Fins

by Ashley L. Knight

  It also seemed to be a meeting place of all the beautiful people. Everyone was slim, toned and tanned. I looked like a sick grub compared to them and I felt more than uncomfortable. I sank deeper into my shell seat and sucked down some water from a crystal goblet.

  “What do you think of the place?” Mom asked excitedly.

  “It’s, um…” I paused – what would be the correct adjective?

  “I know!” Mom was almost giddy. “It’s beyond words! This is my most favorite place to eat. It’s fantastic!”

  “My dearest Elan!” A deep and soothing voice called from behind us and when I turned, I was met by a giant. Seriously, the man had to be close to seven feet tall.

  “Vitahl!”

  The man kissed Mom’s hand. “So good to see you!”

  He moved to Tammer’s side and shook his hand. “How is my most favorite couple?”

  “Very good, thank you,” Tammer patted his hand and gestured to me. “This is Elan’s eldest daughter, Morgan.”

  Recognition swept over Vitahl’s face and in a moment he was by my side, taking my hand in his and kissing it.

  “I have heard so much about you, Morgandy. I am honored to meet you.”

  It was a bit much. Honored? It wasn’t as if I’d won the Nobel Peace Prize or anything.

  “Nice to meet you,” I said and withdrew my hand.

  “For my honored guests, I shall make a fantastic feast,” he continued theatrically and in an instant, had disappeared.

  “Isn’t he just the most wonderful man?” Mom was practically swooning. “He’s from France and is the most brilliant chef in Florida!”

  “Uh huh,” I said, distracted by a group of people at another table across the restaurant from us. It was the Dartmoth’s. Akin, Herra, and Gavran were looking back at me. An older man who most likely was their father was eating and talking, seemingly unaware they weren’t listening. Herra leaned forward and whispered into Akin’s ear and a nasty smile grew across his face.

  I looked away and down at the pile of green seaweed that had been placed in front of me. Did they seriously expect me to eat that? It looked like algae.

  “What the heck is this?” I asked in disgust.

  “It’s a lot better than it looks. It’s very healthy for us and it will help your hair grow.” Mom said and realized she’d made a derogatory remark. “I’m sorry, Morgandy, but most of the mermaids have long hair. It was just a slip up.”

  When I didn’t say anything, she pushed her seaweed around with a fork.

  “Really, just try it?”

  I poked at the green thing on my plate. Most likely, if I tried it, I’d barf. Looking up, I saw the three Dartmoth’s still staring at me, but now their father was, as well. I looked back at my plate. Here goes nothing. I wound the stuff around my fork and shoved it into my mouth. I heard someone laugh.

  It tasted like pure salt and I nearly gagged. Forcing myself to swallow, tears welled up in my eyes.

  Tammer laughed. “It does take getting used to.”

  I stood up and Mom looked worried.

  “What’s wrong?” She asked.

  “I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” I hastily scanned the restaurant for the bathroom sign.

  “It’s down that hallway,” Tammer pointed, stifling a grin.

  “Thanks,” I said as sarcastically as I could and made a break for the hallway. It was unfairly long. After making a left turn there was more hallway. After another left turn, I found the ladies bathroom.

  Standing over the toilet, I poised myself to throw up. Nothing happened, and after a few minutes of unease, I was able to leave the safety of the toilet and sit down on a pretty chair in the corner. I’d be fine as long as I didn’t have to eat any more seaweed.

  So far, I wasn’t making a very good mermaid. Shouldn’t I just be able to eat anything and everything Mom and Tammer did? I was a mermaid, after all. I stood and washed my hands. Although most of this so far had been fairly easy to adapt to, I had a feeling this was probably going to be the hardest thing I’d ever had to do.

  I started to make my way back to the dining room area. As I turned the first corner, I bumped straight into a very hard chest.

  “Sorry!” I said and looked up into Akin’s face.

  “Well, hello,” he said and something about the way he said it gave me a chill.

