Serendipity's Interlude (Sequel to The Call)

Feelings like the tides

"The humans fear us. Fear turns to hate, hate turns to violence, and violence leads to death. The death of a sister hits her sisters, as well as the surface dweller she loves. There is nothing good that will come of it. This is why we stay beneath the surface. Especially you, Madeline," Ocean Mother says, with Cora and Ingrid echoing her. She says that every time too.

"You're sure you want to do this?" Fury asks for the millionth time. I roll my eyes and continue wrestling with this human torture device otherwise known as a bikini- behind the makeshift curtain. Fury brought himself, me, Steve, and Bucky down to a secluded corner of the coast. The plan is that Barnes will accompany me, Steve will guard our entry point, and I will bring Cora her medication. After being informed of what this group, Parallel, has done; I agree that our best course of action is for me to lay low on the surface for a while. Grace has hopefully moved them to another cave, so the others should be hidden, but there are eyes everywhere on the surface.

"Yes, I am sure that I would not like my sister to die a painful death," I reply. Fury huffs. Once I am confident that this useless piece of fabric will stay put, I step back out into the small clearing.

"Sergeant Barnes has your antidote, so you can't ditch him," Fury says. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"He's human. The whole idea of our new cave is that humans can't get there?" I point out before coughing a bit. The air is so dry and so empty, I don't know if I'll ever get used to this.

"She's right, it's not like I've got gills," Barnes says.

"No, but you've got this," Steve holds out a small device. "It filters out the oxygen from the water. Infinite use, pretty sturdy, and worst-case scenario your oxygen saturation dips a couple percent."

Barnes nods and takes the device, tossing it up in the air a couple of times.

"Is that the only difficulty you wish to instill upon me today, Director?" I ask, turning to address the man. He huffs in annoyance. I'll take that as a yes.

"Difficulty?" Barnes murmurs.

"Oh, if you think I've got a problem with it, wait until my sisters find out I brought a man to the Cove," I say, stepping up to the cliff. "Will that be all?" I ask, turning around to face him. The open air behind me and the water below are calling me. I might step off accidentally.

"Try not to die," Steve says like the babysitter he is. I mock salute and jump off the edge, plunging to the bottom of the shallow ocean. As soon as the tips of my toes hit the water, I realize how much I've been yearning to be home. I inhale my first breath of good saltwater and stop resisting the urge to merge back into my tail. My bottoms are pushed off as my thighs start to meld together and Barnes hits the water next to me. My legs melt together from top to bottom, my feet flatten and stretch into my fin, and the scales trickle downwards.

As soon as my muscles are solidified I stretch my tail, twisting all the ways I can to move every muscle.

"Alright," I say, turning to Barnes, who is seemingly still in shock. "Yes, that is a 'mermaid' tail," I add as a side note in an annoyed voice. "First of all, I can talk underwater; you can't, so don't try. All you will end up with is a lungful of water that you humans can't utilize. When we get to the Cove, there will be an air pocket, and I will address all concerns at that point." I list off. Barnes nods, awkwardly floating in place.

"Second, I will be summoning a current to move you along, because that will be less work on both our parts. It is highly unlikely to drown you, so don't punch me again. Third, and most important: anything you see on this excursion stays in the Cove." I enunciate carefully. "This Serendipity woman has given you as much knowledge as you will need to share with each other. Are we understood?" I ask. Barnes nods again.