Seirra: Chapter Fifteen

Two days later, Marina still wouldn’t be convinced to go back to Aquania. Worse, she decided to get herself a new boyfriend who never seemed to want to leave her side—which meant less opportunity to talk to her without the risk of revealing our identities as merpeople.

One week.

Seven days.

I might have found the princess but her resistance to come back to our kingdom was slowly making me hopeless. If only there was another way for the Key to do its job without having to bring the stubborn princess back.

All this time I thought finding Princess Marina was hard enough. I had prepared myself for some of her resistance but all the arguments I prepared all had something to do against the late queen’s possible brainwashing. It never occurred to me that she had wanted to go back but something else had stopped her.

I leaned my forehead on the window and looked down on the street in front of Books and Covers. Grasveld Aisles was a peaceful city, almost like the old school towns in fairy tales. The idea of merpeople living with them would scare the hell out of these people. But after their initial scare, it was pretty much obvious that they would try and find out more about my people. And that was what scared the hell out of me.

The sound of hurried footsteps brought me out of my reverie.

“Seirra!” Margaret called as soon as the door burst open.

I immediately turned away from the window towards her, and saw her fumbling to get the Crystal Key of Saol out in the open. Strangely, it was glowing. Blue light shone brightly from the pendant like I had never seen before.

“What happened?” I asked, rushing over to where she was.

I was worried of the possible reasons for the Key’s odd behavior. The Key was in her possession because of me and if the blue light indicates more danger directed at her, I would never be able to forgive myself.

“I don’t really know. Classes just finished and as soon as I was in the music room to practice for the upcoming auditions, the Key began to glow. I knew I needed to tell you so I hurried to go back home. It was a pain to try to hide it from everyone’s stares but I managed it somehow,” she answered frantically.

The blue light slowly began to fade without giving any clue as to why it was glowing.

I sighed loudly.

“This is getting out of hand. Unpredictable things have been happening lately and I no longer know what to do.”

I dropped on one corner of the sofa as I covered my face in frustration. Margaret walked over and sat beside me. She gave my right knee a comforting squeeze.

“That’s right. And you’re putting me and Grampa in danger throughout the entire process.”

I felt myself sunk lower on the cushion. For some reason, she kept her hand on my knee and I knew she was not as serious as she sounded. I could even sense her smiling despite our bizarre circumstances.

“But that’s alright.” I removed my hands from my face and saw her encouraging smile. It held a hint of sadness but she did her best to hide it. “There are only seven more days before all these ends, right? All the more reason to force Marina to go back and marry you. When that happens, everything goes back to its normal, peaceful state.”

I heard her voice choking at the last word but I decided not to comment. Her words were meant to lift our spirits up but all I felt was…loneliness. I didn’t let myself dwell on it, though.

There was a situation we had to handle first: The blue light.

If the original green light was any indicator, the Key only lights up in situations relating to humans. Green when the temporary holder asked for material things used by humans. Blue was, well, I had no idea.

I gave her a grin to lighten up our conversation.

“Well, before anything goes back to normal, we have to find out what that blue light meant. As of now, I don’t even know where to start looking for answers.”

She looked at me thoughtfully.

“Maybe Grampa knows something that can help.”

My eyes widened, surprised that Margaret could easily think a good way to start. She was probably getting used to thinking about my problems.

“I guess I got so used to doing things on my own that I keep forgetting your grandfather’s a merman. Or was a merman,” I said with slight groan.

She chuckled at how upset I sounded. Her laughter was contagious and a second later I could no longer keep myself from laughing with her. We still had smiles on our faces when Grampa entered the room.

One look at him and our grins vanished into a look of worry.

He was obviously weary and disappointed about whatever he encountered before he got home. Margaret stood and came over to assist her grandfather to his chair.

“What’s the problem, Gramps?” she asked in an anxious voice.

“Mermaids.”

That word immediately got my attention.

“Aquanians?” I asked. Although my instincts told me that they were.

“Yes. This afternoon, by the beach. Tourists rented a boat for sight-seeing and about eight of them swore that they saw mermaids swimming along the coastline—close to where humans often wander. Worse, they were apparently swimming in shallow waters.”

