Steven was a bit confused when Connie and her mom came back just as the sun started to set. Upon returning the doctor promptly placed several charms and enchantments over Steven's home for protection of the pair and to hide them as well, unknown to the kids. The living room had everything pushed up against the walls and now a salt circle, candles, and a few charmed objects adorned the center of the floor. Now the curse shell was in a magic bag and the doctor was handing Steven a hammer.
"So, I have to smash it with a hammer." Steven said looking at the bag now on the floor "And shatter it. And that will lift the curse?"
"No." The doctor said making sure the bag was tide tightly shut before stepping out of the circle "The bag will allow you to break the shell without releasing the curse into the closest host. After it is broken then we can put it in the box I brought and I can take it with me to dispose of it properly. Now, are you ready Steven?"
Steven nodded and the Doctor blew out the candles. Just like before, the candles re-lit and the charmed objects started to float around the circle. The relighting made the kids jump and Steven frowned. He wished that Connie could be next to him while he did this but due to the nature of the curse, the doctor had Connie standing in there blanket hallway and out of the room. In case something went wrong the doctor made sure that she would be the one to get hit. Since she was an adult with many years of experiences, studying, and learning about curses and charms she was fairly certain she would only be severely injured, not dead on contact. Since Steven has had the shell for so long and hasn't died she was very worried that it would be drawn to him directly. All the more reason to put herself directly in the danger zone. Also that she would be responsible for his death.
Especially his death.
"Go on Steven." The doctor said gently standing between the circle and Connie, who was leaning around her mothers figure to see from her place on the floor in the hall.
With a determined look Steven tightened his grip on the hammer before bringing it up and slamming it down onto the bag. The shell inside made a spine shivering cracking sound. Its silhouette caved and the sound of a distant scream filled the air. It sent another chilling shiver up the kids spines as the doctor looked out the window.
"What was that?" Steven mumbled.
"Is it over?" Connie asked leaning out into the room on her hands "Is the curse contained?"
The doctor didn't answer right away. Her gaze looked miles away as she stared out the window. She seemed to be thinking deeply as she stood and went over to the special box she brought. She brought the box into the circle and gently placed the bag inside. She stayed quiet as she put the lid on the box.
"Steven." She said looking up at him before out the window again at the sound of light patters of rain starting to fall. "Can you and Connie go wait in your room until I leave? I need to put everything back and clean up this mess, make sure all the charms and such are set around the house, and it will be easier if your both not in the way."
Steven nodded and he and Connie disappeared into his room. The Doctor waited until the kids were safe in Steven's room to start packing up. The kids didn't know any better and for that she was grateful for. That distant scream didn't come from the shell. Someone or something was out there. The doctor cleaned up quickly and quietly, all the while keeping the window and front door in her sight at all times.
Doctor Maheswaran was no stranger to the danger of the non-human world. Her daughter didn't know this but shapshifters were in the same boat as the mermaids. They were being hunted down. Fortunately for her race, shapeshifters had the higher ground on land to hide. They could go anywhere and blend in. They didn't have a timer to return to the sea like there aquatic friends. The ability to hide, relocate, and disappear has protected them well. So well in fact that Dr. Maheswaran had sent Connie to public school and let her do extra activities outside her watchful eye. She even allowed her to be friends with Steven. She had hidden them well enough in this world. She was confident in her abilities that leaving Connie here with Steven was ok.
Maby too confident.
After a while she was ready to go and the kids were to be left alone in a house so covered with charms that anything magical walking through the town would be able to feel it, ever just so. It was only a few minutes more until the Doctor was at the front door, talking into the house. "I'm going now Connie! Let me know when you wake up and I'll let you know when me or your father will be around for you!"
"Yes Ma'am!" Connie said poking her head out Steven's bedroom "Night mom! Get home safe!" With that they were alone "So what do you wanna do now Steven?"
"Well we could watch Under the Knife. We just got the DVR working again and I managed to snag the first half of the hour season final!"
"But the second half is the best part!"
"Whaaaat? You watched it without me?!" Steven fell off the bed dramatically to his knees making Connie laugh "How could yoooouuuu!"
"We could always watch crying breakfast friends or Camp Pining Hearts." Connie suggested.
"I don't know if I can trust again." Steven placed his hand on his forehead and fell over. "Go on without me brave knight."
"What ever shall I do?" Connie mimicked Steven and fell to the floor next to him, head to head "Who will eat all the marshmallows with me now?!"
Both kids laughed as they laid there together. After a while they ended up back in the front room. They had put everything back the way it was and were just coloring and laughing about random things when there was a sudden bang on one of the garage bay doors. Both kids fell silent as they both looked at each other.
