{"sf1_id":702797,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Aquata Cove - Chapter 21","author":"Mirron Tenshi","words":7856,"posted_at":"2014-05-09T18:34:00.000Z","tags":["Fantasy","Gay","Human","Mermaid","Romance","merman","tragic"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/702797-aquata-cove-chapter-21","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/702797","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=702797\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nAquata Cove\nChapter 21: Revelations\n \n \n \n\"Son...\" Kaiken said. \n \n\"Father... ?\" Merrick acknowledged. The two of them are alone,\naway from the pod.\n \n\"Your Mother has informed me of something that has me feeling\nvery concerned...\" Merrick looked his father in the eyes as he spoke, \"Over the\npast few years, you seem to have grown distant... Troubled... Over the last 13\nsuns, more so than usual.\"\n \n\"I have? Sister does not seem to think I have.\" Merrick\nreplied.\n \n\"Do not jest with me, Son,\" Kaiken retorted, \"For 21 suns in\na row, you have completely disappeared, save for the full moon.\"\n \n\"Surely you are mistaken, Father,\" Merrick said, \"I always\nwear the trace, so Razirah Denizyr can always track me no matter where I go.\"\n\n\"You know what I mean, Son,\" Kaiken said, glaring down at his Adra, \"And you\nwill address me properly.\" Merrick glared back at him, \"... Now. As I said, your\nMother has expressed concerns about you that are very serious. I need you to be\nhonest with me,\" Kaiken then leered at the dainty metal chain on Merrick's left\nwrist, \"Your Mother tells me you carry the scent of human about you.\"\n \nMerrick's eyes strained as he heard this, \"Not just this\ntime, but she claims to feel this scent on you when we come to these waters.\nWhy she has chosen to withhold this mention, I do not know...\" Kaiken glared\nangrily at the Adra Triton. His big dark eyes narrowed as he looked at him,\n\"What do you do for your personal training, Son?\" He inquired, \"I have never\nheard of this sort of thing before...\" Merrick remained silent, as he locked his\neyes with his father.\n \n\"Refusing to answer?\" Kaiken asked. He floated up-close and\npersonal to the smaller merman, \"It will be wise for you to respond from this\npoint forward, Son,\" He said in a low, lethal tone. After a short pause, he\nbegan to speak again, \"Have you, or have you not made contact with a human?\"\nThere was a pause between the two males. Merrick closed his eyes and lowered\nhis head.\n \n\"... I have...\" \n \nTriton Kaiken rumbled at the answer, \"You know it is\nforbidden, Son... What reason could you possibly have for making contact with\nthose savages?\" \n \nMerrick's fist clenched around his trident as he hovered\nthere. He remained silent as his stomach burned with both guilt and anger.\n \n\"You know full well what humans are capable of... How can you\nbe so careless?!\" Kaiken raised his voice, \"How many times have you met this\nhuman?? How long have you kept this secret from us?? From your POD? Worse than\nthat, you put yourself at risk! If it wanted to, that human could have snatched\nyou up into the sky! You would be lost forever, you KNOW that, Son! In the\npresense of a human, you are NEVER safe!\"\n \n\"... But how can you know that, Father?\" Merrick asked. Kaiken\nwidened his eyes as he stared at his son.\n \n\"What did you say?\"\n \n\"How do you know that, Father??\" Merrick repeated, lifting\nup his head and looking at his parent with eyes of hurt, \"Have you even SEEN a\nhuman snatch a merperson into the sky? Have we ever seen a human ride a giant\ngull into war? Have we ever witnessed humans create weapons from lava? Or watch\nas they change and create mountains?!\"\n \n\"You never have to see their atrocities, Son, do you not\nunderstand?!\" Kaiken said, \"The Sacred Laws exist for a reason: to protect us\nfrom the humans and from going astray!\"\n \n\"Who is REALLY to say what is right and wrong anymore,\nFather??\" Merrick demanded, \"We believe such horrifying tales about the humans,\nbut have we ever bare witness to their calamities?! Have you ever seen ANYTHING\nof the dangers humans pose to our kind?\"\n \n\"I HAVE!\" Kaiken bellowed, \"My MOTHER was taken from me,\nSon!\" Merrick gasped, both at the volume of his father, and at the reply, \"She\nwas stolen and killed before my very eyes by pirates, Son!\"\n \n\"You can't possibly believe all humans are cruel and dark\nfrom one act of monsters, Father!\" Merrick replied.\n \n\"And how can you verify that they are not?!\" Kaiken\nresponded, \"Did the human you know tell you??\"\n \n\"...\" Merrick paused, before taking his conviction, \"Yes, it\ndid, Father. It told me many things about humans and how they really are.\"\n \n\"Those were LIES, Son! LIES!\" Kaiken shouted exasperatedly,\n\"It was trying to coax information of our world out of you by presenting\nfallacies to you! Do you not have control over your own senses??\"\n \n\"I do, Father!\"\n \n\"No, you do not!\" Kaiken said as he turned round, continuing\nwith the ranting, \"That human was investigating you! Drawing you closer and\ncloser to your mind, prying to find our world!\" Kaiken turned and swam to his\nson, \"Can you not understand me?!\" He said as he took hold of Merrick's\nshoulder, \"I do not wish to see my own Adras meeting the same fate of my\nMother...\" He growled lowly as he shook his head, \"No one should have suffered\nwhat I have seen. You cannot return to that human, lest you surrender your life\nand soul to the demons of land and sky.