Sorry for the wait... its been a hard week.

Melody was curled up on her side, unable to sleep now that she knew her grandfather had passed away. The light going out may not have been a definitive sign to say this - maybe he'd just gone to sleep. But in her heart she knew it to be true that this sleep was the sort that lasted forever. She had felt it, as though part of her had died with him. She felt so empty, and knew that was nothing compared to what her mother felt. She missed Ariel, Eric and Florian already.

Tears came from her eyes as she looked at the lantern in the middle of the sand between them. The pebbles within cast a gentle gold light that didn't make her feel any better. It casted light towards Zafrina and Bay; Bay was on a rock, arm hanging down so it brushed Zafrina's, who faced Melody as she slept, eyelashes shadowing her cheeks; even in sleep Melody saw the dark, constricted skin around her eyes showed she had been crying too.

They'd travelled until Atlantica had faded from view before finding somewhere to sleep for the night. Melody had kept away her grief until everyone else had fallen asleep, before she'd freed her tears. She pulled her cloak over her more tightly, even if it wasn't cold - she needed comfort. The warm feeling of Finn next to her didn't do much to console her. Her eyes casted to her bag, and she reached in to extract the stone. She turned the cage-like casket, feeling a slight warmth even through the wire. Out of curiosity and the desperation to forget her mourning, she lifted the latch and opened it, letting the stone fall into her hand.

The jewel puzzled her. She wasn't entirely sure what it did, she couldn't remember exactly what Triton had said. She thought she remembered something about it projecting energy. What did that mean? It had made Lysidus and his fellow aquademons immortal, too - to what extent did its powers lead? She held it up to her face, intrigued, distracted from her sorrow.

How had Circe created such a thing? She must be incredibly powerful, to have 'seawitch' upgraded to 'enchantress.' Why would she do something so reckless? It was only now she'd realized there was so much infomation withheld. Had Triton been too weak to reveal more? Why had Circe cut off contact with Atlantica, leaving them in possession of a time bomb? There was so much they hadn't been told.

There's so much he's not telling me, either. Finn was muttering in his sleep again. Normally she'd wake him up, but she was desperate and curious to know what he dreamt of. But it was too vague and inaudible to paint a picture. She leant close to his face, straining to hear, but eventually pulled back in frustration.

"I wish I could see your dreams." She murmured, gazing at his sleeping face, which twitched with unrest. But then something strange happened. A light crept up, casting light onto his face. She looked at the lantern, but it occured to her that the light was coming from her hand which enclosed the jewel. Suddenly it glowed fiercely. Melody's eyebrows creased into a frown, but she only peered closer. "What -"

Suddenly her surroundings melted away. The dark seawater and her sleeping companions trickled away like sand, and Melody leapt up in alarm, as the water was replaced by a familiar murkiness. The water seemed to acquire a more green tint in this kingdom. It's Belixia.

Melody was shocked and didn't understand; she saw the ugly rock of Nia's stone tower, looming over her; it was less green with sea lichens and seaweed, and it almost looked new, as if it had just been built. She'd always assumed it was natural, but then it had perfectly carved tunnels... as if someone had used magic to do the unnatural. Nia could move things with her mind...

She felt the warmth of the stone in her hand, grasped it tightly, as she took in her surroundings. It looked nicer - less barnacles, less dead seaplants, than she remembered.

"Again." The hairs on Melody's neck rose as she spun around, recognizing the icy voice. She moved forwards, peering around a rock.

It was a training session. The owner of the voice was Nia, and she floated before about seven young merfolk, all not much older than fifteen. Melody recognised them all - her skin went cold when she identified the first. Otan, four or five years before the trident had first ruined his face and then disintegrated him later. He was a lot less bulky and surprisingly scrawny, and this all but confirmed her and Zafrina's agreement that he'd visited a seawitch to improve his physique. He appeared no less arrogant, with the familiar cruel glint in his dark eyes. She remembered their first encounter with discomfort.

Next to him was a spindly mermaid Melody remembered to be named Ontari; her hair was long and brown, stacked in layered braids, her tail dark purple and her skin very pale. She was currently imprisoned in Delorea, and responsible for a scar on Finn's ribcage. The three others, Melody remembered from an attack - the golden blonde was Narcissus, the black-haired one with dark areas around his eyes was Icarus, and the final mermaid was Ravenna. All three of those, to her knowledge, had left Belixia following Nia's fall, although she seemed to remember seeing Icarus dragging Ontari away as she was hauled up to the surface. As for the other two...

One was Bay and he looked worried sick, watching the merboy Nia had dragged out to the front; his hair was pulled into a knot at this time, as he wanted to protect himself from Nia's disapproving comments about overly long hair in battle. The merboy before them was holding a spear; his face and the way he held it showed he'd rather it be as far away as possible. His veins throbbed, a muscle twitching next to his eye; he was so exhausted by hours of work. She noticed it was near a certain birthmark, and she jolted.

It was there she realized; this was Finn, albeit with shorter hair and no stubble yet. His biceps were also unmarked by the tattoos Nia had forced him to have when he was sixteen. He looked her way, and Melody froze, but he didn't see her, even though she was in plain sight of both him and the entire group. With great effort, he launched a spear through the water, and it sliced towards a target painted on a coral.

"You missed." Nia spat, as it landed a foot from the center. She whirled round to him, and Finn, looking terrified, backed away. Otan looked smugly on, along with Ontari and Icarus. Bay, Narcissus and Ravenna winced at Nia's angry tone.

