"Very well, little mermaid, I shall accept your challenge."
"It wasn't a challenge you filthy-"
"I, Alexander vow to make you love me before the spell shall break."
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"Neris, why are you here?" Asked Jack. The way Martha looked at him and nodded made Neris suspect that the question had been planned.
"Because your brother needs me here." Neris did not want to hurt the young boys opinion of his brother so she lied. Well, if you looked at it from the right angle it wasn't really a lie.
"Yes, but why?"
"For my good looks and brave heart I suppose. Where is all this coming from?"
Again, the two kids traded looks.
"Well, do you want to be here?" Martha asked carefully.
Neris stiffened. Somehow, these kids had figured out that she was being kept here against her will. It made her sad, and it also made her want to scream at Alexander about what he'd done.
"Well, I wouldn't mind a change of scenery sure, but it's okay here." The last part was a lie. It wasn't really that okay here in the human world. The best thing about it was the two kids sitting in front of her right now. Neris had seen other humans around, Alexander still had guards posted to make sure she couldn't escape. (Though she suspected he only kept them there for show, Alexander didn't care whether she left or not.)
"We could free you, if you wanted?" Jack suggested carefully and Martha nodded.
"I don't need freeing." Neris tried to deflect it but Jack only shook his head.
"Then why were you in a tank?" He asked and Neris shrugged.
"Sometimes, people do crazy things. Like that time my uncle tried to fire a cannon underwater." Neris tried to change the subject but Jack wasn't really that impressed.
"Neris. We can help you." No, they really couldn't help her. There was nothing they could do, but it was sweet of them to try and help anyway.
"I'm okay." Besides, by Neris' calculations there were only around six months until she was free.
That was exciting. She could return home to her family. They would be worried sick about her. Neris wondered how the kingdom was faring with nobody to rule them after her father died. Maybe her second cousins would be ruling, or her father's advisor.
"No, he trapped you. He had you in a tank!" Martha argued.
"I'm not in a tank anymore, though so that's good, right?" Suddenly Neris has the strangest feeling.
For a moment, she felt completely vulnerable and like somebody was controlling her. Neris wouldn't be able to stop herself from doing anything, whoever was controlling her could have made her bash her head in with a boulder and she could smile through it. The feeling passed in a few seconds and Neris shook her head to try to get rid of any remaining weirdness.
She'd never heard of a merfolk spell doing that, and she wondered if it was the human food finally getting to her. Neris's diet had begun to shift towards human food that Alexander had sent out to her from the kitchens, although she would occasionally still eat some seaweed.
It was only a minute or so later that Alexander appeared, he was unusually pale and his normally flat hair was sticking up on end like it had been run through many times. He looked sick. The prince grabbed Jack by the arm and dragged him away. Neris assumed it was some kind of royal family thing and Martha didn't look at all phased.
Martha stayed for a few more minutes, trying to apologise for Jack if he'd made her uncomfortable. Neris assured the girl he hadn't, before she remembered she had chores to do. Neris smiled as the young girl walked off.
She was so sweet and innocent, nothing like her friend who claimed to have put a spider down his tutors back. (Neris didn't know what a spider was but it was described as a large hairy creature with eight legs and creepy eyes. They also apparently bit people. This was why they were so scary. Though Jack was very proud of the fact that he most definitely was not afraid of spiders.)
Eventually, Martha followed behind where Alexander and Jack had gone, waving goodbye to Neris.
Neris smiled as the young girl skipped to the palace, her smiled faltered as she experienced the same feeling as before, except in reverse. Now, she felt dirty and powerful. Her view of under the docks faded, until all she could see was a large room decorated with many paintings.
She realised with a start she was walking! And with a quick glance down at herself she realised she had legs! She also recognised the shirt as the one Alexander had been wearing earlier. Even Poseidon could not be so cruel, she prayed as a theory came to mind.
Unfortunately as she walked past a window, her theory was confirmed. She was Alexander. And she appeared to be walking next to Jack with a huge frown on her face. (His face? Their face?)
I can't believe him sometimes, he never listens to me..
Neris wanted to shake her head but she was unable to do anything except what Alexander wanted to do. She was pretty sure she was hearing his thoughts now too, so that was great. Was it a side effect of the binding spell? It had originally been for married couples so she could see why it would create a bond between the minds.
Now she saw why it had for sure been outlawed, Neris didn't care how close she could be to her partner, she'd never want them to be inside her head. Perhaps it had been meant as a protection technique. Maybe it helped couples communicate.
The only problem was that Alexander and Neris definitely were not a couple. Not even close. She would hardly call him and her friends.
However, if she could hear his thoughts...
Alexander?
This time, it seemed Neris could make him react as he jumped five feet in the air. Jack turned to him with a questioning look in his eyes but Alexander merely waved him away.
Neris, what the bloody hell are you doing in my mind?
Instantly, Neris was flooded with feelings of confusion, annoyance and fear. These certainly weren't her feelings, but she had to admit she was feeling similarly confused and annoyed. Though she held no fear. Then again, her mind wasn't being shared with a total stranger.
Your not really a stranger...more of an...eh
It seemed this bond between their minds was not a one way thing. That must have been how Alexander knew to come down to the docks before. And why she had felt so naked earlier. Was it also why his hair had been mussed up and his face so pale?
Awwww, you noticed.
Tritan! Stop reading my thoughts!
Get out of my body and I might!
It seemed that her and the prince were now closer than she'd ever dreamed they'd be.
