Here it is guys. I'm sooooooooo incredibly sorry it took this long to get the LAST CHAPTER up. Yes, I said it, the last chapter. Anyhow… please don't hurt me for making you wait. My life got crazy. First, school started. Oh joy. And apparently the older you get, the teachers decide you can handle more and more homework. That would not be the case Mr. and Mrs. Teachers. Then my grandpa died and I just didn't feel like writing. Then all of a sudden it's holiday season and I'm making 12 necklaces and painting 5 water cans for presents. On top of it all, I had a bad case of writer's block. Ah well, c'est la vie.
Let's think of this as your Christmas present/Hanukah present/hurray it's winter break present, or whatever present you want to call it from me.
So enjoy the very last chapter of Vampires, Werewolves, and Mermaids, Oh My!
Chapter 33- Epilogue
"We need to turn to the North," Jasper said, reaching for the steering wheel of the large and fancy yacht we were all riding in.
Emmett stopped him. "No, we want to go West," he argued, gesturing to the map in between them.
"You see that mark there, Emmett?" Jasper asked, pointing at a dot on the map. "That would be our destination. We go North."
"Stop arguing or I take the wheel," Carlisle said from bench he was lounging on with Esme.
I stood up from Edward's lap to take a look at this map. I peered over their shoulders' and laughed. "Guys, the map is upside-down." I flipped it around. "Go East." This built in underwater compass has it's perks.
"Oh."
I laughed as I walked back over to my seat next to Edward while they got the boat back on course.
Last week, we decided that because there are no longer any crazed vampires on my trail intent on delivering my doom, we should take a vacation. So, now we are on our way to Atlantis. No, seriously, Atlantis. I spazzed with excitement too when Edward told me their idea.
They went all crazy and bought a giant, fancy, two story yacht just for it. We left early this morning off the shore of First Beach. I had previously asked our three mermaid friends if they wanted to join us. They got super excited and squealed an enthusiastic yes. They said they would have fun swimming along side the boat. Of course they would be able to keep up, I'm sure us mermaids can swim faster than this boat.
Edward said it would be about a four day trip. (sorry if that's not really accurate) Because of our swimming travelers, we would take a break every few hours and stop at Cullen owned islands or private rented beach houses along the way.
We would stop to sleep at three places. The first is at a rented beach house on the coast of Mexico. Esme said it is a beautiful area. Very quiet too, the only people we will see are the cleaning ladies that come as we leave. Stop number two is at the historic island off Chile, which we now call Mermaid Island. Our last stop is on the East side of South America, a little island off of Rio de Janeiro. Then continue on to Belize where Atlantis is.
I bet you're wondering about Jacob and what happened with him. Don't worry, it's a happy ending. A couple days ago he showed up on my door step. At first I was hesitant, but then he said he 'didn't give a damn that I was a fish' and 'missed me like hell'. So I promptly through my arms around him and almost started crying tears of joy. If he wasn't a werewolf, I probably would have suffocated him. I got my best friend back.
I turned around and got on my knees to peer over the side of the boat. Abby, Ashlie, and Katie were laughing and jumping like dolphins in the water, in fact, they were jumping with dolphins! I laughed, too.
"Bella!" Ashlie called out, mid-jump.
"Swim with us!" Katie yelled.
A huge smile grew on my face. "I'll be right in!"
I took off my swimsuit cover up and stood on the seat.
"Emmett, stop the boat so Bella can jump off." I had dove off the side before Edward could finish his sentence. "Bella!"
I screamed with excitement all the way down. I felt my fingers break the wavy, blue surface of the water. It was cold, but refreshing. I felt my legs begin to tingle. I had grown to enjoy this feeling, it was an odd, but familiar sensation, comforting in a way. I looked down at my dark blue fins, slightly sparkling in the sunlight that was able to shine through the water. I laughed and watched the swarm of bubbles dance up to the surface. I decided I should follow them, make sure Edward isn't about to jump off himself and come find me.
I squinted my eyes at the bright sunlight and saw the boat stopped a ways in front of me. Edward was leaning over the railing and searching the water with frantic eyes. I saw him breath a sigh of relief when he spotted me. I chuckled and swam to the boat.
"Bell-" Edward started, but was promptly cut off by none other than Emmett.
