YES! ANOTHER FAN-MADE CHAPTER! SORRY IF IT SEEMS RUSHED OR SUCKY! I HAD A BRILLIANT IDEA BUT THEN LOST INTEREST MORE THAN HALF WAY THROUGH! I'M SO SORRY BOUT IT!
Chapter 59: Swim This Way, You'll Drown And Decay!
*Aria's POV*
I had been rushing back and forth in my room a good portion of the morning. Why? Veronica was taking us all on her yacht again down to the beach. I was excited! I put on my biker shorts, my sneakers and my rocker tee over my new swimsuit I modeled, putting on my silver bangle bracelets, my hair in a braid with some silver coin clips and shells weaved into it, no make up, a silver ring with a shell on it that I made and my silver stud earrings to finish the look. I had a bag packed for over the weekend and was making sure I had everything.
"You excited for the trip?" I heard dad ask me.
"Yup, and this time, no pirate ghouls." I say as I slung my bags on me.
"Remember, when you get back, we're visiting your grandfather." He reminds me. I was happy to hear that. See, Grandpa Artie traveled a lot, but he's now at the point of going to a retirement home due to his age, so he's visiting all of us before he goes to one. Either that or he's moving into a small home of his own with a nurse.
"Alright, I won't miss up that opportunity." I say with a smile. I looked at the time and went wide eyed.
"I gotta pick Jughead up before meeting everyone at the dock." I say before hugging him, kissing his cheek, and headed out.
"Bye dad! Love you! Take care of Allegro for me!" I call out as I got in my car and hurried off. I picked up Jughead then headed to the dock. We smiled, talked, laughed and sang to the music on the radio before we parked at the docks. We got out and headed onto the yacht with everyone before heading out to the ocean.
"I can't wait to go diving again!" I say as I ran to the edge and admired the water.
"I can't wait to eat!" Jughead said, tongue sticking out with a touch of drool, as he clapped his hands together and rubbed them.
"You're always eating though." Archie commented.
"So? I'm a growing boy." Jughead defended. I giggled from him being cute.
"If you keep eating the way you do, you'll get fat." Reggie commented rudely.
"Not as fat as your ego filled head." I commented towards him. Everyone laughed, as I turned, while Reggie pouted. We enjoyed the ride, Ronnie tanning again, as we finally stopped somewhere. I didn't hesitate, to strip down to my swim suit before, jumping right into the water. I swam to the bottom and admired the fish that swam around me. I had to go up for air a few times, but I enjoyed swimming with the fish, as I viewed the life under the sea. As I swam, I thought I saw a shadow swim by, near the seaweed. I held my breath longer to investigate. I was running out of air when I saw a tail. A big one. I moved the seaweed aside, looking in the seaweed forest, and my eyes nearly popped out of my skull from what I saw.
A merman!
A real merman!
He turned and looked right at me. We stared at each other until I felt a burn in my chest.
*Ack! Air! I need air!* I thought before bolting to the surface. I was careful with my speed as I hit the surface with a gasp. I took a few breaths before diving again. I didn't see him, but I found a shell that wasn't there before. I picked it up, examined it, then decided to head back to the yacht. I climbed up and went to my towel.
"Hey Arch, I'm gonna go diving." I say as I toweled off a bit.
"Why? Find something?" Archie asked me.
"Yeah. I saw a merman and he left me a shell." I say, giving him the shell to see, before getting ready to dive.
"Woah woah woah! You saw a merman?!" Archie, very loudly, says in shock.
"Yeah. I'm going to check it out. I thought I saw one last time I was here, but wasn't sure, yet there were shells being laid out that weren't there before." I say as I zipped the suit up and prepped a tank.
"And you're going in? Alone?" Archie asked me.
"So? I can handle it." I say to him. "Let me go with you." Archie suddenly said.
"I'll go too. You need a strong man with you." Reggie suddenly said as he flexed. I cringed.
