A/N: IMAGE is Lumina, going out to meet the fishes :) 

Eleras smiled at the angels before him, enthralled by his story, whilst Niamh finger-combed her hair by the tall brackets of flame lining the hall. Iggy watched her every now and again, and Kirsten's eyes flickered to him watching Niamh. Whilst Eleras was recounting an epic tale, it seemed my own group had enough drama to sink the submarine waiting for us outside. I breathed out through my nose, trying not to squeeze the bridge in exasperation. 

At least the other half of the room was settled. Scarlett and Sakura sat unwavering, and Val, at my side, perched with the elegance of a lioness. Fabian and I were sat close, our arms brushing. 

My mind drifted. I wondered whether Arianna's job was going as planned. It was her role to divert attention from us, in case Sirena had left anyone to come and see us. 

Maybe I should have left Iggy instead. Although maybe he'd just set his sights on another Mermaid.

I almost pitied Kirsten.

Almost.

Eleras said, 'You might be wondering what any of this has to do with you.'

I snapped back to attention. 

Scarlett glanced around. 'Does it mean that the gem-- the lapis lazuli-- didn't choose its successor? I thought Lumina was one of the Queen Candidates.'

'The Lapis Lazuli sits within the Sceptre of its ruler, and sends visions of the next candidates to the Seers. Sadly, after the last vision seeing Lumina, the Seers were murdered. But yes; Lumina is one of the Candidates.'

I shuddered. The Candidacy had been hidden, and I had never known of the angels whose lives were sacrificed because of me.

Val piped up instead, 'It means Lumina has a whopping great phoenix at her control. We could just go in and toast Queen Freya!'

My flinch did not go unnoticed by Eleras. I couldn't tell whether the reaction was to the title 'queen' or the idea of killing the sister I loved.

No. The sister I once loved. 

But Eleras shook his head, 'The creatures are not ours to summon and command; they are mighty beings that will only intervene if they deem to. As such, Lumina is extremely lucky to be here, and it is the phoenix's intervention that is special to us.'

I gave him a quizzical look, and he smiled gently once more.

'For hundreds of years, the district stones have been silent, sometimes chosing a ruler, but never showing a hint of the legendary creatures within. The awakening of the Fire Opal and its phoenix has given those that believe in the Legend of Aegea a new hope: peace between the species can return.'

'Peace?' Sakura said, sounding annoyed. 'Lumina is being hunted! How can you believe in peace?' 

Scarlett placed a placating hand on her elbow, and the girl's expression softened. 

'I know Lumina has been betrayed,' Eleras' face looked sorrowful, 'But it is the reason that the Spirits whisper to us. The phoenix saved her. The Legend of Aegea prophesizes that the successors will bring peace between races once more. They believe Lumina is the successor to Mihael.'

'Mihael?' Fabian said, eyebrows raised. 'Not Aegea?'

'Not Aegea,' Eleras replied. 'Mihael was a Friend of Mer, as we think Lumina can be.'

He allowed the sentence a moment for a pause. Niamh stopped combing her hair and looked up, mouth dropping open.

'A Friend of Mer?' I asked, when the silence became uncomfortable. 

Before Eleras could respond, Niamh stepped in with a short, stout answer.

'No,' she growled. 'A Friend of Mer is a fairytale. There are no records of any surviving. If you try on Lumina, you'll only kill her!'

My brows furrowed in thought. Eleras watched for my response.

There were no records for surviving a hundred-metre drop from the sky, either. 

'Continue,' I ordered. Niamh sucked in a breath of protest. 

Eleras reached into the basin. When he straightened, he held a silver band in his palm, the water cascading off his hand. 'Not a fairytale. Mihael was made a friend of Mer by Aegea's blessing, by using bands like these.'

It looked like he was holding out jewellery; he scooped out more from the basin, and cradling them as though they were precious. I couldn't see how any of it would help.

My expression must have been sceptical, because he chuckled. 'These are no ordinary bangles, Lumina. The legend is that once placed upon the body, the wearer must immerse themselves into deep, open water, and wait for Aegea's blessing. Then, they fuse with the wearer's body, allowing their wings to be temporarily replaced by fins.'

Kirsten threatened to faint. 'That sounds disgusting. Don't do it, Lumina...if they don't even have proof, you might just die waiting for it!'

Iggy agreed. 'Open water? That would mean you being stuck out there, where there's no way to get to you.'

Val just shivered, eyeing the bangles with a newfound horror. Sakura's tension was palpable, as her hands that gripped the bench were white with clenching.

Trying to be reasonable, I asked if I could see the jewellery up closely. 

The uproar that followed made me want to shove my fingers in my ears.

