamed again, and went under. She managed to snap the net with her teeth and get out, but they’d but something on the weapon. Aurora’s vision got dark and hazy, her movements slower. She was running out of energy so fast, that she changed back into her regular form.

Darkness came fast, but she knew it wasn't death. Death would never come to her, no matter how much she wished it.

They were underwater, Aurora could feel that. With a lot of effort, she managed to crack an eye open and look past her drooping Reef. She was in a room... no, a prison. The opening to the cave was barred off. Apparently, she was out for a while, because she was trying to float to the top of the cave.

Whimpering and moans made her open her cat-like eyes open even more. Merrick was staring straight ahead, his eyes brooding, Grant and Miranda were huddled in a corner, bubbles coming out of their mouths, cowering from... her little sister, Reina. All three mortals had on charms strapped to their wrists.

Reina was glaring at the two. “Gods of the sea, you guys just never shut up, do you.” she growled.

Aurora struggled to fight the dizziness she felt and swam down towards her sister to give her a big hug. “Thank Poseidon you’re alright.” she breathed.

She returned her hug. “Speak for yourself. When they brought you in there, I thought you were dead.”

“I’m sorry.” she grimaced.

“For what? Passing out?”

Aurora laughed.

Reina turned serious again. “Seriously, I was worried. You’re one of our best warriors. They must have done something incredible to take you down.”

“They used fire.”

Her sister’s mouth dropped open, and she sucked in water and exhaled angrily. “Those b******s! How dare they!” She obviously wanted to kill someone and her eyes wandered back to Grant and Miranda.

They were eyeing them, terrified.

Aurora ignored them and turned her attention to Merrick. “Merrick.” she called softly.

Slowly, he turned his head in her direction, a small flash of fear in his eyes made her flinch. But it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a look she couldn't understand. Looks like they were back where they started.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He hesitated. “Fine.”

Aurora grimaced and looked down at the cave floor, then at the prison entrance. She swam over and looked out. Guards laid around lazily, picking their teeth, scraping old scales off... She moved away, disgusted. She glanced over at Reina. “When we get out of here, Drakon’s mine.” she growled.

Reina swished her tail around nervously. “That’s if we get out of here.”

“We will.” she vowed. Aurora looked around their cell once more, seeing if there was any way for escape. She swam over to a window that was also blocked off, the hole in the rock being big enough for a person to swim through.

She tested the seaweed that blocked the opening off; not as sturdy as the ones at the entrance, but still thick. It reminded her of fishing nets.

Small fish floated in and out of the cell, so Reina and Aurora caught their dinner easily, ignoring the humans in the room. Aurora thought it was time to show them what she was really like anyways, so that meant no holding back -and besides, she liked the taste of raw fish.

Aurora was contemplating on what to get them to eat when a guard came in carrying four strips of Gutweed seaweed. She grimaced. Leave it to the mermaids to dish up the nastiest seaweed for the humans to eat. She glanced at Reina.

“Think we should just let them starve?” she said.

Everyone in the room flinched.

“Reina, I don’t know if you've noticed, but the humans are my friends.”

Time seemed to stop as her sister took the news in. “What?” she exploded. “What the hell’s wrong with you? Just because you have to help them, doesn't mean you have to be friends with them!”

“Well, technically, Merrick’s my friend. The other two are his friends, but I know them enough.” Aurora contemplated.

“Please tell me you’re joking.” she pleaded. “You’re the Filia Prima! You can’t have mortal friends.” She said it like mortals were cockroaches.

Aurora winced. “We used to be friends with mortals before, and just because you’re my sister Reina, doesn’t mean that I answer to you. I am the first daughter, you have no right to judge what I do.”

Reina paled. “Y-you've gone mad.”

“It doesn't matter. They’ll forget me soon enough.” she said, brushing past her and grabbing the seaweed and passed it to Miranda, Grant, and Merrick. Miranda's stared at it in horror, Grant started stuffing his mouth, and Merrick... he was just sitting there.

“Merrick, you have to eat.” she said, gently.

“It’s no McDonald’s.” he said, trying to joke.

She smiled. “Nope. It’s worse, but that’s all we have for right now.”

He took the food. “Thanks.”

A moment of silence. “You’re not scared of me, are you?”

Merrick shook his head. “No... I’m just in... shock, I guess.”

“Sorry.” she apologized.

“For what?”

Aurora shrugged. “Scaring you, dragging you down here... I don’t know.”

He gave a short, forced laugh, making bubbles come out of his mouth. “I should be used to it by now.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but just then, the guards were opening their prison.

“Aurora Itsaso.” the guard said, it’s long purple tongue running over it’s slightly sharper teeth. It’s voice making her shiver in the warm water.

Aurora looked at Reina. She was sulking in the corner, but still had fear in her eyes. She glanced at the window that she was inspecting earlier, and her sister nodded reluctantly. “That would be me.” Aurora said, swimming towards the guard who shackled her immediately around her tail. She growled in discomfort.

