Clumps of people flooded down the sloping path to the lagoon that gave this resort its name.

My feet barely touched the ground as I plodded ahead. Miles and Josh, the slowpokes they were, didn’t try to keep up.

Morgan laughed as I passed her by and Miles wouldn’t be much different. Amused though they may be, they didn’t share the same excitement I had for the depths ahead. How could they not be jumping for joy and ready to dive into the water?

I wove around other guests and finally got my first real look at ‘Black Lagoon’. "Lovely," I whispered and scrambled down the wide stone steps once a break in the queue presented itself.

Morgan and Miles had regrouped, flanking either side. I leaned into Morgan’s teasing cheek pinch and grinned when Miles squeezed my hand. “This is really intense," Miles said, leaning in to bump our arms together. "I know you're one of the craziest people when it comes to anything ocean related but these people come a close second."

The ocean crazy people sang and danced around the sandy shore of the lagoon, beautiful body wraps and headdresses on display. Some of the islanders had wide bowls on their heads, spinning and keeping the water inside steady. Dips, hip sways and waving of their arms gave an almost hypnotic effect.

Morgan got my attention by tugging at my braided hair. From experience, my ear would be next so better to avoid her evil pinches. She had a massive grin on her face and a pretty scarlet flower tucked behind her ear. It looked similar to the hibiscus flowers I loved to draw. "Let's go get some food,” She urged. “They have vegetarian meals for you too."

She grabbed up my hand and pulled me over to the tables along the edge of the viewing platform. They were loaded with delicacies of every kind. The dishes were labelled with ingredients and common allergy warnings. I saw the leafy greens tucked to their own side and leaned in to look at the dressings.

Another scent caught my attention and I swung around. A salmon dish with pink flesh glistening on the side of the plate, surrounded by little rice balls and a seaweed wrapping. I didn't mind rice and that was my (Completely reasonable) justification for taking up a small ball and putting it up to my lips.

The explosion of flavour on my tongue drew out a soft groan and the employee behind the table held out a paper plate. Piled on top, a dozen more were done up nice and pretty. The pink fish flesh had never looked so appetising.

"Thank you," I smiled, accepting it and he bowed his head. Morgan stopped her taste testing of the pastries to critique my plate and cravings.

"Seafood? You've turned your nose up at seafood before. Not to mention any meat under your nose," She poked at the plate with a furrow of her brows. "Are you sure that's wise?"

I popped another salmon rice ball into my mouth, considering the lack of disgust curdling in the pit of my stomach. "I'm not a vegetarian by choice, Morgan. And you know the doctors said there's nothing wrong with me eating it. I didn’t like the way it smelled but these are different," I said while waving one in front of her face.

"Let me guess, 'The magic of Black lagoon'!" She mocked, arms waving about like seaweed and almost losing the rest of her cream puff.

"What?" On my fourth treat, I thanked the employee that offered four more bite size fish bits. These weren’t with rice but just as delicious to sniff. Bigger than the salmon and paler pink flesh, I suddenly understood why Morgan and Miles had grown up on fish where my parents were red meat kind of people. 

Morgan didn’t let things go. Case in point: she came closer to look at my plate. Her eyes flit from the fish to my face and then back again. "You're here for less than a day and your nose is starting to work all of a sudden?"

"My nose always worked," I shrugged and she leaned closer to peer at the plate. "My fish."

My arm came up around it, not hiding it but enough to stop any sneaky swipes.

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing new there. You've always been territorial with your food," She snorted and grabbed up a few sweets that looked like bamboo sticks coated in cinnamon. "Come on."

I eyed a red lobster shell and licked my lips. I had always liked the snapping sound of breaking a claw.

Morgan shifted back, forgetting her quest to bother me about my dietary preferences. I turned around with my cheeks still full of rice and salmon. “Oh.”

Atlas hovered on the edge of our bubble, dressed down into pressed shorts and a deep v neck shirt. He gestured to the table when I swallowed hard and slapped my chest to stop the building cough. "Take whatever you like," He offered and the employee bowed his head lower than before. Atlas dropped a huge helping of the lobster arm meat on my plate with one of the little tongs and I poked the claw. "The ceremony will begin in forty minutes."