"Holy crap! Geezers Bella, you gotta stop freaking us out with your mermaidness! You scared Edward so much he almost peed his pants, and that's pretty hard for him to do!" Emmett yelled down to me.
"Emmett, please, for the love of God, stop saying that!" Jasper groaned.
Emmett looked confused. "Don't say what? Geezers, Edward, or peed?"
I chuckled and Edward sent him a little glare.
"No, holy crap. Crap isn't even all that holy anyway."
"That's my thing, though! Tell me, where would the world be if Buzz Lightning ditched his 'to infinity and beyond'?" Emmett threw his hands in the air and really acted out the catch phrase.
"What does that have anything to do with this?"
"It has everything to do with this. I am bringing comic relief to the world when the world needs it most! I thought we established this earlier in life: I'm like a super hero because of it!" Oh yeah, I remember. Crappy Man.
"Oh Lord, just kill me now," Jasper said, totally exasperated.
"Stop that right now before I throw both of you overboard," Esme demanded.
"Sorry, mom," they both muttered.
"Alright! Let's get this show on the road!" Ashlie yelled with enthusiasm.
"Whoo!" Emmett hollered while he started the boat back up.
Then we were off, jumping with the dolphins again.
I sighed as my feet hit the warm, silky sand. I dug my feet in and felt all the little grains slip between my toes.
"So, this is where your adventures began, huh?" Abby asked. The three mermaids were lounging at the edge of the water on their stomachs, propped up with their elbows.
I chuckled. "This particular adventure, yes."
We had arrived at our Mermaid Island a few minutes ago. It looked just as it had last December. I could see the large rocks down the beach that previously held my necklace. The sun was setting, too, and the sky was turning purple with the faint first glimpses of evening stars. It shone on the ocean and gave the beach a warm glow. By the dock, the palm tree that was Emmett's victim laid.
I walked over to sit in front of them, being careful to stay on the dry sand.
"So, what do you know guys know about Atlantis?" I asked them.
"Plenty, it's that one annoying unit in school that you learn about every year. It's kind of like our Hollywood or New York, but much more regal," Katie explained.
"Oh, I did some research as well. Thought I should be prepared."
"Yeah? What did you find?" Ashlie looked amused for some unknown reason.
"The map of Kingdoms showed it in the Caribbean. It's in the center of Lighthouse Reef, 43 miles from Belize. It is down in The Great Blue Hole. Then I got on good ol' Wikipedia to find out what a blue hole is, basically a huge underwater sinkhole. They are formed by glaciers, erosion, and lowering and rising sea levels through out time. This one formed about 153 thousand years ago. It has a 984 foot diameter and is 407 feet deep. The Great Blue Hole is a popular spot for divers, so it will be interesting to see how we do this." And that's all the research I'm doing for the summer.
They all just looked at me. Abby with an eyebrow raised, Ashlie smirking in a 'are you kidding me?' way, and Katie rolled her eyes.
"What? Am I wrong?" Horribly and drastically wrong?
Abby chuckled. "That's just what they want you to think. Tell me something, Bella. How does that necklace have the ability to change you into a mermaid?"
Seriously! I sighed dramatically. "Do I honestly have to go through that story again?"
"In a nutshell."
"Oh. Um… magic?"
"Yes. How do the Archways work?"
"…Magic?"
"Uh-huh. How do we get light in our Kingdoms at the bottom of the ocean?"
"Magic?"
"Very good. Now, how was The Great Blue Hole formed?"
Oh, okay. I see where this is going. "Magic."
"Congratulations! That's four out of four!" Ashlie exclaimed and wildly clapped her hands. Katie laughed and clapped with her.
"You see," Abby said, "there really isn't much scientific explanation in our world of mermaidness. It's just… magic. That's the way it works down there."
"Huh…" I said as I ruminated. "That's actually really neat."
"Learning a lot today, are we?" I jumped at the sound of Edward's voice behind me.
He knelt down beside me and kissed my cheek. I blushed of course.
"Yeah, teachers are right when they say you can't trust Wikipedia." I told him with a smile. We all laughed.
"Well, you should get to bed, we have another day of traveling. We want to see Atlantis!"
An abyss the deep blue color of the sky as the last notes of evening fade away stared back at me as we sat on the white sand. We are at The Great Blue Hole, at the very edge of the underwater sand before the limestone walls abruptly plunge into the depths of the vast, blue water.
