Marrying Atlantis

Chapter 1

I wadded out to grab it minding the rock underneath. I had to swim the extra few metres to get it. Just as I grabbed it I was pulled under the water. I opened my eyes to see Sebastian pulling down, further and further down. I tried to pull myself free. When I noticed something. A tail! That’s right a freaky deeky tail. He was a merman? And at that I took a breath of sea water. Suddenly panicking that I was going to drown I poked him to get his attention to take me up for air. Instead he looked at me, also a little panicked and then pressed his lips against mine for the second time.

What was wrong with this guy, I was going to drown. I pushed him away again.

“You want air?” he asked having no problems with the water. Was he stupid or something? I nodded. And again he went in for another kiss.  I instantly felt air enter my lungs. Further and further we went down. I must have fallen asleep glued to his lips as I don’t remember the journey until he gently squeezed my hand as we came toward a grand city. But to my surprise we didn’t enter it, we just swam passed into a cave no one would ever notice. It was dark and I couldn’t see a thing. I felt something slimy drift across my leg and I clung closer to Sebastian, who held me tight.

I felt for once we were moving upwards.  As soon as we reached the surface I tore my lips away from him and took a breath of air. The air was stale, and smelt damp but with a hint of…peach?

The ceiling of the cavern glistened with what I hoped were glow worms. But what was the real feature of the room was the little fluorescent pink glowing pool. A pair of mermaids dragged themselves over to us across the smooth polished stone. I heard a scream somewhere further in the cavern. I jumped and fell beneath the water. Luckily for me Sebastian pulled me up. I was exhausted, despite my nap. The two mermaids quickly slid off deeper into the cavern. Sebastian gently lifted me out of the water and sat me onto the ledge.

“You ok?” he asked. I shivered wiping my hair away from my face. I shook my head. My jaw ached. After a few minutes I finally spoke.

“Where have you taken me, I want to go home. Who are you? What do you want from me?” I asked with no strength behind my voice.

“Ah Sebastian, you’re finally here,” I turned to see the scariest creature in the world. She was long and sliver and looked like a snake. Her hair was a matching grey and her even her lips were a sliver colour. The only thing that wasn’t silver was her eyes that were a crystal green. Suddenly finding the energy I jumped back into the water and hid behind Sebastian using him as my sheild. She chuckled and laid down on her long belly and held her head in her hands. “So this is your dear little Singer?” she mused. “What’s your name?” she asked her voice cheerful and elegant despite her appearance.

Should I had told her? Would it have made a difference? Probably not.

“Aubrey,” I whispered. She obviously heard as she smiled a sharp toothy grin.

“I’m Ava, now let’s not dilly dally. It’s not often we get to play with the pools,” she grinned. I was lifted out of the water.

“How long will it take?” Sebastian asked. Huh? Snake lady wrapped  herself around me.

“A few hours, it’s not exactly an instant result. And don’t worry; I’ll take particular care of her.” I watched as he descended back into the dark water leaving me with snake lady. Still wrapped around me she moved to the glowing pool. Curling over it, she loosened her grip on me. I slipped out and fell into the pool, which was surprisingly warm. She came around and dunked me under for a few seconds.

“I thought you were going to be nice to me?” I questioned as soon as I came back up. She just grinned.

“Provided you don’t try to run away and let the pool work its way into you,” she smiled. It’s not like I had anywhere to run to. The two mermaids returned and I found them to be rather dull in colouring. Sebastian was a beautiful deep blue shade with the slightest touch of green. After five minutes I felt something burning my legs. “Is it starting to hurt yet?” Ava asked. I quickly nodded and started to get out. She instantly pushed me down. Honestly what gives? “It’s happening,” she grinned wider. The other two mermaids began undressing me, but not without a fight, in which I lost. They held me in the pink pool as the pain intensified and spread across my body. Every once in a while they would dunk my head under the water and soon the pain spread to my face. I screamed out in pain. It felt like it was eating away at my skin.