Chapter Ten
Pacific Plunge
After Pearl breathed into me, I followed everyone into the ocean. Nerves skittered up my spine as I splashed into the waves. I’d swam in the ocean plenty of times, but never with the expectation that I’d stay under the surface for hours.
Maris, Cuda, Pearl, and Chase dove into the waves. They didn’t fear the water.
Gill squeezed my hand. “Ready?”
The sound of the waves crashing against me echoed the crashing of my heart. “What if Pearl’s magical breath doesn’t work on me?”
“It will.”
“But what if it doesn’t?” Panic made my voice higher. The shrillness of my tone scraped against my skin.
“You’ll go under the water. Try it out. If her breath didn’t work, you can come to the surface.” His gaze pinned mine down. “I’ll be with you the entire time.”
I looked across the horizon. Maris’s and Cuda’s heads bobbed on the surface. They were waiting for me.
Blowing out a large breath, I nodded, until I realized I should’ve been sucking down all the oxygen while I could.
I took a deep breath and lowered my body. Gill followed me under, holding my hand the entire time. The connection was a lifeline.
He opened his mouth and pointed to my tightly sealed lips.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I opened my mouth. Water rushed into my mouth and down my throat. My lungs filled with water.
I didn’t choke. I didn’t drown.
My thoughts scattered pinging off one new sensation to the other. My heart swished, echoing in my ears as it floated in my chest.
I was breathing underwater!
Or was I watering underwater?
Gill tugged my hand and we swam toward the rest of the group. We traveled at incredible speeds through the ocean. All of them were wary about the danger, but I was like a kid in the candy store enjoying every second of this new experience.
Schools of silver Jacksmelt fish swam past. Rockfishes and California halibut cruised by. Even a shovelnose guitar fish skimmed the sandy bottom. I’d never dreamed of becoming a marine biologist, but if I had this would be amazing. Who am I kidding? This was amazing.
Purple and orange star fish clung to rocks. Mussels and limpets clustered together. They’d open their shells to feed before snapping them shut again.
Every second I saw something new, something unusual, something humans would never experience. The excitement bounced in my bloodstream, carrying the thrill throughout.
The deeper we got the darker the ocean became, but my eyes adjusted to the darkness. My skin adapted to the temperature, too. And I managed to keep up with the Atlanteans’ fast pace.
Hyped up adrenaline spiked. All of their abilities had transferred to me.
Too bad I couldn’t swim against Ashtyn like this. I’d blow her out of the water.
We swam through underwater forests of kelp and seaweed. A giant kelp frond floated toward the surface because of the air bladders lifting it. Oar weeds’ finger-like blades protruded. A fuzzy-appearing sea urchin attached itself to a kelp holdfast.
Tendrils of seaweed curled around, closing us in, hiding us from predators—fish and Atlantean foe.
My mind processed and catalogued, but my body relished the feeling of the water rushing past my skin, of the fish tickling my toes, of Gill’s hand holding mine.
Holding mine like he’d never let go. My fingers tingled from the contact. Except I knew once this adventure was over he’d return to his world. The tingles dulled, but I refused to think about the future. I wanted to enjoy the present.
Pearl had said her breath gave me temporary abilities. I glanced over at Chase swimming with Pearl. Maris had said he was human, but Pearl hadn’t breathed into him before we’d plunged into the Pacific. Something special must’ve happened to him.
Was it possible to receive these abilities permanently?
Just as Gill swam with me, Cuda swam beside Maris protecting her. Gill had become my personal protector. Maybe more than that. A girl could dream.
Thank you, Gill.
“You’re welcome?” Gill answered my thought.
I gasped down a mouthful of water. I still didn’t choke.
“How did you know what I was thinking?” I thought the question, but Gill answered.
“That’s how we communicate underwater.” His lips quirked in a got-ya smile.
Panic blanked my brain. My face flooded with heat. “You can hear all of my thoughts?”
I quickly ran through what I’d been thinking about on the journey. How many of my feelings had he understood?
“No, I can’t hear everything you think. Only those thoughts that are spoken internally.” His patient explanation made no sense to me.
“Huh?” And I thought I was smart. I was learning that underwater I was like a guppy learning to swim. It made me appreciate my human intelligence even more.
“It’s hard to explain. Our brains, and I assume yours does too, has a switch that knows when it’s a thought or it’s to be spoken.”
“Kind of like when you think of a snarky comment in your mind but don’t speak it out loud.”
Bubbles came out of Gill’s mouth with his laugh. “Except now, people will hear it. So don’t be snarky unless you want someone to know.”
I relaxed. My thoughts were my own unless I switched to that interior dialogue-speak.
“Aren’t any of them speaking?” I indicated Maris and Cuda in the lead, and Pearl and Chase behind us.
“Connected couples have a special wavelength or channel. So, do relatives.”
Were Gill and I a connected couple? A deeper, more meaningful thrill soared through my veins. I wanted to be a couple with Gill, but didn’t know what he wanted. And these abilities for me were only temporary, so maybe our couple communication was only temporary.
