Brellitine Grever and The Sea of Gelled (The Brell Trilogy Book 1) Page 5

  “I never asked you to.” He handed the bowl to Lily, who came next to Brell’s side.

  “I’m just going to apply this to your cut,” she reassured her, removing the cloth from Brell’s head. The mermaid’s fingers felt like velvet gently brushing against her forehead. Lily dipped her fingers in the black paste and plastered it on. Immediately, the pain ebbed away.

  “Ooh!” Brell sagged in relief as Lily chuckled and applied a fresh cloth on her forehead.

  “Thank you,” Brell murmured. She slowly slipped off the bed and surveyed the spherical room she was in. The top two thirds of the room were made of light brown rock with the rest made of the purple marble. A small crystal dome carved into the rock loomed overhead, letting light into the room and giving off a spacious feel. Across the room was a door with a violet dresser and a lilac cupboard sitting nearby. Almost everything was in different shades of purple — the chairs, sofas, and even the curtains.

  Despite the pleasant surroundings, Brell swallowed hard and took a deep breath to try and steady her rapidly increasing heart rate. She was in an unknown place, with unknown people. Who also had tails. She tried to avoid being rude but her eyes kept straying to the swishing tail.

  “You’re a… mermaid.” She attempted to keep a level tone, but everyone could hear the disbelief.

  “Yes. It’s not an uncommon thing in Gelled.” Lily smiled, revealing perfect white teeth.

  Brell noticed with a start that she was once again alone with the woman. “Where is Callum?”

  “I’m fairly sure that he will be back soon.” Lily smiled gently and beckoned her closer. “Come here for a minute.”

  Lily glided to a rock table with a smooth lavender-coloured top, and Brell sat on the chair beside it. It was easy to move in the water now; she just had to use a little force in her arms and legs. She found that she could either float in the water or walk across the floor and used a combination of both.

  “You must be ravenous, Brellitine.” She pushed a ceramic plate towards her.

  “Thank you. Please, call me Brell.”

  In comparison to Lily’s velvety smooth voice, Brell’s voice sounded rough and hoarse. Her grumbling stomach reminded her that she hadn’t had any substantial food since morning.

  For a second she just looked at the plate, not exactly seeing what was in it, but wondering if she should trust these strangers who offered to help her. She was deep into this now, and it still felt unreal, but she couldn’t back out now. Or maybe she could.

  She pulled the plate towards her and inspected the multi-coloured blobs of jelly laying innocently there. Brell gingerly picked up a yellow blob and bounced it between her palms. It was light and spongy and didn’t look really filling.

  “Is this vegetarian?”

  “Yes, but how does that matter?”

  “Because I am vegetarian.”

  Lily somehow remained elegant while grinning. “That’s a good one.”

  She looked at Lily, confused. “It isn’t a joke. I am vegetarian.”

  For a moment it seemed like Lily didn’t get it. “I’m sorry, what?” she said in a disbelieving tone, her eyes popping. “You do realise that you are in a sea. All you’ll get to have here is fish and basically other non-vegetarian stuff.”

  “But this is vegetarian.” Brell smiled, scooping the blob into her mouth. Instantly, it melted and her tongue burst with the flavours of honey and waffles. She grabbed the others. Lemon with green tea, ice-cream with chocolates, pizza with chips…each blob tasted different and delicious.

  “What is this? Gosh, it’s so yummy!” she finished the food in a jiffy and resisted — with some difficulty — licking the plate clean.

  “It’s JellyFrish.”

  Brell recoiled. “Jellyfish!”

  “No, JellyFrish. It’s sea lettuce that’s fried in the pure essence of different flavours for a couple of hours then dried.

  Brell hummed appreciatively, then her brow furrowed. “Wait. We’re surrounded by water. How do you dry something?”

  “In a bubble of oxygen, of course.”

  “… Bubble of oxygen… how is that done?”

  “You have many questions, Brell.” Lily said, quirking an eyebrow at her as she placed the plate into a purple sink.

