Alumi opened her eyes and stretched, yawning as she sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. [i]Another day, another harvest,[/i] she thought with little enthusiasm as she hopped up out of bed, swimming past her open window and completely disregarding the bustle of activity in the streets as morning broke over Mermadia. In her room of refreshment she ran a comb through her long blue hair, poked and prodded at her face as she grumbled about not waking up sparkingly beautiful, and retired to her closet to choose the day's attire. Shimmying into a pair of yellow shells and throwing a light blue netting shift overtop, she returned to the mirror and pulled her hair into a loose seahorse tail, accenting the style with an anemone flower and winking before swimming out to grab her purse, giving a shriek of alarm as she noticed the time shadow.
Her tail flipping fiercely, she whipped through her house and wiggled out the front window rather than waste time opening the door. With a flip of her tail the window closed and she continue past her small front yard and raced through the streets, dodging around the slower traffic much to the chagrin of the Mothers. They clucked and tutted at her as she went around them, their calls of "Slow down!" and "Reckless girl!" falling on deaf ears who had heard the comments too many times before. She turned left, wheeled right, went through an open market stall to shave some precious seconds, her hands before her to cut through the current and streamline her motion; as she whizzed past a slack-jawed merchant, she brought a hand in and waved once cheekily, smiling a toothy smile as she bent backwards and turned down the last side street; this one would be a straight-shot to the fields.
As the long strands of kale grew in size, she stopped swimming and simply glided through the water, putting on the brakes only when hidden safely in the green stalks. Breathing normally, she gently took a stalk and examined it thoughtfully, making a soft and considered humming sound as a shadow passed over her site.
"Alumi?" her superior addressed with masked aggravation. Alumi ignored her at first, holding up a finger and really, [i]really[/i] looking at the green, lofty leaf. The woman crossed her arms and tapped her own finger against her bicep, coral-colored eyes glaring under teal brows, lips pinching into a scowl; when finally Alumi thought the woman wouldn't be able to handle it anymore, she released the kale and smiled up at her, waiting to be addressed, knowing she was just getting herself deeper and deeper into trouble but hoping a look of determination and friendliness might subvert the disciplinary action to come. "Alumi, did you arrive late this morning?"
"Me?" Alumi replied, pointing to herself expressively. She looked up, as though considering, "Well, let's see… I think I woke up on time, and then I got dressed, and I remembered I had to [i]hurry[/i] to get to work… but I've been here looking at this specimen for quite some time now… do you see its spots? They're odd, aren't they? Odd, but pretty… I think it's a good specimen, one we might want to breed, but we should probably [i]taste[/i] it first, right? Hmm… tricky… we can't eat our kale and breed it, too… Oh! But anyway, I can't be completely sure of [i]when[/i] I got here," she finished with a smile, "but it feels like I might've been on time today."
The supervisor's eyes were closed at this point, her fingers pressed to her forehead in annoyance, but overall she seemed obliging, and that gave Alumi hope. "Alumi," the supervisor sighed heavily, looking at her with some gravity, "You're working on your last scale here. One more mess-up and you're out of a job, and there aren't that many places left that will hire you. So just get here on time and turn in some logs, okay? I don't want to fire my husband's kid-sister but if you keep up this streak of irresponsibility, I will. Understand?"
Relief spreading like warmth, Alumi smiled and saluted, "Sure thing!" she then turned the salute into a lazy wave as she bid her sister-in-law-turned-supervisor goodbye, "I'll get straight to work, no problem! Have a good one, I'll check in with you later," she said with a sing-song voice.
The woman growled, "Just do some work," and swam away.
