Chapter 2
Confusion
Fisher McGuinty lied motionless on the ground, his chest rising with every breath he took. He started to smell the gentle sea breeze as he started to regain consciousness. He opened is eyes, blinking several times so that his eyes could become adjusted to the strong sunlight. He looked up, towards the cerulean sky as the clouds slowly paced their way on the path of the eastward winds. Fisher sat himself up and noticed right away the cornucopia of vegetation, rocks and strange looking crabs. Fisher kicks a few of the little crabs that were nibbling on the toes of his socks.
Fisher turns to his right and sees violent waves crashing against the rocks, several long feet below. Some of the reptiles down below grip the rocks with all their might as the waves crash against their robust bodies. Several of them jump into the water as the waves recede and they swim to a less violent shoreline. Fisher observes every single detail that surrounded him with the utmost feeling of curiosity. He couldn't understand what had transpired.
"Good morning cutie pie." Said a flirtatious voice behind him.
Fisher turned around to see the same mermaid who had killed his brother and cursed him with eternal life. She had been lying there upon a rock with a very flat surface. She had been lying on her stomach, admiring Fisher while he slept with both hands holding her head up by the chin, elbows propped on the flat surface. She looked at him with a closed smile. Fisher quickly stood up and pulled his sword out of its scabbard, pointing it directly in front of the mermaid's nose. Surprisingly, the mermaid didn't even flinch. she simply lay there with the same grin, always looking at Fisher.
"You're challenging me to a fight young man?"
The mermaid lifted herself up, hovering inches above the ground as her tail slowly swung from side to side. The spiked scales of her tail shone and reflected with the rays of the sun, demonstrating how viciously sharp they were.
"Aye!! I shall take ye down with thine trustworthy sword and ye shan't torment another soul after I'll be done with ye!!"
Fisher thrusts the sword into the mermaid's direction, arriving simply inches away from her chest as she quickly turned around. Using the momentum of the spin, the mermaid closes her hand into a fist and hits Fisher behind the head, sending him face first into the beach sand. Fisher slowly got to all fours, spitting out sand as he got up when he suddenly heard something cut through the wind. He looked down at the sand, just inches away from his face, and saw one of the mermaid's spiked scales practically standing halfway into the sand. Fisher froze in fear. He hadn't realized this goddess was that quick.
"You now realize that fighting me would've been useless now, right hon?"
Fisher finally moved, but was still in a little bit of shock. He turned around and sat, looking at the mermaid as she picked underneath her fingernails with one of her scales. She took a few seconds to observe her work underneath the sunlight, then continued to clean her nails. Fisher looked at her, lifting up his left knee and placing his left arm on it, contemplating a way to destroy the wench.
"I could've easily killed you right there if you haven't figured it out by now. I could do it again also if I so desired."
Fisher's look of determination quickly transformed into a face of anger after hearing those words.
"Why? Why have ye given me eternal life? Why have ye brought me here?"
"Because... I could tell right away that you would've been a great toy to play with."
"A toy...?"
"Yes sweetheart. You see, after centuries of living alone, a girl gets a little bit... lonely."
Fisher surprisingly stood up to the mermaid once again, his face clearly boiling with anger.
"Ye killed me brother and gave me eternal life ye useless sea cow!! Ye seriously think that I would be willing to play with ye?"
The mermaid got up with extreme speed and slapped the Celtic man across the face, sending Fisher to the ground once again. He never knew the mermaid would be this strong as well.
"DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN!! You're more useless than me anyhow!"
"That can nae be true!"
"Oh really? You said that you had nothing to live for back home didn't you? After you killed that man, you wanted to do nothing more than to die, right?"
"Aye, and it was true as well. I lost me entire family. A man isn't anything without it."
The mermaid turns around "How do you think..." The mermaid turns back to Fisher, with Joy's face instead of her own. "I would've felt if I heard that?"
Fisher gasped at the sight of Joy's face, then backed away, not believing what he had just saw. A few seconds shortly, he just realized the kind of mistake he has just done by "sacrificing" himself to the merci of the mermaid's well. Fisher looked down in shame and started pounding on a rock.