"Um… Why not… Stay here and… Take care of the girls? Without Archie up here, maybe Ronnie will let you rub sunscreen on her again?" I suggested, not wanting Reggie near me,
"Ah! Good idea!" Reggie said, buying my excuse, before going off towards Ronnie. I sighed in relief as I put the tank on.
"There is a god." I mutter as Archie got ready.
"Really?" Archie muttered towards me.
"Sorry, but I'm not dealing with Reggie." I say before being fully ready and plunged into the water. I had a bag with me to collect more shells too. I waited for Archie before swimming towards the area. I signaled to watch all around, seeing as how seaweed forests were dangerous since sharks hid and hunt here all the time, to which he nodded before we proceeded. Archie signaled to split up but I signaled no. It was too dangerous to do so. Still, he got separated from me. I stuck to the bottom and kept looking. I found a few shells, collecting them, when I noticed they seemed to form a path. Curious, I followed the path of shells. At the end, out of the seaweed forest, was a small grotto. It looked a bit dark, but not pitch black. I turned on the light attached to my goggles and headed in. Now, I knew this could be bad, but I wanted to explore anyway. As I entered, I saw something shine, and looked over to see the merman. Muscular with a bit of scars, tail shining like diamonds, dirty blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and looked about 19. He looked like he was scared. Now I couldn't talk, so being me and smart, pulled out a shell, I presumed, he left for me. I showed him and put it down, pushing it to him gently, before backing up and allowing some space. He tilted his head curiously before slowly grabbing the shell. I smiled as I made some progress. He swam over and examined me. I allowed him to show I was friendly. He pointed to my mouth piece, so I pulled it out to show him the air I breathed before putting it back in my mouth, then pointed at my tank as if asking if that held my air. I nodded yes as he examined more. He pulled off a flipper, shocked at first, before becoming fascinated at the flipper then my foot. I put the flipper back on before swimming to show him it helped. Meeting this merman was amazing! He was curious about everything on me, which I understood, as he then saw the shells in my bag. He seemed to smile as he pointed to himself, then the shells, then at me. I couldn't understand what he meant. I pointed up and he nodded before following me. We got to the surface, me seeing the yacht was far away, before pulling the piece out of my mouth and the goggles off my face.
"That's better." I say softly. He seemed a bit startled but looked at me curiously.
"Were you saying you left the shells for me?" I asked softly, so not to spook him, as I thought about the last time I was here. He nodded then pointed to me and made a swimming motion.
"You… Saw me swimming the first time I was here?" I asked him. He nodded and swam circles around me.
"Did those ghoul pirates scare you into hiding before my friends and I helped them to cross over?" I asked him. I then felt a hug, which shocked me, before he pulled away and smiled at me.
"You're welcome." I say to him.
"So, you understand me?" I asked. He nodded yes.
"Can you speak?" I asked him. He nodded but, when he tried to speak, some words were identified but in a very weird way. I guess it was the language of the merfolk.
"Guess I won't know what you're saying right away." I say as he stayed quiet.
"What's your name?" I asked him.
"Vin." I heard in his language, it sounding like F-ee-n.
"Vin?" I asked him, my human accent, making it sound like F-in, different from his merfolk, as he nodded yes.
"I'm Aria." I introduced.
"Aria." He said in his merfolk tongue. Instead of it being Ar-ee-ah in human, his language had it pronounced Ah-rey-ah. It actually sounded pretty.
"Yes." I say kindly to him. He then held up the shell.
"Shell." He said, it sounding like Sa-hee-all, as he put it in my hands.
"Shell." I say in my normal human tone. I realized his language and mine were similar but different. If I took the time, I could learn and understand him and vise versa. He smiled happily at me as we were understanding one another. I then heard my name called in the distance. It was faint, but I could hear it. Vin must've heard it too because he looked over to where the voice came from, same as me, before splashing quietly. I looked at him.