"Did you hear that too?" Connie asked as both her and Steven got up off the floor.
"Wonder what could of done that." Steven said. "There's nothing that big living around here."
"Couldn't be a bear." Connie said as they both looked down the blanket hall "The biggest thing in the woods around here are foxes."
Another bang rocked into the door and both kids jumped. Connie clung to the back of Steven's arm as the silhouette of a hand could be seen threw the blankets as lightning crossed the sky. It was a slim hand from what they saw.
"Maby its a burglar." Connie whispered.
"Or a zombie." Steven whispered back.
Both kids looked at each other before the sound of something leaning against the garage door and sliding to the ground made them look away. They both stepped back into the front room slowly. Steven went a grabbed a baseball bat his dad kept in there "kitchen" while Connie in turn shifted into a panther. Both kids went to the front door slowly and unlocked it.
"Wait, Steven." Connie whispered as Steven pushed the door open just a crack. "What if they have a weapon?"
"Then will just scream very loud and run at them." Steven whispered back.
"Will that work?"
"I think so. I saw it in a movie once with bears."
"But this isn't a bear!"
Steven hummed in thought before pushing the front door open. The wind and rain hit them pretty hard as they went outside. Steven kept close to the building as Connie walked crouched at his side. Both kids walked along the building until they reached the final corner where the bay doors were. They looked at each other and with a nod they jumped around the corner, completely forgetting to yell as they took the 'burglar' in.
"Pearl?"
"Wait is she?"
Both kids looked at the girl in question as she gasped in a shallow breath. Pearl's eyes were partially glassy as she was slumped against the bay door. Her form was slightly shimmering as the rain hit her. Her body was trying to return to its natural state but there wasn't enough water. That in itself was very taxing, being in a constant state of mid change. Steven noticed very quickly that she was in trouble.
"She's hurt." Connie said taking a step closer. Pearl had seen this and let out a hiss with a few clicks, barring her teeth ever just so.
"Wait Connie." Steven said putting the bat down "Shift back. She mite think your a threat like this."
"Good point." Connie said shifting back. Both kids watched Pearl's eyes go slightly bigger at the shift.
"Pearl, Are you hurt? Do you need help?" Steven asked taking a step towards the mermaid. Pearl watched him carefully but gave a slight nod. Thunder cracked across the sky and Steven worried his bottom lip as he watched Pearl's form glow a bit brighter before settling again.
"We need to get her inside." Connie said. "Something doesn't feel right out here Steven."
Steven nodded and went over to Pearl "Can I touch you?"
Steven saw a flicker of hesitation pass Pearl's face before she nodded. Steven nodded in turn and kneeled at her side. He slowly wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders while her other held tight to her side. Steven did his best not to look at her too much as he wrapped his other arm around her (For she had no shirt on this time). Steven got his feet under him before looking at Pearl. "Were going to stand now ok? If you have trouble just lean on me."
Pearl's weak nod was concerning but not at the front of the kids minds. As Steven got them both to there feet Connie had picked up the baseball bat and held it tightly in her hands. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up and her eyes kept wondering to the woods behind the car-wash. There was an irritating itch in her form telling her to change and just run. That something was watching them, that something wanted to hurt them. Connie couldn't see what her body was trying to run from so she just stomped the feeling down and stuck close to Steven as he mostly dragged Pearl around to the front.
When all three of them got inside Connie quickly re-locked the door but being so young she couldn't stop her feeling of wanting to run. Instead of acting on it she channeled that into locking everything she could in the car-wash. As Connie went this way and that Steven had stopped halfway to the blanket hall. He was starting to have trouble holding Pearl up and now in the light of the room he could see just how bad she was hurt. Cuts littered the mermaids shoulders and arms. There was a deep oozing wound on her left side that she was mostly covering with her hand. Her being this hurt made Steven hurt inside. What surprised him however was that her blood wasn't red. It was silver.
He couldn't understand a lot of the words in the book about mermaids from earlier but he knew that they needed to be in water. Whatever had happened had been bad enough for Pearl to come here to them alone, so the only immediate solution Steven could think of to help Pearl was to get her in some water.
"Connie." Steven said shuffling slightly to keep both of them up-right "I need some help."
"Just one second." Connie said running past him. She had shut all the curtains, locked all the doors, and put heavy things in front of them. She ran around a bit more until she was satisfied with her work.
"What are you doing?" Steven asked.
"I felt like we were being watched when we were outside." Connie said coming up to the pair "So I made sure that no-one can get in."
