Chapter 11: Chapter Ten: Swim Practice

Ugh so, my computer crashed and lost the first copy of chapter 10 which was amazing and slightly funny. I tried my best to rewrite it but honestly it came out not nearly as well. I got fusterated and mad lol. Although, here you go and enjoy. Leave your thoughts and VOTES please!

Charlie’s View

“Ohh! I like that name!” The musical voice of Aurora bounds back into my mind. “Charlie Diamond. It has a nice musical ring to it!”

I look past Emmet to the mouth of the cave but I don’t see Aurora anywhere. Where are you? I ask, my eyes darting to every part of the cave.

I hear her giggle inside my head, which is still creepy. “I’m outside, but I’ll come in.” Not a moment later she floats back into the cave with her shiny lilac colored tail and extremely long, light brown hair flowing behind her. She’s really, really pretty with her big eyes, round face, and small, plump, rose colored lips. She smiles a dazzling smile of victory when she stops beside her brother. They look remarkably similar despite their different colored hair and tail.

How come you guys have such different colored hair and you’re related? I timidly ask, unsure if that was offensive.

Aurora laughs and smiles brightly. “No, that wasn’t offensive. Our hair color or eye color usually matches our tails. Colors mean nothing for being related, although there are cases where a child will almost match perfectly to their mother like a friend of mine.”

So the colors are just random? I ask again.

“Yep!”

Oh. So, how can you tell whose related and whose not?

Emmet steps in and raises his tail for me to see. “These faint lines are what tells us which family, or rather clan, we come from. My sister and I both have the same marks, as well as our parents. Marks of royalty and these three, almost wavy lines, are what shows others which clan we are. This is the Calida Clan, which means Warm Waters in your human language.”

I’m stunned at their knowledge of Latin. That’s sounds like Latin!

He smiles, “Yes, what you call Latin is our old language.”

This is too much to absorb. My head struggles to believe that our language came from mermaids. The colors, the markings, mermaid clans? There’s a whole other universe down here and we haven’t had a clue!

“Yes, there are several clans in the ocean. Four to be exact.” Emmet starts, reading my mind. “We are the main clan, the largest. The king and queen, as you already know, resides here. The other clans have their own rulers but their rulers are in alliance with us. We used to be a strong and mighty race but thousands of years ago, a human changed merman reveled our existence to humans.” Emmet continues. “He’s now rumored to be with the Elder, or he’s just dead.”

Aurora slowly comes closer to me and I fight every urge to move backwards away from her, she gently grabs my hand and holds it. I eye her warily as she starts to pull me through the water. “Do you feel your tail?” she asks, and I nod my head. “Good, so try to move it like your legs are tied together. They kind of are.” She giggles again.

I try to do what she says and act as if my legs are still there. I watch as my own tail rises and falls again suddenly, pushing me forward with strong force. Luckily, Aurora still held onto my hand, preventing me from crashing into the cave wall.

Oh my god, I did it! I say happily. I turn my head to meet Aurora’s eyes but her eyes are open in surprise. What? Is something wrong?

“No, you just...uh-” Aurora trails off.

“You seem to be a powerful swimmer.” Emmet finishes.

What does that mean then? I ask.

Aurora shrugs. “I don’t know, but your tail is an unusual color, a color thats usually powerful and you have semi- royal markings.” She casually says. “We’ll worry about that later. Do it again.”

I lift my tail and I find it vibrating with a certain excitement. I gently push down again and start to move forward quickly. I move my strong tail up and down through the water, awkwardly, but it moves me forward again. I let out a bubble of laughter as Aurora swims along with me out of the cave, Emmet following closely behind.

I start to find my groove with this whole swimming thing and start to go faster, but Aurora pulls me back gently. I roll my eyes but continue forward through the open sea. I look down to see the most colorful floor I have ever seen. Bright coral in all colors stretch for miles. Vibrant pinks, neon green, sunshine yellow, dark blue colored fish all swim above and below me. The ocean floor is full of life!

“Beautiful huh.” Aurora whispers, her lips holding a light smile. She pulls me to a stop and faces me. “You really got it, but swimming like that uses a lot of energy. You need to learn how to let the water guide you where you need to go. Learn the currents of the ocean and how to avoid them. Ready?”

I nod my head happily but then Aurora pushes me through the water and I feel the push of the ocean, throwing me through the water. My tail flips over my head as I’m completely at the mercy of the water.

Emmett.

“Aurora!” I roar at my dimwitted sister. “What are you doing!?” I start to move forward to catch poor, tumbling Charlie but my sister holds me back.

“No wait! She can do it! She’s special Emmett, you saw her and even her tail color! Come on!” She pleas.

I shake my head. “All this saving her, then throw her away into a strong current that will kill her! What goes in your head confuses me young sister.”

“Straighten out your tail!” Aurora shouts, darting after Charlie. “Lift it up against the current and twist your body so you’re straight!”

I watch helplessly as Charlie clearly struggles to follow my sister’s commands. A rising panic builds in me the longer I watch her be thrown and beaten against the current. I fight the urge to change the current into a softer force, or throw a wave to help Charlie straighten out but I know Aurora will kill me.

I bite my lip as Aurora shouts more commands and she even dives into the current herself. She expertly maneuvers herself through the force next to Charlie, grabbing her hand again. “Straighten out your tail. DO IT Charlie!”

Finally I feel Charlie become overwhelmed with power and straightens out her tail which causes her to stop spinning. She curves her tail to the right and she is violently thrown out of the current, pulling my sister out with her.

“You did it!” My sister cheers but Charlie looks ill. She holds her stomach and struggles to keep her clams inside her stomach.

Seriously... did not. Like that.” She pants, but my sister pulls her into a fierce hug. “You are an insane mermaid!”

“And you’re going to be a great swimmer! You did better than I did when I had to do that.” She mentions.

I shake my head. “Yes, but she wasn’t thrown in unlike you were Charlie. She went in on her free will.”

Aurora pouts, “Still worked didn’t it?”

“She has no control, I apologize for my sister.”

Aurora groans. “Alright, I’m sorry but it proved you’re awesome!”

Charlie frowns, not saying anything. She stares at my sister for several moments, an awkward silence builds. Charlie’s tail vibrates slightly with part annoyance and part happiness. Finally she lets out a small sigh and meets my sister’s stare.

“I would like it very much for some warning okay?” My sister squeals with joy and again hugs her.

“Lets do it again!” Aurora laughs.

Charlie groans, “Right now?”

“Yes! Yes right now!!”

Charlie exhales and turns to face the invisible current. “Right there?”

Aurora nods her head and motions for her to swim forward into the current. Charlie stiffly moves forward and is again swept away by the current. She struggles to maintain her posture and to regain her control again and again as she is thrown in and out of the current.

She stubbornly throws herself back into the current, determined to get it right. Aurora shows her the proper movement but Charlie doesn’t seem to listen. She tumbles tail over head and spins out of control in the water. Only a few times was she able to control her tail in the current, only to throw herself back into it to try again.

I sigh and float down onto a bed of kelp, preparing myself for a long day of swim practice with a hard headed mermaid and an overly excited sister.

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