Mermaids of Devonian Times

Chapter 2: The Map and Greeting

Akilies wanted to wrap up our lesson by showing me one last valuable thing. He swims up to the very top of the tall book wall. Then grabs hold of an old dusty book. It looks ancient I say. "This Jessel is the book of ancient myths and secrets. The story I was telling you about, the pyramids, came from this exact book, and it tells you everything you need to know about your city Alamantica, and more." The last thing is, in this book, I wanted to share with you...Akilies shuffle through the pages fast, then stop at what appears to be a map. I look at this map and it shows all of Alamantica, even what lies beyond those two pyramids. I look at Akilies and ask him why there's a piece missing. He says no one knows who stole that piece that leads to the great beast Mervitha, but he says with a dramatic undertone; that whoever did was probably trying to stop anyone from looking for it. After my classes, I get back to my room. As I lay down on my bed after a long day, all I could think about was that missing piece of the map. Who was it? And what were their intentions for ripping it out? I roll over to my side. As I tried to get some shut-eye, I was interrupted by a knock at the door. My mother calls out to me to meet her downstairs, and to be properly dressed. I get up sluggish, trying to figure out what might be so important that I have to look my best.
I swim from my room and meet with the guards, they lead me to the nicest parlor (living room) in the house. I am met with my mother and father, and my brother, with two other guests. One of them is around my age. She had an alluring face, long straight black hair, piercing blue eyes, and fair skin, she also had a gorgeous green shimmery tail and a top to match, with a chain hidden within. The guy she was with looked just like her, but had a more chiseled face, and looked to be around my big brother's age. My mom tells me to sit down, and I take the farthest chair. She then begins introducing us to them. "Ora this is my son Maroam. He is a number one athlete in all sports; especially "Ballow '' and when getting to know you, I noticed you are just as active as he is. I think you two would be perfect suitors." As for my beautiful daughter Jessel... Haxsel." She is one to be very picky, so you will have to work twice as hard chipping away at her shell-like heart. My father chimes in with a loud whisper "Super picky." My mother continues. "Well, me and your father have more important business to attend to, so please take a stroll outside, talk, whatever makes you feel more comfortable." As they both leave, Haxsel and I start to talk for a bit. The conversation was subtle, and I did like his mannerisms. One thing I noticed was, that his sister was having a more fun conversation with my brother, that I actually wanted to chime in. They were laughing and vibing very well. Which made me want to get to know her a lot more too. So I called out to Maroam, and he swam to me while putting his date on hold. I say to both Haxsel and him, "I would like for you two to get to know each other a little more, while I have a chat with your sister?" I implied. They both agreed and started chatting away as if it was nothing. I make my way over to his sister and politely introduce myself. She already seemed to know who I was and eagerly talked about how her whole town knew about us. Which I found surprising since I thought we were only popular in our city. "Well, I say to her "Since you know so much about me, I would like to get to know more about you." She begins off by saying she is from a small clan called "Avaimen." Somewhere in the middle of both Cyprus and the Mediterranean. I say that it must have been a long exhausting trip, She said. "Well, whale-mouth-travel is pretty fast." I had forgotten that in order to travel to one's destination safely "Tuba whales" was the best way of transportation. She continues by saying. " I remember my first time riding in a Tuba Whale. I was only a child back then and had thought my parents were crazy. We were all lined up entering the mouth of this humongous whale, that was about a thousand feet long. Laughter ensues at her reminiscing. She continues, "At that time I truly thought this was the end. Only to find out, it was surprisingly beautiful inside, and well decorated." I smile in agreement with her, as my own experience with a Tuba Whale was very similar. We talked more and found out we had a lot more things in common. I randomly tell her my goal of being a marine biologist, but due to my fate of becoming the next queen, I may never become one. She expresses the same goal, as she too loves to learn all about our ecosystem, and underwater life forms. She talks about her love for underwater mammals, and that's when it hits me. I confess out of nowhere. "I need to show you something." I eagerly tell her to follow me. We quickly swam to the main library where Akilies showed me that ancient book. As we made it in, Ora's Eyes grew wide. "This Library is huge!" I ask her questionably, " Really? She just nods slowly. I swim swiftly up the book wall, finding the book in its rightful place. "This is what I wanted to show you, 'this book holds a map to all of Alamantica's secrets. 'Don't let anyone know I'm telling you about this, it is just between you and me.'" I stare deeply into her eyes making sure she understands. She nods in agreement, I then show her the book. I don't know if it was just me but her eyes seemed to grow even wider as I showed her. "Jessel. she says ever so softly, as she slowly reaches for a necklace-like locket tucked beneath her top, hidden within her cleavage. She opens the locket, then pulls out a small ripped piece of paper from it, and says to me." I think I found your missing piece."