Ranch n' Craft Forum

They glided over to us, circling. I kept my head down. My heart was thudding painfully. The woman’s voice sounded in my ears, cool and musical. Achingly familiar. “Who are you?” she asked. I felt the others share a look, full of unspoken words. Then the man spoke. His voice was soft, and it too was familiar. “Is that who I think…” he murmured. I felt the stare, the point. I felt the woman swim forwards, parting the group. A soft hand brushed my cheek, lifted my chin, and I looked into familiar green eyes, precisely the same shape as my own. She gasped. Her husband glided forwards, hesitantly. He stared into my face, recognising the colour of my eyes, the tone of my hair, and the shape of my face. Little details here and there that made me… me. Crysta. Their daughter. My mother smiled and pulled me to her chest, hugging me tightly. My father’s arms slid around us both, uniting us. I could feel the love from them, the rush of relief and joy that my parents felt, and the confusion pulsing from my friends like a burning heat. Gently, I pushed my parents off and turned to smile at my friends. “Girls, these are my parents,” I explained. Natalie relaxed, her eyes scanning their faces, recognising them. The others’ expressions softened slightly, and I felt an impatient tug on my fingertips. “Come,” murmured my mother, before leading me away from my friends. She led me through the palace, but I kept looking back. I saw the servants herding my friends towards another room. It made me uneasy.

A horn sounded within the gleaming city. Merpeople started to gather in the square, looking up at a raised platform. Two merpeople, a man and a woman, swam gracefully onto the platform. Both had soft brown hair floating in clouds. The woman had piercingly green eyes, where the man had ice-blue. They were vaguely familiar to me… It hit me. I realised exactly who they were. My head span out of control, the world whirling around me, everything going fuzzy… My eyelids felt heavy. I struggled to open them and saw Natalie, her gills fluttering, hair swirling around her face, looking concerned. I was sprawled on the sandy sea floor, the others floating around me. I tried to sit up, but dizziness clawed at me, dragging my shoulders back to the sand. Natalie slipped her arm behind me and pushed me upright. I put a hand to my forehead. “Are you ok?” asked Natalie, as I flicked my tail and swam upwards. “I’m fine… I just…” I tried to explain, but I couldn’t find the words. Suddenly, Ali growled and Prim squeaked in surprise. We were surrounded. Merpeople wearing armour and carrying shark-tooth spears were floating on all sides. “Come with us,” ordered one of them, and they started to move, shepherding us along. We swam unwillingly, avoiding the sharp points aimed towards us. We were directed into the city, still surrounded, straight towards the palace entrance. The doors swung smoothly open, and the merpeople herded us inside. I looked towards the end of the room and saw those two familiar merpeople sitting on intricate coral thrones. I ducked my head. Would they recognise me?

The others dived after me, and we powered through the water. I noticed that I was much faster than the others, and paused and looked back. They were moving confidently, but I saw that their tail flukes were much smaller than mine, and that the transition between their tails and their torsos was far more defined. I supposed it was the difference between a true mermaid and magically transformed humans – well, at least, not mermaids. I flicked my tail and glided deeper, the others following. We glided around reefs of coral, wove between shoals of glittering fish, and played chase among beds of twisting seaweed. I leaned my elbows on to edge of a coral and looked out through the water. The others floated up beside me and followed my gaze. Something golden-yellow, something shimmering, marred the silvery horizon. “What’s that?” asked Prim. “Let’s go find out!” grinned Ali, and launched herself over the coral, closely pursued by Sami and Prim. Cass hesitated, then chased her best friend. I grinned at Natalie, and we swam off in a group, leaving a long trail of bubbles. We swam on, deeper into the water, following the source of the misty golden glow. I turned a delicate loop in the water, laughing as Cass attempted the manoeuvre and disappeared, headfirst, into a bed of seaweed. I helped her out and we continued along our way. The golden glow slowly grew as we approached, until it solidified into a truly breath-taking sight. Building of pearly-white stone, with glittering coral roofs, surrounded a glowing castle. Merpeople swam between the buildings, pausing to greet each other before swimming on. Some carried shopping bags, others were trailing pet fish on leashes, and I even spotted one riding in a dolphin-drawn cart. I heard five gasps beside me and one soft whistle. The others were clearly stunned.