The Mermaid Who Cried Wolf

Chapter 15: The Chase

Pearl screamed for dolphine but all too soon she was gone. Her dearest friend. 

Gone.

"No, no, no!" Pearl yelled for her, splashing into the sea, she tripped and fell, the icy water splashed on her face. The red water.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, her wounds stung from the salt as she cried out for Dolphine. 

"Come back." 

There must be some way to undo the change. She thought.  She remebered the Enchantresses words. "I will not be able to bring you back." 

She might not have, but someone else might, she had to try. 

"There are plenty of charms on my cave wall, I don't understand most of them, but one must be able to turn me back." She told herself.

Pearl tried to remember how long it took her to get to her cave. "Around five minutes." 

Pearl closed her eyes and looked out across the sea. She needed to help her people. She turned back to the forest. Stanley was in there somewhere. Both worlds were counting on her.

A wave splashed over her and she made up her mind.

She took a deep breath, fulling her lungs with the salty sea air and she dived. The water was unclear for the blood. She bumped into someone. 

Pearl tried to scream, but only a stream of bubble came out and she swam as fast as she could to the top.

"Bodies." She gasped. "There was a body in the water." 

A  dead body. Pearl began to cry again. There came a splashing sound from behind her. She turned.

"Oh my god." 

Vampires. Hundreds of them were jumping into the water. 

There eyes red, as if they were hungry for... no! No! No!

Pearl swam as fast she could. Away from everything she had once known. The vampires need blood, and her sea was full of it. 

Soon her arms ached and legs sagged. Dolphine was part vampire too. She wouldn't... no. Dolphine would do exactly that. 

Pearl bumped into a rock. She knew where she was now, Neptunes caves.She climbed on top of one of the boulders and sat there, knees huddled up to her chin. 

"Are you one too?" 

Pearl almost fell off her rock. "Who said that?" She yelled. 

Then she saw her. Huddled up on a tiny rock was a small human girl. "Are you a fish-girl too?" 

Pearl shook her head, "I'm scared of them." The girl sobbed. "I can't find my mommy or daddy, they fell off their rocks." 

Pearl widened her eyes. "These rocks?" 

The girl nodded. "We were swimming then the sea got red and these scary bodies came up and we came to these rocks." She looked down.

"What lives under the rocks?" 

Pearl knew. Jellyfish. Giant ones. Her parents were dead. Long dead.

"I don't know." Pearl lied."I'm sure they're fine." 

The girl looked at her.

Neptunes rocks. She was only a quick swim away from her cave. Then she saw that the girl had a backback upon her shoulder.

"Do you have a torch in there?" Pearl asked.

The girl nodded. "Daddy gave me a waterproof one." 

"Can... can I borrow it?" Pearl asked. 

The girl threw it to her. "Thanks." Pearl said, then she dived.

Pearl cried when she found her cave, tears of joy. It was an airlock cave, which meant that part of it was underwater and the other part full of air. She tossed the girls torch aside and ran her fingers over the walls.

She hadn't read all of the walls, she only took what she needed, nothing more,nothing less.

There were more compartments, but she had never gone there before. She ventured deeper into the cave, using the girls torch she shone the light on the walls.

Tu do lu soiji Lo dai woolf dan mi so ca la so. She chanted. She was beyond herbs now. This was ancient Mergetyi magic. 

Hast ya poc lie yam kih sauns lah mer so. Pearl had no idea what the chants meant. She tried every chant on the walls, scraping her hands upon the edges until they bled.

"You won't find it here." Said a voice. 

"Go away." Pearl breathed.

The Enchantress looked at her. "Pity, child,all alone. I have it." 

"Have what ?" Pearl asked.

"And undoing spell, given to me by the Troll Tribe." 

Pearl looked at her. "I want it." The enchantress shrugged and took out a small crystal ball. "This ball holds your past, are you sure you want it back?" 

Pearl nodded.

"Very well." The Enchantress threw the ball at her, it smashed on Pearls chest and she was thrown onto the cave wall. Then, she slipped down into the small pool of water. The Enchantress smiled and looked at the walls. With a wave of her hand, all the spells and charms were translated. 

When Pearl woke up, right above her head was the cure for Red Water Sea Flu.