No.

It couldn’t be. Aquanians had always been protected by the veil and humans had never seen us, no matter how close we came to the shore.

Unless the veil had gone so weak that it could no longer protect us.

I began to pace.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked.

“A crowd had gathered while they were gushing over the incident. I had to be conspicuous when I tried to remove their recollection of the merpeople’s faces. It was the least I could do.”

“But couldn’t Huntre’s erase humans’ memories?” Margaret asked, confused.

“Yes. But there were eight of them. I am old and weak, child. I couldn’t possibly possess enough powers to handle that much,” her grandfather replied in a regretful voice.

I should have been there. I should have felt the presence of my people. Or at the very least, I could have brought Margaret and the Crystal Key of Saol to remove those humans’ memories. If it was even possible.

And then a thought occurred to me.

“Do you think the mermaids realized what happened?”

“From their stories, I assume the mermen did. A man kept saying one of the mermaids had looked at her straight in the eyes.” Grampa sighed. “This has never happened before, Seirra. We have to do something.”

“I only have a week left to convince Marina.”

“You can’t waste time.”

“I understand, sir.”

We were quiet for a few seconds, thinking about the bizarre incidents that had been happening lately when Margaret suddenly jumped from her seat. We looked at her inquisitively.

“I think I know why the Crystal had been glowing a while ago.” She raised it up as she held it in her hand. “It must have been telling me that merpeople have been sighted by humans.”

It had never happened before and we couldn’t possibly be sure but there was a huge possibility that she was right.

“The Key gave you a warning about it?” Grampa asked.

“I wasn’t sure at that time. And Seirra wasn’t with me,” Margaret answered.

“And even if I was, I never would have thought that humans had something to do with the blue light,” I added.

Grampa furrowed his brows in thought before he raised his head to look at the two of us.

“Whatever the Key may have been telling you, it’s best to be extra careful from now on. We have no idea what else could possibly happen.”

*****

“There she is!” Margaret exclaimed as she pointed towards the table at one corner of the shabby restobar.

This wasn’t a decent place for a date—much less a date with a princess—but Marina’s boyfriend had no idea about it so I decided not to think any more about it. I didn’t even want Marge to get inside but her insistence wasn’t something I could go up against and so I let her come, making sure that no one would dare to come too close.

It was called “Smokes ‘Em” and by the looks of it, this place was a frequent hangout for junkies, groupies and drunkards. The place was mostly dark with strobe lights serving as the only illumination to avoid tripping over an unconscious body. I held my breath every ten seconds just to avoid inhaling too much of the narcotic-filled air. Club music was playing in the background with several pairs grinding at each other. Each step deeper into the bar made me angrier at the princess who was supposed to be taking responsibility.

When we reached Marina’s table, I fixed a glare at her. She wasn’t drunk yet and she returned my glare with one of hers.

“Uhm, Marina, we need to talk to you,” Margaret said calmly. I was, however, sure that she wasn’t feeling anything close to calm.

“There ain’t Marina here, suckers,” the guy whose arm was around the princess said in a slurred voice. “This dude’s lookin’ at you, babe. Y’know ‘im?”

“No,” Marina answered, challenging me to force her to come with us.

I gave her a smirk for an answer.

Margaret glowered at me as she continued, “Well, we know her as Marina and we really need her to talk with us.”

“Hell no, lady. Alena’s stayin’ ‘ere with me.” He began to wave us off, “Leave us alone, now will ya?”

My patience could no longer take this guy’s idiotic blabbers and I wasn’t able to stop my hand from hitting the table as I leaned in closer to Marina.

“We have an important issue to discuss. You need to come. Now,” I commanded.

The boyfriend wasn’t drunk enough not to realize that I just ignored his authority over the girl in question. Arrogant ass that he was, he pushed me off the table, stood up and tried to stare me down. I had no time for a squabble; so before he could even raise a fist, I knocked him out with one punch straight at his face.

Marina was surprised enough to stand and yell at me, “What are you doing, bastard?”

“Saving time and effort.”

