Chapter 98

The woman made a gesture with her right hand. It was a circular motion that ended with her palm facing up and her four fingers closed. The creature scuttled up a few steps in her direction, but it remained alert, as if it was some kind of watchdog, a sentry.

The mermaids tread water while they awaited the woman anxiously. She was dressed in a stunning blue gown, which contrasted beautifully against her dark skin.

"Who are you?" the woman questioned. Though her voice was gentle, one look at her face told them she meant business. The mermaids looked at each other.

"I'm Emma," she responded, "and this is Bella, Anna, Jessie, Rikki, and Cleo. We were just exploring these caves and somehow…" Emma trailed off.

"You're…mermaids?" the woman said, as more of a question than a statement.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rikki replied, sarcastically.

"Rikki!" Emma whispered harshly, warningly.

"I haven't seen…" the woman started, her voice hardly above a murmur. She seemed to have disappeared into her mind momentarily. They all look at each other again.

"You truly don't know who I am or care?" the woman asked.

"Ah, no," Rikki said. "We were just exploring these caves and…well, magic happened. I didn't really appreciate being attacked by a monster though."

The creature seemed to take offence; its three eyes narrowed, its spherical pincers clenched together, and its scales turned a bright red against the blue. The vortex had obviously been created by the indenture in its globular mitts.

"Vatu," the woman said in a caring tone, descending a few steps towards the creature. She stroked its head gently and it relaxed visibly. "I am sorry about that," the woman addressed them. "She protects this cave from intruders, and protects me."

"What is she, is you don't mind me asking," Bella asked.

"Vatu is what I call a Dakuwaqa. I named her kind after the one of our Fijian gods, a shark god. Do you know the legend?" she asked. The mermaids all shook their heads.

"Dakuwaqa was a fierce sea-monster. He was the guardian of the reef entrance of the islands, and was fearless, headstrong and jealous. He would change into a shark and travel around the islands fighting and harassing all the other reef guardians and creatures. The long story short is that he fought the octopus god, and was defeated. He was made to promise to stop being angry all the time and to promise to stop harassing all the reef creatures. Dakuwaqa started to protect the reefs and the creatures that live there, also protecting the humans that respect the underwater world," the woman continued. "Although Vatu doesn't resemble Dakuwaqa in form, I thought it was a good name for her species. The reason being that she attacked me at first, and now she protects me. You like the name, don't you?" the woman addressed Vatu. The creature seemed to smile, if that was even possible. "Vatu told me the actual name of her species, but I'm afraid it doesn't translate beyond the mind."

"This is fascinating and all, but could we know your name?" Rikki asked. The woman looked up.

"Oh! I apologise. I am Talei," she introduced herself. "Welcome to my abode. I am sorry about before, but I have to be careful."

"May we ask why?" Jessie asked.

"I suppose since you are mermaids, I can tell you," Talei said. "Firstly, may I know your names?"

They all introduced themselves, and Talei invited them to come forward and sit on the stairs with her. They did so. The whole interaction felt awkward, but the woman hadn't told them to leave yet. The mermaids were all intrigued as to why this woman lived alone, only with a Dakuwaqa as company.

Now that they were closer, they could see Talei better. She seemed to be around a decade older than themselves, and looked tired.

"You promise not to tell anyone else about me?" Talei asked cautiously. They gave her their agreement. "Okay. Well, when I was much younger, I believe it was around my eighteenth year, I took a boat over to Sawa-i-lau. When I was a child, my sisters and I almost drowned after we took a canoe out to sea and the weather changed. After that, I was terrified of the water – I stayed on land, or went in larger, western boats. I only really waded in the shallows, and never went into water above my head. I remembered loving these caves when I was young, so I decided, why not attempt to get over my fears, and experience the beauty of natural Fiji? I didn't tell anyone I was going because I knew that if I couldn't get over my fears, they would make fun of me. I went at night when no one else was there for the same reason. Now thinking back on it, that really was not a smart idea, but I was reckless as a teenager. I walked down to the caves and stepped into the water. I stood on one of the ledges, which was about waist deep, catching my breath and willing myself to go further. I took a deep breath and stepped off. I floundered round for a few terrifying seconds, before realising that I was still afloat, and my mind had stopped playing tricks on me. Of course, my fear of water was not cured instantly, but I had managed my goal – I was swimming in deep water. It happened to be a full moon that evening and when the moonlight shone down through the hole in the cavern ceiling, the water started bubbling, and an eerie blue light lifted off the water. I, naturally, freaked out, and attempted to swim over to the ledge that was only a metre away, to get out. Suddenly, the water turned into a whirlpool, and I was sucked down and down and down. I blacked out. When I came to, I was on these steps here," Talei gestured to where they were sitting. "Completely disoriented and lost. And completely freaked out, as you can imagine. I later found out that there is a whirlpool tunnel between the first cavern and this secret one – it only opens on a full moon, or by Vatu's request. Anyway, I noticed that when I touched the rock steps, they glowed blue beneath my fingers. I was in awe of it. It was beautiful and fascinating and terrifying. I didn't know how long I had been unconscious for, but I noticed that as I edged towards the water, I was no longer frightened by it. No, I was drawn to it, like a moth to the flame. For some reason, I knew exactly where the tunnel was to exit this cavern. The tunnel closed behind me when I made it through. I swam through to the first cavern. It was still dark, but through the hole in the ceiling, I could see that the sky was beginning to lighten. I must have been unconscious for hours. I paddled out, and climbed out of the water. I remember my legs being incredibly shaky. I took a deep breath and made my way to the boat. As I drove back home, I felt scared and confused over what magic I had experienced in the caves, but I also felt proud at my accomplishment over the water."

