Mermaids for Venus, by Boyce
Chapter 1 : Drowning
/ At the Beach \
(Serena, Amy, Raye, Lita, Mina, Rini and Darien were spending the day at the beach. It was a very hot day. Serena was building a sand castle with Rini and Darien. Amy was swimming, while Raye was catching the sunrays. Lita and Mina were
fishing for the dinner of the group)
Serena: Don't do that! The tower will collapse if you put too much sand!
Rini : I know what I'm doin, Meatball head.
Serena: Hmph!
(Rini puts her bucket of sand to solidify the tower. She adds some water at the base)
Rini : See? Wrong as always!
(The tower starts to shake, and crumbles)
Rini : Oh no!
Serena: AH! Told you so... But Nooooooooooooo! No one ever listens to the great Serena!
Rini : Shut up. At least I'm trying to build something! I don't hang all over Darien.
Darien: She's right. You haven't touch the sand castle once ever since we started it!
Serena: (Blush) Well... Hmm...
Rini : You're spacing out again! Look at that drewl
Serena: I'm not!
Rini : You are!
Serena: No No No NOOOOOO
Rini : Yes Yes Yes YESSSSSSSS
Darien: (Tear Drop) I give up. (Darien gets up, and walks in the direction of a big pile of rocks. Mina and Lita are on the top of them, each one with a fishing rod in hand) So girls... Any luck yet?
Mina : No! I didn't catch a thing ever since I've started
Lita : (Tear Drop) Well, if you would put your worm THROUGH the hook instead of just around it, maybe it wouldn't fall in the water, and you would catch some fishes!
Mina : Oh, but poor worms. (Shakes head) It's too cruel.
Darien: (Smiling) Always the kind heart Mina!
Mina : (Blush) I know. Even if they are sticky and gross... I just can't kill them.
Lita : (Smiles) It's okay. I caught a lot of fishes, and I'll start the fire very soon to cook them.
Darien: Great! Keep it up girls! (He waves at them, and goes to see Raye. She had sunglasses on her eyes to stop the strong sun) Hey Raye... What's up?
Raye : Hmm? (She looks in the direction of Darien) Oh Darien! Not much... Just relaxin on the beach.
Darien: (Sits besides her) Yeah... A beautiful day, isn't it?
Raye : (Looks at him, blush) Hmm... Yeah it is.
Darien: (Looks at her) Something wrong?
Raye : (Head down) No... Nothing
Darien: Oh... I'm sorry Raye. I didn't... (He looks at Serena... She was still in an argument with Rini over the castle. He takes the hand of Raye) Please cheer up. I know it must not always be easy for you to see me with Serena... But you know I still care about you...
Raye : Thank you. I know... (Smiles) Don't worry. I'm fine! (Hugs him) Thank you for your words!
Amy : Heeeeeeeyyy! (Amy runs from the water back to her towel which was besides Raye) Ohhhh yeah! Water's great!
(Amy shakes her head, throwing water everywhere)
Raye : Amy! You're splashing me!
Amy : (Smiles) It's only water Raye! (Sits on her towel, looking at Darien) I hope I'm not interrupting anything...
Darien: (Laughing) Of course not! We were just chatting
Raye : Yeah... (Removes sunglasses) Anyway, it's hot... I think I'll go on a boat ride before dinner... Wanna join me Amy? I don't want to go alone...
Amy : No thanx... I'm exhausted after that long swim, and I want to relax a bit with my book!
Raye : (Tear Drop) Oh... How about you Darien?
Darien: Serena would kill me if I'd go alone with you on a boat ride... I'm sorry! And I doubt you'll want to take either Rini or Serena.
Raye : (Smiles) That wasn't tough to figure out huh?
Darien: (Thinks) But you can ask Mina... She has no luck with the fishes... And I doubt she loves fishing. I think you might have a chance with her!
Raye : Really? Okay Thanks! (She runs over the rocks while waving at Darien and Amy) Hey Miiiiiiiina! Wanna join me on a boat ride before dinner?
Mina : Oh yes yes! (Looks at Lita) Do you mind if I go with Raye? I mean I dont want to let you fish alone...
