Ash felt nothing but warmth in the Chamber of Reestablishment. It was so comfortable; he didn’t want to leave the glowing water he rested in. Deep within the shrine was a pool of special water, and this pool was where he was. It’s water helped his injured brain heal. Thanks to it, finally the swelling had gone down, and he started to come to again.
The young fairy’s bright, blue eyes slowly opened, and he blinked as he continued to float. The first thing he saw was the shrine’s blurry but gorgeous, blue ceiling. It was quiet in here. Peace. For the first time since before the feud, Ash felt peace – thirteen years later. Totally soaked, he sat up. His hair looked brown when it was wet, but the dirty blonde color would return when it dried. He turned his head in each direction and still tried to figure out where he was. Normally he would know, but his mind was currently a blank due to his brain injury, and also from the fact that he had been lying dead for the past six hours. Ash couldn’t even speak, but he did notice that he was breathing pretty heavily.
The Scottish Fairy’s eyes landed on the pool’s edge, and he saw it was surrounded by a ring of rocks – a small rock wall. He rolled over the side of it, hitting the soft ground, but he stood up. Ash tiredly but curiously examined the strange patterns and murals on the chambers’ rocky walls. They glowed like the shrine’s pool. He stopped under one mural that showed a picture of a wingless fairy speaking to a group of sprites. The fairy held a crusader sword in his left hand. Ash was totally unaware that that was him he was looking at. He was a bit out of it right now.
Passing the mural of the wingless fairy, it wasn’t long until he stumbled upon another one. This one showed a picture of a young, female fairy. On her head of long, brown hair, she wore a crown. It was like she was a princess or something. The picture illustrated her fighting against a mysterious shadow that had eight, Kraken-like arms. This was Makenna Delling, but because Ash’s mind was currently a blank, he didn’t recognize her. Right now, his sore brain focused on trying to think of way to get out of here. Before he made an attempt to, he peeped over his shoulder to the mural of Makenna and cautiously studied it. Something about that fairy in that painting was familiar to him, but what? Ash would hopefully remember soon.
It wasn’t long until he found himself back under the somewhat familiar mural, and he reached his hand up to the female fairy. Just before he could touch her, he heard a sound off to the right and glanced in that direction. The sound came from a medieval-style rocky door that had a pattern of Ethelinda in its heart. Ash curiously watched as the pattern glowed up, and the door slowly opened. Creeeaaak. When the creaking stopped, the young Wizard Fairy officially was free from his six-hour spa treatment.
Splash! The water let Tracey go the second his transformation ceased, and he hit the ocean. He ended up twirling a bit when he did because he wasn’t exactly used to his new wings yet. It also had been over a year since his last pair. Closing his eyes, Tracey spun all the way down to some sand and seaweed. When he landed, a cloud of sand spewed up around him. The transformation wore him out a bit, but he stayed strong. He at first didn’t believe he had new wings, but he did notice his hair had grown shorter. It freaked him out though when he noticed it strangely had changed color underwater! Aside from being shorter, his hair had changed from black to blonde with black highlights. The young man reached up and grabbed hold of the curved tuft of hair on top of his head, pulling it down so he could examine it. This was so weird! What on earth had happened to his hair?
It wasn’t long until he heard a woman’s voice. It was different from the voice he heard before. “Tracey.”
Merlin’s apprentice turned in the direction of another section of shimmering water. He gasped at what he saw in front of him and retreated back a few feet. Staring into his golden brown eyes was a beautiful creature who looked like a cross between a mermaid and a sea lion. Most of her body was white, and she had a long, fish-like tail. The tip of it was cyan. Long, light pink hair trailed down the back of her head, and a tiara-like structure adorned her forehead.
The mysterious creature’s beauty was enough to make Tracey nervous. She was as beautiful as a siren. What if she was one? Had Poseidon sent her? The closer she approached, the more nervous he became.
After a bit, she said, “Hello, there.”
Totally speechless, Tracey just stuttered, “Um, hi.” He then puffed out his cheeks and reached for his mouth. Wait a minute, did he just talk underwater?
Hearing his inner question, the mermaid sea lion answered, “Yes, you did. You’re a merfairy now.”
Tracey, blown away, removed his hands from his mouth and confusingly glanced at her.
This creature definitely wasn’t the voice he heard. She definitely was not his father. “Who are you?” he asked her, “Are you a siren? Did Poseidon send you? Were you the light we saw from the cruise ship?”
