Deleted Scenes

Mysar Returns

There was a part that has also become a deleted scene, where Dorian is attacked by an octopus. With Mysar getting more involved, I was going to have him make a more dramatic appearance. This has gotten cut and his appearance was replaced by a way that felt more realistic.

A shriek pierced his ears as a cloud of crimson briefly blinded Dorian's vision. The taste of iron mixed in with the salty brine of the sea. It took a moment or two of holding his gills close before Dorian felt it safe enough to breathe again. As the water stilled, he eventually opened his eyes to see the face of the blur that had stopped the octopus's attack.

There floated his father, a boney spear buried deep into the body of the creature. Mysar's gills were taking in deep gulps of sea and his body was leaner than Dorian remembered. With a grunt, the older merman twisted the spear, slicing further into the beast to be sure it was truly dead. Seemingly certain of its demise, Mysar drifted down to the head of the weapon and pried it out of the fleshy creature with another grunt. He then turned his attention to Dorian, his face haggard and worn from a life in hiding. Shadows marked the skin beneath his eyes deeper in color than the hollows of his thinned cheeks. Yet, despite this ill appearance, a silver gleam showed in his eyes at the sight of his son. The merman sighed.

"You're late."

Dorian blinked. Those were not the words he had expected to hear. He stumbled on his own response. "I'm... sorry?"

Mysar only sighed again before swimming near and settling on the seabed beside him. "Hold still," he said and began using the spear blade to saw off the tentacles wrapped around Dorian's body. "What happened to you? I expected you at the ruins two days ago."

"It's a long story," Dorian replied and grunted as his father worked to removed the severed tentacles one by one. This had to be done slowly otherwise there was great risk that he could tear the scales from Dorian's tail if removed too quickly. However, that didn't make it hurt any less. "Where are we?"

"In the mid northern waters of this ocean. Still a ways from the ruins and slightly off course." Mysar said as he sawed at another tentacle with the spear blade. "I waited for you, but when I felt your thoughts go deep into your subconscious, I knew something was wrong. I couldn't dream weave to you in deep nothingness. Not without great risk. So I left to find you."

Dorian nodded, "I blacked out from pain when my tail came back."

Mysar paused, "Came back?"

"Like I said, long story," Dorian remarked.

Confessions

This scene is when the relationship between Marie and a certain merman is revealed to said merman. This was deleted because, when outlining, I realized that this confession would have to happen far earlier in the book than originally thought. Bringing it up earlier helped with developing the characters and added a nice, new dynamic to the story.

Mysar had volunteered to take the first watch while everyone else gathered in the sea plant-life to sleep. While the mers curled up close to each other, Marie sat a little apart from them. She hugged her legs tight against her chest and stared at the figure of Mysar, perched on the rock like an underwater statue. The spear by his side as he watched over the rest of the group protectively. How he could see in such darkness was beyond Marie's comprehension. After all, she couldn't even figure out why it was that she could see either other than it being a mer thing.

Marie rubbed her hands along her bare legs absently, even though she had already gotten very used to the cold water by now. After wards, she glanced at the three mers near her and sighed. If there ever was a moment where Marie truly felt like a freak, it was now. Just can't win on land or in the sea, being an anomaly in both worlds. Hugging her legs again, the teen stared out at the merman ahead of her.

"Marie?"

Marie jumped a little where she sat and looked at Dorian. The silver in his eyes seemed to take on a iridescent glow in the darkness. That explained how the mers were able to see in the dark. He shifted and anchored up his torso by the elbows and whispered, "What are you still doing up?"

"I can't sleep," Marie replied with a shrug. "I don't know how I'm supposed to sleep with gills. I keep thinking I'll accidentally close them off with my arm or something if I sleep on my side."

"Then don't sleep on your side," Dorian remarked. "Come on, Marie, you need to sleep."

"Yeah, yeah I know," Marie nodded, but her eyes were not looking at her brother anymore.

Dorian frowned and followed her line of sight with his own eyes. Then turned to her again, stating, "Talk to him."

Marie blinked, "What? No... no I can't. Not now."

"Not now?" Dorian hissed. "Why not now? You know you won't get to sleep unless you talk to him. So go talk to him already!"

"What do I say? I don't know what to do... I mean... he's you're dad," Marie argued in whisper right back.

"He's your dad too," Dorian pointed out. "He should know. He needs to know."

"Why? He's done fine not knowing that I exist," Marie remarked with a frown.

Dorian sighed, not seeing why this has to be so difficult. "You're his daughter," he insisted gently. "Just go talk to him. If you don't then I will and I don't care if you kill me for it either."