Lita : (Smiling) Hey it's okay! I got a lot of fishes already for dinner. Just need a couple more, and I'll start cooking them.
Mina : (Smiles) Okay! (Looks at Raye) I'm coming Raye! (She jumps down the rocks. When she touched the sand, her feet started to burn her) Ow! Hot Hot!
Raye : (Laughing) Got to get use to it girl! Come on, the boat is over there!
(Raye turns around and waves at the group, as does Mina. They head to the harbor to reach the boat they rented for the day. Mina jumps in, and goes to sit in the front)
Mina : You know how to drive this thing?
Raye : (Jumps in) No problem! I've learned when I was young!
Mina : Wow! Cool!
Raye : (Smiles) Yep! (Turns the motor on) Ready Mina?
Mina : (Salutes) Yes Captain!
Raye : (Laughs) Alright! Lets go!
(Raye takes the wheel, and the boat starts advancing. She started slowly, advancing through the waves. As they were going away from the coast, Raye was pushing the boat faster)
Mina : (Hair in the wind) Alright! My ribbon is pulling my hair though... (She removes it. As soon as she removes, her long blonde hair started flowing freely in the wind) Much better!
Raye : (Yelling) Be careful not to drop your ribbon! The wind is strong at this speed.
Mina : (Turning around) What did you say? (She looked at Raye making strange signs at her, pointing her hand. She also felt the speed of the boat going down. She looks at her hand) Wha? My ribbon! Where is it?
Raye : (Slowing the boat down) Oh Mina! You dropped it when you were looking at me! I told you to hold it tight. (Pointing in the sky) Look...
Mina : (Looks at her ribbon dancing in the wind) Hey! Come back here...
(Raye was following slowly the ribbon floating in the wind with the boat. Finally, after long minutes, the wind dropped the ribbon in the sea)
Mina : Finally! Awww... It's all wet now!
Raye : Quit whining. At least, we'll be able to get it back.
(As they were talking, the ribbon sank under the water)
Raye : That's weird... Logically it would float on the surface.
Mina : Yeah... (She walks at the back of the boat. She takes the small ladder, and puts it on the side of the boat) I'm gonna have to go take a look.
Raye : Oh... But aren't you afraid of sharks? Or what if it sank to the bottom of the sea? It's way to deep for you to swim all the way down there.
Mina : We are not that far from the shore, so it shouldn't be too deep for me... Hey, I'm not Mercury, but I'm gonna be okay! I can hold my breath for about a minute, so if my ribbon is too deep, I'll come back, okay?
Raye : Alright! If you have difficulties finding it, I'll come help you...
Mina : It's okay... I know you don't really love water. So I don't want to make you unconfortable.
Raye : Yeah, but friends got to stick together (Winks)
Mina : (Putting her feet in the water. She passes a hand in her long free hair, smiles) I know! It won't be long! It can't have sank that deep.
(With these words, she took a deep breath and she jumped feet first in the water. Raye looked at her friend disappear in the blue waters of the sea, hoping she would be okay. Underwater, Mina slowed her descent my kicking her feet. Her long blonde hair that was flowing straight up came down her face blinding her. She passed her two hands in her face, pulling her hair backward. She looked down, but she only saw her barefeet. As she forced her eyes a bit, she could see the bottom. So it wasn't as deep as Raye thought it was. She looked left and right but saw nothing but water. Some bubbles escaped her mouth, as she put her body horizontaly to start her swim. She pulled her arms in front of her, and pushed the water with her hands as her legs were kicking the water behind her. Each time she pulled her arms in front of her again, her long blond hair was dancing over the top of her head. After several strokes, she still couldn't see her ribbon anywhere in these dark waters. She let all her air out, and swam upward toward the boat. Her wet head popped out of the water near Raye)
Raye : Mina! Thank God... I was starting to worry. So any luck?
Mina : (Swimming toward the boat) No... I couldn't find it anywhere. I don't understand... It can't sink very fast. It's as light as a feather.
Raye : Hmm... And we don't have any mask or goggles to look underwater (Removing her sandals) I...
Mina : (Looking at her) Seems you want to come help me...
