Compass of the Nymphs (15 page)

Eione swam into the more shallow waters to
meet Lahara as she debarked. Lahara saw her beckoning and quickly
joined the sea nymph away from her sister’s prying eyes and ears.
“Over there is my sister Nereid,” Eione grinned cleverly. “She sent
me off to distract you because she didn’t feel like it. She’s going
to be so jealous when she finds out I found our saviors. Everyone
is always going on about how much prettier and smarter she is…this
ought to teach her.”

Lahara gave a little chuckle, appreciating
Eione’s vivacity. She nodded in understanding. “I’ll definitely
make you out to be the hero for guiding us here.”

“Oh, thank you!” Eione grinned and swam off
to the area of the cove where Nereid was waiting.

All of the commotion on the shore and under
the water had brought Zara out of his slumber. As Lahara got safely
onto the shore to acquaint herself with Eione and Nereid, Zara
stumbled out on to the deck of the ship and noticed how different
his surroundings were.

His jaw dropped in wonderment, and he turned
on his heels to go wake up Taisiya. She had been sleeping for some
time now, but was still startled when Zara started shaking her
awake in bed. She didn’t even have time to fully open her eyes
before Zara had her hand in his and was dragging her out to see
where they had arrived.

Just as Zara had done before her, Taisiya
found her jaw dropping in disbelief. She turned to Zara and
grinned. “We made it!”

Taisiya threw her arms around Zara in a
joyful embrace. As she pulled away, she noticed a dopey grin on his
face. Paying no mind, she ran to the edge of the ship and looked
out at the shore ahead where Lahara, Nereid, and Eione were
conversing. “Zara, look!”

Zara followed Taisiya and joined her in
watching the three nymphs. They seemed deep in a conversation until
one of the nymphs, Nereid, caught sight of them on the ship’s deck.
She screamed in a coquettishly joyful voice and jumped off the rock
she had been lounging on and into the water.

Nereid left Lahara and Eione wondering what
had happened as she hastily swam over to the edge of the ship. She
floated in the water coyly in front of Zara, waving to him and
giggling. Zara looked over to Taisiya for help, but she shrugged
her shoulders.

Of the three nymphs, Nereid was, in Zara’s
opinion, the strangest looking. She had long, sea-green hair that
was done up in a bun with a seashell tying it together. What could
be seen of her hair was very thick, and from certain angles it
looked as if seaweed were growing from her head. Her skin was a
pale white that seemed to be lightly tinted with green as well.
Most striking of all about Nereid were her piercing green eyes; she
had thick, arched eyebrows that brought all the focus on them and
drew even more attention to her eyes with a deep hue of green eye
shadow. While she might not be considered attractive to a human, it
was obvious that this nymph took her appearance very seriously.

“Hello, Zzzzzzzara!” Nereid called, speaking
his name slowly and savoring every letter. “I’ve heard so much
about you…but no one told me how handsome you would be.”

Zara grinned. “Aw, shucks.”

“Zara, my darling, will you come join me for
a swim? I’ll show you all around my cove.” Nereid batted her
eyelashes at him, gaining a smirk from Zara and a glower from
Taisiya.

“It’s not
your
cove!” Eione scowled,
leaving Lahara on the shore and swimming over to join her sister.
“It belongs to our mother, actually, she oversees its upkeep and
all…”

“Oh, shut up, Eione!” Nereid scoffed,
splashing water in Eione’s face and smiling at Zara. “Now about
that swim, Zara?”

“I’m here too, you know…” Taisiya mumbled.
The nymphs didn’t hear her, but Zara did. He chuckled lightly.

“Don’t swim with Nereid.” Eione scowled. “I’m
the fastest swimmer of all the sea nymphs. Do you think you can
outswim me?”

Nereid rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I wish I
could drown you.” She splashed some more water at Eione.

“And what would mother say about that?!”
Eione splashed back.

“Ladies, calm down,” Zara gleamed, “can’t we
all enjoy a nice swim together?” He looked over at Taisiya for
approval.

