Chapter #4: The Wiccan Necklace

I walked slowly behind Snow and Brains. I was nervous because I had never worn a bikini. The boys were splashing around and doing non-sense stuff. Snow whispered to me," You can't swim in the sun dress." I looked at her. She was smiling. Mouth wolf-whistled at Snow, since she had already taken off her shorts. Data was trying not to look at Brains. I took off my sundress and all of the guys stared at me. God damnit. I hate attention.

" DAAAMN GURL!" Mouth said like your typical male would. Mikey hit him over the head. " She's my girlfriend," he whispered. He went underwater quickly, as if nervous.

I dived deep into the water to after him. I instantly sank to the bottom. I could feel my hands deep in the sand, but then I felt something sharp. I grabbed it and realized it was a necklace. I pushed up to the surface to see what I had grabbed. After wiping my eyes, I looked down at the thing. It was a necklace, but not any ordinary necklace. It was a Wiccan necklace, or a three goddess necklace. The inside pearl was transparent, or multi-colored, and the two crescent moons had detailed swirls on them.

Why was this in the lake? Why wasn't this somewhere else like a museum or something? There was something odd about the necklace. I threw the necklace over my head and hid it somewhat in my swimsuit. I automatically felt a surge of energy flow through me. Mikey popped up next to me and stared at me. " You look...WOW..." He stumbled with words. I blushed.

" Guys! Guys! Let's play marco polo!" Chunk suggested. " Snow! You be it!" Snow rolled her eyes and said," Do I have to?"

" Yeah!" She went under water and spun around a few times. I sprawled away from her and went under water to hide better. I kept my eyes open, and I noticed a strange glow around my neck. I looked down and saw the pearl glowing with colors of the rainbow. And even more suprising, my veins on my body were glowing golden. Just then, something, or someone, swam past me with supersonic speed. I looked back and saw a fish swimming past me. But, it didn't look like a fish. The tail was pink, purple, and silver, with golden and purple strands of hair. It was what I never knew existed. A mermaid.

I pushed up to the surface and took in a deep breath. Everyone was on the other side of the lake, playing. I took in the deepest breath I could and dived deep under the water, towards the mermaid. She wasn't too far ahead, only a few yards. She swam upwards and into a cave. I followed her. I jumped up into the cave, and fresh, crisp air settled inside of it. The walls looked to be made out of limestone, and the water at the entrance looked enchanted. The mermaid was sitting on the ledge, staring at me. Her eyes were tinted purple. I couldn't tell if this was a dream or not.

The mermaid then said, in a soft voice," The necklace." I looked down at it. It wasn't lighting up anymore, but still had an unearthly glow to it. " Genelilia," she said, smiling slightly. That must've been her name. Her features seemed to be softer than before, almost perfect.

" Alexandra. Some people call me Muse, though," I replied.

" Ah, Alexandra! Greek origin, I see...defender of mankind...Muse...absorbed in thought...an inspiration...music and fine arts..." she trailed off. She looked at me and said," Where did you find that necklace?"

" In the lake," I replied. She nodded and swam over to me. She placed a gentle hand on my thigh. " I see...no one has found that necklace since the dawn of time. Tell me, Alexandra, do you believe in gods?" she asked.

" Of course," I answered. Her eyes lightened up. " I see...they've chosen you..."

" What do you mean?" I asked. No. This wasn't real. It couldn't be.

" You. You are the only one to find that necklace since I was born millions of years ago. We've been waiting for the day for you to come."

" I still don't understand."

" You will, dearest Alexandra. But for now, you must return to your friends. Please, join me tonight when the stars are aligned. I can give you any answers to any questions you have." I nodded and she grabbed my hands. " You can not tell anyone of our talk. Not yet. Do you understand?"

" Yes." She then pulled me under the water and down the cave's entrance again. She swam so fast, I had to keep my chest puffed out to prevent any water from seeping into my nostrils. We reached under the surface, and she swam away as quickly as she had came. This didn't seem...real. It seemed fake. Mermaids didn't exist.

I pushed up towards the surface and took in a deep breath. It wasn't a dream. Luckily, no one knew I was gone. " Muse! Muse! Come on!" I heard Dana yell. I smiled and swam over to them, trying to push Genelilia out of my head.

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" You shower first," I said, pushing Dana into the last shower stall. We were all done at the lake, and we were at the shower house instead of walking back to the house. She pulled the curtain back and started the shower, still in her bathing suit. Stef, who had joined us later that day, was in the stall closest to the window. I sat down on the bench with Andy. All of a sudden, Stef screamed.

" MOUTH!" she yelled. I looked towards her, and she was pointing towards the window. All of the guys were peeping into our showering room. Stef grabbed her detatchable shower head and placed it on the window, which only had a screen. She soaked Mouth and the rest of them. " AHHH!" Mouth yelled along with Data and Mikey.

" GO AWAY!" Andy yelled.

" PERVS!" Snow added. They all ran away and Stef said," I looked out the window for one second, and all I see is stupid Mouth..."

She quickly showered in fear of the guys returning, and I was up. I quickly hopped in and turned on the water. In a matter of minutes, I was already done. Snow went last, which was after me. For my clothes, I was wearing a light blue dress with white lace and a darker blue strap around the middle. I'd had it ever since I was 10. I just wore my black converse with it.

