Splash of Love | j.hs au

Chapter 3

The shark mermaid explained what a necklace was. It was some type of chain thing that went around the neck and usually had what she called a pendant. It sounded pretty! So now you were to wait until nightfall to sneak into one of the council's homes and steal it back. And of course, it had to be from Neptune. The angriest one and leader of the bunch. Ironically he was named after one of the sea gods.

For now, you swam around and returned home for dinner. Dinner was quiet and the tension was there. There were small conversations but you really didn't participate in them. You hung around home, polishing the pearls from the oyster beds. It felt like it took forever for your family to get settled and fall asleep. Once they did, you silently got up and exited your house. You went to your destination; Neptune's home. A frown made its way onto your face. Why was his home larger than most?

It was higher up in the sea rock and you were guessing a larger cave than what most mermaids had. Entering it, your eyes took a while to adjust to the darkness but once they did, you were on the move. Although your eyesight allowed you to see a little better in the dark, you used echolocation like a dolphin. You continued following the tunnel of the cave until you came to a large open space. Neptune was there, sleeping on the large sea rock. Quietly as you could, you swam behind him to see another smaller opening in the rock that acted like a smaller cave. Here were the different things he collected. And you got to work.

For a while, it was difficult to not move things too much in fear of waking Neptune up. At last, you found what the shark mermaid described. A pendant as bright as red with gold string attached to it. Clutching the necklace (what a strange name) to your side, you began to make your escape. You froze upon hearing Neptune shift and mumbles coming from his throat. Your heartbeat inside of your chest and you feared it may wake him up. Thank the Sea God, Poseidon, that he did not wake up. Quickly, you made your way out of there and were finally outside. Releasing a breath of relief, you headed back towards the direction of the shark mermaid.

You found yourself back at the cave and eagerly went inside. "Here it is!" You held out the necklace which startled the poor shark mermaid.

"You scared me..." She looked up from the rock bowl in the middle of the cave. Some type of purple green liquid was swirling around in it. A smile formed on her face as she gently handled the necklace. "It really is mine again..." Then she put it on her neck.

"Thank you dear." She said and looked into the liquid. "Come by in the morning, I'm almost done with enchanting the bracelet for you."

You were a bit confused. "A bracelet? What's that?" The shark mermaid let out a sigh but still explained what it was. "Oh! That sounds nice!"

"Yes dear. Now shoo." She waved her hand and now you realized the long nails that curved downwards. "I need full concentration."

"Alright." You agreed. "I'll be back then." With that being done, you headed back home. That night, you couldn't sleep well. You guessed that it must have been at least two moon spots. Once the sun penetrated the entrance of your home, you got up. You took a look at your family and your heart felt heavy at the thought of leaving them. Your eyes picked up a seashell a little further away from you. You went over to it and picked it up.

Now, you could dabble in a little magic just like all mermaids but it wasn't that powerful. With one hand, you hovered above the shell and it glowed, awaiting for your message. In a whisper, you said, "I'm exploring but one day I'll be back."

It was simple and short. You laid the shell by the entrance of your home.

"Y/N?" A small tired voice asked. You spun around to see your little brother rubbing his eyes. "Where are you going?"

A smile came onto your face as you patted his head. "I'm going to explore for a while. I'll be back within a few weeks, okay?"

Your little brother grew quiet. "But..."

"Don't worry. I need to do this for myself." You said and your little brother gave up.

"Okay. Don't get hurt." He said and you gave him a hug. He returned to bed and out of the home you went.

Finally, you reached the cave and slowly swam in. The shark mermaid looked up with a toothy grin. Her shark teeth flashing their sharp points. "I finally did it!" She was sitting on a rock but leaned to the side to pick something up. She held it out and gestured for you to take it. "The enchantment was difficult but I managed to do it. I have to explain a couple of rules."

You took the bracelet and held it in your palms. Your eyes traced over the gold band with a deep green stone in the middle. It was pretty.

"One, this bracelet will give you legs. Just don't take it off in the middle of the street unless you want people to know you're a mermaid." The shark mermaid began. "Two, the bracelet won't work if you're completely submerged in water. It was a damn loophole. And three, if someone finds out you're a mermaid then the bracelet will lose the enchantment. And that's everything."

You nodded, keeping a mental note of everything. "Got it! What's your name? You never told me."

The shark mermaid rubbed her tired eyes. "Just call me Hae. Oh, I left a bag with some clothes for you by the rocks. Now I need some sleep."

Excited, you clutched the bracelet close to you. "Thank you so much!" She waved a hand and you swam excitedly out of the sea cave. Underneath the sunlight streaming through the ocean, the bracelet was shining brilliantly. You couldn't believe this! Finally, you were going to explore land! Quickly, you swam to the area that had large rocks. As slowly as you could, you broke the surface of the water and scanned the area for any humans. There were none, well except for one who was running along the beach but they were already away from the rocks.

After checking that the coast was clear, you made your way closer to the shore. You looked near the rocks for a bag of clothes (you're still unsure what they are) and you think you found them! They were sitting behind a large rock. You heaved yourself to sit upon the large rock and carefully put the bracelet onto your lap. You inspected the clothes, the material was nice on both of them! Now here comes the moment of truth.

You slipped the bracelet on and saw it glow brightly and then your legs did too! A gasp escaped your mouth as you watched your once normal tail turn into a pair of legs! You lifted one up seeing some extra limbs on it. You tested them out and watched how they wiggled. This was so exciting!

Looking back at the clothes, you lifted up one. It was plain black... uh, what is it called? And the other piece was... different as it only had three holes. Alright, so how do you put this on? It took a longer time that you care to admit but you think you got them on! The black piece of clothes went on your top half body and the longer piece of clothes went on your lower half! You took a peek in the bag since you thought you saw something earlier and there was!

Inside was a note along with another thing and some seaweed looking rectangles. The note explained she had given you a shirt, sweatpants, shoes and money. Apparently, money was used on land to trade for things you wanted. Towards the end of the note, Hae said she would join you on land and to be by the beach at night so she could teach you a bit of human life. You're so thankful that you made a friend!

You put on the shoes (again it took a while to do so) and stood up. Beneath you, your legs wobbled. And then you fell onto the sandy beach. The sand automatically clung to your wet skin. Alright, let's try this again! You slowly stood up again and this time, you leaned against the rock.

Legs were going to be hard to work with.