The Two Shells

The sun shone brightly on the clear ocean and made Riva’s skin hot. She was native to the touch, but she loved the warmth. She wobbled as she stood in the shallow area, and there were people all around. Riva didn’t know where she was. One moment she was standing behind…a man with dark hair, arguing with her father, and the next she was flying through the water with legs where her tail used to be.

           Riva tried to take a step and fell on her face, making a huge splash in front of her, and the people around stared at her. She cursed under her breath and tried to stand once again. Now she knew why everyone was looking at her. She had on her jeweled top, but what was on her bottom half of her body confused her. There was no bejeweled tail. Now, there were two legs in its place. They were pale and skinny. She was wearing some…skirt that matched her top.

           This was something Riva had never worn before. How had she gotten in this? Why was her mind blanking? She moved forward again and although her legs wobbled, she didn’t fall. She got completely out of the water and walked on the hot sand. She gasped when she felt how soft it was.

           She bent down and ran her fingers through the dry sand, feeling it slide in the cracks between her fingers. Her feet started to burn but she didn’t care. The feeling she got when she touched the sand…amazed her. The question of how popped into her brain again. How did she get here?

           She continued walking up the beach. She saw little girls and boys running and laughing around the beach. Then, there were the adults, standing by the edges of the water watching the kids play. As she was looking behind her, she stumbled into someone, making her trip.

           “Oh!” she squeaked, startled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you.”

           “It’s alright.” Riva had stumbled into a boy who looked about her age. He looked seventeen, maybe eighteen. He had dark hair that gleamed in the sunlight, much like the sun had made the water look. She saw faint freckles on his face, and he was wearing a necklace that looked just like--“Wait. Riva?”

           Riva’s head snapped up from the man’s chest, where the necklace sat. “Um. How do you know my name?”

           The boy’s eyes widened, and he brought his hand up to his face and sighed. He pushed his hair back out of his face. “C’mon, Riva. It’s me? Kye?” She gave him a puzzled look of confusion and he swore. “I knew this was a possibility, but I thought…”

           “I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong person,” she told him, trying to walk around the boy, but he grabbed her arm. “Hey!” she exclaimed, alarmed.

           “No, Riva, you have to recognize me. This has to have worked. Or else…” Kye’s eyes pleaded her to remember but she had no idea who this guy was. “Or else you’ll have to go back. Forever.”

           “Kye, whoever you are, I—”

           “It’s me, Ri! Please!” he begged. Riva had no explanation for why this boy knew her name and had her necklace. She had the same one. The same shell. And if he’s human, how does he know her?

           “Why do you have my necklace?” She asked, pulling her arm from his grasp.

           Kye let his hand fall to his side and he picked up the small shell that was hanging from his neck. His eyes sparkled and his lip threatened to tug up. “This is mine. You have your own. Remember?”

           Riva looked down and there was nothing there. Kye noticed this too. “Where is it?” He asked, running his fingers through his hair once more.

           Riva was so confused she started to get dizzy. Kye was by her side in a second and caught her from falling. He picked her up bridal style and started walking towards the houses near the rocks.

           “What…” she couldn’t form a sentence.

           “You're tired, Ri. Dehydrated. And you're not used to this world.”

           “How did you—”

           “Shh,” he interrupted. “No more talking. I’ll explain it all later.”

Riva woke up with a raging headache, and she was covered by something soft. She sat up and it made her head rush, and her eyes go black for a moment. When her vision cleared, she got a large view of the beach from above. The sun was gone and the moon shone through the window. Right now, she noticed two things. One, she was laying in someone’s bed. Two, she was not in the ocean.

           “Well, welcome back,” she heard a voice say from behind her.

           She turned her head and saw someone she recognized. The boy from the beach, Kye. Necklace stealer. “Why am I here?" She asked, pushing the covers of the bed off of her. She saw she had also changed out of the skirt and top she was wearing. “And why am I wearing these…”

           “Pants. Sweatpants. They’re mine,” he smiled, handing me something.

           Riva sniffed what was in the cup and cringed. “What is this?”

           “it’s coffee. I know you like it,” he told her, walking over to the bureau across from the bed and pulled out some articles of clothing.

           “You don’t even know me!” she yelled, jumping out of his bed. The sun shone through the window that ended literally never. It was wrapped around the whole room, leaving Riva blinded. What is it with the sun being this bright? She couldn’t remember it being this bright when she was in the ocean.

           “You’ll get used to it,” Kye said, still searching through the drawers.

           “What?” she asked, dumbfoundedly.

           “The coffee taste. I remember when I first gave you some—” he chuckled at the thought-“and the face you made—”

           “Okay, you’re really starting to creep me out.” She ran her hands down her sweatpants and the thought of how she got in these made her face flush. “oh my god…You saw me naked! What the hell?”

           “Hey,” he said, putting his hands up in defense, “I didn’t look. And it's nothing I’ve never seen before,” he added, smirking.

           “Stop pretending like you know me! You don’t.” Riva was tired, and confused, and being in this stranger’s house who was pretending to know her made everything worse. She didn’t know if she wanted to break something, or if she wanted to break down and cry.

           “Ri—” he started.

           “Don’t call me that,” she snarled. Someone…someone who was important to her called her that. She just couldn’t remember who.

           “And why not?” Kye asked.

           “Someone…important to me used to call me that,” she answered, walking away from Kye.

           He walked up to her and pulled her back. “Yeah,” he said. “Me.”

           “Stop.” She didn’t like how he kept grabbing her arm, but his touch wasn’t rough. It was soft and warm, and—

           “C’mon, Ri. I found you. It really didn’t take much, and I found your necklace. All you have to do is put it on.” He pulled something out from behind his back that he was holding, and it was the same shell that was around his neck. But this one was mine.

