Mermaid's HeartStone (Amy's POV)

Chapter 1

When I was younger, my parents were always busy with work on the surface world. My grandma would always care for me as my parents came home late or maybe not even at all. My parents have learned how to transform into the hardest creature of the land; the human. Humans are creatures that rule the surface world. They have learned how to slowly take over the seas and even navigated it. They have invented weird machines to help them survive the harsh conditions of the surface. If I were to ever go up there, I would die in an instant. From what I have heard from my parents is that the weather there was not the best; underwater has different weathers but not as bad as the surface. They have something called fire up there and it would eat up anything it sees; many people have died from it. They also have guns! My parents told me to watch out for those the most. Just from looking at the gun can kill you. I have always wondered why my parents would do such dangerous jobs, but later I found out why. They were not really mermaids. The only reason why I am staying with my grandma is that I have inherited her powers of the Mermaid and can transform into it at will like a shapeshifter. My grandpa was a shapeshifter like my mother and father, that means that they were born on the land of the humans. Shapeshifters can identify another shapeshifter through their scent. While shapeshifters are the hardest to find, some people believe they are extinct.

When I was around 6 years old, my parents were on a break from their hard work and took me to the human world for the first time. They told me they would protect me from anything and curious little me went. I couldn't transform into a full human so I had a tail and ears of a wolf sticking out. My parents covered it with a hood and cape. It was different there and most of the people there speak a weird language. My parents taught me the language a bit when I was young so it was a bit easier to learn. They took me to town and there were a lot of humans walking around with bags made out of the skin of other animals. It was gross and kinda scared me a bit. Their scent is also weird too, like something I've never experienced in my life. It really does reak. Mom told me to turn around and she put a shiny string around my neck with a gigantic pretty blue crystal and shiny blue pearls from the Skylane kingdom. The crystal was blue in color but they would have a black and white strand that forms an outline of a wing. It stood out from the clothes I was wearing since it was all colorless and dirty. However, I will treasure this gift for the rest of my life!!

I looked over and saw some kids playing. They seem to be having fun but, they all had fancy clothes on. I do not want to judge them by looks so I called out "Mommy" in human language. "I want to go over there with the other kids!" as I pointed at the other human kids playing with a bouncy bubble thing.

I ran over to them and asked to play. "Can I play with you guys?" I asked my parents as they watched behind me, worrying about my safety. The other kids were wary at first but agreed to play.

After a while of playing, my parents told me they are going to get something for grandma and left me. Then a creepy kid with dirt all over him and he was skinny like a stick walked passed us. He was carrying buckets of water into a house. He came back out a few mins later with empty buckets and the other kids laughed at him. I felt bad and just watched him walked pass ignoring us. A yellow hair girl saw my necklace and said "That's a pretty necklace!! Can I see it?"

"Uh, yea? You can." I smiled back at her and let her touch it. Her eyes had a very devilish look to them when she asks to have it. I said sorry and it was a gift from my parents. Then more and more of the girls started to pile up around me and praise me and gave me compliments. The kept telling how jealous they were.

I accidentally knocked over the hoodie and a wolf tail and ears popped out of my clothes. At that point, the kids changed...they started to look at me weird. They back up a couple of steps and were frightened.

"Oh sorry, I did not mean to frighten you." I apologized, trying to cover up. The yellow girl pushed me down and started to yell "FREAK!!" I started to shake uncontrollably. I was scared. She jumped on top of me and grabbed my necklace.

"HEY!!" I yelled as I struggled to get her off. I squirmed around trying to get her off. "HELP!" I yelled and she put her hand around my mouth. I couldn't breathe or scream. Tears rolled down my eyes as I kept struggling. I couldn't see as everything was blurry and the feeling of her yanking my necklace off made me felt like this is the end as it snapped.

Then the feeling of being pinned down was gone. Was I dead? Everything feels lighter. "Huh?" I slowly sat up and sees the creepy boy tackling her and grabbed back the necklace. He got off her and ran towards me and grabbed my hand. He dragged me into the forest where there is a tiny cave near the beach.

I sat down tired and panting. I am still not used to the legs yet. I had scratches from falling while running and I cried. I could tell he didn't know what to do. He sat next to me and put his hand on my head. "Stop crying," He said. He started to rub his hand on my head and this felt comforting. I stopped crying and he gave me the remains of the necklace. The only thing left was the blue pearls and the Blue Crystal. The string was a bit shorter now and he tied the ends to keep the crystal from falling. He wrapped the string around my left ankle because my wrist was too small and it would slide off. I gave him the special blue pearls that were on the floor as thanks.

Then we started to talk a bit and introduce ourselves. "My name is..umm...Amy. What about you?" I asked.

"Spade" he replied.

"Nice to meet you and thanks for helping me," I said and gave him a hug. He pushed me off him and yelled "EW!! Cooties!!"

I stared at him in confusion. "Cooties?? What is that?" I gave him a confused look. "Ugh, it's nothing! Just do not do that!" He looked mad and red... He must be very mad. I apologized to him. He just told me it's ok and I started to stare at my ears and tail. "Are those real?" He asked as he grabbed my wolf ears. "OW!" I cried.

"Oh sorry!" He immediately let go. As he examines me from top to bottom. "Are you a demon?" He asked frightened. "No, I'm a shapeshifter," I said happily. He looked at me like I am crazy, so I showed him by turning into a mermaid and back. He stared at me like he saw a ghost.

It started getting dark and I told him he should get home. I asked him where he lived so I can take him home, but he keeps saying that he is not a baby like me and he can take care of himself.

"Fine, how old are you then?" I smiled. He replied "I am 4 years old!" and I smirked. "I am 5 years old!" I laughed. He just rolled his eyes at me. "Well, still I am more mature than you are!" He said and he ran away... My parents found out what had happened and forbid me from going up there again. That was the last time I saw him...