Marie snorted, which is very weird to do underwater. Though Dorian did have a good point. They are going to the ruins tomorrow and anything can happen between now and then. Though, Marie wondered what this knowledge was going to do. If he knows that they're related, would he even care? Would he want to try to be involved in her life now? That would be kind of weird, she mentally remarked, especially since she never grew up with him around. A part of her couldn't help but be angry with him. It was as though he had just left and started over without a second thought. However, after seeing him interact with Dorian, Mysar didn't really seem the abandoning father type.

After letting out a final sigh, Marie got up from the sea bed and swam her way towards the guarding merman.

Mysar sat quietly, but his eyes did shift to look at Marie's sudden appearance as she settled on the seabed beside him.

"Hey," Marie greeted, not really knowing what else to say.

"Good evening," Mysar returned with a brow raised in confusion. "You should be asleep with the others."

Marie shrugged, "Not tired. Is it okay if I sit with you for a bit?"

Mysar stared down at her with all the skepticism that one would have in this sort of awkward situation. Not that Marie could blame him, she would be giving Mysar the same look where it the other way around. "I suppose that would be all right," he replied.

"Thanks," she said and just stared out into the darkness quietly.

She could only imagine how awkward this situation was for him. A human girl with gills asking to sit by him would weird out any mer. So they sat in silence, staring out into the dark water.

"Dorian tells me you have been a great help to him," Mysar mentioned.

Marie jumped a bit, startled by Mysar's sudden urge to talk. She looked up at him, waiting for the rest of that statement to be spoken.

"Thank you," Mysar said, looking down at her from where he sat. "For taking care of him when he was in need. You saved his life."

"It was the right thing to do," Marie replied. "I couldn't just leave him on the beach like that. I'm... sorry he was turned human for a while. It was an accident."

Mysar shook his head, "Don't apologize for the methods that were used in preserving Dorian's life. It was a temporary change and it was a needed change in order for him to learn the truth without the curse clouding his mind. There is nothing to be sorry for."

Marie nodded and looked away with a sigh. This conversation was not going anywhere but awkward. How was she going to bring up the whole relation thing? Hey, by the way, you're my dad? Yeah that would go over well, Marie mentally stewed over. Maybe this was a bad idea, she thought. He doesn't really need to know the truth.

"How is it that you came about having gills?" Mysar inquired.

She blinked, "I told you, I'm just a human freak that was born like this. It was just a random thing."

Mysar shook his head. "I find it hard to believe that was just a random occurrence and I've heard of strange birth conditions, but gills? Be truthful, is this a new type of plastic surgery that humans are performing on each other? Are your people trying to change themselves so they don't need scuba gear to stay under water?"

Normally, a mer having knowledge about plastic surgery and other human related things would have been very strange, but this was Mysar. She knew Mysar had spent five years as a human, but in this case Marie figured it would probably be best to play dumb. Marie blinked, "How do you know about plastic surgery? Dorian didn't even know what a bed was... among many other things. How do you know?"

"I know many things I shouldn't," Mysar stated. "First, you answer my question and then I will answer yours. Honestly."

Marie swallowed. This wasn't the way she pictured this conversation would go, but it was better than nothing. She mulled over how to best word the response, but the hesitation was probably making Mysar suspicious. So, after taking a deep breath through the gills and letting it out, Marie stated, "I have gills because my father was a merman."

Mysar blinked, clearly stunned by the information. It was the same look Dorian had before when she had only suspected that her father was a mer. His eyes grew wide and Marie could almost see the gears turning in his head, trying to figure out how it was possible. When the moment of contemplation had passed, he returned his attention to Marie again. This time his face was an expression of inner fear. Marie could almost hear Mysar's heart hammering when he then asked, "Do you... know who your father is?"

"I have a good hunch," Marie replied, holding her knees tight to keep her hands from shaking. From the cold or from nerves, she wasn't sure, probably both. "I'm sure he defiantly knows my mother."

He swallowed as though fearing the answer. "Who is your mother?"

"Diane Stevenson," Marie replied softly.

Mysar sucked in his gills hard, his eyes growing wider than ever, as though he had seen a ghost. "Diane?" he whispered, in shock.

Marie nodded. "Hi Dad."

A garbled, strangled sound from behind caught the attention of both of them. Marie and Mysar looked back and discovered Dorian low on the seabed away from where he should have been sleeping. He gave an impish grin, clearly there to overhear the conversation.

"You knew?" Mysar implied.

Dorian nodded, "Yeah."

"And you didn't tell me?" Mysar remarked in disbelief.

"Marie wanted to tell you," Dorian said, sitting up and curling his tail around. "I thought she should tell you."

Mysar looked between his two children, clearly suffering from an internal struggle. The older merman seemed on the brink of losing it until he held his spear towards Dorian. "Dorian, take over my watch, please. I will be back in a little while."

Dorian swam towards his father and accepted the spear before settling in his father's place on the rock. He and Marie watched as Mysar then swam a short distance away, clearly conflicted over the recent revelation.