  Brell blushed, the cleared her throat. “I know I do. It’s just that there are millions of things that I want to know and I don’t understand. Every minute there is something new that pops up – something which I try so very hard to understand — but can’t. This is a whole new world for me.”

  “I know the feeling.” Callum’s voice made her jump; he was standing at the doorway.

  “How do you sneak up like that?” she demanded, trying to smooth away the goose bumps that had risen along her arms. “First in the forest and now here!”

  Lily sighed. “This one here is a vegetarian.”

  His jaw dropped as he whipped his head in her direction. “I’m sorry, what?”

  Brell almost laughed in her frustration. “Why is that so hard to understand?”

  “You’ll have to give that up if you want to survive here.” He said seriously.

  “I will not.” Brell said adamantly.

  “Then you’ll starve.”

  “So be it.”

  He rubbed his face with his hands and groaned. “Fine.” He glanced at Lily, then back at her. “Lily and I have something to… um… show you.”

  Callum manoeuvred Brell away from the kitchen. “Lily?” he motioned towards her.

  Lily raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure?” Her voice was heavily clouded with uncertainty. “It’s a bit early, isn’t it?”

  He sighed in impatience. “It has to be done now, Lily. Her brother will be dead in four months and a delay might cost his life.”

  Brell sucked in water sharply. “He will not die.” She said in a mostly steady voice, her lower lip trembling ever so slightly. It sounded as if she was trying to reassure herself rather than them. “Wait… months?”

  Lily swept past her and opened her violet cupboard, revealing rows of fancy shimmering shirts which hung from hangers. She gently pushed them aside and ran her long, slim fingers down the back of the cupboard, humming an unfamiliar sweet song that echoed off the walls of the huge room. The silver swirling streaks on the floor began to wriggle in anticipation of what was about to happen. Then they danced across the floor and began to circle around Brell’s feet, making them feel pleasantly warm. She gazed at the intricate pattern they had made, lost in their shining world and the intoxicating music around her. They slowly began to slide up her leg, tickling her senses gently.

  “Come on.”

  Callum’s words pulled Brell out of the trance she had been in and she focused her eyes on Lily, taking a step away from the silver streaks.

  Lily was now brushing her tail against the back of the closet and the sparkles that she left behind shone majestically. Slowly, the back of the cupboard melted away, revealing a long white corridor.

  “How did that just happen?” Brell asked, awestruck.

  “Just follow us, Miss Doubt.” Callum entered the corridor behind Lily. Brell quickly followed them, kicking her legs furiously to keep up with their fast pace. The white corridor ended abruptly at a large wooden door. Lily seemed pleased to see it.

  “Brell, come here.” she beckoned her.

  She came forward, still wondering how the cupboard could have melted. Lily raised her hand towards Brell and she met her in the middle, touching only at the fingertips. They faced each other and Lily smiled.

  It struck Brell then and there how beautiful Lily was, with her honey-coloured hair, flawless skin and dazzling jewels. She was totally aware of her grimy hair and grungy clothes. Embarrassment burned red on her cheeks, making her look down at the ground.

  “Brell,” instructed Lily. “Clear your mind of every thought and only focus on our touching fingertips.”

  She was just going to ask Lily why she had asked her to do such a strange thing
, then thought the better of it and shut her eyes. She shoved away her awkwardness, and focused on emptying her mind. Just then her Dreign called out to her, making her lose her concentration.

  “Callum!” Lily swished her tail crossly. “Why are you distracting her? Let her concentrate.”

  Turning to Brell, she repeated the instruction. This time Brell concentrated harder to clear her mind. It was harder than she imagined because every time she tried to clear it, a random thought popped into her subconscious mind. Wrestling internally, she slowly swiped clean every thought and only thought about the cool fingers that pressed gently against her own. Brell gave all her attention to them and suddenly, she could hear Lily’s heartbeat.

  “Good.” She heard Lily’s voice. “Now use the key to unlock the door.”

  Brell opened her eyes and glanced down. A thick rosewood key nestled on her outstretched palm, glittering like dark chocolate in its white wrapper.

