New Mermaid Story from Mermaiden Destiny

“Aw yeah! Scarlet, watch this!” I screamed as I adjusted my grip on the passing giant manta ray’s tail and, swinging back a little, catapulted myself forward, flipping head over tail. I slowed and came to a halt right in front of Scarlet’s annoyed face, which looked even funnier upside down. I giggled as she rolled her eyes and turned back around to keep swimming.

“Oh come on, Scarlet, have some fun! This is an adventure! Look how far from home we are,” I tilted my head back as I twirled with my arms open. There wasn’t actually much to look at. After four days of traveling through caves and ocean, my gift had taken us deeper into the sea than I had ever been before and it was still pulling us downward. I would have been terrified under other circumstances, but now that I had realized that no fish wanted to mess with Excalibur, Scarlet’s giant swordfish friend, I felt a lot better.

“Cal,” as she called him, was warming up to me just a little. He even let me ride on his back sometimes. Mostly, though, he watched Scarlet and prowled in wide circles around us. Frank, too, had been quieter than usual, probably because he was afraid of Cal and wasn’t fond of Scarlet.

Sighing, I caught up with Scarlet and swam alongside her, humming to myself to fill the silence and to keep the trail going. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Scarlet’s mouth open a few times as if she wanted to say something, but then she would snap it closed again and push forward faster. I wanted to press her but I knew if I did she would clam right up, so I kept humming and focused on the forming image in my head. I could faintly see a rough terrain that stretched on and on and then it seemed like the sand just dropped off. I furrowed my brow a little and bit my lip as uncertainty settled in. That looks nothing like the picture on the scroll, I thought nervously, my eyes darting over to Scarlet. What will she do if I can’t find what she’s looking for?

I pushed aside the thought as quickly as it had entered my mind. No, I told myself resolutely. My gift has never failed me before. It won’t this time either. With a big smile, I spun in a tight corkscrew and then signaled for Scarlet to follow. “Come on, it’s this way. We’re getting closer!”

Within another few hours, I knew we were nearly there. The rocky sand around us started to look familiar. Cal was looking anxious and the deep sound emanating from his throat sounded like a growl. My hands started to shake a little and Frank scuttled forward to peek out of my hairline. Just as the sense swept over me that we had arrived, the ocean floor vanished. I stopped cold in my tracks, staring ahead at the massive chasm we hovered at the brink of. I peered down into it, seeing nothing but blackness the entire way down. “Wh-what…” I stuttered and then let the end of my sentence fall off into the void. Scarlet edged down beside me, looking confused, while Cal hung back still growling.

“What kind of idiot trick is zis? You are trying to lure us to our deaths, yes? Ze crab will not have it, you evil siren!” Frank shook his claw at Scarlet. She whipped around to him and opened her mouth to retort but I quickly wrapped my hand around the troublesome crab to shut him up. “What Frank means to say,” I glared at his two little eyes that poked out of my fist as I turned to Scarlet, “is that this is where the trail ends. My gift is telling me that this is where the fortress you showed me should be.”

Scarlet ignored me and instead put her hands on her hips as she took in every detail of the chasm before us. She looked like she was trying to tear apart the sand and rocks with only her eyes. “No,” she muttered. “No, no, no, it has to be here. It has to be!” She was becoming hysterical, darting back and forth on the very edge of the trench, looking like she might dive in at any moment.

“Woah, woah, calm down!” I grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face me. “Listen Scarlet, my gift never lies. If this is where the fortress shown on your scroll was, or is,” I added quickly as her eyes started to grow panicked, “then it’s here. And we’re going to find it or find out what happened to it. But I don’t think that plunging headfirst into a bottomless pit is the best idea right now. Who knows what lives down there?” Both of us glanced over at the chasm as I said that, dread filling my stomach at the thought of venturing down into that unbreakable darkness.

Scarlet seemed to feel the same way. “Alright,” she spoke hesitantly. “I suppose you’re right. Where do you suggest we look for answers though?”

I thought for a moment. If there was a secret fortress that should be in place of a gigantic chasm, who would know about it? As I dug deeper into my mind, a flash of a memory from a long time ago began to resurface. I remembered one night waking from a nightmare and creeping down the hall to the door of my parents’ room. On the way,  I passed another door that was only slightly ajar, and heard my father’s voice from within.

“We must keep quiet about this,” my father said. “You know more about the Mariana Kingdom than anyone so you must keep your suspicions to yourself. The destruction of the kingdom was a tragedy and unavoidable.” I knew I was doing something wrong but I couldn’t help myself when my father’s voice was so serious. I paused and pushed my eye to the sliver of space between the door and the frame. I saw my dad’s silhouette against his Mirror. In the reflection, I just glimpsed the face of a man I would meet years later, as my father said, “I suggest you convince yourself of that, King Takumi, and move on.”

I opened my eyes suddenly, knowing where we were and where we needed to go. Scarlet looked at me strangely. “Are you okay?” she asked hesitantly. I nodded and grabbed her hand, taking off. Cal whipped into action, following us immediately.

“Where are we going?” Scarlet yelled over the sound of rushing water flooding our ears.

“To the Sea of Japan.”

New Mermaid Story from Mermaiden Waverlee

The news was buzzing all around me. Everywhere I turned, someone was talking about Aldric. The words “missing” and “disappeared” were whispered all too often. I was shocked when I heard about it from my parents. Who would do something like this to such a kind old merman? And a MerCouncilman at that!

I threw myself onto my many pink cushions and quivered with pleasure at their soft touch against my skin. It’s kind of exciting, though, I thought to myself, with only a tinge of guilt. I wonder if someone’s going to come question me on what I saw at the MerCouncil! I giggled, and then frowned quickly, reminding myself that I should be worried.

Bubbles nuzzled my hand from where it lay across my torso. “Hey boy!” I laughed and cupped his head in my hands, pecking him on the nose. I scratched him right under his chin and with a goofy grin, he flopped down on top of me, pinning me to my bed. “Oof!”

I didn’t notice the hangings across my door being pulled aside until it was too late. Two little blonde heads darted into my room and pounced! I shrieked as my hands were pulled above my head and tied together with something that felt a lot like a tiny piece of string. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

Above me, two sets of laughing blue eyes appeared at the edge of my vision. Sebastian and Coral, my two little trouble-making brothers, growled at me and made snapping noises with their teeth. “Oh no! Sharks!” I squealed.

I flopped around as best I could with my lazy dolphin friend still lounging on top of me. Then I felt sharp little teeth grab my wrist and bite down. “Ow!” I screamed, letting out a powerful wave that shoved everyone away from me. Coral and Sebastian went flying across the room and even Bubbles slipped off of my stomach and spun away. Everything was silent as I studied the bite marks on my throbbing wrist, anger boiling inside of me. With one look at my brothers’ faces though, I knew I was too mad to yell at them or else I would end up hurting them and I’d feel even worse. Without a backwards glance, I threw aside my seaweed hangings and flew through our home and out the doors. I kept swimming, trying to dispel the anger I felt by swimming faster and faster.

I made a list in my head to calm me down. Things that make me happy: seashells, human things, mirrors, Obsidian, my mermaiden sisters, Bubbles, making waves, my hair, helping people, cushions, colorful fish, my tail…

Before long, I slowed my pace and felt myself calm. It wasn’t that bad, I thought as I looked down at the bruised skin on my wrist. And I’m proud of myself for not blowing up at my brothers now. It’ll make it easier for me to forgive them.

I began to smile and as I studied the terrain around me, I realized that I had made it to the outskirts of one of the many villages in our kingdom. Many diverse colors danced in my view and I spun in circles to make them all blend together. I was laughing and dizzy when I first heard the yelling.

Curious, I followed the shouting to the source. A group of tall mermen stood around a tiny shaking mermaid, all curled up in a ball. Her lovely orange tail and short black hair were enveloped in sand and her eyes were scrunched in a way that indicated they also were filled with itchy brown specks. As I watched, the boys beat their tails to swirl up a sandy whirlwind around the young mermaid while she whimpered.

Rage filled me faster than it ever had before. I pulled one of my hands back in line with my shoulder and felt the water around it seize and clench and convulse. Aiming for just above the mermaid’s head, I thrust forward.

The wave that ripped toward those mermen was enormous, maybe the biggest I had ever created. The five boys never knew what hit them since the force of the blow knocked them all out as soon as it made contact. Good thing for them, I thought sourly.

I was terrified that I had hit the mermaid too, but just as I darted forward, she picked up her head and blinked at me. Her dark brown eyes were red and bloodshot and I could see the grains of sand scratching the surface. She lifted her fist to rub them and I quickly caught it. “No, honey, no don’t do that,” I said softly. “Here, let me help. I’m Princess Waverlee and I have a pretty cool gift that lets me control waves.” The little mermaid’s eyes widened at me and I smiled encouragingly. “Let me help you wash some of that sand out of your eyes with my waves okay? It won’t hurt at all, I promise. Do you trust me?”

She nodded without hesitating and I beamed at her. “Great! Then lay down.”

I rested her head against the ground and then gently pulled open her eyelids. With a flick of my fingers, I sent tiny ripples of water across the surface of her eyes, flushing out the sand. She started a little at the unexpected cold, but she held very still and before long, I was done.

“There! All finished, sweetie! You are so brave. I wish I was as brave as you! What’s your name, cutie?”

A small smile was appearing on her face the more I spoke. “I’m Ava,” she whispered. “Thank you for saving me Princess.”

“Tell me, Ava. Why were those boys hurting you?”

She looked down and mumbled, “One of them is my brother and the rest are his friends. They didn’t want me to follow them but I did.”

I glanced over at the pile of mermen and found the one with a similar but darker orange tail and black hair. I felt so angry I wanted to throw another wave at him and make sure he would never bully his sister again! Instead I lowered myself to look Ava in the eyes and sent a gentle wave to pull the sand out of her hair. “If you were my sister, I would never hurt you for anything in the world.”

Ava beamed at me and wrapped her little arms around my neck, hugging me tightly. “My mom says that you’re stuck up and selfish, but I think you’re the nicest mermaid in the whole entire sea!”

I smiled at her. “Well, let’s get you home to your mom and maybe you can convince her, too.”

