Chosen Chapter 13: From the Deep

Part 2

Xxx

Just outside of the city of San Francisco, Bryant stood in the subterranean level of his father's mansion. In the middle of the open space stood a magically constructed aquarium, where the captured mermaid was imprisoned. She desperately knocked on the glass, calling out to her lover. Bryant smirked, thinking about how humiliating it would be for a powerful magical creature to be stuck in a bowl like a common goldfish. He was about to leave, when he suddenly heard a humming sound. He turned around and saw the mermaid was humming a melody. It was beautiful and mesmerizing. He moved closer and placed his hand on the glass.

"Please let me go." The mermaid pleaded.

"I can't…" Bryant replied hesitantly. "My father… We have big plans for you."

"I would be eternally grateful." The mermaid said as she continued her melody. "Please."

"I'm sorry." Bryant said, though he found it increasingly hard to resist her. "Well, maybe I can…"

Before Bryant could finish, he was hit with a surge of electricity. The mermaid was startled and stopped humming. With her melody gone, Bryant snapped out of his trance. He turned and saw an annoyed Harper walking toward him.

"Idiot." Harper snapped at him. "Did you forget about her powers?"

"I was caught off guard." Bryant replied annoyed. "It won't happen again."

"It better not." Harper said. "I know she's pretty, Bry, but you might want to think with your brain instead of your junk."

"Like you're any better." Bryant snapped at her. "You were all over her boyfriend at the beach. Or are you just jealous you're no longer the prettiest in the room?"

"Please, jealous of a fish?" Harper remarked as rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I just don't want her to escape. You know what's at stake."

"Of course I do." Bryant replied. "But one little mermaid is not going to be enough."

"Then find more." A voice sounded.

Bryant and Harper turned around and saw their father walking their direction. As always, he was dressed in a fine Italian suit. They both straightened up and waited nervously while Ambrose inspected the mermaid. She seemed intimidated and backed away. Ambrose turned to his children.

"I thought you had located two." Ambrose noted.

"One of them escaped, father." Bryant replied. "These things are slippery once they hit the water."

"Don't worry, daddy, we'll find him." Harper added.

"Forget about him." Ambrose replied. "Sooner or later he will show up looking for her. In the meantime, go back to the hag and find more."

"How many do we need?" Bryant asked.

"As many as it takes." Ambrose replied. "When the time is right, we will share this gift with all of your siblings."

"Even the traitor?" Bryant remarked.

"He is not a traitor." Ambrose said. "He just hasn't seen the light yet. He will take his rightful place in the family eventually."

Bryant wanted to argue, though he realized that would only anger his father. He did not trust his so-called brother one bit. As long as he had feelings for that witch, he would never join their cause. Not if he knew the true endgame. All of this was only one step in their plan. When they were done, nothing would be the same ever again.

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After an awkward walk home from the docks, Violet gathered some clothes for her new merman friend from Duncan's room. Despite giving him her coat to tie around his waist, they had still gotten some weird looks from her elderly neighbors. She could only imagine what they were thinking. She wasn't even sure what to think herself. If she had not seen it first hand, she would have never believed merpeople were real. She had texted Billie and Duncan to come home immediately, as she did not know how to handle this situation. After finding some clothes that should fit, she headed back downstairs.

"I never understood your kind's need to cover yourselves." The merman said as she entered the living room and handed him the pile of clothes.

"Well, we like your privacy." Violet replied. "And fashion. Also, we're not as resistant to the weather as your kind is."

"I see." The merman said as he dropped her coat. "So it's not just practical, but decorative as well?"

"Exactly. Try the pants first." Violet said as she avoided looking at him by turning around. "By the way, you never told me your name."

"It's Ridley." The merman replied.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Violet." Violet said.

"I'm glad to have found you." Ridley replied. "And you can look again, I got the pants on."

"That's a relief." Violet noted and she turned to face him, though she still found his muscular chest quite distracting. She tried to focus on more important things. "So you said you needed my help?"

"Yes. My beloved was taken by some evil people." Ridley explained. "I need your help to save her."

"Your beloved?" Violet asked.

