Chapter 3

Gazing down onto the damsel's physic and beauty, the young hopelessly romantic mermaid's face unravels a smile so sweet that no sea creature could possibly ignore her. With her heart overwhelmingly filling with excitement, Dawn's self-control escapes her. Her eyes flood with sparkles while being paralyzed in place as if she's fallen in love for the first time.

Dawn closes her eyes and pauses for a moment. She takes in a deep breath through her nose and exhales from her mouth. She then opens her eyes and states with certainty, "...I'm so bringing her home with me." After making a quick and hasty decision, she swiftly rushes to the damsel's aid with only one thought illuminating within her mind.

Consistently panting as she grabs hold of various broken objects she's unfamiliar with in sight and tossing it away, Dawn's eagerness leads her to an impasse. The last piece of debris trapping the poor mermaid is much too dense for Dawn to pick up and throw away. The young mermaid latches her fingers on the edges of the debris and tugs as hard as she can. In doing so causes her cheeks puffing out as wide as they can be and the weight of her anxiety takes a heavy toll on her.

"Oh come on! Why do you have to be so heavy!! Dwu-ah!" She squeals as her grip retracts and her breathing quickens. Lowering her eyebrows, Dawn sternly stares down the debris and points. "This isn't over! Ya hear me!"

With her eyebrows lowering, she circles around and latches her hands onto the ridged side of the debris. Her eyes dimmer while the muscles in her body tighten up. Holding a firm grip on the debris, she thrusts her tail up and down in attempt to gain enough momentum to shove it right off the damsel.

Dawn crunches her teeth while her tail brews up a strong water current behind her. "...Errggg. C'mon you wisselneph... mo-ve i-t." She mutters to herself underneath her breath. "Ugh! Damn it! It's no use!" She shouts in frustration, loosening her grip and dropping her upper body on top of the debris.

Lashing out in anger, she forms a fist with her right hand and slams it upon the debris. "Ugh! There has to be a way to get you out of here!" She yells, refusing to give up on the trapped mermaid. Fidgeting with her lower lip, Dawn anxiously searches her brain for a solution.

Then all of a sudden, an idea strikes within causing her eyes to widen and her jaw to lower. Immediately she pushes herself off the debris and makes haste to a high vantage point. Once gaining enough altitude, she squints her eyes and spins herself around in a circle. Her eyes scours out into the distance for anything that'd be of use in her quest to save the helpless mermaid.

However as Dawn gazes out into the dark abyss surrounding her, she is unable to spot anything within sight that is able to assist in her mission. Coming to the realization that the situation is more than she can handle alone, the veins within her head begin to thump erratically.

Too distracted by her inner frustration and anxiety, Dawn fidgety nibbles on her thumbnail while mumbling to herself. "What should I do. What can I do. How am I suppose to free her by myself? I can't leave her. She might die. And if she dies, when am I ever going to find a beauty like her again? Oh no, this is not good."

Dawn frantically spins around one last time, desperately trying to keep it together. The thoughts running through her mind are moving at such an insane speed, her face commences to express signs of twitching. Even with her brain working past maximum capacity, the only option that came to mind is to rush over to a nearby light and hope that there's something she can actually use.

In a flash, she leaps into action—soaring through the ocean floor at great speeds. Her eyes narrow as the muscles in her body tighten up. The temperature within her body rises to unnatural levels and her mind is locks onto finding some way to free her crush from her treacherous confinement.

Not too far from the first luminous light, she finds an overabundance of them scattered along the ocean floor. Immediately coming to a halt, she swings her head left and right pondering where to start searching.

"...Oh my..." She whispers underneath her breath, stargazed by the amount of them surrounding her. "They're...They're so pretty! It's like little stars twinkling within the night sky." Her imagination thus begins to run wild as she stares off into the shiny glowing lights.

Caught within her own fantasy, Dawn pictures herself with the beautiful damsel in a majestic scenery underneath the stars. Her imagination progresses, leading to the two of them expressing their love to each other without a care in the world. With every inch of their skins pressed against each other, Dawn wraps her arms around her lover's neck. Their lips gently touch as their tails intertwine with each other and their body movements become extremely fluid.

"Someday." She whispers softly, propelling herself forward with her arms locked against her sides. Approaching several glowing lights bunched up close together, she eagerly dives into the debris scattered along the area. Latching her hands onto anything and everything in sight, her blood pressure exponentially rises as an unsettling amount of frustration builds up within.