Marie swallowed and held her knees so tight her knuckles were showing white. No, she didn't know what to expect after telling Mysar that they are related, but this still threw her off. Mysar seemed very upset by this news and swimming away like this didn't help ease her mind at all. "He hates me," Marie blurted out. "He's mad at me and hates me. I shouldn't have told him! He was better off not knowing! I shouldn't have told him!"

"Marie," Dorian remarked. "Hey, Marie, calm down! He doesn't hate you and he's not mad. Dad just needs to think things over for a while because he doesn't want to say anything wrong. You gave him a lot to think about."

Marie tried to swallow back her panic and looked up at her half brother, "Really? You think so?"

Dorian nodded, "I know so. He does this a lot when the conversation is important to him. Give him some time, he's got a lot to think about and I suggest you do the same."

Marie nodded and sat quietly next to him as an eerie still silence fell over the area.

"Don't forget to breathe," Dorian added.

Immediately, Marie took a deep inhale through the gills and let it out, "Thanks."

Dorian nodded with a grin and then returned his attention to their surroundings, keeping an eye out for danger.

Kevin

Kevin had a different role when originally created as an antagonist in Marie's relationship with Travis. That guy who can relate to her because he's like her, but that was too much like Twilight. I felt Kevin could be a far more interesting character in a different role and so this scene ended up getting cut.

Marie tapped away at the keyboard, with the words to her scholarship essay appearing on the screen. Her eyes didn’t leave the digital page while Kevin placed a mug of latte beside her laptop. “Didn’t want to wait up for me, huh?” he implied.

“You took too long,” Marie replied, her eyes still focused on her work. When on a roll like this, Marie didn’t want to stop in fear that she would lose the train of thought. “What took you?”

“Had a museum appointment and needed to check on a old friend of mine,” Kevin replied casually, sliding into the seat on the other end of the table. A drink of his own between his hands that smelled strongly of cinnamon. “What are you working on?”

Marie typed out her final thoughts and then answered the question. “A essay for a scholarship.”

“Did you just finish it?”

She nodded, “Yeah, I was on a roll and I didn’t want to lose it. I feel pretty good about it.”

Without asking for permission, Kevin grabbed the top of the laptop screen and spun the computer around to face him.

“Hey!” Marie exclaimed.

“I want to see what you wrote,” he remarked, ignoring her protests and began to read.

After a heavy sigh, Marie sat back and just let him read. It’s not that Marie didn’t want him to read it at all, she would have eventually. It would have been nice if he would have bothered to ask first. She combed back thick, wavy hair with her fingers while waiting for Kevin to finish.

The young man shrugged and turned the computer back around, “Not bad. Could be better.”

Marie blinked, “Could be better?”

“Yeah, could be better.” Kevin repeated and took a sip of his beverage. “It could get you the money, but keep in mind there are plenty of other people writing essays for this same scholarship. You have to stand out.”

“Stand out?” Marie repeated in question. Skimming over the essay, she tried to figure out where it was lacking. The essay spoke of her achievements in academics, high marks, recommendations and so forth. How were these things not enough to convince the people that she will fulfill the requirements to keep the scholarship? They required a certain grade point average and focus which she would achieve well enough.

Kevin nodded, “Yeah, there’s no personality in it. It’s just a rattled off list of what you did and earned in High School. It seems very… rehearsed. What did you do? Copy and paste from other essays to make this one?”

“No!” Marie insisted. “I just came up with all this off the top of my head.” Though, now that he mentioned it… it did sort of look like the same information as the other essays. Just in different words. “Well… maybe…”

“It’s an unconscious thing, it happens,” Kevin shrugged. “Give them a bit of yourself. Really tell them why they should give you money to pay for school. Tell about what you plan to study and why and so forth. Give them you.”

Marie was taken aback by the critique. Give them her? What was there to say other than what was already said? She never played in any sports, has done some charity work here and there but nothing noteworthy…. Naturally, Marie can’t mention anything about being half mer and under covenant with the Goddess that created the mer people to bring more half mers and former mers back to the sea. Coming up with nothing, she shrugged, “I’m kinda boring.”

Kevin chuckled. “I have only known you a short time, Marie and you are defiantly not boring.” He stated before taking another sip of his drink.

Marie rolled her eyes, “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“It’s true, you’re not boring. I know you’re not,” Kevin said, unfazed by the eye roll.

“Oh? How?” Marie challenged. This should be good, she thought, suspecting that would be some sort of flirting response.

Instead, Kevin reached to the right side of his neck and tucked the tip of the thumb into the skin and lifting a flap of it. The skin made a sticky, sucking noise while strings of a mucus-like substance trailed from the flap. In the gap, a gill slipped out a little into the open air. “You’re just like me.”

