Trip to Atlantis

The sound of the thunder clapped in the sky. Although the sea was rough, I swam at full speed towards the ancient city of Atlantis. My feet hit the ground with strong momentum. I landed hard on the castle floor.

It had been a long time since I had set foot into the Atlantis palace. The walls looked invincible, but one of the tiles crumbled down gently as I looked at the once-strong castle. So much for being one of the most prominent nations on earth.

The forgotten kingdom, Atlantis. Once a proud nation, but now the whole race was cursed. I still remember when I was the General of Atlantis, and the wind blew through my hair as I stood, arching over the castle balcony, about to marry the love of my life. All gone and wrecked by a single woman. How did this happen? I gritted my teeth at the memory.

Just because the King broke her heart. The heart of a witch. The witch put a curse on the whole nation, and my to-be bride killed herself after she was cursed. Why did it happen? Because the King was predestined to marry another woman and rejected the witch.

The witch turned the whole nation into a cursed race, something the humans called Selkie. "Once upon a time, we were human, too," I muttered darkly. After the King turned into a selkie, he married a human woman.

My bride was not the only one that killed herself after turning into a Selkie. A lot of the others, ran to the shore and wanted to live like a human again, but all of them had a cursed fate, and most died of heartache. I refused to acknowledge my fate, so I never dated after my bride died. I blamed the King very much for this incident. But, our King also had his own ordeal when the whole Kingdom was cursed.

The first baby selkie was the Princess herself. Unfortunately, upon birth, the baby was murdered by the witch. The King was unable to speak with his people after that incident. He completely shut down, and the human wife returned to the surface. His family was torn apart; the King never woke up from his trauma.

The prophecy stated that one day, the baby would be reborn. To take vengeance on the witch. The time was now. I tried to hold my head high while I paused my footsteps.

Lifting my head towards the giant hallway, I proceeded with caution. Heart throbbing, I knew my King was waiting on his throne.

"Keith. I can see you are here." I jerked my head upwards. I looked at the crestfallen Atlantis King. I suddenly recalled his name. Jydine, that's what we called him.

"Yes, I am".

"She's reborn. This selkie girl is my daughter in her past life. If we reawaken her memories from her past life, we can use her to break the curse."

Keith hanged his head.

"I know."

"Isn't there another person that can vouch for this mission?"

"No, Keith. You are the toughest Selkie we have in Atlantis. Plus, you are also the best one at seduction."

"There has to be another person for the job———"

"No. Keith."

Jydine munched down his breakfast, glancing at the two dolphins that also wanted to take a bite at his mackerel. He snapped at them, and they quickly swam away.

"So, I am to awaken the goddamn reincarnated girl from Luss? Where our descendants live?"

"Damn right, you are."

"And if I refuse?"

"You can't. It is an order. Direct from the King." Jydine mused.

"So, the whole plan —— is to seduce the girl, and get her to break the curse and save the whole city?"

"Not bad. You finally caught up." Jydine nodded. He chomped down the remaining mackerel. "It is not difficult for the best-looking Atlantis man, the one who had every woman at his feet to seduce a young pretty sixteen-year-old."

"Sixteen? She's not even an adult yet." I protested, clenching my fist.

Jydine wiped his mouth on his ragged shirt and took a whisk of wine.

"I forgot, you have to kill the witch before Solstice."

A look of panic crossed my face. "That's three weeks from now——"

Jydine frowned. He cut me straight off. "There is no but. It is the last hope of Atlantis. Either you get her, or I banish you from Atlantis. You will lose everything."

I clenched my fist even tighter. "It is a goddamn sacrifice. You want me to die to break the curse."

"Not exactly. There might be a way for you to go through reincarnation and be reborn as a human."

"So I die one time and come back and suffer again?"

"That's pessimism. You will get to live a normal life, like a regular human after you are reborn." The King straightened up and walked towards him.

"I read the fortune of another witch that has foretold the fate of Atlantis. It clearly states that the Princess will be reborn, and she will avenge her death and kill the witch, thus, breaking the curse."

Clearing his throat, Jydine continued. "The witch's powers will be at the maximum, right after the Solstice. If we don't do it before then, the curse that she laid on us will be eternal."

"You mean, we have zero hope of redemption."

"Yes. Keith."

"You should know that it is just a foretelling. I have no intention of dying to save the city and turn myself into a legend." I grimaced, kicking a stone out of the way. I knew. Deep down, I knew. I was the chosen one to get the Princess, get myself killed and awaken her past life memories so that she could get a shot at the witch and destroy her.

