Serene Of The Sea

9. Pod

Did you know that seventy one percent of the earths surface is covered by the ocean? Yet humans have only explored less than ten percent of it, leaving more than ninety percent undiscovered. If you think about it, that's an endless realm of possibilities, more than of land itself.

Suddenly, I was feeling very small as I swam through the deep purple tones of an ocean I had yet to discover. The only comfort was the fact that Kai swam next to me, his stance calm and sure, holding me together.
The silver moon hung in every scale on his tail, making him seem ethereal. My conscious mind clung to his presence like a safety blanket.
The small bubble of existence that had been mine was well and truly burst.
I felt like I was dangling on the edge of a giant precipice.
It dawned on me that if Kai should change his mind and will me away, I would be lost. A tiny speck drifting in the currents of a world I didn't understand. The ocean was infinite around me. I wouldn't have a clue which way to turn.

An image of the fiery silhouette on the docks ran unbidden through my mind.
Nor could I ever return home.
Even if I had known which way that was.
I winced, trying to clear the searing imprint it left on the inside of my eyelids. I wondered how long it would take for that moment to stop haunting me? If it would ever stop haunting me.
My mind unwillingly began to wander.
I wondered what the people back in Mullion would be thinking. Surely they would have found the burnt out boat by now? It hadn't exactly gone down quietly. My father was anything but subtle.
All evidence of arson would point towards him, even if there wasn't anything to be found. Everyone would know.
Would the authorities just assume I was dead? Would they try to search the ocean in a desperate hope to find us alive?
I wondered what would happen to Dad?
Would they hold a funeral service for me?
I tried to picture that in my mind. My picture on a stand, surrounded by cheap scented candles. The media having themselves a field day. My face all over the television. Jess and Cassie getting themselves an interview with the national news and turning on the waterworks like we were the best of friends.
Strangers would surround her with solemn faces. Would McDougal be among them?
All these questions would go unanswered.

"Look." Kai sent me, pointing towards a growing shadow high above us.
The whale song drifted in a clear melody, ringing in my ears. I had never seen a whale before, let alone a pod of whales. Though I knew this would not be the only first of the coming days.
They moved in a slow, choreographed dance, casting great shadows in their wake. Their giant bodies breached the surface periodically with a mammoth huff of breath.
Replies echoed to and fro between them. Their sing song language waking the night. It was calming to watch.

I reached out with my mind curiously. One of the pod members had located some Krill and was alerting the others of their location. The language was far more intelligent than I had ever fathomed. Even some of their thoughts were in vocal form. I couldn't understand half of the young whales cogitation. My life had been such a sheltered and ignorant one.

I followed Kai deeper, into the slowly changing waters of dawn. I now understood why my eyes were always well adjusted to the darkness of the crevice. I hoped the city of Senima wasn't swallowed in darkness too. I didn't think I could live that way.
Kai swam towards a cluster of rocks near the deep sea bed.
Inconspicuous from the above, it seemed shrouded in darkness. But as we drew closer, I could see a small sliver of light escaping. This was it. I could feel it. The beginning of my new life.
As I followed Kai into the little canyon, I could see the rocks that formed it were carved in a very specific way. Almost man made. Mer made? I shook my head at my stupid pun. Kai carved the way until we were in front of the small sliver of light. The door I now floated before was well camouflaged into the rock face. I glanced at Kai to calm my fraying nerves, "What's inside?"
Roguish smile returning, he reached out and pushed the door dramatically.
It released a bright glow leaving me momentarily blind.
I was expecting to have my mind blown by whatever lay inside.
Slowly the room came into focus. I swam in cautiously, unsure of what I was seeing. Kai entered behind me, shutting out the dark of the vast ocean.
I'm not sure what I had been expecting, "A waiting room?"
I couldn't hide my incredulous disappointment from the thought. It was a small waiting room like those in a station, with typical white walls and tiled flooring. Neon flickering lights left the place looking run down. Benches of an unfamiliar black material were dotted around. A sign hung over the far end, where there was an entrance to the platform, it read 'SOUTH POINT STATION'. On the left was a map of the transport system. The color coded lines were similar to those I had seen on land. I wondered if the Sirens had stolen the idea. If I hadn't been somewhere at the bottom of the ocean, I would have sworn we were still on land.
I heard Kai's laughter in my mind, "What were you expecting? A song and a dance with the fish?"
I rolled my eyes at him.
There was a small ticket office at the other end. A middle aged man behind the glass seemed completely out of place as he napped in his chair. For some reason I pictured all Sirens to be youthful and fair in complexion. But the balding man that sat snoring behind his desk, his moustache the centre of attention on his almost hairless head, made me seriously reconsider my perception. He wore a netted top, barely covering his untrimmed figure. His name tag read Trevor.
How fitting.
I couldn't see his tail, hidden under the desk. It was almost comical to me to grasp he was a mythical creature. But I refrained from laughing as Kai didn't seem to react. This was obviously normal.
Kai approached the ticket office. It took him three tries to get the attention of the sleeping Trevor. He finally woke up with a yawn of distaste. Bubbles rising out of his mouth, rippling upwards. It was strange watching a conversation when you couldn't hear the words. I only knew one was happening from the slight rise and fall of Trevor's bushy eyebrows. His thin lips down turned, looking like they were arguing. Eventually Trevor seemed to give up. He slid two round shiny coins underneath the glass. Kai scooped them up, turning to me with a triumphant smile.
"What was that about?" I asked as we settled on one of the benches.
Kai was rolling the coins round his fingers, "Well I havn't got any money on me. So I had to convince him to charge it to my tab. Except it isn't actually my tab. But he doesn't have to know that. Shhhhhh."
No wonder he was reluctant to allow it. Kai's eyes sparkled mischievously.
"So. How long do we have to wait here?" I wanted to leave as soon as possible. Before Trevor figured out that Kai was a liar.
"Half an hour till the pod arrives." Kai answered, flipping the coins into the air and catching them as they came drifting down.
I settled in for the wait. It felt strange to sit with so little gravity to hold me down. Kai seemed to achieve it with ease. I wrapped my tail under the seat to keep from floating away, despite the fact there was no current.