Chasing Tide (A Merman's Tale And The Human Who Desired Him)

ATANA'S TIDEIAN.

Chapter: 48.
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"It's stuck!" He cried as he watched the burn mark heal.

"Not, stuck, little Matthew, it chooses you and It won't leave your protection until another who is to bear it arrives, she needs to return to the safety of her home, my love, we have waited for years for the one who will take her home to come but none has come and now it's your time, little Matthew, you must promise me to protect these treasures, they must never be sold or traded for money and keep them away from all… you never know who is out to get them."

"I promise." She smiled. "But you haven't told me how you and great-gran knew about these things… how you got them." He needed to understand that, it confuses him. He's heard stories but now that he could associate these stories and places with actual treasures, it made it a lot more real, more convincing.

"I will show you what my mother showed me the day she passed these treasures down to me." She sat up fully on the bed and picked up the stone, then placed it on the bed. She took both his hands and laid them atop the stone, then smiled and took her hands off. His hands stayed like that for what seemed like forever until the stone began to fade into a transparent glass, like a mirror, he could see his reflection through it, he didn't even get the chance to ogle before images began to display in the mirror, he saw Aquarial for the first time, he saw the neighboring cities as they surround her… He saw Scytis the city of the Merfairies,  Ebilor city of the MerElves, Riveri city of the Merdragon, Glasa city of MerWitches and Wizards, Merlona city of the Whispering Ghost, Atlaria the home of the Seven Apex Mountain, home to Merfish folks and while the Mermaids and Mermen had from below them tails but upper bodies like human only with fins and gills, the Merfish folks expect for their long flowing hair, they were like giant fish. All these cities surrounded Aquari which was the capital of Aquarial known as the Realm of the Kings. Each city held a giant gate with the symbol of the dwellers who occupied her.

It was the most beautiful place he had visited by sight and he wished more than anything he could go there physically, see these places for himself. 

Is that even possible?

"It is time to know of Atana, the owner of the Soulpearl around your neck." As his grandmother spoke, he didn't look away from the stone. He saw Atana, watched her befriend a human after she saved him from being entrapped by the whispering ghosts, her marriage, her children, one betrayed her and she was killed, accused unjustly but where was the system to prove otherwise thousands of years ago and when a certain young woman came into view, his grandmother pointed to her and said. "She is the mother through which we all came. The daughter of Atana, the only one who gathered her SoulPearl as they floated away like the siren songs of the Whispering Ghost of Merlona and sealed the Pearls into that pendant around your neck and because she was the only one who learned magic from her mother before it was taken away by the Merwtiches, she could perform the sealing ritual for it was the only way she could bring her mother home and so the passing on began, from her daughter to her daughter's daughter and now to you, little Matthew."

The mirror melted away and the stone reappeared, Matthew pulled his hands back and entwined them, while his gaze returned to his grandmother. "I had no daughter, only your father, but he had a daughter only this time fate chose a son instead." 

"How then will I return this to the seas?" He asked, feeling heavy from Atana's story. She did nothing wrong and didn't deserve the end she got.

"If it was in our place to return then you wouldn't have had the pendant, Atana was going to bring forth a Tideian but since she married a human her fate was altered but was bound to come to pass and after you were born, we knew without a doubt that you were meant to be Atana’s Tideian but that can not be anymore as thousands of generations have passed, bloodlines have mixed too deeply but the magic of Aquarial still lingered because we kept her alive through that pendant, but know this, you have the blood of the Mers flowing within your veins for you have Atana beside you and every step you take in this life would be one guarded by Atana till her destiny through you is fulfilled and then you shall find peace and the answers to all you've ever craved and wanted.”

"I will try to keep her safe, grandmother.”

"I know you will…" she smiled into his eyes and he returned her smile.

"Who can take her SoulPearl back home?"

"Only a Tideian."

"What does a Tideian mean?"

"The keeper of Neptune's Fire Trident, the one who holds and brings peace and order, one who guards his people, the only one Neptune trusts above his Elders in council, they live as long as Neptune and dies when their Neptune dies and since you my little Matthew is meant to be Atana's Tideian, it can be said that her time of rest is near." She began gathering the treasures and returning them to their respective bags once she had finished she handed them over to Matthew. "Take all of these and keep them safe, they will guard you and someday will be needed by another Tideian who shall come seeking help from Atana…your Atana.”

"My Atana…" he muttered softly.