12. The Sea of Dreams
Sydney coughed up water out of her lungs only to have a wave crash into her and refill them and push her back under. The ocean spun her around like clothes in a laundry machine. She rag dolled, letting it push her around until the water settled and then kicked her way back to the surface. She spat more water out and tried to rub the salt water out of her eyes.
"I'm not sure if this is better than the demons or not." She let out a dry laugh, happy that they had survived. She floated on her back and sighed. The water felt pleasant on her skin and the sky above was a perfect blue, not a cloud in sight. She felt relaxed for the first time since they had arrived at the Land of the Dead.
Until she realized Joe never responded. With a violent thrash, she spun around and scanned the water for her husband. "Joe?" she called out. She received no response. "Joe!" She tried again, still nothing.
She was alone in the middle of an ocean. The water was too dark to see down into. She cursed and slapped the water, refusing to cry. Her eyes stung, but whether it was from the salt water or unshed tears she couldn't tell.
She glanced to her left and saw a strip of beach in the distance. A spark of hope flared within her. "You better be alive over there. If you died on me..."
She swam through the water as fast as she could. Joe would be alive, he had to be. This place would not take away another loved one away from her.
The rocky beach was despairingly empty and the moment she had escaped the water, the sky turned black and haunting. Sydney tried calling Joe's name again, but never heard a response. She collapsed to her knees and couldn't stop the tears from falling. "No, no, no," she cried.
She should have tried harder to get him to go home. Now this hell-hole had once again killed someone she loved, and someone was going to pay for it. She balled her hands into fists and wiped away her tears.
She wanted to hit something. Hard.
"There you are. Took you long enough."
Sydney spun around and saw that someone else had joined her on the beach. It was an old woman who stood with one chestnut coloured hand on her hip and the other on a wooden cane. She was short and in this pose resembled a tea pot. She frowned at Sydney, adding more wrinkles to her already wrinkly face.
The old woman snapped her fingers impatiently. "Let's get moving. We don't have much time."
Sydney remained where she stood. "Who are you?" she asked through clenched teeth. Part of her didn't even care who this lady was, she just saw her as something to hit.
"We don't have time for introductions, child. We need to take care of you before you kill us all." The ancient lady turned around and began to walk away. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd stop looking at me like I was a punching bag."
"Where are you going?" Sydney refused to move.
"Follow me and you just might find out." She continued on her way without looking back. "And we both know you're going to come eventually so you might as well do it now."
Sydney reluctantly left her spot on the beach and trudged along behind the odd woman. She focused on her anger. If she stayed like this, she wouldn't have to think about the fact that she was now a widow. She glared at the old lady's back the entire walk, most of which was spent in silence.
"He's not dead you know," the lady finally spoke up. "The Sea of Dreams is cruel, but it is not a killer."
Sydney stumbled when she registered her words. "What?"
"That husband of yours." She looked over her shoulder at Sydney. "He's not dead. I expect him to joining us very soon actually."
Sydney stopped suddenly. "Then why are leaving the beach? We should be there waiting for him." Her mind raced with a million thoughts. Joe was alive. The relief that washed through her was euphoric. "How do you know he's not dead?"
"We don't have time to go to the beach and wait for him." The woman waved for Sydney to keep moving. "And I know because I do. Don't you know who I am?"
"No." Sydney crossed her arms. "Because you didn't tell me."
"Oh, right." She cackled like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard. "I'm Sage and welcome to my home." Sage gestured with her cane to a small, dingy cabin. The wooden walls looked rotten and the entire shack leaned to one side.
"And why are we going to your home?" Sydney scowled, angry with Sage about taking her away from Joe.
Sage tsked. "You really should do something about that temper of yours. You're upsetting the shadows." She pointed to the shadows surrounding them, which had started to grow and reach out to them.
Sydney dropped her arms and looked down. "Sorry, that happens sometimes."
"You know, instead of suppressing and fighting that darkness inside of you, why don't you try controlling it? Don't bend to its will. Bend it to your will." Sage watched her curiously.
"But I-"
"Don't be afraid of the dark. You're an adult for gods' sakes! It can be a great ally if you let it. Yes, you're heart has been touched by evil itself, the greatest form of darkness. You are on the brink of insanity, and yet..." She shook her head. "You are a face of evil in the heart of darkness." She gave her a cold, dark stare. "But I can help."
Sydney paused for a moment, letting the old lady's words sink in. Was it really possible to control the darkness that had been churning inside of her for years? And what would control over it give her? A new weapon? A better life? She didn't think it was possible. And yet... "What do I have to do?"
Sage smiled, revealing several missing teeth. "It's simple. You have to go back to where it all began. Travel through your memories. Remember what you have forced yourself to forget and sort the real memories from the false ones. You've fought against the darkness inside of you for so long, it will not come gently."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take."
