Chapter 4:
"Arthur?", I swim to Mera and urge to lay and rest. "Where are we my King?", she asks, looking deeply at me with her trusting green eyes; her beautiful red hair flowing with the current.
"Off the coast of Amnesty Bay, where you found me", I reply. She looks at me surprised.
"Why? The lighthouse was destroyed, there is nothing left here". She looks confused as I smirk.
"Well… the only money I have left… is right here". I pull out a small chest from underneath the coral. I open it and her eyes widen, it is filled with the gold coins I have found diving over the years.
"You have Atlantean currency?", she asks, shocked. I nod as she begins to study the doubloons. "Some of these date back to the first king"
"I don't really care; we don't have to sell those ones then". She looks at me surprised.
"You are not going to take back the throne?"
"Oh no, I am. But I'll need time… to be trained"
"Who on this earth would be able to train you?"
"You said these gloves could help me harness my abilities, so you clearly know what you're doing. I will have to fight for the throne, so have train me how", I look at her anxious body language. "I mean… if you don't mind of course". She smiles warmly and swims close to me. "Your wish is my command, your lordship". She snaps out of this trance, swims back and blushes.
"You look cute when you blush", I say with no self-control.
"Look we haven't the time for this inappropriate. Let us turn this into your American currency".
I find a phone box outside of a bank and call an old collector I met when I was younger, while Mera waits, reading the electric exchange board.
"So, how'd ya come across this stuff?", he asks.
"Oh, I found it diving off the coast a week or two ago" I half lie.
"Hm… Alright. I can get you a generous million for it" I was about to accept when Mera began to talk.
"Generous? Excuse me but the age of these coins along with the current gold standard would make these coins worth at least 2.6 million dollars. Are you trying to con us?". I pull her aside.
"Look, one million is plenty. We just need a place to stay, some food, and not to mention some clothes". She looks down at her body; we are still wearing our scale armour.
"Very well my king"
"I'm sorry about that" I say.
"No need to apologise, your lady friend knows a bit about trading treasure", he says. "And she is absolutely right, I should be the one apologisin' for tryna dupe ya. How about this, I give you guys three million, and nobody says a word about what just happened. How does that sound?"
"That sounds fantastic", I reply astonished.
"Alrighty then, will that be in cash or cheque?".
First we head to clothing store to find something to wear. I get some simple denim jeans, a t-shirt and a hooded sweatshirt; nothing special. I sit and wait for Mera, and when she comes out of the changing room my jaw drops to the floor. She was in a beautiful tight, low-cut green shirt and a pair of navy blue skinny jeans. She was pulling at the shirt and running the pants.
"Arthur? This material feels strange". I walk towards her.
"Don't worry, it's just different, you'll get used to it". The store clerk clears his throat and begins to speak.
"Well are you going to buy it or not?". I nod and bring the tags to him.
As we leave the store Mera has her eyes fixated on mine.
"Where are we going now?" she asks.
"I dunno, you hungry?"
"I have worked up quite an appetite", she looks back at me. "Where is food acquired here on the surface?"
"Well there's this seafood place my dad used to take me to when I was a kid".
"Is it any good?"
"What are you talking about, of course it's good". She has an expression as though there is a bad taste in her mouth. "Don't be so cynical, you'll probably like it". She begins to smile, and agrees.
When we arrive we are seated in a booth by a window, overlooking the ocean. Mera is intrigued by all of the fishing ornaments hung on the walls. She sees many pictures of mythical sea creatures, and cocks her head with a puzzled look on her face when she finds the one labelled 'Mermaid'.
Is that how you surface dwellers imagine us? As some sort of half human, half fish abomination?", she finishes with a disgusted look on her face.
"Well yeah, I used to this that too. Until I met you of course. Now I know mermaids are possibly the most beautiful creatures on the planet". As I say this I look at her and see her blush.
Mera orders lobster, and I order fish and chips like I did as a child. When our food arrives to the table I grab a chip and look at Mera. She studies the crustacean for a good five minutes before starts eating it. I shake my head and laugh as I bring the now cold chip to my mouth. But Mera hits it out of my hand.
"Wait, I must taste this food first, in case it has been poisoned". I look at her as though she is completely insane, but she continues anyway. I roll my eyes and let her take a chip.
"So, sharing food already. Does this mean we're going steady?". She looks at me confused. "Guess that's a surface joke". When we finish eating and pay I ask the waitress if she knows of any cheap hotels in the area; she points down the street and we see in the distance and we see a sign that reads 'HOTEL' with blinking lights "Vacancy". We arrive at the front desk and rent a room, I haggle the guy to get a cheaper room; who knows what other expenses we may come across. When we get the key and walk to the door, Mera looks around, alert. We reach the room and her jaw drops appalled. She begins to walk back the front desk, but I grab her arm.
"Mera, what do you think you're doing?". She sighs and says.
"My lord, this is no place for royalty. There must have been a mistake". Her face changes from an expression of disappointment to one of surprise. "My King, you accept these conditions?"
"Listen, I only figured out I was a king today and it took multiple beatings and a destroyed lighthouse to realise. You really think this guy would know or care? I'm not royalty here, plus he wouldn't even believe Atlantis exists. And I don't need much, this is plenty". She reads my up and down, then decides to come into the room. The first thing I notice is that it's clean, which is good; and there is only one bed. Mera also notices this and begins making a separate bed on the floor.
"Um… Mera, what are you doing?"
"Making somewhere for me to sleep of course"
"You can't sleep on the floor. We can just share the bed". She is about to complain, but she stops herself. When we get into the bed Mera tries to distance herself from, but since it is a relatively small bed that distance isn't very far.
"So Mera… what was it like growing up in Atlantis?", I ask her. She turns and faces me to answer.
"Not very exciting. I would just go to school and go home. Day in day out. That's why I was trusted enough to become head of the Atlantean Guard"
"What about your friends? What were they like?"
"Oh, I didn't have any friends". Her eyes suddenly widen as though she had said too much.
"Really? I couldn't imagine you having no friends"
"Yeah… I was always made fun of because I focused so hard on my work, and didn't have any time for friends"
"I'm not too different. I would always pay attention in class and get made fun of for having no friends. They'd call me 'Light keeper Boy'. Which was fine at first, I could just ignore them, but then I couldn't take it once my dad died at sea". I hear Mera sniffling and holding in tears. I stop talking and wrap my arms around her slim, warm body. She says nothing, but sinks her face into my chest and weeps. I hold her tightly and begin to hum a song my father would sing to me as a child to make her feel better; I close my eyes and listen to her cry herself to sleep.