A Tail of Love - Book One: Forever Fins

Forever Fins-One

I gazed into the deep blue waters of the Pacific Ocean feeling homesick. I couldn't stand it anymore. I tore off my over clothes and stood half-naked in the surf. I left my shirt on but I was bare below the waist. I first warmed up the water and slowly concentrated on my legs fusing together and becoming fins. My legs started tingling and the nerves felt like lightning was going through them. The skin felt like it was bubbling and just when it started hurting it suddenly stopped. I looked down and saw gleaming, powerful fins. As soon as the transfiguration was over I dived towards my home, 9,000 leagues under the sea.

That is me, Aura, a black haired, sixteen year old mermaid who lives, well lived, in Nure. Nure is the Blue kingdom, one of three mer kingdoms. There is Moeg, the Red and second largest kingdom, and Geki, the smallest Yellow kingdom. Nure is built from rare blue coral off the coast of California. Moeg is built from poisonous red coral, off the coast of Brazil. And Geki is built on the Great Barrier Reef, which is why it is the smallest kingdom, because there cannot be a lot of merfolk in such a tourist spot. There are only 150 citizens in Geki and they only come out at night. It is a very sad way to live.

The three Kings are Azuron, the blue king, Redfin, the red king, and Yarrow, the yellow king. My father is Azuron. That makes me the princess of the blue kingdom. I lived for the past 15 years thinking that I belonged in the ocean but I recently found out that my mother was a human. So I have been living on land with my aunt Sybil for the past month. Which has been great, learning about the human world, understanding more of my mother's past. I have had a fun time settling in. It was all good until my cousin had to get herself banished until she found a mate. Finny is sort of a trouble maker. She ended up accidentally drowning her last potential mate. So Redfin sent her here to let things cool down there and for her to get her act together and settle down.

She, of course, wanted to see the surface world. So she has also recently been living with Aunt Sybil. And she insists on being called Phoenix while on the surface. She does not like being called Finny. She says that because she is the princess of Moeg she should have a royal name, so she said Phoenix because of her red, well everything. She is exactly the opposite of me. She has fins and hair that are almost every shade of red and gold and orange you could think of and has a big temper. While my fins are blue, purple, and silver. And I do not have much of a temper. Finny used to call me a jelly belly whenever we visited each other when we were younger because I was shy. She also called my squid because of my hair. It is very unusual for a mermaid to have black hair and pale skin like I do. Usually merfolk have lighter hair that does not clash with their skin or fin tones. Finny is mean and she does not like Sybil, I do not know why, Sybil is very lovable. Well Sybil does not like Finny, said she is a brat and a delinquent, whatever that is. She acts like such a guppy. She was sent to the lawman's office three times the first week. I hate living with her but Daddy says she is family, and a family that swims together, lives together.

I swam about halfway out of the jetty before I felt a tingling sensation in the tip of my fins. Jellyfish! Merfolk are susceptible to their poison, so if we get stung by more than 3 or 4 of them we will die. I swam back to shore as fast as I could. Luckily it was high tide so I did not have far to go to reach my clothes. I turned my fins back into feet and got dressed in a rush. Sybil would want me back because I had school tomorrow. She did not seem to understand that merfolk, even in human form, only needed about three to five hours of sleep.

As I was walking back I passed the first beach I had ever seen. I remembered that day very well.

I was allowed to go to the surface for the first time on my tenth birthday. I had swum up to the shore, transfigured for the first time, it was very hard and took me a few minutes and like fifteen tries before it worked. Daddy had made me a seaweed skirt so I would not be naked. I was enjoying the sun when the gulls started squawking. I sat up to get a better look when I saw a little ship had crashed on the rocks about 100 yards away, near the cliffs. The crash must have happened hours ago. I saw a piece of wreckage floating towards the shore, it was what made the gulls so excited. I had realized that there was a human floating on the metal. I had ripped the seaweed skirt off and transfigured faster than I ever have in my life.