"Oh ok. We need to get her into some water." Steven said "The bathtub should be big enough."
Connie nodded but when she went to touch Pearl the mermaid hissed with as much force as she could muster, which in all honestly wasn't much. She was barley standing.
"Oh, Connie you didn't ask first." Steven said.
"Oh, sorry!" Connie put her hands up to show no harm "May I touch you Ma'am?"
Pearl looked at her wearingly and shook her head no.
"It's ok Pearl, Connie is my best friend. You can trust her." Steven said "Also, because your getting heavy and I can't get you into the bathtub alone."
Pearl recognized the word bathtub in her haze so, shoving everything in her being that was telling her to run aside, she nodded. Connie quickly wrapped her arms around the mermaid just above Steven's. With Connie they quickly balanced out the weight of this aquatic creature in there arms. They moved a bit slower then there pace outside but they soon had Pearl in the bathroom. The kids helped sit her down on the edge of the tub. Both were happy that the tub was fairly big.
Connie took over holding Pearl up as Steven started running the water. As her best friend put the drain plug in Connie had a thought. "Steven, Mermaids live in the ocean."
"Yea?"
"So wouldn't we need to put salt in the water?" Connie asked slightly losing her balance as Pearl went slack for a moment before grabbing onto the young girls shoulder. It concerned Connie how weak her grip was. "You said they could tolerate fresh water but maby she needs the salt to feel better. Maby it will help some of her wounds. The fresh water mite agitate her cuts."
"Here, I'll hold her and you grab the salt from the kitchen." Steven said making the water warm before standing and taking over holding Pearl "It should be where your mom left it."
Connie nodded and ran off. Steven was watching the water rise when he started hearing a slight clicking in his ear. He looked up to see Pearl looking down at him. He could feel her struggling for breath as she let out some clicks here and there.
"Don't worry about talking-ern-clicking right now." Steven said "Here, lets get you into the water."
"I got the salt!" Connie said running back into the bathroom. Both kids saw Pearl flinch pretty bad at Connie's volume "Oh, sorry Ma'am."
Connie walked up to Pearl's free side as she was reading the box "Is this considered kosher?"
"I don't think mermaid's follow Amish tradition, right Pearl?" Pearl looked confusingly at the pair. "I'll take that as a no."
Connie hummed for a moment before poring half the box into the water. They watched as the salt mixed with the rising water. After turning off the faucet both kids looked up at Pearl. She was barely hanging on to consciousness.
"Were going to help you into the tub ok?" Steven said.
Pearl was able to give a slight nod as her eyes slid closed. Steven and Connie both took an arm and slowly leaned Pearl back. They helped her sit down backwards into the tub before moving her to the top. Steven helped adjust her head so it was resting on the edge of the tub as Connie gently eased Pearl's legs into the water. Steven then grabbed a towel and after putting it under Pearl's head, he realized that she was no longer with them.
"You think shes going to be ok?" Steven asked softly as Pearl started to glow. She glowed for only a moment before her tail was visible in the tub. They could see the damage done just at the base of her tail and all the little cuts and scrapes up to her hips and it worried them. "She's not really moving..."
"Whatever happened must of been bad Steven." Connie said looking the mermaid over "Especially since her pod is fairly big."
"Do you think they turned on her?" That thought made him feel sick.
"No, mermaids don't typically turn on each other unless they break one of there laws. Considering Pearl here can only talk threw clicks then they have forgone one of them to keep her around."
"What law is that? That they would throw her out?"
"Well, when a mermaid falls in love with someone it is a very strong bond. If the person they love doesn't love them back... They lose there voice and become a siren."
"I thought sirens and mermaids were the same thing."
"Technically yes. They are the same species but sirens are out-casted where as mermaids keep together in pods. What I've read of the old aquatic laws in my mothers study, which is very limited by the way, that when a mermaid became a siren they were casted out. From there they were to live in exile till the end of there days. Most of the time the pod they were casted from would hunt them down and either kill them or, in rare instances, would cast them upon the land and banish them from the sea with a curse." Connie reached over and brushed some of Pearl's hair from her face to look at her features better "She's lucky to be alive."
"The big scary one, Jasper I think was her name, was very protective of her when I met them. She was always right there and when Pearl came up on the rock to talk to me she made sure that I could see her and that she didn't like or trust me."
"She must be a guardian then." Connie said.
"Guardian?" Steven looked at his best friend funny and she rolled her eyes playfully at him.
"Honestly Steven did your mom tell you anything useful about Pearl's species?"
"No, it was mainly stories of there encounters and the things they brought her."