"UGGGGHHHH!!!" She growls in outrage, throwing everything in her hands away and burying her head into the palm of her hands. After a light subtle sniffle, she wipes the sadness from her eyes and thrusts her body towards another luminous light. Without thinking she dives right into the debris in the area but still comes up short. She whips her tail around launching anything in her vicinity away and immediately takes off towards another area.

Almost an hour passes with no luck of finding anything that can even be construed as useful. With her determination on the break of being completely depleted, Dawn's body hovers in suspension above the ocean floor. Her face is drowned with sorrow as her inner spirit fades away.

Searching for what seems like forever without finding a shred of hope to rescue the damsel, Dawn throws herself into the endless pile of debris. She stretches out her arms while taking subtle long breaths and stares up into the dark abyss. "I hope I'm not too late to save her. I don't want her to die because of me..." She mumbles to herself in a hesitant voice.

"Maybe... Maybe I should've rushed home... asked for help. Momma would know what to do... She always does." Dawn continues, biting down on her lower lip. "Perhaps it was never... Grunts."

"This sucks. Why does something as simple as this have to be so hard?? It's like the world is doing everything in its power to keep me from happiness. It's just not fair! Ugh." Dawn rolls onto her side huffing out a grunt and locking her hands together in front of her chest with her arms bent.

Nibbling down onto her lips, the fingertips of her right hand slowly crawls away and creeps onto a ridged surface. Lifting up the palm of her hand, Dawn continuously drags the ends of her fingertips across the debris. She releases a subtle sigh and softly sings.

Don't weep my love, it'll be alright.

Just stay with me and I'll hold you tight.

Drown out your sorrows and forget about tomorrow

You and me, we'll be

the perfect team

Slowly lifting herself off the debris, Dawn hums out a beautiful melody as a broken smile unveils itself. Without realizing it, her body instinctively swims towards the luminous light where she found the helpless mermaid. She continues to hum her melody as her mind drifts off. She gently closes her eyes and lets her instincts take control.

Lost in thought, Dawn once again fantasizes about her dream life with the damsel. But this time is different. It's not the usual dream where she's just enjoying a romantic date under the stars. Or rather in a magical place where the two take part in an exotic passion. No.

This time in her fantasy, Dawn cups the side of her lover's cheek and gazes into her beauty. She shares a light-hearted smile as her face slowly turns red. Her cheeks puff out while taking in a deep breath. Once released, Dawn professes her undying love and asks her beloved to be her one and only. Bonded by heart and soul until the end of time.

A spiral of emotions emerge within her beloved as she pulls Dawn down without saying a word. Her beloved immediately wraps her arms around her neck and holds her tight. The two mermaids' lips swiftly lock together, leading into a very passionate lovemaking.

When her fantasy comes to an end, Dawn opens up her eyelids and finds herself hovering over the injured mermaid, with her lips interlocked with the damsel's. She pulls her lips away and flashes her eyelids in surprise while her face blushes. Looking to the left and right of them, Dawn sees no trace of the debris that was trapping the damsel.

Her eyes continuously wanders looking for answers and notices the palm off her hands generating a mist of cold. Unable to muster a single thought, a sudden crack is heard from up above. With great caution, she slowly tilts her head up and immediately notices a ginormous sheet of ice hovering over them.

"How... Um... Where... Uh... Did I do that?" She questions, staring blankly into the anomaly above her. "I... I... I... uh..." Unable to process a coherent thought, she slowly looks back down onto the palm of her hands. Her head twists left and right, trying to fathom what is happening to her body.

However. Before she can pull her thoughts together, the mist emulating from her hands fades away. Dumbfounded by what just took place, Dawn goes through a series of facial expressions... until finally. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF AZRAEL IS HAPPENING TO ME?!" She shouts at the top of her lungs causing the ice above to quake. Crack. Crack. Rumble. Crack.

With her attention instantly shifting to the enormous sheet of ice, she immediately notices large amounts of rifts emerging from within the ice itself. Dawn's lips spontaneously pucker up while her pupils dilate and her cheeks puff out in suspense. Piece by piece, sections of the sheet of ice begin to separate and fall down.

As the sky un-expectantly comes crashing down, her body instinctively acts on its own and rushes down to the damsel's aid. "M... Ma... Ma-ri...a..." The damsel mumbles under her breath. Without a word, Dawn swiftly lifts up the unconscious mermaid into her arms and carries her off.

Hurrying along, our young and courageously foolish mermaid holds the damsel's head close to her chest, protecting her face. As she resists the temptation to doubt herself, Dawn is forced to navigate the both of them through a series of razor-sharp icicles falling from above.

"F... f... for... g... gi... M... m... e..."

