Chapter Eight

      I stumbled out on the other side and was almost crushed to death by a speeding Merman. “Tala, mui betae!” He yelled angrily in Mermish. He suddenly turned the other direction, sending a huge rush of water in my face as he deliberately kicked his silver tail in my direction. I drifted backwards several feet. Rude much? I had forgotten how warm and fuzzy Mers were. So welcoming.

       It took me a moment to figure out where I was. Lumina was huge. My portal rarely dropped me off at the same place twice. It was programmed for Lumina only, but specific locations were apparently foreign to the mirror. If Kyros, the male Siren who made my portal, was still alive, I'd make him build me another.

       I could see several huts and Mer homes lined up along the ocean floor. I must have landed in the back entrance. The outside city is where most of the Mers lived. In the center of the town was Queen Atargatis' castle. It alone should be classified as a city. Made up entirely of volcanic rock infused with molten metal, this thing was enormous.

       Lucicia, a Siren who was foolishly killed by a human, could wield and create metal in any form. Mers and Sirens alike helped build Lumina's grand castle with rocks and boulders, wielded together with Lucicia's metallic masonry work. I could see the queen's towering black and silver underwater castle in the distance.

       Couldn't my mirror have dropped me off somewhere a tad bit closer? I was already exhausted from my swim to my Cove. Aggravated, I leaned forward and started swimming in that direction. I passed several Mermaids who stared at me with confusion. No one seemed to recognize me. That's a first. They were glancing at my chest warily. You couldn't really see my Crest, so I wasn't exactly sure what they were staring at. Mermaids would leisurely swim away from me, like they were afraid I would attack them or something. How odd?

       All of the Mermaids were topless and unashamed of their bodies. It was the natural and accepted thing to do down here. I, however, spent most of my time with humans, and I wasn't exactly comfortable with swimming out in the open flaunting my bare chest to everyone. Blushing, I crossed my arms over my black tank top and swam faster to the castle.

       I finally reached the front entrance, glancing up at the towering dome overhead. The entrance to the castle was nearly three stories high and about fifteen feet wide. It was made entirely out of black boulders.

       I slowly swam through the middle, glancing around warily. Where was everyone? The dark cave was long and ominous, and I felt like a giant shark would come out from its hiding place and eat me. Okay, so sharks didn't swim down this deep, but anglerfish did. Those things sure gave me the creeps. A huge mouth full of razor sharp teeth and a tiny light dangling above their forehead made those things look like they belonged on a different planet than Earth.

       This is another reason why I preferred land over sea. The only animals capable of swimming at these depths were terrifying with alien, translucent-looking skin. I'd much rather have a fluffy kitten as a pet than something beneath the photic zone that could eat me. Everything down here was dark and frightening.

       Something suddenly yanked me backwards by my shirt. “Tala, misareen tul?” I turned around, glancing at the green haired Merman who now grabbed my arm. I switched over from English to Mermish effortlessly.

       “What did I do?” I asked him in Mermish. His face was pale with sea green eyes and matching long green hair. His fin was solid black. He had a black tattoo on his wrist in the shape of a crescent moon that marked him as Queen Atargatis' personal guard.

       “You know the rules. No human clothes allowed.” He ordered, pointing an accusing finger at my black tank top with his free hand.

       “Since when?” I demanded, outraged. I've always been able to wear tops to Lumina. No one has ever questioned it before.

       “Long enough for you to know better. Now, will you remove your human possession, or will I have to take this situation to Queen Atargatis?” He threatened. I bit back a laugh. The reason I came to this place was to tell Queen Atargatis about the Crave. I'd like nothing more than to be carried directly to Sea Queen.

       “If you could be so kind, I'd very much like to see the Queen. Take me there?” I asked him with a smile. His eyes narrowed in disgust, and his grip tightened on my arm. He glanced at my tank top again.

       “Remove your human possession.” He growled in my ear. “Or I will.”

       “I'm not taking my clothes off.” I said firmly.

       The green haired Merman suddenly reached for my shirt and attempted to yank it over my head. His eyes suddenly zeroed in on my exposed blue Crest, and he immediately dropped his hold on me like he had been tasered.

       “Forgive me.” He said earnestly as he bowed. “I did not know whom I was speaking to.” The Merman regarded me with a completely different expression. I would say that he almost looked fearful. He eyed my Crest warily.

       “It's okay.” I told him, fighting a smile. “Where is Queen Atargatis?”

    “She's unfortunately occupied at the moment. Rearranging borders and making preparations for the Mijoyed. May I relay a message to her?”

       “No.” I told him. Information this large was too secretive to be passed to a simple Merman guard. I wanted to tell the queen directly. I didn't want to start an angry uproar with the Mers. “I need to see Queen Atargatis myself.”

