Chapter 9 Avalon
Author's note; Summary: Annie and Irene travel to Avalon to search for a transport pearl; Ava attempts to invade Avalon; In characters past Dawn prepares for a school dance with Troy.
Portland Oregon 1996
Dawn was observant with the seasons on land. She was fascinated about the leaves changing colors in the fall. When she arrived at school one day with Susannah, she saw a sign on the wall that said "Fall formal" on it.
"What's the fall formal?" asked Dawn.
"The fall formal is a dance party," explained Susannah. "We all dress up in fancy clothes, and dance."
"That sounds like fun," cried Dawn excitedly. "I hope Troy asks me to the dance."
"I'm sure he will," said Susannah. "You two have been dating since you told him your secret."
Troy walked up to them.
"Hey Dawn," said Troy. "I was wondering if you'd like to go to the fall formal with me?"
Dawn and Susannah smiled.
"Yes!" cried Dawn happily hugging her boyfriend.
Susannah giggled.
…
Annie, Irene, Melora, Sean, Celina and Tessa swum through the ocean.
"So how do we get to Avalon?" asked Annie.
"There are portals to other realms," explained Celina. "They're everywhere in the worlds you just can't see them."
They swum up to a rock arch.
"This is the portal to Avalon," said Sean.
"It looks like an ordinary arch" said Irene doubtfully.
"Watch this," said Tessa.
Celina and Tessa closed their eyes and concentrated. Then suddenly an image appeared in the gate. It looked a moor with trees and a sunrise sky.
"We opened the portal," explained Celina. "So now we swim through."
Celina, Tessa and Melora swum through the portal. Irene stood uncertainly. Sean took her hand and swum through together. Annie took a deep breath and swum through; it was like walking into a mirror.
When they swum out the other side through another stone arch, they saw they were in a river.
They swum to the surface and looked out at Avalon. It looked so beautiful, there were moors and forests, meadows filled with beautiful flowers.
Annie and Irene crawled out of the water, and then Annie used her heat powers to dry them off.
When the heat cleared, Annie and Irene had legs again for the first time in a month.
"Where do we find transport pearls?" asked Annie.
"I don't know," said Tessa. "We just know they grow here in Avalon. We'll have to ask the sidhes."
"But where do we find sidhes?" asked Irene.
Just then they saw three small figures flying down towards them. As they got closer, Annie noticed they looked like Ava when she was in her sidhe form. They were short and had dragonfly wings. One had blue skin, another had green skin and the third had light purple skin.
"We sensed the gate into Avalon opening," said the blue sidhe fiercely. "Who are you?"
"I am princess Celina of the mermaids," said Celina bowing. "We have come from the oceanic realm because these two girls are mermaids from the human world. They got transported to our world by accident and we're looking for a transport pearl to get them home."
The blue sidhe looked at the girls and floated down. His appearance transformed into a human form. He had albino skin, auburn eyes and light brown hair and wore a gold robe.
"I am king Phillip," said the sidhe. "King of Avalon."
The girls curtsied.
"I'm Annie," said Annie. "This is Irene."
The other two sidhes flew down and transformed into human form. The green sidhe transformed into a man wearing silver amor. The purple sidhe transformed into a girl with blond hair, baby blue eyes and a purple dress with a light purple shawl around her neck.
"This is Godric and Annette," introduced the king. "Members of the sidhe council. You may come to my castle to get changed. You mermaids look like you need a change in clothes."
"Thank you" said Irene smiling.
But what none of the group could see was that the gate into Avalon opened up again and Ava shot out.
…
A little while later, Annie was in a room in the castle. The sidhes had given her a purple gown.
"Hello" said a voice.
Annie turned around and saw a pink sidhe with ginger hair and eyes as blue as forget me nots. The sidhe transformed into human form and saw her beauty. She wore a yellow/gold gown and a crown of blue forget me nots in her hair.
"Who are you?" asked Annie.
"I'm princess Forget me not," said the sidhe. "You must be one of the mermaids my father told me about. Though I've never seen a mermaid with legs before."
"I've only been a mermaid for a year," explained Annie in a humored tone. "I feel into a moonpool last fall and became a mermaid. The vice principal at school in my world is a mermaid too and she helped me control my powers. Irene goes to school with me, but she comes from a family of mermaids."
"Your vice principal must be nice" said Forget me not.