Sage chuckled, as if this was exactly what she wanted to happen. "Perfect."
Sage led Sydney into her house. The inside didn't look any better than the outside did. There were only three rooms. They were currently standing in a living room and kitchen area. Sydney assumed the other two rooms were a bedroom and a bathroom. She kept any comments about the interior to herself, not wanting to turn Sage into an enemy.
"So this whole controlling my darkness thing, how does that work exactly?" Sydney absentmindedly touched the injury on her forehead, almost forgetting it was there. The makeshift bandage she had made from her shirt was gone, presumably washed off in the sea.
"It works exactly how I said it did. You will have to travel through your memories to make the darkness obedient to you and to reconnect with it." Sage was rifling through a shelf filled with small vials and bottles.
"But what does that mean?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
Sydney sighed, deciding that she would get no answers from Sage and too tired to force them out of her. "When do we start?"
"Now."
Sydney felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, and then everything turned black.
The first thing Joe registered as he gained consciousness was the sound of laughter. It was light and reminded him of babbling brook. He distantly heard a woman singing, soft and lilting ahs filling the air. The noise echoed around him, preventing him from pinpointing its origin. It was a soothing melody, like a mother singing a lullaby to her child.
Joe struggled to open his eyes. He wanted to stay in this blissful state forever. He was afraid opening his eyes would ruin the ecstasy he was feeling.
He couldn't have been more wrong. As Joe sat up and absorbed the scene around him, his jaw dropped. He was resting on a small, flat piece of land in the corner of a large cave. It appeared to be one of few small spots in the cave that were scattered about. In between these dry areas was beautiful aquamarine coloured water. Joe couldn't tell how deep it was, but he couldn't see the bottom so he assumed it must be fairly deep. A small waterfall cascaded down into the water, creating a light mist. Joe was in an underground paradise.
But the appearance of the paradise wasn't even Joe's favourite part. No, that would be the lovely ladies swimming in the pool before him. A few were even lying near him on his small island, while others were lounging about on the other islands in the cavern. Their bodies were half submerged in water.
The ones closest to him giggled when they realized he was awake. Their brightly coloured eyes glimmered with amusement. They seemed surreal, as if they were a figment of his imagination, but the way his heart melted when they smiled at him made him know they were real.
"Hi," one said. She flipped her long, violet hair over her shoulder and grinned at Joe, the bohemian style waves fanning out over her back. And that was when Joe realized that she wasn't wearing any clothes. None of the girls were.
"Hey," Joe smiled back and tried his hardest to keep his eyes trained on her face. Her eyes matched the colour of her hair and seemed to flow like the water the lower half of her body was in.
"My name's Nerissa." She giggled at Joe again and rolled onto her back, fully exposing her chest.
Joe's face heated up, and he awkwardly cleared his throat. "Hello, Nerissa. I'm Joe."
Nerissa traced her fingers down Joe's arm. "I like you, Joe. What brings you to our home?"
"I, uh..." Joe paused. Why was he here? He remembered being submerged in water, but anything before or after that was blank. Something nagged at the back his mind. He couldn't shake the feeling that he shouldn't be here. That someone else needed him right now. But why wouldn't he want to be here? This place was a perfect paradise.
Nerissa continued to run her hand up and down Joe's arm. "It's okay. We're just glad you're here."
"Oh?" Joe tilted his head, his interest peaked.
Nerissa nodded and gave him a coy grin. "It's been a while since we've had a man visit us. I'm so glad it's one as handsome as you."
Joe smirked and leaned in closer to his new companion. "Well I'm glad to help."
Nerissa giggled one last time before diving into the water. A large purple fishtail revealed itself and splashed down behind her.
Joe blinked. He was not expecting that. "You're mermaids."
"Mermaids, water spirits, maidens of the sea. We have many names," another woman lounging near him said. "Call us what you will. We are all the same thing, with the same purpose."
"And what is that?" Joe watched her, intrigued by her sky blue hair.
The mermaid winked at him and pulled herself out of the water. Joe stared mesmerized as her shimmering fish tale transformed into human legs. She crawled next to Joe and leaned in close. "To please and entertain the men of the sea."
She was close enough that Joe could see every small detail of her brilliant blue eyes. The nagging in the back of his head increased. "You remind me of someone." But no matter how hard Joe tried, he couldn't figure out who it was she reminded him of.
"Do I?" She tilted her head, her lips spreading in a small smile. "Well, I hope it's not someone who's waiting for you. We can't let you leave so soon. I'm Sybil by the way."
Something about her words bothered Joe, but he was quickly distracted by the other mermaids who were swimming up to him. Joe couldn't help but smile, enjoying all this attention from so many gorgeous women.
"So, tell me Joe. What can we do to please and entertain you?" Sybil placed her hand delicately on Joe's inner thigh.