"Her name is Nadia." Ridley replied. "I met her while exploring a sunken human ship. She was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. I could instantly feel my heart warm up."

"That's so romantic." Violet said. "Love at first sight."

"Indeed. It is extremely rare among my people." Ridley said.

"What do you mean?" Violet asked.

"You don't know much about my people, do you?" Ridley asked with a smile.

"Honestly, I did not even know you existed." Violet admitted.

"It's alright, not many do." Ridley replied. "Our kind is cold-blooded by nature. We do not feel emotions like your kind does, because our hearts are cold as the water."

"Then how did you fall in love?" Violet asked.

"Sometimes we got lonely and go search for love. Other times it just happens on sight." Ridley explained. "That's what happened with Nadia and me. We were going to run away together and live normal lives. That's why we got these bracelets."

"Why do you need to run away?" Violet asked.

"Like I said, our kind is cold-hearted." Ridley explained. "They would not understand the bond we share. The cold sea would no longer be our home. We were ready to go live mortal lives, then she was taken from me."

"I'll help you find her." Violet said determined. "My friends will help. We will get her back."

"Thank you." Ridley replied. "I knew you would help the moment I sensed your presence. I can tell you're a good person. That's why I called you to me."

"Yeah, speaking of which…" Violet said. "How did you do that? I felt drawn to you somehow."

"It's one of our gifts." Ridley replied. "We can use our music to lure people to our location."

"Wait a minute." Violet said as she got a flashback to her middle school history lessons. "Isn't that how your kind used to lure innocent sailors to their deaths by shipwrecking them?"

"Only when they threatened us." Ridley replied. "We typically try to avoid contact with the surface world."

"Okay, I guess I can understand that." Violet said.

"Look, I want to tell you about our kind, but every moment we wait, Nadia is in danger." Ridley said impatiently. "I can't lose her."

"Don't worry, we will." Violet said.

In an attempt to comfort him, Violet placed her hand on Ridley's arm. The moment she touched him, she was pulled into a premonition. She saw him at the beach with a beautiful blonde girl. Then Bryant Hughes and a redhead appeared out of nowhere. She saw how they captured Nadia and how Ridley was forced to retreat into the ocean. Violet gasped when her premonition ended and lost her balance. She nearly tripped, though Ridley caught her in his arms.

"Are you okay?" Ridley asked concerned.

"I'm fine. Just a premonition." Violet replied a bit flustered.

"Whoa, what is going on here?" A familiar voice sounded.

Violet turned her head and saw Billie and Duncan standing in the door opening. Both of them seemed surprised and confused by what they saw. Violet had to admit it looked weird, as she was literally in the arms of a half-naked guy in the middle of their living room. She quickly got up and tried to act natural, even though she could feel her face turning bright red.

"Hi, uh… this is not what it seems." She mumbled.

"I don't know, Vi." Billie replied with an amused smile. "I think it's exactly what it looks like. I can see why you ditched us. Nice study buddy you got there."

"No, it's not like…" Violet started.

"These are your friends?" Ridley interrupted her.

"Yes." Violet said. "Uh, maybe you should finish getting dressed first so we can talk."

Ridley nodded and put on the shirt she had grabbed him from Duncan's room. It was a bit snug, but at least it fitted.

"What is going on?" Duncan asked with a frown. "And why is he wearing my clothes?"

"Right, this is going to be a bit difficult to explain." Violet said. "Ridley is a merman. He needs our help."

"A merman?" Billie asked.

"I know, right? I was shocked as well." Violet replied. "I had no idea they even existed."

"Oh, I knew they existed." Billie said casually. "I've just never met one before."

"Me neither." Duncan added. "Although we did learn about them in school."

"So I'm the only one who didn't know, again?" Violet asked annoyed. "Why don't you guys tell me stuff like this? What's next? Are you going to tell me that leprechauns and unicorns are real as well?"

Billie and Duncan both fell silent and exchanged amused looks. "Well, actually…" Billie started to say.

"Forget it. I don't even want to know." Violet interrupted her.

"Okay, then can we go back to why there is a merman in our living room?" Duncan asked.