New Mermaid Story from Mermaiden Serena

Leon knocked on the palace doors right on schedule. “Come in!” I called in a sing song voice. I grinned mischievously at my sisters, all waiting in their own various hiding spots. Nadine hovered in the alcove that was overflowing with colorful plants and flowers, situated directly above the doors. Melody and Sybil, nearly identical twins who were rarely apart, had allowed themselves to be dyed the same royal blue that covered the wall behind them and stood flat against it on each side of the entrance. Studying my handiwork, I flicked a little more color on Sybil’s nose and she giggled. “Hush,” I warned, fighting the urge to giggle myself. Finally, I hid myself behind one of the twelve gigantic columns lining the front foyer.

The doors began to swing open. “You know what I was thinking we could do toda…” Leon started.

I heard the last of the three tail slaps that Nadine had given and suddenly the room erupted. Whooping and screaming, Nadine plunged down from her perch onto Leon’s shoulders while Sybil and Melody sprang from their hiding places and tackled his tail. With a look of surprise and a slight cry, Leon went toppling over, still careful not to squish any of my sisters on the way down. He put his face to the ground to keep from letting my little twin sisters see how much he was laughing and I put a hand over my own mouth to choke back my giggles. Nadine plopped herself on top of Leon’s tail and pulled out the blunt little fake rock knife that she had strapped to her hip. She poked him in the fin with it while Sybil and Melody each grabbed one of his muscled arms.

From behind the pillar, I focused on my little sisters and gathered the color I had spattered them with back into my hands and dispersed it. Slowly the old, worn out hats, eyepatches and hook-shaped “hands”  that my comrades wore appeared, giving us away for what we were (or at least what we were pretending to be).

“Pirates! Oh no! Oh Neptune, save me! Don’t make me walk the plank!” Leon flopped around, pretending to be stuck. Melody squealed with laughter and Sybil poked him in the head with her hook. “Silence, prisoner!” Nadine bellowed. “You’re under our command now! Quit your begging and be a merman! And stop that infernal shaking!”

Nadine was stone faced as if she believed each word she said, even though Leon was laughing so hard that he was shaking and she was bouncing because of it.

“Okay,” Leon gasped as he settled down. “Okay I’m calm. What are you to do with me, Pirate Princesses?”

“Now then, you have two options!” Nadine paced up and down Leon’s long blue tail, tapping her rock knife against her palm. “You can join our crew and help us search for the beautiful Lady Serena, to deliver her to a sea witch for a vast reward. Or, you can refuse and we’ll cut you up and feed you to our pet the Great White Shark,” she explained, very matter-of-factly.

Leon seemed to debate for a few moments, tilting his head from side to side. “Alright,” he declared. “I’ll join you. But only if I get fifty percent of the reward.”

Nadine looked down at him, unimpressed. “You get five. Now swab the deck, matey.”

I giggled a little and looked down beside me at Picasso, who was quivering with excitement. “Well I wasn’t really expecting him to say yes! What do I do now?” I whispered to him.

Sybil and Melody climbed on Leon’s back, ready to set out on their adventure to find…me! I almost forgot! I had to hide, quickly. I waited until Nadine turned Leon around to put an eyepatch on him and then dashed upward toward the large hallway in the top right corner of the foyer that would lead to the middle of the palace. I was just disappearing into safety when I heard Melody’s shrill voice as she spotted my escape. Picasso and I barreled into the maze of hallways as we heard our pursuers give chase.

My heart was pounding and exhilaration made my fingers shake as I paused at a crossroad that would take me either down to the pantries, up to the next floor, or left towards the old nursery wing. Hiding spots, even more room to run, or creepy and unexpected. I weighed the options while Picasso made excited little bubbling noises.

“There she is! Get her!” A chorus of cries sounded at the end of the hall. Laughing, I grabbed Picasso and darted up to the next floor. This floor was designated for my parents’ sleeping quarters and a few empty rooms for private meetings and parties, along with a few other rooms my father inhabited while doing whatever kings did.

I emerged in the middle of a passage and quickly chose to go forward. “Come on Picasso,” I whispered as he stopped to chase a reflection on the ground. “They’ll catch up with us and sell us to a sea witch if we dawdle!”

We raced through the hallways, seeing more of the palace now than I ever had before. I hadn’t been one for exploring when I was a little mermaid, preferring to stick to places I knew and things I was good at. As I heard my sisters’ shrieks and Leon’s laughter drawing closer, I searched for a hiding spot. My eyes settled on the window just in front of me. I grinned.

Positioning myself and Picasso as close to the window as we could be, I drank in the colors around me, allowing them to wash over me and my fishy friend. Within moments, we were completely camouflaged!

Nadine came into view first, stalking forward with her pretty blonde hair falling out of its tie. Then Leon appeared, with each of my little sisters sitting on one of his shoulders. As his eyes passed back and forth across the hallway, I could have sworn that they paused for just the briefest second when they met my own. But then they continued on and I waited for the group to pass out of view before I peeled myself off of the window and channeled the colors off of our skin.

“That was close!” I whispered to Picasso. Then I felt an arm sweep my tail out from under me and suddenly Leon held me up in triumph while I almost screamed. “Well, what do we have here?”

My heart was beating frantically as I clapped my hands over his mouth. “Shhhh! Don’t give me away!” I giggled as I looked into his blue eyes that danced with laughter. “Let’s think about this reasonably, ” I whispered. “I’ll give you twenty percent of the reward if we give Lady Nadine to the sea witch instead!”

Leon laughed, “Only twenty? Come on, Princess, I think I deserve at least sixty for discovering you and choosing not to divulge your secret to my murderous pirate allies!”

“Well we don’t have to decide right…” I trailed off as a voice began to speak within the door just beside us. I hadn’t realized that it was opened just a little when I had passed by earlier. The voices that floated out of them sounded serious, and familiar. I recognized one as my father’s.

Motioning with one hand, I drifted over to the sliver of faint light that shone out of the dark room and Leon followed me. I peered in, feeling a little guilty that I was listening in on my father’s private conversation, but I was so curious!

Inside the dark space was a gigantic mirror, the one that my father used to contact the MerCouncil. I had only seen him use it once before, as he said they were only to be used in special circumstances. From what I could see of my father’s face though, this looked like one of those times. He was hunched a little in his seat and the lines in his face seemed longer and deeper than usual. For the first time, I could see that my father was getting older.

I focused on the words being spoken by the mirror: “…will have to take extra precautions to make sure none of this gets out to anyone beyond the royal families. We don’t want our enemies thinking that we are weakened by our loss.”

My father looked up, exhaustion and sadness written plainly in each movement he took. “And what is being done to try to find him?”

The voice paused, then came again. “We have a few select individuals who are scouring the oceans as we speak, but you know, King Delmar, it is more than likely they won’t ever be able to recover him. As far as we know, Councilmember Aldric is dead.”

New Mermaid Story from Mermaiden Brynn

Brynn’s Unexpected Visitor Part 1…

“Now darling, please don’t be nervous about this meeting at all, it is nothing to get worried over. Just think of it as a get together between old friends, yes? No urgency, just relaxed discussion. Are you comfortable, lass?”

“Yes,” I snapped. Does he EVER stop talking? This was the fourth day that Damon had been here and I had had just about enough of his flirtatious comments and too-silky voice. He had hounded me for every detail of my dealings with humans, but he especially had shown a great deal of interest in my power and how it worked.

I turned to say something to Finn and then remembered for the third time that he wasn’t there. My father had kept him busy from sunup to sundown this past week, making me irritable and a wee bit murderous. I groaned out loud.

Damon was “escorting” me outside in the stone courtyard behind the palace, which meant I had to put my hand inside the crook of his elbow and he held it tightly to his body to prevent me from escaping. I heaved another sigh as we started our fifth lap around the courtyard, and glared up at the windows of the palace where I knew my little brother was lingering to smirk at me.

Damon pulled me to a stop and swung to face me. He actually looked a little exasperated. At least that gave me some satisfaction. “My dear, are you listening? Again, I need to know what contact you have had so far with the human world. Tell me more about what you’ve done to help, other than the letters you write.”

I sighed. We’d gone over this so many times! “As you know, I guide lost ships safely through storms to the harbor, and—“

“Tell me more about these valiant rescues. How exactly do you manage it?”

“How indeed?” A voice that sounded like the owner was speaking through a mouthful of pearls came from behind Damon’s cloak. Startled, I quickly stepped away from him and stared, my mouth moving but nothing coming out. A look of annoyance passed over his face just for a second before it slipped away to reveal his comfortable half smile. “I apologize, Princess. Let me introduce to you my very old friend and the only cuttlefish you are likely to ever meet, Noodles.”

Damon swept aside his black cloak to reveal the strangest fish I had ever seen. I’m sure my eyes bulged out as I watched what I thought was an octopus being devoured by a very small puffer fish. Then I realized that the short, stubby tentacles were actually connected to the fish’s face, which didn’t add to my comfort.

“Um, hello…Noodles.”

The strange fish smiled (at least I think that’s what it did) and bowed. “My pleasure, Your Highness.”

Damon impatiently cleared his throat. “Now that we’re all properly introduced, can we continue our discussion?”

I tore my eyes away from watching one of Noodle’s tentacles slap at a tiny minnow that floated by and focused back on Damon. “Uh, yes. Well, in the evenings we usually have a guard that watches the sky to warn me when there’s a storm. If there is, I go out to watch for ships. When I find a ship that’s in need of a wee bit of help, I send my light into the sky and make sure the thick-headed sailors follow me. I guide them around rocks and other hazards, leading them safely into the harbor.”

Neither of them seemed satisfied. “Yes love, but how is your light produced?” Damon leaned forward slightly and I reached two fingers forward to push him back.

“I don’t know,” I told him, annoyed. “It’s my gift. It’s what I do.”

“But how? Is there a trick? Maybe a secret?”

I immediately thought of the green pearls, tucked away in my room. I had coiled one of them in a silver fish hook I’d found on the beach one day and made it into a ring. Anxiously, I slid my hands behind my back and twisted the pearl around my finger. I didn’t like the way this conversation was going.