I wiggled in place, giddy with the confirmation. "Perfect time to digest this ambrosia. I can't wait to jump in," I finished my rambling with a crunch as I bit into a crunchier piece of fish. "Wait, when did you get here?"

"I've been here," The man pointed to the ground beside me. "Since fifty five seconds ago. But I've been milling around for a good twenty minutes. It's awfully dull mingling and rubbing elbows with investors.”

I recalled my parents and their love for socialising and peacocking. If he had to do half of that, I could understand. I chomped on the last bite of sushi and hummed. "I get it. Hearing my parents talk about their own dinners and parties made me burst into hives at the thought. Good thing you have food here as a consolation prize."

"There is no chance I can have a bit of your fish?" He teased and leaned in a fraction. I bit down on the urge to snap out a bite at him, then thought about it. "Morgan, nice to see you again."

"It’s a lovely surprise, Atlas," My friend flirted. "Come to see us little people?"

“I would definitely describe Nee as little in height. She would hurt me though, wouldn’t she?" He joked and I glared back. I shoved a bite-sized piece of sushi at his lips. He accepted it with a wide grin and patted my hair. "I hope the service is to your liking?"

"Very well-liked," Morgan answered, winking at the employee. The male in the uniform smirked right back before he played at professional again. "The travel brochures didn’t go into much detail about this. I read more about the locals and the Isles."

Atlas’ customer service smile flashed straight teeth. "We have many locals here tonight, a group of youths that enjoy socialising with our guests. Beware, a few of the lads like to shamelessly flirt," Atlas waved his hand in the direction of a few men with dark hair, dark eyes and coffee-toned skin. They looked like the kind of people that liked to party well into the early morn the clubs back home.

By Morgan’s evident thirst and cock of her hip, she already liked what she saw.  "I’m looking forward to it," She said, purring the words out. "I’m so relieved we didn’t miss this. We were lucky to get Niamh out of the water. She stayed there for hours."

"I wasn't in there that long," I retorted. "I wasn't." I directed the last bit to the smirking Atlas. He offered his arm in a gesture similar to this early afternoon.

As soon as I touched his sleeveless arm, I felt a zap and shook my hand. Probably static. His fingers were gentle as they curled my hand around his forearm for me and nodded to the lagoon waiting in the illuminated evening. The torches around us cast a soft glow and the web of lights draped over half the lagoon banks filled in any lingering dark corners. The black water absorbed any and all light bouncing off it. It reminded me of the sinkholes that looked like shadows swallowed any and everything on them.

"Morgan!"

Miles jogged over and wiped his cheek with a disgusted face. "Uck. Girls are horrible," He muttered, scrubbing at his cheek with a hand. I crooned, holding back from reaching out to offer to clean it with something better than his shirt.

"Thanks for the update," I teased and he rolled his eyes but smiled.

"Jane is trying to seduce the crap out of dickless so I thought I'd enjoy the company of my favourite sisters," He stated while throwing an arm over Morgan’s shoulders. "And protect men from Morgan."

I laughed, expecting Morgan’s thump to Miles’ head.

"Nice to see you again, Miles," Atlas offered.

"You too," Miles eyed the contact between us again. "Wait! Seafood?"

"I know, right?" Morgan agreed. "The lagoon is already changing our Niamh into her true form. A fish!"

"Rude," I mumbled and Atlas chuckled. "I just like water, okay?"

My sister in all but blood decided to be a nuisance. "Atlas, she's lying. She loves water. When we were in grade five, she spent the whole swimming lesson head under water and begging to stay in a little longer. The beach trip with the school every year was torture too," Morgan said to a smiling Atlas. He glanced at me and shook his head.

"I can believe it. She smells of the waters already," He remarked. "The ceremony will be good fun. Children and those who do not want to jump go in by way of wading in to stand in the waters. We get to take to the air. There is an overhang on the far side of the pool over there," He pointed to a high point that curved a rocky lip over the lagoon. "We wait, as the locals would say, for the moon to be ready to bless the pool with a kiss."

