A World No One Knows (bxb) [editing and rewriting]

Chapter 7

Just wanting to let you know that I changed the beginning of this story, so I would go back and reread the first chapters if you get confused in the future chapters.

I have to find a way to get out of here. If I die tomorrow then what will happen to Jes? What will happen to Casmir? I rub the bracelet on my wrist, and it burns. What happened to Casmir? Did he get put in here as well? Or did something else happen to him? I have to find out, but first, I have to get out of here.

The guards come back with food, and I eat it, but I don't really know what it is. My mind is running a thousand miles per hour trying to find a way out of here and back to Casmir. I don't have enough time, and I don't know the terrain enough, so if I were to get out of here, I wouldn't know where to go. My first time to Meridian, and I'm trapped in a jail cell.

Night quickly falls, and the sun rises, but I don't go to sleep. My eyes burn as I watch as if from a distance as the guards come back. They unlock my cell and grab my arms. They shackle my wrists together, gag me, and swim me out.

"These shackles cancel out your powers, so I wouldn't try anything."

We swim through hallway after hallway, each filled with cells, and each cell filled with creatures of all kinds. I see lots of mers and even some sirens with masks over their mouths. I see even more creatures that I don't know, but I feel bad for them all. What if some of them are innocent like me?

The guards lead me outside, and the water sparkles in the morning sun. I look around in amazement at the buildings. They seem to be made of rock, coral, and the ocean itself. They're scattered about in all shapes and sizes. I can't help but turn around and when I do, I gasp. We came out of underneath the palace, and it's the most magnificent thing I have ever seen in my life. I can't believe that all this has been under my feet and I haven't seen it until now.

I'm glad I get to see it before...

The guards drag me away from the magic of the city and into a seaweed forest. The snakes from before flash through my mind, and my hands shake. They drag me farther until the shining light fades and even the guards look scared. We hear a sound, and we freeze.

"We stop here." The guards take something out of their bag and chain it to my angle. I'm confused until it clips into place, and I sink into the sand below me. The guards toss some meat around me and flee.

I struggle against the shackles and the weight on my ankle. The sand kicks up the pieces of meat around me as the sound from before comes back. I watch as yellow gleaming eyes shine through the blackness in the seaweed. Slowly, they swim over to the meat and eat it one by one with their razor sharp teeth. When it's all gone, they turn their gazes to me. They circle me as I struggle. I try using my powers, but the shackles do their thing. I half watch the snakes but I also tug on the thing on my ankle. It looks like an anklet, but it shimmers with magic. It shocks me when I touch it.

My muffled voice yells out when the snakes attack. One bites onto my arm, with another on my leg, and one aimed for my face. My hands raise to shield my face. Their teeth sting when they bite into my skin, and the water becomes red with my blood. The sight of the blood in the water makes me nauseous.

They attack again and again, and I can't help but think that this is it. This is how I'm going to die. Without seeing my mother or Jes ever again, without knowing anything about who I am or what these powers mean, and without knowing what mates actually means.

I squeeze my eyes against the dizziness and wait for the ending, but then something comes out of the seaweed. It races towards the snakes and fights them off. I'm scared at first that the new creature will attack me, but a sudden calm comes over me, and I know for a fact that the new creature will not hurt me.

It races through the water, scaring off the snakes until they flee in terror. Then it swims over to me. My vision is fuzzy, but it looks like a horse. It takes the gag in its teeth and tugs it off. Then it takes the shackles and snaps them in two. My hands shake worse than normal as I throw the shackles away and tug on the thing on my ankle. Almost like magic, it snaps off, and I jerk away from the sand.

I'm panting, and my skin burns. Blood rushes freely from my wounds, and I tilt to the side. The creature zooms over and steadies me, and I silently thank it.

"I need to get out of here before they get back. Can you give me a ride?"

The creature seems to nod and slides over so I can get on its back. It swims off and breaks free from the suffocating darkness. While the creatures swims, I think. I need to somehow heal these wounds before I bleed out. I need those healing rocks from before. But where would I find them?

The creature seems to read my mind and swims towards a cave in the rock. I climb off as it swims farther in, and it comes back with plants in its mouth. I copy what Casmir did all those days ago and the wounds stop bleeding. They still hurt and sting, but the bleeding stopped, so I can manage.

"Thank you," I tell it, and it licks my cheek. I laugh. It acts almost like a puppy. "How about I call you Puppy? You like that?" It licks me, and I laugh again. "I'll take that as a yes." It snorts once and then swims off. I follow it until the entrance of the cave and watch as it swims in the distance. I spot a shell on the ground that reminds me of the siren from before, and I pick it up and put it in my pocket.

I look around at the world that I had no idea existed before a week ago. I have no idea where to start looking for Casmir. I didn't see him in the prison but that doesn't mean that he couldn't still be there. The question is though, why would Casmir's father want me dead? It must be a misunderstanding. There has to be another royal advisor that the guard was talking about.

I duck back behind the rock when I hear voices approaching.

"--believe this is what the Royals' are doing instead of protecting Meridian. We need armies, protection! The Royals are doing nothing!"

"But did you hear about the intruder that was executed this morning? Apparently Casmir was caught trying to bring him into Meridian. I hear that his father is furious and that he locked him in the castle."

"I'm not surprised. His father is a scary man. If you ask me, I think that he should be ruling us. Not the Royals. They've done nothing but..." The voices fade out, and I peak my head back around in time to see the two mers rounding another rock building.

I wait until I don't see any mers before I make my way to the palace.

On the way, I see mers swimming through the buildings. It's amazing how different yet the same everyone is. There's also animals and even humans down here. I'm guessing that they're mates with a mer, leaving their old life behind and coming down here to live with the ones they love. I hope I can spend my life with my mate, but I'm not too sure about leaving my old life behind to live down here. I'll have to ask Casmir about what we can do in the future.

As I watch the humans, something sticks out to me. I look down at my body and realize that I'm still wearing my swim trunks from so long ago. I see that the humans wear shorts of some kind but they have that mer touch to them. I need to fit it.

I follow one of the humans until we get to a building. I'm guessing that it's their house. I swim around to the back and see a window. I swim in and grab a pair of shorts and swim out before they see me. I hide behind some rocks as I look at the shorts. They're a dark green mixed with periwinkle. Not usually my style, but it'll do. I change out of my old shorts and get into the new ones. Something hard catches my attention, and I take the necklace that Mali gave me out of my pocket. I look at it and think of Mali and how much I miss her. I put the necklace and the shell in the pocket of my new shorts and continue towards the palace. I have things to do.