“No. No secrets, no tricks.” I stared back into Damon’s penetrating black gaze, praying nothing in my eyes gave me away. Behind him, Noodles shook his tentacles in disagreement. I didn’t know why, but that cuttlefish set me on edge and I wanted to be far away from him. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I need to get back inside.”

To my surprise, Damon and his creepy cuttlefish didn’t follow me. I breathed out in relief and raced to find Finn.

I found him later, working outside of the palace on one of the towers. He was elbow deep in a stone wall. I watched him for a moment, studying the familiar lines of his face and arms and hands. He spotted me as I drew closer and I saw the concentration and exhaustion written in his blue eyes dissipate. His arms were shaking a little as he lowered his chisel, concerned at what I’m sure was a panicked look on my face. The little furrow of his eyebrows was too much for me to handle. I threw myself into his arms, not caring that he was dirty and that it wasn’t completely proper. Instantly, I felt calm. Thank the Seven Seas that I have Finn. His arms were strong and sturdy, no longer shaking. I didn’t need to admit to him that I was scared, he knows me too well to need words. I just clung to him like he was my lifeline and he held me close to reassure me I was safe.

“Don’t think that this means I’ve forgotten about that starfish,” he mumbled against my hair, his voice husky from emotion.

“Never.”

A New Mermaid Story from Mermaiden Brynn

I could see the sun through my eyelids, the light transforming the usual black to a red cloud that enveloped the darkness. I turned my head and peeled open my eyes to have a look at Finn. The poor fellow had fallen asleep! Ha! He’s going to regret this. I was nearly giddy with excitement.

I looked around, surveying the beach for anything of use. Fergus was asleep a little farther away, snoring softly. Just then a new wave rolled in and brought something pink and spiny with it. l stared at the giant starfish that had just attached itself to my tail and slowly smiled. Perfect.

Finn began to shift beside me. In one swift movement I detached the starfish and flung it directly onto his face.

He shot up with a muffled gasp and clutched at the starfish, who seemed miffed that he had been thrown, but not all that averse to his new home. The pink sea star clung on for all it was worth, while Finn tugged and yanked at each of the spindly legs. I bellowed with laughter, loud enough to wake Fergus who immediately began to bark and yap at Finn and his new fishy friend. He came flopping towards us, tripping over himself in his excitement. I gathered my wee little seal in my arms and we watched Finn for a moment before finally taking pity on my shrieking friend.

“Go get it, Fergus! Get the starfish!”

Fergus leaped at Finn and pinned him under his blubbery body as he took hold of the moody starfish and pulled it off with one great shake of his head. Then he ambled off with his prize while Finn lay back down on the sand, panting and open-jawed. I was shaking with silent laughter but slowly I reached over to pat his shoulder. After a few minutes of quiet I decided it was probably safe to talk, as I had had time to control myself and Finn seemed to have recovered somewhat from his terror.

“Finn—“

He raised his hand to stop me.

“Come on Fi—“ Another stop sign. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

In painstakingly slow motion, Finn sat up. He shook the sand out of his long brown curls and turned to me. “You, my darlin’, are the evilest old sea hag I’ve ever met.”

I tilted my head with a smug smile. “Thank ye kindly.”

With a shake of his head and a grunt of laughter, Finn turned his happy blue eyes on me with a mischievous look. “Ye know this’ll mean war, lass?”

With a wicked grin, I narrowed my own deep green eyes and leaned closer to him. “I was countin’ on it.”

With a flick of his hand, Finn sent a handful of water into my face and then zipped back into the surf. “Quick Fergus, we can’t let him beat us!” I yelled as I plunged into the salty Celtic Sea. The three of us raced back home, weaving our way through swarms of fish, around rock pillars and in and out of caverns. We were fin and fin the entire time until just at the end, when Fergus somersaulted ahead. “You go on without me. Save yourself!” Finn yelled at me just as he lunged forward and wrapped himself around Fergus. I swam faster and faster until I burst through the front doors of our rock palace. A few seconds later Finn slid to a stop next to me, still holding Fergus who, instead of playing the blood thirsty monster he was supposed to be, was licking Finn’s nose and chewing on his hair instead. Tears of laughter filled my eyes as Finn pushed himself up and brushed himself off, shaking his head at wee little Fergus.

“I don’t know how you do it, silky. You are incredible. I really thought I was being eaten alive there for a moment!” Fergus looked at him adoringly and nibbled one of his fingers before swimming laps around my tail.

Chuckling, we both turned to go up to my room, when we realized that we had an audience. My father stood stoically next to a tall, dark, handsome merman with a sly smile on his face.

“Damon?” I asked in shock and a little irritation. I thought I’d be free of that flirt for a long time to come. It had only been a few months since we had returned home from the MerCouncil. “Why are you here?”

“Brynn,” my father said in a warning voice. “Damon is here on the MerCouncil’s business. He is to visit with each of the ambassadors every so often to observe them in their duties and report back to the Council members. I expect you to show him complete cooperation and consideration during his visit.” My Da’s eyes flashed, which let me know he was dead serious. I glanced over at Damon, who looked a little more arrogant than I remembered him being. I gritted my teeth. “I understand.”

“Good. I’ll leave you two to it then.” Da turned to leave. “Finn, I’m going to need help with the palace carving today. How about you come with me now?” It wasn’t really a question as much as a command.

Finn looked at me and I could see his eyes dart to Damon for half a second. If I gave him any sign that I wasn’t comfortable being alone with Damon, I know Finn would have stayed in a heartbeat, no matter the consequences from my father. Finn had been raised in the palace alongside me, since his mother was my nursemaid. He had found work here when he developed a beautiful talent for carving stone, which my father put to good use. My father respected him, even liked him I thought, but I knew he wouldn’t put up with anyone disobeying his demands. I smiled, grateful to know that Finn was so loyal, but sure it wouldn’t take me long to slip through Damon’s slimy grasp and find Finn later to help me escape from my unwelcome visitor. I nodded at him to go.

“Of course, King Murdoch,” he said, as my father clapped Finn on the back and they strode off with my Da’s arm around Finn’s shoulders.

“Let me begin by describing to you how stunning you look this morning, Princess. Your fair skin is most luminous in whichever light chooses to grace it—“

“Yes, yes, let’s get going before you take a half hour to depict the knots in my hair as wee little fish in a red sea.” I rolled my eyes at him and only got a delighted smirk in return.

“As you wish, my lady.”

To be continued…

New Mermaid Story from Mermaiden Crystal

A hand slipped over my mouth in the dark and I froze. Scream! Thrash! Do something!

“Crys? It’s me, Sid.”

Relief washed over my body and I let my spine relax. I tapped Obsidian’s hand with one finger and he laughed as he removed it. “Oops, sorry. Hey call off your killer penguin, won’t you?”

We both looked down to see Pepper pecking and gnawing at Sid’s fingers that were hanging at his side. He lifted his hand and shook until Pepper let go and floated into my lap. I laughed, scooping up my fluffy little friend and he nuzzled me, thinking I was showing my gratitude to him for saving me from a dreadful end.

“Come on. Brush your hair and get pretty. We’re going out!” Sid’s blue eyes sparkled with excitement and anticipation as he pulled me out of my nest of cushions and furs.

“Oh Obsidian, I don’t think we should do that! Father will be so angry! And just think of how scared Mother will be. We can’t do this..” I kept talking while Obsidian ignored me and ran a brush through my hair and stuck a flower in it. I protested while he helped me into a fur cloak and shoved me out the door, although he left Pepper inside and I could hear his unhappy cries from outside.Up until the very moment that we left the palace, I whispered my objections.

“Hey! Hey Crys,” Sid grabbed me by the shoulders and looked in my eyes with that boyish half smile. “Look around you! We’re already outside. That wasn’t so hard was it?” He stared at me until I finally shrugged timidly. “Calm down and have fun, Crys! You have to live a little!”

My brother gave me an encouraging smile and grabbed my hand, pulling me away from my warm bed and into whatever cold trouble awaited us.

Although it normally takes half the day to travel from our home in the palace to the outskirts of our kingdom, Obsidian cut the time down to only half an hour with his heat-induced speed. I clung to his back until he tapped on my arm, sure that I would choke him if I held on any tighter.

We sped over the white kingdom, with homes carved out of ice and thousands of glow stones lighting the paths. I hadn’t spent a lot of time out of the palace grounds so I was amazed to see it all so close up! Where in the Seven Seas is he taking us? I wondered while we passed over so many towns I lost count.

At last I felt us slowing down and soon we were just sailing over raw, jagged pieces of ice. I flipped off of Obsidian’s back now that I knew I could keep up with him. I dove a little and ran my fingers across the ice beneath me, smoothing it and sending little shocks into the frigid terrain that resurfaced as twirling and spiraling designs. Obsidian looked down and laughed his carefree chuckle. With a flick of his tail he traced my patterns with heat and singed the ice until it steamed and glowed bright red before fading to a black. We laughed together, taking me back to our childhood when this had been life. Sid and Crys, going on adventures, getting into trouble, freezing and burning. I was filled with bittersweet memories.

I nearly didn’t notice the music until I saw the shadows dancing behind a mountain, backlit by an amazing show of light. I turned to look uncertainly at Obsidian and I watched the shadows play on the edges of his nose, cheekbones, and chin. He seemed to be at the pinnacle of his excitement and that made me nervous!

We reached the top of the ice heap and as we began our descent, I felt as though someone had picked me up and dropped me into an entirely different world.

The valley we had now entered was bowl-shaped and lined with rows and rows of bioluminescent creatures of varying colors. There were also glow stones strung on lines of rope hung across the space so that they appeared weightless and floating in the low light. There were musicians too, beating on and blowing in and strumming at strange instruments that I’d never seen before. The music they made was the most upbeat and exciting that I had ever heard! It made me want to dance along with the throngs of young merfolk already bobbing and swaying beneath me. They were everywhere and something told me they didn’t all come from our kingdom. There were some with cute freckles and pale skin like Brynn and others with the lovely dark skin and huge curls like Destiny.

Obsidian pulled me faster down into the frenzy and we dropped right into the middle of things. “Isn’t this amazing?” Obsidian yelled above the music and singing and roar of the crowd. His eyes looked like they were full of fire and he had the widest grin on his face that I’d ever seen. He clapped his hands to the beat and bobbed his head along. I laughed at his silly dancing but then he grabbed my arms and made me dance along with him. We ended up in a fit of giggles.