       “Very well.” He said, bowing to me once more. “I shall take you to her private quarters.”

      The Merman led me down several passages and chambers. The walls were the same as the exterior: volcanic rock sealed with metallic fillings. Every couple of feet or so held tiny orbs of glowing light that illuminated the hallways, not that we needed it with our eyesight. I recognized Agatha's handy work here. When she was still alive, she could shape and create light.

       Yeah we were an abomination with Nymph blood, but Queen Atargatis sure has had her uses out of us Sirens. Once we were branded with our Crest tattoos, we belonged to Queen Atargatis. She welcomed us with open arms. As a child, Sirens really had nowhere else to go. Nymphs disowned us and our Mermaid parent rarely survived our births. More often than not, a male Nymph would father a Siren with a Mermaid.

       Like most women, female Nymphs were strong and easily angered. Their grudge over Mermaids were too strong to be corrupted with lustful thoughts of Mermen. Men, were the more weaker opponent. If a Siren conception happened, it was usually due to a male Nymph's desire to give themselves over to a Mermaid. Once conceived, the male usually left the picture to avoid discovery. But, Mermaids rarely lived through a live birthing. The ability to give birth to a different species is a rare gift that few survive.

       Mermaid reproduction was very similar to that of a sea turtle. I delved into my knowledge of marine biology. During sexual reproduction, a male would fertilize an egg inside of a female. Once the female was fertilized internally, she'd lay an egg. Baby Mers would continue to develop in the shell until they were ready to break through and enter the new aquatic world around them.

       Now Nymph reproduction was a different story. Nymphs reproduced very similarly to humans. They mated and conceived within the female. Development occurs in the womb and will stay there until both the mother and fetus were ready for a live birthing.

       You can imagine the complication of a Mermaid who is forced to give birth live. Mers were not meant to deliver such a large offspring. The process will kill the mother more often than not. I've never witnessed a Siren birthing, but I could imagine how painful and gruesome it must be.

       My mother had given birth to four Sirens and is still alive to this day, which is completely unheard of. Most Mermaids were not so lucky. Already abandoned at a young age, Sirens really had no choice but to go to the Sea Queen. Queen Atargatis would give any Siren her protection in exchange for our service to the Mers. Our Crests marked that we were claimed by Queen Atargatis permanently. We were under her command and had no option but to obey her will. So as much as I hated killing people, I had no choice but to bring a human down to Lumina for the Mijoyed ceremony. It happens with or without my consent.

       The green haired guard suddenly pulled me out of my thoughts as he led me to two other Mermen who were guarding a large violet curtain. One had long sandy blonde hair with a burgundy fin, and the other had cropped silver hair complimented with a forest green fin. Both men had the uniform black tattoo in the shape of a crescent moon on their wrist.

       “Let us pass.” The green haired Merman said, gesturing toward me. The guards reluctantly moved out of the way, staring at me with confusion. They looked me over before their eyes settled on my chest. I had to remind myself that these guys were not checking me out like a human would, but were staring at my Crest and the knowledge that came with it. Understanding flashed in their eyes once they realized I was a Siren.

       He pulled open the lavender curtain and allowed me to swim through. “Queen Atargatis will be with you momentarily.” He told me in a booming voice that totally was not necessary. I was right beside of him. “We would ask that you please wait here for her arrival.”

       I nodded and watched the black finned Mer slip out between the curtains. I sighed, glancing over at a large, steel framed couch. The cushions were violet and embedded in a silver frame that held the shape of the sofa. It looked suspiciously human built, but I couldn't be certain. After all, how many resources could anyone have down in the depths of the ocean?

       I suddenly saw a large painted portrait of twelve young individuals. The painting was flawless with no hint of water damage. Surely magic was at work here. Unless it was tightly sealed with glass, the water would ruin any kind of picture almost instantly.

       I swam closer to the portrait to get a closer look. It was very big and dominated nearly the entire wall in this room. It was a painting of us. Sirens. Someone had done a pretty good job at recreating the image of all twelve of us together. I recognized Tiresias in front with her raven black hair and deathly white skin. She was hissing in the picture with fangs between her lips. I almost laughed at that. We didn't have fangs, but whoever painted this sure captured her personality perfectly.

       I recognized all of the faces in the portrait with a mixture of sadness and delight. Only three were still alive, but it was great to have the immortalized image of the rest of my kind hanging up in Queen Atargatis' castle. All twelve of us had the navy blue Crest on our chest.

       I was on the very end, my unruly blue hair was surrounding my face. My chest was greatly exaggerated too which made me look like I had extreme plastic surgery. I had a happy smile on my face, and my hand was looped around the girl's beside me.