"She is," said Annie. "That mermaid who came with us is her sister."
Just then Annie saw an image in the mirror.
It was Parker.
"Parker?" said Annie.
"Annie!" cried Parker. He then noticed Annie had her legs and the beautiful gown she wore.
"You're in human form," exclaimed Parker. "Where are you?"
"I'm in Avalon" replied Annie.
"Avalon?" said Parker. "You mean the same land my sword comes from?"
"Yes," replied Annie. "A merman we met told us of a pearl we can use to help us get back to Florence."
Parker looked happy that his girlfriend would be coming home soon.
"I'll let the others know" he said.
With that the image disappeared.
"Come on," said Forget me not. "My father is waiting."
…
Dawn came home looking happy. Melora saw her sister coming, she didn't look pleased that she was in that mood, because it meant Dawn was thinking about her boyfriend again.
"What have you been up to?" asked Melora coolly.
"The fall formal is this weekend," said Dawn excitedly. "It's a dance party human schools have. Troy asked me out!"
"You're not thinking of going, are you?" exclaimed Melora worriedly. "You know I can only cover you for so long before the pod gets suspicious."
"Nobody questions where I go except you," argued Dawn. "You've always been the pearl in the oyster. I've been getting more attention on land then I do down here."
"It's enough that you're in that human school most of the week," said Melora. "You're now planning on going out to a dance?!"
"Look," said Dawn firmly. "I told Troy I'd go to the dance with him and that's exactly what I'm going to do."
"Mark my words," snapped Melora. "You will not go to the dance!"
The next day at school, Dawn slumped in her chair as Susannah sat down next to her.
"What's wrong?" asked Susannah.
"Melora doesn't want me to go to the dance," sighed Dawn. "She's worried the pod is going to start getting suspicious of me going on land."
"Don't listen to your sister," said Susannah. "You've already told Troy your secret and he still loves you."
"I know," said Dawn exasperatedly. "But what if she's right? My parents already know about I'm seeing someone. Melora hasn't told them I've been going on land and dating a human. But they are getting suspicious about why I go off almost everyday by myself."
"I know the pod's rules," said Susannah. "But they should put a little trust in you because Troy loves you despite being a mermaid and he's kept it secret from school. Besides you have to come to the school dance, and not just because of Troy, I already got our dresses picked out."
"You did?" asked Dawn.
"Yeah," said Susannah. "You mermaids don't really have money, so I got a dress for you. Wait until you see it."
That afternoon Dawn decided to ask Troy what he thought. They were practicing track run together along a trail. Troy was in the lead and Dawn was having a hard time keeping up.
"Slow coach!" Troy called back teasingly.
"Sorry," said Dawn humorously. "We mermaids don't really have that much experience running. You should see us swim, I'd beat you in a race then."
"You know, I can't believe I never realized Susannah was a witch," said Troy now walking slower with Dawn walking beside him. "I've known her since grade school and I couldn't believe I didn't notice the signs like all those herbs her parents keep and all those old books they have."
"Well magic beings have to keep hidden from the humans," laughed Dawn. "Sometimes even other magic beings don't notice themselves."
Troy could see Dawn was looking worried.
"My sister doesn't want us to go to the dance," Dawn explained. "She thinks I'll make the pod suspicious if I go out at night. Susannah says I should go."
"Susannah's right," declared Troy. "She's your sister and you're not her shadow."
Dawn felt much better and hugged her boyfriend.
…
Forget me not took Annie to the throne room. They met up with Irene who wore a pink gown and they headed down together. The throne room had glass walls and the court was filled with sidhes wearing medieval outfits.
The king sat on his throne and faced the mermaids.
"Your majesties" they said curtsying.
The king nodded for the girls to speak.
"Irene and I come from the human world your highness," said Annie. "We were told that Avalon has a pearl that an help us get back to our world called a transport pearl. So, with your permission can we search for one?"
King Phillip thought for a minute.
"You have my permission to get a pearl," he said. "Your mermaid friends have told me that Ava's back." He added becoming serious.
Annie and Irene looked at each other worriedly, Irene looked at the ground, but Annie got the courage to speak.
"We met her back in the oceanic realm a few weeks ago," she admitted. "We've been hunting her, we captured her briefly. But then the other day she escaped."
The court whispered amongst themselves worriedly.