Gradually the music slowed and mellowed. Obsidian winked at me, “Sorry little sis, I gotta go find a partner who I can charm with my unbelievable good looks and sense of humor.” I scoffed and shook my head at him, moving to go get a drink and to avoid the awkwardness of dancing alone when everyone else had a partner. I was used to this part, as this was usually how it was at home when we had social events.

I began weaving my way through the throngs of merfolk. Just as I was leaving the circle of dancers, someone caught onto my hand and spun me around into a ready pair of arms. I bristled. “Woah! Excuse me! Let me go you–“

I looked up at my captor and saw a lovely pair of dark brown eyes smiling back at me. The merman’s eyebrows shot up and his grin revealed brilliant white teeth. My eyes traveled up to his hair, dirty blonde and long, but not too long. I breathed out slowly, hoping that I wasn’t blushing as deeply as I felt I was. His deepening smirk told me otherwise.

“Excuse me,” I squeaked, furious at the high pitch of my voice. “I’d like to go get a drink if you don’t mind.”

“I do though, that’s the problem.” The stranger started to rock back and forth, forcing me to sway alongside him. “It’s not every day I meet such a beautiful mermaid as yourself and I want to treasure this moment.”

I stared at him like he’d suddenly sprouted tentacles on his head. Is this supposed to impress me? “What do you mean?” I asked suspiciously.

He smiled again. “I mean you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve seen all night and I’d like to dance with you!”

“Oh, right.” I hadn’t expected him to be so direct. I cleared my throat. “Well I guess we already are dancing so it wouldn’t hurt to finish the song.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking. It’s like we’re the same person!” This made me giggle a little so I settled in to enjoy a dance. This is what I wanted, I suppose.

We exchanged names, his being Jax. A long pause ensued, in which I looked down anxiously and he stared at me confidently. Finally, I couldn’t take the silence. “So, why me?”

“Why you…what?”

“Why me? Why did you ask me to dance instead of all these other beautiful mermaids?” I looked around. The stress and anxiety of being pulled out of my bed so late at night and the threat of getting caught by my parents was catching up with me. I felt a streak of irritation surfacing and suddenly I wanted to make this merman as uncomfortable as I was! “I mean, if beauty is all you care about, this place is swimming with beautiful mermaids! Why me?”

A look of surprise shot through Jax’s face but passed as quickly as it had come. The look of determination that settled in next made me rethink my words. “Well, darling if you really must know, I saw you and a young man that looked very much like you, who I’m going to assume and pray is your brother, dancing together. I saw you laughing and the way that your eyes sparkled and your hair brushed your face and all I could think of was that I wanted to be the one who made you laugh like that.”

Your jaw is hanging open, I thought. Say something, now.

“You were watching me?” My voice only squeaked a little this time.

“Not in a creepy way!” he added quickly.

I nodded, still stunned. Another long pause.

“So,” Jax prodded, “what could I say to hear that laugh again?”

I stared at him, hard. Could he actually be for real? Then I smiled timidly. “You could describe what my brother looked like when he was dancing.”

We danced and laughed and talked for hours. Jax lived in Waverlee’s kingdom, as I had pretty much guessed from his golden skin and sun bleached hair. He said he was in training to become a guard in the palace, as this would provide the most support for his family of five siblings and his parents. I felt awful when I realized how poor his family was. Whenever he asked me questions about my own life I redirected them quickly, saying basically that I had one brother, two sisters, and a pet penguin. Every once in a while I would spot Obsidian, always with a different girl on his arm. Oh Sid, I thought with a small smile.

I was in the middle of telling Jax about the time Pepper almost got me into trouble with a pack of walruses when Obsidian came sailing over to me. “Hey Crys, we gotta go! I lost track of time and Mother and Father should be up really soon!”

Panicked, I turned to Jax and grabbed his hand. “Thank you for this night. You have no idea how much this means to me.” In a wild second of adrenaline and courage, I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. Obsidian’s mouth dropped open and he sputtered a little. I giggled and then with a smile, I grabbed Sid’s hand and pulled him away. As we sailed over the rim of ice, I looked back. Jax was grinning and watching me. He winked just as I dropped out of sight.

Obsidian and I soared into my window in only a quarter of the time it took us to get to the dance. Pepper jumped up from where he had fallen asleep at the door and was instantly in my arms and hair and everywhere else. I was still beaming as I wrestled him into his little bed and tried to tuck him in.

“What was that, Crystal?! You just met him, how could you even think about doing that!” Obsidian’s voice was angry, an emotion I had never heard directed toward me by my twin brother. But not even that could make me regret my actions.

“Oh Sid, you’re overreacting! It was just a little kiss, nothing to get worked up about.”

“But, but…” he stammered. “You’re my little sister! You shouldn’t be kissing guys! Guys are mean and cruel and…and…”

“You’re a guy, aren’t you? And what about all those mermaids you danced with tonight? Aren’t they someone’s sisters and daughters, too?” I laughed at his use of the term “little sister”(as twins, I’m technically only a few minutes younger) and shoving him toward the door, said “Go to bed, Sid. We’ll talk more about this in the morning.”

“Please let this be just a bad dream,” he groaned as he left. I giggled again and then slipped into my bed of cushions and fur, still picturing Jax’s face as I drifted off.

New Mermaid Story from Royal Mermaiden Zoey

Exhilaration made the tips of my tail tingle and my heart beat faster. With a tight hold on Cooper’s back fin, I scanned the path from the bed of seaweed I lie in, to the opening of the garden. I’m so close! I hope he made it okay.

I heard a crunch behind me and my spine stiffened. I turned slowly, ready to bolt, when I realized it was only Cooper munching on a large stock of seaweed. I groaned and tried to shake out the extra adrenaline that one crunch had created.

“Hey!” I whisper-yelled at Cooper. “Quit eating our cover!” His droopy eyes got wide and he let his jaw drop so that the chewed up wad of green slime slipped out and floated to the ground. Making a face, I used his flipper to flick the nasty blob away. Then I heard a shout above me, coming from within the palace of coral. Only one person can bellow that loud when she’s upset, I thought with equal parts satisfaction and fear. “Quick Cooper! To the garden!”

With hardly another glance, I charged out of my hiding place, hauling my turtle friend with me. He didn’t seem to appreciate the severity of punishment I would receive if I was caught out here, as he went completely limp and found it funny to swish his head back and forth and let his own tongue slap himself in the face. “Oh you hopeless lump of blubber,” I complained.

We tumbled into the gardens with an astonishing lack of grace and dignity and, of course, my hope of getting there first was crushed as Aiden’s smirk greeted my stumbling approach. His sea green eyes were dancing with repressed laughter and his large arms were folded over his tanned chest. “Beatcha.”

“No fair,” I protested. “You didn’t have to lug around this oversized oyster and try not to get caught by your murderous mother!”

“True, but I did bring this.” He held up a large basket woven from seagrass filled with what I hoped was food. I feigned disinterest but my stomach growled loudly, giving me away. Aiden laughed and took my hand to pull me along.

“Oh, wait!” I scrambled back to Cooper, who was still lying lazily on the ground and tucked him under my arm as he gave me a lopsided grin. Then I raced back and gently placed my hand back into Aiden’s outstretched one. We drifted through the garden, taking in the colorful algae and seaweed and coral and shells while we talked and laughed and searched for a spot to set down our things.

Aiden and I had been sneaking away for a while now, at least two months. Once or twice a week, he would place a clamshell outside of my window with a note tucked inside telling me where and when to meet. If I couldn’t make it, I placed a stick of red coral in place of the shell. If I could, it was a green stick. I always felt a thrill of excitement at seeing that shell the moment I woke up! Today I had skipped out on my history lesson and since my little brother had to take it by himself, I’m sure he had told my mom about my absence.

I bumped my head on Aiden’s shoulder as he stopped abruptly. “Ow!” I rubbed my head and eyed him with pretend disdain while he laughed and apologized. “Here,” he announced. “This is where we’ll have our lunch, m’lady.”

We ate sitting on the ground with Cooper trying to snatch a bite of everything we took out of the basket. Once, he got hold of a boiled and salted piece of seaweed leading to a game of tug-of-war between him and Aiden with the rubbery thing. I laughed a little at their nonsense before tickling Cooper so he’d let go. Finally, Aiden groaned and slumped onto his back, his head of sandy hair resting on my green and blue tail. I fingered one of his wavy locks absentmindedly.

“Zoey, do you think your dad would like me?”

The question caught me off guard. “What?”

“Do you?”

I was silent for a moment, thinking but not wanting to take too long to answer. “Um, sure. I think he would like you just fine! It’s my mother you have to watch out for.”

He shook his head with an amused smile. “No, no. I’m certain I could win over your mom. Trust me, you tell any woman that she’s beautiful and her daughter’s beautiful, which I might add is the complete truth, and they’ll just melt all over you. Your father, though, is a different matter. Usually if a girl’s merman tells her father that he’s beautiful, it doesn’t bode well for either of them.”

I laughed and patted his cheek. “Look at you, trying to cozy up to my parents. If you’re not careful you’ll get me thinking that you like me!”

Aiden sat up and looked at me carefully. “Maybe I do like you, Zoey.”

Just then I realized how close his face was to mine and all I could think of now was telling Waverlee and the girls all about these kinds of moments.

“When he looks at you like that it means he wants to kiss you!” Waverlee squealed.

“But what if you’re no good?” Crystal asked.

“Practice makes perfect,” Destiny sang.

“You’ll be fine.” Jia comforted.

“You’ll know if it’s right by the first touch,” Serena smiled.

“Oh just do it already!” Brynn demanded.

“All of you hush!” I silently roared at the voices in my head.

I squeezed my eyes closed, hoping that Aiden couldn’t see the storm going on in my head. When I opened them, I jumped. Aiden was so close I could see the flecks of gold in his beautiful green eyes and how the corners crinkled when he smiled at my startled expression. I opened my mouth to speak but I found myself speechless! Okay now tell me what to do! I thought, panicked. Where’s Waverlee when I need her!