Joe failed to find any words. His mouth kept opening and closing, but no sound came out. The mermaids giggled at his bashfulness.
Sybil chuckled and cupped his chin her hand. "Perhaps I can give you a few ideas."
Her mouth closed on his in a heated kiss. Joe was surprised by how swiftly and eagerly he kissed her back. He completely forgot that they had an audience. His hands roamed to where his eyes hadn't dared go earlier. A hungry moan escaped his lips as Sybil deepened their kiss by slipping her tongue in his mouth. She shifted against him and Joe felt something slip out of his pocket and land on the ground with a clatter.
Sybil moved the kiss from Joe's mouth to his neck, and he glanced at what had fallen out of his pocket. The screen of his cell phone was cracked, but had still turned on. Joe saw several unfamiliar faces staring back at him on the screen. He glanced at the sky blue eyes of the girl in the middle of the photo.
The memories hit him like a bullet to the head: fleeing from the demons, jumping through the portal, almost drowning underwater. He remembered feeling someone pulling him down farther, wrenching him away from Sydney. Sydney, his wife, who he was cheating on right now.
With a quick jerk, he shoved Sybil away. She splashed into the water with a howl. The other mermaids glared at him, their flirty smiles vanishing. His paradise lost its appeal. The crystal water turned dark and the once beautiful mermaids turned demonic and hissed at him.
"I'm sorry." Joe stood up and stumbled away. He suddenly felt light-headed. "I need to leave."
"I'm afraid we can't let you do that, Joe." Sybil had pulled herself out of the water. Her dainty fingers had elongated into razor-sharp claws. "You have something we need. Your life."
Sybil lunged at him, tackling Joe into the water. He thrashed around and barely managed to kick her off of him. He tried to swim back to the surface, but was dragged back down by another mermaid. He screamed as their claws dug into him, tearing apart his skin. He blasted them with his magic and it boosted him to the surface.
He gasped for air and started to swim away. He heard a screech and a searing pain spread over his back as he was lacerated again. He clenched his teeth and shot some more time energy at the mermaids, propelling him forward even more. He struggled to keep himself surfaced. Whatever Sybil had done to him when she kissed him had drained his energy and using his magic was only going to drain it further. He needed to find a way out of here.
He searched the cave as quickly as possible. There had to be a way out, but no way presented itself. He glanced at the waterfall, maybe there was an exit hidden behind it. It wasn't too far. Joe pushed himself as fast as he could through the water.
The mermaids increased their attacks. They dragged him under every chance they got and clawed every inch of his skin. He continually shot them and drove them off as best as he could, but he was getting weaker with every attack.
He kicked a mermaid with silver hair in the face and used his magic to push himself the final feet to the waterfall. He swam through to the other side and was relieved to see an opening that led out of the grotto and hopefully to safety. He dragged himself through the water and got halfway through the exit tunnel. He sensed something grab his leg and pull him down. He was forcibly twisted around and found himself face to face with Sybil.
"We don't like it when men try to leave us," she hissed. Even though they were underwater, Joe could hear her as if she were right next to him on land. "It's very rude."
Joe gritted his teeth and created the biggest energy ball he could muster. It hit Sybil square in the chest, but only succeeded to stun her and push her back a few feet. Joe was running out of energy fast, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could last. Just staying above the surface was proving to be difficult.
An idea struck Joe out of nowhere. He just hoped he had enough energy to pull it off. He closed his eyes and recalled what Sydney had told him about half-warps. Just like a normal warp, but don't let it suck you away, right?
He pulled in the time energy around him. It was more difficult than he was used to given the fact that he was in water and almost out of fuel. He pictured the mermaid's cave, but put everything backwards so that hopefully Sybil would turn around and think she was heading in the right direction.
He opened his eyes and was pleased to see the illusion had worked. But he could tell it was weak and wouldn't last long. He made his way through the water towards the exit of his prison.
He heard a howl come from behind him and took that to mean that the mermaids had fallen for his trap. He swam faster out of the cavern. By the time he reached the exit, he was entirely out of breath.
And his problems had only worsened. The mermaids must have been using some sort of magic to keep the water inside the grotto at a low level. When Joe came to the end of the escape tunnel, he was met with a wall of dark blue water.
Another screech came from within and Joe had a feeling his illusion had worn off. He had no choice but to throw himself out into the open ocean and pray that he wasn't too far under.
With the last amount of energy he could muster up, he placed his hand over his Warp Wizard mark and shouted, "Accelerare!" In a flash, he was gone, shooting off to the surface.
A/N - Just so you all know, I'm going away this weekend so I'll be absent from the internet for a few days. I wanted to get this up before I left. Also, the Mystery Girl rewrite is almost done, so if for some reason you want to read the original, do it now because in a few days it will be gone forever and replaced with the rewritten chapters. There's more info on my profile.
Anyway, thanks for reading! And don't forget to review!