'Ask if there's another way!' Scarlett begged. 'You might not be this Mihael person, and we have our own war to win. Who will stop Freya if you've drowned?'

Iggy clapped his hands. 'That's it! Maybe this is Freya's doing! She's tricked Lumina before, it would be just like her to try something like this.'

'She certainly knew we escaped to the Underwater district,' Sakura agreed. 'Yet she couldn't do a thing about it.'

Eleras passed the jewellery, in silence, to me.

I frowned in concentration. 

In my hands were two bangles, two anklets, a necklace and a choker. Each was made of the same silver which gave the appearance of liquid. I turned them over in my hands, wondering how the metal seemed to run and yet retain the shape. Engraved onto each one was a pattern of swirling waves and shells, running alongside veins of blue crystal. 

When I looked up, it was automatically towards Fabian. Yet for once, he hadn't said a word. His eyes looked down at the objects in a way that told me he wasn't going to tell me what to do.

He raised an eyebrow at me. Your choice, I almost heard him saying. 

'What happens when I put them on?' I murmured. 

The protests in the room continued, and only Eleras seemed to hear me. He shuffled closer, so he could speak quietly.

'Nothing, not at first. It is only in water that the spell activates...if Aegea gives you her blessing.'

Fabian's lips twitched. 'I see now why Mihael was dating her.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Fabian.'

Eleras gave us that small smile once more. Around us, Sakura was still arguing about not putting on the bangle, insisting that we had "enough problems", whilst Iggy theorised that Eleras was actually Freya in disguise.

But I'd been tricked by Reia before, and I was almost certain my magic would recognise the illusion now. No, I trusted Eleras, even if I couldn't say why: something about his story rang true. And another part of me wanted to do what was right. Running away and plotting against Freya was all well and good, but what if the story about the demon kingdom was true? What if the ancient creatures awakening was a sign? 

What good was a throne if there were no people left to rule?

In my heart, I already knew the answer. 

I slipped on the first bangle, and then almost immediately the next. By the time anybody but Fabian and Valkyrie had noticed what I was doing, I had donned all of the jewellery except the choker, and even that was halfway fastened.

Sakura stood up immediately just as I lowered my hands, choker securely around my neck. 'I want to come with you. Are there more of those...things?' 

She waved a hand at my wrists and then back to Eleras. Her face was pleading, and I noticed then the tremble in her fingers. Scarlett took her hand and joined her.

'Me too,' she murmured. 'If Lumina is risking her life, we won't leave her alone.'

I stared down at my bound wrists, feeling heat creep into my face. I hadn't expected...

Fabian gave me a nudge. 

Eleras was looking sadly at them, shaking his head. 'The sets are not granted to just anyone. And now Lumina has placed them on...'

Val's hand picked up my left hand, examining the wrist. 'Holy Angelica!' she screeched. 'Those bracelets have fused! There's no way to take them off!'

Iggy let out a strangled yelp, and Kirsten hissed. 'This is a trap! I don't like it! Don't be a fool, Lumina!'

I swallowed, feeling the strange pressure of the choker on my windpipe. It was not a pleasant fit. I stood up, flexing my wings open and closed and readying myself for a swim. The arguments trailed off. 

'Which way to the open water?' was all I asked. Kirsten's glare was palpable.

Eleras gave his enigmatic smile again and waved me down the corridor. 'You shall find that there is a balcony, much like the one in the palace, where your friends can stand and watch whilst you swim out. Of course, they can also retrieve you should we think things are going wrong.'

I winced as Sakura looked ready to chain me to the chair at those words. She had a visible internal struggle allowing me, her princess, out into danger without any guard. 

'Am I allowed to keep on my fins?' They'd been heaven sent on the swim here. I couldn't imagine leaving without them.

But Eleras shook his head. 'They will only get in the way when you do transform.'

'If,' Kirsten muttered, folding her arms. The girl was extremely pessimistic. 

I took off the fins, placing them on the bench where I'd been sitting. When I straightened, Iggy was standing in front of me, barring my way.

'Please reconsider,' he said, 'This is rash. We don't desperately need this. We can get Niamh and me to swim back to get Morwenna to pick us up. If there's a balcony, we can even use that. We won't need to take that long swim.' 

Niamh, rubbing her jaw in thought, shrugged. 'I still think it's a fairytale. I don't want to have to go out there and grab your unconscious ass to haul it back in here and attempt to kiss you back to life.'

Her eyes glanced to her brother. 'Fabian might, though.'

Fabian just grinned and tipped me a wink. 'Always happy to do the kissing part.'

Valkyrie shuddered. 'Eww. Guys.'

But they made me laugh, and I appreciated Iggy's concern. 'I know it seems foolish, and maybe it won't work. But what if it does? What if I can help?'

