The Dream

After my fourteenth night without The Dream I finally found our beach. It was larger than I expected, spanning across miles of empty surf. In The Dream I’ve never noticed how bright the sun was on the surface or how blue the water. Everything was new and beautiful, the colors on land so different than the colors in the sea.

I glanced to my left and saw the rock that I was always perched on while I waited for him to arrive. It’s been way to long since the last time I’ve seen this place.

Swallowing past my nervousness I glide closer to the beach, allowing the sea’s strong tide to do most of the work. Once I was close enough for the end of my tail to touch the sand beneath me I pulled out the purple vial from the bag that was tied loosely around my waist.

I looked at the vial in my hand, my mind spinning.

Should I really do this?

What if I can’t find him?

What if I do find him and he’s already married?

Taking a deep breath I quickly uncap the bottle and swallow every bit of the purple liquid it carried before I could talk myself out of it.

I felt nothing at first, then a tingling began at the tip of my fins that expanded to where my tail met my hips. Once there the tingling grew until it became a painful ache that spread to my entire body. I could no longer keep myself afloat and sank below the water, gasping as the gills that were located within my throat closed off.

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t call out for help, as the pain worsened.

My only saving grace was the fact that there wasn’t much distance from the ocean floor to the surface. Gathering my strength I launch myself to the surface, gasping greedily at the air above.

Oddly enough, the minute I brought air into my now functioning lungs the pain stopped. My muscles were tired from the pain, but I quickly pushed myself toward the surf, dragging my now human body out of the foaming water.

I laid in the warm sand, feeling like I couldn’t breathe for a while until I realized something was very different.

Sitting up, I look down my body. I was still wearing my net and sea shell top, but instead of my beautiful golden tail I now have two very human legs.

Two very human legs that I had no idea how to use.

Taking a steadying breath I sit up, thinking about how I’m going to stand, when I heard strange thundering sounds. I turn to see a gigantic black beast running toward me.

Dragging myself across the sand I grab onto a rock and pull myself into a standing position. Leaning heavily against the rock I watch as the angry looking creature barreled closer, fear now taking root inside me.

My screams caught in my throat, I was sure the animal was going to kill me before I could find my soul again.

But just as the animal was almost an arm’s length away it turned, showing the human that rode it. He was handsome, with the same blonde hair and hazel eyes as my other half, but I knew this wasn’t him.

My soul is still ripped in two.

“My God! What are you doing here? And you’re naked!”

I stared at the man as he quickly pulled something from the sack at his side, “Here, put this on. Hopefully it’ll cover all of you before someone of more questionable morals finds you.”

I slowly grabbed the large white fabric he handed me.

I held it up and stared at him, “How does this work?”

His eyes widened, “You don’t know how to button a man’s shirt?”

I swallow, then quickly improvised by tying the fabric around my hips, “Like this?”

He stared at me like I had two heads, “It’ll work, I suppose.”

I swallowed, “Do you know where I can find Cid?”

This time the man stuttered, “C-Cid? Do you mean Lord Ciderion of Rochester?”

I don’t know if we’re talking about the same Cid, “Please, I just need to see him. It’s been so lone since our last Dream-”

“Dream?” he interrupted, his face full of shock, “Did you say you saw him in a dream?”

I nodded, though I know he doesn’t understand the importance of this special Dream.

“This… this is impossible! People can’t share dreams.”

I frowned, “You know about our Dreams?”

The man sighed, “Cid’s been asking for you. Well, not you. He keeps asking for his mermaid Queen.”

He lifted a hand and dragged it up and down in the air, indicating my new legs, “And I really doubt you’re a mermaid.”

A large smile split my face, “Where is he? I’ve got to see him!”

The man swallowed, “Well, that’ll be kind of hard.”

The same churning I had in my last Dream came back to invade my stomach, “Why? What’s wrong?”

He stared at me for a few minutes while my anxiety grew, “Are you really the girl from his dreams?”

I nodded, “Please, I have to see him.”

The man leaned down and held his hand out, “Then come on, I’ll take you to him.”