  “How did this come here?” she gaped, directing the question to Lily.

  “When we connected, it formed a bond which led to the formation of this key. Now unlock the door, quickly!”

  Brell slipped the key into the keyhole and turned it. Lily pushed the door open, pulled the key out, and Brell peered over her shoulder at the room that was made out of rock.

  A rough red carpet was casually thrown at the floor of the small spherical room and the windowless walls were covered with shelves that ran around the whole room in a never ending circle, containing bottles of various sizes with multi-coloured liquids and objects inside them. The centre of the room was occupied with a huge brass cauldron with…

  “Warm air.” whispered Lily.

  There was no source of heat for the air though. A floating burgundy table was suspended in the water on the right of the door, and next to it were two plush chairs.

  “Amazing.” murmured Callum. “It’s like it was waiting for us all this time.”

  “What is this place?” she asked in a hushed voice. There was this warm tingly feel in the room which she was pretty sure wasn’t just from the warmth from the cauldron.

  Callum blinked, and seemed to have forgotten for a moment that she didn’t come from Gelled.

  “It’s a very rare room in which people make potions. There is a magical aura that adds power to any potion brewed here. The ingredients in here are so unusual and potent, that they can never be found in Gelled, or any other Sea for that matter.”

  “Everything in Gelled is unusual.” muttered Brell.

  Lily circled the entire room, touching and opening the various bottles and every few seconds, she sucked in an awed gulp of water. Finally she turned her attention to the brass cauldron which floated in the middle of the water.

  “Right.” She placed her hands on her rounded hips. “You two, sit on those chairs while I try to remember the potion.”

  “You forgot?” Callum gaped at her with popping eyes. “How could you? It’s been passed down the family for generations and you —?”

  “It happens. Even we mermaids are not perfect.” Lily’s icy cold voice cut him short and sent a chill down Brell’s spine. “But now I remember, so stop shouting.”

  Callum didn’t utter another word and sat down on one of the chairs beside Brell, raising his hands in surrender. Lily lightly pressed her palms to her temple and threw her tail forward, shooting a volley of sparkles towards Brell. She thought they might smack her but it stopped midway, forming a silver plane which turned into a solid golden book. Lily delicately turned a page of the book and then another, her black eyes running across the written lines. She moved from shelf to shelf and gathered up many small jars which she then placed on the floating burgundy table. With a flick of her tail she created a black spoon and dipped it into the air.

  Brell was starting to understand how the Seas worked. Cold water was found on the top, and warm water was found below. Air was heavier than water here, and sank to the bottom. Wherever water was used on land, air was used instead and vice versa.

  Lily opened a jar and drew out a black sluggish thing, plopping it into the air in the cauldron.

  Unable to curb her growing curiosity, Brell asked, “What is that?”

  “A brown coral smashed into pieces by a stone from the castle and mixed with other ingredients you won’t know.”

  “You mean Zeldae’s castle?”

  “Brell,” Lily sighed. “The answer is yes, but I really need to concentrate. Don’t distract me.”

  “Sorry.”

  Lily added leathery flaxen strips, two dollops of an indigo gel, and many more weird objects to the pot that Brell couldn’t make sense out of.

  “Touch it with the ring finger of your left hand.” Lily informed her. She slowly got up, made her way to the cauldron and gently touched the black mess inside. “Good. Now please go back.” Lily used her tail to create a black cloth.

  “Brell, you will have to blindfold your eyes for the next step.” She passed the cloth to her.

  “Whatever for?” she said, alarmed.

  “Well, the next step involves a very bright spark and it is too bright for humans. The spark will bring all these ingredients together. You’ll become blind and we don’t want that now, do we?”

  She unwillingly accepted the cloth. “Why does Callum get to see it? He’s human too!”

  Lily glanced at him questioningly. “He’s not a human.”

  Brell stared incredulously at him. He looked human! Black eyes, blonde hair, human legs. Thoughts spinning, she blindfolded herself.