Once Snow was done and changed, we headed back to the house. I automatically went to the small library down in the basement (Brand told me there was one down there). I needed to learn more about the Wiccan Necklace. The library was in a small room, with a couple of shelves with books upon them.

I searched the shelves for about 5 minutes before I found the one I was looking for. It was about Greek mythology. I flicked through a few pages, and then, I found a picture of the necklace. It had a paragraph below it that read:

The Triple Moon is one of the Triple Goddess symbols - the Divine Feminine as Maiden, Mother, and Crone as the Moon in her waxing, full, and waning phases.

So the Triple Moon symbolises all the aspects of female Power united: intuition and psychic insight, creative energy, wisdom and mystery.

It is also associated with feminine energy, mystery and psychic abilities. You often see this symbol on crowns or other head-pieces, particularly worn by High Priestesses.

The Maiden represents enchantment, inception, expansion, the female principle, the promise of new beginnings, youth, excitement, and a carefree erotic aura. The Maiden in Greek Mythology is Persephone - purity - and a representation of new beginnings. Other maiden goddesses include: Brigid, Nimue, among others.

The Mother represents ripeness, fertility, fulfillment, stability, and power. The Mother Goddess in Greek mythology is Demeter, representing wellspring of life, giving and compassionate. Other mother goddesses include: Aa, Ambika, Ceres, Astarte, Lakshmi.

The Crone represents wisdom, repose, and compassion. The Crone in Greek mythology is Hecate - wise, knowing, a culmination of a lifetime of experience. Crone goddesses incl

These aspects may also represent the cycle of birth, life and death (and rebirth). Neopagans believe that this goddess is the personification of all women everywhere.

Followers of the Wiccan, Dianic, and Neopagan religions, as well as some archeologists and mythographers, believe that long before the coming of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the Triple Goddess embodied the three-fold aspect of Gaia, the Earth Mother (Roman Magna Mater). A mother goddess was worshipped under a variety of names not only in the Ancient Near East and the Aegean and Anatolia, but also in pre-Islamic Arabia.

And then, I found what it had to do with the gods and the chosen one:

The triple moon necklace was placed into one of the lakes of the world by the queen of the underworld, Persephone, who was known as the fairest of them all. No one knew why she did this; not until the early 80s. The person, male or female, who found this necklace would be the chosen one. The chosen one, as said, is supposedly the true owner of the god's treasures. This person (still unknown) is said to also be protected by the gods and goddesses, but this guess could also be very much wrong.

I stopped reading. I was the chosen one? But, these myths couldn't be real. This was reality, not dreamland. Maybe there was something about Genelilia in here... I flicked through the pages, but all I found was something about mermaids.

A mermaid is a legendary aquatic creature with the upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including the Near East, Europe, Africa and Asia. The first stories appeared in ancient Assyria, in which the goddess Atargatis transforms herself into a mermaid out of shame for accidentally killing her human lover. Mermaids are sometimes depicted as perilous creatures associated with floods, storms, shipwrecks, and drowning. In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same tradition) they can be benevolent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans.

Mermaids are associated with the Sirens of Greek mythology and with the Sirenia, a biological order which comprises dugongs and manatees. Historical sightings by sailors may have been the result of misunderstood encounters with these aquatic mammals. Christopher Columbus reported seeing mermaids while exploring the Caribbean, and sightings have been reported in the 20th and 21st centuries in Canada, Israel, and Zimbabwe. The US National Ocean Service stated in 2012 that no evidence of mermaids has ever been found.

Mermaids have been a popular subject of art and literature in recent centuries. Danish author Hans Christian Andersen wrote his popular fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" in 1836. They have subsequently been depicted in opera, paintings, books, films, and comics.

I shut the book quickly and placed it back on the shelf, even though I wanted to learn more. I checked the clock on the wall. It was already 8 P.M. How time flies...

I ran up the stairs and into the living room. Dana and Snow were sitting there, talking. It was dark outside the window, and the stars were out. I went up to the window. Six stars were in a perfect line. I went to the front door. " Muse, where are you going?" Dana asked.

" I'm gonna go down to the lake. Don't wait up for me," I replied, slamming the door after I said this. I ran down to the sandbar and plopped down with my feet near the water's edge. I took of my socks and shoes, then placed my feet onto the edge of the water.

I closed my eyes and laid back onto the sand. I waited for Genelilia. After a few minutes of silence, I could feel my neck growing warm. I opened my eyes and saw the necklace glowing once more. I sat up quickly, and a voice whispered," Come into the water." I obeyed, and walked slowly in until the water touched the bottom of my dress.

Genelilia's head popped over the surface. " Right on time," she said in her soft voice.

" May I ask questions now?" She tilted her head, then replied," Yes. But first, we need to travel to somewhere where no one can hear us. Hold onto my fin." Her tail fin popped the surface, and I gently grabbed it. It was cold and slimy. She darted off. I kept my head above water as she swam quickly across the lake. She made it to the other side and stopped. I was sopping wet, but I didn't care. I sat down onto the edge of the lake. " Ask away," Genelilia said, swimming around in gentle circles.

" Why does this necklace exactly give me energy?" I asked. Genelilia laughed.

" You're the chosen one, silly."

" Ok...are the myths about Greek Mountain true?" She smiled.

" I thought you'd never ask."