Chapter 18 I met a merman! No wait! A mer-husband?

I was walking by the river when I heard a loud Whoosh! Before I knew what was happening I was sitting up, soaking wet, in a cavern of some sort. As I sat there and let my eyes adjust, I could start making out more things in the dark. Like for starters it was not completely pitch black. If anything, the light seemed to gradually get brighter and brighter. I could see more and more of the room. WAIT! Its not a room! It looks more like a cathedral. This room was huge!

This place had arched ceilings that were at least 3-4 stories high. The ceiling was made out of stained glass. There was no clear picture either. It was all see through. I could see the fish swimming on the other side. There were some big fish. Wait WHAT! YEIKS! I WAS UNDERWATER! Okay calm down! Breathe! That's right, now keep taking in my surroundings.

There was a platform at the front of the room with a big statue of Poseidon. His trident and all of his court. That must have taken years to carve out of the, what is that? It is made out of coral. It is not a carving at all. I got up and went closer to it. It was a living and breathing coral system. There were small fish swimming in and around the whole thing. There were crabs and even an eel. The beautiful coral made up the clothing and colors right where they needed to be. Just like if a horticulturist turned sculptist. I was in awe of how pretty it looked. It was very clearly grown, and not chiseled or carved.

I walked around the platform and found what looked like musical instruments. But these were made out of rock, coral and pearl. There was a huge harp in the corner with a coral stump next to it too. But it had no strings. It was something to look at though. It looked like it was covered in little pink and white pearls. It looked like molten gold had been used to glue it all together. It shone beautifully.

I stepped of the platform and was back by the pool where I woke up. The opening was just big enough for two dolphins to swim in together side by side. As I passed this I found what looked like a living room area. There were beautiful leather couches turned into a corner and they were outlined in pearl. A little bit in front of them was a large pit. In the middle of that was a traditional Tepee campfire. It looked like it had just been lit.

Wait, if it had just been lit than who lit the fire? I quickly looked around the room. This was such a huge area. It actually gave me a headache to try to take it all in. as I did though I could see the different light sources. There were multiple spots that looked like light in the walls. When I concentrated on them I could see it was glowing rocks. At this point the entire room looked like it was lit up with daylight. I also noticed that where I had woken up at, there was a pillow and blanket. Someone had tried to take care of me.

As I panned around the room I found three doors just across from the fire pit. I was really hoping that one of them was the way out. I ran to them and pulled them open one by one. Each of them was a beautifully dressed bedroom. Each room had been done out in a different color coral. One red, one green, and the last one in purple. This was very clearly some ones house. But who's house is this.

I am not the best swimmer in the world. My last excursion into the lake proves that. I almost drowned then. This time no one has any idea of where I am at! Maybe if I get out of here I need to try to get back to where that doctor is. I have to figure out some way to get back home.

"Back home?" It was like the words were echoing through the room for some reason. "You are home!" The voice rang out and resonated in my chest. Where was this voice coming from. It was not coming from me. There is no way I can reach that depth in my voice. I kept looking around the room. But either my eyes were not seeing, or mind was playing tricks.

"You are not seeing things, or should I say you are not, not seeing things. I am very real." Whoosh! With a big splash, a creature came up out of the water. It took a moment for the water to settle before I could see what had entered the room. But before me sat a mermaid. Wait no, that would be a merman. He was half fish and half man.

He had long shimmering dark green hair with tints of blue in it. He was very very muscular. With his long blue tail and all, he would have had to of been ten feet tall. His face was so handsome it almost hurt to look at him. I stood there in awe as he slowly pulled himself in to the room. He dried off his scales and his tale began to split down the middle. It sounded very close to paper tearing. After they split his scales began to change and look more like skin.

He wrapped the towel he was using to dry around his waist just as his legs finished transforming. He stood up and wrapped a blue piece of cloth around his waist letting the towel drop. I could not help but notice his toenails and fingernails stayed blue. It was the same blue his tail had been. They even looked like scales instead of nails.

He was very modest. He made a huge point of making sure he kept himself covered. I felt naughty for looking but, I could not look away. Sham on me, but I was even slightly disappointed. He walked up to me. He cupped my chin and grinned to me. "So, you are Mrs. Joy Phoenix, er I mean, Mrs. Joy Fuoco-Fenice is that right?"

I was to stunned to answer. But I guess I did nod my head slightly. He smiled again. "Do not worry my sweet. I am merely one of your husbands. I have no intention of slaughtering you in your sleep. Do feel free to talk with me."

Okay I do not know about anyone else, but here I was with one of the hottest men I had ever seen. He is claiming to be married to me. He is dang near naked. While I am standing there in my soaking wet clothing, in my own version of a wet t-shirt contest where I am the only contestant. On top of which being kidnaped and taken away from my husband while he was in a diplomatic meeting. I am a very loyal wife! But my heart did a cute little pitter patter whilst I was standing there dumbfounded.

He chuckled at me. He leaned down and kissed me. I felt a spark of electricity. It resonated from him to me and back again. He smiled, "Yep, you are one of the ones we have been looking for."