Suddenly, as if he sensed my uncertainty, Aiden drew back and poked me in the stomach. “You’re it!” he exclaimed like a little boy and shot out of my reach before I knew what had happened. All of the pressure that had made me seize up disintegrated into a grin on my lips and I pushed myself forward.

“Come on Cooper, let’s get him!” I quickly tagged Cooper and proceeded to throw him in a perfect spiral right at Aiden. The tricky little turtle let out a whistle as he corkscrewed through the water and head=butted Aiden in the stomach. “Now you’re it!” I grinned as Aiden doubled over, laughing and wheezing at the same time.

We spent the rest of the day playing games and being horribly loud in the garden until finally my mother’s guards found me. I shoved Aiden into a particularly huge plant as the garden gate swung open, squealing terribly. The mermen were very confused at the sight of the princess sitting in the middle of the gardens by herself, except for her pet turtle who was gnawing on a piece of boiled seaweed.

“Come with us, Princess. The Queen would like a word.” I think I may have pranced a little too happily out the door, through the palace, and into my mother’s arms. She stopped dead when I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed her tightly.

“Sorry, Mom. I can’t promise I won’t do it again, but I’ll let you know next time so you’re not worried.” She spluttered something as I danced out of the room and bumped into Dad on the way out. Humming, I kissed him on the cheek and floated right up to my room to slip into bed.

As I peered out the window one last time I saw a faint figure slip out of the gardens and disappear, only pausing once to look up at my window. I pressed one of my hands against the diamond pane and sighed happily before drifting to sleep.

New Mermaid Story from Royal Mermaiden Princess Jia

I sat quietly, meditating on a shining purple kelp cushion adorned with delicate crystal beading in strange patterns. This grade of luxury was not easy to come across, but my father had given the cushion to me for my 16^th birthday — today.

No, I thought, feeling the anxiety for the day rise up in the pit of my stomach. I furrowed my brow and scrunched my eyelids closed tighter. Meditate. Think only of the soft silky kelp beneath your tail. Smooth. Cool to the touch…

All of a sudden, I felt something burrow beneath one side of my seat just before the entire thing jolted to the right and I slid promptly onto the cold stone floor all tangled up in my own tail. My head bounced against the ground once and I groaned.

Slippery, I added to my mental list of the cushions qualities, while sitting up and rubbing my forehead.

Akiko’s tiny face popped into view above one of the corners of the cushion, which leaned against my tail on its side. I giggled a little at her nearly apologetic expression, which evaporated into a goofy grin at my laugh. “You silly seahorse,” I shook my head as I pushed myself up and straightened my cushion.

Gliding over to the round looking-glass on one wall of my room, I studied my reflection. I looked paler than usual. I tried a smile, then grimaced. As I thought, my eyes traveled to the pink glittering clamshell settled in a basket among a few of my other possessions. It wouldn’t hurt, would it? It is my birthday after all.

As if my mother was watching me with a look of shame, I sidled over to the basket and snatched up the clamshell. My lips turned up a little and my breathing became quick and shallow as a shiver of excitement traveled down my spine. I dashed back over to the looking-glass and popped my treasure open, studying the paints and powders inside. Waverlee had given each of us Mermaidens a set of makeup in a clamshell as a gift before we had gone home from the MerCouncil. At that time I had never thought about using it, since my mother viewed makeup as frivolous and unnecessary. But now, with my nerves so racked, I thought maybe a touch of glitter on my face would give me a little boost.

Quickly, I tried to recall what Waverlee had taught us, and chose a very soft pink to paint a little color into my cheeks. I swept the shimmering stuff up the round part of my cheeks and smiled at the residue that fell and floated down in a cascade of sparkles. Akiko was there before I could blink, snapping at the shining specks.

Next, I chose the closest color to my tail that I could find and painted it onto my lips. In the looking-glass I turned from side to side as I watched my lips shimmer in the light that filtered through my window. I looked wistfully at the brighter colors like turquoise and pink, but resolved that even the color I chose was a risk with my mother’s vigilant stare.

Sighing but feeling a little more hopeful, I turned to Akiko. “I suppose I’m just going to have to get this day over with. Come on, Akiko. Let’s go greet our guests.”

With a flourish, I whipped aside the heavy curtains that barred my doorway, and Akiko and I flew through the palace hallways and rooms until we reached the dreaded entryway. I stopped just short of the last wall that protected me from the hundreds of guests invited by my parents. I swallowed hard, pressing myself flat against the wall while I rehearsed my short speech in my head. It is tradition in my kingdom that the Mermaiden is expected to give a speech every birthday starting with her 16th, to thank her guests and make a good impression on them so that they will go tell the people of our kingdom that Princess Jia will be a good ruler someday.

I glanced at Akiko, who was nibbling the tips of my fingers, and smiled at her. “It’s all about the politics isn’t it, my friend,” I whispered to him. She looked at me with her big adoring eyes and licked my hand.

I turned back toward the sloped floatway that circled down and came to rest in the middle of the room, giving everyone a chance to look me up and down. I took a deep breath and pried myself away from the wall. Panic grabbed me and I quickly smoothed my hair and petted Akiko to try to calm myself. As I edged closer, I peered over the edge and gulped as I saw how long it really was.

Deep breath. Don’t think, just go.

I slipped forward into view of the room and began my slow descent. Faces turned upwards and voices hushed into whispers. I lifted my chin a little more and tugged my shoulders back, plastering a soft smile on my face. Beside me Akiko, mistaking all of the attention that was directed toward us as a chance to show off, began zooming around and around my tail, determined to win her race against herself. There were some laughs in the crowd and lots of smiles, including my father. King Takumi sat next to his Queen at the head of the room in their simple but regal thrones, my father with an amused grin widely spread on his tanned face and my mother with a small, polite (somewhat forced) smile and her eyebrows lifted subtly. I swallowed hard, knowing I would get a lecture from her later about Akiko’s behavior.

The gigantic throne room was sparsely adorned for the occasion, as the usual décor itself was very impressive already. Gold plating with intricately carved designs covered the wall behind my parents’ thrones and around the bases of the large pillars that stood majestically in rows, presenting the path from the slope I descended to the feet of the king and queen. The guests encircled the pillars and left a wide space for me to walk among them. The other walls were stained with varying shades of red, purple, green, and blue, sometimes solid colors and most often in the form of a mural. One wall depicted the complete history of our kingdom with vivid colors to represent the battles and coronations. The lighting (throughout the palace) was provided by glowstones set into the ceiling. I distracted myself by taking in the sights of my home, although I knew it by heart.

Finally, I reached the main floor and proceeded toward my mother and father, where a smaller seat was placed to my father’s right. This is where I would sit to greet each of my guests individually and then later rise to give my speech. My stomach knotted itself into a ball and nearly forced up my breakfast at that thought.

At last I reached my place beside my father and he squeezed my hand lightly as I sat down. “Happy birthday, darling. You looked like your mother floating down here,” he said quietly to me. I beamed. My mother was the most regal and beautiful queen I had ever seen in my life and to be told I looked like her was a high compliment. I turned toward my mother and caught her staring at me across from my father. She was smiling a sincere and dazzling smile this time, and she reached out for my hand to hold it for just a moment.

I sat back in my chair, a little anxiety already dissipating from my shoulders. This seemed to signal to my guests that I was ready to greet them because a line began to form in front of me. The first of them was one of my father’s advisors, who greeted me, gave me a silver ring with a flower carved into it, and then promptly began to talk business with my father. After several failed attempts to get him to leave, my father had him escorted away with assurances that they would speak later, even as he continued to gesture wildly with his hands while raving about the kingdom’s economy.

Next, I saw a young couple, just married. The young mermaid, Yeo was a dear friend of my mother’s and they embraced while her husband gave me their gift: a rare breed of coral to add to my garden. My heart soared with excitement and I popped up out of my seat to give them both a hug.

“Your mother mentioned to me that you were an avid gardener,” Yeo said to me.

“I never go a day without seeing to my plants!” I told her while caressing the short and bumpy blue coral.

Yeo beamed at me and whispered, “You’ll be an excellent mother, I think.” I looked at her with a little confusion but she looked so happy I didn’t point out that motherhood was many years away for me.

Guest after guest came to see me, talk to me, and shower me with gifts. Every once in a while I would glance into the crowd and see Akiko darting around snatching clams off the table of food or letting a little mermaid pet her soft underbelly. I felt my worries slowly slip away as I was given the opportunity to speak with my guests and get to know them a little better. As I watched a mother and father pull their two little twins away, I silently decided that when I was queen I would get to know the kingdom I was ruling over better than my predecessors.

When finally I had greeted the very last guest in the room, a hush came over the crowd as hundreds of eyes came to rest on me expectantly. My hands only shook a little as I rose and laced them behind my back, clearing my throat.

“Guests and friends,” I began hoping my voice would grow stronger as I spoke. “I want to welcome you to our home and thank you all for coming here today to celebrate my 16th birthday. I hope the food is as good as it looks,” my stomach rumbled to accent my point. Everyone laughed.

“I know that I have enjoyed meeting with each of you and learning more about the merfolk that I will lead someday. I cannot imagine a more strong or loyal kingdom and I am honored to think that I will have the opportunity to serve as your queen. May you all come to love and respect me as much as you have my parents. I promise to serve you all to the utmost of my ability and to remain fair and just ‘til the end of my days.”

As I sat, the applause was thunderous. My father and mother joined in, too. I lifted my chin and smiled, trying to seal the moment into my memory forever.

Ready for More Mermaid Stories?

Here’s the latest from Mermaiden Destiny

Continued from Destiny’s Tropical Sunrise Surprise…

Pirates!

“Hold on, Frank!” I could barely push the command out. My tongue seemed two sizes too big for my mouth and my ribs felt like they were caving in. I heard him whimper as I thrust Frank into my tangled curls and dove as far down into the murky water as I could go. Breathing was harder down there and I felt like I was sucking in more dirt than water! I beat my tail back and forth, pushing myself down farther than the gigantic ship in front of me could go. Then I shot forward under the hull, to freedom!

Except the pirates were smarter than I realized. They had fastened nets across the gap beneath their ship stretching from each end of the small opening to the cove. By the time I realized this, I only had time to cry out before I went colliding into the trap and was instantly tangled in hundreds of ropes and lines that cut into my skin and scales and twisted my fin! I screamed in frustration and pain.