Her eyes grew wide, but Marie had enough sense to stifle a cry so not to call too much attention. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen gills like this before, but this would be the first someone has blatantly showed one off to her in public. After regaining some composure, Marie hissed, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What?” Kevin remarked calmly. “It’s not like you haven’t seen gills before.”

“Yeah, but I don’t go around showing them off to people in public,” Marie argued. “Someone will see!”

“Doubt it.” He finished his drink and set the empty cup on the table with a contented sigh. In Marie’s reaction, Kevin had let the skin seal back to hide the gill again. “Believe it or not, but 99.9 percent of the time people in general couldn’t care less about what you’re doing or saying unless it affects them. Sitting here in the corner, just the two of us, is not going to call attention from anyone we don’t know personally. In short, no one here gives a damn so calm down.”

Marie frowned at the candid nature of the young man’s remark. “But you just pulled off your own skin!”

“The more under confident you are in yourself, the more people will notice you,” Kevin said. “I don’t care what others think, therefore people don’t feel compelled to notice my conversation or behavior. You care too much and that gives off an aura. I bet you were bullied in school too.”

“Shut-up,” Marie remarked.

Kevin grinned.

She sighed, not liking the direction this conversation has gone. “Look, regardless of whether or not I’m confident in myself that still doesn’t make it a good idea to show off your gills. How were you able to do that anyway?”

Kevin tilted his head, “You mean you can’t? It’s a little tricky but once you figure it out then it’s very easy to do it. It doesn’t feel good to have air touch the gills, obviously, but moving the skin doesn’t hurt. The same mucus that coats fish scales is also inside to keep the gills protected when you’re not in the water. Here, I’ll show you.” He moved a hand to do it again.

“No! No, that’s not necessary!” Marie exclaimed. “I don’t need you to teach me how. I believe you.”

He lowered the hand. “Why does it bother you so much? I’m just like you. You and I, we’re unique."

Blood Island

This is from one of the early drafts of the series. Marie is captured and comes across a certain merman there. I removed this scene because there were, honestly, so many things that did not make sense about it. How Marie was captured in the first place also didn't make sense either. So this, along with most of the first few drafts, got a complete overhaul.

Meanwhile, the voice continued, "Yes, where else would you be? After the crimes we've done, they have to put us somewhere."

Marie brought her face down to the gap, her chain leg left straight since she could pull it no further. With her head below the surface, it didn't take long for the gills to react again. "Where are we, exactly? Does this place have a name?" she asked.

"It is called by many names," the voice replied grimly. "Personally, I call it the ‘prison of no return’ since from here it is to Blood Island."

"Blood Island," she whispered. “Where have I heard that name before?”

“What was that?” the voice asked. “Did you say something?”

Marie nearly swallowed her own tongue, realizing that the merman on the other side did not know she was not a mer. Quickly changing the subject, she asked, "H… how long have you been here?"

"Not for very long, but it feels like it's been so many years," he sighed grimly.

She nodded, "Has anyone ever escaped?"

"Escaped?" the mystery merman laughed. "Have you never heard of Blood Island? That is the only escape. Death. A slow, agonizing death."

"Torture?" Marie implied.

She heard him swallow. "Yes, a beating from the guards to start and then they bind you to a rock. There you wait for the sun to finish you off.”

Marie didn't quite hear everything, having lifted herself out of the water to hold back a choked sob. Dorian had described this place to her. She could remember it now. He had to deal with these conditions and nearly died. It was cruel torture for them and will not be much better for her either. The dehydration would get to her even with a full human body. She didn't know how long she could last being a half mermaid. Quite frankly Marie didn't want to stay long enough to find out.

"What is that?" The voice interrupted her thoughts of despair.

She sniffled, trying to compose herself so her voice was normal again. "What?"

"That sound, it was… different… I remember hearing it before though."

Marie gulped, able to hear her neighbor moving about in the water on the other side. He must have brought himself closer to the hole as well.

"Were you… crying?" he asked curiously.

"No," she objected quickly, wiping the salty water and tears from her eyes, making them sting a bit.

"You were," the voice accused. "But… but that is impossible. Mermaids cannot cry unless… No, that is even more impossible. You wouldn't have survived the journey if you were human. What are you?"

She swallowed, pressing her back against the closest wall, though she needed no protection from the merman. There was no reason for her to lie to him and so Marie answered softly, "I am both. A mermaid and a human."

"A Halfling!" the voice said; a great sense of awe in his tone. "So it is true, the rumors I heard the guards whisper outside… there are Halflings walking about on land. Thank the Goddess."

Marie blinked, "All because I started to cry?"

"Well," he paused. "Actually, your voice sounded… slightly flawed for a mermaid. I thought perhaps you may have just been ill."

