A Mermaid's Heart

Chapter Five.

Alexandria turned and began making her way up the winding steps and walkways of the tower, silently expecting me to follow. My hand gripped the railing as my eyes glanced down to where Caleb had stopped in the doorway of the living area, glancing back at me from over his shoulder. Blue gazed up at us with sadness in her eyes as if she didn’t expect for me to be able to withstand the lure of a god but I was determined to prove her wrong. The cobblestone stairs gave way to red carpet as we approached an overhanging platform that had a few tables scattered throughout it, decorated in books, antique statues and skulls. There was a black couch pushed up to one side, overlooking a large window that revealed the abandoned town and ocean that sat on the other side of it. I stilled by the steps, my eyes scanning the area, the old red curtains and paintings that hung on the stone walls. Alexandria approached a table that had herbs, crystals and various types of poisons scattered across its surface and allowed her fingers to dance over the choices, setting on a small vile that had a green liquid swirling inside of it “In order to trap Neptune we must first unlock the power within these gems-.” she explained, holding the velvet bag up in her free hand, the material having been pulled back to reveal the rainbow of colors that seemed to glow in her presence. It was as if her magic was calling out to them, causing them to burn as they had at the altar but she didn’t seem effected by the sting of their warmth “But I do not possess the ability to do so myself” her white, marble eyes slowly moved across the room until she had turned to face me, the vile clutched between her thumb and forefinger, almost hiding it in the black material of her dress “You see, when Amun ordered us to split our power, he made it so that no magic could ever unseal the power within them-.” she studied the jewels, her hand constricting around them as if to try and crush them in her grip, hoping that the power within would escape if she was to do so but even I knew that if she was to shatter them that the power would be lost forever. Erupting into the air and creating chaos around us “But such power cannot be disposed of otherwise he would have destroyed it long ago-.” she let the bag drop from her hand, her fingers moving to grip the strings to catch it and hide the jewels beneath the soft, black fabric before she abandoned them on the table behind her “No, he could only seal it away and keep a key for when he would be in need of such great power” the way she spoke was like listening to a siren sing, it was so captivating and entrancing that I hung on her every word when she moved along the wooden floor of the area and came to a stop behind a table near where I was stood. Her hand traced the pages of a book, laying open with the image of a sword having been drawn onto one of the pages “The key in this case being the sword of Leandros” I slowly dared to step closer to the book, my eyes glued to the image that had been bared for them to marvel at. There was a familiar crest in the top corner of the page, the sigil of a lion. My lips parted, about to ask the question lacing my tongue but the witch answered me before I could speak the words “It was forged by the god Hephaestus and given to a mortal family of nobility to be passed down through generations” my fingers went to trace the words scribbled across the page opposite that of the image, using my non burnt hand to do so. Alexandria turned on her heels, the clicking sound radiating off the walls around us when she approached a painting that hung on the fall wall “Mortals could not possibly gather all seven stones so what better place to hide the key than in their greedy hands-.” she stopped in front of the painting, the liquid in the vile swirling around with every minor movement she’d make. My eyes shifted to the painting to find that it was of a man, dressed in an expensive suit that had the Campbell sigil sown onto its breast pocket and I knew, my suspicions had been confirmed “The greed would eventually consume them until the sword would be lost, erased from record” I heard shallow breathing in the back of my mind and turned to glance at the walkway behind me, to the steps but there was no one there. It was true, Claudia, her father and mother had all been lost in the raging fires of Captain Solstice’s wrath, dragging the whereabouts of the sword down with them “But there was one thing Amun didn’t understand-.” she turned to look at me, her lips pursed and her dress dancing around her like wings, moving like a halo of darkness that appeared so menacing yet beautiful at the same time “Blood always leaves a trail that can be traced back to its roots” she was referring to Caleb, to his half blood and the fact that he could be used to find the whereabouts of the sword. I wanted to protest but Caleb’s voice in the back of my mind interrupted me ‘I’ll do it’ I glanced to the lower floor to find that Blue’s eyes were glowing and that Caleb was sitting on a chair close to her, listening in on Alexandria and I’d conversation through her telepathy. He leaned his chin on his knuckles and met my eyes with a stern gleam “No-.” I stated, turning my eyes back to the witch in front of me. She knew that Caleb had already agreed and shot a sinister smile in my direction. She wasn’t evil but something about her seemed wicked, so much so that the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end when she began advancing toward me “I won’t let him be a part of this” I declared which had her grin only widening at my words. A chair scraped against the floor below, the sound echoing through the tower but I ignored it and busied myself with the woman before me “Isn’t that his decision to make?” she shot back, causing my throat to dry and my teeth to clench. She had a point, Caleb had respected every decision I had ever made so who was I not to respect his? If he wanted to help capture Neptune so that we could finally be together then who was I to stop him? Alexandria raised the green vile into the air between us “All I need is a few drops of his blood-.” her clawed hand held the vile out to me, signaling that the drops should be mixed in with the green liquid. Her eyes traveled from my hand when I took the glass tube to something behind me when she added in a low whisper “I’ll leave you to extract it” she moved passed me, her aura nearly knocking the air out of my lungs from how close she had been, her breath caressing my cheek and ear. I turned to watch her leave and found Caleb stood there, watching me with a hard gaze.

