“Nia! Watch out!”
But Niniane of the Bluefin Clan, known as Nia to all, arrowed her body, easily swimming through the narrow space between the marble columns of the building beside her. She emerged on the other side without even a scratch. “Watch out for what?” she asked with a wide-eyed, innocent grin as she swam back to her friend Callimar's side.
Callimar narrowed her golden eyes behind a fringe of deep-green hair. “Watch out that you don't show off so much that you become an annoyance to your friends.” She gave Nia a playful slap with her tail.
“Was I showing off?” Nia asked, although she knew very well that she was. “I thought I was practicing. Training. For the Trials.” Nia did a back somersault, the fins along the backs of her arms and legs guiding her smoothly through the water. Her long, silvery hair flowed in an elegant arc behind her. She took pride in the strength and grace of her body and knew that if she were chosen for the Ascension, her physical abilities would be part of the reason.
The City of Atlantis seemed to sparkle more than ever this day. The high-towered palaces of the noble clans, carved from coral stone, marble, and malachite, some faced with shimmering mother-of-pearl, glimmered all around them. The blue-green bioluminescent light from the enormous globe lamps that hung over the city seemed to glow brighter. The lamps provided the primary light to this dim world in the depths of the sea. To the mermyds, sunlight was a thing mentioned only in fairy tales and history books.
Nia wondered whether the sea siphons and filtration tunnels were working harder than usual today -- the water seemed so fresh and bubbly and full of energy-giving oxygen. Or perhaps she was merely giddy, knowing she was the perfect age at the perfect time in the perfect place. She was sixteen, a prime age for a new Avatar. The Low and High Councils that together ruled Atlantis were made up of ten Avatars, chosen from the mermyd population, and ten Farworlder kings. Each mermyd Avatar would join with a Farworlder to form a pair, since the powerful Farworlder kings could express their thoughts only through a special connection with a mermyd Avatar. And now one of the ten Avatars and his Farworlder king had just reached the age for retirement, meaning that a new Avatar would be chosen for the Low Council, along with a new Farworlder king for the High Council. Nia had every reason to believe that she could be the one participating in the upcoming Ascension -- being joined with a Farworlder king and taking her place among the ten Avatars of the Low Council. She had all the important qualifications, and everyone in her family -- probably everyone in her entire clan -- knew how much she dreamed of taking on the responsibility. From the day she could speak, she'd begged her grandfather, an Avatar himself, to tell her stories of his experiences. The idea of finally being able to learn the deepest secrets known only to Farworlders and their Avatars held infinite appeal to Nia.
“Not to burst your bubble,” Callimar said, interrupting Nia's thoughts, “but the last I recall hearing of them, the Trials did not involve threading yourself through obstacles like sea spider cord through a fish bone needle. Or doing gymnastics.”
“How do you know?” Nia asked, doing a forward somersault this time, keeping her legs straight and perfectly together. “Maybe they'll change things this time.”