With that he let me go. He walked over by the three doors. He pointed at the one in the middle. "This is your room. That is while you stay here. When my wife gets here, she will decide more what we need to do with you. Just remember you belong to the nine now. Do not try to run. There is no place to run to from here. It is sixty feet from the wade pull to the surface. You can not hold your breath long enough to make it. I know that nature is a very big thing to you, and that you need your sun light. I do not want you to wilt. But you will not be going to the surface without an escort." He began walking back to the wade pool. He stopped at it. Then turned to look at me. "I know you are scared. I know you do not understand. I will explain more to you when I return. All I will say to you now is that I am glad you are here. I promise you will not be hurt. I also promise that no man will be physically with you, unless it is your husband. You have no idea how much you are needed. You are truly an answer to us from the Gods. I can hardly wait to meet my wife too. I will return soon. Please make yourself at home. You are welcome here."

I had so many questions! I am his wife, but he can't wait to meet his wife? I do not have any idea how much I am needed for what? What am I to eat here? Also, like why was he trapping me here! But I had been to dumbfounded to ask. He dived back into the water throwing the blue cloth he had used to cover up with beside the wade pool as he dived in. Which gave me a very good view of his butt.

I laid down on one of the couches. I had so many questions swimming through my head. I was scared, and all I wanted was my Brenton. What could possibly happen next? Could this day get any worse!? Unfortunately, I fell asleep with my mind finally going blank unable to process any more of this horrible situation.

A few hours later, honestly I do not know for sure how long it took, I was woke up by two loud whooshes! I sat up on the couch and tried to stay crouched where no one could see me. While I was asleep all of the light had gone out or dimed. With the movement in the area, all of the lights were brightening up again. It still took several minutes before I could see clearly enough to see who had entered.

When the darkness had cleared, there stood two men. The merman, and believe it or not, BRENTON! I screamed and ran to him. I tripped over the back of the couch and slid across the floor on a rug. I stopped just at his feet. I was blushing from head to toe.

Brenton was all chuckles and smiles. He bent over and picked me up. As he did, there was a loud splash behind us. But neither of us looked away from one another. However, we both knew that the merman had given us some much needed privacy. Brenton carried me to the middle bedroom. We did not come back out again for several days. You could say that it was just another honeymoon for us.

During which Brenton had an amazing story to tell me. You see it starts out that my family is my adoptive family. My family never looked at me separately. I was always just a part of our family. Which I had known from the beginning but never really thought about. My family never saw it that way either. You see my mother had found a golden egg laying beside a slow flowing lava lake. The volcano in the area had just erupted and had cleared out her family home. On the same day she had not only found the golden egg but met her future husband.

Her and my father would get married that same day. They would keep the golden egg up on the mantel in the living room. It was a memento of the day that they met. They just thought it was a neat prize from the volcano. But after several years of the egg laying there dormant, it suddenly began to vibrate. It vibrated right off of the mantle and fell into the fire. This of course happened when the family lay sleeping in their beds.

When my mother came into the living room the following day the egg had grown huge. It was now the size of a baby. As my mother walked up to the egg the egg cracked. Before to long my mother was holding a freshly hatched baby phoenix. The family did not know what to do with this baby or the remaining egg shell.

The family decided they would adopt me and keep me as a member of the family. My mother had already fallen in love with me. As did all the rest of the family as soon as they saw me. They took the remaining egg shell to market. The egg shell was made of pure gold. So they made a small fortune. That is how they bought the family farm, and why my family was always well off, even in times of famine.

It has been well known throughout all the magical world what I was. But no one was allowed to say anything. All the magical world knew the trials I had gone through previously. It was the agreement of the magical world to attempt to let me have a moment of peace. Also, all knew from the beginning, I would have a great destiny. Humans knew nothing of my origins. My family kept our secret in the family. But the dragons knew. Brenton had literally known and watched me grow up in my family. He had loved me since I was pulled from the fire.

Now though the world was beginning to fall into chaos. Wars were emerging all over the place. In an attempt to gain control, Gods had attempted to eradicate the magical parts of the world. There were some, like the dragons, elves, and werewolf's that were powerful and mighty. They had been able to hold their own in these trying times. However, Gods are powerful in their own rights. When people saw unicorns often they believed. This gave them more magic. But, when people could not see not see unicorns, they stopped believing in them. Even though the only reason for this was because of people wanting their magic. But Gods did not exist until there was the belief in them. Now the Gods want to eradicate all magical creatures.

No one had told me of my beginnings. Mainly because I should have had the surviving memories of my past lives. But for some reason I did not. Brenton brought the large dragons book with him that I had been studying at home. To my astonishment my story was in this book. There were pictures of me as I grew up as well. That is when I had this flash back. I could remember everything since the dawn of time.

By the time my flash back was through, Brenton held up a mirror for me to see. I was lighting up the room with my green aura. I was literally ablaze in green light. I was the phoenix of plants and growing things. No wonder I always had an affinity for flowers and being able to bend them to my will. I picked up a small flower from beside the bed and I made it grow in my hand.

Now to think, This is not the beginning of my story, nor is it the end!