The Mermaid And the Sea Snake

Chapter 7

     I was taken aback by Sonia's statement, 'Excuse me?'
     She lifted her head to look me in the eyes, 'He is Vivian's 'son' is he not?' she said putting emphasis on the word son.
      I couldn't stop the look of complete horror that crossed my face as she said her name, I pointed my finger at her accusingly, 'How do you know Vivian?'
     She paused for moment, 'There is a lot you need to learn.'
     I swam closer, my voice dripping with anger, 'Well you better start talking, and you can start by telling us how you know about Vivian and her sons.'
     Sonia glanced from Jet to me, 'Well first of all they are not Vivian's sons.'
     'Vivian is not my mum?' Jet asked, I could hear the confusion in his voice but his snake face remained emotionless.
     Sonia shook her head, 'Although Sam is your twin brother, she definitely is not your mother, she has one son and she left him behind.' she ran her fingers through her hair, the red shimmering in the sun, 'but she is your Aunty, Ava.'
     My head started to spin what did she mean? How was she my Aunty? How was she not Jet's mum? Was my whole life a complete lie?
     Sonia noticed as every emotion crossed my face, 'let me tell you the whole story and then you can ask me any questions afterwards, okay?'
     We both nodded, eager to hear the explanation of why I was a mermaid and he was a sea snake and most importantly who Vivian was.
     'It all started when Ava was born, you were a gorgeous little baby, the first heir to the throne. Your parents were extatic. Your Aunty not so much but nobody noticed because she doted on you, she acted exactly like a loving Aunty should act.
     The kingdom was happy, the people where happy, until one night. Your parents went out leaving you with your Aunty and when they returned you and Vivian were nowhere to be found only her son remained.
    We searched all the seas until it was clear that she had taken you to the land.
    The king was furious, how could he have not seen this before, how could he have not seen that Vivian, his sister, was so thirsty for the throne that she would even go so far as to steal her own niece.
     We searched her cave, finding her pet snakes gone and snippets of her plan. It became obvious that she had been planning this all along and that she was going to keep you away from the ocean until you were 25. It's at that age that you are to take the throne and if you are not there to stake your claim she would be able to take it and rule as our new Queen.
    We tried to search for you on land but she had cast a spell to keep you hidden, a spell we were unable to break.
     So we devised a plan, we set our own spell creating Sunset Cove, a place that only you and you alone would be able to find and enter. We had almost given up hope as your birthday is so close but then you arrived. So you see it is time for you to return to your kingdom and take your place as Queen.'
    It was a lot to take in, I had more questions than answers and I was sure Jet felt the same. Jet swam closer to me wrapping his tail around my waist, I guess it was as close to a hug that we could get at this moment in time. My heart went out to him, while I was finding out that I was a princess and my parents were still alive, he was finding out that he had no mum and he was someone's pet. How humiliating and life shattering that must feel for him and I couldn't even take his hand.
     'I am so sorry Jet,' I whispered, my voice barley audible.
      It was hard to tell how he was feeling, his black eyes and face could show no emotion. 'This is not about me, it's your time now, don't worry about me.'
     I took a moment to take in what Jet said, this man had been there for me through everything and now even though his life was crumbling he wanted me to look out for myself. I looked at him taking in his snake features, this wasn't him, it had only been half an hour and yet I missed seeing his old face, his old body, I missed holding his hand and giving him hugs. I missed my Jet but apparently this was the 'real' Jet. 'Not if I have anything to do with it,' I thought to myself.
     I let out a sigh, 'I have so many questions,' I glanced between Sonia and Jet, 'but first, how do I get my Jet back?'
     Sonia's eyes scanned us both, 'look it is possible but we have to get to your parents.'
    'Then let's go,' I said enthusiastically, meeting my parents and getting Jet back, it's a win win!
     'It's a two day swim,' she stated.
     'Perfect, we'll ask questions along the way.'
     Sonia's face flittered with frustration, 'look I know you want to fix this but two days is a long swim, especially for someone who is just learning.'
      It was my turn to be frustrated, 'no you look,' I said pointing my finger at her again, 'I just found out that my parents are alive and that they can fix Jet, so either we get swimming or I get going without you.'
    Sonia let out a groan of defeat, 'fine but I don't want to hear any complaining when your tail starts to hurt.'
    I smiled, 'Deal!'
    We started our long swim, side by side, me in the middle, question after question running through my head but one question kept repeating, 'why don't we remember anything? From our life in the sea?'
     Sonia considered this for a moment, 'I would say Vivian blocked your memories,' she paused, 'I can understand why she did it to you but not sure why she would do it to her snakes as well.'
     Jet slowed a little beside me, I slowed to his pace, 'You okay?'
     'Yeah just thinking, maybe she blocked our memories so we wouldn't let anything slip,' he started swimming at his normal pace, 'I mean I definitely would have told you and then her plan would have failed.'
     I nodded my head slowly, 'that actually makes perfect sense.' Of course she would cut off any ties to the ocean, including Sam and Jet's memories.
     We swam for a little longer as I considered my next question, 'Okay next question, you said something about Sunset Cove been for me and me only, how did Jet get through?'
     'We aren't really sure to be honest,' she thought for a bit longer, 'the only thing we came up with was because he was with you.'
     'Probably because he's been protecting me.' I said without thinking.
     Jet swam closer, 'I will always protect you.'
    I smiled at him, 'I know you will.' it was overwhelming how much I wanted to pull him into a hug, I felt some comfort as his tail touched mine, prompting my next question, 'Why would she bring Jet and Sam but not her son?'
     Sonia shook her head, 'We don't know that unfortunately. Poor kid was devastated.'
    'Where is her son now?'
    'He lives with your mum and dad, in the palace, they raised him as their own.'
     They raised him as their own, while he had love and respect, I had hate and abuse. It is not his fault I reminded myself, it was Vivian's, everything was her fault.
     'Do I have any brothers or sisters?' that might be cool I thought to myself a real brother or a little sister!
     Sonia let out a small sigh, 'After you they just couldn't bring themselves to have more. The whole thing was heartbreaking for everyone.'
     I nodded I could understand that after loosing one kid why risk having another.
     We were silent for a moment while I thought about what I wanted to know next, 'Okay, I have one more question.... for now anyway. Why can't I stake claim to the throne after 25?'
     Sonia looked at me, 'Pretty simple really, after 25 if you hadn't returned to the ocean you would become permanently human.'
     'Wow, okay. ' I wonder if my pull to the ocean would have stopped as well.
     Sonia shrugged, 'It is what it is.'
     We kept swimming in one direction, I had to trust that Sonia knew where she was going because everything was just big and blue with the occasional fish to me.
     We had been swimming for around six hours when Sonia pointed to a small cave, 'We'll sleep here tonight, it's our halfway point.'
      It didn't look big enough to swim through let along sleep in, 'Um will we all fit?'
      Sonia laughed, 'It's bigger than it looks, trust me.'
     We swam towards the cave entrance, and squeezed through one at a time. It opened up into a huge space with a small amount of sunlight shining through from a gap in the top, there was two large sponge coral beds of blues and greens on either side.
     Jet swam by me, 'Sleep next to me tonight?' I asked.
    'Of course.' he answered as he wrapped his tail around my hand. I smiled, I was so blessed to have him in my life.
     I layed down on one of the beds and Jet curled up next to me, I placed my hand on his head and fell into a deep sleep.

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