A pout instantly formed on her expression. Flawed? What a jerk! Then again, she supposed, considering a mermaid’s reputation, a human voice may sound less than perfect. ‘Human ears are different than that of ours,’ Calder once said. ‘You may say you can sing, but I doubt that you can do it well. A mer's song is flawless.’

"I doubt you were dragged off of land to be taken here. How is it that you were captured?" the merman interrupted through Marie’s thought.

Marie replied, "It's a long story, and I don’t really feel like telling it right now.”

“I have nothing better to do,” he remarked.

She gave a snort, “You could try escaping, you know. I’m not going to just sit here and tell you stories while you wait to die! I’m getting out of here!”

"How? You are chained to the wall," the merman stated from the other side. "There is no way you can escape, just leave it be and wait until a better opportunity arrives."

"It may never arrive!" Marie exclaimed. "I'm not going to wait to see that."

Plunging her hands into the water, she worked at the manacle holding her ankle. It was big enough that it would hold a tail; her ankle is smaller than even the smallest part of a merfolk tail. In theory, if she worked at it, she could slip out. There was only one problem, her heel. Marie figured that if she could somehow get the manacle past her heel, then the rest would be easy. Maneuvering it, the young woman worked to get the gap to her heel as wide as possible. Biting her lower lip, she pushed down, struggling to squeeze the cold metal past the round heel of her foot.

It bit at her, deep enough to draw blood into the water. Gasping back a yelp, she continued to push and pull her way free. Almost there, she thought, the blood actually adding lubrication to her foot. The water stung at the small wound terribly, but clenching her eyes shut forced her to focus on the goal of freedom. A pop sent Marie falling back into the water with a splash. Sitting up again, sputtering, it took her a moment to realize what had just happened. She brought the foot out of the water, now free from the bind that held her. Marie couldn't contain her excitement, laughing in disbelief.

"What happened? What are you doing in there Halfling?" the merman called on the other side of the wall.

Getting to her feet, Marie waded to the entrance hole and slipped herself through into the water. She swam out into darkness in which she held out her hands before her, groping the wall to figure out which direction to go. As she struggled blindly, suddenly her fingers came upon something soft and spongy. In so touching it, the thing illuminated in the darkness like some sort of glow in the dark sea moss. Drifting back, Marie nearly collided against the other wall, but turned to feel for more of the moss. More and more the teen touched until she could see at least a few feet all around her. Thus revealing a large hole like the one she just exited from. Knowing that was most likely where the merman was being held, she considered whether or not to just leave the mystery merman behind. Then quickly recalled that a merman would be much faster than herself at swimming. So taking in a deep breath through the gills, the half mermaid drifted towards the opening and pulled herself inside.

The merman inside about jumped out of his own skin. "By the Goddess!" he swore.

Marie wavered to her feet and stood before him, hands on her hips as she took in the source of the mystery voice. His hair was the same color as hers with the same wave. He shared the same eyes, similar facial features and tail color as Dorian, except this merman’s eyes were weary, face thinned from lack of proper nourishment and sleep. His lips and gills were dry while the tail had lost its healthy luster barely showing in the blue moonlight. She sucked in a gasp noticing a glow to his silver violet eyes that Marie had only seen before on Dorian.

The pearl-tailed merman couldn't seem to find the power to speak any more. His mouth opened and closed like, well, a fish. "No… you cannot be… Diane? No… not Diane…"

“Oh… ooohhhh… my…” Marie fell to her knees much like she had the first time meeting Dorian. Actually, exactly like the first, only this one hurt due to the rocks below instead of sand. She winced, taking in a sharp gasp, suspecting that more of her own blood has clouded into the water. However, it made little difference, being unable to see it in the darkness. “You’re him, aren’t you? You’re really him,” she gasped.

“I am who I am, but who are you?” he asked. The merman shifted where he sat, pulling himself closer to the girl and reaching a webbed hand towards her, dripping wet. “You look… just like her.”

Marie jumped back to her seat from his hand, “Dude! No! That’s creepy! I know I look a lot like my mom, but that doesn’t give you permission to touch my face like that!”

He pulled the hand back, eyes widening even more, showing white in the darkness. “Mom? Diane is your mother?” he gasped.

Shaking off the shock, it turned quickly to annoyance since there wasn’t time for a movie-esque family reunion. Crawling closer, sloshing water all around she came into the moonlight. “Look, I know you’re Mysar now because you know my mother and there’s only one merman aside from Dorian that would know her and that’s you. How do I know; because I’m your daughter, okay? Do you want me to bust you out of here or what?”

“What?!?”

Marie nodded, “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”

The teen, using the moonlight, moved about in the water to find her father’s fin where the shackle most likely was located. Finding it, she pulled the fin out of the water so to see it better, but Mysar yanked it back towards himself. “What are you going to do?” he demanded. “Who are you?”

