| |
After their agreement, Victor was ready to take Ariana where she wanted to go.
Ariana and Victor left the deep ocean quietly, swimming past the underwater kingdom quickly to go upwards towards the mortal realm. They wanted to do it in secret and without drawing attention to themselves. They were careful that no other creature saw them going towards the surface. Neither of them wanted to get caught.
“Will I be able to breathe up there?” Ariana asked. She remembered what it felt like being out of water.
“Yes. As long as you stay near the ocean, and near me, you can walk on the surface like a human,” Victor replied. “My magic cannot work if you stray too far.”
Ariana understood. They swam to the surface together, Ariana ahead of Victor. She hesitated before taking the first step on the sandy soil, remembering how difficult it had been for her to breathe the last time she was out of the water.
“You will be ok, Ariana,” Victor reassured her. “I will be right behind you.”
Ariana looked at Victor with surprise.
“I..I.. a..am g..g.oing first?” Ariana stuttered.
“You want me to go first, don’t you?” Victor said with a grin, as if he read Ariana’s thoughts. “Don't you trust me, Ariana? I should be offended that you are doubting my magical abilities. I will go first if you are afraid to do so.”
Ariana wanted to wipe the smirk off Victor's face. She would not back out now, and especially not after Victor’s challenge. She took a deep breath, taking in as much air as she could hold in her lungs, and stepped on the surface. Ariana waited to feel out of breath, like she did last time. She didn’t need to worry about air as almost immediately she was transformed into a human. Victor’s magic was as good as his mother’s, Ariana thought. He must have practiced a lot.
Ariana was a late bloomer and was waiting for her magic to show up. On most days, the lack of magic didn’t bother her. On most days, except today when she had to ask smug Victor for help.
Although Victor’s magic gave her the appearance of a human, Ariana herself decided on her final look.
Ariana’s human transformation transfixed Victor. She was stunning in her white dress, which shimmered when she walked. She looked like a water lily, sparkling with dewdrops in the morning.
Victor stood there in awe. He was speechless, not for the first time around her. Ariana, however, did not notice as she was looking at him.
“You look handsome, Victor,” she said. Ariana was surprised she said it out loud. She blushed.
Victor smiled. He hadn’t wondered how he looked as a human.
Victor cleared his throat. “Let us go find that mortal, before I forget why we came here,” he said to Ariana, smiling.
Ariana blushed and stuttered a “Yes” in response.
Her nervousness made her look even more irresistible to Victor.
Victor sighed. This was going to be more difficult than he thought. He prayed his will power, more than his magic, would last until their task was complete.
He hoped he could survive being this close to Ariana.
——-
There weren’t any humans around the beach that day, so Victor and Ariana searched in the fishing villages nearby. They were searching for any clues about the human who the locket belonged to, or perhaps even find the ship he sailed in. They both were careful to keep sight of the water, because Victor’s magic lost effect if they went too far inland.
The first few days, they could only stay an hour out of the water. Gradually, they could stay on the surface for longer periods of time. Victor got better each time they went on the surface. His magic was becoming stronger with practice.
During the early days of their search, Victor and Ariana both hid if they came across humans. Now, Victor’s magic was powerful enough that they could have small conversations with them without losing their human illusion. They didn’t, however, find anyone who one knew about the locket, or the ship. Victor thought that they needed to find more humans.
They searched the smaller fishing villages, but found no clues. Ariana said that the ship she was caught on was big. The villages were too small for bigger ships, he thought, so it was unlikely that the human would go there.
They set their sights on villages that were more populated. They had no better luck in their find.
The next time, Ariana and Victor went to the surface, they came across a fortune teller.
The fortune teller came in a traveling wagon and had come there from a faraway kingdom. She wasn’t asking for any money, just whatever they wanted to give her in exchange for her fortune telling. In the ocean, only the sea witch had the powers to receive a prophetic vision. Victor looked at the fortune teller and sensed no magic surrounding her.
“Would you like to have your fortunes read, my dears?” the fortune teller had asked.
“Can you read fortunes?” Ariana asked with surprise. She didn’t know that mortals had such abilities and was intrigued.
“If I have your permission, then yes I can,” the fortune teller said with a smile.
Ariana looked at Victor expectedly, eager to know what he would say. Victor remained skeptical.
“It is probably a lie,” Victor said to Ariana. “I feel no magic here.”
Ariana still wanted to see what the fortune teller had to say. She nodded her head to the fortune teller, agreeing for her to proceed. Victor sighed, but didn’t stop her.