We dropped the anchors of the boat on the West side of the hole. Because it was a not so awesome day here off the coast of Belize - cloudy skies and chilly winds - there was only one other boat on the other side of the hole. That's good, there is less of a chance that people will come over and say: "Hey, look at this pretty boat. I wonder where it's owners are? Surely not venturing down in that big, water filled chasm there with a couple of mermaids."
And less of a chance of others seeing a bunch of people that aren't really acting human here just sitting under the water staring into the massive underwater sinkhole with who knows what lurking past the point that is no longer visible, just waiting to jump out and capture the unfortunate souls that decided to take a dip.
I'm starting to rethink this this whole thing.
Emmett broke the silence. "Well, it's sure a good thing no one has to come up for air! 'Cause that's a long, dark, eerie, way down." You're not helping Emmett.
"Well," I said, "this would probably be the part where I take a dramatic deep breath then let it out in a puff… but since we are underwater right now I don't think I can do that. So, let's just dive off this drop-off and swim down into the dark unknown in an epic manner."
That's what we did, then we swam, and swam, and swam. It didn't seem like we were getting anywhere. Just swimming in a vast pool of nothingness surrounded by nothing but water and nothing. It felt as though the hole grew deeper as we swam down further, like one of those nightmares where the faster you try to run, the longer the tunnel got. It was dark too, extremely dark. I only saw the faintest hint of sunlight when I looked up to the surface.
I was beginning to loose hope, beginning to think that we were never going to reach the Archway. But then I saw it, the tiny spot of bright white light that made my spirits soar. I had been picturing the Archway somewhere along the wall of the Great Blue Hole, it wasn't though. The light was looked like it was just floating on a raft in the middle of the ocean.
Ashlie, Abby, and Katie must have noticed it to, because we all yelled at the same time, "There it is!" with a tremendous amount of excitement and flipped our tails as fast as they could go.
I watched the light grow bigger and bigger until it was the size of a rather large door. I peered into it and my eyes turned to saucers. The other three who were able to see it stared in amazement as well.
Alice came up beside me a gazed in the same direction, all she saw though, was more blue nothing.
"Is it here? Is that it right there?" Alice squealed enthusiastically, thrusting her finger to the bright light she couldn't see. I nodded, too awestruck to speak. "Well what are you waiting for? Let's go in!"
It was even more spectacular on the other side of the Archway, the beauty of it all exploded in our faces. I thought the Kingdom off the First Beach shore was big, this one was massive! The Olympic Peninsula Kingdom times ten, maybe more. That just made space for more breathtaking scenery, though. The architecture had the romance of Paris and Italy, and the ancientness of Greece and Rome. As I watched the thousands of merfolk swim along the twisting roads and paths, I got the feeling of the hustle and bustle of New York, but also that feeling of family and friendship in a small town in the country. And it was bright, insanely bright for the bottom of the ocean. It looked as though the sun was shining just for Atlantis.
Right in the middle of it all was a castle. The walls looked like they were made of solid gold adorned with sparkling crystals. It reminded me of the castle in The Little Mermaid with tall spinning turrets and merfolk going in and out of openings scattered about the giant structure.
I heard Emmett mutter, "holy crap…"
After recovering from her moment of awe, Alice asked, "so, where to first?"
"The castle has free, all day tours?" Ashlie replied.
"Ooo! Let's do that!" Emmett loudly exclaimed and got a head start for the castle.
As we made our way to the entrance, I noticed that it didn't seem like a big deal that seven vampires were in Atlantis. Most everyone looked, but no one gave us a second glance. I guess vampires weren't all too terribly rare here. I'm not complaining though, it's one less thing we have to deal with.
The front door of the castle was insanely huge and quite intimidating. It was, of course, gold and covered in diamonds and shells and pearls. Swirling carvings were etched in on the sides. The inside was even more grand. The walls looked the inside of an oyster. Gems of every color imaginable lined the ceilings and doorways. You couldn't look at one thing for too long until your eyes were drawn to something else lovely.
"Anyone else for a tour?" I heard a female voice call.
