They landed on a sea shore in the middle of a windy, moonlit night. 

Helplessly, as they steadied each other on the smooth, slippery rocks, they watched as both Siena's bonnet and James' hat were thrown by the impetuous wind into the white-capped, surging waves assaulting the wet, black shore coated in the silver veneer of moonlight reaching them from high above.

James let go of Siena carefully once he was certain that, despite the shivers caused by the coldness of the wind, she was stable and sure on her feet. He glanced into the book she held open in her trembling hand then, confirming that they landed where they wished.

"The Sea Witch's cave should be just under these rocks," he muttered hopefully, dropping his bag onto the salt sprinkled rock under his feet, stuffing the book he took from Siena inside it even as he pulled the wetsuit and the diving gear out.

Observing him silently, still shivering slightly, Siena drew in a deep breath of the salty, cool air redolent of seaweed and iodine. She wasn't nervous about swimming and diving into the gelid waves half as much as she was about undressing in front of him... But this had to be done; helping the Little Mermaid was why they were here, and the easiest way to do it was to find the antidote of the draught the Sea Witch had given her. And she was almost sure that James wouldn't find it alone, she needed to go with him and allow her stone to guide them...

"What are you...? No." James said suddenly, standing up from where he was kneeling on the ground checking the air tank, when he noticed her removing the shawl wrapped over her shoulders. "We only have one air tank; you must wait for me here, Siena, please."

"But I'm prepared, I'm wearing a swimsuit under the dress, and I feel that the stone... That the stone wants to guide me. I know I'll be alright, I know you can't do this alone," she declared, pulling the pendant from beneath her bodice where she had pushed it a while ago.

It was glowing brighter than the full moon above them, and so was she-- the crimson stone seemed to be enveloping her in a pinkish, pulsating halo... James peeled his eyes from her-- she looked breathtaking as she stood in front of him ready to shed her clothes, her eyes glimmering with determination, her hair flowing on the wind, so little and yet so magnificent and regal-- and let them drop to his own stone, which was behaving just as usual. She was a few steps ahead of him in handling the magic of their gems. And even if she wasn't, how could he ever tell her 'no'?

He inhaled a lungful of the cold, salty air before he said, "Let me show you how to use the air tank, I'll dive without..."

She threw her arms around his neck, pulled him down and bestowed a kiss on his cheek, smiling at him gratefully before he could finish his line, then released him just as unexpectedly as she stepped back and continued removing her clothes.

"Thanks, James, but you'll need it, not I. I feel that I can dive without it."

He could do nothing else but to trust her instincts, he told himself, turning away from her to let her undress in as much privacy as the rock they were standing on allowed. She stood in front of him, shivering, dressed in a blue, one-piece swimming suit the moment he turned back to her, wearing nothing but the white long johns belonging to his Victorian costume. He would only use the air tank, he decided, seeing that she was going to dive without a wetsuit.

"You must promise me," he said, finding it hard to keep his eyes from strolling over her figure, "that should this not work as you believe, you'll come up straight away and let me try to find the antidote alone. Please."

"I promise," she said, her voice a little breathy with apprehension as she observed the fathomless, swollen dark water swaying at their feet. It was bound to be freezing... With one more inhale of the salt-infused wind, she jumped in, disappearing under the waves, giving him no other option but to follow her.

It was an otherworldly experience. James found her waiting for him too deep to be possible for someone who had never done this before, someone without an air tank. She was glowing, shining like a star fallen into the dark waters, illuminating the way for him as she swam on, darting away like a scared fish even as he approached her; always a stroke ahead, just out of reach, so near and yet so far...

Hours, or maybe just seconds later she finally stopped, letting him draw her into his arms, allowing his hands to feel her alluring body through the thin fabric of her swimming suit, drawing closer to him as if she couldn't help herself even as he enjoyed her reaction to his touch when his warm hands brushed, in the lightest of caresses, over her perfect breasts, so soft and hard and unresistable, only to scurry away the next instant, pointing to something he couldn't see beyond the rock she was leaning against, as if she didn't trust her legs, as if she had forgotten that they were underwater where the law of gravitation was different.

And he couldn't blame her for that; it must have been easy for her to forget that she was under the sea when she could breathe as easily as a fish or a mermaid.

He swam to her side, then looked beyond the rock, noticing an entrance to a cave half hidden by long tendrils of brown, thickly grown seaweed. It seemed abandoned, but they both knew better. The cave lying beyond the long stretch of a muddy sea floor, flanked by tall, many-armed, all-devouring, orange, and purple polyps, belonged to the Sea Witch. James, relying on their landing on the right page, was hoping to find it empty. The Little Mermaid should be out on the shore somewhere now, transforming into a human girl for her Prince, and the Sea Witch, not wanting to miss the spectacle, would have followed her.

He looked at Siena when she squeezed his hand. 'I'm going in,' she mouthed with such ease as if she was surrounded by air instead of freezing water, sending a stream of bubbles towards the remote surface, 'you wait here.'

She was gone before he could protest, her long legs swaying gracefully her like a mermaid's tail, her pale body disappearing into the dark opening of the cave, leaving the greedy polyps' arms quivering in her wake. The alien world around James was plunged into darkness the moment she vanished from his sight, taking her magical light with her.

There wasn't much time for her to explore her surroundings but Siena could not ignore, as she swam through the forest of the oscillating polyps' arms, that the cave was, just like Andersen's imagination designed it, really made of bones, white washed and glowing eerily in the dark waters. Then, as she reached the cave's entrance, she stopped thinking about the awful things she saw everywhere around her and focused entirely on the stone that was guiding her, illuminating her way to the antidote.



He had less than ten minutes left before he would have to resurface, James despaired a few moments after he saw her vanish among the huge, eldritch polyps, and he wasn't going away without her. But there was no reason for him to worry further-- she was back soon enough, a small sea glass vial in her hand. Taking her free hand in his, he pulled her, as fast as he deemed safe, towards the distant surface, shimmering like spilt quicksilver in the moonlight.

Her teeth chattered too much for her to be able to talk as he wrapped her in one of the two towels he found in his bag after having removed his mask and the air tank.

"Turn a-around... so I...I can get changed," she stammered through the shivers rocking her body and he obliged, walking away from her on the wet rocks as far as he could, carrying his own clothes with him.

She was just trying to tie the laces of her corset when he reached her again, dressed as before minus the wet long johns which he held in his hand, finding the small vial lying on top of his bag.

"May I?" he asked, looking at her trembling fingers. She would never tie that corset without his help. He dropped the wet clothes on the rock, then closed his warm hands gently around hers, holding them until she finally let go of the laces, allowing him to tie them for her.

"Thanks, James," she whispered, looking up at him, her smile banishing the sadness he had glimpsed in her eyes.

He wanted to know what she had seen in that cave, Andersen's description of it was awful... He pulled her in an embrace and held her until she said, a while later, her voice coming muffled through the fabric of his coat, "Let us move on." 

She pulled away from him and opened the bag lying at their feet, dropping the vial in even as she pulled out the book.

He placed his long johns and her swimming suit covered in the two damp towels on top of the unused wetsuit, added the empty air tank and the mask, then grabbed the bag and wrapped his arm around her waist, closing his other hand around her gem while she held on to him, the book, open on a new page, in her hand.