"She killed my queen," said Phillip gravely. "That's why she was banished. The penalty for killing another sidhe is eternal exile from Avalon."
"She's been trouble for the mermaids too," said Irene. "She tried to take over the realm and wants humans rid of."
The king seemed determined to protect his land from Ava. But he knew he had to help get the girls home.
"The transport pearls grow in the shimmering oysters in the lake," said the king. "Forget me not will take you there."
Forget me not nodded.
"Be careful" he said worriedly.
"I will dad" said Forget me not confidently.
Forget me not led Annie and Irene from the throne room unaware that Ava was listening.
Annie, Irene and Forget me not went outside to the moat where the rest of the mermaids were waiting for them. They told them about where to find the pearls, then headed off on their journey to the lake. The way lead along the river, Annie and Irene walked along by the river while the other mermaid swum.
"I can't wait to get back into the human world and see Dawn," said Melora. "I haven't seen her since she left to go live on land. I didn't really get to say goodbye to her when she left."
"What happened?" asked Annie.
"It was after a school dance" began Melora.
…
Friday came, Dawn had been excited about the dance all day. After school Dawn went back to the ocean for a while to convince Melora that she wouldn't go to the dance and would lower her guard on her.
As the time passed and the longer she stayed with the pod, the more Melora got the feeling her sister would stay.
When Dawn saw Melora leaving to talk to their parents, she took the chance to swim to shore. It was twilight by the time she got to the marina. Dawn climbed on to the deck and dried off.
She ran over to Susannah's house and knocked on the door.
Susannah's mother answered the door.
"Hello Dawn," said Mrs. Miranda. "Susannah's been expecting you, she's upstairs."
"Thanks Mrs. Miranda" said Dawn politely and entered the sweet herb smelling house and walked upstairs to Susannah's room.
"Hey Dawn," said Susannah. "I got our dresses ready."
To Dawn's confusion as she stepped inside, she saw lying on the bed, two worn out dresses.
"Those are our dresses?" asked Dawn dumbfounded.
"Just you wait," said Susannah. "I was looking in one of my parents' spell books and I found a glamor spell, like in Cinderella. So I grabbed some old worn out clothes to try the spell on."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bottle with a liquid as green as emeralds and dipped her fingers in it. Susannah faced the dresses and snapped her fingers. There was a puff of green smoke on the dresses and when it cleared the two girls looked and saw the dresses.
The spell had worked, one dress was Caribbean blue with thin straps and a long skirt. The other was a strapless purple dress with a high low-cut skirt.
"Susannah, they're beautiful!" cried Dawn astonishedly.
"This one's yours," said Susannah handing her the blue dress. "I think blue is your color."
Dawn smiled at her friend and got changed.
A few minutes later the girls came downstairs in their dresses. They said goodbye to Susannah's parents and headed out the door to the party.
When they got to the school, they saw Troy standing outside waiting for them wearing a black suit. He smiled when he saw Dawn and Susannah.
"Hey Dawn," he said. "You look so beautiful in that dress; you look like a princess."
"Thanks" said Dawn blushing.
The three friends went into the school gym. The gym was decorated with a fall theme; there were red and orange streamers hanging around, wreaths made of pine cones and autumn leaves and lights hung around.
People where dancing and music played. Dawn stared around the sight, Troy held out his hand and the two lovers started dancing.
It was the best night of Dawn's life. She was lost in her own world as she and Troy danced around the gym.
An hour had passed and Dawn and Troy had been enjoying themselves immensely. A slower song started to play and where holding each other warmly as they danced.
"I want the night to last forever" sighed Dawn romantically.
"I know," said Troy. "Nothing could ruin a night like tonight."
Dawn was facing towards the doors to the gym and she saw the doors open and three girls walked in. Dawn's smile dropped when she saw the girls and saw the girl in the middle was Melora wearing a purple tea length dress with splashes of blue and purple and a serious look on her face.
Dawn let go of Troy.
"Uh oh," said Dawn. "We've got trouble."
"What do you mean?" asked Troy.
"It's my sister and her friends," said Dawn. "Molly and Courtney."
Troy looked back to see the three girls walking across the gym. People stopped what they were doing to look at them. They even stepped aside the let them pass like they were models walking down a runway.
Susannah heard her friends talking and turned to face the girls.