She cocked an eyebrow at him but remained
silent as the two sea nymphs fought over if they both could share
Zara’s attention long enough for a swim around the cove. They
eventually came to an agreement that they would rather both swim
with him than have neither show Zara around the cove. He flashed
the nymphs and Taisiya a debonair smile and beckoned Taisiya to
lead the way off the ship. “Going for a swim sounds good, no?”

Taisiya flashed Zara a fake grin in return
and sarcastically replied, “Oh, yes. A marvelous idea!” She gave a
fake flourish in her step and pranced behind him. As he was looking
over the side at Eione and Nereid, he was completely unsuspecting
as Taisiya snuck up behind him and pushed him overboard. He tumbled
headfirst into the water between the two nymphs, who scrambled away
in horror.

After Zara got his balance in the water, they
swam back to coddle him and make sure he was all right while
throwing verbal abuse at Taisiya for having done such a horrible
thing to him. Nereid held his head in her arms and carefully rubbed
the water out of his eyes as she cooed and made over him like a
little baby. Eione had more adult matters on her mind, insisting
Zara take off his drenched clothes so that he didn’t freeze to
death in the water. He smirked and obliged, stripping off to his
shorts and then darting off in the water in the direction of the
waterfall. The sea nymphs followed after him, a bundle of giggles
and titters over who would show him what.

Taisiya thought to herself that she was lucky
that water couldn’t be set on fire, for surely her emotions now
were as fiery as they were when the ship’s mast had caught flame.
She carefully got off the ship and met Lahara on the shore. Lahara
explained to Taisiya that most of the other sea nymphs were
sleeping at this time (although both the girls agreed they would
probably soon be awake from all the commotion Eione and Nereid were
causing), but Eione had told her they could rest on the shores for
the night and meet their mother, Aitia, in the morning.

They made their way deeper onto shore and
rested on some of the rocks, which were surprisingly smooth and
comfortable. Lahara sat with Taisiya and began braiding the girl’s
hair as they talked about arriving on the island.

“I’m nervous,” Taisiya admitted. “So far it
seems like these nymphs prefer Zara to me. It’s like I don’t even
exist.”

“Don’t you remember how much I disliked Zara
at first?” Lahara reminded Taisiya. “They are reckless young nymphs
who probably have never seen a man in their life. His handsomeness
only furthers their adoration for him. I assure you, though, Eione
was very cautious of even allowing a ship with a man onboard
anywhere near the island.”

Taisiya sighed. “But what about me? Will they
like me? What about the other nymphs? You know, I don’t really even
care if they like me…I just care if they will help me.”

“I have a feeling,” Lahara said calmly, “that
the nymphs and you share a common goal. I’m sure they will
ultimately help you, it may just take a bit of persuading.”

“They won’t hurt us, will they? The more
powerful nymphs?” Taisiya asked.

“If they were going to hurt you, you would be
dead by now,” Lahara grimly assured her. “Trust me, we would not
have made it this far if they had any ill will toward us in their
hearts.”

“I’m glad you found us in the woods, Lahara,”
Taisiya said, smiling. “I don’t know where I would be without
you.”

“Not on this shore, I can tell you that!” A
timid, squeaky voice rang out. Lahara and Taisiya turned around to
the direction it was coming from.

A much older sea nymph had swum up to the
shallow end of the waters and was watching them. Her hair was short
and gray and her face showed signs of age. Eione, Nereid, and Zara
were making their way back to the shore when the sea nymphs spotted
the scene.

“That’s mother,” Nereid whispered to Zara.
They started swimming at a much more cautious pace.

“Should I be scared?” he asked seriously.

Eione bit her lip, not sure how to answer his
question. “Mother is very wise, and she wouldn’t hurt a soul. She’s
also…paranoid, I must warn you. Very paranoid.”

“I see,” Zara mumbled.

As the mother nymph came into better view,
she did not seem intimidating at all. She was half the size of her
daughters and seemed very frail. Nereid tried to stop Zara from
swimming too closely to her, but she was too late. The old nymph
had spotted him.