I know Maris and Cuda had declared their love. “Can they hear us?”
Gill studied me for a few moments. “They’re probably not paying attention.”
Gill and I were just talking and no one was listening. We didn’t have that whole couple communication thing. The soaring thrills fell flat with my disappointment.
“They’re trying to detect if were being followed or if there’s an Atlantean movement in the area. Or a shark.” Gill winked. “I’m kidding.”
“I should be focusing on the danger, too. Not the scenery.”
“It’s your first visit. You should experience everything.” Gill sent me a don’t-worry-be-happy smile. “Let the rest of us worry about the danger.”
***
We arrived at an underwater grotto that the Order of Atlas used for their headquarters. From what I overheard, the grotto was situated below the Atlantean palace which was located below Atlas Island, off the coast of southern California.
“Who are the leaders of the Order of Atlas?” I asked the group in general.
“You’re looking at us.” Gill and Cuda performed an intricate handshake.
Maris shook her head, a slight smile on her face as if she thought the handshake was silly. “Plus, Coral and Finn.”
Coral was another of Maris’ half-sisters. Finn was originally a Separatist that she’d brought back to the Royalist cause. Hearing about the two of them together, it was hard to see how they ever could’ve been on opposing sides.
Aching fissures opened inside my body like doubts in their strategy. Disbelief and fear churned like the tide. “The seven of you fighting both the Separatists and the crooked Regent?”
“We’re the leaders.” Maris avoided my gaze. “There are others.”
“The Royalists are fighting the Separatists.” Cuda swam-paced back and forth like he felt caged in the grotto.
“We are the Royalists.” A girl with dark brown hair swam into the grotto. Her upscale tone sounded poised and uppity.
“Coral,” Maris stepped forward. “You remember meeting my best friend Tori.”
The term best friend struck. Did she still think of me like that? The phrase comforted and warmed. Maris and I were still best friends. Even an ocean couldn’t pull us apart.
“I feel like I know you.” Coral swam over and hugged me. She didn’t act uppity like her voice. “All Maris talks about is how her best friend Tori says this or does that. She said you’re the one to be the Tide Breaker.”
My chest clogged still feeling emotional about Maris telling her sisters that I was her best friend. I hadn’t realized Maris had missed me. I thought she’d been too busy. “What’s a Tide Breaker?”
“The person to break the code on the nautilus. Maris told us how smart you are.” Pearl took the bag holding the nautilus from Cuda. “Once the code is deciphered we can find the message or treasure or weapon to help win the war. And we can continue our plan to undermine Regent Mollusk so when the fighting is over and the Royalists win we’ll be in charge like the Lost Daughters of Atlantis legend foretold.”
“You make it sound so simple, Pearl.” Coral nibbled on her bottom lip. “What about The Seer legend?”
Gill’s brows drew together. “I’ve never heard of that legend.”
“Coral is the only one who’s heard of The Seer legend.” Maris waved her hand dismissing Coral’s question. “I think Mollusk made the legend up to strike at Coral’s confidence before she found us.”
“Maris is right. We should be worrying about the nautilus.” Coral took control seeming not to lack any confidence now. “Tori, what do you need to work on the code?”
“Time. And sea glass.” I could picture the code, but I wanted to make sure what I remembered was correct. Nerves about letting them down ate away at my sureness. The Atlantean princesses were counting on me to help them. A simple air-breather.
“I know where there’s sea glass.” Coral swam toward the exit. “How big a piece?”
“Something that I can read a reflection on.” I sucked in a breath.
Their confidence gave me a boost. It wasn’t only Maris who believed in me, but her sisters as well.
“Pearl, why don’t you help Coral find the glass?” Maris framed it like a question, but I sensed the demand.
“Gill and Chase. I need your help.” Cuda waved for the guys to follow.
Gill stayed where he stood. “But—”
“Maris and Tori will be safe here.” Cuda knew Maris and I well. He’d sensed our earlier tension and was trying to help.
Everyone left the grotto.
With Maris and I alone and all the new revelations, my earlier insecurities about losing Maris felt stupid. My jealousy and resentment of her sisters appeared unfounded. And my doubt about helping the Order of Atlas seemed selfish.
Guilt at my self-centeredness made my motions jerky as I took the nautilus out of the bag and set it on a ledge preparing to get to work. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on what I’d seen in my bathroom mirror.
“So how have you been, Tori?” Maris set her hand over mine.
Startled, I jerked my hand away.
Frowning, she leaned back from me. “Do you hate me for not coming back?”
“I don’t hate you.” I didn’t understand how I felt. I understood she needed to take her place in the Atlantean society. Heck, I’d been excited about her powers and her new life. “I just didn’t expect you to completely abandon me.”
Okay, a little resentment still anchored me down.
“I’d planned to come back for the school year.” Her sorrowful voice tried to grab my sympathy. “But I wasn’t given a choice.”
I straightened and stared. “You’re a princess, you can do whatever you want.”