"I have to go, but I'll be back. My friends are nice, they won't let anyone hurt you." I say before I put my goggles on.
"Goodbye Vin." I say before putting the mouth piece on and dove to swim. He said bye in his language before disappearing. I swam back to the yacht and saw Archie was back.
"I found him!" I say excitedly.
"You did?" Archie asked as he took the tank off.
"Uh-huh! He doesn't speak English, but it sounds cool!" I say excitedly.
"Yeah right!" Reggie then said in disbelief.
"It's true! He had been laying out sea shells for me to find since the last time we came here!" I say as I dump out all the beautiful shells.
"He sounds like a gentleman. Even if he is fake." Veronica said suddenly to me as she saw the shells.
"It's true! He's not fake! Why won't you believe me!" I say as I felt hurt they didn't believe me.
"Because it all smells fishy!" Reggie scolded.
"Aria, I didn't see anything down there." Archie tells me.
"You split up from me after I signaled not to. I wouldn't lie! Have I ever lied about seeing something?" I say as I proved my point. I might've lied about my emotions, along with problems I've had, but never once had I lied about seeing something.
"She's right ya know. Aria isn't a lier." Jughead defended me.
"Thank you! At least someone believes me." I say as I still felt hurt.
"Well, whatever you saw, it's gone now." Betty said, not saying if she believed me or not, as she wanted the fighting to end.
"But I-oooh! Fine!" I say as I collected my shells, after taking my gear off, and stormed off, grabbed my towel and headed to the room I would be staying in. I hated being called a liar. I was always called that when it wasn't true, so this was a sensitive spot for me, which upset me. I locked my door, remembering what Reggie did last time, and stripped my clothes off before hopping in the shower. I wasn't washing, but I wanted to rinse, as I felt tears sting my eyes. Even Archie didn't believe me. He believes in everything but not this nor me. After a while I got out and got dressed in light weight black pants, a purple tube top, and put on the over skirt to my swim suit. I pulled out a shell necklace I had made from the small shells I had collected before heading up to have lunch. When I got up there, I saw a scruffy looking man talking with everyone, seeing the old fishing boat he had next to the yacht, before eyeing me. I shifted from one foot to the other as something screamed bad news with this guy.
"Hey Aria, come over here." Archie said to me. I, hesitantly, walked over to him.
"We were telling Captain Cutler how you saw a merman." Archie then tells me. Something inside my stomach turned as I saw this pirate eyeball me.
"Really?" I asked in an uneasy tone.
"Yeah. This guy's as loony as you Doll Face." Reggie then added.
"He says they exist and they killed his daughter." Jughead said as he was eating something.
"Aye, and they tell me you've seen one near here today." He tells me, speaking like a pirate/sailor.
"No." I say firmly. Everyone then looked at me.
"I only said that to get my friends in the water to dive with me. That's it." I say firmly to him. Everyone gawked at me, surprised by my words, as the captain eyed me suspiciously.
"Well, if ye see any, don't go near them! They be evil!" He tells me sternly. I just couldn't believe that a merfolk could do that.
"You sure you won't join us for lunch?" Betty asked, being kind as always, as the others shot her a look. Captain Cutler kept his eyes on me though to see if I was lying. I was, but I wasn't going to hint it.
"No thank ye. I best be heading out while the sun is still up." He says, not breaking his gaze, before finally turning and heading out.
"Oh, and uh, don't collect any shells ye see in rows or piles. That's how they get ya. They offer them before snatching ye up to devour ye whole." He tells us in a scary tone before going to his boat and sailing off.
"I knew you were lying!" Reggie said to me.
"I lied to the captain, not to you." I tell them as I looked right at them.
"Why?" Betty asked me.
"Something seems off with him. I don't trust him and I won't until I figure things out." I say as I walk off towards the food. I heard mumbles, not paying attention nor caring, as I put food on my plate. Jughead came over to join me.
"I know you didn't lie, but I wish I'd seen what you saw." Jughead said kindly to me.