She couldn’t help but to chuckle, “So many questions. I am the light you saw, Tracey, but pull your pants up. I’m not the voice you heard. That was someone else, someone you will meet one day. Poseidon didn’t send me.”
“Why are you here then, and how do you know my name?”
“Everybody knows who you are. You’re Merlin’s apprentice. Do you even know what just happened to you?” Tracey shook his head no and watched as the mysterious creature stopped next to his arm. “Look yourself up and down,” she added. Tracey gave her a funny look but complied. His golden brown eyes rolled down to his new attire and widened when he saw it, “Wait a minute! This isn’t my apprentice nor training outfit! What’s going on?!” Right after he asked that though, he noticed the mermaid sea lion was smiling at him.
With her head, she gestured at his back, “Look behind you.”
Excitement bubbled inside Merlin’s apprentice when she told him that. Slowly and carefully turning his head, he peeked over his shoulder, and his jaw dropped all the way to seafloor when he saw his new wings waving at him. The excitement was too much to bear. Tracey’s entire face turned red, and he shouted, “WHOOPDEEDOO! My wings! My wings, ma’am! I’ve got my wings back!”
The mermaid sea lion nodded and brought her left, front fin towards her nose, “Try them, young man.” Chuckling, she watched as he nodded and opened his new wings. He hoped he hadn’t forgotten how to fly.
As soon as he flapped them, he yelled, “Whoa!” as the mermaid sea lion waved goodbye. Just like when Makenna first got her merfairy wings, Tracey’s wings caused him to fly all over the place in the ocean. Fish scattered and swam through the green and purple bubbles they gave off with each flap. “Oh gee!” yelled Merlin’s apprentice, “Come on, Tracey. You’ve got this.” His flying definitely was a bit rusty since he hadn’t done any for over a year now. After a few minutes, Merlin’s apprentice finally managed to control himself a bit. When he did, the smile returned to his face. His fragile, new wings shoved him out of the ocean and caused him to spin forward a few more times. Further ahead sailed the Veendam, but it was steadily growing smaller. As soon as Tracey was out of the water, his hair glowed up and returned to its normal color – black all over. Seeing this, the young Apprentice Fairy excitedly cheered and shot forward as fast as a bullet. The light he saw in the ocean from before, the mysterious creature’s light, followed him.
Tracey finally was starting to get the hang of flying again. Holding his arms out like Peter Pan, he soared over the ocean in the direction of the Veendam where the three women and Gina still waited for him from the balcony.
Diving into the ocean, he leaped out of it and back in like a dolphin. His hair went crazy as he did this. It changed from its natural color to blonde with black streaks and back to pure black over and over again. Tracey was having the time of his life. He had forgotten how much it was to fly! Right now, The Mincing was the least of his worries. His mind was focused on protecting his new wings. If they broke, then it was game over. Makenna wouldn’t have to worry if hers did because she was a Metamorphic Fairy, and Metamorphic Fairy wings healed if they broke – like arms and legs. Apprentice Fairy wings didn’t.
Tracey flew above surface for a little bit longer until the Veendam started to get closer. When it did, he flapped his wings and dove back into the ocean.
Tracey met up with the mermaid sea lion, who had been following him, while his hair changed back to blonde with black streaks. “So, how did it feel?” she asked him.
Tracey immediately answered with an excited, “Amazing! I had forgotten how much fun it is to fly!”
“Well, from this point on,” spoke the mermaid sea lion, “you will not only be able to fly in the sky but also underwater. You have proven true bravery to the Atlantic Ocean and to me. Congratulations, courageous one.”
With those words she started to swim away, but Tracey stopped her by holding out his hand, “Wait!” At his voice, the mermaid sea lion stopped and turned to him again. Tracey lowered his hand when he saw he grabbed her attention and swam a bit closer. “Who are you?” he questioned.
Again, the mermaid sea lion smiled, and she replied in her goddess-like voice, “Young, Tracey, my name is Alexandria. I am the one you seek in the Bermuda Triangle, but you probably didn’t know until now. I am the Atlantic Oracle.”
Tracey’s eyes widened when she said that, “The Atlantic…?” and he quickly bowed, “Please excuse me for my rudeness before, ma’am. I’m a bit edgy when it comes to trusting water people now, ever since that time on the sailboat when Gina and I were attacked by those sirens.” Right as he said that, he gasped, “Gina! Uh oh! I forgot her on the cruise ship!”
“Then go to her, young man.” Alexandria sweetly spoke, “Right now, she needs you more than the ocean. I do need to speak to you about something, but that can wait until later.”