“My name is Marie,” she said quickly, getting a hold of his tail again and pulling it towards herself, working at the bind. As Marie worked at figuring out how to slip it off in the limited light, she explained, “Diane is my mother, the same Diane that you became human for. I know Dorian, and we know that we’re related. He’s lost out there somewhere near the ruins, and I have to get back to him to help… and will you quit squirming!”

In annoyance, Marie swung her leg over and straddled the lower half of the merman’s tail trying not to think about how she was doing this to her own father among other things. The young woman continued to try wedging the manacle off of the merman's tail in the same manner she had gotten it off her ankle. However, the fin was too wide and had the spiny elements on the outside while the rest of the fin was rayed. Try as she might, Marie could not get the iron to budge any further. A yelp escaped the merman, pulling his tail away while the edge of the fin cut across Marie's palm. "Ow!" she cried.

Blood slowly began to ooze its way up through the thin slice of flesh. A heavy sigh left her, "You know… you could help a little!"

"Forgive me." Mysar took her by the wrist to assess the damage. "It's not too bad. The bleeding should stop shortly."

It was strange to feel his hand on her's like that. A father's loving touch and concern for her well-being felt so alien. She sighed, wondering if Mysar would bother to behave like this if he didn't know that she was his daughter. Shaking the thought away quickly, Marie pulled her hand out of his grasp. "I'll be fine, let's get you out of here," she insisted.

"It is of no use," the older merman insisted. Lifting the fin up, water tumbled down off of it like tiny waterfalls. "You cannot get it past my fin, it is far too broad. I don't know how you managed to get it past your ankle, but this is far too different."

Marie frowned; of course he would think to just give up after being in the prison for so long. Looking down at his fin, she pondered upon some way to get this to work. One of the many features shared by him and Dorian was the shape of their fin. It was spread out like a fan, a thin membrane between the rayed elements. As the young woman continued to stare down at the fin, an idea began to surface. If it's shaped like a fan, she thought. What if… Without warning, Marie took hold of either side of the fin.

Mysar raised an eyebrow curiously. "What are you…"

Before the merman could even think to finish his question, Marie forced the fin closed the way one would close a fan. Mysar's head pulled back, letting out a wail of pain. Quickly, Marie wriggled the manacle down, popping it off and flying back into the water while the merman's fin reopened with a snap! The merman cried again, writhing in the shallow water. Sitting herself up, Marie blinked in surprise to find the shackle in her hand. "I did it…" she gasped.

It wasn't until after hearing her father moan below that Marie remembered his discomfort. "Are you okay?" she asked, dipping her hands down into the water to pull him to an upright position.

Mysar cringed, grunting a little. "I think so. My fin…" He ran his hands along the delicate fin, checking for any severe damages. "Marie… that hurt terribly."

"Sorry, but it did set you free," she pointed out. Gently prodding at the thin bones, Mysar reacted to her touch with a hiss through his teeth. Marie nodded, "I'll give you a moment to recover while I get a look at what we are going to have to deal with."

The teen started wading towards the hole when her father objected. "Marie! Have you completely lost your mind? There are guards down there at the only entrance and exit out of this place! You'll be caught and forced back into your cell again!"

Marie paused. He had a good point there; however, a new idea surfaced that would surely change their situation for the better. "How many guards are there?"

"Two," Mysar shrugged while massaging his aching fin. "No merman here would be crazy enough to do what you just did to me."

"I think I may be able to persuade them," Marie replied with a grin.

Mysar blinked in confusion, "What? Wait! Where are you…"

Marie dove through the hole and was gone.

"… going?"

Dolphin kicking her way through the tunnel, Marie reached and touched the walls to illuminate the moss along the way until reaching another hole and pulled herself through. There was another merman inside this cell trapped just like her father. This merman was lying in the water asleep near the wall. Swallowing, she hesitated in the idea of freeing him without asking. After all, it apparently hurt to close the fin as Mysar has proven. However, Marie didn't give herself much time to dwell on it. Sloshing over to the deeply slumbering merman, she got into position, straddling his tail. Biting her lip, Marie took a deep breath of preparation then forced the fin closed.

That woke up the merman immediately, crying out in pain and swinging his amber tail. Marie flew, landing in the water with a great splash. Popping up again, she shook the soaked hair from her face while the merman had stopped writhing long enough to check on the state of his fin. The manacle was no longer there. "The… chain…" he said softly, looking over at the one who had freed him. "A mermaid?"

Marie stood finding the chain to be in her grasp which she quickly tossed aside.

"A… human?" the merman gasped, blinking in astonishment and then rubbing his eyes. "Do I dream?"

Marie made her way towards the black-haired merman, knelt before him and slapped him across the face. He gave a yelp of mingled shock and pain. She asked, "Did that feel real to you?"

With eyes wide, he nodded, horribly confused.

Marie stated with a grin. "Come with me if you want out."