"I only lied to get him to leave. I told Vin I'd help keep him safe." I say as I then put my plate down.
"You alright?" Jughead asked me worriedly.
"I-I'm not hungry." I say before walking off. I didn't see Jughead's jaw drop from me saying that. I went to my room, put my swim suit back on, then went swimming again with my bag. I was collecting shells and playing with the fish to try and be happy. I saw a glimpse of Vin and swam over to him. He seemed happy to see me as he had me follow him. We got into a small cave area, where there was an air pocket and a small ledge area, to rest and breathe.
"There's a man looking for you." I say to Vin. He looked worried and covered his eye. Let me explain. The captain had a type of beanie/sailor hat like hooper from jaws, an eye patch, dark skin, light blue top, scraggy pants with water boots and, all in all, looked filthy and in his 40's. When Vin covered his eye, it seemed like an eye patch, to confirm it was Captain Cutler.
"Yes, that guy." I say to him. Vin looked scared at that point.
"I told him I lied about seeing you, since my friends didn't believe me and told him, but he's warning us that you'll kill me like his daughter." I explained. Vin then shook his head no.
"Not… Me..." He said slowly in human tongue. I was happy to know, both learning human and, it wasn't him. Now my curiosity heightened more.
"If not you, then who?" I asked with worry. He shook his head to tell me he didn't know.
*Betty's POV*
I was getting worried. It was going to be dark in a couple hours and we haven't spotted Aria at all! I let the others know before suiting up and diving to look for her. I couldn't help but be worried. I felt horrible for not believing her, even if it's hard to believe, but Aria hasn't lied about seeing anything that has to deal with a weird mystery. She actually doesn't lie unless it's for a good reason. I saw rows of shells and followed them until I saw a figure. I swam to it, thinking it was Aria, until it turned around.
It was a man...
With fins...
A merman!
Aria was right! He looked at me before swimming around me. I watched him, seeing that he had a dorsal fin and a shark tail, as he seemed intrigued. He then stopped and showed me a seashell necklace. It had a black bay scallop shell as the center piece with shark teeth weaved onto twisted seaweed. He offered it to me but I shook my head no. He looked at me curiously. I motioned I was looking for someone. He tilted his head.
"You look for someone?" He asked me in broken English. I was shocked but I nodded yes.
"You alone?" He asked me. I shook my head no and pointed to where the yacht was. He saw it then looked at me.
"Other girls?" He asked me. I nodded but signaled I was still looking for someone. Before he could do anything, something whizzed past us. It freaked him out and he swam off quickly. I rose up and saw that captain. I took my mouth piece out and scowled.
"What are you doing?! You could've hit me!" I scolded him harshly.
"I just saved ye life!" He yelled at me. I was mad as my face went red.
"Why did you do that?! I didn't need saving!" I screamed out before he pulled me up on the boat.
"Yes ye did need saving! Ye saw a merman didn't ye?" He scolded and asked me harshly.
"So what if I did?!" I asked harshly. "Did he offer ye this?" He asked as he showed me a necklace identical to the one I was offered.
"Y-yeah." I said in shock as I looked it over.
"It be a ceremonial necklace. A way to give permission to be eaten!" He said harshly. My eyes widened at what I was told. I had enough experience and evidence to believe him.
"Then my friend is in trouble! She's all alone down there!" I say as I point to the water.
"I think I know where, let's hurry." He tells me before going to his wheel and started sailing off to an area where there were rocky areas and underwater grottos. I hope she's alright.
*Aria's POV*
I had been in the grotto with Vin, laughing happily, before he made a shell necklace for me. It had a white scallop shell as the center piece and had small shells littered around it and the necklace was made from twisted seaweed. He swam over and put it on me, I allowed him, as he smiled.
"Friends... Forever?" He asked sweetly.