"How could I 'ave been so stupid!!"
Blood started to trickle down his fist as he kept pounding on the rock. He was mad, but could only blame himself for his mistake. Even though taking his frustrations out on a rock made him feel better, the pain was excruciating, but he felt as though he deserved it. The Celtic man held back his tears as bruises started to form on his hand. The mermaid simply stood there, laughing at this animal's stupidity. Fisher heard a crack then fell back, clutching his wrist in pure pain.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!! I knew you would be entertaining."
"Gnnnn... Me hand...."
"Don't worry so much about it."
The mermaid grabs Fisher by the wrist and shows him his broken hand. Blood trickled down from the nooks between his fingers and down to the mermaid's hand. Fisher couldn't look at it and yelled out in pain. The mermaid squeezed his wrist, making more blood gush out as she told him "Will you just toughen up and look at it, or you'll never learn!!" Fisher forced himself as best he could to look at his broken hand. All he saw was his hand drenched in his very own blood. Suddenly, the flow of blood stopped and actually reversed itself. Although the pain was still there, Fisher couldn't help but to watch in wonder as the cuts and bruises actually healed themselves.
What-what is this?"
"I gave you eternal life Fisher. This is part of the deal." She said as she let go of his healing hand. She turned around to look at the waves that washed some of the crabs away. "Do you wish to go back to her?"
Fisher looked down, reflecting on this moment for a while. He turned to his left to see a flock of blue-footed birds flying and circling a part of the ocean, swooping down to catch fish. He then looked back at the mermaid.
"Aye. I desire to return to me love, to me Joy."
Then you should know that if you kill me, you’d lose any chance of actually seeing your beloved’ Joy'. Heh heh heh!! Do you have any idea where we are right now?"
"Nay! These creatures, they're alien to me."
The mermaid gave him a devilish grin as she prepared to tell him.
"We're on the Galapagos islands, earth and the year is 1993."
"NAE!! How could this be possible? Ye're lying to me!!"
"You just hope that I was."
With that answer, the mermaid raises a hand above a puddle of water. It then started to emit an eerie greenish blue glow. the same glow emanating from the mermaid's well before she had appeared before the townspeople on the night of Timothy’s death. the mermaid gave Fisher a devilish grin once more.
"I hope you know how to play 'cat and mouse'" She said as she jumped into the puddle, disappearing into the portal. Fisher looked at the glowing puddle in curiosity, then decided to jump in, feet first. As soon as they both disappeared into nothingness, the glow fades away.
*****
Two Irish fishermen sat calmly in their boat, holding their poles as they awaited for any of the aquatic creatures below. One of the two looks up towards the sky and notices all the dark clouds rolling in. He can see the lightning flashes in the clouds as they slowly approach the lake. The water becomes slightly darker as the clouds envelop the sun and the waves become more agitated as well. The fisherman stopped staring into the sky and looked to his friend who was also observing the upcoming weather.
"It would seem as though we should make haste an' 'ead back 'ome before the rain begins."
"Aye. Would nay want the women to worry now would we."
They both chuckled at the thought then lowered their poles into the boat. One of the two took hold of the paddles until something caught his eye. two feet away from the boat, the two fisherman notice a beam of greenish blue light striking upwards from the under water.
"What in heaven's name was that?"
"Would ye actually want to stay and find out?"
The fisherman with the oars started rowing until something stopped it. From out of the murky water, a wet hand reaches out and grabs a hold of the boat. The fishermen back away in surprise and fear that some hellish creature my want to drag them both to the murky depths of the lake. Another arm reaches into the boat and the two heard coughing. A gurgling voice began to speak.
"H-help me!"
Both men put their fears aside to help out whatever was attempting to climb into the boat. They were surprised to see that it was a 20 year old man wearing a kilt along with Celtic battle garments. They both bring him into the boat and look at him with curiosity.
"It wasn't wise of ye to swim with all that heavy armor and weapons on lad. ye could've drowned."
"Aye! Are ye healthy of mind young man?"