“Wouldn’t that get us in trouble?” Margaret wondered.

“These people doesn’t care about him, so why would we?”

“How dare you!” Marina exclaimed angrily as she tried to hit me.

I took both of her wrists in my hands as I told her between gritted teeth, “You don’t want to expose our identities here, do you? Come with us and listen to what we have to say. After that, we would no longer try to see you. Unless you want us to.”

That piqued her interest and I felt her resistance sliding away. Once I was sure she would stay with us, I released her and pointed my head towards the exit.

“Outside.”

I led both ladies to a narrow alley that was obviously vacated. The street lamp provided enough light for us to see our surroundings.

“Seven days left before I leave for Aquania,” I began.

“Good. I don’t want to see you again,” Marina interjected.

I rolled my eyes in disgust.

“You’re Aquania’s worst princess ever,” I gritted out.

“Yeah, sure. Write that down in your History books,” she answered back.

“Ugh! Honestly, you two,” Marge said in frustration. “Seirra, we’re supposed to convince her, remember?”

“Hmph. She irritates the hell out of me.”

She gave me one hard look before she faced the princess.

“Mermaids were seen by humans this afternoon. We thought you might want to know.”

I saw Marina’s eyes register with a mix of surprise, longing and anger.

“I don’t care.”

“What the hell is your problem?” I barked angrily as I grabbed her arm, shaking her.

Marina’s nonchalance was grounded on personal matters and I wanted to scream at her until she understood that the situation was more than just herself and her father.

“Seirra, stop it!” Margaret demanded.

“Sorry, Marge but if I have to hit her on the head just to get some sense into her, I would.” I ran my hands roughly through my hair. “God, I hate selfish brats,” I said in exasperation.

“I know but forcing her wouldn’t help.”

I looked at Margaret again and was thankful that she was there to be the voice of reason. There was a huge possibility that I would have challenged the princess into a fight just to make her go back to Aquania. I leaned back on the wall and allowed Margaret to do the talking.

“Marina,” Marge began. “I understand what you felt, feel, about your father and Aquania. We aren’t denying you the right to be angry at the people who’ve hurt you. But Marina, you’re lucky that you still have a father and a home to go to. You still have a chance to patch things up, know the answers about what happened with your father and let go of all the regrets.

“You’re a princess. Remember that. No matter how much you deny it, you are a future leader. Think about the younger merpeople, Marina. Neglecting your responsibility to them exposes them to a future that’s unsure and dangerous. I know you’re not selfish. I’m pretty sure Seirra knows it too. You wouldn’t have helped heal him that time if you were. I just hope you find it in your heart to discover how worthy you are for the job.”

I looked at Marina’s blank expression and impulsively decided to use the remaining seven days to think of another solution. Perhaps the Key still held a few more mysterious powers. It was time to take on a new direction.

“Stop flattering her, Marge,” I butted in although I actually agree with all that she had told the princess.

“Who said I was? I think I’m telling the truth,” Margaret replied.

I gave her a small smile then turned to Marina.

“I’ve been looking for you in the past eight years. When the Ardus sword glowed for the first time, it was as if a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I wasn’t expecting you to fight me as much as what you’ve been doing. It was stupid of me to ignore the idea that you might not want to go back. I’m no longer going to blame you. It wasn’t as if you grew up in Aquania and lived there all your life. I was being arrogant and insensitive when I forced the responsibility on you. For that, I apologize.”

I straightened, getting ready to leave.

“Just a question, though. What are you going to do with your life here, Marina? You no longer have a family and you don’t seem to know exactly which direction your life is going to take. I don’t think it’s right for you to waste your life when you can do so much.”

“None of your business,” she replied without looking at me.

I pursed my lips in an imitation of a smile.

“I see. I just thought I might have something to tell your father.”

Her fists clenched at her sides but she didn’t say anything more. After a few seconds of silence, I began to walk, pulling Margaret along with me. She didn’t want to leave yet so I had to tighten my grip on her hand. I saw her turn back as she addressed Marina.

“Just in case you change your mind, you can find us at the Books and Covers!”