           She took it out of his hand and grabbed the two ends, trying to clasp it around her neck. When she couldn’t get it, she mumbled, “uh, can you- can you help me?”

           He took the necklace from her hands and walked around behind her. He moved her hair out of the way, and she held it to the side while he wrapped the necklace around her neck. Heat radiated off of his hands and made her shiver.

           “There,” he said. He stayed standing behind her, and as she clutched the shell in her fist, he asked, “do you see anything?”

           “Am I supposed to?” she asked.

           Kye pulled on her shoulder and she twisted so she was facing his chest. He was a lot taller than her and she had to look up to look him in the eye. “It…it was supposed to work. Luc said it would work!” he reached for her shell but she pulled back.

           Kye’s eyes pleaded hers. “I just need it to work,” he whispered.

           “Need what?” she shot.

           His eyes opened like he was realizing something for the first time. “For the power to work…hold both…and—Oh my god! I know what I did wrong.”

           Riva pulled on the strands of her hair. “I need to- I just have to go.”

           “You don’t know how to go back home. Your memory was wiped. Yes?” Kye asked.

           “How do you know that?” she gaped. Riva knew she didn’t remember what had happened or how she got to the human world, and how she got legs, but how would Kye know? His eyes were rimmed with blue and they shone brightly as he walked closer.

           “We’re so close, Ri, all you have to do is trust me. Will you?” he asked. When Riva didn’t respond, he asked again. “Riva, my Riva, do you trust me?” He was so close she could feel his breath on her face.

           “I…”

           “Hold your shell in your hand. Okay?” She did what he asked, and he held his shell as well. “And now, take my hand.”

           Riva slowly reached out and took Kye’s hand that wasn’t holding the shell. There was a zap when their skin made contact but before she could pull away Kye’s hand tightened over Riva’s. There was a buzzy feeling in Riva’s stomach and she felt dizzy again. There was a glow around the two of them, that made them shine like a star.

           “It’s working…” he whispered in awe.

           “What is?” She asked, afraid. She felt something jolt inside her, something click. Finally, her memories were snapping into place.

           The first time she had met Kye. In the ocean, next to the rocks. He was there and she was in the ocean. He was her prey, but she saved him. Not knowing he was a mermaid. A mermaid who could…have legs. He was half-human, he’d told her after.

           The first time they kissed was in the dark of night, near a deck in a bay area.

           The first time she introduced him to her father, he banned them from seeing each other again. “He’s half human, Rivana. A filthy hybrid. You were supposed to kill him, not pursue him. ”

           Her memories flashed back to when her father, the king of the sea, banned all hybrids from his sea and cursed them to land. Forever. Never to set foot in the ocean again.

           She remembered when Kye had given her the necklace, and to call to him, and he would meet her at the deck where they’d had their first kiss. She stayed below the deck while Kye stood on the deck. Until her father and his army swooped in and took her away. Her last memories were of this magical mermaid taking her memories. She never even got his name.

           The light around Kye and Riva simmered down and she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulder. She took a shaky breath and opened her eyes. Kye was standing at her with a hopeful gleam to his eyes.

           “Kye,” she said.

           He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to his body. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his neck. “How?” she croaked.

           “I had a…friend. In the kingdom. He’s the one who gave me these shells—” he pointed to the necklaces-“ and he’s the one who gave you…well, legs.”

           “But how can I have legs? I thought that it was impossible to give a pure breed...well, legs!” He leaned back and ran a knuckled along her cheek.

           “That’s not important, Ri. You’re here. You remember.” He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her lips. “You’re here,” he mumbled again, kissing her again. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his torso. He repeated her name over and over again. She was so desperate to feel his touch she didn’t even realize where he had taken her.

           They were out on the patio where a blanket had been laid out, and where pillows and Riva’s favorite human food were. There were candles lit and she could see the whole city from the ledge.

           “Where are we?” she asked.

           Kye pointed out into the dark and she could faintly see a deck where tables and chairs laid. It was their deck. They were in Miami. Kye’s homeland.

           “I was so…confused. When I got here, I couldn’t remember anything. All I could remember was my father and this man with dark hair saying…something. But I couldn’t remember!”

           “That would be Luc. He’s the guy I was telling you about. He told me he could get you legs, and free access to land, but in order for it to work, he had to wipe your memory. And if our love was true…you would remember. He said you might not remember at first, but if you had your necklace with you, you would remember. We only had twenty-four hours. It's been twelve. It's only one in the morning." He brushed a kiss on the top of her head. They sat down on the blanket and Riva curved into his body.

           “So…the last time we saw each other…getting caught. It was all a plan?” Her voice carried a hurt tone. Although she tried to mask it, Kye could always tell.

           “No. No! We were going to do it a harmless way, but your father had spies watching us. They let him know we were meeting and then it was his decision to use Luc to wipe your memory of me. He didn’t know Luc was working for me. So Luc, saying he'd destroyed your memories forever, trapped your memories in this shell—” he tapped her shell, once again-“ and it all worked out.”

           “Oh, Kye,” she sighed. “I’m so…”

           “Happy to see me?” He smirked.

           “I’m just so in love with you,” she told him, running her fingers over his arm.

           Kye pulled her closer and looked up at the sky. The stars were bright in the sky. Riva looked up and remembered when they’d star-gaze together in the water before he was banned.

           “Remember when we looked at the stars together?” they asked at the same time. They laughed and Kye pulled her onto his lap.

           “I remember looking up, and hoping I could share them with you, on land. Look’s like my wish came true.”