Huh? What's she muttering now?... I hope she'll be okay. Poor girl seems to have been through a lot. I'm sure mother can heal her no problem. Dawn anxiously ponders to herself as she firmly tightens her grip on the damsel's entire body and proceeds to maneuver around the falling ice shards, leading them both to safety.

After gaining enough distance, she comes to a complete stop and lays the mermaid down onto the sand. Her heart beating a million times a minute, she slowly turns around and witness the remaining pieces of the ice crashing down onto the ocean floor. "Than... thank Azreal... we... we got out... in time." She says pantingly. "Where... where... did that... come from?..." She continues as she looks down onto the palm of her hands. 

Did I... really do... that? She internally wonders in confusion.

Slightly shaking her head back and forth, Dawn finds herself bewildered but shortly comes to terms that this isn't the time. Cough. Cough. 

Without hesitation, Dawn throws herself beside her crush and leans her body up. The mermaid's eyes slightly flickers open and mumbles, "Ma-ri-a. Where's." Cough, Cough. "Where's... Maria?

Maria?... Dawn thinks for a moment and comes to a quick realization, Oh yeah! She was muttering that name earlier!

"Who's Maria?" Dawn whispers with curious eyes and an innocent face. Cough. Cough. And just like that, the mermaid falls unconscious once again with her eyes closed shut. Left with suspense, Dawn grips the mermaid's shoulders and shakes her roughly. "Oh c'mon! You can't just blurt something out like that and leave a gorgeous mermaid such as myself hanging! I needs to know!"

Feeling like she just got the biggest tease ever, Dawn finally releases her grip and lays the damsel on the sand. "Hmph. Fine. I didn't wanna know anyway." She shouts in an irritating tone. Pouting like an infant, she crosses her arms and sternly looks away. A few seconds later, her lips are subtly nibbled on as she tries to resist the urge to look back.

Her head turned away, Dawn looks over her shoulder and discovers an enormous puff-cloud of dust emerging from where the ice shards crumbled down. "Whooaaaa..." She mumbles in a daze, turning herself around and gradually approaches the puff cloud. Subtly biting her inner lip, she takes in a small breath and commences to sing.

"I never thought this day would come. The day where I'd find the one-" Cough. Cough.

Dropping her head down with a sigh, Dawn brushes the bangs of her hair to the side. 

I suppose I'll have to finish my song some other time... Perhaps on our Eternal Bond Day... I'd like that, very much. The young and impulsively in love mermaid whispers softly as she slowly peeks over her shoulder. She then takes in a deep breath as she turns around and swims back to her crush's side.

Unable to help herself, Dawn cups the mermaid's cheek and smiles. "Don't you worry my precious. I'll get you the help you need. Mother happens to be the best medic in the whole Southern Blue." Not a moment to lose, Dawn picks up the mermaid in her arms and lays the damsel's head against her chest once again. With an eager smile on her face, Dawn races back home as she carries her crush in hand.

Approaching the entrance into the city, Dawn treads lightly as she carries the damsel to a secret passageway. Holding up the damsel with one hand, she quietly opens the entrance door and swims through. Upon passing through, multiple families of crustaceans are spotted sleeping within the sand. In an instant, Dawn's breathing greatly weakens as she tries to keep the noise level down to a minimum.

Anxiously swimming through the sand tunnel, she can't help but to subtly gulp while hovering over all these crustaceans. (Where did they all come from?... This tunnel used to be a barren place. What could possibly have driven them here? I wonder...)

Feeling uneasy about the situation, Dawn nervously turns her head left and right slowly. Her heartbeat greatly lowers along with her breathing and the peppiness in her swim disappears. Cautiously maneuvering pass the sleeping crustaceans, the nerves within her body crawl through her skin to the point she's skeeved out.

"Oooohhh! Why did these slimy creatures have to infest my secret getaway?! I'm never coming back here ever again!" Unable to handle much more of this, she firmly holds onto her crush and hurries them both out of the sand tunnel.

Once in the clear, she sits back down onto her tail for a quick breather. Releasing a sigh of relief, she gazes down onto the beautiful redhead within her arms. Cough. Cough. With her face uncontrollably blushing, Dawn gracefully lifts off and carries the damsel further into the city. Her head-turning ever so slightly, Dawn brushes the damsel's hair and serenades to her crush along the way.

This may be wrong, but I don't care.

I'll keep you safe, here with me.

Darling don't see there's nothing we can't do.

We're meant for each other, I know it's true.

When two mermaids meant for each other,

cross paths. The night is ever so lasting,

Can't you feel it, my love? A feeling

that is constantly bubbling inside.