Not giving him a chance to ask further questions, Marie dove through the hole. Along the way, looking back, she was pleased to see the nameless merman following. She entered into her father's cell again, much to the other merman's confusion. Mysar raised his head at the return of his daughter. He blinked when the merman popped his head through the hole, "Dalit?

"Mysar?" The merman, apparently named Dalit, pulled the rest of himself inside. "What are you doing here? You didn't break your promise to your father, did you? Even you couldn't be that stupid."

"I had no other choice," Mysar stated sourly.

"We don't have time for this!" Marie interrupted in frustration.

Both mermen looked to the half-human girl with full attention. It was obvious that they already knew each other. Granted, Marie was curious as to how, but she wasn't going to ask. At the moment, they had bigger things to deal with. Taking a deep breath, the young woman planted her hands on her hips to look somewhat authoritative standing in water that only went up barely over her knees. After all, it was time to take charge, otherwise no one else will. "Listen," Marie said to Dalit. "Dorian is missing. We were on our way to the ruins when our boat was attacked. We've been separated since, so I'm going to need the help of all the mermen here that I can get."

"The Ruins of Mizu… those ruins? But that is just an old legend," Dalit remarked with raised eyebrows.

Mysar shook his head, "It's as real as you and me, my friend. I have been there, making it past Nemesio and saw the paintings upon the stone walls. My daughter speaks the truth."

Dalit's upper body jolted back as though those last five words had shot right through him. "Daughter?" He turned his attention to Marie again, blue-silver eyes looking her up and down. "Mysar… you mated with a human when you walked on land? How?"

Before Mysar could even open his mouth to answer that last question, Marie stepped in again. "Yes, I am his daughter and Dorian is my half brother, which is why we don't have much time to waste. Tell me, who is mainly held here? What crimes are the merpeople here guilty of?"

"Treason," Mysar replied without hesitation. "All are mermen who have either deceived a mermaid into granting them a wish to become human, have confessed to falling in love with a human, or were part of an organization seeking to overthrow the Elders. Those are mermen who, like I, have discovered that we are actually under a curse."

"Great," Marie nodded with a grin. This would work to their advantage easily. "Okay, then I need both of you to go to every cell you can and free them like I had freed both of you. Try to get them to be as quiet as possible, okay? Can't have the guards catch on from hearing the screams."

"What are you going to be doing?" Mysar wondered of her.

"I'm going to be getting an idea of what we are up against." With that said, Marie was out of the cell again, swimming her way through the tunnel. Catching a glance back, Mysar followed after while Dalit went upwards.

"Be careful," he said before touching some moss and turning off into another cell.

After watching the last of his pearly tail disappear through the entrance, she blew out a sigh of bubbles. Hopefully Dorian is doing all right, she thought to herself. It was a long way down to the only entrance/exit out of the place. It was a comfort to know that her father and Dalit were freeing the others behind her. After all, they were going to need all the help they can get. The pressure around her increased but it wasn't doing as much harm as it would to any normal human. Deeper the half-mermaid went squinting in the darkness until the end was in sight.

"How much longer do we have to waste our time here? I have young ones who haven't seen their father in many moons," complained a male voice outside the exit.

Marie drifted herself against the wall, peeking around the side to see a couple of mermen floating guard. Both mermen were dressed in armor of breastplates and helmets. In their hands were tridents, which reminded Marie of Poseidon all too well. Silvery blue scales glimmered as they shifted their tails to stay afloat in the same spot. The one on the right shouldered his weapon with a sigh, rippling his fin a bit.

"Shouldn't be too much longer," he shrugged. "The Orcas should arrive soon with the next shift. You will be able to see your little ones again soon."

"Good," remarked the one whom had spoken first. "Considering the state of the ocean nowadays, it's not safe for them to be without their father. The Elder's son being held here and the grandson banished. What shall happen to us as a people when the children of our leaders are falling astray?"

"We shall survive, we have for years. Perhaps we shall be blessed with a new Pearl Tail to take his place when the time comes. Our Goddess will always provide a way."

"Ah, here they are now," spoke the second one. "It's about time."

Looking around a little further, she could see a couple of Orcas approaching the two mermen guards. Riding upon their backs were the mermen that were to take their shift. They swam to greet the arrivals, getting into conversation about the prisoners and lack of action from them. Leading Marie to think that her father and Dalit were far too high for their cries to have been heard.

Marie turned away to find her father swimming towards her. "The prisoners are freed," he whispered, drifting beside her. "What is your plan?"

"I don't have one," Marie admitted softly. "There are Orca whales out there and four guards. The guards I'm not too worried about, it's the orcas that will be a problem."

Both father and daughter peeked around the side, watching the mer-guards talk. "They're just… talking… its taking too long," Marie whispered in frustration.

