Celeste's Arc

Chapter 13 of 23

The cave swallowed the storm's roar. Nyrimia pulled Celeste through pale water toward a wide stone stair. Its steps rose in smooth waves of blue, cream, and sand, with no rail to hold. Celeste climbed, dripping, the floating leaf of fruit bumping her leg. Above the stairs stood a great smooth arch. Beyond it, a dark tunnel ran into the rock. Celeste stopped and stared. She had never seen stone shine like water. "It is old," Nyrimia said. She lingered in the shallow pool below, unwilling to follow far. "Older than the shrine you found." Her green eyes moved to the tunnel, then away. She did not offer to show Celeste inside. Celeste turned in a slow circle. Crystal spikes hung from the ceiling. Water gathered on their tips and dripped, bright and slow. "It's beautiful," she whispered. Nyrimia's purple lips softened, but worry stayed in her face. "Sit at the top," the mermaid said. "The water climbs when the storm feeds it. It will not reach you there." She looked at the leaf tray. "Bring your gift. We will share it. I will stay in the rising water beside you." Celeste climbed to the highest step and sat. Below her, the pool crept up the stone, step by step, and stopped short of her bare feet. Nyrimia floated at the water's edge, close enough to reach the fruit. Celeste split a dragonfruit and passed her half. They ate. The mermaid closed her eyes at the sweetness, as if it were the first kind thing in years. Celeste chewed and looked past the arch. Far down the tunnel, a faint violet light glowed. She knew that color. She had seen it under the shrine floor, leaking from a locked hatch. Her heart jumped. "What's that light?" she asked. "The purple one. At the end?" Nyrimia's hand went still on the guava. For a moment she said nothing. Then she smiled, too quickly, and pointed at the fruit. "Do you know pearls come from shells like the ones on your beach?" She lifted a small pale bead from her palm and set it on the step. "I gather them here. Take this one. It brings calm dreams." Celeste took the pearl. It was smooth and cool. But her eyes drifted back to the violet glow. Nyrimia pushed more fruit toward her and spoke of oysters, of deep water, of anything but the tunnel. She hoped the child would forget. Celeste ate the last piece. She thanked Nyrimia and rolled the pearl between her fingers. She did not forget. The same light burned under the shrine and here, at the end of this old tunnel. Two places, one glow. Whatever the mermaid guarded, it was the thing Celeste had been chasing. The flood had trapped her. It had also carried her straight to the door. When the water dropped, she would not leave. She would walk into the tunnel.