Sapnap and Karl lead us towards the big merfolk city. We enter through the main gate and swim between buildings and around statues and coral reefs. The mer-people glance our way, gawking and muttering to themselves. Karl swims shyly behind Sapnap as more people notice our presence.
A shocked old woman points us out as we swim by. George grabs my hand and I look over at him. He looks a little scared. I give him a small smile.
Up ahead is a small tunnel. We swim through it and into a very large, open cave. Sitting in large chairs are five very old looking men, with dim tails and large white and grey beards, talking amongst themselves.
As we enter, their chatter turns quiet and they gawk at us.
Sapnap moves in front of us. We all stop. His mouth opens to say something, but is abruptly stopped short.
"What are they doing here?" An elder with a dim grey tail questions.
Sapnap clears his throat, but is once again interrupted.
"Their mere presence can lead to disaster!"
An argument breaks out between the six men. Sapnap turns and looks at us, rolling his eyes. George and I glance at each other.
This was their form of counsel? Argumentative old mermen?
"Elders!" Sapnap shouts, ending their loud discussion quickly. "If I may?"
The elder in the middle with a dark green tail nods his head, looking pointedly at the other elders.
Sapnap continues, "As you may know, these two mermen behind me are in fact the humans from the prophecy."
Another nod from the green tailed elder and Sapnap continues. "I have personally analyzed their behavior for the past week and have determined them to be kind hearted individuals who want the best for us and our race."
I glance at George and he smiles at me.
"I brought them to you so they can explain themselves. I'm hoping that together, with much planning, we can avoid the destruction that the prophecy testifies of." Sapnap moves out of our way and gestures to us. "This is Dream and George."
I smile and swim forward. "It's and honor to meet the elders of the merfolk. George and I want to try everything in our power to stop from destroying anything. We've spoken to the Mermaid Queen and another person of your kind and discussed many options-"
"How do we know you're not tricking us?" And elder with a dark maroon tail asks.
I look over at George. He swims forward. "You're just going to have to trust that we have no ill intentions. We wouldn't have come to you if we didn't want your help. We know of your wisdom and hope to make use of it."
Everyone turns to the elder in the middle. He moves from his seat, swimming upright.
"I am Plato, the leader of the elders. We will help in anyway we can. What have you come up with."
George smiles at me. Sapnap, George, and I all go on to explain the things that had happened since we had transformed into half merman. We talk about the experiments, the interaction with the Seer, the Mermaid Queen, and Wilbur. We tell them the three option we had discussed.
"You haven't finished the bonding ritual?" Plato asks, sniffing us.
We both shake our heads.
"Well, then what are you waiting for? That is the way to defeat anything the prophecy might have for us. Let's get started-"
"Dream!"
George and I turn to the sound of my name. Wilbur is swimming into the cave, with many notes in his hands.
"Wait for me!"
"Wilbur? What are you doing?" I ask.
He swims next to me, handing me notes. "I thought you would tell me if you were doing the bonding ritual."
"We... we're not doing anything yet." I glance at George and then at Plato.
"What do you think you're doing here Wilbur?" Plato asks.
Wilbur looks at Plato, and then to the elders as if just realizing we were in the middle of something. "Oh! My apologies. I was hoping to help you all with the prophecy since I've been researching it for many years."
Plato looks back to George and I. "To finish the bonding ritual you just have to seal your blood and share a kiss."
I look over at George. "Really? It's that easy? I thought it was... more than that."
George looks at Sapnap. He just shrugs.
"I guess let's do it then?" I glance at George. He nods his head in approval.
"Let's begin!" Plato says to the whole room.
***
It takes a long time to prepare for the ritual. Apparently there are traditions we had to follow, and there was a ceremonial knife. In the meantime, as they gathered the necessary supplies, I met the other four elders. The first was Merlin, with the grey tail. He was rather stern at first, but seemed to loosen up after meeting George and I.
I also met Gerald, who seemed to be in a hurry, collecting the supplies, but gave me a curt nod before swimming away hastily. Herm had a maroon tail and a long beard and he smiled at me with yellowed teeth. He introduced himself as he placed a table length rock on a stack of smaller rocks. It looked like an altar of some sort. Wilbur swam by and grabbed my arm to drag me over to the last elder. His name was Keller and he was a meek merman with a dim orange tail. Keller explains what George and I have to do for the ritual to work. I listen intently.
When the elders get back they put us into our places. Wilbur is furiously writing in his notebook as they go over once again what is going to happen.
"You have to eat the ceremonial seaweed," Keller explains as each of the elders take place. Sapnap and Karl swim off to the side, taking Wilbur with them, much to his dismay. "We will cut your hands here and you will join your cut hands together."
"That can't be healthy," I note. George smirks.
Keller nods. "It is how it's done. Next we will read from the book of prophecies and you will seal your spirits as one with a kiss."
I glance at George, cheeks red.
"We have to kiss?" George asks.
"Yes," he confirms.
Oh. "Right." I nod.
Our last couple of kisses had been so different. It made me nervous to try again, after having such a strange experience with kissing George in the first place.
This is the only way, I had to keep reminding myself. If we want to save these innocent people, we have to kiss.
Plato starts the ritual. "Swim here boys." He beckons us over the rocks that look like an altar.
"Take my hands."
George and I both grab the old merman's hands. He chants words from an unknown language and the other elders swim behind him closing their eyes. My stomach churns with anxiety as the ocean around us becomes bright. Our fingers spark and George and I jerk our hands away from Plato.
"It has been accepted." He swims backwards to make room for the maroon tailed merman, Harold.
He holds a sharp black rock. "You're hand," he says quietly.
George holds out his hand and Harold swipes the rock across his palm quickly. A thin line of blood can be seen. He does the same to my hand and I flinch. The salt water burns the cut.
"Join together," Plato says.
I look George in the eyes and watch him swallow quickly. My heart is racing and it seems like the whole ocean is spinning around George and I.
"Quickly," he urges.
Our hands connect, cut on cut. The blood floats lightly around our hands and I start to feel sick looking at it. I look at George instead, feeling terrified. He lightly squeezes my fingers and gives a nod.
Merlin, the grey tailed merman, reads from the book. The words he says don't make sense in my head. It doesn't sound English.
A sudden darkness surrounds us. I look around and see Wilbur coming out of nowhere, Sapnap and Karl looking shocked behind him. He grabs George's arm and our hands pull apart. He drags George away. My hand feels like it's burning. Wilbur's hand is black and where it touches George's arm, and it sends tendrils of black that seep into George's pale skin.
George screams in pain as Wilbur clenches his arm. I jolt forward and shove Wilbur away, but his grip stays strong.
"Wilbur stop!" I yell at him. I pull at his arm and push George away from him. Wilbur looks at me in confusion. I look down at his hand, but it is no longer black
"What are you doing?" Wilbur asks.
I look at him in shock. "I could ask the same! George-" I twist towards George to make sure he is okay. His eyes have gone completely black, face gaunt and horrifying. "George?"
He smiles wickedly. "I am not George." His voice is dark and echoes through my brain. "I am the Seer!"
He hand jolts out, fingers dark and sharp, towards Wilbur who is still confused and in my grip. George's fist closes and Wilbur evaporates into bubbles. I gasp and watch what used to be Wilbur, rush to the surface of the ocean.
Sapnap and Karl gasp behind me.
I look over at George's possessed body. "What have you done?"
Woah! Enjoy the cliffhanger. I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but hopefully I'll see you next Friday!
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