The fortune teller smiled again. She hummed as she closed her eyes. She waved her hands at the crystal globe she had in front of her. Ariana watched in fascination as the fortune teller opened her eyes to peer into the globe. Ariana couldn’t see any images, but the fortune teller kept looking at it intently, as if she saw something in there.
After a few moments, the fortune teller finally spoke, “I sense great sadness in your past. Your future is shrouded in mist, and the path ahead will only clear once your mind does.”
“What does that mean?” Ariana asked. “What should I do?”
“Keep your eyes open and be careful who you trust with your heart, dear,” the fortune teller replied.
“Well, that was as clear as mud. Thank you for your reading, oh great fortune teller,” Victor said sarcastically. “It was vague enough to cover every possible situation.”
“You will not be smiling once I tell you your fortune, lad,” the fortune teller said grimly.
“Let me hear it then. I could use another laugh,” Victor said.
Ariana looked at him, concerned. Even if Victor didn’t believe the human fortune teller, he should know better than to laugh at the fates.
“Your greatest enemy will not be another. Your greatest mistake would be to lose someone’s trust,” the fortune teller said.
Victor laughed. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you were warning Ariana and me of each other.”
The fortune teller said nothing else.
“I told you what I saw. It would be wise if you listened.”
Ariana thanked the fortune teller and nudged Victor to leave before he said something else that might offend her. Ariana gave a beautiful seashell to the fortune teller as payment for telling their fortune.
“Humans are strange. They wear baubles and use silly trinkets. They give vague predictions and call it magic. The mortals actually believe they are giving prophecies,” Victor said, shaking his head in disbelief.
Ariana nodded her head, but she couldn’t help but ponder the fortune teller’s words. Her haunting words echoed in her head: Be careful who you trust with your heart, dear.
Who was she talking about? Ariana wondered. It was vague, like Victor said, but why did her words feel true?
———
On their eighth day of searching, they reached one of the biggest fishing villages. Ariana and Victor were shocked to find how many humans there were. The humans were crowded like a school of fishes, but unlike the fishes they were on land, and had legs.
“It is an impossible task. There are so many of them,” Ariana said.
Victor has thought the same, but he hadn’t said it out loud.
“Let us ask someone before giving up,” he said, glumly.
Despite their human appearances, it was still hard for Ariana and Victor to go unnoticed. The immortal beings were like beacons of light among the weathered mortals. Victor thought their clothes were drawing a lot of attention from the humans, so he ‘borrowed’ a few hooded robes to cover them.
“We shouldn’t steal clothes from the humans,” Ariana said.
“You are right that it is wrong. I think it is criminal to hide my face like this,” Victor said seriously.
“That is not what I meant, Victor,” Ariana said, but when she saw him laughing, “You are bad, you know that?”
“That is music to my ears,” Victor replied. “I was afraid I was losing my touch.”
Victor was getting more comfortable joking with Ariana, but she still blushed.
“Come now, Ariana. What is an adventure without some mischief?” Victor said, his eyes sparkling.
Ariana couldn't help but notice that no matter where they went, girls would gawk at Victor. They would giggle, blush, and flutter their eyelashes at him. Either Victor was oblivious to the effect he was having on them, or he chose not to notice them. No matter the age or gender, people blushed when Victor talked to them. It was borderline criminal how attractive Victor was.
Victor was charming, Ariana thought, but she wouldn’t want him to know his charm was having an effect on her. He might take it the wrong way, or worse, he might use it to his advantage.
“Ok, but no more stealing,” Ariana said. “We don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention towards us.”
“Are you sure you haven’t done this before, Ariana?” Victor teased her again. “You are getting quite good at it.”
Ariana sighed, but didn’t fall for his bait.
“Let us continue our search. It will be sundown soon, and the humans will go into their homes,” Ariana said, feeling tired.
They had both spent the day searching, but getting no closer to finding the locket’s owner. They must have asked a dozen humans already.
The sea merchant, unlike Ariana and Victor, was having a good day. Nobody liked the sea merchant, and people often brought him their complaints. He was probably the most hated man in the area. The sea merchant couldn’t care less about who complained, for he was greedy and his heart was cold.
He had been busy all day and had made a tidy profit. He had bought all other merchandise in the area and had a complete monopoly over the market. Thinking about the money he would make put him in a good mood.
“They all deserve it,” he thought about the villagers. “They are too stupid to keep their money.”
He perked up when he saw one of his best fishermen bring in a large batch of live lobsters. The fisherman always caught the biggest lobsters and today was no exception.
