Blue Ocean Floor

Blue Ocean Floor (Ch. 5 of 5) {FIN}

Tony is a proper gentleman as he escorts Saffron down and off the ship’s ramp. She couldn’t help but fidget a bit considering the fact that she was wearing Tony’s clothes. She’d discarded the dress Tony had bought for her somewhere in the abyss of the sea. To be fair, he had left her rather distraught. Steve—quite the nimble man that one—had managed to tighten the fabric to befit her feminine figure, but it had not minimized the fact that pants were still a peculiar piece of garment and the redhead simply could not understand why men would even contemplate bothering with them.

“You okay, kid,” Clint teases as he watches Saffron fiddle with the waistband of her borrowed pants.

She gives him a pitiful glare and he can’t help but laugh, lightly ruffling her hair as he passes by, lantern in hand.

“So this is Orionis Cove,” Bruce says absently and to no one in particular as he examines the site.

It’s a beautiful creation of Mother Nature with its vibrant green vegetation thriving across massive rocks and boulders that loomed masterfully over the white sands that faded into crystal blue of the sea. But it is but a guise, a façade for the grave entity below. A wondrously misleading majesty. The mermaid looks to Tony awaiting a sign or some sort of signal. He too seems to be taking in the splendor of Orionis, but Saffron can only hope they all grow tired of it soon. Just as all legends go, those who fall prey to beauty only lose themselves in vanity. The curse of a mermaid.

The haunting thought sends a chill down her spine. They truly hadn’t a clue as to what they were walking into. Stories and tales of passing could only say so much, less so when everyone firmly believes the threats of the sea to be figments of a shipman’s lapse in sanity. The sand beneath her feet and the sun on her back are warm but she knows well that the journey into the cave however will be a cold experience.

“We should get going. The journey by foot will be long and the power of the Aether awakens when the moon is at its peak.”

The men nod at her seriously and before Saffron replies by leading the way towards and into the darkened cave, she makes sure to kiss each man on their cheek. They eye her questioningly, but neither vocally questions her motives. Her kiss would help prevent any of them from falling prey to the music of the sea and the song of her sisters, not that the fate would be rendered inevitable. Still it was a start…

“Does the Aether awaken every full moon?” Clint asks from behind and Saffron briefly glances back to him before replying.

“No, only every five centuries on the night of the Red Moon. Its scarlet color can only be seen here on Orionis. It is also the one night my sisters from all over the seven seas gather.”

“Are you all really sisters?” Steve inquires from Saffron’s left.

It’s difficult to completely make out his visage due the loss of sunlight and the dull glow of the three lanterns they’d all brought along. Saffron shakes her head with a thoughtful sigh.

“By mortal standards, no. But we believe that because we all are brought to life by the hands of the same all-father that we are bonded as closely as the connections of blood, if not more.”

“It seems as though mermaids have quite the history,” Thor states and the smile that plagues Saffron’s lips is bittersweet.

“Yes, after all, we have been around so very long…”

The journey is traveled mostly in silence, excluding everyone’s curious statements and the mermaid’s appropriate replies. The men are visibly mesmerized by the sparkling gems and rubies strewn across the cavern ceiling and walls, each a different shade of blue. A pale blue glow now surrounds everyone, courtesy of the glowworms scattered across the roof of the cave and their emanating illumination reflecting upon the water.