Fate's Pawn: Five Jewels

Holly: I opened my eyes and the world around me shimmered. Everything sparkled like priceless gems. I reached out to grab one, and my hand moved strangely, more of a swaying movement than what I had intended. Wait, was I underwater? I slapped a hand to my mouth, desperate to stop myself from inhaling liquid, and kicked my feet as I aimed for the surface. Only, I couldn't feel my feet. There was something different. The odd sensation took away the edge of panic and I craned my neck to look down at the dark sapphire blue flippers that wiggled in the water. Huh?! I looked around, trying to figure out what kind of weirdness I'd stumbled into this time. I'd seen a lot in my life, more than I ever thought I would. The Chasers, the Fates, the Four Horsemen, but this? I didn't know how to categorize this. My memory was so fuzzy after everything that happened. Somehow, I'd become the owner of a shiny, shimmery, flippy mermaid tail. I flapped it for good measure and watched transfixed as it obeyed my every command. A fish zipped in front of me, a streak of orange and round. Blinking, I turned in the direction it came from and watched an entire school dart around me like I was some rock. I reached a finger out and one of the smaller ones came up to the tip and nipped at it. It didn't hurt but I was mesmerized by this change. What was going on? How had I become a mermaid? I shook my head and a cloud of bright red hair obscured my vision. Huh, I'd changed hair colors too? A shiver ran through me. Was this... another life? Had I somehow been reborn with my memories as Holly? But why? "Hello?" I called out to the blueness around me. It was massive, but this wasn't an ocean, I wasn't sure where I was. It almost looked like... I froze in place and looked closer at my surroundings. There were fish, tons of them, but on the bottom of the so-called floor, there were things similar to what I had in my fake life. Was I in an aquarium? "Coral!" My head jerked up as the unfamiliar male voice boomed from above, from above the waves. "Coral!" the cry was tinged with desperation, and maybe worry. It called to me and though I didn't know who Coral was, I swam upward until I broke the surface. The fresh air made me smile and I stared up at the man who had been calling. He hadn't been what I expected from his voice. He was tall, broad shouldered, and the suit he was wearing had to have cost a fortune considering how buttery soft it looked and how it was tapered to his body. His piercing blue eyes softened the second I caught his gaze. "Hello?" I questioned. Why was he making my stomach clench so hard like Quix used to? I didn't know the guy but there was something about him that drew me toward him. "Coral, please, come quicker when I call. I know we're still adjusting to each other, but there's so much I want to share with you. Like tonight, I'm having a little exhibit at the mansion, and I'd like to share some of the highlights with you before the event." I swished my tail. "You expect me to just hop out of here and walk around?" I questioned with a laugh. His brows wrinkled. "No, I'm asking you to use your hour tonight to honor me as my esteemed guest. You haven't used it yet today, so it would be perfect." "I'm sorry," I blurted. "There has to be a mistake. My name isn't Coral, it's Holly." His brows furrowed more until they were one well-manicured line across his forehead. "Coral, are you okay? I can call the doctor to come check on you. I thought that giving you your own aquarium would help you adjust to your new life sooner, but I'm worried for you. That's it, I'll postpone the event. You're far more precious to me than trying to impress old coots with one foot in the grave just because my parents had dealings with them. I'd much rather make sure you're safe." I hadn't noticed it before, but he stayed out of the water as he spoke to me, merely lying down beside the strange pool area I was in. "Thank you," I mumbled. "Anything for you, Coral. Ever since the moment I met your eyes when Adrian brought you to me, I knew that I wanted you at my side." I shivered from the intensity of his words. There was almost a doggedness obsession with him. How long exactly had he known Coral? "You cost a fortune to get free, but no price was too much to bring your smile back. If you need me to convert the other half of the mansion to your aquarium as well, you need only say the word. I've tried to replicate the environment for you, but considering how you look today I'm worried that I missed something important. What else can I do for you?" The strangeness of the relationship between Coral and this guy left a bad taste in my mouth. "You do know that even a bird in a golden cage, is still in a cage, don't you?" I questioned him. His eyes widened and he pulled away from me. "Yes..." He slowly agreed. "But please, tell me what I need to do in order for you to be content to stay here. I'll give you anything." If only the answer to my life was so easy. What I wanted? There was no way he'd ever be able to bring it back to me. My heart would forever be torn after the loss of those I loved. "Coral," he insisted softly. His voice was fragile, near breaking. "Please, tell me." "I'm sorry, I need time to think," I blurted before diving back into the waters below. My actions sent a surge of water at him and someone shrieked. I sprung back up and watched a pearl-colored barrier spring up to life around the man and