Merworld

Page 1

Why. Why. Why in all that is holy in this city does my father have to be obsessed with the Idol of Eden. Couldn't he have a normal desire to please a god that didn't bless our family with fertility. I think of it as more of a curse then a blessing. Though my mother would tell me to be grateful. Without this particular God, I and my sister wouldn't exist. I understood that but I felt it draw too much attention when we went to the Idol's temple to pay homage every year.

My father was a merman, I loved him, he had met my mother, a maid of the Arthropod kind. It was unusual for someone of my mothers kind to mate and marry outside of her kind. Since most species outside their own find them unattractive. While they looked like a Mermaid from the waist up from the waist down, they had two sets of legs the first slightly longer than the second, and a long fan-like tail all covered in a hard exoskeleton. They could be many colors and patterns. Most consider them unsightly or gangly. I'd asked him once why he'd fallen in love with someone that most considered to be borderline ugly.

He'd told me that the first thing he'd noticed about my mother was the swift kick she'd given a male for insulting her. He'd been more than a little impressed and had to talk to her. From there he'd said it wasn't hard to see how beautiful she was with her spherical blue's and green's on her tail. The biggest trouble had been convincing his family he genuinely loved her. From there the next hardest was finding out that a mixed birth of their kinds was going to be impossible. They'd paid homage to every god and asked for help, the only god to respond was technically a goddess but she was a little androgynous, so most just stuck with god, Eden. She'd told my parents that they would have fertility but in return they must devote their lives to acceptance of all kinds and all mixes. They'd agreed readily and as they say the rest is history. My sister and I were unique. While we were Arthropod in looks mostly, what set us apart was instead of the stone hard exoskeleton we were covered in scales like my father. We got our fair share of funny looks, but most simply got a look at us then ignored us.

I was grateful for Eden's help after all I did like being alive, however I think it would have been an easier life for my sister and I, if we weren't thanking a fertility god who prefers all their worshipers to pay homage in the nude.

I looked around us at the gathering of people exhorting the god Eden for help and wondered, not for the first time, how Eden decided who to help and who not too. I was pulled from my musings by cousin Freesia hurried over. As a mermaid she was gorgeous, doubly so since she was a rare bio-luminescent scaled maid. She grabbed my hand and jerked me down so she could whisper in my ear.

"He's here." I glanced around.

"Where?" she gave a quick point. I followed it and saw her hearts desire laughing with some of his friends. He was a red merman, with a nice smile and huge ego. I had to admit though he had done some great things for my fathers cause. "So, go talk to him." I prodded.

"No. Are you crazy? You know how I get when I'm nervous." I rolled my eyes.

"I can have dad introduce you."

"What? No." I gave her a teasing grin and turned to my father.

"Dad?" he turned. "I was wondering if you'd do Freesia a favor and introduce her to Alex Blair. She's been very impressed with his work for you."

"Of course, come on." she was sputtering as he led her toward the man. I just laughed as I watched them chat with the man. I wasn't surprised when after a few minutes dad came back leaving her there.

"How bad did she blush?" I asked him.

"Ooh, it was a bright one. He's going to show her around for me, this being her first trip here and all. I didn't know she was interested in him."

"She's been all about him since she saw him and heard me cursing his name." my father winced. That had been a bad day. Alex had insulted me and my sister both, unintentionally, by making a comment about goddess blessed babies being dimwitted. I'd nearly knocked his head off. He'd apologized profusely but I'd held it against him ever since. Patty, my sister, ran up skidding to a halt next to me.

"I just met the most fascinating guy." I rolled my eyes. She was easily impressed so I wasn't going to hold my breath with this. thankfully my mother interrupted asking for my assistance packing things up. We were headed to the annual Mixed-Race Acceptance Convention and Symposium. My father had started it when I was a child and it had grown by leaps and bounds. It was now being held in the largest hotel in the entire kingdom. It had thousands of people attending and more each year. I'd met some very interesting people.

While my mother and father dealt with set up and preparation after we arrived my sister and I made sure that the guests were settled correctly, and the speakers greeted and prepped. I was currently tapping one of my short legs, impatiently waiting for a bellboy to show up and help a guest with their bags. A felt someone bump into me from behind and turned. It was Larson, he came every year, and it wasn't to help. He was apposed to the acceptance of so many mixes. I wasn't sure why he came. He never said much publicly but he frowned and would start in if you asked the wrong question in front of him.

"Larson." I said obviously unhappy to see him.

"Neera, pardon me. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"uh-huh." I replied noncommittally.

"Your parents have surpassed themselves once again. You must be proud. I heard that even Carson Lowe made it out this year." Carson Lowe was a mix race how owned a very popular magazine. I thought his so called activism on mixed race was a little exploitive.