Chapter 1:

Day's end draws near as the crystals scattered throughout Gala commences to glow. Lodged within the sand, the crystals form a barrier of light protecting its citizens from predators. Once nightfall finally strikes, the glow illuminating from the barrier causes the city to shine like a star in the sky.

On this night just like any other, Dawn rests her head in the palm of her left hand—while her arms lean upon the hard inner circular surface of her room. With her body slouching onto the surface, her hazel eyes twinkle as they gaze into the night sky. Inhaling a deep breath, her upper body slowly rises straightening out her spine. After a few brief moments, she finally releases her breath with her lips puckered up in the left corner of her mouth—causing a strand of hair to levitate for a brief second.

"Why am I the only mermaid in the city still single? I thought I would've met someone who's perfect for me by now. Mother tells me not to worry about it and that I still have my whole life ahead of me... But I'm already 20 years old! I'm not getting any younger!"

In a blink of an eye, Dawn falls victim to her own binding thoughts—constantly replaying the same love fantasy in her mind over and over. It wasn't long until the reoccurring daydream overwhelms her mind and her emotions get the best of her.

In the heat of the moment, her blood pressure spontaneously rises to dangerous levels throwing her mind into a whirlwind of pain. She immediately buries her head into her arms upon the ledge with her eyes shut. Trying to relieve herself of this pain, she repeatedly takes in slow deep breaths. However, the pain in her head wouldn't leave that easily.

Trying as hard as she's able to, she can't find the strength to focus her mind on anything that doesn't relate to finding the perfect partner. She squirms her head in between her arms as her tail flails about. But it's no use. Convinced the pain wouldn't ever go away, she lifts her head from her arms and stares into the sky.

"At least it's a beautiful night out..." She thinks to herself, barely cracking a smile. Without warning an enormous harsh sound emerges and snaps Dawn right out of her pain. "Huh?! What's that sound?!" All of a sudden her troubling thoughts vanish without a trace while her curiosity spikes.

Dawn leans her upper body onto the ledge and swings her head left to right searching for the source of the sound. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, she furrows her eyebrows and straightens her body as she pounces off the ledge. Her tail rapidly thrusts up and down-eagerly racing to the top of the city.

Once she gains enough altitude, her eyes catch glimpses of an enormous bright light flashing in the far distance. Her jaw spontaneously sinks down hard as her eyes widen and her body stops in place. Left absolutely speechless, her eyes gaze into the bright light, watching it slowly fade away into nothing.

Dawn rapidly shakes her head back and forth—trying to shake off the temporal paralysis. Her mind quickly fills with wondrous ideas as her body creeps forward to the point she's swimming full speed ahead towards the edge of the city. With her heart racing a million beats a minute, she keeps her focus strictly onto the direction the light came from.

Fortunately for her, she wasn't the only one who noticed the enormous light making an appearance. Anticipating Dawn's uncontrollable curiosity, one of her childhood friends Taylor the octopus silently keeps a close eye out. Waiting for his friend to come rushing by, he slowly crawls outside of his home with his eyes peering up above. His suspicions soon become an uncomfortable reality as he witnesses Dawn racing by in the distance.

"Here we go again."

Releasing a huge sigh, Taylor tightens up his body as he presses down onto his tentacles. "Salty cucumbers, this mermaid is going to be the death of me" He whispers to himself—thinking about all the times Dawn had dragged him into her crazy adventures throughout the years. Putting as much strength into his tentacles he can muster, Taylor quickly launches himself towards Dawn's direction.

"I swear to Azrael if I see one lobster show up, I'm wrapping my tentacles around her tightly and hauling ass. I refuse to have to relive that again." He thinks sternly with an erupt shiver passing through his body. The young octopus just couldn't wait for this to be all over.

Upon closing the gap between them, Dawn's body slowly falls into perfect view. Unable to resist the temptation, Taylor's eyes pop out of his body while his mantle slowly turns bright red. Soon, sweat emerges from his body and seemingly sweeps down his skin. Anxiously matching her speed, he calls out to her.