In my mind, I flashed back to another time when I had been caught in a net. Frank had saved me by cutting the thin ropes with his claws! Like he had read my mind, I heard the snip of Frank’s claws somewhere above me. He chirped in my ear, “No worries, mademoiselle! Ze crab will rescue you!”

“Oh Frank! What would I do without you?” I told him with a forced smile. There’s no way he can free me. He’s too small and these ropes are so thick. I have to get him to safety before they can get their dirty hands on both of us! As I opened my mouth to say something to my little crab friend, I felt the ropes around me tighten and pull upwards. I bit my lip to keep from crying out again, while my limbs went numb with fear.

I looked around frantically for something to distract Frank with. Something in the sand below us caught my eye, glittering and sparkling in the little sunlight that penetrated the foggy water. “Frank,” I said hopefully. “Look, I think there’s a coin down there in the sand!”

Frank’s eyes popped down into my view. “Destiny, this is no time to be playing at treasure hunting,” he scolded me. I almost laughed as he went back to work, thinking that for once in his life Frank had cared about something, in this case someone, more than treasure!

As we were lifted higher and higher, my stomach sank lower and lower. I began screaming for help. What could it hurt? I thought.

“Help! Please, we need help! Somebody help us!” I sent my voice hurling as far as I could. The surface was only a few yards away! Dread and desperation filled my head and I thrashed harder to free myself.

All of a sudden a hand caught my wrist, which was sticking through one of the larger holes in the netting I was tangled in. “Stop moving. You’re only making it worse,” a voice hissed in my ear. Immediately I froze, shocked and just the tiniest bit hopeful that that voice and hand could somehow help.

All in one moment, I heard Frank screech, a whizzing sound right above my head, and multiple ropes snapping. The upward momentum stopped, hesitated, then resumed with more ferocity than ever. Another whizzing sound and more ropes broke! I felt the bands around my arms loosen. I was too afraid to move much yet, but I wiggled my arms just a little to let off the snapped ropes. As I watched the ends of the thick material as it sank out of view, I noticed that the severed parts weren’t frayed. It’s almost like they’ve been cut with a—

The last whizzing sound came and then we were falling, floating quickly toward the welcome sand below. “Oof!” I grunted as I hit the hard ocean bottom, unable to slow myself down while still tangled up in nets. I sighed, suddenly able to breathe again now that the panic was subdued. I heard a few more ropes snap and finally, I was able to push the remaining knots off of my arms and tail. Frank collapsed to the sand beside me and retracted into his shell, something he only did when he was truly terrified or thoroughly irritated. I patted him gently and rolled over onto my back, breathing heavily.

When I finally gained the energy to push myself into a sitting position, I squinted up at my unknown hero. She sat on a tall boulder five feet away, sharpening her long silver sword with a smaller rock. Her face looked serene, a mask of utter calm. She was beautiful, I could tell even from her profile. Dark, ebony, wavy locks were casually hanging around her face, though they were tinted with a deep red streaks when they moved. Her skin was dark and contrasted nicely with her lustrous red scaled tail. I spied golden bangles on each of her arms as well as a thin crown of gold hanging around her head. The mysterious stranger carried a pack over her shoulders as well as a belt encircling her hips with a sheath for her knife. All in all she looked very impressive. And more than a little dangerous. But she saved your life, I reminded myself with a grateful smile.

“Thank you,” I said after a long silence, not sure what else to say. “Thank you so much. I can’t express my gratitude enough. You’ll be rewarded for this, I promise. I—“

“I don’t want your riches. Or your gold or treasures.” The mermaid looked up at me with flashing eyes. I scooted back a little, alarmed at all the anger coming from those brown eyes. When she finally looked away, I swallowed and found my words.

“All the same, I have to insist that I do something to repay you.”

“There’s nothing I want that you can give me.”

“Nothing at all? Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Again, an unexpected rage filled her voice and I felt very small when her gaze was on me. She stared at me for longer this time. Then she straightened and in one smooth movement she slid her sword into the sheath strapped to her back and began to drift away.

“Wait!” I called, frustrated with this angry stranger who seemed to refuse any attempt at gratitude that was offered to her. I scooped up Frank and followed the red mermaid, feeling bold. “At least tell me what your name is! You can’t refuse that.”

She kept swimming forward without acknowledging me. “Come on,” I whined, sounding like my little brother when he was tired. “Please,” I tried again, positioning myself in front of her, drifting backwards while she tried to look anywhere but my eyes. “I can give you whatever you want! I can sing for you! I can dance for you? I can make Frank provide you with some comedic banter all the way home!” I held up Frank in his shell to demonstrate my point. Frank stuck one eye out, then the other, gave an unsatisfied belch, and then retreated farther into his shell. I looked at him with disappointment and then stuck him back into my hair. “Alright, maybe not the banter.”

I let the red mermaid push past me. I followed her even more closely now. “Please! I have to find some way to repay you! I was so terrified back there! Who knows what those dirty pirates would have done with me if you hadn’t saved me! Oh, please let me help you in some way!”

“I already told you. You can’t help me. Now take your little lobster and go.” She mumbled it, but without the anger from before–like all the fire was gone out of her.

Just then Frank popped out of his shell. “Excuse me, you overgrown algae patch! ‘Er little lobster is a crab! And ze crab is not happy! Not happy at all!”

I quickly turned Frank around and tried to poke him back into his shell, hoping the mysterious red mermaid wouldn’t be angry again. But Frank just leaned around his shell and shook his pinchers at her while screaming, “You see the claws, you limp piece of seaweed? They are coming for you! Ze crab is—“

I gave the angry crustacean one last poke and he fell back into his shell. Sheepishly I looked back up at the mysterious mermaid while tucking Frank back into my hair. She was staring at the shell with her jaw dropped and eyes wide. Silent awkwardness ensued until I finally gave her a hesitant smile.

“There’s that comedic banter I mentioned earlier…” I trailed off tentatively.

The red mermaid dropped her eyes to look at me, then snapped her mouth shut. She paused for a moment and then promptly split into a small half smile. “Well,” she said in a strange accent that I hadn’t noticed before, “I admit that anyone with the backbone to talk to me in that way has me intrigued. Before, when you were asking my name, I thought that you already knew of my reputation. The question took on a different meaning. Now I understand that you and your crab truly don’t know who I am.”

The mermaid thrust her hand toward me. “I’m Scarlet.” Shocked at the sudden change in her demeanor, I eyed her uncertainly but clasped her arm anyway.

“And I’m Destiny.”

Frank stuck his head out snootily. “Royal Mermaiden of the Caribbean Sea.”

I poked him again.

As I looked back at Scarlet, her eyes widened, hardly perceivable. I waited for the exclamations that often followed my introduction. There weren’t any. Huh, I thought to myself, surprised and pleased. For a moment Scarlet and I just stood there studying each other. Then suddenly she nodded her head as if she had decided something. “Alright, Princess. I confess there is something I’d like from you. I’ve heard of your power and I think you can help me find something that I’ve lost.”

I grinned. “Excellent! Well then. Come with me to my home and then we can gather some provisions and be off. About how far do you think this thing you’re searching for is?” I added, over my shoulder as I began to swim in the direction of home.

“Far. But Princess, I’d really rather not go into your kingdom. I—“

“Nonsense. My parents would sic a thousand jellyfish on me if I didn’t bring my rescuer back with me to receive their thanks!”

“But—“

“I won’t take any excuses, Scarlet,” I demanded in a singsong voice. I heard her humph in defeat and start to follow me. I felt pretty pleased with myself, despite the fact that I was also very bruised and going to be in a lot of trouble.

“Destiny!” My mother shrieked as soon as we entered my father’s throne room. She came flying toward me with open arms. “What happened, dearest?” My little brother stood balking at the bruises on my arms, torso, neck, and face.

“I’ll tell you in a minute, Mom. But first, let me introduce you to someone, a friend,” I looked up at my dad, who had tears in his eyes as he studied my bruises.

I beckoned toward Scarlet and she floated forward out of the shadows.

“This is Scarlet. She saved my life today.”

“Well Frank, take a good look at it,” I sighed as I studied the lines of silver and navy in my Caribbean Blue tail. “I don’t know if my new powers will let this come back again.”

Frank looked up briefly from the scarlet gem he had clasped in his claws. His back was to the water where the sun was just barely beginning to stretch its rays above the ocean, illuminating him from behind. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing when I realized that I could see the shape of his body inside his little red shell.

After glancing at my blue tail for a moment, he went back to scrutinizing his jewel. “I am crying tears of sadness,” he said in a monotone voice. I laughed and poked him in the leg, making him fumble with his ruby and then shoot me an extremely peeved look.

“Oh come on, Frank. I know inside that hard exterior of yours, you have a soft inside!” I grinned mischievously. “Look I can see it right now,” I pointed at his shell and he looked down, noticing the lighting for the first time.

“Eeeeek!” Frank threw himself off the tall rock he’d been perched on and dragged himself away with a wounded expression. I grabbed my stomach and my shoulders shook while I waited for him to get out of earshot and then I let out a bellow of laughter.

All of the sudden the tips of my fin started to tingle. I wiped tears of laughter from my cheeks and watched, still smiling, as a roll of orange color swept up my tail. I tipped my head back and grinned at the rising sun with my eyes closed, content that this was going to be a fabulous day. When the tingling sensation subsided, I glanced down at my orange tail and then did a double take. “Eeek!” I squealed, sounding very much like Frank had only a minute before, and tried to scramble away–forgetting that I was still attached to the strange tail in front of me. “Oof!” I fell backwards on the sand and hit my head soundly, enough to stop me from trying again.

Groaning, I rubbed my head with both hands, trying to make sense of what had happened without sitting up to look at the tail again. From my left I heard an evil cackling that could only be coming from Frank. I rolled my head to the side and glared at him while he clambered over the lumpy sand to me. “Frank! Stop laughing and just get over here. Tell me what my tail looks like.”

Frank chuckled again, while I gave him a boost up onto my stomach and down onto my tail. “So you do not like the laughing, either, do you not? Well ze crab does not also!”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “I’m sorry for laughing at you, Frank. Now tell me what’s the matter with my tail!”