"What happened next?" Anna asked. All the mermaids had a feeling as to what happened to Talei all those years earlier.

"I was back at the village, and no one had known I had been gone all night, as I snuck back into our family house and feigned sleep as my family members awoke to start the day. I was to do the laundry, so I took the basket of washing down to the lagoon, and starting to wash it," Talei continued. The mermaids looked at each other. "I had washed half the basket when I began to feel tingly all over. Fortunately, I was alone at the lagoon – a rarity that seldom happens. I transformed. There I was on my stomach, still holding onto a family member's t-shirt, with a tail. I could not believe it. Our legends did not really describe any magic quite like this. Somehow, these caves transformed me into one of you. I panicked. I knew something like this could become tabu…"

"Tabu?" Cleo asked.

"It's the Fijian word for sacred or forbidden," Talei replied.

"Oh," Cleo nodded. "That's like the Māori word, tapu." She said redundantly. "What, I learnt it from Jade a while back…"

"Anyway," Talei continued. "The laws around tabu can mean that no one can be around you at certain times and… well, I did not want to be treated reverently or with fear…so, I kept it hidden. In summary, after I had pulled myself away from the lagoon and dried off, I went to one of the secluded beaches, a decent walk from the village. I tested out my theory. When I touched water, I would change. I won't go into more detail about that, because you clearly know what I am talking about," the woman allowed herself a light chuckle. "I didn't discover my powers for a few days, but I realised I could control water. The idea of being a mermaid became much more exciting after that. I don't know how, but I managed to keep my secret from everyone for many, many years…I was exposed one day though, and that led to me feeling overwhelmed…so I left…" she said.

"What do you mean by overwhelmed?" Emma asked.

"Everyone acted around me as if they were walking on egg shells…either that, or they would be overly excited, asking me to show them my powers constantly, and…you have to understand that I was a bit of an introvert, I just got fed up. So I left, and found refuge in these caves. I've lived as a mermaid in every sense of the word. These caves have been my home," Talei explained. "I'm glad I live here." She added. The tone this addition had was one of forced reassurance. It was as if Talei was trying to reassure herself that she had made the right decision in leaving her home and livelihood for the caves, and living wild.

Talei was lonely, the mermaids realised.

"Would you ever consider going back?" Cleo asked.

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it, I hope the narrative flowed the way I wanted it to. Let me know what you think :)

I'm coming up to the last three weeks of semester...I'll have finished my second year of university on the 29th of October (my birthday) [because that's when my last assignment is due, lol :P] This end of year also means that I'm going to be incredibly busy over the next few weeks, unfortunately. I really want to update my other stories, but I'm unsure when I'll get the time - I am aware that a few are in severe need of an update :P It will come someday soon, I hope :P

I hope everyone has been well, and you are still enjoying this story. Please tell me what you think. Your feedback inspires me and gives me ideas that help keep feeding the flame which keeps this story alive.

Also, are you guys proud of me for the extra long chapter? lol :P

Thank so so much to the following people for the reviews they left on the previous chapter :D (p.s can you believe that I'm two chapters away from 100? I'm finding it hard :P)

CrazyHayniac, YaleAceBella12, WannabeeAussie, zikki 3, Mermaidfan121, Starlightdreamer12 and Sammiloveschocolate

Thanks guys! I love you all!