Lucicia. My heart clenched in my chest. Oh, I missed her so much. The resemblance between us was startling. Our dark blue fins matched perfectly, having the same exact flare and everything. Our expressions were similar too. We were happy together. The only difference was her beautiful, glimmering violet hair. I was always jealous of her luscious purple locks. I thought deep purple was sexy and sultry. Blue always seemed too weird to me. Like I purposely died it this way to stand out and be different.

       Below the portrait was a list of names written elegantly in Mermish script.

Protectors of Lumina:

Ranking in order of first birth and his/her talent.

Tiresias........creator of weather

Floii........wielder of air

Helene........wielder of earth

Makone........wielder of strength

Kleio........wielder of water

Jaquez........creator of shield

Sullaen......wielder of telekinesis

Agatha........creator of light

Lilith........wielder of stealth

Kyros........creator of teleportation

Lucicia........creator of metal

Lysithea........wielder of telepathy

       I didn't really get the whole creator verses wielder thing. Our Nymph magic was way too diverse to really be placed in categories like that. For instance, Makone was physically the strongest person I've ever known. His magic was super strength. I didn't think he'd like his epithet to be Makone, the Wielder of Strength. He didn't wield or manipulate strength, he was just incredibly strong. Jaquez's title was strange too. Creator of Shield? Jaquez could make certain objects appear invisible to select individuals. He didn't build viking shields or anything like that. I guess his invisibility could be considered a shield.

       My eyes glanced back towards the portrait with all of our faces. The smiling face of Lucicia was too much for me to bear. She changed her name to Lucy whenever she surfaced. I rarely liked to think of her as Lucy though. That was what he called her. The one who killed her.

       I suddenly felt a rush of narrowed water that was directed towards my butt. I turned around to see a lovely orange finned girl with beautiful blonde hair. She was grinning from ear to ear. She casually flicked her wrist and a surge of water crashed into my face, coursing through my hair.

       That familiar feeling of unity and calm poured over me. The same feeling I had felt around Jack the Crave. My body's instinctual awareness that the person in front of me was part Nymph, regardless of their form.

       “Aww, look at Lylie and Lucy.” She said, gesturing towards the portrait in front of me. “You two were the most problematic twins ever. Always getting into trouble.” She said with a fond smile.

       “Chloe!” I yelled excitedly as I threw my arms around my beautiful older sister in a constricting hug. She apparently got the memo about the no-human-clothes-allowed-thing. Her golden hair covered her breasts pretty well.

       “Can't. Breathe. Lylie.” She grunted. I reluctantly let go. “I've missed you too.” She smirked.

       “Why are you here?” I asked. I was so happy to see her. I only saw my family once a year. Chloe was really the only person that I ever missed.

       “In Lumina? I always come here early for the Mijoyed. I never miss a good party.” She winked. “What are you doing here?” She accused.

       I swallowed nervously. I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell Chloe about the new Crave situation yet. It was definitely too early. She'd jump to conclusions and probably lead the hunt herself. Her beautiful blonde looks were deceiving. Chloe was always eager for a fight.

       “Just wanted to see the place. It's been a while since I've had any kind of social interaction with the Mers.” I told her.

       She regarded me carefully, her blue eyes were deep and thoughtful. I thought she could tell that I was keeping something from her, but she didn't say anything about it.

       “Well, come on.” She said eagerly. “Let me show you the place.” She started to tug on my arm.

       “I need to see Atargatis first. I just got here.” I told her, watching her face drop to a frown. She looked immensely disappointed. “I'm all yours afterward, I promise.” Her expression grew bright and happy once more.

       “Good.” She said, smiling at me.

       “Lysithea and Kleio.” A new voice suddenly chimed in.

       Queen Atargatis herself slowly entered the room, her shrewd eyes were watching my every move. Her vivid red hair fell all the way down to her waist and somehow managed to look tame even in the water. Her emerald fin was long and slender and drifted gracefully amongst the soft current. An intricate silver crown wrapped around her forehead and the back of her hair with a silver crescent moon in the front. Blue sapphires elegantly framed the border of her crest. Her skin was pale for the most part, and she had beautiful crystal blue eyes.

       Queen Atargatis had the same exact eye color as Chloe's. The same as mine.

       “Welcome home my beautiful daughters.” The Queen of the Sea said with a smile.

Reviews

[Daydreamer54]

Oh, s she's a mermaid princess... XP Well, she certainly sounds cooler than Arial I can tell you that. I have to say that all the information is a bit over whelming with how they are concieved. But its neceserry. i look forward to reawding more.

[Strigoikillerr]

Haha yeah, Lylie has a BA degree in biology, so she's kind of a brainiac with marine biology and stuff :P Is it too complicated to understand? I didn't really know how to write that part, I wanted her to sound like she knows what she's talking about, but easy for the reader to understand too...

[Daydreamer54]

It was understandable