Melinda's POV

I continued to struggle for air as hope slipped away minute by minute. I bit my lip as I tried to stabilise myself. I was completely hopeless before I heard the soft movement sounds of the sea grass brushing against each other.

I wondered how I was alive, as I neared the sea bottom. That would have taken quite some time and oxygen should be out of reach long ago. I felt fine though and heard what seemed to be the Voice of the Ocean.

"Melinda..." it was the same voice that spoke to me and told me something about being guardian. The two voices sounded similar, at least. I felt that I had to push on for the sake of the Ocean just then – I felt as though it was trying to tell me something.

I pulled myself together and controlled myself, pulling in every single energy source to what seemed to be my core source of energy. I felt a connection with the Ocean then, and swam to the part it seemed to be pushing me to.

I felt the urge to do that and simply be myself for a few moments. Following my instinct I stood up and called out to the gigantic water body with my voice. I could breathe.

"Voice of the Oceans, Magic of the Seas...listen...bring me up to the top of all this depth!" I allowed a bright blue aurora surround me as I felt the sea pushing me up. I thought the ocean only listened to the 6 legendary nymphs but they were legends...then it hit me, the ocean accepted me as their guardian. As their guardian, I would be one of the legendary nymphs. I can now control my paradise, I should do something for it.

"Hear me big blue depths, clean yourself up from all the litter and oil!" I called as I allowed my magic to seep into the big ocean to clean itself.

It was only when I raised my head, I realised the sun shining into the waters. Feeling the warm sun rays on my face only meant one thing – I was almost at the surface. I pushed myself harder, keen to go up because even though I'm now the Nymph of Oceans, I still liked the surface rather than the dim lighted sea-bed which I was certain was only visible due to my newfound magic.

"I knew you could do it!" Laurel squished me into a hug the moment I surfaced and Skyline made some jumpy clouds for us to jump on while Jessilyn whipped up some magical food.

Candice gave everyone new dresses, the designs thought about by her on the spot how while Cover grew some flowers to decorate the place. I added seashells for the decorations and all of a sudden, they started singing happy birthday songs to me.

I smiled at how thoughtful they were, I already felt accepted as part of their group. I could tell from the way they smiled and laugh, I wasn't intruding. We were all having fun and feeling carefree until Candice's speech.

"Yay for the last nymph found but listen, we have a new task that awaits us." Candice said.

"That's right, we need to take a one month break for this important nymph job." Cover agreed.

"It would not be easy, we can't just help as Nymphs and Guardians of Xigix. We need to be called to help and only that way, we can get the Gift of Acceptance from Xigix itself." Jessilyn explained.

"This is what I call an uphill task!" Laurel nodded clapping her hands. I realised she really has a habit of doing that.

"Just brace yourself Melinda. The TPs will come in search of the 6 legendary guardians, which would be us but it will also be us who take them through the test.

"They must not know we are the ones until they activate the spell which would be taught to them at the end of the test by a scroll and we must be in our nymph forms. We can only reveal ourselves after receiving the gifts from the people themselves," Skyline gave me the clear explanation and I nodded in response.

"I understand," I told them, "With what seems to be an upcoming war warning sent to the TPs and disaster looming, I'm sure schools would close down anyway."

They gave a small smile before Candice said, "Melinda, you're up first. They would be in search for the scroll which is believed to contain a spell tomorrow if calculations are right and they will be taking the test of the Sea first. This test is guided by you, you should try to instil fear."

I nodded again, putting on a determined look, "I would not let you all down, I promise."

They smiled at me as they pulled me into a group hug. I so know tomorrow will be a tough day but right now, I couldn't get back and check how my artworks were selling. That's right, after all the new discoveries, I remembered about the good news Jessilyn told me earlier about my artworks.

This day, my 18th birthday, turned out right after all which was celebrated quite awkwardly but I know tomorrow will be an uphill task for me. However I know, the nymphs would be there supporting me no matter how hard things get and we will work towards the last gift together...

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A/N

I hope you enjoyed this and stay tuned for more! I would be updating again as I hope to hit the 10 000 mark for #justwriteit before August ends.

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