  “Hi,” I said quickly and moved to go around him. He stepped in front of me.

  “You’re a newbie. Where are you from?” He asked.

  I looked up at him and frowned. “I’m sorry?”

  “Yes, you already said that. I said, you’re a newbie. So, where are you from?”

  I didn’t know what to say. “Idaho?” I stammered and tried to go around him. Again, he blocked my way.

  “Idaho,” he nodded. “So you’re a Halfling then.”

  “Would you please let me pass?” I asked, growing angry. He didn’t move.

  “A Halfling from Idaho – you’re Elan’s then?”

  What in the world was wrong with this guy? I put my hands on my hips and squared off with him. “Yes, Elan’s my mother, Tammer’s my stepfather and you, Akin, are in my way. Move.”

  Quick as lightning, he grabbed my waist and pushed me back against the wall. His whole body was pressed into mine and he moved his hands up my sides.

  “Stop it!” I cried and tried to push him off, but he didn’t budge. He bent down and pushed his face into my neck, smelling me.

  “Oh, you are a firecracker!” He said nastily and pushed himself harder against me. I could barely breathe. “I enjoy a challenge.” His hands were just under my arms and his thumbs pushed out and rubbed down the sides of my breasts. When I started to scream, he covered my mouth with his hand and pushed his face millimeters away from mine.

  “What does he see in a Halfling?” He asked and quickly released me. I fell to the floor. When I looked up, he was gone.

  I didn’t know what to do. Normally, I am very strong, almost brazen at times, but this had taken me completely by surprise. My hands were shaking. I was angry. What was wrong with me? I needed to stop being a baby and go out there and confront the Dartmoth’s.

  Standing, I tried to compose myself. I was resolved to confront Akin whether we were in a restaurant or not. My breathing quickened and I felt on the verge of having a panic attack. This made me even angrier with myself. I was supposed to be strong!

  Striding back into the restaurant, I stopped in my tracks when I saw the Dartmoth’s table was empty. I scanned the restaurant, but it was obvious they had already left. I stood in the middle of the table’s feeling out of place and sick. My mom and Tammer were chatting away, and suddenly Tammer looked straight at me. His smile fell from his face and he stood abruptly.

  “Morgan!” He yelled across the room and Mom dropped her glass.

  Everything grew quiet as all eyes were on us. I was shaking so hard, I found it hard to stand. The feelings in me were almost uncontrollable and I felt glued to the spot. Things started moving in slow motion.

  I watched Tammer running toward me, Mom seconds behind him. It was as if I were watching a movie on slow tracking. Tammer was graceful in the way he moved. Mom’s dress flew behind her, the material rippling as if caught in a current.

  Before they reached me, I felt hands grabbing my waist and lifting me into the air. I wanted to stop whoever it was that was touching me, but my body started to convulse. My head felt like it was on fire. I could feel that golden orb Mom told me about begin to quickly and uncontrollably grow in my mind. All I could see was that beautiful golden light. It was comforting to be surrounded in it. I could have stayed wrapped in the cocoon forever. It was soothing, yet so powerful. The energy encased me in its power and I gave in to it.

  I was thrown into cold water. The second the water covered my head, the golden energy around me exploded and threw my body into an arch - my arms behind me, my head thrown backwards. I felt my legs phase into a tail and I sank to the bottom.

 
; Opening my eyes, I stared up at the water’s surface several feet above me. If it had been pitch dark, I would have been terrified, but the sun hadn’t gone down yet, and the evening light shone through, lighting the water all around me. To my left were the wooden legs of the pier I’d obviously been thrown from. Seaweed grew around their bases and barnacles had attached themselves up the side of the trunks.

  I thought it odd there were no fish around. I sat up and looked out to the depths of the ocean. There they were. They all seemed to be in a line and were staring at me from several yards away. It was incredibly odd and made me feel nervous. A shark loomed behind them, suspended in the water, staring at me as well. Nothing happened and not a thing moved. It was eerie.

