Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
It was more than a little weird, going to breakfast wearing a full wetsuit. It was easy to spot my classmates in the mess hall, everyone wearing a skin-tight suit and drinking the requisite smoothie that Professor Akhtar had ordered from the culinary class.
Since we’d be gone all day, with no access to bathrooms under the ocean, the smoothies contained a special formula that allowed our bodies to intake all the nutrients with no waste. It would wear off in twenty-four hours, and it wasn’t wise to use it often, but for special occasions like this one, it was perfect.
Perfect, other than the taste.
“I’m not sure I can stomach this,” Bruce whined, pushing his smoothie away. “It’s so gross.”
“What flavor did you ask for?” I asked, sipping on my straw.
“Chocolate. I thought it would be the best.”
I winced. “That sucks. I’ve been a bit averse to chocolate ever since the pudding incident,” I teased Aiden, bumping my shoulder into his arm.
“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” Aiden replied with a sigh.
“Nope.”
Aiden had been so shocked by our soul bond snapping into place when he saw me the first time that he’d frozen, and I hadn’t been paying attention to where I was walking. The chocolate pudding he’d been holding had ended up on my head when I bumped into him.
“Is your smoothie any better?” Bruce asked, leaning over to sniff my cup with a wrinkled nose.
“Not much,” I admitted. “I chose strawberry for this morning, and vanilla last night. Both are…” I trailed off, searching for the best word. “Unpleasant.”
“That’s better than disgusting,” Bruce said. “Switch with me?”
I pulled my cup away from him. “This is mine. They’re tailored to each of us for optimal nutritional values.”
Bruce sighed heavily and glared at his own cup. “I know,” he said glumly. “But this tastes so bad.”
“Gulp it down instead of using the straw?” Aiden suggested. “Then it won’t linger for as long.”
An expression not unlike being led to the gallows crossed Bruce’s face, but he grabbed his cup, removed the straw, and lifted it to his lips. I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he gulped the smoothie down—once, twice, three times—and then he half-threw the cup away from him with a shudder.
“That was rank,” he groaned. “What I wouldn’t give for a coffee to change the taste in my mouth.”
I nodded sympathetically. “We’re allowed to brush our teeth, at least.”
Bruce made a face. “The mint taste won’t stay for long.”
“Brush your tongue, too, man,” Aiden said with a chuckle. “Besides, we’re going to be in salt water. You won’t notice after a few minutes.”
“May I have the attention of the Nexus third year class, please?” Professor Akhtar’s voice was magically amplified to carry throughout the mess hall.
My stomach dropped.
Had something happened?
“You have ten minutes before you need to be in the pool. Do not be late, or we will leave you behind.”
“I thought he was going to cancel for a moment there,” Bruce said, sighing with relief. “I’d hate to have drunk this nasty smoothie for no reason.”
My straw made a slurping noise as I reached the end of my own smoothie and I sucked up the last few drops. “I’ve been excited about going to Atlantis since he mentioned it in September!” I said, wiggling in my seat. “I don’t want to be late. Aiden, are you ready to go?”
He held up one finger, his throat working as he swallowed large gulps of his drink. “Done,” he said with a gasp, thunking the cup down on the table.
We joined the rest of the class, heading down the stairs to the pool. The remnants of the dance were long gone, the floating hardwood floor included, as we lined up along the edge of the pool.
Professor Puddlemoan was handing out necklaces with a bead in the center. “These are for emergency air. If you find your own breathing apparatuses malfunctioning for whatever reason, activate this with a squeeze, and it will give you an hour’s worth of air. Find a professor, let us know, and we will find a solution. You might have to go home earlier than anticipated, but that’s better than drowning.”
“No kidding,” I muttered to Aiden, who smothered a laugh.
He’d modified his bottle to leave his mouth free, changing it to be of similar construction to my necklace chain. I was looking forward to making out with him underwater.
“Everyone here?” Professor Akhtar asked as he entered the pool room. He did a quick head-count. “Excellent. Are you in your pairs? Even better. Stay together. Be safe. Don’t take risks. I will go through the portal first. Give me two minutes, and if I don’t return, follow after me, twenty seconds apart. Once you’re through, move out of the way of the next pair. You’re familiar enough with the procedure by now, right?”