“Thank you for understanding.” Approaching the oracle, Merlin’s apprentice picked up her fin and gave it a small kiss. Afterwards, he flapped his new wings and hurried towards surface again.
Alexandria watched him and nervously spoke, “I’m worried about that kid. Poseidon is going to send another storm filled full of black magic soon.”
Tracey immediately headed towards the Veendam again the second he escaped the ocean. Behind him, sure enough, a huge thundercloud filled with white, yellow, green, and blue lightning crept in his direction. If the young man didn’t make it the island the Veendam headed towards soon, then Poseidon would take over his body again, and he would force him to attack the luxury liner and drag it down to the depths of the Bermuda Triangle. Unaware of this, Merlin’s apprentice used ninja stealth and speed when he reached the ship in order to prevent himself from being caught. He pulled his new mask up to his mouth and pressed his palms against its side. Tracey’s fairy instincts told him the three women had left their balcony and taken themselves and Gina to the ship’s stern. Therefore, the ninja sped to it and carefully peeped over the railing. A horde of people walked and talked on the deck in front of him.
Tracey was forced to slip under the railing when a few hurried to it and pointed at the black cloud behind them. “Look at that cloud!” he heard a human girl yell, “That’s gnarly!” Like Tracey, the passengers and staff aboard the Veendam didn’t know they were in trouble while they were on the ocean.
“Whoa! Gnarly but beautiful!” a male passenger yelled, and he quickly took a picture of the cloud, “I’ve never seen that many colors of lightning before!”
“Are we safe?” asked a worried female passenger. Murmuring arose from the crowd of passengers that had approached the stern’s railing to get a better view of the cloud. Tracey still hadn’t seen it since he was so intent on finding the women and getting Gina back. Through ninja speed, he escaped his hiding place and appeared on top of the Veendam’s funnel.
Up there, he finally saw the cloud the passengers were so interested in, “Oh, my gosh! Look at that thing!” The cloud proved that Poseidon was close, and when he was close, so was the Kraken.
The Veendam hit a large wave, and as soon as it did, it gave off a sudden jerk!
The jerk was so forceful that passengers were knocked off their feet, and Tracey fell from his perch. “Yikes!” he yelled as he grabbed the funnel’s edge. Passengers screamed below and scattered. From where he hung, Merlin’s young apprentice focused his attention on the approaching cloud again. Hair blew in his face, and he frightfully whimpered, “I’ve doomed these passengers.” Though he wasn’t exactly appreciative of humans because of the year before, he refused to let them die. They were living creatures too. With all the strength he had, he hauled himself back onto the funnel.
He heard the intercom turn on down below and the voice of the ship’s captain, “Attention, passengers, we are hitting some rough sea right now. The best thing you can do is remain calm and put your trust in the staff and Veendam. Currently, we are sailing away from the storm.”
To the intercom, a passenger yelled, “What about that jerk?! Did we hit something?” As soon as he asked that, the ship jerked again, and another wave of screams exploded into the atmosphere. A few seasick people hurried to the edge and stuck their faces over it. Tracey knew it was the Kraken causing the jerking. It was looking for him. The best thing Merlin’s apprentice could do was lure it away from the Veendam, and the only way he could do that was if he threw himself into the fray. He had to move fast though. The Kraken’s tentacles soon escaped the ocean and started to slither up the Veendam’s sides.
One of the seasick passengers saw them and pointed at the tentacles. “KRAKEN!” he shouted. Immediately after he said that, other passengers hurried to the edge and also peered down on the approaching tentacles.
Another round of screams escaped into the atmosphere. “We’re all going to die!” screamed a woman.
The three women from before, Coralline, Alexa, and Lillie, soon appeared on the crowded deck, and Lillie still held Gina. “What’s going on?” she asked a passenger.
“Kraken!” he responded. Gina’s beak dropped to the ground when she heard the name. If the Kraken was here on the Veendam, then that meant Tracey was, but where was he? The tern immediately searched the area.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Alexa snapped at the man who told Lillie about the monster, “The Kraken is a myth!” Right as she said that though, the ship jerked for the third time, and the Kraken roared. Its tentacles had reached the life boats, and they kept on creeping up.
Gina’s entire face turned blue when she heard the monster’s roar, and she screamed through telepathy, “Tracey!”
Up on the funnel, Merlin’s apprentice heard his friend and asked, “Gina?” Quickly, he fell to his knees and glanced down on the deck. His eyes caught the three women who struggled to their feet, since they had been knocked down when the ship jerked, and Gina’s white blob, “Gina!” This was it. Tracey had to be brave. These people needed him. Jumping to his feet, he yelled, “Cowabunga!” and dove off the funnel.