I swam out about 50 yards and when I tried to reach out and grab the piece of ship it flipped over and dumped its survivor into the water. I gasped and dived. Whoever it was on the broken piece of ship must have been heavier than your average dolphin because they were sinking fast. As I reached them I grabbed them under their arms and swam up as hard as I could. I breached just as the human's drowning response kicked in and they started coughing and flailing. Since I could not drown so I just let them flail until they passed out again. I started swimming again until I reached the shore. I transfigured and pulled the human away from the water. I laid them down and rolled them over on their side, Daddy had told me that if I ever found someone that was drowning to lay them on their side.

I put my skirt on and finally examined the human. He was a young boy. At first glance he seemed to be old, but he was young, about my age, well my age in human years, but his hair was a very pale blonde with white highlights. It was odd even for me. He was very tan and burned in some places. He stirred and blinked his eyes open. He focused on me. "Who ar' ya'?" He had said. He had a funny accent. I opened my mouth to speak but I had not known how. Under the ocean you talked by using the back of your vocal cords. But I did not know how to use my other vocal cords. I coughed and tried to speak.

"My name is Aura." It came out as a hoarse squeak. He smiled very weakly.

"My names Elias Carver, but ya' can call me Eli. What happened to me mum and da?" I did not know how to answer. So I pointed to the wreck. He looked at what was left of the ship. This was only the bow, the door to the captain's quarter's, and a small part of the deck. He cried. I did not know what to do so I sat and watched him cry. He suddenly turned and hugged me very roughly. I was surprised and did not do anything for a few seconds, and then I tentatively wrapped my arms around him. We sat like that for hours. The sun was going down and Daddy wanted me home by sunset. I pushed away from Eli.

"I am sorry but I have to leave soon. Will you be alright getting off this beach by yourself?" Eli nodded. He suddenly looked me in the eye. He had beautiful eyes the color of the coral my home is made of with flecks of black. He was very impulsive and had eyes were too intense for a ten year old human.

"Will I see ya' again?" He smiled a very hopeful smile. I shook my head.

"No. I am sorry, but I am not from here, and I do not live here. I must be going soon. My Daddy will be worried and it is a long swim home." He nodded solemnly.

"Well thanks for saving me life and all. I really wish I could see ya' again though." He hugged me again but this time he was gentle.

"Bye Elias. Now you must go and get warm and safe before the storm comes." I had noticed the clouds a few minutes before, just where Daddy said they would be. He stood up and held out a hand to help me up. I took it. He shivered. I must have chilled my skin because he felt very hot. He reached up to his neck and pulled out a necklace with an onyx symbol on it. As I looked closer I saw it was like a letter, but unlike any I've ever seen, with a crescent moon etched into a circle at the top. The little charm twinkled in the sun. He put it around my neck.

"I've made a decision. I love ya' and someday I'm gonna protect and maybe even save ya' O.K.? But ya' got ta promise me you'll come back one day and that ya' will always wear that necklace and think of me." He shook with weariness and his eyes glistened with tears. I let go of his hand, leaned close and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I will do my best to come back." He gave me a childish grin and turned and ran up a dune. He looked back over his shoulder.

"Bye Aura. I'll be waitin' for ya' okay!" He did not wait for my response, he just started running. When I was sure he could not see me I transfigured and took off my skirt and let it drift about the waves as I dove down deeper for the long swim home.

That was the best day of my life. I got to see the surface and I made my first human friend. I reached up and rubbed the charm on the necklace. I still had it after seven years. It should have eroded in all that salt water but it did not. It was my favorite piece of jewelry other than my mother's ring that Daddy gave her as a gift for blessing him with a child. It was a simple silver band with a sapphire set into its center. Daddy said that it was my mother's favorite piece of jewelry and she always wore it except for the day she died. On the day when I got back from the beach he asked about the necklace and I told him that I found it buried in the sand. I did not want him to know about Elias and what he had said. I wondered briefly on the way to Sybil's house if I would see Elias at school tomorrow. I wondered if he still lived here.

That night when I climbed into my soft bed, I kept thinking of the beach and Elias and the things he said almost seven years ago.