"Hey, Dawn!...

Ooooohhh Daaaawwwwn!....

DAWN!!!"

Snapped out of complete focus, Dawn's body flings spiraling backward causing her mind to be overtaken by dizziness. "Uuuurrgggghhhh." She grunts, with her ears being flooded by a constant ringing. When she opens her eyes, the pulsating sound passes through her head.

This sound she unwillingly experiences is like an itch you can't scratch. It doesn't matter how zen one may be. Once it latches onto your brain, the victim has no choice but to ride it out. However, Dawn refuses to yield to its screeches and attempts to block out the noise by pressing both of her hands against her ears.

"Ohhh... shitzel..." Taylor whispers to himself with widening eyes and dilating pupils. Creeping up behind her, Taylor slowly lifts his tentacles and gently taps Dawn on the shoulder. "Hey... um... Are you... okay?" He asks hesitantly, bracing himself for a beat down.

"Huh?! Who's there?!" Dawn squeals as she panics, swinging her right arm around and smacks his tentacle right into his face. 

"Ooooooffff" Taylor blurts out as he's blown away into the distance. While Taylor has been knocked out of commission, Dawn's elegant long dark blue hair tangles up around her face. Thus blinding her vision.

"AAAHHHHH! I CAN'T SEE! I CAN'T SEE!" Dawn screams at the top of her lungs. Her voice travels the waters like a bolt of lightning passing through rubber. Acting out in haste, her body flails around in a spiraled circle. "WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Her cries continue as she whips her arms around in panic.

"Uye-ya-yiye. I forgot just how hard that girl can hit." Taylor mutters while being caught in a daze. Slowly piecing himself together, Taylor roughly wipes the corners of his eyes. The beat of his hearts begins to pace as his sensors are stricken with Dawn's cry for help. Gently lifting his eyelids, he catches Dawn twisting and turning like a fish out of water.

With one eyebrow raised, he slowly tilts his mantle, watching. Even though she is in distress, Taylor can't help but smile as his eyes gaze upon her. Lost in the moment, his eyes begin to twinkle while staring into her beauty. His love for Dawn knows no bounds and slowly corrupts his mind.

However before his passionate love could fully take over, he rapidly shakes his mantle and proceeds to assist Dawn in her troubles. Stretching out his tentacles, Taylor swiftly wraps himself around Dawn's body. "Huh?! What's going on?! Who's there?!" She shouts, squirming around.

Having trouble keeping her under control, Taylor tightens his grip and swiftly brushes Dawn's hair from her eyes. "There. You can open your eyes now." He says softly as he unravels his tentacles from her body. The troubled mermaid takes in deep breaths relaxing her muscles into a calm state.

Her eyelids rapidly shutter as she slowly uncovers her eyes until she finally regains her sight. "Oh! Hey!" Dawn yells—waving her arms back and forth. Ecstatic to see her childhood friend again, a rush of happiness sweeps over her face. "I didn't realize it was you!" She yells. Throwing her body onto Taylor, Dawn swiftly wraps her arms around him and squishes his mantle onto her.

Taylor's face uncontrollably turns bright red when he feels the elegant touch of Dawn's body pressing against him. With his eyes seconds away from popping out of their sockets, his 3 hearts pound rapidly like prey that's about to be eaten for lunch. "I thought you hated leaving the city limits. What are you doing out here?" She cheerfully asks as she lifts herself from Taylor's body and stares into his eyes.

Feeling like his whole body structure is about to collapse on the inside, Taylor is unable to muster any words. His skin turns into an even brighter red by the second as he's stuck blankly staring. "Umm, you okay?" She concernedly asks—tilting her head to the side, flashing her eyes, and awkwardly staring.

