Into the Deep, Chapter 4

After saving Captain Adam, Megan sat on a rock playing her lyre and saw the Vikings and pirates coming. When their boats came by, Megan jumped back in the water. Then, a great wind came and blew the Vikings' and pirates' sails too hard, so they lost control of their boats. Captain Kayla said, "Close the sails, stop rowing, and get below." Captain Joseph said, Close the sails and get below deck." Then it started to rain, and the wind blew the pirates' boat off course. While their ship was tilting, Captain Joseph fell off his boat while his crew made it below deck. Captain Kayla and her crew also made it below deck on their boat. Captain Joseph held his breath for as long as he could, but when he ran out of air, he shut his eyes and continued to drown. Then Megan grabbed Captain Joseph and swam him to the surface. When they reached the surface, Megan brought him to an island and sat him down. Then she sat on a rock with her tail in the water while keeping an eye on Captain Joseph. The storm cleared while Captain Joseph was out, and Megan sang to him while she waited for him to awaken.

Captain Joseph partially opened his eyes when he heard Megan's voice and got a small glimpse of her. When Megan saw Captain Joseph's crew coming, she jumped back into the water. Captain Joseph's troop stood him up, and Captain Joseph opened his eyes. Captain Joseph said, "Where is she?" First Mate Jeremy stated, "Where's who?" Captain Joseph declared, "I saw a girl. She rescued me from drowning and sang over on that rock." Second Mate Noah said, "I think the seawater got to you. Let's get back to the ship." Megan peered out of the water and finished singing while watching the pirates leave. When she finished singing, Megan returned under the sea and went to the pirates' boat.

Megan was concerned about Captain Joseph, so she looked inside and saw him drawing through his ship's porthole. Captain Joseph turned out his light and went above deck. Megan snuck in through the porthole when Captain Joseph left and crawled to the desk. When she arrived, she turned on the light, grabbed the paper Captain Joseph drew on, and looked at it. Megan saw a picture of a girl who looked slightly like her. Megan said, "He must remember me." Once Megan heard Captain Joseph coming, she quickly put the picture back, turned out the light, jumped back out the porthole, and went back into the sea. When Captain Joseph walked in, he turned on the light, saw the empty place, and swore somebody was there. Megan looked at the pirates' ships and swam under the water when it got dark. While it was dark, Megan peered aboard the Vikings' ship and saw them sleeping. Since it was so dark, Megan looked up at the sky and noticed the stars. Then she found a bunch of consolations in the stars. She swam to a nearby rock and slept there with her tail in the water when she was too far from home when she finished looking.

The next morning, Megan woke up and saw a starfish approaching her. Megan grabbed the starfish, jumped off the rock into the sea, and swam to the bottom sea. When she arrived, Megan set the starfish on the ocean floor with the other animals living at the ocean's bottom. While she was down there, Megan saw a few crabs walk by. After the crabs left, Megan sat upside down on her back on a rock and watched the sea slugs crawl by. When the sea slugs left, Megan swam back up to the surface, and Katie was apprehensive about her.

Megan swam over to the pirate ship, and Captain Joseph started to hear splashing. Megan got out of the water and looked aboard the pirates' boat. Megan saw the crew talking, and they began to listen to the water moving. Captain Joseph approached the ship's left side, and Megan jumped back in the water and swam around to the right side. Megan looked aboard the boat and saw the pirates looking for her. Then they heard water moving and ran to the ship's right side while Megan swam around to the left. Captain Joseph had suspicions, so his crew ran over to the left side of the boat when they heard water moving while Captain Joseph stayed on the right side. Captain Joseph said, "Guys, wait." When Megan jumped out of the water, Captain Joseph saw and pointed at her. Captain Joseph stated, "Got ya." Megan was surprised and fell back into the water, and Captain Joseph looked at her. Captain Joseph thought that she looked familiar to him. Captain Joseph said, "You look familiar. Have we met before?" Megan moved her hair out of her eyes. Megan stated, "Why yes. I'm Megan." Captain Joseph said, "I'm Captain Joseph. Why don't you come aboard?" Megan said, "I can't." Captain Joseph stated, "Oh, come on, it's no trouble." Megan said, "No, I mean, I can't."

Captain Joseph said, "Why not?" Megan laid back in the water, shamefully lifted her tail, and showed Captain Joseph her fins by shaking them. Captain Joseph said, "You're a mermaid?" Megan stated, "Of course I am. Watch." Megan went under the water, jumped out of it, and did a backflip, and Captain Joseph saw her green tail. When Megan got back in the water, she swam away. Captain Joseph said, "Hey, wait, come back!" Captain Joseph went to his wheel and chased after Megan, but since she was swimming, she got away fast.