“Yes, Professor,” we chorused.
“Good. Let’s go explore Atlantis!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together enthusiastically. He dove into the pool, with barely a splash as he entered, and swam down to the portal at the lowest point of the deep end.
There was a pause, during which he did whatever he needed to do in order to open the portal, and then the entire pool lit up with a glowing greenish-blue light originating from the portal.
Once he’d swum through, Professor Puddlemoan started organizing us into the order we’d enter the portal. “First team, go!” he ordered when a minute and a half had passed since Professor Akhtar had entered the portal.
Aiden and I were the seventh team to go, and we waited at the surface of the pool, hanging onto the edge, for our turn. Now that we were in the water, my wetsuit didn’t feel as uncomfortable as it had on dry land.
“Six, go!”
We activated our underwater breathing spells in anticipation of our turn.
“Seven, go!”
I ducked under the water and swam down to the brightly glowing portal, Aiden at my side. My heart thrilled with excitement the closer we got to it. I only had the briefest glimpse of the frame—dolphins, sea horses, octopi, and other sea creatures carved into the rock—and then we were swimming through.
The difference in temperature was the first thing I noticed. It was colder than I’d expected, and I was even more thankful for the wetsuit. My feet, hands, and face felt the bite of cold, but the rest of me remained warm.
We kept swimming straight ahead, to where Professor Akhtar and the students who had gone ahead of us were bobbing in the water. Once we got closer, I saw that an Atlantean was next to our professor. She had a beautiful long, green tail and a large necklace with a shimmering blue jewel. Her torso was bare, and I wondered if she could feel the cold the way we did, or if she would think that our warm pool was boiling hot.
I greeted the Atlantean with the respectful gesture Professor Akhtar had taught us before joining my classmates to wait for everyone else.
Peering around, I couldn’t see much through the darkness. The portal was lighting up the area surrounding it, but beyond its light, everything got dimmer. It hadn’t occurred to me to put a sight spell on, and all the ones I knew involved speech of some sort.
I bit my lip.
Would we be able to see anything?
A tiny tug on my hand had me looking down at a young mer, their long hair rippling in the water. They handed me a chain and mimed putting it around their neck.
The instant I was wearing it, my sight improved, the darkness lifting.
“Thank you,” I signed to the child mer, who beamed at me.
I looked around eagerly, but there still wasn’t much to see. The rocky ocean floor wasn’t far below our feet, part of it circling naturally around the portal. With my sharper eyesight, I could make out the carvings in the rock, indicating land animals like dogs, humans, and birds. Tall plants grew from the seabed, waving slowly in the currents of the ocean.
I was glad I’d tied my hair back, so I didn’t have to deal with my hair blocking my vision, although it was cool to see some of my classmates with colorful halos.
Professor Puddlemoan was the last to exit the portal, and then he turned to shut it off. The glow stopped and I blinked a few times to adjust my vision.
Professor Akhtar waved his hands in the water over his head to get our attention. “Thank you for welcome,” he signed to the adult mer. “Much appreciation.”
The mer showed a sign of respect. “Much enjoyment. Name Aquilia.” She finger-spelled her name before giving the sign for it. “Surprise for you.” She gestured and the child mer swam up to her. “My child, Merle,” she signed as an introduction. “Gift tails for time here.”
My jaw dropped, hoping I understood correctly.
Professor Akhtar signed, “Mer tails for us?”
The mer smiled. “Safe. Reverse. Try?”
“Yes,” Professor Akhtar agreed.
The child gave him something I couldn’t quite make out. “Eat,” they signed.
The professor put the item in his mouth and started chewing. He smiled and signed, “Delicious,” making the child beam at him.
The effect took place slowly, rippling over his skin slowly from the center outward.
Probably originating from his stomach, I realized. Makes sense.
His legs fused together, a tail the color of his red wetsuit appearing, with long fins like the adult mer. He flicked it and flipped upside down, making everyone laugh.
He righted himself with difficulty, eyes twinkling with amusement. “Hard. You try.”
I nodded eagerly, holding out a hand for the child to give me the spell that would transform my body.
