Blood in the Water

Jane walked over and gasped at the sight of the body. She and some other crew members carried Sean away.

Andrew looked at my parents. “We’re going to head to the library before trivia starts, okay?”

“Sounds fun!” my mom said.

“Yep,” I said quickly. We moved away from the table and raced down the stairs to get to the Shakespeare Library.

Josh noticed us. “Hey, guys. Why are you in such a rush?”

“Sean’s dead. We have to get the stones out now,” I said.

Josh gasped. “Alright. Let’s go.”

We burst into the library, seeing ten other people close to our age inside. I noticed that some of them were from the table behind us at dinner.

They looked at us.

“Running from something?” a girl with short blond hair asked.

“Something like that,” Johnnie said.

I placed the pouch of stones on a table. “Here goes nothing,” I said, opening the pouch. The stones started glowing.

“Woah, what are those?” a boy with black hair asked, stepping closer to us.

“Uh, nothing?... Okay. They’re magical stones,” I said.

As if on cue, the stones suddenly flew out of the pouch. Some of them darted out of the library and through the ship. The rest of them went into the hands of the people in the library.

I looked at the stone in my hand in awe. “This is beautiful,” I breathed.

I found a paper in the pouch. It had the names of the stones and pictures of them. I looked at my stone again before grabbing a pen.

“What are your names and stones?” I asked.

The people in the library said their names and showed me their stones. I compiled a list quickly as Josh told the newcomers about Dark Tail. I read over the list once I was done.

“Andrew, you have the power of sound, given to you through your Lapis Lazuli stone.”

Andrew smiled, holding up his dark blue stone with white stripes and gold sparkles.

“Andy, you have the power of electricity, given to you through your Olive Opal stone.”

Andy held up his yellow-green stone. He had black hair and brown eyes, like the other members of his family. He was related to Jenny, Julie, Karen, Kelly, and Kenny.

“Brandon, you have the power of weather, given to you through your Blue Tiger’s Eye stone.”

Brandon held up his dark blue stone with light blue stripes.

“Brooke, you have the power of teleportation, given to you through your Green Moss Agate stone.”

Brooke held up her dark green and white stone.

“Cassie, you have the power of ultimate light, given to you through your Chrysocolla in Quartz stone.”

I held up my blue-green stone.

“Elena, you have the power of crystal, given to you through your Clear Quartz stone.”

Elena held up her clear stone.

“Emily, you have the power of force fields, given to you through your Flourite stone.”

Emily held up her purple and green stone, smoothing out her red hair.

“Jenny, you have the power of metal, given to you through your Pyrite stone.”

Jenny held up her black and gold stone.

“Johnnie, you have the power of psychic and feelings, given to you through your Yellow Jasper stone.”

Johnnie held up his yellow, brown and beige colored stone.

“Joshua, you have the power of nature, given to you through your Tree Agate stone.”

Joshua, Nick’s brother, held up his white stone with dark green specks.

“Josh from the Fun Squad, you have the power of healing, given to you through your Red Jasper stone.”

Josh smiled as he held up his red stone with black lines.

“Julie, you have the power of movement and super speed, given to you through your Citrine Quartz stone.”

Julie held up her orange and clear stone.

“Karen, you have the power of replication, given to you through your Zebra Marble stone.”

Karen held up her white and black stone.

“Kelly, you have the power of ice, given to you through your Blue Lace Agate stone.”

Kelly looked at me with a smile. She had smiled at me last night at dinner. She held up her pale blue stone with white stripes.

“Kelsey, you have the power of color, given to you through your Rainbow Hematite stone.”

Kelsey, the blond-haired girl, held up her metallic rainbow stone.

“Kenny, you have the power of super-strength, given to you through your Amazonite stone.”

Kenny, the dark-haired boy who had asked about the stones before they went flying, held up his light green stone.

“Nick, you have the power of gravity, given to you through your Picasso stone.”

Nick held up his black and gray patterned stone.

“That’s it. Wow,” I said with a laugh.

The group smiled, clutching their stones.

“Tonight, we will meet on the Lido Deck and practice our powers. Sound good?” I asked.

“That sounds awesome!” Kelly exclaimed.

“I have to go host Trivia,” Josh said.

“Really? We are going over there anyway!” I said.

“Perfect!” Josh exclaimed. We went to the seating outside of the Casino Bar on the Promenade Deck. Emily, Nick, and Joshua followed.

I saw my parents and waved at them. We sat down at a table as Josh handed out pieces of paper.

Movie Trivia started, and we wrote our answers quickly. As Josh read out the correct answers, we realized that we had gotten them all correct! Josh handed us a medal.

Five games later, we each had a medal. Josh gave us high-fives. “You guys are awesome at this!”

“Thanks,” my dad said with a smile.

After saying goodbye to Josh, we decided to get ready for dinner. It was Formal Night, after all.

--- ~~~ ---

After getting our pictures taken at various backdrops, we were able to sit at our table. Ni walked over to us. She had already set out my mom’s can of Diet Coke with fresh lemon wedges.

We had a lovely meal. Kelly took a picture of our family, and then she got some pictures with us.

Once I had eaten my last bite, I smiled at my siblings and at Kelly.

It was time to see what these stones could do.

We met in the library, of course. Josh was already waiting with the rest of the group.