After a few moments when the silent tension became so deafening, Dawn drops her head releasing her breath. "Guess I have no choice." She whispers to herself. Left with no other choice, she removes her right arm from his body and winds it back. With her hand arming back as much as it can, she graciously whips her hand with no hesitation.

Taylor still blankly staring at Dawn like a drooling idiot catches glimpses of the palm of Dawn's hand swiftly charging towards him. His eyes slowly drawing back and forth from the palm of her hand to her face, Taylor internally screams.

JUST SAY SOMETHING ALREADY! SHE'LL STOP IF YOU JUST SPEAK WORDS. IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO MAKE SENSE! JUST SAY SOMETHING DAMNIT!

Quickly drawing a breath of water, Taylor tries with all his might to toss any words imaginable. However, he was already too late. The force of Dawn's hand makes contact with his mantle. "Hello??!!! Anybody home??!!" She shouts as her hand swings back and forth onto his face.

Taylor's thoughts are in a flux while feeling an unbearable nerve-racking pound in his brain. His body soon trembles from within as he is unsure of how much more of this he can endure. After a few minutes, Dawn finally relieves him of the conflicting pain and grips tight onto the sides of Taylor's mantle.

Quickly realizing what uncanny idea Dawn had cooked up, Taylor's pupil dilates to the maximum. By the pressure of Dawn's hands, he can tell he is seconds away from being tossed like a rag doll. He quickly lifts up his tentacles and shoves them against Dawn's body as he shouts, "Dawn! Waaaaiiiitttt!"

Luckily, he manages to prevent Dawn from continuing her extreme methods. "Finally, you're awake!" She cheers, as Taylor takes a moment to regain his sanity. "So, are you going to answer my question or you going to drift off again?" She asks—tilting her head to the side, eyes flashing, and her hands on her hips.

Sensing the sheer mockery in her voice, the temptation to give her some lip becomes unreal. However, Taylor manages to bit his tongue and humors her. "Why yes, I will. And I'm okay, thanks for asking. Haha."

Dawn rolls her eyes in response. As Taylor takes his sweet ass time giving her an explanation, Dawn agitatedly states. "I'm waiting." She crosses her arms in front of her and stares at him with a pretentious smile. He flamboyantly swims behind Dawn and joyfully replies.

"Did you really think I was going to let you experience all the fun on your own?" Taylor continues circling around her with a formal attitude. After a few rounds, he floats in front of her with his eyes shut and a positive attitude. However, she sees right through his little act but decides to let it be.

Dawns turns herself around and prepares to launch herself into the light's direction. "Then let's go! I'm anxious to see what awaits us out there!" By the time Taylor opens his eyes, Dawn had already taken a head start. "Ugh. Why am I already regretting this?" He whispers, feeling his stomach already twisting and turning as he pursues after Dawn... again.

Once Taylor finally catches up with Dawn, he notices the ocean becoming darker and darker by the second. Scoping the area while tailing her, Taylor comes to an uncomfortable conclusion. He then quickly inhales a gulp of water as his mind is going bananas over where they are.

"Dawn. It's getting insanely dark pretty fast. Maybe we should head back." Taylor's teeth begin to constantly crackle as his hearts begin to race.

"Don't be a baby, we'll be okay. Just stay close to me, I'll protect you... as usual." She replies, rolling her eyes as she thrust her tail moving forward.

Taylor suddenly snaps out of his fear as his eyebrows press down and his nerves tighten up. "Hmph, I'm not a baby... you're the baby." Pouting over Dawn's last remark in his head, Taylor fails to realize she has come to a complete stop bumps his head right into her back. "Umph, that hurt." He quietly mutters to himself.

"What are you doing back there? Dozing off again???" She asks, looking over her shoulder.

"My bad." He responds—pulling himself together and rubbing the top of his mantle with his tentacles. "What's the hold up anyway?" He asks—climbing Dawn's back and peeking over her shoulder.

©2019SacredShadowsProductions (Jonathan K. Iglesias)

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