"You are chosen, Keith. You are the one. The Princess is also the one. Both of you are destined to meet and break the curse together." Jydine met my eyes. We levelled our gaze at each other. I was unhappy about this and had a good reason to be upset.

"I am, like no other merman, an ordinary — "

"There is no excuse, it is a direct order."

"I can't guarantee we can carry out the mission on time. I will try my best to locate the girl in time to break the curse,"

"Goddamn —".

I swam out of Atlantis castle. Behind him, Jydine looked at the shadow with hope. "You can do it. I trust you." He muttered to himself.

* * *

I reached the water's surface. Fumbling, I headed straight for the city of Luss, Scotland.

The sun was hot, and I shook my long mane. A few drops of water sprinkled on my back, and my body glistened under the sun's rays.

"Oooh, he is so hot!" I noticed a few girls giggling in my direction. Having not received female attention for some time, I stared at them for a split second. I didn't feel young and in the mood for flirtation at two hundred and forty-five years of age. I glanced at a hot blonde, but made my way past her.

"Alright. Locate the Princess in two days, and send the message to her through dream telepathy." Seagulls cackled from above his head. I lifted my head and realized that I was naked.

Jydine was right about me. I was a gorgeous, hot male walking down the streets. Without wasting any more time, I knew I had to reach the Princess at once to awaken her powers and save Atlantis.

"My god." I finally reached the end of the beach. I decided to forage for some proper clothing. The shifter change was always challenging. Going from a switch from seal to human, which, thank god that no one saw me transform and I was doing it in broad daylight. It was no easy feat. It didn't hurt, but I had to make sure that no one was watching when I transformed on the land.

After scouting around, I got an old pair of pants and a torn T-shirt from the garbage bin.

"Finally —" I grumbled and popped the clothes on. I noticed that there were a lot of women peeking at me. My clear grey eyes pierced through their hearts, and I knew they were swooning.

Now, the last thing is to find the school, trap the reincarnated Princess and take her to the ocean.

"God, he's hot." A few schoolgirls gasped when they laid their eyes on me. There was no denying it. The Atlantis King sent the most muscular, good-looking man to seduce his daughter. So, can I do it before Solstice? I grimaced, but I braced myself to move one.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I realized I was attracting attention. "I wonder how I am supposed to finish this mission without attracting every person to stare at me." I thought aloud.

Well, I am one of the wisest selkies in town and physically the fittest. The other male selkies could never defeat my swimming prowess, and apart from a few of the older male selkies, I was probably one of the fastest selkie swimmers in Atlantis.

I paused and was tempted to flirt with a young blonde hottie. Deciding that time was of the essence, I shook my head and started asking for the Princess.

"No easy feat," I muttered to myself. I couldn't even speak proper Scottish when I spoke with the first few people on the beach. Ultimately, I gave up and went up to the patrol officer.

"Who are you?" The patrol officer looked at me suspiciously.

"I am a foreigner. I'm looking for The Catherine School."

"Hmm. Okay. Turn right on this road end and go straight from there. Near the National park, there is a small alley. Walk down the alley, and you will find a small school at the end of the alley. That's the school."

"Alright."

It was a small town, and it only took me thirty minutes to gather information about the school location. I needed extra time, so I made haste on my journey.

I raised my head to the sky and watched the seagulls cracking while basking under the sun's rays.

* * *

Two hours later, I arrived at my destination. I caught a glimpse of the Princess. Her name was different, but her facial features looked like her baby face from her past life. Brown hair, hazel eyes, and a soft look on her face. She was gorgeous. Using my powers, I imprinted on her.

I felt a bit bad for doing it to her, but I needed to set a mark on her, so I wouldn't lose track of her.

I was trying to understand why Jydine gave me such short notice to gather five pearls and break the curse of Atlantis. I only had two weeks, and although I found the girl in three hours, I still needed her to come for me. It wasn't an easy feat.

I sat down and waited for the night to fall. There was a gentle humming in the air, and I could hear a bird calling. The air was fresh, and I felt relatively relaxed. I closed my eyes gently and fell into a slumber.

"Sasha, I am Keith. You are Selkie. You have to save our nation. Come to me. I am waiting for you."

The shock on her face in the dream told me that I had done my job. She received the message.

I opened my eyes slowly. It was dawn. I did my job. The gentle rays of the sun hit my face. Embracing sunlight after such a long time under the sea was bliss. I smiled. I am coming for you.