"Well, Guardians are the protectors of there pods. There deemed the strongest and toughest within there groups and are charged with keeping them all safe be it from predators or hunters. Guardians were the first to fall during the war... They earned there titles from there ancestors of old so Jasper must be one, if not the only, remaining guardian from that time or one of the few blessed with the title before the ancients passing's."
"There was one named, uh, Garnet who did the same thing as Jasper, specially when I showed the the cursed shell."
"Wow, her pod must be very special indeed."
"Whys that?"
"Not only do they keep a siren in there company but they have two guardians. Smaller pods like theirs would either have a bender or a guardian with them, never both and especially not three."
"Bender?"
"Someone who can control the water around them much better then the others of there kind."
"Ah."
"So there pod is not only big by today's legends but having two anomaly's within there group is a blessing and a curse."
"How?"
"Its a blessing because they all can stick together and take on anything with all there abilities to there advantage... Its a curse because once there found it will be next to impossible for them all to escape. Mermaids are creatures of habit and form. They wont abandon each other with out great force."
"What dose this mean for Pearl?"
"Who ever did this to her knew how to find her pod." Connie looked Steven dead in the eye as she spoke. "And whatever happened was so bad, that she came to a place she can't survive for help."
"What do we do?" Steven said looking to the sleeping mermaid in his tub. "We can't take her back to the sea without being seen and she can't live in my bathtub full of store bought salt."
"We do the smart thing." Connie said pulling out her phone "We call my mom."
Bottom of Challenger Deep, sealed off cave
The bruises littering Jasper's arms were just as apparent as the ones on Garnet's. The only difference was that Garnet had stopped slamming herself into the crystals. She was trying to meditate, find her center. She was just as shaken up as the others but a calm head was going to get them out of this faster then a panicked one. If only the others would listen. Amethyst was sniffling off in a corner, Peridot and Sapphire were still trying to get the runes on the walls to listen to them while Blue, Ruby, and Lapis were manipulating the water around them to try and break threw the magic to no avail.
"Jasper." Garnet said "Stop."
"We need to get out." Jasper growled.
"Hurting yourself isn't going to help anyone."
"I can't feel her." Jasper growled more as she doubled her efforts "Garnet, I can't feel her! I can't feel anything! She screamed so loud and her cry... They were hurting her! Grr what kind of guardian am I if I can't even protect one of us!"
"Who ever that was knew where the heart was." Sapphire said with her voice slightly shaking "We all saw them unlock one of the runes Pearl activated in her panic. We saw her before Pearl sealed us in here, be it by accident, but they knew."
"Do you think shes an siren?" Ruby asked. "Or one of theirs?"
"Highly unlikely." Peridot said giving up and crossing her arms, staring down the red runes around her like it would help "If she was she would be with bi-ern-her. No if she was a siren she wouldn't of had a voice and anyway, if she was with them we would of felt the power shift."
"It did shift." Jasper said punching the closest crystal "Pearl was the first person to feel it. She knew something was wrong and she paid for it!"
"Who could possibly have power like that to fool us all like this. I thought we were the only benders and guardians left." Lapis spat throwing her hands up in frustration "Ugh these things aren't moving!"
"We are all that's left." Peridot said "Other mermaids that swim the seas are so few in numbers and trust that they prefer to travel alone."
"How many is that?" Ruby asked peeking between the tops of the crystals to look at Blue who just shrugged.
"About seven." She answered softly.
"All this talking isn't helping us get out." Jasper snapped.
"Neither is being rude." Lapis snapped back.
"We need to take a step back and look at all our options. All the info we have about our situation, so we can find a solution." Garnet said.
The bigger mermaid growled but stopped hitting everything and took a breath. Jasper closed her eyes for a moment to calm her mind before opening them again.
"Alright." She said after a few moments of silence "What do we know so far."
"The cave." Garnet said.
"The cave lit up and went red when Pearl brushed the runes on the way out." Peridot said starting to tick off reason. "The heart felt attacked when the spear cracked a rune. The crystals activated to protect, and unintentionally trap, us in here."
"We can't deactivate the runes. Since Pearl is the main guardian of the heart it is a safe bet to think she is the only one who can get all of these crystals to go away." Sapphire said.
"The person who attacked us." Garnet said.
"They knew about us." Blue said softly "They knew where the heart was but must of been surprised to see it not sealed off and alone."
"They couldn't get in here and when the crystals came out they yelled at Pearl to make them go away." Ruby said "Pearl saying no must of made them really mad."
"They know how to use the runes but can't get inside." Sapphire said with a hymn "Maby they attacked Pearl to try and force her to open the cave back up but since its a safe bet to think that Pearl had no idea how she did this it would of been fruitless."