Merlin’s apprentice dove down to the crowded, panicked deck and soared past the three women.
They gasped when they saw him. “What the?!” Coralline shouted, “It’s him!”
“Tracey!” Gina squawked at her friend. Her brown eyes widened at the sight of his new transformation.
“Coming through!” Tracey shouted as he soared through other passengers who also gasped.
Little children pointed at him and yelled, “It’s a fairy!” Merlin’s young apprentice soared over the ship’s edge past seasick people, and one person fell down. Another crowd of people, including the three women, hurried to the railing and watched him save their lives.
With his mask over his face, Tracey cupped his hands and shot a spell at one of the Kraken’s tentacles. It slammed into it, and the monster screeched in pain. Quickly, it let go, and the tentacle fell back into the ocean where it belonged. The young fairy approached another tentacle and threw a magic throwing star at it. It sliced right through the arm and severed it. Again, the Kraken screeched, and it watched as its severed limb splashed into the salt water. The passengers aboard the Veendam watched amazed, and it wasn’t long until they cheered the fairy on, including the three women and Gina. Nobody took his picture; they were too distracted. Tracey flew back to the ship’s stern and started to hover. Another ball of light appeared in his hand, and he yelled at the Kraken, “Hey, Kraken! I’m up here!” Right as he yelled that, the rest of the Kraken’s arms slithered off the ship and moved towards him.
Tracey readied his attack, but just before he could launch it, he heard the voice of Alexandria, the Atlantic Oracle, in his head, “Stop, Tracey. Don’t hurt him.”
“Alexandria?” he asked, “What? Are you crazy, woman? This is a Code Red crisis! The Kraken is trying to kill these passengers!”
“No he’s not, young one. He’s not trying to kill anyone, including you. Poseidon forced him to do this. The Kraken is not as evil as he looks. The real enemy here is the Octopus Man.” Yeah, right. Tracey couldn’t believe that. A monster as scary as the Kraken was good? At the same time though, what if Alexandria was right? After all, she was an oracle. He was only an Apprentice Fairy. Tracey’s fairy instincts told him to trust her, and he repeated the mermaid sea lion’s words in his head, “The real enemy here is the Octopus Man.” There was only one way to find out if that was true or not. The newborn Apprentice Merfairy canceled the spell he was about to launch and pulled his new mask off his mouth, bravely clenching his fists. The Kraken’s shadow hurried towards him in the ocean – a light blue blob that looked like a whale when it was close to surface. Tracey though refused to move from his spot.
On the Veendam, Gina flew out of Lillie’s arms and landed on the stern’s railing.
“What are you doing, Trace?” she frightfully asked him. Coralline, Lillie, and Alexa gulped behind her.
Tracey heard his friend, but he didn’t answer her back. Currently, he had more pressing priorities.
As the Kraken crept closer and closer, he opened his mouth and sung a song about the ocean, and how it was the source of all the magic and love in the fairy world.
The Kraken enjoyed his calm voice. He warmed up to him. He lost his glare and leaned his head in close to Tracey.
Merlin’s apprentice pressed his palm up against his forehead. For a minute or two, there was dead silence on the ocean and Veendam. Tracey then received something he never expected from humans. They cheered and started to clap! This young fairy just saved not only the Veendam but also hundreds of lives! Tracey literally cried tears of joy when he heard the humans congratulating him. He learned this very minute that not all humans are bad.
“Yeah!” Lillie yelled from the deck, “Thank you, Tracey! Thank you! You saved us!” Gina couldn’t help herself. She hopped off the railing and hurried towards her friend.
Further away from the ship in the ocean, Alexandria popped her head out.
Her bright, blue eyes landed on Tracey waving at the humans, and she couldn’t help but to smile. “Yep,” she told herself, “He definitely deserves those new wings.”
As much as Tracey wanted to stay on the Veendam, he couldn’t. It wasn’t safe. As long as he was close to it, Poseidon’s storm would slam it instead of him, and that would guarantee the ship sinking to the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle. He did what he thought was safe. Merlin’s young apprentice gestured for the Kraken to follow him, and it did. Waving one last time to the Veendam’s passengers and three women, he soared down to the ocean and dove. Underwater, he excitedly watched his hair change color and glanced back up to surface. He moved out of the way as the Kraken splashed into the ocean too, and the two exchanged smiles.
Gina flew to the area where they disappeared and started to hover.