"We get to dive in?" Morgan asked, the inner adrenaline-junkie shining through.

Atlas’ chuckle sounded more real than the last. "Yes. Most of the guests wade in and do not go too deep so it is not very crowded. Very few jump, much less want to go further into such dark waters,” He said. "When the elders blow their golden conch shell, we will know it is time to jump."

"You do this every month?" Miles asked, already zeroing in on said elders.

They sat in a semicircle, watching the merry youths dancing and playing on their strings and woodwinds. A few looked more sour than the others but they hummed, joining in on the melodies.

"This is a monthly celebration. Their New Year’s festival is more ritualistic and they release all sorts of flower boats onto the water. Mainly the lotus flowers you will find almost everywhere here," He informed us. "Like this one."

From his pocket, he pulled out a small lotus flower, holding it up so that the light caught on the petals. I eyed it cautiously. "It will not bite. Here," He leaned in and gently slid the stalk behind my ear. The flower’s stem was wet and petals cool against my temple when I reached up to touch a soft petal.

"Thank you," I murmured, damning my cheeks for getting warm.

“Think you can handle the wait?" He teased me, still leaning in too close for comfort.

I turned my head so that I couldn’t see his bright eyes. Miles had his notepad back out and crouching to watch little beetles scurry over the grass. "No, but Morgan will gut me if I embarrass her again," I pretended to whisper and while he laughed Morgan rolled her eyes. "The resort is literal heaven. All this water, the food!"

"Have another," Atlas nodded to the plate and I smiled as I bit into a sushi roll with relish. "It is good for you."

"Bossy," I teased and huffed when he tapped my nose. "Does this resort offer more activities away from this slice of heaven?"

"Yes. We have many. Though, I imagine you want the pool all to yourself?" He asked, teeth flashing and eyes dancing.

"That obvious?" I mumbled, pouting.

"Not at all. But this pool will be free early mornings. Most of the locals come at noon or when the moon is on the horizon," Atlas answered. "Even then, they are always happy to see people admiring their treasured lagoon."

"If one could marry a body of water, I'd be proposing," I sighed, casting a longing look over the lagoon.

"I think you will have to settle for proposing something that can answer back," Atlas joked. "There are many who have been bewitched by the water. My father included."

"Disappointed," I pouted. "I have competition."

The laugh from his lips eased any embarrassment I should feel as he patted my hair. "Looks like I do as well. How about we go enjoy ourselves with the music? This island offers many wonders for anyone to see and you should participate in the ceremonial Moon and Water dances."

"Moon and Water?" I cocked my head and he nodded, pulling me into his side. I chose not to protest because it was noisy everywhere else and he grinned even wider when I didn't put up a fight.

"Moon and Water. To show the story of how the moon goddess, Luls'jah in this culture's mother-tongue, fell in love with the great god of fish and ocean, Du'klo and created the Fish-People from their union of celestial powers. Some believe that the weaker children of the unions between Fish-People were exiled from these pure waters and sent elsewhere to fend for themselves or were unworthy of its magic."

"That's disgusting."

"It was found that after centuries passing, females were those that dominated these waters and still do, but they are reclusive," Atlas went on. "To be as close as they can to their mother."

"Mmm, I can understand that," I murmured. Not completely as I admitted to myself that my parents had never been all too loving and I hadn't been too attached to them. I did like them, as I knew they tolerated me. And god! That made me sound like a stone-cold bitch. I knew that when I had children I'd give them all the love in the world and never let them doubt my love, I just had to do the exact opposite of what my parents did.

Morgan nudged her head in the direction of a woman dressed in a very revealing scarlet bikini. “Miles, go get her. She's been twirling her hair and pouting at you for the past five minutes." 

"Too much. She looks like a fish and probably doesn't even know the meaning of self-respect," Miles sneered and I choked on a laugh. Atlas patted my back gently when he heard me choking and I threw a thankful smile his way. My plate was empty now and I pouted around a slab of tasty lobster meat.

"I will get you more," Morgan stated, eyeing me carefully, probably expecting me to throw up.

I shook my head. "Wanna swim."