*Splash*

*Splash*~6

Meanwhile, back on the shores of the beach, my family was searching frantically for me, when I didn't go to the cabana when they called out to me or show up for lunch. Belinda followed them to the beach and said that I probably ran off with that no account floosie I was talking to yesterday evening and that there was no sense worrying about me at all. Costa and JD continued to walk along the beach until they reached the cove, and found my shirt and flip-flops. Costa grabbed them and said he was alright, and that I would come back whenever I wanted to, then patted our oldest brother on the back and said that Belinda was probably right, I was out hanging with a girl.

For the most part, they were right, I was doing it mainly for a girl, but now that I've seen it, I was doing it just for the new and amazing life I was seeing underneath the very waters that we fished and swam from. But thanks to their magic, humans never got the pleasure to witness the magical wonders that I was seeing right now, or the miracle in itself being able to speak to the water critters of every shape and size I became very good friends with that shark I ran into, he had quite the sense of humor. & I also found out why the dolphins always had so much energy and were so flighty, they were total adrenaline junkies and loved to show off, kind of like me with my talents of illusion. But they were rather hard to communicate with because they talked so fast.

Klay interrupted my somewhat colorful conversations with a few of the blond mermaids that found me rather attractive. Klay laughed at me and said those three would be attracted to any new merman that came around because they were just like sponges or the mighty octopus, they would do anything to get their tentacles wrapped around a merman. He grabbed me and told me it was time to meet his father. I looked at him a little insecurely as I told him I wasn't really good with parental meetings, especially when it came to liking the parents' youngest daughter. Klay gave me a rather silly smile and said his father knew all about me already, that he was the one that gave him permission to bring me here because he wanted to meet the human that caught his daughter's eye. I chuckled insecurely as I told him that made me feel a whole lot better.

He quickly turned me around and showed me the way to the king's royal throne room where he was waiting to meet me at. I slowly swam in with him and noticed a lot of merpeople standing on each side of the aisle carrying spear-like weapons, Klay told me they were the royal guards, I looked at him again and said if his father was the king, that made him and Kc the prince and princess. Klay snickered and said he didn't have time to be royal, he loved having fun and causing too much trouble to be royal. I looked up where his father was sitting on his throne made of coral and pearls, he was enormous! and nothing but muscle, his hair was pure white and waist length, along with a beard and mustache that kind of reminded me of the Greek God Zeus, or Reverend Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. As soon as I made it to the bottom tier in front of the throne, Klay whispered to me that I was now on my own and good luck then he gave his father a slight bow with his head and swam off to the side and into the darkness.

I choked up a little bit as I cleared my throat, but not sure what to say, or if I was allowed to speak until spoken too, or what, so I just sort of floated there until he spoke first, only he didn't speak, he swam down toward me and slowly swam around me while looking very closely at me from every angle. Then right when I was about to tell him how unnerving this was, he said I was a rather nice looking human specimen, then added jokingly that I made a much better merman though. I relaxed all my tension after I heard him speak to me with humor, and I thanked him for it. Then he patted me on the shoulder and asked me to take a swim with him, that he had much to ask me, most of it was about me and my intentions with his daughter because from what he could tell, his little girl was in love with me.

I looked blankly at him for a moment, then said that I was rather attracted to her as well, but there was no way for a relationship to work out, because I was a man, and she was half fish. Then I looked over at him and immediately told him no insult meant, but I couldn't live the rest of my life in this form, for as much as I loved this amazing new world I was shown, I still had my life above the water to live in with my family, friends, and career. Triton looked down at me and asked if I was of royal blood in my world above, I told him I was a famous celebrity, and the lord of illusion...but down here I was just simply another being under his watered roof.

I couldn't believe it Triton liked me! A king and father actually liked me, and after our long but pleasant talk about his world and mine, he called out for his daughter and his son to come out to him, because he was ready to give his final decision on this particular subject. Klay and Kc both came out of different rooms in the coral palace and stopped on each side of their father and remained very quiet. But I noticed that she was looking at me in my merman suit and she found me rather tasteful, by the way, she was eyeing me.