We joined a group of four merpeople and set off through the castle. Each room and hallway was more grand than the last. Every one was lined with glittering gems, spotless decorations of undersea plants and corals and statues. I gazed at everything, absolutely entranced, if Edward hadn't been holding my hand and pulling me along behind him I probably would have gotten left behind because of my failure to notice anything but the décor.
Ahead of us was a pair of open doors, just as ridiculously elaborate as the front doors. I heard the tour guide gasp when she glanced into the room.
"Quickly please, we must stay on schedule," she said, quickening her pace.
As we passed the open doors, I looked in and was so shocked I couldn't move. The room was spacious and bright. It was, hands down, the most intricately decorated and beautiful room of the castle. But that wasn't the most surprising part.
In the very center, sitting on a massive gold throne, was King Neptune. He was very big. Not a giant though, like the King of the Sea is usually depicted, but easily nearly 8 feet tall. He was handsome too, that middle aged, well worn, salt and pepper hair kind of handsome. However, his eyes were dark, holding a sense of loneliness within them. A frown was evident on his face as he sat slumped in his throne. I could tell he was still clearly mourning the loss of his love. He scowled at a duo of mermaids laughing at the edge the room, then yelled, "get back to work!"
I felt a gentle tug at my hand and heard Edward say, "Bella?"
King Neptune must have heard it too, because his head snapped to us. A storm grew in his eyes.
"Why are there vampires in my castle?" He shouted. Well, maybe it's a little bit of a big deal that vampires are here. The merfolk working around the room jumped and the Cullen clan plus three mermaids behind me looked shocked. "Who are you! Who let you into my castle!" His face turned red as became angrier. Then his dark eyes turned to me. "Was it you? Who are you!"
"I… I…" I was too scared to speak. I noticed his eyes had lowered to my chest the displayed the Mermaid Crystal. Uh-oh. Of course he would recognize it. My heart beat frantically in my chest and Edward pulled me close to him.
The King's voice lowered but grew in intensity. "Where did you get that necklace?"
"O-on an i-island," I answered quietly, waiting for him to lash out.
"Are you human?" He asked in the same intense voice.
I nodded.
His expression became confused and sad, but mostly angry. "What right do you think you possess that allows you enter my castle with a group of vampires in tow and shove that necklace in my face!" He was yelling again. "You should leave. Now!"
"And you should control your temper!" I shouted right back. He looked baffled. Hey, I was pretty shocked too. I was reminded of the time on the cliff with Victoria when I got a sudden burst of confidence. "Did I waltz right in here and shove this in your face to make you feel more miserable? No, it was hanging innocently around my neck as you exploded in irrational anger. Honestly, find your humanity and move on! Find a hobby or something, just stop unleashing your violent misery on these poor people who weren't even there when the tragedy struck! What do suppose Maria would think of you right now? I don't think she would be very proud." Yeah, I went there. He stared at me like I'd just slapped him across the face. "Sorry to disturb and upset you. We'll leave now."
I grabbed Edward's hand and turned to leave. Just as I crossed the threshold of his fancy doors, I heard King Neptune speak.
"Wait." His voice was softer now, weaker. I looked over my shoulder at him. His eyes were red, but no tears fell because of the fact that we are under water. "You are right. What I'm doing is wrong. I should not have yelled you at you like that. It's just… seeing that necklace again… it reminded me of-" he stopped and shook and shook his head, rubbing his fists in his eyes.
His broken demeanor and the torture I heard in his voice pulled at my heart-strings. I remembered when I was that broken one when Edward left. I was suddenly overcome by pity for him. No, not pity… understanding.
I reached behind my neck and fumbled with the clasp of the necklace. I unhooked it and held it out to Neptune. "Here," I placed it in his outstretched palm, "I think you should have this, it belongs to you."
He gazed at the crystal cupped in his hands with a small, sad smile on his lips. "Thank you, it means a lot to me. But it's also a part of you now, too."
He enclosed the necklace in both his hands then closed his eyes. Beams of bright rainbows shot out from the cracks between his fingers. He opened his eyes making the rainbows disappear. Opening his clasped hands, he revealed to twin necklaces, identical to the one that sat there moments before. The only difference was their size, these two were smaller, half the size of the original.
The King gently picked one up by its gold chain and offered it to me. I cradled it in my hands and looked up at him with question and awe in my eyes.
"Now we both have a piece of Maria," he said.