Not knowing what else to do I placed my hand in his and was shocked when he pulled me up onto the large animal behind him. Before I could even ask him what he was doing he kicked the beast under him, forcing me to hold his waist tightly. The animal immediately began to run, the movement causing my stomach to flop and my eyes to close tightly.

I don’t know how long we travelled, or what kind of landscape we passed. All I knew was that I had to get off this thing as soon as possible.

The man pulled back on the leather rope that was tied to the animal’s mouth, then pulled my arms from his waist, “Jacob! I need you to take Major back to the stables.”

I opened my eyes when the man jumped from the horse, turning to help me down as well, “Come on, this way.”

He grabbed my hand and led me up a large flight of stairs, straight to the gigantic wooden door.

It seemed everything here was larger than life.

He opened the door, then dragged me into the room. There were only two other people here, they looked to be mother and daughter since they both had long curly red hair and bright green eyes.

“Now dear, remember, when you go out not to put on too much makeup otherwise the boys will get the wrong idea and you know how they are... oh look, it’s your father.”

The woman stood, then glared when she saw me, “You dare bring this... this hussy into my home?”

“Now, Darla, it’s not what it looks like-”

“No? So you always drag naked women around?” Darla turned to her daughter, “Dear, go on up to your room.”

The sixteen year old left, her eyes wide with shock.

“I cannot believe you. I know it’s custom for men to take mistresses, but I never thought you would-”

“Love, she’s Cid’s.”

That seemed to stop Darla’s tirade, “Cid’s?”

Apparently belonging to a man was important here on land.

She looked at me, then sighed, “You haven’t told her yet, have you?”

I swallowed, “Told me what?”

“Honey, Cid’s not very well right now. Even the doctors can’t tell what’s wrong.”

No.

“I need to see him, now.”

Darla nodded, then turned to her husband, “I‘ll get her an appropriate outfit-”

“No!”

They both looked at me in shock at my outburst, “No, I can’t change. I’ve changed so much that he’ll never recognize me without my necklaces and net top.”

She sighed, “Alright, but no men are allowed around her! It’s bad enough you brought her here dressed like that.”

The man chuckled, “You should have seen her when I found her.”

Darla shook her head then grabbed my hand, “Come on, I’ll take you up.”

I followed the woman up another flight of stairs to a long hallway.

She led the way to a door at the end and turned to me, “Before you go in I want to warn you. He’s extremely sick. He’s been unconscious for about three days. The doctors are calling it a coma.”

I felt my heart crumble.

Unconscious for three days?

“They haven’t been able to get him to respond,” she continued, “They think his body and brain is forcing him into this deep sleep because he wouldn’t sleep for days.”

Not sleeping? Did he hate me and The Dream so much?

Darla sighed, “Alright, let’s go.”

She pushed the door open and allowed me to step in. Once inside she shut the door, leaving me alone. Swallowing, I walk further into the room, only stopping when I see the man laying in the bed.

His hair was dirty, his eyes had bags under them, and his skin was pale and clammy.

“Oh, Cid, what have you done?”

I sat on the bed beside him, my hand slowly reaching out to trace his face, “This is why you can’t ignore The Dream, but I never thought it’d be this bad.”

My eyes filled with tears, a few escaping down my cheek, “I don’t know if I can help you.”

Feeling, for the first time in my life, a sense of despair I lean closer and lay my head against his, “Fate may have brought us to this place, but it can never force me to stop Dreaming.”

I don’t know how long I stayed with him, whispering the things I’ve longed to tell him for so long, before a knock sounded at the door.

I looked up to see Darla and her husband enter the room, “I’ve called the doctor, but it’ll take him about an hour to get here.”

I shook my head, “If they haven’t been able to help him yet, they never will.”

I turned and looked back into my soul’s face, “But I may still be able to.”

“How?” Darla asked.

I turned to her husband, “Did Cid tell you anything else about The Dream?”

He shrugged, “He mentioned that I’d find you at the beach.”

A smile burst across my face, “That’s it! We need to get him to the beach!”

“The beach?!” Darla exclaimed in shock as I quickly stood.