Frank heaved an even bigger and more dramatic sigh and mumbled something to himself. “Well,” said the crab, “it is still orange, you will be happy to know. There are some gold scales in here too, a nice touch I must say. All in all I believe it is still your tail, mademoiselle, just a different design. Thank Poseidon! Your old one was so out of style,” Frank muttered as he slipped down off of my fin.

I slowly sat up and peeked between my fingers at my new tail. It really is beautiful, I thought, gently moving my muscles from side to side to watch the scales sparkle. Frank’s right, it is my tail. Just with a few “improvements”. Hesitantly a smile began to creep over my face. MerCouncilor Raine had mentioned we might experience changes because of the powerful pearls we were given. How fintastic is this?! I thought. I began to scoot off the beach and farther into the water to test out my new tail. I cringed as Frank’s voice rang out.

“Where are you going, mademoiselle? You remember what you promised ze crab? You promised to—“

“To go treasure hunting, I remember.” I groaned and waited for Frank to catch up. He smirked up at me and tapped my finger with one claw.

“You were trying to fool ze crab, were you not? You were trying to swim away!”

I pretended to look offended as I picked him up and stuck him in my long brown curls. “From you, Frank? Never.” Then I laughed, flipped into the salty Caribbean water, and began to sing.

Frank and I explored all day, mostly finding small treasures along our way. I noticed, though, as I zipped through the warm pristine water, that it was easier to find things than it had been before. Now, it’s like I can see in my mind the place where I’m going to find things before I actually get there. I fingered the orange pearls that I had tied into the ends of my hair, the gifts from the MerCouncil. I guess this is another of their enhancements to my power.

The fourth time we stopped to pick up a tiny chain of gold from a lost bracelet, Frank heaved a dramatic sigh.

“What is this? This is not treasure! These are scraps. Ze crab wants jewels! Ze crab wants gold! Ze crab wants riches!”

“Relax Frank,” I laughed, eyeing the fuming crab. “We’ll find your riches soon enough. I’m just getting warmed up!”

Frank scurried up my arm and on top of my head, studying the horizon for our next destination. He was silent for a moment. Then he shrieked and began jumping up and down.

“There! There! Ze crab wants to go there!”

“Alright, alright!” I grabbed him and rubbed my head where he had been bouncing. Those little legs are sharp! My gaze followed to where his claw was pointing, a tiny island in the distance, one that I wasn’t familiar with. Well, finally something interesting! I mused.

“Okay Frank, you win. Let’s go explore!” And just like that, we were off again. The swim took longer than I thought it would, but it was beautiful out there. Everything seemed untouched; the reefs were vibrant and teeming with life! I passed a Giant Manta Ray on my way over and I brushed two fingers across its wings as I spiraled over it. Pink and white starfish detached themselves as I sailed by, trying to catch onto my tail and hitch a ride somewhere new. While Frank leaped and twirled on my head, I sang as freely as if I was as carefree as a dolphin!

When we finally arrived at the island, the image in my head of where we were going became clearer. I saw a little cove, tucked away on an obscure side of the place. Inside the walls of rock was a tiny beach and sitting directly on it was a chest of something, I couldn’t quite figure it out yet. How strange, I thought. Shouldn’t it be buried or something? At least a little harder to get to.

“Why do you pause, your highness? Onward to gold!” Frank leaned forward off of my head, one claw pointed forward and one claw grasping a few curls to keep himself from falling off. I laughed and forgot about my worries. I’m sure someone just had to leave it behind to lighten their boatload. Lots of pirates bite off more than they can chew when it comes to treasure!

We swam along the coast of the small island until we found the cove. The water here was a little murkier, like it had been disturbed recently and the sand was just starting to settle. I popped my head out of the water as we neared the beach. Everything seemed so quiet.

“This place feels funny, Frank, don’t you think?” We neared the beach and I felt the sand beneath my tail as we crept up toward the treasure chest, just sitting there half way open.

“Mademoiselle, the treasure is just there. Let us take some and then we—“

“Get them!” A roar sounded from above us, on top of the rock walls surrounding most of the cove. Ladders and ropes dropped from every direction and men with long blades and handheld metal poppers came flying down! Frank stopped in shock, just a few paces out of my reach. My heart was in my throat as I lunged for him, grabbed his little claw along with a lot of sand, and yanked him with me as I plunged into the dark water, swimming faster than I ever have before toward the small entrance to the cove. All of the sudden I realized why the water appeared so shadowy as my eyes traveled up to find a gigantic black ship that was blocking my escape to freedom. My insides froze as one word surfaced in my mind.

Pirates.

to be continued…

Here’s a New Mermaid Tale from Mermaiden Waverlee!

Oh my ocean, I’m actually talking to humans?! This is so crazy! I can’t even wait to tell you all about what’s going on down here in the deep blue sea! First, I’ll tell you a bit more about myself than I did in my first letter:

I’m Waverlee! I have a shimmery pink tail, wavy gold curls, and crystal blue eyes. My best friend is named Bubbles—he’s a dolphin. I’m the Mermaiden of the Pacific Ocean (that means Princess down here in my world)! My father is King Francisco. He and I don’t really look alike. He has really really tan skin and a bright blue tail which complements his eyes perfectly. I’m always trying to get him to add an emerald to his gold crown that he wears for special occasions to really bring out the streaks of green in them too, but he says then it would look too queenly. Then I tell him he does have very pretty flowing locks of brown hair. He doesn’t appreciate that compliment very much.

My mother, on the other hand, does. Queen Cassandra is the single most bright, cheerful, and enchanting mermaid I’ve ever met! Even as she ages, my mother’s smile is one of the more divine things I have ever seen. Her round, shining cheeks give off a pink glow while her green eyes wrinkle just a little at the corners and when she laughs, it’s musical and very contagious. I’ve been told I look just like my mom and to me that’s the highest compliment there is!

The rest of my family is made up of my two sandy-haired little brothers, Sebastian and Coral. They’re only a year and a half apart and the silly boys do everything together! It makes me really wish I had a sister sometimes, when I see them fencing each other with swordfish and poking blowfish to make them puff up and chase each other around with the spiny things.

Even without sisters though, life isn’t bad at all! I love my home here in the Pacific! I love the warm, green waters and the sandy beaches. My favorite thing to do is go to the surface and watch all of you people up there on the beach in your pretty, pretty coverings! Do you think I could have a covering like that someday? I would give anything for a bright pink covering to wear over my tummy like you all do!

My second favorite thing to do is to hunt for human treasures. I’ve found so many strange and wonderful things to add to my growing collection! Pieces of colored glass, long chains with charms on the end, boxes, pouches, shiny rocks, gold time tellers, and even one of those big colorful things you prop up and lay under to hide from the sun. I once asked Jia, Mermaiden of the Sea of Japan, what the shade givers were, because she’s the smartest mermaid I know, and she told me she’d read about them. She thinks they’re called Uhmbrellas. I call them Uhm for short.

As nice as the surface is though, my home is pretty spectacular. The palace we live in is made of millions of shattered seashells, compressed and molded and smoothed over time to create layers upon layers of a fantastic blend of color and texture in each wall. When the sun is highest in the sky, just a little light makes its way down here and shines on our amazing home, making it positively gleam! I’ll never stop being blown away at the miracle of it all!

I can’t seem to keep my tail in one place for too long, so I often visit my friends in the kingdom sprawled around us. A lot of the homes down there are made of black stone with light green seaweed rooftops, a surprisingly pretty combination. I have lots of mermaid and mermen friends who I love to spend time with. I’ll let you in on a few stories about them later on.

When I was at the MerCouncil, I thought it was crazy how different some of our kingdoms were! While some of us, like Brynn, Destiny, and I live in places where the line between commoners and royalty is really a formality, other MerKingdoms are really different! To Serena and Jia, it seemed obvious that commoners rarely visited with the royalty, but were friendly and respectful when they did. Zoey feels like an outcast in her own kingdom because her ancestors have widened that gap between the two for generations. Crystal, the poor dear, hasn’t ever even set tail in the kingdom outside of her palace, being confined to either her home or, sometimes, the surface. No wonder Obsidian couldn’t handle being there, being the wild spirit he is.

Obsidian. Even when I think his name I can stop myself from grinning ear to ear! That lovely boy is the only merman I’ve ever met that’s like him. He’s just so…Obsidian! I can’t explain it! He’s freeing and playful and oh so handsome! I feel so…me when I’m around him! All my life I’ve just floated along, accepting compliments about my beauty, batting my eyelashes at pretty mermen who come along, and flipping from one splash to another faster than I could throw a wave! But Obsidian was different from the moment we started our playful banter. I could sense his intelligence and goodness and I started to think, what if this merman could like me for more than my pretty face? What if he could like me for the way I’m trying to be better at telling the truth? For the times I’ve taken deep breathes and not gotten angry, hurdling powerful waves at the people I’m mad at? For the smiles I’ve spread to people that I knew needed them more than they needed any words? I’d give anything to find a merman that could like me for any of those things.

Holy seastars, what have I gotten into? You all must be bored out of your fascinating human minds! Well, I guess I’ve told you all more than you can stomach for just one letter. I didn’t tell you much about Bubbles, but I’m sure you’ll get to know him much better over the time we spend together! I can’t wait for our adventure to start! See you soon, humans!

A New Mermaid Tale from Mermaiden Serena

My heart flew as high as the sun when I woke up to find a bouquet of Red Algae draped on the ledge outside my window. Leon, all of me seemed to sigh collectively. I smiled as widely as my cheeks would allow and fluttered my fingers through my hair to settle it down before shooting out my door.

“Oof!”

Nadine and I went tumbling head over tail. When the sand settled, I ended up lying across my little sister’s middle while she laid on her back, groaning and holding her nose.

“So you saw the flowers, huh?” Her congested voice threw us both into a fit of giggles. When she laughed her stomach shook and I bounced up and down, making us both laugh even harder. Nadine is only a year and a half younger than I am, but she has a more outgoing sort of personality that seems to nicely complement my more introverted nature. We’ve been close since we were little. We’d been apart for the past few weeks though, Nadine staying with our only aunt (on our mother’s side) while I went with the rest of the family to the MerCouncil.