“What’s wrong? The Filia Prima doesn't like being tied up?” the guard mocked.

Her eyes flashed cat-like and snarled like a beast. “Just get on with it.”

The guard swam back a few paces, but then with a new malice in his beady eyes, began to haul her away to god know’s where.

She followed reluctantly. If she lagged behind, the guard would start to make her swim backwards, so she tried to stay as far away as possible, but not too far behind. Aurora just prayed that Reina and the rest would be able to get out of the prison.

Aurora took in the mermaid’s home, and recognized it as her own long ago. The once colorful reef that the Ocean Serpents resided in, has turned into a slaves workshop. The colorful plants and rocks had been stripped, replaced by miners who dug into the rock, making more room for them.

She felt disgusted as she saw the place where her family and the whales used to play in. Now, there was only a patch of sand. This used to be her home, where she grew up in; and they just took it all away for what? Even she didn't understand the mermaids desire to kill the serpents off.

The guard led her into an old sunken ship that used to be her home. It was like a slap in the face to swim through there and know that you would never be welcome there again. Mermaids who were milling around saw them and started cheering and letting loose triumphant cries that they finally caught the First Daughter.

She wanted to snarl, she wanted to howl, rip their throats out, bring them pain for what they've done, but here, she was vulnerable; at their mercy.

Aurora saw a tiger shark strolling around the place, making her hiss that such a creature was allowed here and that the beast wasn't attacking any of the mer people. Of course, it made a snap at her, but a sharp command stopped it inches from her face.

They finally reached the dining hall in the ship, also a throne room for the mermaids, apparently. They redid the place, so that there were three thrones at the top of some marble steps. She was led to the base of the stairs, and the first person she saw on the left throne was Drakon.

Her blood boiled, threatening to heat the ocean currents itself, craving his blood. How dare he! The swine was nothing but an amoeba that deserved to suffer.

On the right throne, sat the queen of mermaids, in all her Siren and queeny glory. Her metallic hair and eyes matching her scaled skin and talon claws. Aurora half expected a forked tongue to pop out of her mouth.

The king of all mer people, naturally, sat in the middle, his tail flicking back and forth, an arrogant look in his features. His red hair and beard looked funny against his blue skin that blended into his plain tail.

No one spoke, until Aurora finally mustered the courage to do so. “What do you want with me?” She was pleased that her voice didn't shake or show any of her fear.

A slow smile curled around the king’s lips. “My dear Aurora, I believe it’s been years since we last encountered each other!”

“Apparently not long enough.” she retorted.

“Now, now,” the king clucked. “That’s no way to treat your future in-law.”

“What are you ranting about now, you old-” It took a moment for his words to sink in. “In-law?” Aurora squeaked.



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It had been two weeks since Merrick had escaped the clutches of the mermaids, Grant and Miranda's memory had been erased the moment that Reina had gotten them safely onto shore. Aurora had been right, erasing memories did mess up someone's mind. Miranda and Grant were like hippies now. They always seemed in a daze and just happy for some unknown reason. Sean commented on it, and Merrick just shrugged his shoulders.

The way that they had gotten out had seemed a blur to him, easily slipping through the small hole in the wall seemed almost like a dream. It had taken a coupled days for Reina to work on getting the bars out of the hole, and then widening it so that even Grant's big form could be hauled through it.

The entire time, Grant and Miranda were nothing but pains while there. They whined to the guards, which only served to piss them off. The result was to give them even nastier seaweed to eat.

It took longer to get home, even riding on the current. Reina was silently furious as she had to haul all three of them out as fast as she could. They didn't want the mermaids to be after them and they never came. It made Merrick nervous and anxious. What would happen to Aurora? She was still there and probably being tortured for all he knew.

They hadn't known each other for less than a week, and Merrick was already attached to her. He wanted to know her, to be friends with her. Possibly more than friends, but it couldn't happen if she was captured.

When they had reached the shore and Grand and Miranda had been taken care of, Reina had given him a scornful look. "This is all your fault." she hissed. "If Aurora hadn't been so concerned for your safety, a stupid mortal, she wouldn't have been left behind."

She was terrifying, laying there in the surf, her wet black hair hanging around her with her Reefs drooping. Her tail looked like it wanted to flatten him and beat Merrick to death. Being honest, he wished she would. Guilt ate at him, because he knew that it was Grant, Miranda, and Merrick's fault that she got captured. If she hadn't had to worry about them, she would have been able to run, or at least be able to fight them off better.

From the time that had passed, Aurora hadn't showed up anywhere. He had gone to her house, but it was empty, looking as if it'd never been used. When Merrick asked Sean about it, he just asked who Aurora was. Miranda and Grant were no help, only smiling serenely at him. Sean and Merrick now had to constantly watch over them because no one knew what they would do.

