Icy water hurled Bastian downward, over the edge of the shelf, and he was powerless to stop it.  Darkness swallowed him as his body was slammed into the hard rocks of the edge, and his last conscious thought was that he hoped Ambrosia wasn't too badly hurt. Even as he blacked out, he held onto her. Together, they disappeared from sight.

Bastian dreamed that he was young again, just a boy of twenty five years who was playing with his friends on the rooftops. Zareb and Lachlan shrieked out their small war cries, launching themselves into Bastian as all three of them rolled into the poseidonia and got covered in green moss. They laughed together, and Bastian felt at peace.

Zareb grinned at Bastian and his eyes were full of happiness. "You're my brothers, okay?" Bastian and Lachlan giggled and put their fins out to wrap around Zareb's. "Forever." The small Zareb hugged them close. "You don't mind about my ... my father?" Bastian shook his head. "We don't care that you're Atlantean, Zareb. We never will." 

Darkness blocked out the sun, and spread over the rooftop. Zareb and Lachlan huddled close in the sudden cold. "Maybe you should." A strange voice, deep and certain, crept over the boys. Bastian looked up and saw his father, Augustus, more vivid than he had ever been in the dull portrait that hung in his office. "What?" Suddenly, Bastian was older, and his height was the same as his father. He looked him in the eye. "Our origins tell the story of who we will be, Bastian, even if we don't know it yet. Be aware, my son, of those around you, no matter how much they mean to you."  The world began to shake and the water all around him began to shove him away from Augustus. Bastian struggled against it, reaching out for his father."Wait, what do you mean? Father! Father!"

"-stian! Bastian!" 

Bastian gasped and sat straight up, his head colliding with something hard that sent pain lancing down his spine. "Argh!" Bastian fell back to the ground, instinctively reaching up to rub his now aching forehead. 

"Calm down, Bastian, it's just me," Ambrosia's quiet voice rolled over him, and Bastian relaxed. 

"Oh! Ambrosia, you're okay!" Bastian looked up, blinking to clear his eyes, but after several moments, the water remained dark as night. Even his sharp eyes couldn't pick anything out of the blackness that surrounded him. "Are we...are we in a cave?"

The scent of Tala wafted over him, and then Ambrosia's hand slid up Bastian's arm until it settled on his shoulder. Her fingers were cold. "No, Bastian. I think we're at the bottom of the ocean."

Even the youngest merchildren knew that the bottom of the ocean was a dangerous place to be. Nomadic tribes often crossed the deep waters on long journeys, but no one ever went as deep as the bottom. There was no reason to put anyone in that kind of danger. A shiver went down Bastian's spine. "Is that why it's so cold?"

Ambrosia chuckled, and the sound of it warmed Bastian a little. "I think so. I'm not sure how far we traveled with the river, but I'm certain it is a lot farther than we wanted to. I lost consciousness for a little while, and it's so dark that I don't even know what direction the surface is." 

Bastian swallowed hard. "I've never been out this far, Ambrosia. Do you have any ideas?" He refrained from saying 'please dear goddess, have ideas' because he didn't think that would help anyone right now. Silence filled the water around them before Ambrosia's fingers gently squeezed his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I really don't." Ambrosia didn't sound scared. Instead, she sounded disappointed in herself. "I wish I had something to help, Bastian. I'm so sorry." Suddenly, Bastian recalled the whole reason they had been forced into the river to begin with. 

Bastian sat up slowly, reaching out until his hands found Ambrosia's slim waist. "Are you okay? Those jellyfish did a number on you." He heard her gasp, quiet as a whisper in the water, and then a choked sob poured out of her. 

Ambrosia leaned forward until she rested against his chest, and she began to cry. Small pearls fell over his tail and slid off into the darkness beneath him. Bastian froze for a moment, and then he pulled her into his lap and held her close. His hands rested over her back as he tucked his chin over her shoulder and she sobbed. Tala filled his nose and he leaned into the softness that was her pink hair. It was even softer than he had imagined it would be.

When she finished crying, Ambrosia stayed in his arms and he heard her inhaling and exhaling purposefully to calm herself, just like he had been taught to do in his warrior training. Bastian cleared his throat and pulled away enough to kiss her cheek.

While the blood rushed to his cheeks and ears in a hot blush, he heard Ambrosia gasp. Bastian pulled his arms away. "So... I have an idea. For how to get out of here." Silence greeted him for a moment, and then she spoke. 

"I'm listening." 

He hesitated. What he was about to suggest would normally be considered a little rude, and Melodia had drummed manners into Bastian with a ruthless efficiency that made it hard to overcome. Desperate times, though, sometimes called for desperate measures.  

"The jewel around your neck... it's a vitae gem isn't it?" 

More silence followed his question, but he had been expecting it this time. The subject of the vitae gems was sensitive. Most merpeople had one or two nearby, for the gems contained the essence of the dead. They were only left behind for close family or friends who were like family, to help comfort them in the place of the dead merperson. He waited patiently. 

"Yes," her voice was a whisper. "My father... it's his gem."

Bastian felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't known she had lost her father. "I'm sorry. I know it's not an easy thing to do, but perhaps... perhaps you could use the gem to light the water? We might be able to get up high enough if we can see where we are going."

Ambrosia's hesitation was palpable. Bastian didn't blame her. The power of a vitae gem was great, but it was a precious thing, and the essence that powered it wouldn't last forever. He was asking her to possibly give up her father so that they could see in the darkness. 

"I-" Her voice cut off abruptly and Bastian reached out to grab her arm. "Bastian, lights!"

He turned to look behind his shoulder and cold dread filled him. The slick glow of blue bio-luminescent light flickered a good distance away. Whatever creature was moving toward them, it was coming fast, and it moved its tail from side to side. 

"Ambrosia, we need to get out of here!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note:

I'm back! Bastian's back! I'm so excited! I'm so glad NaNo is done! I MISSED YOU.