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Things moved fast the following morning. It was a relief to discover that Fynn and I were no longer stuck together. Fynn checked my injuries and was stunned to find they had healed so quickly. Little did he know this was the slowest I had healed since awakening. I couldn’t be too critical of my body though; it had been given a challenging task.
I had already been weakened from not drinking, I then used additional energy I didn’t have to answer the call. If I had been human, the knife would have been fatal. I had stopped the bleeding as best I could, but healing wouldn’t happen until I could feed myself. Battling a group of sharks was the last thing I should have done, but only death could have prevented me from fighting for my men. Incidentally, death almost did take me out.
The frenzy reopened the injuries from the knife, and I began to bleed out internally. That was right about the time the last shark attempted to rip my tail in half. I had told Fynn the truth about my injuries, but I had not told him how extensive they were.
I also did not tell the men how bad Storm had been wounded. Debris had embedded in him like shrapnel, slicing vital organs. His bowel had been sliced through, his spine injured, he had massive internal bleeding, and a small piece of metal had slowly sawed away at his aorta with each breath he took. It was a surprise that he had stayed alive for as long as he did after the explosion.
I could have healed myself in an hour or two, with only Eason’s blood. But I needed all the blood they could spare to heal Storm’s human body. He had come back to us, but he almost drained my body of blood in the process. Once Fynn gave me blood, I was able to start the healing process on my body again.
After reassuring himself I wasn’t in pain, Fynn had gathered me into his arms and carried me to a small steel tub. It was a tight fit, not at all like the elegant bathing pools of Atlantis. He turned several knobs until warm water sprayed over me.
Kye, Eason and Storm strode into the room and froze. Kye burst into laughter, doubling over to brace himself on his knees. Storm began to chuckle as well, and even the stoic Eason tried to hide a smile. I didn’t see what was so amusing.
He finally got his laughter under control long enough speak, “You are bathing her in the sink where the lab cleans their dead specimens?” Eason spluttered. “Talk about romance being dead in the world nowadays.”
I was indignant. “Is he speaking the truth?” I said to Fynn. “You are bathing the leader of the entire Atlantean military force in a tub for cleaning dead fish?” No wonder the cold tub had a strange odor.
Silence fell on the room. I glanced at the men, but they were frozen in place. My mind flashed back to the final attack on Atlantis; the strange frozen moments in time. The sudden silence after the loud shouts of battle and then the terrified wails as the sea swallowed an entire civilization. I jerked my mind back to my current reality and was relieved to realize they were still breathing and blinking rapidly. They had frozen in shock, not from a trick of magik.
“When you say Atlantean––” Storm started.
“Do you mean Atlantis?” Fynn finished.
How could these men be so highly educated on a vast number of topics, yet not know basic history?
“Yes, of course.” I tilted my hand to allow the clean water to rush through it.
“Soldier, are you from Atlantis?” Eason asked. I continued washing my hair as I eyed him and the other men.
“Why are you all acting so strange?” I asked.
Their hearts had begun to race, and I was growing uncomfortable. Eason moved to the tub and lifted me up into his arms, not caring that my body soaked his dry clothing. He found a seat and sat with me on his lap.
“I think we need to tell you about the legends of Atlantis,” he said gently.
And he did. He told me how my home was a bedtime story told to children, and a tale that had many pirates searching for our treasures. It had become a legend that morphed and changed—some claimed we were human, other claimed we were mermaids. Our true history had been wiped from the minds of men and from their historical records. The brave heroes, the wise rulers, the brilliant scientists, the talented artists… All had been forgotten.
We didn’t exist.
I didn’t exist.
Tears blurred my vision and the sound of blood rushed in my ears. I had awakened in a strange body and in a world far different from the one I remembered. It had been hard to accept that my people were gone, but I had found solace in the belief that my people would be honored in history for the sacrifices we had made.
Humans would have been destroyed had we not stepped up to protect them and fight back against the Lure. Rage burned in my chest. We had given up everything in an effort to protect the humans, and the humans had repaid us by turning my people into a silly myth.
“Soldier, listen to me!” I snapped my head up at Eason’s sharp tone. “You do matter. It is unfair what has been done to your people. We will listen to you recount the history of Atlantis. Heck, I bet you’ll get sick of all our questions!” He gave me a winning smile. “This is incredible. We will help to honor those you loved and admired. It will not right the wrongs done, but it is a start.”
I threw my arms around his neck. My emotions were continuing to chip away at the cage locking them in, and I was already struggling with the ups and downs.
“I need to go home,” I mumbled. “Atlantis is there. It has to be.” His shirt muffled my words.
“You think you can find Atlantis?” Storm asked, his tone incredulous.
“I know I can. If I get near enough, it will call to me.”
I jerked, startled by a loud thump. Peering around Eason, I saw Fynn passed out on the cool tile floor.
“What happened to him? Is he okay?” I gasped.
