Ellie's Flames BOOK 2

5: Under the Sea

I cough. "When you guys are done reminiscing the days in which everybody knew who my dad was but me..."

Dad flushes pink. "Ah... sorry. We're going down with you, then?"

Ceru nods. "You have to be with a member of the royal family when you jump, or else the spell won't work."

"Excuse me---did you just say jump?" I yelp. they both nod and i feel all the blood drain from my face. "Yeah. Okay. Definitely not. Nope. No way."

"Oh, don't tell me the daughter of the god of Death is scared to jump into a little water?" Ceru teases, laughing when I glare at her. "Kidding. Trust me, okay? It's perfectly safe as long as I'm with you. Plus, that whole back-up can't-die thing you have would protect you either way. I'm pretty sure you're the only non-god person that could survive the swim to Atlantica."

"That's reassuring." I mutter. 

"Good. Now, c'mon! Times a-wasting!" Ceru leaps forward, right to the edge, where she teeters for a minute before turning back to us. "You coming or not?"

"If we die, I'm going to kill you." I promise to my dad. 

He shrugs. "Been there, done that."

I groan. "Jokes don't stay funny forever, dad!" 

He just chuckles and grabs my hand, accepting Ceru's with his free one. "Ready?" She asks. 

"As I'll ever b----AH!" I scream as she dives off the cliff, pulling Dad and I with her. She laughs loud and clear, the sound bouncing off the waves that grow steadily closer with every second that passes. Just milliseconds before we go SPLAT on impact, the water turns glassy and reaches up to meet us, engulfing our group with a watery dome. The second the water touches her, Cerulea's scale-isn leggings morph against her skin, fusing her legs together until her human-y legs have turned into a mermaid-y tail made of shimmering green-blue scales.

I spit out salt water, surprised to find that I can still breathe even though I'm soaking wet and my black-and-white hair is floating around me like it does in normal water. 

"You can breathe because you're with a member of the royal family." Ceru explains. "My blessing has spread to you and will stay there until I remove it. Don't worry, it won't wear off unless I on purpose take it away."

"Please don't tell me you have temper issues."

She smiles reassuringly. Somehow, it doesn't reassure me. 

"You screamed like there was no tomorrow, Liss." Dad chuckles, elbowing me. 

"By the way," I start, ready to change topics. "Ceru, how did you look human before and mermaid now?"

"A gift of being half-human." She smiles. "After mom turned back into a mermaid to rescue Melody, she retained the ability to do like I do, and then she passed it onto me. Plus, my grandpa sealed the magic. That probably helped."

"And my brother helped too, I assume?" Dad asks her.

"Yeah, great-grandpa is helpful in sea magic." She lets go of Dad's hand, and he lets go of mine. "You'll probably see him down here somewhere. He doesn't come out much anymore, but when he does, he seems as jolly as ever."

Dad grins. "Bet he wishes he hadn't chosen to stay down here instead of in Olympus."

"Did you not get that choice?" I ask. 

"Technically, all 'evil' gods were exiled to the Isle. I'm sure I could go back now if I wanted to." He shrugs. "But I don't want to. Too much is here for me to leave."