"Yes, friends forever." I say as I pulled my ring off. I gently took his hand and slipped the ring onto his pinkie finger. He smiled happily as he admired the ring. Then there was a splash. I saw blonde hair poking out of the diving mask, Knowing it was Betty, before she swam to me.
"Get away from him! He's dangerous!" Betty said in a panic as she took her mask off.
"No Betty, he's a friend." I say to her.
"No he's not! He gives necklaces to women before eating them! They both do!" Betty says to me.
"Betty, hold on! Talk to me slowly about this. Them?" I said suddenly as I tried to calm her. She explained everything. The other merman, the necklaces, all of it.
"Did the necklace look like mine?" I asked her as I showed her my necklace.
"Yes, but it's black with teeth.
"Sacrificial necklace... Bad... Mersharks!" Vin said as he showed signs of fear.
"The other merman was half shark." Betty muttered in thought.
"Betty, Vin is a good guy. He's my friend. The Mershark must've killed the captain's daughter and now he thinks all Merfolk are bad." I explained as I came up to that conclusion.
"I think I have a plan." Betty said with a smile. She told us the plan before heading back to the Captain. She would tell him there was no sign of us so Vin and I could escape. Then we'd find the mershark and prove Vin was innocent and all merfolk aren't bad. It should be simple right? Wrong! As Vin and I started escaping, he got caught in a ghost net. He flailed as I tried to untangle him. I was running out of air and Vin needed help. As the net pulled us towards the captain's ship, I was growing light headed from the lack of air, I felt hands grab me and yank me away. My eyes widened as I saw the mershark had a hold of me. I struggled but wasn't strong enough.
"Aria!" Vin called out to me as I then felt myself get pulled through the water before my world went black.
*Betty's POV*
I had tried to explain that Aria wasn't down there, but he pushed me to the side before something tugged the boat. He smiled and reeled in a net with poor Vin wrapped up in a ghost net, which was illegal to use here, while laughing.
"I finally got ye! I'm going to let ye dry out and suffer before killing ye!" Captain Cutler said in rage with a hint of crazy mixed together with success.
"No! Aria! Danger! Drowning!" Vin suddenly yelled out as he kept struggling to get free.
"What?!" I gasped as I tried to get up.
"I doubt it! Ye be lying!" Captain Cutler yells out.
"No! Friend! Danger! Mershark!" Vin yelled out as he kept squirming.
Mershark?" Captain Cutler asked in both curiosity and doubt.
"Mersharks are merfolk that eat people! Usually the opposite gender!" I tell him as I finally got up.
"There are different merfolk?" Captain Cutler asked in shock as I tried to undo the net.
"Yes, from what we gathered. Aria's down there without diving gear, so if she's drowning and that mershark has her, we need to save her!" I exclaimed as I almost had Vin free.
"We can't trust any of them!" Captain Cutler exclaimed as he stopped me.
"You're willing to harm an innocent and others in exchange for my friend's life?!" I exclaimed/asked in pure shock.
"Please! I save her, you have me." Vin suddenly said. I was shocked Vin had suggested that, but not as shocked as Captain Cutler. After he thought about it he reluctantly helped free him.
"Save that girl! Prove ye be good!" Captain Cutler said as Vin fell in the water. He rose up, gave a nod, then dove under to swim after Aria. Captain Cutler sailed after him as we ended up near an area I knew well. The same place where the pirate ghouls were. This had danger sailing and swimming all round us.
*3rd person's POV*
Vin swam as fast as he could to find Aria. He knew she needed air and that mershark, Razorjaw, would devour her without a second thought. Vin and Razorjaw had known each other for years, always fighting, but Vin would save some people but others he couldn't help in time. Vin was a merfolk of kind nature, always helping every creature, making new friends and his family was the same. His ancestors before him had once helped Columbus sail to safety, along with manatees, to which he was proud of and honered them.
Now was his time to prove his worth as a friend.