  “Now don’t you peek.” Lily’s said. She felt the gentle wave of water as Lily swished her tail. Fast drumming began to fill the water and she realised the water around her was vibrating. Her ears started ringing as the water pulsed around her and pushed her around on her seat. She locked her legs with the wooden feet of the stool and clasped her hands tightly over her throbbing ears. Then she became aware of a bright light in front of her covered eyelids. The light grew in brightness, becoming painful. She tucked her head into her chest, her arms and legs aching from the force of the water. Gradually the light, noise, and force decreased to a bearable level.

  “Can I open my eyes?” she whispered, relaxing her stiff muscles.

  “Yes.” Callum’s voice sounded far-off and bubbling with excitement.

  She hurriedly snatched the cloth away from her eyes. What had happened? She squinted against the bright glare; the whole room was covered in shimmering white sparkles. Everything: the pot, the walls, the mattress and the chairs. Around the pot Lily and Callum were exclaiming with delight, and thankfully they weren’t covered in the white stuff.

  She slowly advanced towards them, her fingers rubbing off the sparkles on the shelves.

  “Brell.” Lily whispered, her fingers curled round an unknown object. “You know why you have come to Gelled right? To save Timothy, to …” she hesitated and glanced at Callum. “Anyway, you will need this.”

  She opened her palm, revealing a crystal bracelet with four grey crystals and one black one strung on a silver cord. In the middle, the black crystal glittered maliciously.

  “What is this?” Brell asked, feeling the perfect, smooth sides of each crystal. They were mesmerizing and about the size of her thumbnail with the black crystal being slightly larger. At the centre of each crystal was an opaque swirling mist that was unnoticeable if she hadn’t paid close attention to it.

  “Did you make this when you were adding those weird things into the pot?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  Lily secured the bracelet on Brell’s left wrist, her hands lingering on the chain for a moment.

  “This bracelet is now yours.” Lily ducked her head so she could stare solemnly into Brell’s eyes. “Do not lose it, for each grey crystal grants you a wish. You have to slip the crystal out of here —” she pointed to small indentations on the chain to the right of each crystal, “by moving it to the right and yanking sharply. Don’t worry, the chain and crystal will part for each other
so they won’t break. Once you have the crystal in your hands, say your wish, place it between your teeth and crack it. But remember that you only have four wishes so use them wisely and only when you are in great peril.”

  Brell couldn’t deny feeling a little honoured. A magical bracelet!

  “What does the black crystal do?”

  This time Callum answered. “You must know that The Great Queen,” he muttered the last words with distaste. “has magical powers too. She can change the sea current with a twitch of her finger, kill sharks with just a simple word, crumble the biggest of rocks with a breath, and control people’s minds too. If you happen to meet Zeldae face to face and she attacks you, which I hope never happens, crack the black crystal between your teeth and immediately throw it on the ground. It’ll create a thick, black fog which will spread in all directions and block spells, but it lasts only for a few minutes, so swim. Remember, please, that these crystals are very powerful and you are to use them only when there is no other option left.”

  Brell nodded and stared at the bracelet for a moment. “So… I’m just supposed to swim into the castle and ask for Timmy?” Even in her daze, she knew they had to have a better plan. Right?

  Lily pointed her slim finger to the bracelet hanging from Brell’s wrist

  ‘Dear, you will have to get a tail with a wish. A girl with legs in Gelled will cause as much excitement as a mermaid on land.”

  Brell inspected her feet, a gnawing feeling of impending doom in her stomach. “But what will happen to my legs?”

  Silence was her only answer. After a few agonizingly tense moments Callum said softly.

  “You will have to give up your legs for a tail.”

  Chapter 7: Mermaid

  The silence stretched on as Brell gaped. She could hear the currents moving past her, or maybe it was just her ears ringing.

  “What?” she finally spluttered. “Of course not! The idea itself is —”

  A loud gong echoed through the water. Once, twice, three times.

  “It’s three o’clock!” Callum gasped, gathering up his bow and arrows. “Time flew so fast! I have to go Lily, it was good seeing you.” He shook her hand and turned to speak to Brell. His voice was tinged with a little desperation.