  Then there was a splash and Tammer’s form flashed above me. He swam down to where I sat on the sandy bottom and knelt in front of me. He looked shocked and upset.

  “Are you all right?” He asked.

  Physically, I was fine. Emotionally, I was drained but I felt very peaceful.

  “Yes, I think so,” I said.

  “Do you know what just happened?”

  “No.”

  “We’ve not ever seen this before, Morgan. We’ve all heard about it. We’ve read about it in our histories, but we’ve never actually seen this happen before.”

  “What happened?” I asked and pushed my floating hair out of my face. Wait a moment! I screamed.

  “No!” Tammer’s voice rose above mine. The fish darted away, followed by the clumsy shark. “Morgan! Calm down, let me explain!”

  “Explain?” I shrieked. “Why do I suddenly have long hair?” It was impossible, all of this. I had to be in a coma somewhere, dreaming all of this. That was the only explanation.

  “Morgan, you are incredibly powerful. This is a very rare gift you have. Something happened up there in the restaurant that set off very deep emotions within you. Normally we’d just deal with it, but your body released what we call The Fire and you were not able to control it. If not for Vitahl, you would have released the energy above water and set everything around you on fire. It’s an incredible gift you have, but when you don’t know how to control it, you can devastate everything around you.”

  A dead fish floated past us and Tammer took it into his hand. Mom dove into the water, phasing on her way down to us. She put her arms around me and held me for a moment.

  “Honey, we didn’t expect this. Now you see why we keep saying that there’s so much to tell you. Half of it you’re going to experience before we can tell you.”

  Tammer handed her the fish and she held it between her hands. A tiny sliver of light escaped through her fingers and when she opened her hands, the little fish quickly wriggled out and darted behind the pier.

  “Why do I have long hair?” I asked, near tears.

  “It happens to all of us when we first experience our gifts. It alters how we look.”

  Alters how we look? Was I suddenly a troll?

  Tammer shook his head. “Not at all. One of my powers is the ability to read minds, but I can only do it when the person is with me. So no, you don’t look like a troll. In fact, you’re quite beautiful.”

  “You’ve always been beautiful Morgandy,” Mom interrupted, “and you’ll always be beautiful.”

  This was too much. What had happened? What started this in me? Why was I so angry? Then the memory of what Akin did to me in the hallway returned and I started to shake again. As this happened, Tammer looked livid.

  “Elan, I’m going to visit the Dartmoth’s.” He spat and then whispered in Mom’s ear. She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Tammer started for the surface.

  “Darling, please be careful!” She called after him.

  “Elan, if I don’t go now, he’ll attack her.” He phased and surfaced as a human.

  Chapter Six

  Thayde

  Vitahl took care of Mom and me that night. After phasing back, Mom guided me back to the beach, where we were met with the shocked stares of the restaurant patrons. No one said a word as we passed them. Vitahl wrapped us in blankets and loaded us into his Range Rover. We were home in minutes.

  One of the first things I did was go and take a good long look in the mirror. What I saw took me back a few steps. I hadn’t changed that much, but there was definitely a difference. For one, my skin was a golden color, as if I were slightly tanned. My eyes seemed brighter; my skin, clearer.

  My hair was the most drastic change. Before, it had been a few inches long and now fell in one length down to my waist. It too, had changed color, lightening quite a bit, almost as if I had gone to the stylist and requested a ton of highlights. It was beautiful, but how it had happened was shocking. This was definitely going to take some getting used to.

  Mom said that she and Vitahl would explain as much as they could before Tammer got home. She told me to try not to freak out, which was bordering on nearly impossible. Vitahl ordered Mom and me into our baths and after we were finished, we were met with new, soft blankets and told to curl up on the couch in the living room.

  The tall, gentle man smiled sweetly as he relaxed into the white couch and folded his long legs. He eased back against the pillows and nodded before beginning.