I smiled. "Thank you."
"I should probably know the name of one of my great to the power of x granddaughters."
"Isabella Swan, I like Bella, though."
"Bella," he murmured, then grinned broadly. "You should be proud to be related to Maria, Bella."
"I am."
We were back on Mermaid Island now. We left Atlantis the next morning, King Neptune had let us stay in one of the guest bedrooms. The design was beautiful but absolutely ridiculous for a room that is used only once in a while. I was sad when we made our departure. Apparently, I had done something good there. From the conversations and gossip I heard around the castle, the King had suddenly become a much happier person. I guess I had done my job and it was time to leave.
I was cuddled up in Edward's lap as we sat on the silky sand of the beach and watched the sunset that embedded red and gold diamonds into Edward's skin. The big rocks that once hid the necklace that changed my life so drastically sat down the beach to our right. The poor broken palm tree which fell victim to Emmett laid by the docks to the left. Behind us, I could hear the rest of the family playing a game that Emmett was really getting into.
Life was beautiful now. I sighed a happy sigh and rested my head against Edward's chest, gazing at the amber sun.
"What are you thinking about?" Edward murmured.
I smiled at the line. "About how my life got so incredibly wonderful in the past couple of weeks."
"Yeah? And how did it get so wonderful?" I could feel his crooked smile when he kissed the crown of my head.
I turned around in his lap so I was straddling his hips. "Well, first and foremost, you're here. That would make any day wonderful." His crooked smile got bigger and he pecked the tip of my nose.
"Second, Victoria is gone, dead, a pile of ashes. That whole mess is done and over with. I'm not scared anymore. And as much as I know you don't want to her it, I have my best friend back."
Edward's eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head. "No, you're happier that Jacob is back in your life. I'm glad."
"And that is why love you so much," I said with a smile.
Edward's glorious smile returned and he said, "You know what has made my life so wonderful? Other than the fact that you are here."
I shook my head. "What?"
He laid a hand on my cheek and said, "The confidence I've seen grow in you. Ever since the first time that tail of yours made an appearance, I could see a more confident Bella emerging. What you said to Victoria and King Neptune, you have no idea how proud I was. Just everyday things, as well, you seem so much more sure of yourself. I didn't think it was even possible, but it has made me love you even more."
I was overcome with emotion. Tilting my head up, I placed my lips on his and wrapped my arms around his neck while he gently cradled my head in his hands. When we broke apart after God knows how long, I was out of breath.
"Some of that new found confidence could be due to the fact that I am no longer the wimpy little human," I said.
Stroking my hair, he said, "Yes, you are my strong, beautiful little mermaid."
"Who is faster than you," I added to Edward's comment.
He chuckled and replied, "Don't push it."
I laughed too and rested my head against his cold chest. The stars had come out and the horizon was a deep purple. The stars reflection sparkled on the surface of the deep blue water. The air was cool and quite, the only sound was the calm waves crashing on the shore. It was all so peaceful. I closed my eyes and let out a big yawn.
Edward kissed the top of my head. "Come on, let's get you in bed." He stood with me curled up in his arms and walked back to the house.
It had been another one of those perfect days.
THE END! All done! That's all she wrote! C'est fini! I had so much fun writing this for you guys! I want to thank you all for reading my story and sticking with me. I could get all cheesy and say: "without you there would be no story." But that's not true. I could've written it, there would just be no one to read it, you guys gave it a purpose for being out there in the world! So thank you. I would also like to thank my daddy who helped me with stupid sticky keys. I would not like to thank spell check for telling me that I want to say 'me folk' and 'me people'.
Sequel? Sorry, no. I have too many other story ideas waiting in line to get put onto virtual paper. Maybe after I do those and have no other ideas. I doubt it though.
I have edited all the chapters! They should be up soon. You don't have to go back and reread the pretty version, though. Same story, some sentences just make more sense now,
Now something exciting! Nalive liked my story so much that she decided it needs to be translated into Russian! I'm super excited to see my story in another language! Thank you Nalive for doing that!
Let's see, what else do I have to say… Thank you thank you thank you again for reading my story and actually liking it! I only got one nasty comment and the rest was all fabulous love from you guys! I call that a success!
Love you guys!
Until next time… Au revoir!
peace, love, and Twilight,
Katie!