'Help who?' Kirsten snapped. 'Your people need you here, Lumina. Clae gave her life so you could be Queen, not so you could go find another kingdom.'

Even Clae's name still brought gasps clawing up my throat, blending my heart into shreds. Beautiful and brave Clae, my follower and my friend. I fought down the image of her last: the blood, dripping red pools across the floor, and the scream that I would later realise was my own--

No. Clae would have agreed with me. I was sure of it, sure of it as though she were here, watching, a ghost in another world. 

'Clae would have wanted her friend to do what was right,' I said, strong enough that the whole room listened in. 'Not what was easy.'

I looked up into Kirsten's eyes, so structurally similar yet the opposite to her sister's. In a way, it was the same as Reia and me; Reia and Clae had both been noble and kind and perfect.

But at least I was trying to learn from their example.

'Clae would be ashamed of me if I chose to save myself and abandon a single person that needed help.'

I dared Kirsten to argue. Our relationship had become strenuous when it had been rocky from the start, but Clae's death had etched a void in which we were both firmly planted on either side.

But the girl backed down, and I could have sworn I heard Kirsten say, 'Suck it.'

'Follow me,' Eleras said, and in a sombre file we followed the swishing of his robes as he strode through the long room. The other shamans waited until we had passed before they, too, followed, closing the chambers behind us as we moved into another passageway.

Scarlett, now at my side, asked Eleras about the history of the temple as we moved.

'Why are there passages of air if you don't expect Steppers?'

'There are some spells that we shaman need to conjure in an air chamber. For example, the fires: they would not work anywhere else. Any other flames underwater are merely clever tricks. Plus, some shaman prefer the air. We do not take forms like the other Mer. In a way, we are the closest to Steppers.'

I could see from Scarlett's slight hesitant look that she was wondering which part of Eleras was most like an Angel. In comparison to Niamh, he looked the most fishy.

At the end of the dark passageway, Eleras unlocked a door with a wave of his hand. The bolts slid back and the creak echoed as the wooden frame swung open. Inside, a small yet decorative room of mosaiics and crafted marble furniture overlooked a balcony. A balcony that ran right off into the deep, dark sea.

Like the rooms in the palace, the entire room seemed to sit in a bubble of air. The balcony area had no walls, yet an invisible field pressed back the water from rushing in, giving the same surreal effect as shoals of fish darted within a few steps from us, circling around the field. The room was beautiful; the mosaiics depicted angels and mer, skies and seas, blended into a harmony, whilst the furniture  was simple but expertly crafted. A chaise, big enough for two, of marble and gold and cushions waited in the centre, surrounded by tables and rugs. 

It was pretty, yes-- but there was an air of loneliness, of disuse. When Eleras admitted that the room had been designed for the return, one day, of the heirs of Aegea and Mihael, then the decor and the disuse made sense.

My fingers brushed along the table. Not a speck of dust moved. Disuse, but in perfect condition.

These Mer were serious about their beliefs.

'Ready?' Eleras asked. 'Or do you wish for more time?'

I glanced out at the cold, unforgiving water outside this cosy, comfy room. 'Any more time and I'll convince myself out of it,' I admitted. 'I think it's best if I get it over with.'

I crossed the room with shaking legs. The glinting of silver kept catching my eye, and I prayed to this Aegea that her bangles would work. 

Eleras opened the balcony doors. The water did not rush in to greet us, but rather, the balcony opened up into a small circular platform, with stairs leading out into the water. Well, that was my direction. At least I didn't have to jump.

I turned back to the group, giving them a nervous grin. 'Any last words?'

I caught sight of Fabian's face and faltered. He looked pale and, frankly, terrified: he stared at me with an odd hunger, and his arm started to creep up, to reach out. Then he stopped it, jerking it back to his chest. 

'Stay safe,' he choked out, turning away. Niamh placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before jerking an eyebrow of me.

Get going.

Ignoring the remaining pointed stares of the group-- Sakura was being physically restrained by a few of Eleras' fellow shamans-- I turned and faced the water. A few steps, and my head plunged through into icy water, bubbles slowly trailing from my mouth. After that, I only had to keep walking further before I was beyond the air bubble.

I swam out to meet the darkness...and then wait. 

----

A/N: What do you think will happen to Lumina? Will Aegea really bless her to allow her a mer form? Is she really going to continue Mihael's work? 

Is her arguing with Kirsten getting worse? Will I be writing a chapter where they have a massive fist fight?

Comment and vote to let me know your thoughts!!

And if you want to read LITTLE SAINT BRIDE, it's currently on Inkitt in a competition to be published and I need 20 MORE READERS! I'll post the link in the comments or it can be found on my profile <3

lots of love

L

xxxxx