Fisher didn't listen, he didn't care what they thought or said. All he knew was that he was safe and right now, needed to rest from struggling underneath the water's surface. The boat paddled away as a woman watched from a far off distance. Only her head and shoulders were evident above the surface. She suddenly dove underwater and let her tail flap against the surface.
*****
Fisher finally opened his eyes after several hours of sleep. He sat up from the bail of hay he had been sleeping on. As he looked around, he could tell that he was in an old fashioned hut from looking at the rickety brown walls. He turned to his left to see a 10 year old boy who was looking at him with curiosity. Fisher looked back at the boy and thought he looked somehow very familiar. Suddenly, Fisher heard a soothing female voice cry out.
"Fisher!! leave the poor man alone and come in for supper!!"
fisher thought as he stood up, seeing the little boy run away towards a neighboring hut. Fisher patted himself to make sure nothing was missing. He noticed his sword had been missing, but quickly turned around towards the bail of hay where the sword rested. Fisher picked up the sword by its hilt and slid the blade into its scabbard. He walked outside where the sun shone brightly. He quickly noticed the beautiful trees and fields of grass that lay upon the nearby hills. Surrounding and between the huts, he can see the beaten paths which could nearly be a decade or so old. At the top of a hill, Fisher saw some sheppards who were letting their sheep out to eat the tall grasses. To his left, Fisher heard a commotion. He turned around to see a man standing above a small crowd.
"Everyone, can't ye all see what the devil has done to our children? These red dots are clearly the mark of Satan 'imself. Fellow clansmen bring the girl hither!!"
Two men broke through the small crowd, pulling a little girl with them. She seemed week and didn't seem to have enough strength to fight. The girl was wearing nothing more than white rags. Her white robe touched the ground as her scabbed feet kept trembling from the road's bumpy surface. Her hands had white rags tied tightly around her wrists and a white hood rested over her face. The two men brought her to the front where the speaker stood and held her up for everyone to see.
"Ah-ha!! Ladies and gentlemen this is the mark of the devil!!!"
The speaker took off the hood and showed to the superstitious townspeople the red dots that appeared on the little girl's face. To us, these spots are known as just chicken pocks but in these times of superstition and blasphemy, these were unknown circumstances. It was clearly natural for the primitive people back then to think that any sickness may have been the work of a demon or the devil himself. Fisher looked up to the poor girl who stood there like some sideshow freak. Fisher looked at her more closely and noticed something.
"We must abolish this curse so that it may never spread. God has given me the strength and courage to face this demon and tonight, I ask of you to please, abolish all of these children so that they may never curse another Christian soul or another of our most innocent children!"
The speaker took out a long dagger from a pocket inside his shirt and raised it for the audience to see. Fisher couldn't help it. She looked so familiar. those blue eyes, that blonde hair, both characteristics that are rarely found in an Irish lass. Now, what about that boy he had seen moments ago? His name was Fisher, wasn't it? Fisher then flashed back to what the mermaid had mentioned to him earlier.
<<"We're on the Galapagos Islands, earth and the year is 1993."
"NAE!! How could this be possible? Ye're lying to me!!"
"You just hope that I was.">>
The thought had finally struck him. She had sent him into the past where he was just 10, his brother had been born several days ago and Joy... No, he couldn't believe it, but what if she spoke the truth? What if the mermaid actually could do what she has done? Fisher looked back at the little girl standing next to the man with the dagger.
"Tell me little one, what is yer name so that we may tell the world who's courageous soul had been put to rest beneath the land where yer mantelpiece shall be placed." Asked the speaker.
"I...It's..." the little girl had added weakly "Me name is Joy, sir."
A look of shock appeared upon Fisher's face as he looked at the girl, flashing back to his own Joy's face.
"We shall all remember ye for demonstrating such courage against this demon lord. For that, I shall set ye free from thy constant suffering and lift thy curse and purge all evil." Said the speaker as he rose the dagger behind her back. "For it is god's will for god to reign among his blessed creations."
Fisher was too far to stop him. He wanted to run through the crowd but couldn't. He froze in his tracks as he saw the blade plunge down towards her back.