“How much for this lot?” the fisherman asked.
“One coin per lobster,” the sea merchant replied.
“But last week you gave me three coins!” the fisherman exclaimed.
“Supply and demand, my friend. Take it or leave it,” the sea merchant replied callously.
It was nearly sundown. The fisherman had spent the morning toiling and was too tired to argue. He needed to get home quickly.
“Ok,” he said sadly.
“Great! Just put them over there in those cages,” the sea merchant said. “Here’s your money.”
The sea merchant handed over the tiniest bag. The fisherman looked miserably at the small bag of coins, but he took it. The sea merchant smiled like a cat as the fisherman left.
Minutes later, the sea merchant perked up when he saw a customer approaching. He really was having a great day. The mayor’s wife was having a last-minute dinner party and had to send her servant to get some lobsters.
“How much for those lobsters?” the servant asked the sea merchant in a hurry.
“Ten coins each,” the sea merchant replied.
“But last time they were six coins!” the servant exclaimed.
“Supply and demand, my dear. Take it or leave it,” the sea merchant replied in a bored voice.
The servant knew the Mayor’s wife would dock her pay for buying more expensive lobsters... but if she didn’t bring back any, they would fire her. None of the other shops had any lobsters remaining.
“I will take them,” she said glumly.
“Excellent! Send my greetings to the Mayor’s wife,” the sea merchant said with a smile.
The servant looked at him miserably, but nodded her head.
“He is quite a businessman,” Victor said to Ariana, impressed.
They had been observing the sea merchant from a distance. Ariana was too upset to answer Victor.
“What’s wrong, Ariana? Don’t tell me you are surprised by his behavior,” Victor said, seeing the tears in Ariana’s eyes. “He is acting like a typical mortal.”
But Ariana had been looking at the lobsters in the cages. It broke her heart to see them so helpless.
“I want to free them,” Ariana said to Victor, pointing towards the cages.
"You want to free them?" Victor asked, surprised.
Ariana nodded her head.
Victor thought it was risky, but he didn’t like seeing Ariana upset. He also didn’t mind pulling a prank on the horrible mortal.
“We will get caught if we do it now,” Victor said. “Let us wait for it to get a bit darker.”
Ariana nodded in agreement. She was worried her father would notice her absence, but she couldn’t leave without freeing the lobsters. She would deal with her father's punishment later.
The sun had set, and it was time for the sea merchant to leave for his home. He put locks on the lobster cages, making sure they clicked to show they were locked properly.
“He finally left. Now is our chance, let’s go!” Victor said to Ariana, after he saw the sea merchant leave.
They both went near the lobster cages. Immediately, the lobsters started stirring with excitement.
“We will free you, my friends,” Ariana said to the lobsters. "We are here for you."
Victor opened the locks with his magic, while Ariana removed the bands from their claws. The crustaceans clicked their claws in gratitude.
“Go to the water!” Ariana said. “Hurry, my friends!”
“What are you two doing? Thieves! THIEVES!” The sea merchant yelled.
He had returned.
The sea merchant had only gone to hide the money in a safe spot in his house nearby. He came back quickly in order to put the lobsters in water tanks.
The sea merchant grabbed Victor, but he disappeared like smoke in his hands. He grabbed Ariana’s wrist next, twisting it as he said, “I never knew thieves could be so pretty! You will make a fine wife or even better mistress...”
Ariana screamed.
“Ariana!” Victor yelled.
He ran to free her, but the lobsters got there before him. They pinched the sea merchant everywhere with their claws and without mercy. He yelped loudly and let go of Ariana’s wrist.
“Run, Ariana!” Victor said, grabbing her hand. Ariana's heart was beating fast as they both ran to the fishing dock, and dove headfirst into the water.
They swam quickly, leaving the dock and the screaming merchant far behind them. Victor gave a vulgar sign to the merchant.
“Are you ok?” Victor asked Ariana, concerned.
He was surprised to see her laughing.
“Did you see the lobster who pinched his nose?” Ariana said, hysterical with laughter.
“Well, he had a pretty big nose to begin with. I am sure it will be normal sized by now,” Victor replied.
Victor’s reply made Ariana laugh even harder. She now had tears in her eyes from laughing. Victor had never seen her so happy before. It gave him a warm and happy feeling inside.
“I thought you said we shouldn’t draw attention to ourselves?” Victor asked Ariana, smiling.
“What is an adventure without some mischief?” Ariana replied, repeating what Victor had said earlier to her.
Now, it was Victor’s turn to laugh.
——-