“Yes, I have a vial that could save his…”

I trailed off as I realized I didn’t have my bag with me.

Darla’s husband noticed the change in my demeanor, “What’s wrong?”

“My bag, the vial was in my bag and I’ve lost it.”

He chuckled and reached into his coat pocket, “I guess it’s a good thing I had Jacob go back to the beach and search for your clothes. All he brought back was this instead.”

I took the wadded bag from him and pulled out the green vial, “Oh, thank you!”

Darla looked at the vial suspiciously, “What’s that gonna do?”

“Hopefully cure him, but it’ll also change him.”

The man narrowed his eyes, “Change him how? I can’t just let my little brother consume odd substances.”

“He won’t be able to stay here, he’ll have to live with me.”

“And where, exactly, do you live?” Darla asked.

“In Lenka.”

“Where’s that? Scotland?”

I shook my head, “No, in the deepest part of the ocean.”

“The ocean? It’s impossible for anyone to live in the ocean-”

“Unless you’re a mermaid,” her husband interrupted.

Darla sighed, “Now don’t tell me you’re believe that crap Cid was spouting!”

He ignored her, instead focused his attention on me, “Are you sure that’ll cure him?”

I shook my head, “I don’t know, but it’s all we’ve got left.”

The room was silent for a few seconds, then he ran to the door, “David! Have Jacob get the cart ready!”

“Oh, you’ve gone insane! Moving Cid could kill him!” Darla exploded.

“And leaving him here like this will kill him.”

Cid’s brother quickly walked to the bed and lifted Cid into his arms, “Come on, let’s go save my brother.”

I followed him as he walked from the room, his steps quick and fluid. Once outside he walked to a large wooden box that was attached to another giant beast.

“This is crazy!” Darla exclaimed from the doorway.

“You don’t have to come, love,” her husband called as he laid Cid in the box.

“You must be insane if you think I’m not coming!” Darla replied, somehow ending up right by my side.

I followed them into the box, sitting with Cid’s head in my lap. The whole ride Darla and her husband argued about whether or not this was a good idea, but all I could do was run my fingers through Cid’s hair.

When the box jerked to a halt Darla’s husband jumped out and picked Cid up once more, Darla and I following behind him. We walked to the water’s edge, Cid being carefully laid out so that water wouldn’t cover him completely.

“Alright, what do we do now?” Darla asked

I pulled the vial out and gently uncapped it, “He has to drink all of this.”

Leaning over I gently pour the liquid into Cid’s mouth, rubbing his throat to make sure the potion passed through. I sat back and watched, waiting for anything to happen. When nothing did I felt tears fill my eyes once more.

“I told you this was crazy.” Darla informed.

Clenching my teeth I made one last decision. Pressing my hands against Cid’s shoulders I pushed him all the way under the water, ignoring Darla’s commands to stop I continue to push him under until we were both submerged.

The minute water entered my throat I felt like I couldn’t breathe and the tingling came back into my body. Then the tingling once again turned into pain. I held Cid’s hand tightly as my body changed once again, the change between water and air triggering the potion’s power. When I finally felt normal again I opened my eyes.

Only to see a pair of the most gorgeous hazel eyes staring back at me.

“Cid,” I whispered as I brought my hand to lightly trace his face.

He swallowed, then looked down. My eyes followed his and took in the light blue tail that had replaced his legs.

Guilt consumed me because I knew this isn’t what he really wanted.

“I’m sorry Cid, but I thought you were dying and-”

Cid cut me off, placing his lips against mine.

I was lost in the kiss, the feeling of my soul finally being complete so overwhelming that I forgot everything but Cid and I.

When we did pull apart my eyes opened slowly, a smile etched permanently on my face.

Cid returned my smile, “I’ve been so lost without you. While I was unconscious I was able to think and I realized it didn’t matter where I lived or what I was. The only thing that mattered was that I was with you.”

My smile widened, “Then you’re okay with being King of the mers?”

“Only if you’ll be my Queen.”

Our faces grew closer until our lips were just touching, “I’ll always be yours, until the end of time.”