"Dawn," said Melora crossly. "I can't believe you'd sneak out to the dance! You were forbidden to go."
"You must be Melora" said Troy in a friendly tone, trying to calm things down with the sisters.
"Stay out of this!" snapped Melora not interested in his attempt of friendliness.
"What are you even doing here Melora?" said Dawn exasperatedly.
"Mom and dad sent us to bring you back" replied Melora affirmatory.
Dawn's eyes widened in shock.
"You told them about this?" she cried.
"I didn't have a choice," said Melora sounding guilty in her voice. Molly looked away, Courtney faced the ground.
"Come on," said Melora dismissively, grabbing Dawn's arm. "We're going home." She started to turn away.
"No!" snapped Dawn pulling her arm free. "I'm staying."
Troy and Susannah exchanged worried looks. Other students were also starting to pay attention to the sisters quarrel.
"Hey Melora," said Susannah stepping up to defend her friend. She spoke in a kind, but low enough voice so only they could hear. "Dawn's been doing fine on land, and Troy and I are the only ones who knows she's a mermaid."
"Nobody asked you witch" said Molly, the girl on the left. She had blond hair and wore a grey sweater top with a red, yellow and blue stripe.
"You know the pods rules," added Courtney. She had honey colored hair worn down and wore a purple crop top and skinny jeans. "Mermaids can't fall in love with humans."
"You could get banished from the pod if this keeps up," warned Melora. "Do you want that?"
Dawn looked down shamefully.
Melora grabbed Dawn by the arm again and this time she didn't try to fight back.
"Sorry for disturbing you all," said Melora facing the crowd. "Get back to your party."
The dancing started again as the four mermaids walked away. Dawn looked back at Susannah and Troy sadly as she walked away.
As they were leaving a boy approached Courtney.
"Would you like to dance?" he asked flirtatiously.
"Look," said Courtney awkwardly. "You look like a nice guy and all, but I have to go."
…
Melora and her friends took Dawn back to the marina where they dove underwater and regained their tails and swum back to the pod.
When they got there, Melora listened to the conversation between Dawn and their parents.
"You have been sneaking off on land and seeing a human boy," said their father in a disappointed tone. "How did you even get legs?"
"Delphine gave me her ring," replied Dawn meekly. "I was curious about what it was like on land."
"It's still dangerous," said her mother in her serious tone. "People could've found you in mermaid form."
"I love him mom," said Dawn defensively. "And he's the only human I've revealed my mermaid form to. He'd never tell anyone."
"Dawn, you know your loyalties need to lie with the pod," said her father. "And you know the consequences in breaking the rules and falling in love with a human could get you banned from the pod."
"I am loyal to the pod," cried Dawn. "But I still love Troy."
"I'm sorry Dawn," said her mother sympathetically. "But you must never see that boy again."
Dawn swum out of the cave tearfully, leaving Melora ashamed.
…
Forget me not let the mermaids to a lake.
"This is the lake where the transport pearls grow" said Forget me not.
"Where are they?" asked Tessa. "I don't see them."
"The oysters the pearls grow in are inside a cave under the water," explained Forget me not.
Annie and Irene jumped into the water with Forget me not and they dove underwater.
Through the water, they could see the opening to a cave and swum into it. They swum to the surface and saw they were in a cave pool.
"Oh no!" cried Forget me not.
"What's wrong?" asked Celina.
"Look" said Forget me not.
The mermaids looked and saw on a rock formation where three oysters. But they were grey and looked lifeless.
"That's not how it's supposed to look," said Forget me not distressed. "They're supposed to be gold and shimmery!"
"They look like they've been petrified," said Annie.
"That's right," said a voice behind them.
Annie and the others turned to see Ava.
"Ava!" they cried.
"What are you doing here?!" snapped Forget me not.
"Stopping you from going back into the human world," declared Ava. "With a little help from my demon friend."
The group turned to see a man standing next to her. He had grey hair with a beard and wore black robes.
"Who is that?" whispered Irene.
"There are no demons in Avalon" said Forget me not worriedly.
"I am Charun," said the demon with a sly grin. "The sidhe summoned me from the depths of hell to conquer Avalon. I used my powers to kill the oysters, the only way to break the spell is to destroy me!"
Forget me not's blue eyes looked like they were in flames as she blasted a beam of pink energy at Charun. The beam hit him, but he looked unharmed.