They pulled out more from the sack strapped to their body, handing them to my classmates.
I examined it once I got one. It was a small, round green ball, slightly sticky to the touch. I popped it into my mouth, a burst of flavors exploding on my tongue somewhere between apple, watermelon, and citrus. The change to my body started at my belly, a warmth spreading over me down to my toes.
I looked up at Aiden once I’d finished my transformation, eager to see what he looked like as a mer. He had a royal blue tail so dark that it almost matched his hair.
Mine was the same bright green I had been wearing. The torso of the wetsuit had melded with my skin, something I hadn’t realized would happen when I’d watched the professor’s transformation. It felt like I wasn’t wearing anything at all, even though my skin was now completely green. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but the mer had no problem with their nudity, so they probably hadn’t given it a second thought.
I was happy to notice that the cold had all but dissipated once my transformation was complete, which was a pleasant surprise.
Aiden took my hand and smiled, his eyes sparkling with the familiar fire I knew and loved.
I flicked my tail through the water in happiness, sending my body upward with the small movement. Aiden kept me tethered, his amusement visible.
“Now Atlantis,” Aquilia signed, gesturing behind the portal. “Swim slow.”
I appreciated that we didn’t have to rush, both because I needed to get used to swimming with a tail and because I wanted to look at everything.
The ground cover stayed long sea-grasses, but the further we swam, the more I could see the subtle changes in coloration. There were different species of grass in different sections, and I thought that if I swam a little higher, the patchwork of it would be similar to our crops on farms.
Aquilia swam up a small hillside and paused, turning to face us with Merle at her side.
We stopped as well, some more successful than others. After we’d untangled ourselves, laughter bubbles coming from our mouths, we focused on what Aquilia was going to say.
“Atlantis far from portal. Protection. Safety. Trust.”
I nodded sympathetically. I could see how hard it was for them to trust outsiders, and I was grateful that they were still willing to allow us into their home.
“Hill last moment before Atlantis. Ready?” She smiled when we all nodded eagerly. “Come.” She advanced slowly, rising high above the hill so we could see without obstruction.
My heart pounding in my chest, my excitement brimming so much I could barely contain it, I swam the last few feet up the hill.
I wasn’t sure what I had expected to see, perhaps a giant castle like the one in The Little Mermaid , but instead, a town of living coral stretched out in front of us. The pinks, oranges, and greens blended together to create a riot of color. Far in the distance was a larger mound of coral, obviously the home of the leader of the community.
I remembered from our lessons on Atlantean society that the main leader was called Queen or King, depending on preference, and that their home was the community gathering space, always open. We would be taken there first, to meet the leaders, before we were split into smaller groups to learn about different aspects of their society.
I could see Atlanteans swimming around the town, but what threw me was the number of sea creatures with them. Swarms of colorful fish danced around and above the town, so much like birds, but I also caught a glimpse of a dolphin pod and a few stingrays. There were more fish than I knew the names of, and I couldn’t help but feel amazed at the view.
Aquilia sank down in front of us again. “Swim through, not over,” she signed. “Impolite.”
I nodded. It would be like flying over a town instead of walking through it.
“Stay together,” Professor Akhtar signed, joining her. “Pairs.”
Aiden’s hand found mine and he squeezed it gently.
After waiting a moment to make sure we were all organized, Aquilia took Merle’s hand and led us down the hill into the town at the base of it.
The grasses here were different, shorter, from what we had seen on the way, only reinforcing my thought that the others were purposefully grown that way. As we got closer to the coral houses, the grass became full of underwater blooms.
The coral houses themselves had anemones and other living things covering their surfaces. The buildings didn’t seem to be carved out of the coral, but part of it. I filed that away as something to ask when we were in our smaller groups.
We came to a halt at a rock statue covered in sea moss in the middle of a square, Aquilia turning to face us in front of it.
“Home growth guide over many years,” she signed. “Look new home. Small. Not ready.” She pointed at a smaller building to one side of the square. “Old home.” This building was on the other side.