Vin swam and swam until he swam near the sunken ship. He saw a couple sharks and knew Razorjaw was near. He used a small electo wave, he had the powers of an amora eel, to make the sharks go crazy and swim away. He let his tail shine, signaling the following ship where he was, before heading in the ship. He opened a hatch and swam down a cave area where he saw Razorjaw hide once before. He swam until he found an open cave, glowing algae and some underwater crystals made the room shine, as he saw Aria cocooned in seaweed and held down with a rock while Razorjaw circled her.
Razorjaw was hungry, very hungry, and in need of meat. Fish were fine, as was seaweed, but he prefered young human women the most. He had killed a Captain's daughter, 15 and foolish, and enjoyed eating her as she drowned. This time, though, he captured this girl while she tried to save Vin. He was happy to eat in peace because, that captain thinks Vin killed the daughter. Vin would get blamed while Razorjaw could live here and feast for as long as he wanted. He saw the small bits of air bubbles leave Aria's mouth and nose. She was just about dead and he was trying to decide whether to eat her now or let her decay a little for a more bitter taste.
As he went to take a nibble though, he was slammed away from her at full force. Razorjaw looked in shock as he saw, a now free Vin, had slammed him away. Vin used his mild electricity to shock Razorjaw, stunning him for a bit, before rushing right to Aria. He broke the seaweed off her and swam as fast as he could up. Vin had heard about something called 'The Benz' and knew, even though she might be dead, he couldn't rush her up too fast. Once he was half way up, Razorjaw darted at him full force and slammed into him before biting him. Vin cringed, accidentally letting Aria go, and started smacking his tail at Razorjaw in defence. Razorjaw let go but made claws grow before swiping at Vin. Vin dodged as the two fought underwater.
They attacked each other full force, both having advantages, before Vin used a shock wave to stun him once more. He looked around until he spotted Aria. Once he did, he swam right for her, scooped her up and brought her up to the surface. He had to hurry though. He saw a cirlce thing and Betty yelled for him to put it on Aria. He obeyed and did so just as he was yanked underwater. Razorjaw was attacking him full force, Vin barely able to dodge some, as some attacks hit hard. Vin was bleeding and this caused Razorjaw to go savage. Now Vin was in trouble. As this was happening, Betty and Captain Cutler pulled Aria up onto the boat to check her pulse.
"She's not breathing!" Betty said in a panic.
"Do ye know CPR?" Captain Cutler asked her.
"No!" Betty said in worry.
"Neither do I." Captain Cutler replied as they had a look of panic. They then saw blood and waves of disturbance. There was a fight.
"Vin's in trouble!" Betty said in fear. Captain Cutler hated the merfolk, but after he watched Vin save Aria, he was having second thoughts. He grabbed a harpoon, aimed it, then threw it once he saw the dorsal fin. Under the waves, Vin was in rough shape. Razorjaw took the opportunity and lunged right at Vin, ready to finish him, until his eyes widened and then went limp. The harpoon Captain Cutler threw went straight through Razorjaw's body, killing him almost instantly, as he floated to the top of the water.
He was dead!
Vin slowly swam to the boat but saw Aria wasn't moving.
"Is she alive?" Vin asked quietly as he feared the worse.
"No... We can't revive her." Betty said sadly. Vin propped himself up on the boat and poked Aria's arm. She was cold.
"It's my fault, I shouldn't have captured you. It's my fault." Captain Cutler said softly as the look of guilt plagued his face. Vin's eyes watered in sadness before he shook them away. He leaned over Aria, charged the electricity to the tip of his fingers, then placed them on her chest before sparking them. The jolt of electricity sparked through Aria, surprising Betty and the captain, as Aria jolted before laying there. Nothing. Vin continued to do this a few more times until Aria coughed. She coughed up water until she gasped for air. Betty helped Aria up as she coughed and gasped for air.
"Aria! You're alive!" Betty shouted with glee.
"Yes. 'Cough cough' But not deaf." Aria coughed out as she felt her ears ring from Betty's shouting.