"I've been doing it for hours!" Finn sounded sick and tired.

"You're stronger than that! A soldier never gets tired!" Nia's hand flew out and Finn flinched, but it was only to seize the spear with her magic and throw it into his hands. Bay looked on anxiously, a lot more timidity in his eyes than it would now.

"I don't want to be a -" With all the lactic acid built up in his body, Finn didn't think about the consequences of these words. There was a long, tense silence. Bay looked terrified; Narcissus and Ravenna were holding their breaths; even Icarus and Ontari looked afraid of how Nia would respond. Otan looked like a child waking up on Christmas day. Nia was the personification of outrage.

"What cheek!" Nia screeched, looming over her nephew with blazing grey eyes. Melody looked on in horror, shaking with fear. "I'll make you wish you'd never been born!" Finn looked surprisingly unafraid. He was more angry than anything.

"I already do." Finn muttered, not quietly enough. Nia lost it. She withdrew her sword and rose it above her head, right over Finn, and a gasp came from Bay, but Otan's goading drowned it out. Finn threw the spear horizontally up, so to block the blow, but Nia's metal sword looked heavier than the wooden spear could tolerate. Melody parted her lips to cry out, but the horror of what she was seeing overwhelmed her; she wanted to escape. Her wish was granted as suddenly the illusion turned to mist.

The Abraxia stone lay on the floor, twinkling like a star, almost innocently. Melody had sat bolt upright, rigid, her tail drawn in, hands planted on the sand. She stared at the jewel, breathing hard. What just happened? She took a few moments, mind racing, as she tried to figure out what on earth just happened. Finn was about fifteen. It's a memory. Melody realized the weight of this last word. Memory. I wanted to see his dreams. He's dreaming back to that memory. She'd been holding the stone... it obeyed whoever wielded it.

That's impossible... her imagination was running away with her, surely. She'd probably fallen asleep with it, and had a nightmare about Finn and Nia... she didn't think that was true. But she desperately didn't want the alternative to be true, either. Melody picked up the stone, glancing at Finn with her heart thrashing against her ribcage. Was it possible she really had just seen into his mind? It had felt like a nightmare; maybe it was one? Melody snapped the casket shut, deeply disturbed, and forced herself to go back to sleep.

Almost immediately, she was opening her eyes to the light blue water lit by day. Melody found that her friends' cloaks had been laid over her, and then she lifted herself off the sand, blinking tiredly, not remembering last night's incident. She glanced about, but there was no sign of the others.

"Finn?" She murmured. Where was everyone? It was then she remembered what happened last night, and unease set into her.

Then she heard the sound of a struggle. She sat up, initially confused to see that her friends weren't in sight, and as she heard the struggle, she assumed the worst, still on edge from her vision. With her staff no where in sight, she seized Zafrina's bow. Melody rushed up the sand rise, brandishing her weapon - but immediately stopped. There were no assailants - and Melody dropped her arm, utterly confused by the scene before her.

Zafrina and Finn were battling with the Abraxia stone. They were taking turns - Finn was whacking it with Melody's staff, and when that didn't work, Zafrina was bludgeoning it with a stone. Bay perched on a rock nearby, looking zoned out - they'd been at it for ages with no progress.

"It's been almost twenty minutes..." Bay murmured. "You've tried everything... the knife broke..." The spare knife Bay had brought lay on the sand, the end broken off and the rest of the metal was slightly twisted. Finn slackened, and leaned on the staff, giving up. Melody instinctively searched his face for that haunted look, guilty that she hadn't thought to wake him out of his nightmare, but he didn't seem particularly shook.

Zafrina was bashing at the gem with a large rock, hammering it over and over. "Why - won't - you - break?" She hissed, annoyed, her arm growing increasingly more tired. "Look at it! It's not even chipped -" There was a large 'crack' - the rock she was using split in two, and the gem seemed to glow brighter, as if mocking them. Zafrina glared at the pieces and flung them aside.

"Hang on." Finn looked about, and went over to a larger rock - more like a small boulder. Bay, stirred from his daydream, got up to help - they held it over the yellow jewel. "Now!" The boulder plunged onto the stone, sending sand and dust flying up. The boys lifted it off, and went forwards hopefully - but disappointment flooded their gazes. Zafrina retrieved the perfectly intact stone, glowering at it, as it sparkled in her palm.

"No luck?" Melody asked, mildly. Finn looked up from his fatigue, smiling a little at the sight of her.

"Not a hint." Zafrina said, bitterly. "He's right. It's bloody indestructible..." She placed the stone into the casket and, admitting defeat, shoved it into her bag. She looked regrettably at Melody. "Looks like we've got a long journey after all." Melody filled with unease; what if their violent attempts to destroy the stone had put them in jeopardy? After last night, Melody thought it was unstable and dangerous. She thought about telling them; but how would she explain it?

So I was in a bit of a state last night and for some reason I took out the stone, no particular reason why. I made a wish and suddenly - whoosh, I saw Finn's mind and saw him suffer at the wrath of Nia in front of the merpeople who tracked us, plus the creepy guy Zafrina hates most. You didn't mind me poking around your brain, did you, angel? It was absurd. They'd think she was crazy, Finn wouldn't appreciate her looking into his mind, as secretive as he was. It was violating. And she couldn't be entirely sure if it had been a dream or not...

So why had it felt so real?