"I've succeeded!" she exclaimed.
"Not so fast," the ring cautioned, its tone shifting. "That beach is crowded. Do you wish to give humans the spectacle of a mermaid sighting?"
Her joy faltered. "No… of course not. Then what do I do?"
The ring slipped from her waist, glowing brighter. Before her eyes, it transformed into a small turtle, its body blue and its shell shimmering with many colors.
Celestine's jaw dropped.
The turtle smiled knowingly. "Simple. Just snap your fingers."
Celestine hesitated. What if it changed more than the water around her?
"You don't trust me, do you?" the turtle asked softly, wobbling on its tiny flippers.
Her eyes flicked from the turtle to the land boy, still trapped inside the protective bubble.
"I do," she whispered, raising her right hand. She snapped.
SNAP!
The water swirled violently. Her vision blurred, then cleared—she was suddenly two meters from the tide, sitting on soft sand with her blue tail glittering in the sunlight.
"Yes! I made it!" she laughed, her voice full of relief.
"Congratulations on completing your special rescue mission," the turtle said—only now it had transformed into an orange crab, claws clicking proudly.
"Where's he?" Celestine asked, looking down.
The crab pointed a claw. "Beside you."
Celestine turned. The bubble had vanished, leaving the boy unconscious in the sand.
"Is he… alive?" she asked breathlessly.
"Just unconscious, my lady," the crab assured her.
Celestine leaned closer. She had never been this close to a human before. He looked her age—light-skinned, black hair plastered to his forehead, lips pale. She brushed the back of her hand across his face. Cold. Too cold.
" He's really cute, don't you think?" The crab asked climbing onto his chest.
"He is. Really handsome," she murmured, cheeks warming. "Cuter than most merboys in the ocean. But why is he freezing?"
The crab clicked its claws in embarrassment. "Oops! I forgot to regulate the bubble's temperature. But I can fix it—through you. Place your hand on his."
Her pulse quickened. Still, she obeyed, pressing her palm gently against his. A surge of warmth traveled from her chest, through her arm, and into him. Within moments, colour returned to his cheeks.
Celestine smiled softly. "I wish I knew his name."
"Look at his wrist," the crab said, hopping off his chest.
She turned his arm over and found a wristband. The name stamped into the leather read: MIKE.
"Come on, Celestine," the crab urged, scuttling toward the waves. "We must leave before humans see us."
"Are we really leaving him here?" Her heart tightened.
"He belongs to the land. You belong to the sea. He'll survive."
Reluctantly, she turned back toward the water and rolled into the tide.
The moment her scales touched the sea, blue sparks surged across her body—an electric current flung her back onto the sand. Pain shot through her, and then blackness.
She awoke with a sharp gasp as the crab nipped her hand with its pincers.
"What was that?" she choked out. "What happened to me?"
The crab hesitated, then spoke in a grave voice. "I'm afraid you've been cursed, Celestine. You can't return."
Her blood ran cold. "No… that can't be true. Why?"
"Don't you remember the legend?"
The crab shimmered back into the silver ring, its girl like voice echoing with weight.
Celestine's eyes widened. The curse…
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Long ago, after King Titan—the first merman to rule over the Pacific Ocean—was blessed by Poseidon with great power, he fell deeply in love with a woman from the land. To be with her, he granted her the ability to breathe underwater.
But when his mother and the mermaids discovered his forbidden love, they threatened to kill the woman unless he abandoned her. Titan refused. Consumed by passion, he turned his trident against his own people, slaughtering thousands who dared oppose him.
Desperate to protect the seas and ocean, Poseidon stripped Titan of his powers and struck him down. The trident was sealed away, the human's memory erased, and new golden laws were cast upon the merfolk:
"From this day forward, no mermaid or merman shall make contact with humans. Any who set foot on land, even for a breath, shall be branded an outcast—banished from the sea and ocean forever."
****************************************
Celestine buried her face in her hands as the truth crashed over her.
"I'm doomed," she whispered, trembling. "I can't go back. My mother will be really worried… What have I done?" Tears spilled down her cheeks.
"Celestine…" the ring's voice floated beside her. "He's waking up."
Her head snapped up and he turned to looked at him.The boy's chest rose and fell. His eyelids fluttered—slowly opening.
Her heart leapt in panic. In a flash of light, she vanished.
Mike blinked against the sunlight, confusion clouding his face.
" Where...am I?"
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(Celestine's mother to be revealed in the next chapter)
TO BE CONTINUED…