"Vin saved you. He brought you back to life." Betty told her. Aria thought a moment before her eyes widened.
"I died? I drowned?!" Aria gasped out in pure shock.
"Aye. I be sorry young one. If I hadn't captured him, ye wouldn't have been in trouble." Captain Cutler confessed to Aria with guilt.
"Were's-" She started asking but Vin stopped her.
"He killed Razorjaw." Vin said slowly to her. Aria's eyes widened in shock as she saw the claw and bite marks all over Vin.
"I suppose... You want Vin dead still?" Aria asked Captain Cutler as she turned to him. The captain shook his head no.
"I've learned, not all merfolk are bad. Razorjaw killed my daughter, I got my revenge, but I did a lot of bad things to do so. Vin, you've earned your freedom and showed me the truth." Captain Cutler told all of them. Vin smiled before hearing a honk. They looked and saw the yacht heading towards them. Archie jumped on board, ready to fight, but froze in shock over Vin.
"We're fine Archie." Betty says before Archie could utter a word out.
"Told you I wasn't lying." Aria said in a raspy voice as a smile was planted on her face. Archie's jaw dropped as Vin revealed his tail for him. The others on the yacht saw this too and their jaws dropped as well.
"This is Vin and he just saved Aria's life." Betty explained as the others came down to meet Vin. After introductions, Archie asking Vin many questions, ect. Captain Cutler explained he had to leave. Captain Cutler had told Vin he was free to go, but Vin smiled and said he wanted to follow the captain to help keep him safe and prevent him from loneliness. The captain huffed, saying it was dumb of him to do so, but had a faint smile as he secretly liked the idea. After all was said and done, the gang hopped back on the yacht, waved goodbye to their new friends that sailed/swam off before sighing and relaxing on the chairs for a while.
"What an adventure." Betty commented as she sighed.
"And to think, this was only day one of three." Aria commented as she gave a small chuckle.
"This was a lot for one day." Veronica commented as she feigned exhaustian.
"At least we're all alive." Jughead said as he pulled Aria onto his lap, causing her to squeak in shock, just to hold her close to him. Aria had no complaints as she snuggled up to him happily.
"Told you I wasn't lying." Aria commented once again.
"Ok ok. We get it." Reggie said, annoyed she was right, before getting up. After a while, they enjoyed a meal before heading to their rooms. Except Aria and Jughead. While everyone slept, the two snuck on the deck to lay on a blanket with pillows just to snuggle as they looked up at all the stars in the night sky. The two had, soon, fallen asleep like that and were caught in the morning by the group. Once the weekend passed, they docked the yacht and all headed in individual cars to head home. Archie took Aria to his place first to type up the mystery together, just like they promised, as it felt right to do this in Archie's room together rather than any other way.
*Aria's POV*
"Well fellow readers, not only merfolk exist and there are many types, but it's now proven some are not so nice. But there are nice ones, Vin being a fellow friend of mine, as he showed bravery, kindness and was a hero since he brought me back to life. ~Aria. In the end, Captain Cutler was proven wrong and all ended on a good note. We should've believed Aria instead of thinking she lied, because it caused a lot of trouble, but everything worked out in the end. ~Archie. This prove that, to ones you trust, you shouldn't doubt them. Their truth might prevent something horrible from happening. In short, trust those who you find to be trustworthy or else they will never turn to you for help. ~Aria. Trustworthy friends can be found anywhere, even in the sea, as long as you look. ~Archie. ...Even in a little town called Riverdale! ~Aria & Archie!"
We finished typing together and I smiled at the results.
"I missed this." I say as I hugged Archie from behind.
"Yeah. You got plans tomorrow?" Archie asked me.
"Wroking all day." I tell him simply.
"Ok. I'll see you at Pop's for lunch." Archie says to me with a smile. We talked a bit before he took me home. I hugged my dad and played with Allegro before heading to bed.