"Of course they're talking," Mysar shrugged. "No merman has ever escaped from this place. Naturally, they would spend more time talking than actually watching."

"What's going on?" voiced someone from behind.

Quickly Mysar whipped around and covered the mouth of the merman, Dalit. "Hush, you fool!" he whispered harshly. "Do you wish to get us killed?"

"What was that?" one of the guards on the outside inquired.

Everyone grew still, drifting back against the wall into the darkest areas they could find. There was a pause before one of the other mer-guards outside stated, "It was probably nothing. Why are you still here? Were you not saying that your mate needs you or some nonsense?”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Marie turned again to her father and counted about six others with him, including Dalit. “Is that it?” she asked softly.

“Most have died,” Mysar replied. “You can only save so many in such a long wait.”

Marie’s lips pulled to a tight frown, this was turning out to be less than what she had expected. Again, she glanced around the side, noticing that the first two mermen were mounting the whale steeds to depart. A hand to her shoulder made Marie start only to discover that it was just Mysar. He whispered to her, “Watch the Orcas. Let me know when you can no longer hear them.”

“Hear them?” Marie questioned.

Mysar nodded, “If you are half mermaid, you can focus your hearing on sensitive sounds like the whales…their songs…they are always singing to each other. When you cannot hear them, let me know.”

Marie frowned, “You’re kidding, right? What are you going to do?”

The pearl-tailed merman gave a sigh, shaking his head at her and then swam upward, leaving the rest behind. Marie blinked, forgetting how when underwater dimensions of movement change completely. Even so, she did not dare follow after him as he reached the point of where they were hiding and peered over. What does he think he’s doing, Marie wondered to herself. Turning to the other mermen, they only floated there staring at her blankly or watching Mysar. She could almost hear the questions about her screaming from their minds, but ignored them. There would be time to answer questions if they all lived through the night. So she asked Dalit, who seemed to be in the loop somehow, “What is he planning to do?”

Dalit left his eyes from her father to give her attention, “I would assume it is to be rid of the guards. What else would it be?”

“As in… knock them out or something… right?” she whispered.

“Sure, split tail,” remarked one of the mermen from the back.

It wasn’t that Marie hadn’t seen enough action movies to not know what was going to happen. She understood that in order for them to survive, the guards would have to be taken out. However, in overhearing the one guard talking about a mate and little ones, Marie could not help but feel guilty. They would be tearing apart a family just as hers was being torn apart. Marie wanted to swim up and stop her father, grab onto his tail or something to keep him at bay. Too late. By the time she looked up, the merman made his move.

He dove from sight and a gargled ‘oompf’ sounded from the other side from the tackled merguard. A cry of alarm sounded from the second followed by grunts and gurgles of a struggle. Those soon ended, leaving them in silence once more and waiting for Mysar to reappear again. Soon enough he did, popping his head around the side, which gave Marie a jolt. “They are gone. The Orcas are far from here and will not know what happened until morning,” he said.

“So you did kill them,” Marie implied, sounding more shocked than she should have been.

Mysar gave a sigh, “I do not find joy in it, but they would have done the same to us had I not. Let us close the distance between here and Dorian before morning comes.”

The others gave no objection to his words. Though annoyed, Marie didn’t see much reason to argue with that. If Mysar wanted to be the leader then fine, she didn’t really want the position in the first place. It didn’t take long for the other mermen to swim out of hiding touching glowing sea moss along the way. Marie couldn’t even begin to imagine how those mermen knew just where to touch as they went, even tapping down with the ends of their fins brought the light. Multicolors of scales shimmered in the glow as the tails propelled the mermen onward, away from her. A sheen of pearl glimmered into view and soon Mysar’s face came before her own. “Are you not coming?” he asked.

Marie remarked without thinking, “You mean you’re not going to just leave me behind while the rest of you go off to save the day?”

He shook his head, “It would be foolish to leave you behind. Dorian will need you, and it would seem there is a lot of explaining that needs to be done between us.”

“That is one way of putting it,” she admitted with a sigh. “Mind giving me a lift?”

Mysar’s eyebrows rose.

“Dorian swims with me on his back,” Marie explained quickly. “I don’t swim as fast as you without a fish tail, okay?”

“Oh,” he said and that was all that really needed to be said.

Silently the older merman turned his back to her and reached a hand over one shoulder to pat it encouragingly. Obediently, Marie wrapped her arms and legs about his torso, being careful not to grip on the gills. With head bowed down, she closed her eyes tight, gripping hard to keep from falling off. She had forgotten about the coating that made the merpeople so slick in the water, but it wasn’t so disgusting when touching one underwater. Without further warning, Marie felt the muscles tense and then burst forth to propel the merman through the water. He seemed to already know which way to go towards the ruins and so Marie said nothing. It was better that they travel in silence for now. So the teen held firm and struggled not to fall asleep while traveling through darkness.