Megan swam up out of the water and sat down on a rock with her tail in the water. Megan played her flute, and the Vikings heard her. Since they liked her music so much, they followed it to where it came from and saw Megan playing her flute on a rock. Captain Kayla said, "I thought I saw somebody a few days ago." Megan stopped playing her flute, set it on the rock, and started to sing. Megan sang about how she and Captain Joseph finally met, and now they're friends. She has yet to determine when to revisit their ships but knows it will be soon. While Megan sang with her tail in the water, the Vikings and pirates heard her. Then Megan took her fins out of the water and put her hand in the water while singing. Megan sang about how her home was the sea, hoping Captain Joseph would join her soon. When she finished singing, Megan jumped in the water, and the pirates and Vikings thought about what she sang.

Megan swam under the water and saw one of her fish friends named Sheen swimming away. Since she had her suspicions, Megan swam after him. Megan followed Sheen through a cave and lost him. Then her fins got stuck on a rock, so she moved it out of the way, freed herself, and fell into a tunnel in the cave. When she arrived at the bottom, she pushed her hair out of her eyes and started to hear music. Megan glanced at the back of the cave and saw three mermaids playing instruments while the other sea creatures danced to their music. Megan smiled and looked around. Megan swam into the cave and danced with the sea creatures when she saw the band playing. While the sea creature danced, a spotlight shone on Sheen, and he started singing with the band. Megan listened to Sheen's solo and thought he was very talented. All the mermaids and mermen clapped for him when Sheen finished, including Megan.

When the song ended, Megan swam out of the cave and headed for the coral reef. When she arrived, Megan sat down on a rock, and a bunch of fish swam by her. Then Megan looked up and saw turtles and sharks swimming together. When Megan looked down at the ocean floor, she saw crabs and shrimps walking past her. Megan noticed it was getting dark, so she swam down to the bottom of the ocean, weaved a basket together out of seaweed, and went to sleep on the ocean floor.

Once morning came, Megan woke up and went to her garden. When Megan arrived, she grabbed her bag, looked around her garden, and saw that all her flowers were unharmed, untouched, and still growing. When Megan finished in her garden, she locked the gates and returned to the surface. Then Megan followed the Vikings and pirates under the sea. Katie went to the coral reef to look for her daughter, but Megan saw no sign of her. While Megan was swimming, she noticed something shining in a cave at the bottom of the sea. Megan went into the shiny object's cave and looked at it. Megan saw it covered with sea sand, so she figured it must have been in the cavern for years. Megan went to the surface, sat on a rock, and looked at the shiny thing. Megan brushed the sand off the object she found with her hand and saw a necklace made of pure gold. Megan opened the heart on the locket and noticed it was empty while it played a song, and she thought she recognized the song. Megan said, "Someone must have lost this locket. I could keep it and put a picture of my family in it." Megan then shut the locket, and it stopped playing the song. Then she put the locket around her neck, placed her name on it, and kept it. Then Megan jumped back in the water and swam after the Vikings and pirates. While she was gliding across the sea, Megan had a strange feeling. She looked behind her and saw a couple of stingrays following her. Megan swam faster, but so did the stingrays. Megan swam into a cave, but the stingrays chased after her.

When Megan exited the cave, her locket got caught on a plant, broke off her neck, and started to sink. Megan said, "My necklace." While it was dropping, Katie seized the locket, opened it, and listened to the song it played. Katie stated, "A locket?" Katie closed the locket, looked at its front, and saw Megan's name carved into it. Megan said, "Megan must have found this locket and decided to make it hers. So if this is Megan's locket, she must be close." Katie put the locket around her neck and swam to the bottom of the sea.

Meanwhile, the stingrays grabbed Megan, and when she got to the surface, they pulled her down. Then Megan started to slap the sting rays continuously with her tail until they let go. Megan said, "How do you like that?" Megan stated, "Time to match them, a shock to shock." The stingrays let go of her, got mad, and Megan swam away. Megan swam for a trench, and the stingrays went after her. When Megan got there, she looked in the gorge and went to the top of it, dived down into it, and swam through the trench. The stingrays then chased after Megan and glided over the gorge. When they got to the top, they lost Megan, and a bunch of tentacles grabbed them and saw them swim into a bunch of jellyfish. When Megan exited the trench, she hurried to the top and witnessed the stingrays being shocked by the jellyfish. Then Megan laughed because her plan worked, and she left.