The Prophecy
"Hey! Look!" shouted Delia gleefully, she ran over to where Jackie had just appeared.
Tiffany and Natalie looked up from their conversation and also ran over to where Delia was meeting Jackie. Suddenly, Jackie fell over with a startling yell as as two figures materialized from the portal behind her.
"Gertrude, Kaitlin! Your all here!" exclaimed Tiffany in delight once she recognized who the two people were. Gertrude smiled as she got up and dusted herself up.
Natalie however looked around searing, then she asked, "Where's Stella? Wasn't she with you guys?"
Kaitlin suddenly jumped up and looked back at the portal, "Stella hasn't come out of…" Kaitlin's voice trailed off as she saw somebody coming through the portal. She tried to step out of the way but was too late as Stella collided with her, they both fell backwards and landed on the jagged rocks.
"Kaitlin!" Stella saw who she was on top of and said brightly. She quickly rolled off of Kaitlin and got up, then she held out her hand to help Kaitlin up too. Kaitlin grabbed her hand graciously and used it to pull herself up.
Jackie rounded on Stella, "Why were you out of the portal late? Why didn't you follow us?" she questioned.
Stella grinned, "Well, I was thanking her for giving us this." She brandished the piece of paper that Lilliane had given them with the directions to destroy the Evil Enchantress.
"Where did you get that from? And did you meet the Evil Enchantress too?" inquired Natalie, looking at Stella and the piece of paper.
"We-" Stella began, but then Jackie cut in, "We got it from Lilliane, she's a vampire who claimed she knew the way to destroy the Evil Enchantress."
"And what do you mean by; 'did you see the Evil Enchantress too'?" asked Gertrude looking worried.
Kaitlin gasped, "Remember what Lilliane said, she said that she had been spying on the Evil Enchantress and saw her talking to two mermaids and a werewolf. That's Tiffany, Delia, and Natalie."
"Oh, now that makes sense, by the way, what did happen to you guys?" implored Gertrude, she stared at each of them, fixing each of them with a penetrating look.
Tiffany sighed, "Well," then she told them about what had happened when she had left the café, how she got kidnapped, how she met the mysterious boy, how she escaped, and so on.
Natalie filled in the parts that Tiffany had forgotten to tell. Delia, on the other hand, just stared at the ground, watching tiny insects scuttling around on the rocks.
When Tiffany arrived at the part where they had spoken to the Evil Enchantress, Stella suddenly asked, "Why did she let you go?"
Both Natalie and Tiffany shook their heads, "I have no idea, I thought she would've done at least something to us, but she didn't do anything. She was helpful actually, weird huh?" Tiffany said thoughtfully.
"Yea, for real though," replied Natalie. "She even got rid of the net that I was stuck in, and after that, she just disappeared."
"That's about it," concluded Tiffany. "Me and Natalie swam to the shore, we found Delia, Natalie's mermaid tail spell wore off the effect, and then after talking for a bit there, you guys texted us."
Delia heard this last part and got the clue that Tiffany's story of what happened had finished.
She raised her head and addressed Jackie, "What happened to you guys then?"
Jackie looked at the others, "Who's going to tell the wonderful adventure we had?"
"You should Jackie," replied Gertrude.
"Yea, you should." Chimed in Kaitlin. Stella nodded, looking at Jackie wearing a sincere expression on her face
Jackie laughed, cleared her throat softly, and began. She told about how she had found Stella and Kaitlin at the school pool, how Kaitlin had drowned the school, how they combined their powers, and how Kaitlin saved Gertrude by giving her some energy. When she reached the section about where Lilliane had given them the note, and how they escaped, Tiffany raised her hand quietly, cluing them that she had a question to ask.
Jackie stopped telling what had happened and nodded at her, Tiffany asked, "Where is that note? Did you guys read it?"
Kaitlin shook her head, "No, we didn't read it."
Stella handed Tiffany the note that she had been holding the whole time, without sparing it a single thought. "Here," she said.
Tiffany took the note from Stella and gingerly unfolded it. She saw with a groan that written on the paper was a rhyme. Wait no, it's a prophecy thought Tiffany in her mind as she looked at the words. She scanned it through and shook her head, "No, we can't accomplish this task, this is madness."
"Read it out, Tiffany, I want to know what it says," said a curious Delia.