“Not when there’s a war.” Fear flashed on her face before her expression turned serious. “When people are out to control or kill you.”
My skin tightened. Worry and dread for Maris squeezed everything inside of me. I’d recently tasted fear for my life, but I couldn’t imagine being hunted down. “Kill you?”
“That’s why my parents left for Africa.” Her lips turned down. The bright green of her eyes dimmed. “We were afraid the Separatists would use them to get to me. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”
Maris lowered her head into her hands. Her shoulders shook. I put my arms around her, trying to comfort. More guilt slapped my conscience. I never gave Maris’s feelings of loss a thought. She felt bad for upheaving her parents’ lives. “I’m sure they understood.”
“You didn’t understand when Gill didn’t say goodbye to you this summer.”
“True. But he was a guy I just started dating. Your parents have loved you your entire life.” Almost her entire life.
“And you didn’t understand when I didn’t show up for the first day of school. Gill told me.”
I thought about that day. How angry and alone I’d felt. How I believed Maris didn’t think I was important anymore. “I don’t hate you for that. I just wished you would’ve told me in advance.”
“Exactly.”
“Okay, I was mad. Hurt.” Remembered hurt caused my body to ache. “We always arrived at school together on the first day. And then when Ashtyn told me you’d dropped out—”
“Ashtyn.” Maris fake shivered.
“And I caught Gill breaking into your house.”
“He was supposed to contact you for help.”
“He didn’t want to.” Pain sliced remembering how he’d tried to avoid me. “He didn’t want to see me.”
She bumped her shoulder against mine. “Seems he doesn’t not want to see you now.” Her teasing voice caused heat to rise inside of me. “He didn’t want to leave the grotto with Cuda.”
I ducked my head and glanced away. Hope fought against self-doubt. I didn’t know what Gill and I meant to each other. There was a definite connection, but I’d thought that this summer and then he’d disappeared.
“What’s going on with you two?” Her quiet, confidence-sharing tone tried to convince me to confide.
Shrugging, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to admit anything to anyone. Especially myself.
“Spill, girlfriend.” Maris bumped my shoulder again. The slight smile on her face showed her sadness had passed.
“We work well together.” Biting my lip, I debated as steam built in my body. “We’ve kissed a few times.”
“He saved my best friend’s life. He will always be a hero.”
There were those words again. Best friend. The longing in my heart changed to a different kind of longing. An aching need to confirm that I was still important to Maris. “I’m still your best friend?”
Her chin pulled in and her head angled. Her eyebrows drew together in an expression of surprise. “Of course you are. We might be separated by an ocean, but you will always be my best friend.”
“But what about Pearl and Coral?”
“I love Pearl and Coral, too. They are my sisters. But we didn’t grow up together. From the first day of kindergarten, to our first crushes,” Maris’s tone turned more formal and royal-sounding, “to braces and the trials of middle school, and the even bigger escapades of high school you were by my side.”
“I wish you were by my side at school this year.”
“Who knows. If we can find whatever Poseidon left and end the war, maybe I’ll make it back for second semester.”
“Then, I’d better get to work.” The smile I sent Maris, my best friend, felt bubbly and bright. Just like our friendship.
Feeling better than I had in a while, I concentrated on the shell paying specific attention to where I thought the location was described. I felt like a pirate seeking buried treasure.
Coral swam back into the grotto with the entire gang. “We’ve got the sea glass.”
“I’m ready for it.” My nerve endings sung anticipating the challenge.
Finding the location of the message was the first step.
Gill picked out a large piece and brought the sea glass over to me. He stayed beside me leaning over my shoulder and I sensed his every move.
I couldn’t get distracted by him. I had to focus.
I placed the reflective surface in front of the spot on the nautilus where a pictogram drew the location of the treasure. The first time I’d seen the drawing I probably didn’t recognize what it was because I wasn’t thinking of underwater locations.
Now I was.
I was thinking of underwater locations while I was under water.
Squee.
Shaking the disbelief of my situation away, I focused on the image.
The pictogram showed a small island where water fell from rocks into a deep hole. The hole was drawn black. Meaning deep and dark. One bright spot was highlighted on the side. The spot glistened and shined.
“No. It couldn’t be.” Horror spiked in Gill’s tone. He leaned back as if he’d fallen. Or was knocked down by the realization of the image.
“You know this place?”
His eyes had grown as wide as a Telescopic-Eyed Goldfish. His skin paled. Troubled bubbles huffed out of his mouth. “I know the exact hazardous spot. A kill zone.”
The next chapter will be posted on Friday, October 11, 2013.
For those of you who can’t wait to read the end the full novella of “Atlantis Tide Breaker” is up on Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and IBooks.
If you’re enjoying Tori’s story, you might like the rest of the Lost Daughters of Atlantis series, “Atlantis Riptide,” “Atlantis Red Tide” and “Atlantis Rising Tide” which are available at Amazon, B&N, Kobo and IBooks.
You can sign up for my newsletter, follow me on Twitter, or like my Facebook page. For more information, got to www.allieburton.com. Your support is appreciated!