8 Part 8
Conch returns to the pearl room and sees Zui looking at his trinkets around the room. She seemed very intrigued by everything in the room as she was very careful with what she touched. The pearl opened up and began pulsing heavily. It caught her attention and drew it toward conch floating by the door, stopping her from nosing around. His attention was drawn to the pearl. He slips towards it and lets it reveal an image. In the bubble, a group of soldiers were swimming nearby. Luckily, Coral was too far gone from the ship. Zui saw the soldiers in the bubble. One of the soldiers were in a different uniform guiding the rest to the gorge. The image fades.
Conch-
I take it they're looking for you?
Zui-
My family. They must have made it to Atlas.
Conch-
Then I guess you'll be fine heading there yourself while they're around.
Zui-
You're letting me go?
Conch-
You think I'm holding you hostage? Don't flatter yourself. I have no interest in merfolk. Go on, you're fine now, right? Once you're far enough from here, I need to get food. Just head straight in the direction the soldiers came from and you'll be fine.
Zui-
Wait. Why did you help me? I thought podulus were enemies of the merkingdom.
Conch-
That doesn't mean I can't have a conscience. Unlike my friend, I don't have a reason to hold a prejudice.
Zui-
Then, thank you. I am glad I was able to meet someone like you.
Zui swims to the exit and stops.
Zui-
If we meet again, may I give you a gift as for your kindness?
Conch-
Pfft! That's a big if, lady. I don't want anything out of this. You wanna find me, that's on you.
Zui-
. . . I see. May I have your name?
Conch-
Why?
Zui-
In case I do see you again. I will know who I am grateful to.
Conch-
Mmm.... No. Don't get eaten on your way there.
Zui-
. . . . Thank you. Good bye.
Zui leaves the ship and swim for Atlas. The pearl glows dimly. A small question mark appears in the clouded bubble. Somehow, Conch knew what it was asking?
Conch-
Coral said to never trust any merfolk other than our own type. He and I so far are the only tentacle pods either uncaptured or still alive to roam. Since having more than one limb is like a sin in these waters, we keep a low profile from most occupied areas.
The pearl shows an image of Zui swimming.
Conch-
Like I told her; guilty conscience. It wouldn't matter if she told anyone since we'll most likely be gone before anyone finds us here. I'm not really worried.
The swimming Zui becomes a swimming Coral.
Conch-
He doesn't have to know about what happened. I don't want anything to get in the way of our plan. .... His wish.
The pearl shows the image of Atlas again.
Conch-
Okay, no. Stop showing me that. It's not happening. Ever. There's no way I can get in there anyway.
The pearl's bubble pops and the cloud fills the room and surrounds him. Conch panics in confusion. As the cloud clears quickly, Conch looks at the pearls new large bubble to find an image of him with his sand colored skin and brown hair with legs in front of him. He turns around and sees another lookalike with legs and the same merfolk features he has; like a fishman. He continues to turn and find one of him like a seaman; his human form with little fins on his legs and gills on his torso.
The last one he sees scares him the most. The image showed him with a mix of his own hair and his human skin. Instead of tentacles, he had a large, thick, spotted tail fin with a dorsal on the underbelly. The his fins were like Zui's. Large and nearly crystal clear. Conch looked at his body and saw the same tailfin replace his tentacles. Why hadn't he thought of this? The moment the question crossed his mind, he swept the cloud away in panic and returning to the original room. He looked back at his body and saw his tentacles again. He looked to the pearl. Its bubble was cloudy and light dim.
Conch-
No. . . . I can't. I can't do that. I won't do that! Not to him! I won't change what we already started, so stop it! I am not going to... to.... *sigh* just don't do that to me again. I don't want to break his heart. I can't lose my only friend. I don't care about it. I don't want it. What I wish doesn't matter. What I want is for him to be happy. Truly happy. And I will abandon that dream completely if that's what it takes. Please. Don't show me that again. No matter what I think of or ask for don't show me Atlas. And don't ever show me whatever that was again. Please?
The pearl shimmers dimly. Conch was almost close to tears. He takes a conch shell from the shelf in the room and leaves the ship to hunt. The pearl dims and closes.