She’d fought my Dad tooth and nail not to have to go to the MerCouncil. “It will be so dull!” She complained, “No offense, Serena.” She’d flashed me a wicked grin and I just laughed and told Dad that I didn’t mind. In truth, I thought it would have been nice to have her there with me, but Poseidon knows I ended up with six adopted sisters the moment I got there. Not counting my two littlest who are four and whom I only see occasionally—usually, at the dinner table and when they’re being chased down the halls covered in some sort of sweet they stole from the food pantry.

Aaaanyway! I pushed myself up into a sitting position and wiped the laughing tears from my eyes. Nadine tried to rise, but flopped back down in an instant. “Oof. You know, I’m starting to think this young merman is a really bad influence on you,” she said as she heaved a sigh and pushed up off the floor, exaggeratedly brushing imaginary silt specks from her arms. She continued in a mock snooty voice, shaking her head, “You get one little flower from him and go dashing into his arms like a fish on a hook, knocking helpless MerPrincesses on their royal backsides along the way. What would your mother have to say?”

I gave my little sister a hand and pulled her upright. “A lot, I’m sure. But not as much as she’d have to say on the matter of the naughtiness of a certain little mermaid who I saw snuggling with an anonymous young merman in the gardens yesterday!” My voice slowly carried in pitch and I pointed my finger at her in triumph.

Nadine’s eyes widened. “Hey keep your voice down…and don’t point that thing at me!” We giggled again as she thrust my finger down and looked around dramatically as if expecting our mother to appear out of thin air.

“Well then,” Nadine arched one of her long dark eyebrows and raised her hands, clapping slowly. “I applaud you, big sister. I’m rather impressed with your performance. Not to mention your sleuthing skills. How did you—you know what? Nevermind. I’ll figure you out yet. Now, you may take your leave.” She nodded and stood to the side, bowing formally as I began to float away.

Oh wait, I don’t know where I’m going. “Hey, Nadine! You never told me where my fisherman awaits his catch!”

My sister turned and looked at me with an expression that clearly read ‘I’m not at all certain about the sanity of the mermaid floating in front of me’.

“Your ‘fish on a hook’ metaphor?” I reminded her with a suppressed laugh.

“Ahhh, yes. Your fisherman fair had some brothers to tackle next. He said you could find him at home.”

“Thank you!” I chirped, and was on my way.

About halfway to my destination, I’m ashamed to admit, was about the time that I realized that I’d forgotten something. Or rather, someone. “Oh!” I exclaimed, as I remembered the rainbow fish whom I had neglected far too much lately. Why isn’t he here? He always follows me around! This is so unlike him.

I whirled around a little, searching the path around me for Picasso. As I thought back over the morning, I didn’t recall seeing him at all today! Hmm…well there’s only one merman Picasso has ever taken to following like he does with me. I smiled wider and swam even faster toward the kingdom below me.

The winding path that leads down the sloping rock mound that our little palace home perches on is more for decoration and as a guide than for actual merfolk use. We don’t really need paths, as we can usually just swim over anything that’s in our way. I wonder why humans don’t do that? I once asked my father and he tried to explain to me something called ‘gravity’. It was confusing and I found myself thinking that ‘gravity’ was a silly thing and why didn’t humans just get rid of it? “Bobbers are just plain strange and that’s the end of it!” as Zoey would say.

Sadly, our kingdom isn’t very colorful. It almost pains me to see the bland sand and rock houses. They look more than a little dull next to our glittering palace of diamond. I found myself wanting to skim my fingers over each dwelling I passed and transform the wilting blacks and beiges and grays into bursting shades of emerald, yellow, and violet. Maybe someday, I thought and I sped on.

Finally I came to a halt right in front of Leon’s small house made of a light gray rock. There were windows in every side of the house to allow the most light in. I ran my fingers through my hair again and cleared my throat, rehearsing what I would say in my mind. I’d never met Leon’s family before! The only time I’d been at his house was once a few months ago when he’d stopped by to tell his mother he would be out for the day. We had snuck away to have a picnic in our clearing, but he had insisted on informing his mother, although I had told him that defeated the purpose of sneaking.

Just as I lifted my fist to knock on the flimsy seaweed covering, it swung in and a slim, tall merwoman swept me into her arms. “Ah, Serena! How good it is to finally meet you! Leon’s told me so much, dearest, and I feel as though I’ve known you a long while. Come in, come in! Don’t mind the mess, if it keeps the children happy and away from hanging on my tail for a few moments, then I’m happier because of it. Oh, I’m Adella by the way.” She led me into the house and through a maze of little merboys zigzagging back and forth, playing and screaming and laughing galore. The house was small, but cozy. I could only see about three rooms jutting off the center, and two looked like they had been added recently.

Leon’s mother pulled me into what could only be the eating area and sat down on a small bench, patting the space beside her. She looked so much like Leon. Her naturally tan skin, although wrinkled a little, was still as lustrous as his. Her hair had a worn out curl to it that I imagine looked much like Leon’s in her prime. Her arms had a toned look from wrestling little boys nearly all her life, and her shoulders were broader than most. But her almond eyes and striking cheekbones gave her a very feminine beauty, as well as the daintiness of her wrists and fingers. Her tail, as well, was a glistening pattern of soft green to set off the specks of the same color in her otherwise blue eyes. I instantly knew I liked her.

As I sat beside her, Adella took my hands and smiled at me. “You do look like the kind of girl my Leon would like. Look, there’s sweetness written in the lines by your eyes and oh Neptune aren’t you pretty?” I lowered my head a little in a blush and said, “Oh thank you.”

Adella studied me for a few more seconds before straightening up and yelling, “Boys! You leave that fish alone! Oh Leon, you’re just in time. Serena just got here,” I turned to see Picasso swimming circles around Leon’s little brothers as they chased him back and forth. He had a wide grin on his little face as he dodged little hands. Leon had just emerged from one of the three sleeping rooms and came floating forward toward us with a wide grin on his face. He reached us and pulled a stool over to sit right beside me. “Hey, you,” he whispered.

“Now Leon, you explain to me why I haven’t met this darling girl before now?” Adella lifted one eyebrow and stared at her son with a piercing gaze. Leon merely smiled and leaned forward to kiss his mom on the forehead and said, “Now Mom you know it wasn’t you I was hiding her from. I was more concerned with keeping her safe from the heathens (He pointed back at his six brothers as he said this) so they wouldn’t scare her off.”

Adella made a show of looking me up and down. “I don’t know, Leon she looks like a sturdy girl to me. I’m not sure you’re giving her enough credit!”

Leon turned his green eyes on me again and smiled so widely his dimples showed. “I think you’re right, Mama. She’s even better than I ever thought she’d be.”

I could have been an iceberg and right then and there he would have melted me with his smoldering smile and flaming eyes. I’m sure my cheeks were red as a lobster and so I quickly laughed and turned towards Adella for help. The heaven sent angel shooed Leon away for a moment so that “we girls” could talk. Then I insisted on helping her clean up the boys for an early dinner and I enjoyed a lovely meal of fresh oysters and seaweed soup.

After dinner, Adella, Leon, and I watched the boys play outside while we talked. I entertained them both with stories of Picasso and my sisters, as well as brought them the news from the MerCouncil. When Adella asked to see my power, I asked her what color she would choose for her home, if any. “Well,” she said, standing back and looking at it. “I’ve always adored a nice sky blue.”

“Done,” I grinned. Picturing the perfect hue, I raised my hands and pointed them at the house. Immediately a whirl of blue enveloped the house and in seconds the entire structure was a lovely shade of sky blue, while the window edges were laced with lovely white shells. Adella’s eyes went wide and her hand shot up to her mouth. “Oh! Oh Serena it’s so lovely!”

As I waved goodbye that evening, Adella gathered her six younger boys around her and they all waved and shouted their sweet little goodbyes. Leon accompanied me back to the palace, my hand in his the entire way with Picasso spinning circles around us like he was dancing. As we reached the doors of my own home, Leon pulled me to a stop. My fishy friend went on ahead to scout for the tiny oysters he sometimes found in the ground.

“What you did for my mother, Serena. That was beyond amazing. I just…thank you.” He looked at me with such adoration and love in his eyes I felt like I had given him the moon. “It was nothing special,” I shrugged. “I just wanted to do something to repay her for her kindness. And to show off.” He laughed and looked down at our fingers that were entwined.

“I was a little nervous to meet your family,” I admitted. “But your mother is so wonderful! She just scooped me into her arms and made me feel like I’d known her forever.”

Leon smiled and nodded. “She’s been so excited to meet you, to finally have someone she could treat like a daughter. I know she loves all of us boys but I think she’s lonely for a girl.”

“Well you just tell her that any time she needs her girl time, I’m always there for her.”

“She’ll be happy to hear that.”

Leon’s face suddenly went serious. Slowly, he brought one of my hands up and laid a light kiss on my knuckles. Then again, he softly kissed my other hand. My heart began to race until I was sure he could hear the rapid beating. Leon’s eyes glittered in the dark as he leaned closer to me, his nose brushing mine.

Just then, something smacked me in the back of the head. “Ow!” I yelled, my head snapping forwards. “Ow!” Leon yelled, holding his nose from where it had collided with my forehead. “Oh, oh, oh I’m so sorry!” I reached forward to touch his nose, then thought better of it. I whirled around and saw Picasso looking very guilty. I scooped up the shell he had spit at me and looked at him. His thick red lips were puckered and his eyes were wide in innocence, as if he had no idea what had just happened.

Behind me, Leon began to laugh. I shook my head but smiled along with him. “I’m sorry, Leon. I don’t know what got into him.”

Leon shook his head and smiled down at me, still holding his nose and wincing. “No, it’s my fault. I’m so glad to see you home again, Serena. I missed you so much.” Taking his hand away from his nose, he bent and quickly kissed my forehead, keeping one eye on Picasso as he did it. “There. See, Picasso, I mean her no harm.” Then he turned to me, “Goodnight, Serena.”

With one last half-smile, Leon turned and dashed away, down the hill. I watched him go with both a tinge of sadness and hope. Then I turned toward Picasso, grabbed him, and tucked him under my arm. “Come on, you miserable little fish, you. It’s a good thing you’re so cute.”