Captive Scales

2

"So you're saying that there's a mermaid being held captive in the aquarium, and you want to rescue them?" Niki raised an eyebrow.

Wilbur nodded, his hair bouncing on his forehead.

"You know that sounds absolutely crazy, right?" Jack told him.

Wilbur frowned at him. Eret shrugged in agreement.

"Look, Wil, the boat accident was only three months ago-" Niki started.

Wilbur glared at her. This wasn't a trauma induced hallucination. This was the life of a creature who was trapped far away from their home.

"Y'know," Jack sat up straight, "why don't we just check it out? I want to see this mermaid!"

"Jack!" Eret yelped.

"I'm serious!" Jack shrugged, "if it's real then we'll help him!"

Wilbur smiled, nodding at his friends. Niki sighed, her shoulders slumping.

"Okay." Niki said, "let's sneak into this aquarium."

"Are you sure it's this way?" Jack whispered as the four snuck through the aquarium.

Wilbur nodded, putting a finger to his lips. He lead them down to the door he found before. The teen tried the doorknob. It was locked, of course.

"Let me try." Niki pulled a pin out of her hair and knelt next to the lock.

"Hurry, we don't want to get caught." Eret said quietly.

Niki nodded, still working on the lock. She twisted the pin and a click sounded. The girl stood with a wide smile. Niki pushed the door open.

Niki smiled, "After you-"

"What are you doing?"

The four teens jumped. Wilbur turned to see his right year old brother and his friend standing a short ways away.

"Tommy! Tubbo!" Eret knelt by the kids, "what are you two doing here?"

"There's three of us." Tubbo piped up, "Fundy already went down the stairs."

"What!? Jack yelped.

"Oh for f-" Eret put their hands in her hair.

Wilbur cursed mentality, running down the stairs. This was no place for the eight year olds to be. Fundy could get himself hurt down there, or scare the mer even more.

Wilbur made it down the stairs. The mer was still in their tank, floating at eye level with a wide eyes Fundy. The child seemed speechless, but unharmed.

"Wil! Wait for-!" Niki slowed her steps as she made it down to the room, "woah..."

The mer looked up sharply, swimming to the back of the tank.

Slowly, the rest of the group filtered in. Tommy ran up to Wilbur, hiding behind his legs.

"Wilby, what's that?" Tommy asked.

"It's actually a mermaid..." Eret whispered, "you were right..."

Jack walked up to the glass. The mer bared their teeth, making Jack jump back.

"Uh, they don't seem very friendly..." Jack said, "how exactly were you expecting to rescue them?"

Wilbur shrugged, typing something on his phone.

"The lake near our house?" Niki read out, "Wil, how are going to get them there."

Wilbur frowned, looking towards the ground.

"Tubbo brought his wagon." Tommy said.

"Wait, really?" Jack asked.

Tubbo nodded, "it's up the stairs."

The teens looked at each other. A few minutes later, the group had brought the wagon down. It was definitely large enough to carry the mer, and deep enough to hold some water in it as well.

The entire time the mer was watching them curiously, only getting slightly distracted by the kids running around the glass. The mer would chase after the kids, doing small spins to entertain them.

"Okay," Eret said as they finished preparing the wagon, "how are we going to get them into the wagon?"

Wilbur frowned, putting a hand to his chin. The mer peeked their head over the edge of the tank. Tommy reached his arms up to them. The mer hung their a over the edge. Tommy smiled as he grabbed the mers hand. Then with the help of Tubbo and Fundy, the kids pulled the mer out of the tank.

"Tommy!" Niki yelped.

"We got him out!" Tommy smiled.

The mer screeched, his tail slamming the ground as he tried to move. His hair clung to his face as he glared around at the group. He bared his teeth and his pupils were narrow slits.

Wilbur stepped up to the mer, holding his hands up. The mers chest was heaving, a wild look in his eyes. He lashed out at Wilbur with sharp claws. Wilbur jumped back, narrowly dodging the mer.

But Wilbur wasn't giving up that easily. He knelt down to the mer, reaching out a hand. The mers eyes flicked between them. Slowly, the mer grabbed the humans hand.

Wilbur smiled, picking up the mer and setting him in the wagon. The mer curled up, sinking as low as he could in the shallow water.

"You did it..." Niki whispered.

Wilbur nodded, starting to pull the wagon towards the stairs.

"Now, how exactly are you planning on getting him up?" Jack crossed his arms.

Niki hit his arm, "were helping him obviously."

"What!?" Jack yelped, "that mermaid nearly took Wilbur's arm off! I'm not getting near him!"

Eret sighed, moving to the other end of the wagon, "Fine, then you can control the kids."

Jack opened his mouth, then quickly closed it. He moved to the wagon without a word. The mer watched him with wide eyes.

Somehow, the three teens managed to carry the mer up the stairs without getting caught. The mer was gripping tightly to the edge of the wagon as water sloshed over the sides.

"Okay." Jack panted as the made it up the stairs, "now let's get out of here."

Wilbur nodded, grabbing the handle of the wagon and starting to pull it to the exit. The rest of the teens and kids followed him. They made it out of the aquarium with minimal problems, then headed down to the lake.