She turned her gaze from Taisiya and Lahara
and spotted the man in her waters. Her eyes lit up with rage and
she shook her fist at Zara and her daughters. They could feel the
water begin to boil around them as a wave sprung up and smacked
Zara in the face. “A man!” Old Aitia howled, “You girls bring a man
into my waters!” She tossed her hands up and slowly got off her
rock.

Eione and Nereid swam over quickly to plead
their case to their mother, and Zara took that time to make a run
for the shore. He ran straight over to Taisiya who inspected his
face for any severe burns. It was red, but other than that he
looked fine. “I can’t tell if your face is red from the boiling
water or embarrassment,” she said with a grin.

Zara shivered as the cold air hit him on
land. Taisiya took off her shawl and wrapped it around him for
warmth. The sea nymphs were still arguing, and it soon appeared
that Nereid had enough. She angrily plunged deep under the water
and didn’t return. Eione, who was much more subordinate to her
mother, obeyed her word and the two nymphs were soon swimming over
so that Aitia could get a better look at the humans.

“This is no place for humans,” Aitia spat
bitterly. “Are you here to kill us? Entrance us into falling for
you? I hope you don’t have plans of breaking one of my daughter’s
hearts.”

“No, no!” Zara assured her. “Just…no.”

Aitia chose to ignore her daughter’s shock at
Zara’s distaste for sea nymphs. “Good. As for the girl…come
closer.”

Taisiya was reluctant to venture closer to
the frightening sea nymph, but Zara and Lahara gave her a
collective push in the right direction.

“Closer, dearie, my eyesight isn’t what it
used to be,” Aitia remarked. Taisiya ventured closer and closer,
until she was face to face with the old nymph.

Aitia grabbed Taisiya’s tunic and pulled her
closer. “I need to get a good look at you,” she said. “I have bad
eyes. Sometimes I even think eels took them out while I was
sleeping one night and replaced them with pearls.”

Taisiya gave a frightened smile. “But you
have such beautiful blue eyes, ma’am.”

“These blue eyes see potential in you,” Aitia
said. “You hold the ability to possess great knowledge.”

“Thank you,” Taisiya said politely.

“I have knowledge on just about everything,”
Aitia went on, refusing to loosen her grip and let Taisiya back up.
“I consider myself an expert at pretty much all of the natural
elements we nymphs can possess. I’d dare say I could shine brighter
than some of the Nymphs of Light you’ll meet around here…and ones
much younger than me, too. You know how old I am? Nine thousand six
hundred years! I’ve still got a good ways to go, though.”

“That’s…amazing.” Taisiya mumbled.

“Oh, yes. I’m one of the most nurturing
nymphs you will ever meet.” She smiled, a toothless smile. “Now,
let’s see just how quick of a learner you are.”

And with that, Aitia grabbed Taisiya and
pulled her head first under the water, darting off deeper and
deeper. Taisiya didn’t even have enough time to grab a breath
before she found herself surrounded by the world beneath the water.
Deep beneath the surface, homes were carved into the wall of the
cove. Even though it was still fairly dark (and even darker
underwater), there was light glowing in the dark from most of the
houses.

As they went deeper and deeper in the water,
Taisiya noticed that the lights moved along with her. The sea
nymphs got their nightlights from the glow in the dark fish! She
opened her mouth to gasp at the revelation and noticed that she
wasn’t drowning. What was going on?

She had no time to think, as Aitia was now
pulling her back up toward the surface. Air filled Taisiya’s lungs
once more as she found herself on the other end of the cove near
the waterfall. Despite being under the water for a reasonable
amount of time, she didn’t find herself rubbing her eyes—it was as
if they didn’t burn from salt water. She didn’t even need to cough
up any water, either.

“What did you do to me?” she asked, a little
terrified of Aitia.

The old sea nymph had swum Taisiya into a
corner of the cove. “I didn’t do anything,” she said dryly, “that
was just a little test.”