Just look up there without a care

Pass the surface and into the sky,

You'll find that our encounter

Is written in the night sky.

Once deep inside the city, Dawn quickly makes haste up the right side of the majestic crystalized sand castle and brings her crush into the comforts of her home. She gently lays the mermaid down on to her soft mussel and whispers softly as she tucks her in. "There you go, my love. You just take it nice and easy. I'll be right back with some help."

Not wanting to leave her quite yet, Dawn cups the unconscious mermaid's cheek into the palm of her hand and gracefully smiles. Giving in to her temptations, she swiftly leans down and kisses the mermaid's soft tenderly lips. The edges of her fingertips gracefully runs down the damsel's luxurious red hair. As the warmth of their bodies meet, the exotic sensation arouses Dawn greatly.

Thus causing wandering hands to make their move down onto the damsel's shoulders. Dawn reaches behind the damsel's neck and feels something secured around her. She releases her lips from the damsel and rests back onto her tail. She pulls onto the chain around the damsel's neck and detaches it. Lifting the chain up to eye level, a beautiful heart-shaped crystal with engraved markings is found.

"It's soooo pretty!" She cheerfully squeals while resting the object onto the palm of her hand. "Where did she get this, I must know! This is the most fascinating trinket I've ever laid my eyes on!" She continues as she lifts the object in hand closer to her face. With one eye shut, Dawn thoroughly analysis the engravings and attempts to make out the inscriptions.

"...We... are... one... Huh?" Dawn questions, lowering her hand down with a puzzling look. '"We are one... Wait!" Her triggering thoughts cloud her mind as she throws herself on top of the damsel's body. The mermaid's neck is quickly held captive by Dawn's arms and her chest is overtaken by Dawn's face."Don't tell me she's already taken! Uuuummmmpppphhh! I would just die if she already has a lover!"

Throwing a tantrum over the idea that her crush is already involved with someone, Dawn seductively intertwines her mermaid tail with the damsel's. Cough. Cough. Her condition worsening by the second, the damsel releases a splat of blood in the midst of her coughing. In an instant, Dawn removes herself from the mermaid's body with a guilty face. "Oops! I almost forgot! I'm sorry! I'm leaving to get help now!"

Without another word, Dawn clips on the trinket around her neck and kisses her crush a short farewell. Upon swimming up to her room's aperture, she firmly grips the round edge and looks over her shoulder. Her eyes gazing back onto her crush, she licks her lips and blows her a kiss. Reluctantly turning away, Dawn pounces off the ledge and dives down.

Soaring down alongside the castle's walls, the impulsively in love mermaid sets her sights onto her mother's chambers located within the main sector of the complex. Approaching the main entrance, Dawn expeditiously hides behind a boulder with her back pushed up against it. Taking in a deep breath, she cautiously twists her upper body around and takes a gander. In her path awaits two highly trained and devoted dolphins, who are more than willing to put their lives on the line.

Extending from Rostrum to Dorsal fin, their bodies are protected with royal guard armor. Each of these crafted masterpieces have been forged to withstand even the sharpest of razor fangs in existence. And resting on top of their blowhole lies a device, crafted by Gala's finest engineers, that is able to intake enough oxygen to survive and release extraneous water if need be.

Actively guarding his post, the dolphin on the right turns to his comrade and asks, "Hey did you hear the news? Apparently miles outside the city there was an enormous light that spawned out of nowhere." Keeping complete focus, his comrade responds vigorously. "Indeed. It seems the outside world has become more chaotic than we wished. Let's hope the humans aren't the cause of this anomaly." The comrade closes her eyes for a moment and releases a concerned sigh.

"But... but what if it was the humans?" The dolphin on the right questions in distress as he turns towards his comrade. "What if-" Cut off in mid-thought, his comrade draws her eyes towards him stating, "If it is the humans who are responsible. We will live out our duty as the Royal Guards just like we always have. Our duty is to protect the royal family of Gala and its inhabitants. No matter the cost."

Bringing her eyes forward once again, the trusted comrade insists, "Now, compose yourself and keep watch for any intruders. We have a long night ahead. Let us not waste energy on pointless babbling." The dolphin on the right timidly returns focus with his Rostrum lowering.

Watching with a mischievous grin, Dawn drives her hand into the sand and plucks out a pebble. She gracefully tosses the pebble up and catches it in hand repeatedly until she gets a clear shot. Dawn innocently mumbles under her breath.

"Hahaha. This is going to be fun." And just like that, the pebble soars through the water and nails the timid royal guard right in the Rostrum.

©2019SacredShadowsProductions (Jonathan K. Iglesias)

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