Raye : (Putting her feet in the water) Yes! I know your ribbon means a lot to you...
(Mina smiled at her friend. At the bottom of the sea, a pair of blue eyes was watching curiously the surface, holding a red ribbon in it's palm)
Raye : I can't hold my breath very long, and my hair will probably constantly get in my face. But hey! I'm ready Mina...
Mina : Alright!
(Raye dove from the boat head first into the clean waters of the sea. Mina took another breath, and her head disappeared in the blue waters of the sea. She spotted Raye, and she looked in the other direction she was looking, hoping to find her ribbon. Raye was advancing slowly through the water... Her kicking legs were the only parts of her body propulsing her. Her long black hair was flowing peacefully on her back. Her purple eyes were scanning the water, but with no results. The only thing she saw was Mina swimming very deeply. She recognized her long blond hair dancing with the water over her head. Still stroking the water in the same way, Mina was looking carefully at the rocks, sitting at the bottom of the sea. She looked up, and she saw Raye releasing bubbles, going at the surface. She felt she still had some time before feeling the need for air, and she swam deeper a bit by kicking her feet a couple of times. Just as she was about to swim back at the surface, she spotted a red tissue floating by a weird coral. "My ribbon!" she thought excited. She forgot her need for air,and swam deeper toward it. She was now at the bottom, as she put her two feet on some muddy rocks. Mina took her ribbon in her hand, but at the same time, a shadow emerged in front of her. She gasped, and let out a big amount of bubbles from her mouth. What she saw in front of her amazed her... There was a green scaled girl, with long floating purple hair and blue eyes. She had palms in place of hands, and her legs were replaced by a big fishtail... It was a mermaid. The blue eyes of Mina were opened wide, as she passed a hand in her face to remove her flowing hair. Unfortunately for her, she realized too late she was at the end of her air. Quickly, she gave herself a strong push with her feet and was trying to gain the surface in a distress swim... but it was too late for poor Mina. She fainted in the middle of the water, her body sinking slowly down, leaving a long trail of tiny bubbles from her mouth. Her long golden hair was floating straight up, as her hand opened, letting her ribbon float away... ... ...)
/ Cemetary \
(It was a rainy day. A group of person in black were assembled around the same grave. Between these people, Serena, Amy, Raye, Lita, Rini and Darien were there. All the girls were sharing tears, as Darien was holding Serena real close to him, sadness in his face)
Raye : (Crying) It's all my fault... I shouldn't have let her dive that deep for her ribbon. Now she's gone forever
Amy : Raye... It's not your fault (Hugs Raye)
Lita : I'm gonna miss her smile, her joy... Even her clumziness. (She dries a tear) Good-Bye Mina...
Serena: (Crying) Why her... Why Mina? Come back... Come back to us...
Darien: Serena... (Hugs her)
(As people were starting to leave, only the 5 girls and Darien were still there for their lost friend. A pair of curious eyes emerged behind a tree. The shadow walked toward the remaining group to see what was happening)
Shadow: Hey guys... What's wrong? (No response) Come on, tell me!
Rini : Bye Bye Mina... Snf I'm gonna miss you.
Shadow: Wha? (The shadow turns around. It read it's name on the grave) No... It can't be!
Serena: Oh Mina... Mina... Mina...
Mina : I'm here Serena! I'm not dead (She comes to hug her friend, but she passes right through her) What the?
(Suddenly, all became black around her friends. One by one, they were disappearing in the darkness)
Mina : Don't leave me! PLEASE! (Serena disappeared with Darien... Only Raye was left with her) Raye! Can you hear me? (She watches her friend... Suddenly, her long raven hair starts flowing around her head. Her black dress is replaced by a red swimsuit. Bubbles come out of her mouth as she starts swimming to the sky) Raye! Ugh... I... can't... breathe! (Her orange swimsuit appears on her... Her blonde hair starts flowing freely around her head too. She wants to swim to the surface, but her foot is attached at a chain. She screams in a cloud of bubbles) RAYE! Help... ... me! (She looks at the surface to see Raye smiling, swimming with a red ribbon in her hand) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
End of Chapter 1