Morning came and went; as soon as noontime came and the whistle sounded, Alumi threw her bag over her shoulder, grabbed a handful of kale to make a third bundle, and rushed to the collection bin. Once there she tied the bunch with a hardened piece of weed and dropped it into the bucket, then swam off as quick as she could, someone yelling after her about an improper knot but it was too late – lunch had started! She raced through the streets again, weaving through the noon crowds on her way to their normal place; by the time she got there everyone else was already seated, but Himil had saved her a spot and she coasted right to it, tearing off her bag and putting it below the coral table in the same motion as she stuck her elbows on the table and cupped her chin in her hands. With a huge smile she greeted her friends from a previous job and the second favorite part of her day started. As much as she hadn't enjoyed the stress of her former job, she just [i]adored[/i] hearing the gossip, especially when the most exciting thing to happen in the fields were her mistakes.
As the hour came to a close and they packed up what was left of their lunch to head back to work, Alumi doddled as much as she could, even swimming part way back to the office with them before grudgingly heading towards the fields. Hearing the faint whistle in the distance she put on some speed, but unlike her earlier trips, this time she was forcefully stopped at a cross-street by a strong-armed man. "Hey!" she exclaimed at first, but after following the hand up the strong arm, across the broad, well-muscled chest and up to the statuesque face, her attitude changed abruptly. Her eyelashes fluttering automatically, a light chuckle catching in her throat, she apologized, her tone lighter and lilting, "Oh! I'm sorry, I must have bumped into you – clumsy me!" The strong, handsome face quirked a brow and Alumi internally celebrated – she's got him amused, she's got a chance! "You know, I could make up for it by joining you for dinner sometime," she invited coyly.
"That won't be necessary," he replied with a deep, serious tone.
She pouted at the loss. "Well then, you'll just have to accept my apology without dinner and let me continue on my way, though, just so you know, I am still accepting offers of lunch, drinks, or tea. Just find me sometime, okay?" She smiled and tried to move around him, but his arm came out and caught her yet again. Scowling, she looked up at him again, "Listen, first time it was almost cute, but this is bordering on harassment."
"You can't cross. Royal Party coming through."
The scowl still on her face, Alumi nevertheless bent her neck to have a look; sure enough the entire street had been emptied as a small group swam leisurely through, laughing and smiling and pretty much enjoying the high life. She sighed enviously as the brightly-colored crew passed her by, watching the Princess's joyful face as her amber eyes sparkled at some inside-joke before her shell-white hair obscured Alumi's view. She wished [i]she[/i] could be Princess. Or even just part of Princess Meria's inner group – they never had to get up early or go to work or get yelled at or get fired time after time; they lived the high life, with parties every night and entertainment every day, and they heard the best jokes and the most amazing stories. As they moved out of sight, the muscle-head moved aside and she swam through, pausing in the middle of the street to watch them go.
In the middle of the afternoon, the vibrations struck. You could almost see the wave rippling before it reached them; as Alumi floated lazily above the field a new bundle in her arms, her eyes doubled in size, watching the mass head towards them. It was the single largest disturbance she had ever witnessed, and she didn't know what to do. The sirens wailed a warning, the brass tune echoing out from the palace as voices rose in alarm, yelling to go indoors. Beneath her she felt the kale move as other workers dashed through the forest, but she couldn't move, not yet. It was as beautiful as it was ominous, as magnificent as it was terrifying, and she was frozen, watching as it tore up the sand and crushed rock. Only when her tail was tugged sharply did she look away, dropping the kale and flying away, following on her sister-in-law's tail as they darted back into the city.
"What is it?!" Alumi cried in fear, already feeling the pressure lessening around them in preparation for the fall.
"Just keep going!" her sister demanded.
"In here!" someone yelled, and with grabbing, helpful hands the pair of them were pulled inside a shop and pushed towards the back room as the pair by the door pulled other stragglers inside. As they swam into the back room she could hardly breathe, the pressure so low her gills had trouble filtering the rarefied oxygen. Fear rising, she looked to the others – there were twelve in there, some holding hands in a circle, their heads bowed. Her sister-in-law joined the circle, but Alumi couldn't move. She was so scared – this was serious. The sound reached them then, the cacophony of rocks crushing, coral snapping, the thunderous whir of the wave churning the ocean a constant noise that just grew louder in her ears. She pressed her hands to her ears. Her heart raced as the walls seemed to come in on her, pressing around her even as she slowly suffocated.
