Joy entered a big room and in the center was a bed made up of white seashell. The bed was adorned with many colorful jewels and the bedding appeared to be made of high materials. A beautiful mermaid laid on the bed as if in deep sleep and was surrounded by two mermaids.
Joy came closer to the bed and touched the face of the sleeping mermaid, "Mama, how much I wish you would have been awake". Small tears formed in her eyes while reminiscing about the past.
"Prin.. princess, you were here", a male mermaid entered.
"Father!", Joy immediately got up and hugged him. He had gold colored scales and a long brown beard. In his right hand was a long blue jewel centerpiece trident. He was the king of Atlantis.
"How are you doing, princess Joy", another male mermaid entered.
"Minister Carpel, you also came!", this man was the close aid of the king and was like a brother to him.
The king also went to sit besides his wife, "Martha, when will you wake up. Look our Joy has gotten so big...", the king also became teary eyed but stopped himself from crying.
The queen of Atlantis, Martha, was very beautiful and kind mermaid in the kingdom. She was loved by her people. Two years ago she went to sleep only to never wake up from the sleep. The king tried everything he could to find the cause and an old man told him that it was a curse.
"Thousand Years Sleep", was the name of the curse afflicting her. The only thing he knew was that it was an ancient curse from all the fairy tales and nothing else.
The next day Joy came to the surface and sat on the same rock as the previous day. She was watching all the people on the shore playing and having fun.
She started reminiscing the times she played with her mother, "Mother..", clutching her chest she started singing the song.
"🎵..".
"Yo~" Sam came out from her behind.
"Hyaaa!", Joy got scared out of her wits and screamed in a cute high pitch voice.
"Wh.. wha.. what are you doing here!", she screamed at Sam for scaring her and started hitting him with pebbles.
Seeing her cute reaction, Sam couldn't hold back his laughter and gesturing her to stop by waiving his hand he said, "Haha, sorry. sorry.. didn't wanted to scare you".
"Why are you back?", Joy composed herself and asked him.
"What, I am not welcomed here?", he waited to see her reaction but didn't get any. "Che, I was hoping you would be happy to see me. Anyways I had nothing to do and was bored, so I came here".
"Noth.. nothing like that", Joy hopped of the rock and took a fruit from her bag, "Here, you can eat this".
Sam took the star fruit from her hands and immediately stated eating. "Delicious as always", wiping his face clean he said.
"Is there any place that I can see?", Sam asked Joy to take him sight seeing. Joy looked around and moved her head sideways.
"There is nothing to see here, on the land that is", she added to which Sam couldn't understand everything and only tilted head in obliviousness.
That day both Joy and Sam had fun till evening. When the sun started setting Sam said goodbye to her and went back to the shore.
"I also had a good time", she said when Sam was not visible anymore and dived back in the ocean.
--- in the inn
"This is bad", Alden was complaining about the carriage. Someone came and stole the carriage's left wheel making their forward journey impossible until the part was replaced.
"Whatever~ Just do it fast", Elena ordered and their stay in the town was extended.
Like that Sam would go to the small island everyday and Joy would be waiting for him there. They would play and talk all day and Joy had come to trust him.
"I have something to tell you, Sam", on the sixth day, Joy decided to tell reveal her identity to Sam.
Sam was trying to understand what she meant by that when he saw her dive in the water and slowly and slowly her legs joined and formed a tail.
"Don.. don't tell me that you are! You are!..", Sam put his hands on his eyes thinking it was dream. He opened his eyes but there she was. A mermaid. What luck, he thought.
"Yes, I am a mermaid", Joy showed him properly by swimming around and splashing water with her tail.
"Don't do that", water splashed on Sam and he tried to block it by his hand. When Joy didn't stopped, he also jumped in the water and started throwing water at Joy.
"Haha", under the hot sun , the cool water was feeling good and they both laughed playing around.
"It was a big surprise for me when you transformed", Sam told Joy while wiping himself dry.
"I just wanted to show you the true me since I consider you a close friend", Joy replied.
"There must be more of you?", Sam asked. Up till now mermaids had been all a fantasy for him and seeing the real thing Sam couldn't describe her beauty. Those smooth scales and powerful tail, Sam could tell she was real.
"The fruit you love grows on the seabed", Joy told him.
"Really!", Sam was surprised. So that was the reason he couldn't find it anywhere in the town.
"You see, just like you humans, we mermaids also have a kingdom of our own", Joy started telling him about Atlantis and her family.
"Atlantis! The real Atlantis. The city underwater?", Sam took Joy's hands in his hands and asked her.
"What do you mean by real Atlantis?", she asked him.
"Nothing..", Sam got excited for a second and started talking about the Atlantis he had read in news and fictions.
"Will you take me there?", Sam sincerely asked her to take him.
"But, you couldn't live underwater for too long", Joy told him the reality.
"Shoot! I really forgot about the breathing part, hehe", Sam rubbed the back of his head.
He thought for some time but nothing came to his mind.
[Why don't you ask the divers for help. They must be having something], Sei gave Sam a small idea.
'You are right!', Sam immediately got up and looked at Joy.
"Wait for me here tomorrow. I will definitely visit Atlantis", saying this he immediately jumped in the water and started swimming to the shore.
"Unn", Joy replied weakly.