In a half-crazed state, Merrick had gone around everywhere and asked random people if they knew her. Days later, there was no result; even Ardy couldn't find a girl by the name Aurora Itsaso. She never even existed in the world, only Merrick seemed to remember her.

It was crazy. Impossible. It was magic.

  She was real! He knew that. He still had the stone that she gave him, her walking stick was at his house. He remembered talking to her in the cave they were being held captive in.

"Why?" he asked. "Why did you come to my house and talked to me?"

Aurora seemed to contemplated it and he wondered how he ever thought her to be a monster. He now realized that she was a beautiful creature. Probably the most beautiful thing he will ever see again. Shimmery, black scales lined her arms and shoulders, her blue-green cat eyes flickering to Merrick thoughtfully. Her tail swished around lazily, as if they weren't in a life or death situation. Her tail was long, tapering down near the end only the flare back as a powerful fin that could propel her as fast as she wanted. Little wisps curled around her tail, like a loose scarf. She was definitely beautiful.

"Because you had a different air around you, Merrick." she said, drawing him out of his thoughts. "Other than your cocky attitude, the aura you had around you wasn't like any other normal human's. It called out to me.

"To be honest, I've always seen you surfing. Even before we met, I had a small cave where I lived that overlooked the beaches. You surfed almost every day of the week, and it fascinated me. I have never seen someone love the ocean like you do, Merrick." she said.

He grinned. "So even before we met, you stalked me."

She snorted, bubbles coming out of her mouth. "Stalking is my specialty. It would be a waste if I didn't use it." she got serious again. "I had been on land before, a long time ago. The wars between the mermaids and serpents had just begun and I was making a difference in peoples lives. Saving them from horrible things, from themselves and others." she laughed humorlessly. "I was so naive. I thought that if I was on land, they couldn't get to me. That I was safer there than in the ocean.

"It happened on a hot day, one of the hottest days of the year, and they came up. They took off my Crura charm and threw it in the trash. I transformed. Right on the parking lot where everyone saw. It was horrible. I couldn't get to water, and the heat basically exploded everywhere and I was on fire."

"And that's why you always play with that necklace," Merrick finished.

She looked away. "I always have to remind myself that it's there." Aurora looked back at him and smiled. "But now I'm back and I got to meet you. I don't like that you got dragged into this mess, but I'm really happy that I finally got to meet you."

And then she was gone.

Merrick could only hope that she would come back. He was bordering on obsessive with finding her. He had no clue as to even if she was still alive. Merrick could only believe in her as best as he could.

 

 

It had been three months, and bad luck seemed to surround Merrick. His father's company had gone bankrupt and he had to get a job to support himself. He had to put his surfboard up to take on three jobs and barely made it out to the waves.

When he did, he always seemed to look under the surface of the waves for Aurora. It just baffled his mind that she could have been a thing of his imagination. Often times, he always thought of it as a dream, a long, long dream that bordered on the terms of nightmare. 

Then one day, Merrick finally got a clue. It was November, going into December, and he was at his college classes when a man approached him. He wore nothing but black, covering him from his turtle neck to the bottoms of his military boots.

They were in the library, hidden by the stacks of books around them as the man slid into the seat across from him while simultaneously sliding a piece of paper towards him. "It's not your imagination." was the first words he said. "She's real."

Merrick's heart jumped at the meaning of "she" that he was talking about. Before he could think about it, he snatched up the paper and a picture fell out. It was Aurora, except she looked older, tired, beaten. She was in a swimming pool from what he could tell, a collar attached to the side of the pool, like a pet. On the other piece of paper, was an address.

He looked up at the man who gave the information, questioning. He had a scar along his forehead, his black hair pulled back, as if to show it off. His golden eyes were sad. "I have done some things where I thought I was doing the right thing, but now I know I've been tricked, and for that, this is the only thing I can do."

The man looked familiar, like he'd only gotten a glimpse of his face before.

"My brother is the one that had gotten you on the pier that day," the man explained. That was him. They looked similar, maybe twins, but the other one didn't have a scar. "I am ashamed to say that I helped him look for you. But whoever asked us to do this job is scary as f**k, man. My brother refuses to let up on this case, but I'm out."

"Why are you telling me this?" Merrick asked, suspicious.

He shook his head. "I'm just trying to make up for my sins. Watch your back, my brother is pretty ruthless, and he'll do whatever he can to get rid of you."

Without thanking the man, not caring about classes any more, Merrick ran to his car as fast as he could. He threw down the books he was getting, ignoring the librarian's complaints.

He had to get to her.

He had to save her.

He had to see her. 

He had to know that she wasn't just a hallucination, that she was real flesh and blood. That she wasn't just a dream. He wanted to hold her tight to him, be near her. Merrick felt like he needed her to be able to survive.

Merrick was dense. His mind was in such a chaotic state that he didn't know anything. He didn't even realize that he had fallen head over heels, completely in love with Aurora Itsaso.