Tiffany inclined her head towards Delia to acknowledge her that she heard. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on what she had just read. Against her eyelids, Tiffany was able to see a dim scarlet flow of the bright sunlight through her lids. She opened her eyes wide open again and blinked rapidly, her eyes adjusting to the dazzling light. Come on, you can do this, Tiffany thought to herself. Just read the freaking prophecy so that the others know what you will have to do in order to save everyone from the Evil Enchantress.
Tiffany shook her head to clear he messed up thoughts, and opened her mouth to read the prophecy;
"Three mermaids of royal birth shall stand together,
Seeking Seraphic Paraphernalia's of nether,
They shall quest to the three dimensions of life.
The Magician's Wand they shall find in the Fyfe.
A Vampire's Ring found by the eldest one,
And Fairy Locket shall contrive from Run.
Three Princes' shall they meet on the way,
Trust them to aid when the time is bleak and grey,
This journey is the answer to end all Evil,
Fail this quest then land and sea will turn upheaval."
Tiffany finished reading the prophecy and was met by a stunned silence. She looked away from all of them as they stared at her. Turning her back to them, Tiffany looked across the ocean, wanting to leave all of this behind. Then Jackie started shaking her head, muttering "no" all the while softly.
"'The three dimensions of life'," quoted Gertrude, "Does that mean the past, present, and future?" Gertrude felt dizzy and sat down on the boulders.
"Um, I think so." Answered Tiffany knotting her eyebrows together.
Stella started laughing, "This is such a sick joke. That witch lady lied to us."
Jackie grinned too, "Stella's right, we can't possibly do this."
"Yep," muttered Natalie. She suddenly looked up and punched Kaitlin in the shoulder, "What's wrong, you look so depressed, act happier."
Shaking her head, Kaitlin replied, "Well, it's just that I thought that the prophecy is real. Can you guys think of anyone who would play this kind of prank on us?"
They all became silent, thinking over what Kaitlin had said. Finally, Gertrude shook her head grimly, "I think your right, let's check if this is real or not."
"How?" asked Tiffany and Jackie in unison.
"The truth spell," said Gertrude.
Stella nodded, glancing at Natalie who was staring at them confused. "The truth spell can seek out the lies from the truth."
Realization dawned on Natalie's face, "Right. I wish I was a mermaid, werewolves don't get to have magic."
Kaitlin chuckled warily and said, "I'll do it."
Tiffany and Jackie nodded, Gertrude stepped back, "Okay."
Kaitlin extended her hand and Tiffany handed her the paper the prophecy was written on. She then placed it on a boulder and waved her right hand above it while flicking her right hand around in a circle, above the paper. A golden glow of light shone out from the paper and cloudy letters formed into a word; 'truth'.
The hot afternoon sun beat down on them, the tenseness of the atmosphere made everything much worse. "'truth'," whispered Kaitlin faintly, "we're supposed to do this…" She trailed off and fell back, she landed on the ground with a soft thump. Kaitlin pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly.
"Oh Kaitlin," muttered Stella, bending down next to her. She wrapped her arms protectively around Kaitlin and sighed.
"This is some sort of joke, right? Like, this is not true at all!" laughed Jackie hysterically. The strange laugh from her died out as none of them agreed with her.
She hurried over to Tiffany, and hugged her. By then, they were both facing away from the others. Tiffany sighed and went to pick up the piece of paper to read more thoroughly.
Delia and Natalie shared a look, none of them knowing what to do. Delia thought about the prophecy, suddenly a thought struck her.
"Hey!" Delia exclaimed, "What if we found another three mermaid royals to complete this quest instead, I mean, they would want to do this. They would want--" She broke off as Natalie shook her head wildly, Tiffany still had her back turned to them but Delia saw her stiffen as she heard what Delia said.
"We can't do that," Stella began, she was rising to her feet while helping Kaitlin stand up and sit on the rocks.
"Why?" Delia asked, her thoughts were soaring, she had found a way. Jackie, Tiffany, and Kaitlin might not have to go… "Why couldn't-"
"It's because there are no other royal mermaids left Delia," Jackie interrupted them, she had turned towards them as she spoke and they could all see that she was broken on the inside, but she showed no emotion on her face. Her eyes, however, were filled with anger, sadness, and fear. Tiffany was beside her, having the same look.
"Didn't you listen to the news? They were all killed a week or so ago."
"Hold on," said Tiffany, she was holding the letter that held the prophecy and was studying it with a deadly cool exterior look. "Listen;
'P.S. You must go to the Mystical Masquerade Ball in order to begin the journey, the portal to begin is at the ball and will only appear at 11 o'clock in the third resting room. Only royals are allowed to go through'."