protect him from the water. "Master Maxwell!" My heart skipped a beat at the voice. I turned, not trusting my ears. But no, there he stood. He was dressed like a butler with his long silver braid trailing behind his back, the rest of his hair was wild, the only unruly thing about him. He was every bit as tapered as the Maxwell character. I gasped, a hand flying to my lips. "Quix," I whispered. Maxwell frowned behind his barrier. "You didn't have to do that, Oliver." Quix glared at me. "And let that thing pull you under the water? I think not. Never fear, master, I will always keep you safe." "Sorry, Coral, Ollie can be a bit over protective. He is my personal bodyguard but he takes it too far. I know you'd never hurt me." Oliver? Why didn't Quix recognize me? Yes, I'd changed, but the core of me was still the same. "Quix, it's me. It's Holly, I know I look a little different, but I'm still here." The butler stared impassively at me. There was no smile on his lips, just a grimness. "Master, your first guests have started to arrive. Adrian will be visiting us tonight as well. You have no more time to be dallying in here with that creature. You can't keep treating her like a person. You and I both know that she's a monster." His words were daggers and tears sprung to my eyes. "Oliver!" Maxwell's voice had turned into a snarl. "Coral, I'm sorry. I'll reprimand him. There's no way you're a monster, everyone knows that." His eyes flicked back to the other man and the softness that had been on his face when he looked at me was gone in an instant. "Out of here now, Ollie, before I lose my patience." "Master, she tried to kill you. That wave could have pulled you in the waters with her. There's no way something like that would save your precious life." Maxwell sighed and worked at the knot of his tie, rolling up his sleeves. "I'm not leaving until I know Coral is okay. Summon my doctor, he needs to give her a check up. Coral, I'm coming to you." Oliver put his fingers to his forehead. "You can't possibly be thinking of going inside the tank, Max. You can't swim, she'll drown you." "Coral won't let me die," Max replied without missing a beat. His tie spiraled to the ground, followed seconds later by his cufflinks. "I trust her, she's my soul mate and I love her." Oliver groaned. "Max, she can't be your soul mate. Believing in something like that is far too outdated and far-fetched. She's not even human." I stared at Max, my eyes widening and my cheeks growing hot. I'd been confessed to before, a lot come to think of it, but had it ever been this soon upon meeting someone? "I don't even know you... There's no way you can love me." "Master, I can swim. Let me go in and I will check on Coral's condition," Oliver offered. Unlike Max that was still peeling away layers of clothes, Oliver dove into the waters and swam straight toward me. "The shallows, now," he ordered as if I was a dog. I obeyed, no matter how much my heart ached and the tears trailed down my cheeks. No matter how I looked at him, it was my Quix. I couldn't disobey him. Swallowing, I swam towards him and the area I hadn't even noticed was the shallows. He glared down at me before putting a hand around my shoulders and the other beneath the bend in my flipper as he marched me up and out of the water. Instead of letting me go, he took me to a much smaller pool almost hidden in the corner of the room. Without any pomp or circumstance, he dropped me into the waters and I yelped as my mermaid butt hit the bottom. "Oliver!" Max's growl made Oliver freeze. "Sorry," he apologized with barely glancing at me. "Coral, I feel like all I've done today is apologize to you. Oliver should never have been so rough with you." He slipped into my new waters and held a hand out. "Please, let me have my doctor give you a look. I want your permission, it's important to me. The shallow pool let me stretch out, but not do much else. It was shallow enough that Max had no chance of drowning. "You can call your doctor, I won't resist," I agreed. Maxwell grinned at me, a flash of a boyish interior. How had something so simple pleased him so much? "Oliver, call Dr. Hayes and let him know that I require his assistance. He should still be in his room on the first floor." Wow, this guy had a doctor that lived on his property? Just how rich was he? "Don't worry, Coral. I won't leave your side." Max brushed strands of hair from my face as he peered down at me. "I'll stay with you forever." Oliver took this opportunity to leave us with a glare directed my way as if daring me to hurt his precious master. He dug a phone out and made the call that Max had ordered him to. Was this another of Sloth's fake lives? But even as I thought of the idea, I found myself discounting it. I wanted to believe in Maxwell, and I wanted to believe that Oliver really was my Quix, and maybe, somehow, someway I would be able to find a way to make him remember me, no matter what it took. "Seriously, what am I being called for this time? I'm far too busy to waste my valuable time. Where's the patient so I can get it over with?" Another familiar voice made my breath still in my chest. "Of course, Dr. Hayes." "Don't Dr. Hayes me, you fodder. The only one I'm supposed to be summoned to see on an emergency basis is Master Maxwell, not some fishwoman he's got a thing for." How? My jaw worked silently as I watched the dark-haired man enter the room. All I could do was whisper a one-word question. "Angel?"