"It's all my fault..." Amethyst's quiet voice had the others pause "I-If I hadn't fallen asleep then I would of seen our attacker before she could of hurt her."
"Amethyst-"
"It's my fault Pearl got hurt and is now gone! It's my fault were trapped in here!" Amethyst's voice cracked as she yelled "God I mess up everything!"
"Its not your fault Amethyst." Garnet said as Jasper swam over and looked threw the breaks in the crystal to see the other mermaid curled up against the caves floor.
"It is!"
"Whoever this is was strong enough to hide the shift in the seas power from us. They must not of known how strong Pearl's connection to the seas chaos is, or that she was even here."
"By the way she straight up attacked her she must not of known the rest of us were here." Sapphire added.
"Look at me." Jasper said. The command in her voice had the smaller mermaid look up with her with tear filled eyes. "Its not your fault."
"She screamed so loud..."
"C'mon minnow." Jasper said with a smirk she couldn't get behind "Pearl's strong. Do you think she would of let them take her down so easily?" Amethyst shook her head no and Jasper continued "Besides with all the shouting from earlier its clear Pearl got away so whoever is out there trying to get in probably is out trying to find her instead."
"... Which means were alone." Sapphire said with a spark in her voice. "If there not out there anymore then we mite be able to get out."
"How?"Ruby asked.
All the mermaids swam up to the top of the cave and looked threw the cracks in the crystals in-bedded into the roof in there little sections to see the ice blue of Sapphire's hair and tail swimming back and forth.
"Before she got banished she would talk to me about the runes on the walls. What they did, what they stood for. Most of them are for protection and safety for the heart and harmony for those who protect it but-" Sapphire said pointing out certain runes "Some were used for travel."
"Travel?" Lapis said confused "Like fast swimming?"
"Try teleportation." Sapphire answered. "When the elders and councils of the seven seas used to meet they used special runes to teleport to one place. It would save them time on travel and reduce the risk of being attacked when passing threw and by dangerous areas of the seas."
"Do you think you can get us out of here?" Lapis asked.
"Not all at once." Sapphire said "With everything the way it is I mite be able to only get one of us out."
"Can you do it though?" Jasper asked swimming a bit to the side following Sapphire's pace. "Can you get one of us out?"
Sapphire was silent as she stopped moving. She was studying one of the runes very closely before she nodded "Yes but."
"But?"
"I'm not sure where you'll end up. You could be sent right outside the cave or half way across the ocean."
"That's a big jump since the runes are all red." Blue added.
"Look, I don't care about the risks." Jasper growled "Send me."
"Jasper-"
"I have to find her." Jasper growled cutting Garnet off "It's my duty to keep our pod together and safe. If Pearl's out there and hurt I need to find her to bring her back."
"Are you sure?" Sapphire asked looking at the big mermaid several crystal walls away. "I can't promise you'll be ok once your out of here."
"More then sure." She said with confidence.
With a nod Sapphire told her to find her center. "Clear your mind and think of nothing. Once you find that balance think of a place. A singular place that is safe in your eyes that I can send you."
Jasper frowned with her eyes closed. Finding her center wasn't hard. Her and Garnet would meditate all the time when they felt the peace in the water around them. Thinking of a safe place was the problem. This cave was there safe place. There pod never swam far from the heart most days. The seas weren't a safe place for them since the war so travel was not only risky but suicidal in its own sense. Since coming into this pod there were few places they found safe and even fewer she felt going to alone. However, there was only one place she could think of that would be safer then anything else at this time. Even if she despised going there.
"Got it." She said.
"Good now keep that place in your mind." Sapphire said as she placed a hand on the selected rune while the other pointed a finger as Jasper. "Focus all your thoughts on that place."
Sapphire's eyes started to glow a light blue as the rune under hand started to respond. The red it glowed started to fade into its resting blue glow before turning towards white. The small mermaid started murmuring hushed words of old and within the blink of an eye Jasper was gone.
"Did it work?" Ruby asked swimming around a bit trying to see.
"Shes not here." Garnet said looking through the crystals.
"Hopefully she made it to her destination." Sapphire said.
"Hopefully it wasn't too far." Blue said.
"Knowing Jasper she landed right where she wanted to be." Peridot said.
And they were right. When Jasper opened her eyes again she was floating just at the bottom of the lagoon, the shirt Pearl had worn to meet Steven and Greg tight in her hand.
Note: The reviews are working half the time for this fic for some reason but I see them, and get them through e-mail, so thanks for them! Even if I can't respond to them!