“Are you guys ready?” I asked.

“Absolutely!” Julie replied.

“Alright, then! To the Lido Deck!”

We walked toward the stairs. I looked around nervously. What if my nightmare came true and Dark Tail captured me? I took a deep breath.

That wasn’t going to happen.

We walked outside. My heels clicked on the wooden deck. I looked at my dress. The top was white and lacy. The champagne-colored skirt flared out. My phone was placed into one of the pockets as I kept walking.

I pulled out my stone. The description had been... interesting.

“This stone is the counter to the Brecciated Jasper stone. Only one person will wield each of these stones. Dark Tail and his nemesis. While the Chrysocolla in Quartz stone controls light, the Brecciated Jasper stone controls shadow. These stones also have ultimate power, which gives the wielder more responsibility.”

I gulped as I thought about it. Ultimate power? Did that mean that I had the powers of the other stones?

We decided to practice our powers in alphabetical order based on our first names.

Andrew held out his stone. “I have the power of sound, right? Let me see... I want to make this chair fall over and amplify the sound.” My brother closed his eyes. The stone glowed with a dark blue light. I watched in awe as a dark blue beam of energy shot out of it. The beam looked like multiple musical symbols. It hit a chair, which fell to the floor with a loud thud.

When I say loud, I mean it. The noise was deafening. We all covered our ears. A minute later, the ship was quiet again. We all looked at Andrew.

“Oops. I didn’t think that would actually work,” he said.

Andy smiled and held out his stone. “Electricity, hmm? I want to recharge my phone’s battery.”

We all laughed as he closed his eyes. The stone glowed yellow-green. A beam of energy that looked like lightning bolts shot toward his phone. Within seconds, his phone was fully charged. Our jaws dropped.

Brandon’s turn arrived. “I want a bolt of lightning to hit the water,” he said, pointing out at the vast ocean. He closed his eyes as the stone glowed dark and light blue. A beam of energy that looked like clouds went into the sky. A clap of thunder sounded before a lightning bolt struck the water.

“I want to teleport behind Jenny,” Brooke said. She closed her eyes. The stone glowed dark green and white before sending a swirling beam of energy toward her. In a split second, she was behind Jenny.

Jenny turned around and gasped. “Woah! That’s so cool!”

Then, it was my turn. I looked at my stone. “I want to turn into a mermaid.”

“Isn’t your stone about light?” Elena asked before a teal glow surrounded me. I gasped as a drop of water fell onto my shoulder.

I watched as a teal fishtail replaced my legs. I fell to the ground and looked at everyone.

“It’s not just light. It is one of the ultimate stones. Whatever Cassie wants, she can have it,” Josh said.

“Whatever I want?”

“That comes with time and practice.”

“Makes sense.” I looked at my tail and closed my eyes, wanting my legs to return. I opened them. Nothing had happened. “Um, does anyone have a towel?”

Brooke disappeared to our cabin. She grabbed a towel before teleporting back to me. “Here you go,” she said as she handed the towel to me. I rubbed the towel over my tail and watched my legs return before standing.

The rest of the group practiced their powers.

“I want crystals to form on the railing,” Elena said, watching as crystals appeared on the railing.

“I want a force field to surround me,” Emily said, a shimmering sphere appearing around her.

“I want to bend the metal on one of the railings,” Jenny said, watching as one of the thin metal rods bent.

“I want to know how Brandon is feeling,” Johnnie said, a yellow beam connecting to Brandon’s head. Johnnie laughed.

“I want flowers to form on the railing,” Joshua said, smiling as colorful flowers appeared near Elena’s crystals.

Josh watched as the powers were practiced. “You can skip me. Keep going.”

“I want to see how fast I can run to the other side of the ship,” Julie said, speeding there and back in a matter of seconds.

“I want to make a copy of my phone,” Karen said, watching as the desired object appeared in her hands.

“I want to freeze the railing,” Kelly said. Frost covered the railing, dancing around the flowers and crystals.

“I want to take the color out of the flowers,” Kelsey said, her rainbow-colored energy sapping the color away from the flowers.

“I want to pick up a wooden table,” Kenny said, hoisting up a large table as if it was nothing.

“I want to crush a soda can by using gravity,” Nick said, seeing a soda can and forcing his gray energy onto it. The can was flattened.

I looked at Josh. “So, you have the power of healing, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I just don’t know how I could use it unless you guys are hurt.”

“Hmm... maybe you can use it in an opposite way on enemies? For us, it could heal. For them, it could hurt. Maybe you can use potions,” I said.

“Huh. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” Josh pulled out his stone and a red beam of energy shot out. I watched as vials of potions appeared. The potions were in many different colors.

“That’s awesome,” I said.

Josh laughed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

After doing more power practice, we decided to leave the Lido Deck. We hugged each other before splitting off. Andrew, Elena, Brooke and I went to the Avant-Garde Lounge on the Promenade Deck to do some karaoke.

It was really enjoyable, and we were extremely tired once we got to our cabins. I took a shower, making sure to leave my stone in the pouch so I wouldn’t transform into a mermaid.

I put my pajamas on and got into bed. I closed my eyes, dreaming about swimming through the ocean as a mermaid.

It was a dream that had come true...

But it was going to transform into a nightmare.

--- ~~~ ---