Somewhere, Beyond the Sea

[Apollo]

To Lucca Fratellini's mind, there were few places on Earth as beautiful as the Ionian Sea. Bound by southern Italy and the western coast of Greece, its crystal-clear waters were scattered with a collection of sun-bleached islands. Though the ocean floor beneath was one of the most seismically active in the world, at present everything seemed placid. From the deck of his yacht, the Argo, he could see the distant shores of the mainland, but he didn't look out towards them for too long. He was in no rush to escape this little slice of paradise.

“Lucca!”

The voice brought him back to reality, to the other people milling about on deck. There were ten or so of them, all sipping bottled beers and laughing, whilst another grilled freshly-caught fish on a bbq, the sunlight gleaming on the silver bars.

“Lucca, come see this! Turtles!”

He smiled, the compliant smile of a man indulging those around him, and walked to the edge of the boat.

[Triton]

About four Loggerhead sea turtles had broke the surface, their powerful jaws scooping up gulps of salty air before diving back into the sea. Their heart shape shells glistened briefly from the sun, sparkling white, brown and yellow. They were enjoying a break from feeding, consuming enough shellfish for their journey back home to the Northern shores of Africa.

Today they had a special playmate enjoying lunch with them. A human woman who had joined them in their long swim from Turkey to here. Her name was Naida and she was a mutant, born with the unique ability to survive the underwater climate as if she were a fish herself. Truly she gave the phrase 'A fish out of water' new meaning when her latent abilities were triggered in a boating accident. She should have died from the drowning or from being hurled into the rocky shore, but she hadn't. Naida's injuries had healed miraculously when she awoke under the Aegean sea able to breath ...

Since then, Naida had forsaken her old life and took to the waters, exploring their mysteries and making new friends with all the sea folk. Even the most dangerous of sea life fell to her ability to make peace with them with but a thought. With this, she was able to swim with the sharks and jellyfish without having to worry about harm towards her. By no means could she control their actions, but she shared an emphatic bond in which a primal understanding and soothing aura could be achieved.

Since making the sea her home, Naida opted for simple clothing; a black bikini and a bowie knife strapped to her right arm. It was all she really needed to survive. The cold depths of the oceans never bothered her and the less she wore, the faster she could swim. The knife proved useful in gathering food, staving off the occasional shark that couldn't take no for an answer, and freeing her sea friends from poachers.

Three of her Loggerhead friends were swimming on either side of her. One broke away and playfully caught the end of her long brown braid, trying to get her attention. Naida treading in place and looked at the turtled who flipped onto it's back and arched his head up towards skyward. He was indicating that their fourth companion had stayed on the surface and hadn't come back down yet.

Naida focused on the female Loggerhead and felt inquisitiveness. Something had caught her interest! She looked to the other three and extended her arms and legs, kicking her limbs downwards to propel her to the surface. Cautiously she broke to air and quickly her eyes narrowed. There was a yacht full of boisterous humans about 40 yards from their position. She could smell the alcohol surrounding the sea air and frowned.

[Apollo]

In open water, as clear as the sea was, it was not difficult to spot the woman floating ahead of them. Smiling, Lucca waved to her.

“Ahoy, there!”

[Triton]

With a sneer, Naida dove underneath the surface and encouraged her companions to do the same.

[Apollo]

Lucca watched her disappear, still smiling, and then turned to his fellow sailors. “Must be a free diver.”

He shrugged and, leaning against the side of the boat, followed the shape of her gliding away beneath the surface. It almost looked as if the turtles were... swimming with her.

“You coming in, Luc?”

On deck, a couple were strapping on fins and snorkelling masks. Lucca laughed; they looked perfectly ridiculous.

“A Captain never abandons his vessel,” he said with a wink. “Bring us back some pretty seashells... and be careful you don't run into any sharks.”

[Triton]

She heard the water break before feeling a ripple, no two, distinct ripples underneath the surface. Naida arched her back and floated backwards and saw two of the humans on the yacht had jumped into the water. She saw the outlines of fins and masks and nothing else. Nothing that indicated true diving equipment.

One of the Loggerhead males brushed a powerful jaw against her soft skin, which brought a smile from her. She twisted around and took off quickly to catch up with the rest of them. They were going about 5 to 10 mph at this rate, but Naida was trying to encourage them to go faster. Their curiosity at the strange looking humans was overriding her concerns. This group of Loggerheads were young and had never seen humans like this before.

[Apollo]

The two divers moved slowly through the water, taking a leisurely pace as they let their flippers do most of the work. Lucca remained watching from the Argo, his arms folded over the side of the boat. He wondered how long it would be before the woman they had spotted would emerge from beneath the water. Some free divers could hold their breath for many minutes at a time. Deciding to play a little game with himself, Lucca took a breath and began counting, to see if he could outlast the mystery woman.

[Triton]

Two out of the three male Loggerheads veered off to swim closer to the human divers. They still kept their distance, only treading close to 15 yards near them. Naida sighed and decided that there wasn't much she could do to deter their youthful inquisitiveness. It was unfortunate that she had spent so much time with them and partly overrode their instinct. The notion that all humans were like her might have gotten stuck in their small minds.

The other two turtles stuck close by, trusting Naida to protect them. And so she would. She dove deeper to get out of the line of sight of the two swimmers and hide amidst the volcanic reef, keeping a watchful eye on her friends.

[Apollo]

The divers reached out towards the turtles, smiling beneath their masks as they felt the sea creatures' sturdy shells brush against their palms. They meant the animals no harm and supposed that the Loggerheads sensed this, through some mystical kinship of mammals. Whilst they were enchanted by the sea turtles at play, Lucca looked on with his breath still held, a faint burn gathering his chest.

After a minute or so, one of the divers glanced around and motioned towards his companion. They both looked around, clearly searching for something, yet having no luck in finding it. Where had their mystery woman vanished too? There was no bubble-trail left behind by her departure, no sight of her in any direction.

[Triton]

Naida kept herself hidden by the reef, managing to poke her head out when the divers backs were turned. She motioned to the turtles to come towards her and away from the humans. The two Loggerheads nearby treaded the water with worry, hoping that the young males would heed Naida's call.

One female was so distraught that she jolted up quickly into view. Her body language was begging from them to come over so they could return to the path, back to African waters.