I swam closer to look at the new home, seeing how they had put rock inside it to encourage the coral to branch and grow higher to make the room large enough for an Atlantean to move around. In comparison, the older home was spacious, with a large central room and several doorways leading off to other rooms. There were no stairs up to the second level, which made me laugh to myself when I realized I was thinking like a human. Instead, there was a hole in the ceiling that led up to a large room that was obviously a bedroom.
We thanked the owner of the house for letting us look around before we left.
Aquilia and Merle were waiting for us in front of the statue. “Come. Look more,” Aquilia signed once we’d all returned, and led us down several streets.
The houses seemed to be decorated with bright colors, which I realized were anemones and other sea grasses, and each one was different. There were no street names or house numbers, and I wondered if people ever got lost.
After a few more streets of houses, we entered a wider street that had larger buildings on either side of it.
“Center town,” Aquilia signed. “Shop. Food. School.”
Ah, I thought, understanding her meaning. The houses are on the outskirts of town, and the center is where all the things that they would need easy access to are in the middle.
“Leader gathering,” Aquilia signed, pointing at the biggest building in the center. “Come.”
We followed after her, eager to meet the leadership of Atlantis.
Many of the mer in the center town turned to watch us swim by, some waving, some signing respect. I returned the gestures even as I tried to get glimpses of the insides of the buildings we passed.
The main building towered over us, casting a shadow over the town. I saw Atlanteans swimming through the many openings in the coral, heading inside for our introduction to the leaders.
I swallowed nervously. It was incredibly intimidating to meet a whole new culture like this.
A glance at Aiden swimming beside me helped. He looked calm and confident. Professor Akhtar, a little further ahead than us, was even more reassuring. He wouldn’t let us cause an international incident.
We swam through the main opening, flanked on either side by towering columns of coral covered in sea-flowers. Their petals waved in the water, reminding us that everything we had seen down here, minus the rock, was a living creature. It was incredible.
The building opened up into a massive space, the center of which was clear of Atlanteans. The walls, all the way to the rooftop, were lined with curious faces.
I ignored the general population and focused on the leaders in the middle. There were six, from a youth to an ancient mer, floating in the shape of a horseshoe. Aquilia led us to the open space in front of them and swam to the middle, followed by Merle.
“Greetings,” she began her signing. “Welcome all students, Atlanteans. Team.” She opened her arms wide to encompass everyone. “Friends.”
The water churned as every Atlantean waved their hands in the sign for applause.
Aquilia introduced each of the six leaders, briefly explaining their duties. The youth, who looked younger than us, was the leader that any other youth would go to if they had suggestions or problems. He was also in charge of entertainment. The others had jobs varying from food production, to overseeing the building maintenance, to education, and maintaining their history.
The latter was the role of the ancient mer. She was wizened with age, her hair long and white. Even her tail showed her age, streaked with lines of gray and pinkish scars.
Finally, Aquilia put her hands to herself, and signed, “Queen.”
Of course she was. She was wearing that large necklace, something that I hadn’t thought anything of until I realized that no other adults had such large jewelry. I felt a little silly, and wondered if any of my classmates had made the connection earlier.
Based on my quick glances at their faces, they were as shocked as I was. The professors seemed amused by our surprise, so they must have known.
Once the introductions were made, the rest of the Atlanteans left the building, leaving us with the leaders, the queen, and Merle.
“Tour?” the queen signed, indicating the building around her. “Together.”
We all agreed eagerly, and she smiled. “Meeting space,” she signed, indicating the room we were currently in. “Community. Fun. Important. Together.”
Her hands moved seamlessly as she spoke, and although I had been practicing my signs, it was obvious she had been doing this her entire life. I only caught a few words, missing the linking words. I hoped they weren’t important.
“Come. Look view.”
She swam up without waiting for our agreement, and we followed her up to the rooftop to get a view of the town.
There was a balcony that encircled the top of the tower, and I flitted from one side to the other, admiring the layout of the town. It was designed in a spiral, each arm coming in from the edge to the center, reminding me of how our galaxy surrounds the black hole at the center.
“Universal design,” I signed to Professor Akhtar, drawing a spiral. “In space, in ocean.”
His eyes twinkled. “Natural design,” he signed back.
I sighed happily. “Beautiful.”
“Agreed.”