"I need your help to save my beloved." Ridley said.

Feeling that the others needed a bit more context than that, Violet told everyone to sit down and explained everything that had happened, from when she met Ridley at the docks to the point where she had the premonition about Bryant.

"So can you help me?" Ridley asked when she was done.

"Of course." Billie replied. "We will reunite you with Nadia. We just need a way to find her."

"I already tried sensing her, but she is nowhere to be found." Ridley said.

"She is likely cloaked by magic." Duncan reasoned. "And considering who is involved, I don't think we can figure this out on our own."

"What do you mean?" Violet asked.

"We're up against the Wizards again, Vi." Duncan said. "And in order to deal with them, I think we need an expert on the subject."

As the others all looked at her, Violet felt a slight panic coming on. She knew exactly who Duncan was talking about, and although she did want to see him, she wasn't sure she was ready for it after the way they left things. However, when she looked at Ridley, desperate to reunite with the love of his life, she realized she had no choice. It was time for a visit to Magic School.

Xxx

As the bell announced the end of the period, the students at Magic School grabbed their stuff and ran off to lunch. When his students were gone, Arthur closed the door of his classroom and headed to the faculty room. The midterms had been keeping him busy with work, which helped keep his mind off other things. He had not spoken to Violet in weeks. Their last conversation kept repeating itself in his mind.

"You got so wrapped up in your research that you spaced out." Violet said. "I think this Wizard thing is really becoming an obsession."

"I… Maybe you're right." Arthur admitted hesitantly. "I have been so focused on it. And I feel like I'm very close to an answer, but it's like my mind is playing tricks on me."

"Well, I think you need to take a break." Violet replied. "This is not healthy. I'm going home. You can find me when you're ready to apologize."

Arthur had not seen or spoken to her since. He picked up his phone every day, but stopped himself each time. There was something he could not figure out. Like there was something right underneath the surface he could not figure out. He had gone over his research notes countless times. Maybe he should just give up and admit he was obsessed.

"Thanks for the help, Professor McDowell." He heard a student say as he passed a classroom.

The student ran out of the classroom and nearly bumped into Arthur. She apologized and quickly joined her friends. At the same time, the professor left the classroom. Ben McDowell was a former student who was recently hired as a teacher.

"Ben, hey." Arthur said. "Heading to the faculty room?"

"Yeah, I'm starving." Ben replied. "Teaching basic spell casting is quite exhausting. I had to reverse two transformations and put out five fires."

"So it's a slow day." Arthur joked as they started walking. "Are you settling in alright?"

"Pretty much." Ben replied. "I was used to standing in front of the class as a temp, but now that I'm a professor, I have to deal with tons of paperwork."

"That's the downside of teaching." Arthur noted.

"I really need to get out and do something other than grading papers." Ben said. "Want to get a drink after work?"

"Love to, but I have some stuff to figure out." Arthur replied.

"I get it." Ben said. "Relationship drama sucks."

"What?" Arthur asked surprised. "How did you know?"

"Dude, how long have you been here?" Ben replied. "Magic School is like a breeding ground for gossip. The teachers are even worse than the students. Everyone knows about you and that Chosen girl."

"So what are they saying?" Arthur asked slightly troubled.

"Well, nobody really knows fur sure, but the general consensus is that you screwed up big time." Ben replied. "At least that's what Mrs. Winterbourne is saying."

"That sounds about right." Arthur admitted.

"So come with me to the bar tonight." Ben said. "We can get a beer and talk about it, or just drink, whatever works."

"I'll think about it." Arthur replied.

"Cool, I just realized I forgot my lunch, so I'm heading back." Ben said.

"See you in a few." Arthur said as Ben raced back to his classroom.

Arthur was about to enter the faculty room when one of the magical portals in the hall was activated. A swirling blue portal opened and someone stepped out. Arthur froze when he saw who, Violet. It was good to see her, though it painfully reminded him how much he missed her. An awkward tension rose when she noticed him. Neither of them seemed to know how to start the conversation.

"Hi, how are you?" Arthur eventually said.

"I'm okay." Violet replied. "Can we go somewhere private to talk? It's important."

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