The Siren of the Titanic

Chapter 31: New Clothes and Old Legs

"As I told Ethan, I'd rather not be called that. Please, call me Frost, that is the name I go by now, but I am indeed your grandfather. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Natalie." I flashed her a toothy grin.

"So explain to me how you're a merman. How did you go from human to half-fish?" I smiled gently as I explained my story once more.

"So you are a legendary siren that even the high king looks to for help. Not only that but you can use abilities from all other merfolk? That's so cool!" Her eyes glittered with excitement.

"So I've got a question for you, Frost? Can you switch your tail for legs?" Ethan questioned, his bare feet dangling in the water beside me.

"Yes, Leora taught the three of us how, but I'd rather not with a lady present, as, once I change, I won't be wearing pants." The three of us shared a laugh.

"Hold up I've got an idea." Ethan rose and jogged back into the house, and returned a few minutes later with a pair of black shorts. The white waistband was stretchy and had a string that ran through it so it could be tightened. "You can wear these swim shorts, after that we could figure out if you can wear either mine or Danny's clothes." I nodded and grabbed the shorts, before motioning to Natalie to turn around with a twirl of my finger.

I dived a bit and sung the song that the pegasus had taught us. With a swirl of water and a flash of blue light my long and elegant tail was gone, and in its place were very familiar legs. I quickly pulled the black and white shorts on before swimming back to the two redheads. Natalie turned back around after she heard me surface and pull myself out of the pool. Other then the legs nothing else had changed, gills still cut into my neck and under my ribs, my ears and hands were still finned, and claws still decorated my fingers.

I sat at the edge of the pool, looking at the legs I once had. They were long, skinny, and still thinly muscled for running, the only difference is that my toes had a thin webbing like my hands. I leaned back sighing, relishing in the feeling of being able to wiggle my toes. I soon found out, though, that after several years being dead, and then having a tail, walking becomes fairly difficult. I had stood up only to have my knees buckle out from underneath me, I would've fallen if Ethan hadn't grabbed me. I smiled at him with a thanks as he helped me hobble inside the house.

"So who's house is this anyway if you don't mind me asking?" I asked as I sat on a chair near the simple dining table.

"Technically it's Danny's, but I crash here whenever I'm landed and Nat here stays because she's saving money since her school is nearby. It's not like Danny minds. He should be home in an hour or two, just giving you a warning." Ethan smiled. "Anyway come with me, let's see if you can fit some of my stuff."

Ethan led me into a small room that was sparsely decorated with the exception of a few model ships, that lined the dresser. He pulled out a pair of blue jeans, a pair of briefs, and a loose black shirt with a picture of a red design within a white oval. I looked at the shirt and asked out of curiosity, to which he explained that it was the logo of the local hockey team. He left the room so I could try on the clothes, which fit rather well. I looked myself over before calling Ethan back into the room. He smiled pleased with the results.

I followed him back out of the room and chatted with Ethan and Natalie. The three of us talked about different stories as we drank canned sodas. They told me a story of how their father had hopped into the living room one morning and had forgotten his leg in the bathroom, I almost choked on my bubbly drink at that. I exchanged the story of how Alto had accidentally kissed me and how I only punched him in response.

"You sound really close to these guys." Natalie giggled.

"Yeah, Talon explained partners as brothers in a past life, type of thing." I chugged some more of my soda but stopped moving as my ears picked up the sound of a vehicle pulling up in the driveway. I slowly put my can on the dining table and listened to the sound of footsteps. The door opened and a tall black haired man stepped inside. He was dressed in a camouflage uniform, and his hair was cut short.

"I see you're back Ethan." He said, his back to us putting his keys on a series of hooks next to the door.

"Yeah I'm back, I hope you don't mind if I brought over a friend." He said, trying to hide his grin by taking a sip of his soda, but his eyes gave it away as he looked at me.

"A friend huh? That doesn't happen very often." He turned, his chocolate colored eyes falling on me before widening.

Ethan and I stood. "Allow me to introduce you to Daniel, the oldest of us three. Danny this is the siren, Frost." I raised my finned hand and he grabbed mine in a warm handshake, his eyes never leaving mine. I lowered my hand from the handshake as Ethan spoke again. "He's also our grandfather." Natalie handed him the old picture of me so he could compare.

"Wait, what?" We all laughed.