“Tracey!” she squawked, “Tracey!” With a small sigh, she crossed her legs over each other like they were arms and mumbled, “He ditched me.” Just as she said that though, Tracey’s gloved hand emerged from the ocean, and he grabbed hold of one of her legs. Green and purple sparkles surrounded the tern, and she said, “Whoa!” as her friend pulled her underwater.
Tracey led the Kraken and Gina down to the seabed where they met up with Alexandria. Swaying in the water under them was a seaweed forest that had rocks and coral in it. This was a good place to hide in case any boats passed them from up above.
Alexandria excitedly swam to Merlin’s apprentice and took his shoulders with her front fins, “What a performance, young one! I don’t think you know, but you just saved hundreds of lives! You proved to me that you definitely deserve these new wings! Well done!”
Tracey waved his hand and said, “Ah, it was nothing. Sensei just told me once that…” Before he could finish though, Alexandria suddenly gasped and jerked her fins away from his shoulders. She looked alarmed by something, but what? “Hide!” she whispered after a bit.
“Hide?” Tracey asked, “Why?” Alexandria though didn’t answer. She instead grabbed his arm and pulled him into the seaweed forest. During the process, Merlin’s apprentice caught Gina by the leg and pulled her in with him and Alexandria. The Kraken was too big to fit in the forest, so he just camouflaged himself to blend in with the ocean and swam back. That was another one of his gifts, aside from being able to change between his octopus and humanoid form and humanoid form to octopus form.
Gina, Tracey, and Alexandria soon peeped out from their hiding places, and Tracey asked, “What’s the big drama?” Alexandria put her left fin up to his mouth and pointed out the forest with her right. Merlin’s apprentice glanced in the direction she was pointing, and his face brightened at what he saw. Prancing around the ocean floor in front of him, the oracle, and Gina was a scuba diver! He had come down here to do a little research in the Bermuda Triangle area. Every once in a while, he glanced up to the hose he was attached to and gave it a small tug. Tracey excitedly glanced at Alexandria and innocently spoke, “Oh, my gosh! It’s a human! Who would’ve thunk that they’d be around a cruise ship? It’s a human!”
“Yes.” Alexandria nervously whispered, “And if he finds out who we are, I don’t even want to think about what he’ll do! Right, Tracey?” Tracey though proved he was much more clueless about the human world than she thought. He swam right out of the seaweed forest and started in the direction of the scuba diver! “Tracey, what are you doing?” continued Alexandria, “Tracey!”
“He’s insane!” Gina admitted. She hadn’t run out of air yet, because Tracey had put the spell that allowed someone to breathe underwater for fifteen minutes on her. “Oh, I can’t watch,” grumbled the tern, and she quickly hid behind her wings.
With wings flapping slowly behind his back and leg fins glowing, Tracey hid behind a rock and peered over the top of it to the scuba diver. Hair swayed in his face, but he pulled it out. The diver soon kicked his flippers and made his way towards a cluster of different colored coral. As he swam, he took pictures with a waterproof camera. The camera fascinated Tracey. What was that thing? He’s never seen something like it in his entire life. The curiosity was killing him. He had to found out about the object the human held!
Swimming out of his hiding place, Tracey waved at the scuba diver and called, “Hi!” in his innocent voice.
The diver heard him and asked, “Huh?” behind his mask. Who on earth was calling to him? How could someone be calling to him, and how was their voice so clear? He shifted the position of his body, and his eyes widened at the sight of the fairy swimming towards him. A wave of shock exploded across his entire body, and he yelled, “Ah! It’s a fairy!” The scuba diver was so surprised that he dropped his camera. It ended up falling through a large crevice and sunk towards the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Not long after it did, Tracey made it to the diver and excitedly announced, “I know! This is my first day with my wings back! Not only am I a fairy, dude, but I am also Merlin’s apprentice!”
Screaming, the scuba diver swam back a few feet and yelled, “Get away from me!” to Tracey.
“Yeah, I know it’s worth screaming about!” he called out, totally clueless, “I haven’t had my wings for over a year! This is a miracle!” The frightened diver’s back soon hit a rock, and he pressed his palms against it. He kept his distance from Tracey.
Back over where she and Gina hid, Alexandria closed her eyes and brought her fin to her face. This was definitely worth a facepalm. Gina merely unwrapped her wings around her and crossed them.
It wasn’t long until the oracle shook her head and admitted, “Oi. We’re going to have to teach that boy about the dangers of being a merfairy.”
“Ya think?” sarcastically asked Gina.
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