"I hate to break it to you princess," but your powers can't hurt me."
He then transformed. His skin grayed like he was made of stone and he had three horn on either side of his head.
"Forget me not," said Annie. "You go for Ava; we'll handle the demon."
Forget me not nodded and transformed into her sidhe form.
"You killed my mother!" snapped Forget me not. "You were banished before, but now you're going to pay!"
The princess made vines grow out from the wall and tied around Ava's wrists.
Ava struggled and made the vines disappear and then transformed into sidhe form.
"Killing your mother made me feel bittersweet," taunted Ava. "But killing the king's daughter will be even more sweet."
She unleashed a bolt of blue lightning which blasted Forget me not to the ground.
"You're not the only one with lightning!" snapped Annie.
Annie unleashed a bolt of her own lightning at Ava making her fall to the ground.
Irene used her ice powers to form ice on Charun's legs. He noticed the ice and used his powers to break the ice to pieces.
Celina and Tessa used their water powers to make a wave at Charun. But Charun stopped the wave before it hit him.
"I can make a more powerful wave," he declared. He made a tidal covering the mermaids and knocking them over.
"If only Parker was here with the sword of Avalon," sighed Annie. "He could defeat that demon with no trouble."
She then had an idea.
"I need to talk to Mrs. Wellington!" she cried.
The other mermaids kept up the fight while Annie swum out of the cave and used the spell.
A vision of Mrs. Wellington and Haru appeared. They were in Mrs. Wellington's living room.
"Mrs. Wellington," cried Annie. "We are in Avalon to get a transport pearl, but there's a demon named Charun here and we're having trouble stopping him."
"Charun?" said Haru. "I've heard of him, he's a high-ranking demon. High ranking demons like him are harder to defeat then most demons. His powers are earth and water, the best way to defeat him is for you mermaids to make a convergence spell of your powers."
"Thanks, Haru," said Annie.
Then the image disappeared.
Annie quickly swum back inside.
…
"I still feel bad about last night" sighed Melora.
"You did what you thought was right," said Courtney supportively.
"Yeah, besides I didn't gain legs and steal clothes and learn to walk to let her refuse to come back" added Molly.
They noticed a shell on the side of the pool with markings on it.
Melora grabbed it.
"It's Dawn's writing," she said. She read the writing and her eyes widened in shock. "She's left the pod!" she said softly. "It says that she's leaving the pod to be with Troy and she's never coming back."
Molly and Courtney put an arm around their friend comfortingly as she looked down sadly.
…
Susannah was sitting on the couch reading a book when she heard the door knock. She got up and answered it and was surprised to see Dawn.
"Dawn!" she cried with a smile. "I didn't think I'd see you again."
"I've left the pod," sighed Dawn. "I belong with Troy, I felt I belonged here more than down with them. Is it okay if I stay here?" she asked her friend awkwardly.
"Of course, it is!" cried Susannah excitedly and the two best friends hugged.
…
The other mermaids were still trying to fight Charun, but he was overpowering them.
Annie surfaced.
"Irene! Celina!" she cried. "We need to combine our powers together to over power him!"
"What do you mean?!" cried Irene.
"It's a convergence," explained Annie. "I have fire powers, Irene has ice powers and Celina has water powers. I'll show you."
Annie shot a beam of fire towards Charun. The demon shot a beam of white light back. The two beams stood in the middle where against each other trying to overpower the other.
Celina joined the fight, she unleashed a bolt of water. The beam of combined fire and water looked stronger.
Irene starred hesitantly for a brief moment before she joined in unleashing a bolt of ice.
The three beams of fire, ice and water overpowered Charun's powers and blasted him. Charun screamed in pain as his body glowed white. He then exploded into bites!
"No!" cried Ava as she saw the oysters' turning gold. The cave became brighter and sparkly. Ava flew out.
Forget me not flew up to one of the oysters. It opened up and she took out a small pearl. It had rainbow colors all swirled together.
"It's beautiful!" exclaimed Irene.
When they got back to the castle, the king thanked them for stopping the demon.
"It's no problem," said Annie. "Come on guys let's go back to the oceanic realm. We're going home tomorrow."
Author's note; Annie and Irene have a pearl to take them home. But they still have their troubles with Ava and the hunters. And we have seen about how Mrs. Wellington left her pod.