  “Every merperson has powers beginning at birth. Sometimes these powers are immediately evident and other times they form after maturity. Halflings - those who are half human and half mermaid - aren’t usually able to do anything other than occasionally breathe underwater. Many times, they aren’t able to phase at all. Once in a while, Halflings will be born with a power, but it usually destroys them.”

  “What would have happened if you hadn’t thrown me into the water?” I asked.

  “You would have killed yourself and burned down my restaurant.” He answered. “There are ways to control your power. You will learn what your powers are and how to control them soon.”

  “What kinds of powers are there?”

  “Many. You’ve seen them at work already. Tammer has the ability to read minds. He can also control the weather. Your mother has the ability to heal, bring the near dead back to life, and she has what we call The Love, which means that human men fall in love with her very easily. Naira can calm others and read minds.”

  I suddenly realized that it was through Naira’s powers that I was able to deal with my father’s death so well and handle my depression.

  Vitahl continued, cautioning me to be wary of the merfamilies who were feuding with each other. He explained that the Dartmoth’s were at the heart of it. They were from a pure line that dated back to the beginning of the long standing feud. When Troen took power, they were infuriated that the line fell to him and they left the original family. They claimed different parts of the oceans and set limitations on who could go where. Troen had asked the families to try to solve the matter peacefully, but after a thousand years, his absence had fueled the hatred. Tammer’s father and two brothers had been killed by Ramus, the head of the Dartmoth family, who was now in hiding in the depths of the Pacific Ocean.

  “I don’t understand the whole age thing.” I said.

  Mom sighed. “Merpeople don’t age the way humans do. We age at a lot slower rate.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked. “You mean like Aragorn in Lord of the Rings?”

  She laughed. “Yes, that’s a very good example. One year to merpeople is like five years to humans.”

  “That’s why Naira seems so advanced…” I trailed off in thought.

  “That’s right.”

  It was mind boggling. But what did that mean when it came to me?

  “You’re probably wondering if you’re going to age the same way,” Mom said, resting her head on the back of the sofa. “You will. Merpeople quickly reach maturity, but after the human age of eighteen, they slow down and there are a few who live extraordinarily long lives. Troen is said to be at least 1500 years old. Most of us don’t live past 800 years.”

  “So that would make Ramus the exception?”

  “Ye
s, one of his gifts was long life.”

  “What happened with Tammer and you?” I asked. She looked so uneasy, I almost felt guilty I’d asked.

  “I knew one day you’d ask me this. We fell in love when we were fifteen. I met him when my family attended a council meeting. Once every ten years, the elders from the heads of the families meet. We were both with our fathers. We found out later that our families had always intended us to be together. The minute we met, we were inseparable. He’s the love of my life.”

  I winced, thinking of Dad. She must have read my mind.

  “Not that I didn’t love your father, Morgandy, but there’s a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. Your father was a sweet and kind human who took care of me when I was in trouble. He knew nothing about merfolk. I stayed with him for as long as I could, but I desperately missed Tammer. I had to go back to him.”

  “Yeah,” I said, blandly. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked Tammer but it was hard to hear Mom talk about Dad that way.

  It was about that time Tammer got back. His face scowled and he paced back and forth as he told us that he’d gone to the Dartmoth house and demanded to speak to Akin and his father, Limus. They refused to see him until Tammer had threatened to bring on a thunderstorm the likes of which they’d never seen and tear apart their house.

  Tammer demanded Akin admit what he had done. Of course Akin had refused, stating that I was a lying little Halfling. This greatly offended Tammer but before he could bring the rain, Limus dissolved the situation by saying that while he didn’t believe Akin had done anything wrong, he would order Akin to stay away from me and forced him to apologize to Tammer for calling me a Halfling. With that, they’d turned on their heels and left Tammer standing in their driveway.

  “Akin shouldn’t go against his father’s wishes,” Tammer said, “but Morgan, if he ever threatens you or comes near you again, you have my full permission to set him on fire.”