A hand on her elbow made her jump, her eyes wild as she turned to her coral-eyed sister-in-law – was she the last family member Alumi would ever see?! She was pulling her closer, but Alumi didn't want to be there anymore! Listen, listen to what the wave was doing to the hardened stone of the ocean floor! Listen to what it did to coral – it would tear through these buildings effortlessly! They were trapping themselves; they were dooming themselves! They had to swim! Swim up and away, over the wave, away from the wave! She jerked her arm free and flipped on her tail, putting her arms before her to swim faster, pumping her fin through the shop and back out the door, evading the hands of the helpers as she turned upwards, out of the city. She couldn't stay there – she didn't want to die! Not yet!
Her heart trembled as she climbed higher and higher, until the city streets were just lines in the floor below her, the castle spires even with her height, but still the wave was taller. She couldn't breathe anymore, she couldn't push any farther; desperately she reached for the surface far above her, to the sun-disk far above her, but she knew it was useless.
"Mermaid Tsunami!"
Like a clear echo rising above the noise, the voice of Princess Meria – Sailor Mermaid – rang loud and clear to Alumi's ears and she turned hopefully, watching as the clear blue energy raced outward to defend them from the wave. Sailor Mermaid, of course, Sailor Mermaid would save them! Their senshi could stop anything, could defend them from any threat; she could take care of this wave, she could save them. Her hands clasped tightly before her chest, Alumi watched tensely as the Mermaid Tsunami raced towards the oncoming threat, but as they touched… the wave increased in size. Again Sailor Mermaid threw out her attack, but Alumi knew what would happen, knew it was useless. There was no hope! She looked up again and forced her tail to move, forced herself upward.
"[i]Do you want to die?[/i]" a voice, calm and deep and completely imagined, asked her softly.
"No!" Alumi cried desperately, kicking harder and harder towards the surface. "I don't want to die! I want to live!" Her whole body ached, weakened, her eyes seeing stars with the exertion and lack of oxygen. "Please," she whimpered, her fin burning too much to continue, "Please, I want to live."
"[i]Will you serve me?[/i]" the voice asked, her mad mind making a deal as though it could save her from the catastrophe getting ever closer. Looking down she saw it reach the outskirts of town, tearing through the buildings, Sailor Mermaid pressing back as best she could, but her attempts were ineffective. The screams joined the enormous sound of the wave.
So afraid she was shaking, she cried out, "Yes! Yes, I'll do anything!" and wondered how soon the wave would reach up and claim her, too. Would she have enough energy left to scream?
"[i]Take the crystal,[/i]" the voice commanded, "[i]Serve me, and you will never know fear again.[/i]" The end of the sentence was punctuated with a grand explosion that nearly deafened her; she closed her eyes tight and covered her ears, but after the worst of it she squinted around her, looking for the crystal the voice spoke of. There it was, blue and glowing eerily, quickly moving towards the surface. With her last reserves she pushed herself towards it, reached out, and took it. The pain that shot up her arms was immeasurable – she almost let go, but she stubbornly refused, holding on for her dear life as a fire burned inside her, a transformation taking her over. Below her the cries had stopped but still the wave moved on, and she didn't care. She felt powerful, she felt unstoppable, she felt [i]alive[/i], and even as the golden cuffs linked around her wrists and her fin burst in two, giving her two limbs below her waist that moved apart from each other, she felt free. With energy she could now wield with her own will, she followed the silent call and burst upwards, breaking through the surface of the water and up farther still, flying through the air as easily as she swam through the water, climbing ever higher. When finally she burst through the surface of the air and found herself surrounded in a new black medium, she turned and met the golden-clad woman who had saved her. The woman, beautiful and powerful and strong, smiled as Alumi bowed her allegiance, and with a single flick of her wrist Planet Mermaid was destroyed.
"[i]Come, my Aluminum Seiren. There are many other crystals to collect.[/i]"
"Yes," Aluminum Seiren replied, "My Queen."