I placed my hands firmly on his shoulders, easing him onto the couch in front of the large window, my eyes staring at the black shoreline and grey ocean beyond it. I could feel Neptune’s fingers constricting around my throat, his fingers tracing the skin of my arm. I had placed the green vile on a small table beside the couch and eased myself onto Caleb’s lap. There was a burning sensation in my chest when I locked gazes with the Black Pirate Captain, my hands snaking up to caress his cheeks, holding his face in between my palms “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked, my eyes beginning to glow from how close he was. It was why we were in that position. I needed my claws to draw his blood and only strong emotions would cause my nails to extend to such a sharp, long length. Just being there with him was enough to drive me insane but unlike the constant desire to be close to him that I had before, there was a small part of me that wanted to distance myself from Caleb “Do I have a choice?” he shot back, his words low, his hands laying limp on the couch beside him. He wasn’t referring to Alexandria forcing him to be a part of entrapping Neptune but instead to him wanting to be with me, loving me and in order to be together we had to do whatever it takes to get to stay alive, to stay together. I nodded, my thumb pressing harder into the shin of his cheek, cutting it enough for blood to start dripping down the side of his face to his chin. He tilted his head back to prevent the blood from dripping onto his clothing, hardly effected by the sudden, sharp pain that my touch had caused him. I reached for the vile, removing the cork and placing the glass brim to his throat where the blood was making its way down, my breath catching in my throat as I watched the droplets swirl in the green substance like a crimson cloud surrounded by a field of vibrant, green grass. I placed the cork back on and dropped the vile into his lap, both hands reaching for him, my body leaning down to drag my tongue up, along his neck, over his chin and jaw to where the cut had been made just beneath his eye. Caleb stiffened beneath me at the feel of my wet tongue against his warm, exposed flesh, the cool air causing the places where my tongue had been to grow colder, sending shivers down his spine. My lips parted, tongue dancing over the claw I had used to cut him with, feeling a stinging sensation jolt through me when my tongue had been cut, drawing my own blood in the process without Caleb noticing. He growled deep in his throat when I ran my tongue along the cut I had made, my breath fanning his ear while I pulled away, sitting upright on his lap, my legs on either side of him, his hands gripping my thighs but my eyes were locked onto the sea. His face surfaced in my mind, his pale skin and sapphire eyes, irises rimmed with black circles while his slit pupils seemed to stare straight through me. I could see his messy hair, wet, always wet from the water, his beard and those sharp features “Evangeline?” Caleb’s voice snapped me out of my trance. I quickly moved away from him, off his lap to place as much distance between us as possible. Why was I seeing Neptune? Was it because I had experienced him for the first time? Was it because I was drawn to him more than ever in that moment? I brushed it off and looked at Caleb, his cheek fully healed because of my blood and his eyebrows furrowed up in confusion “The vile” I turned on the balls of my feet to face the woman stood directly behind me. Her frozen eyes had no pupils and her bloody red lips were parted after having spoken the words that managed to catch my attention “It’s diluted aconitum extract and brugmansia nectar-.” she explained when I handed her the vile, holding it up between us, shaking it to see whether the blood had dissolved completely within the liquid. She hummed and turned to head over to the table where she had pulled the vile from “In other words it’s a hallucinogenic poison that triggers visons much like the type found in mermaid scales-.” Caleb leaned forward on the couch at the word ‘poison’, his hand gripping the arm of the furniture while I watched her use a needle to retrieve a single drop from the vile, letting it drip into a cup of water that she then proceeded to mix “Except these-.” she continued, holding the vile up only to abandon it on the surface of the table “Allow us to see as far into the past as we desire” she raised the cup and began stalking toward me, her shoes clicking against the wood, her long, slender legs moving beneath the black material of her gown allowing them to mold the fabric with the slightest of movements “More than a single drop could kill you” it wasn’t necessary information since she’d only given me a drop but she said it none the less, wanting to see how Caleb would react. She liked watching people squirm, sinister and cruel. His hand tightened on the arm of his chair even more, causing his knuckles to turn white when I took the cup from her hand “Now drink” she instructed and I raised the cup to my lips, feeling the cool texture against my warm flesh. Her hand reached out, placing the tip of one of her nails beneath the cup, tilting it for me. I felt the substance burn its way down my throat, not as potent as rum but nothing like water either “And find me that sword” she added before my body went numb, the cup cluttering from my hand and to the floor by her feet. My legs gave way beneath me, my body tumbling to the side and crashing onto the wood. Alexandria looked down at me, her arm lowering as she stayed rooted in place “Eva-!” the name was cut short, cried out by Caleb when I had collapsed. The water that I had yet to swallow escaped the corner of my lips and dripped to the floor as my eyes grew duller, the blue and grey colors fading to white, the same white that watched me with impatience. The image of her black dress and heels was clouded, shifting when I fell unconscious, the twitch in my fingertips stilling completely, my breathing becoming almost non-existent. Was I going to die? Did she place an extra drop into the water, one I hadn’t noticed? I wanted to scream, unable to feel the strong hands gripping at my body, pulling me into a muscular chest that was clad in a shirt and coat. I couldn’t smell Caleb’s familiar scent nor could I see his face staring down at me with worry in his eyes when he snapped at Alexandria. She never answered him, disappearing in a flash of thunder that struck over the ocean outside the tower walls.