\"\n \n\"You are speaking in blindness, Father,\" Merrick replied,\n\"The human never once tried to strike me or harm me...\"\n \n\"It was trying to convince you of false innocence!\" Kaiken\nretorted as he drifted away, and looked out into the ocean again, \"You give\nyour trust so easily to a monster, was it so difficult for the Phantasma to\nswallow you??\"\n \n\"That is not the same thing, and you know it, Father!\"\nMerrick shot out.\n \n\"Is it not??\" Kaiken said as he turned and glared at his\nson, \"I think you WANTED to be swallowed!\" Merrick looked at him with hurtful\nshock, \"So that you can never reveal your secret!\"\n \n\"Do you hear yourself, Father?!\"\n \n\"Do you, Son? You dare question the Sacred Laws! You\nunderstand nothing! You are weak! You have allowed a human to twist and distort\nyour mind! You must NOT allow yourself to risk your existence for the sake of a\nmonster! Can you not see its deception?! It will strip you of your soul and\ntrap you forever-\"\n \n\n\"I LOVE HIM, FATHER!\"\n \n \nThe statement seemed to linger in the water. Merrick's gills\nflared as he breathed deeply, glaring at his father, shaking with rage. Kaiken\nlooked absolutely dumb-founded.\n \n\"... Him?\" He finally said, \"Him??? ... Him, you love HIM?\"\n \nMerrick felt a purge of fear as he just realized what he\njust blurted out. Kaiken's gills flared as well as he too shook with anger, his\nwidened eyes blazing with wrath \"YOU LOVE HIIIIIIIM?!?!\" Merrick gasped as the\nTriton suddenly charged at him. The Adra yelped as his father's trident\nlaunched forth, and snagged him on his throat! Merrick grunted and wheezed as\nhis own trident drifted off from his hand, and he was slammed onto the reef,\nwith two of the prongs of Kaiken's trident pressing down on his neck,\nrestricting his breathing. \n \n\"Hhnngghhh!\" Merrick wheezed as his tail whipped about\nweakly. His webbed hands pulled at the trident, but it's no use; he's pinned\ndown.\n \n\"You... You dare commit it... You DARE commit more than one\ntaboos?!\"\n\n\"Fah... Father...\" Merrick grunted as he squirmed.\n \n\"You DARE give yourself to a HUMAN?!\" Kaiken bellowed, \"YOU!\nAn Adra Triton of the Piscien merfolk?!\" He roared. Merrick grunted as his\nchest started to feel tight, \"And not just a human! You have chosen a MALE!!\"\n \n\"I... Couldn't... Enngghh...\" Merrick clenched his eyes shut as he\ntried in vain to push off the large weapon off of him.\n \n\"Do you realize what you have DONE?!\" Kaiken shouted, \"Do\nyou WANT to become Coshiton?! DO YOU?!\" He cranked his trident to heighten the\ndiscomfort. Merrick whimpered as he hoarse voice became more strained.\n \n\"Red... Moon... Father...\"\n \n\"So help me, Son, I AM going to get through to you... !\"\nKaiken said with a deadly rumble, \"And if pain must be your teacher,\" Merrick\ngripped the trident's prongs as white tears formed around his eyes, \"So be it...\"\nHe pushed his trident up more, before he raised his mighty arm to strike down.\n \n\"FATHER, NO!\" Came a loud, young voice. Triton Kaiken turned\nhis head, and gasped as he saw Adra Savarna jet up to them, and put her hands\naround the shaft of the trident, her eyes wisping pearly tears as she pushed at\nthe weapon, \"Don't hurt Brother, Father! Stop it, please!\" Kaiken immediately\npulled his trident back. Merrick gasped and sputtered as he felt his neck. The\nmermaid then put her arms around her brother, and pulled him away from the\nspot.\n \nMinutes later, Merrick and Savarna swam to her little 'Sea\nSpot', and has been decorated a lot more than it has half a year ago.\n \n\"It is ok, Brother. Father will not hurt you anymore...\" She\nsaid as she rubbed Merrick's arm. However, Merrick simply curled up at the base\nof the sand. He clenched his eyes shut as his shoulders began to shudder and\njerk, \"... Brother?\" The young mermaid loomed around, and saw that her brother is\nweeping as he held himself, leaning against the rock, \"Brother, it is alright!\nI promise, Father will not hurt you again!\" Merrick only shook his head as he\ncurled tighter, a white, glittering mist forming from his eyes as he cried.\n\"It... It is alright, Brother...\" Savarna said as she put her arms onto Merrick,\ntaken aback by the merman's tears, \"I will have Mother tell Father not to hurt\nyou... She will not allow him to hurt your...\" \n \nNothing she said will console Merrick in the least. She\nlooked back in the other direction, and then back at her brother, \"I-I will get\nyour trident for you... It will be all right, Brother... You will see...\" With\nreluctance to leave her sibling's side, she swam away, and quickly swam away to\nretrieve Merrick's weapon.\n \nAdra Savarna... She truly has no idea of the hurt Merrick\nreally feels deep inside...\n \n \n---1 Week Later---\n \n \n\"And now, my Pod,\" Kaiken announced to the mass of merfolk\nbefore him, \"The Time of Departure, is now!\" With that, Triton Kaiken, Noita\nUmiato, Adra Merrick, and Adra Savarna turned, and lead the pod of merfolk into\nthe sea.\n \n \nFor the past few days, Merrick and Savarna have stayed at\nSavarna's Sea Spot, with the Adra Triton hunting for them both, and just\nspending more time together. However, Merrick DID take her to Aquata Cove. She\nwas quite amazed at the cave of glowing crystals hidden in a waterfall - she\neven took one add to her Sea Spot. The visit was short lived, however, as the\nmermaid did not eat any bullshark meat in order to be able to swim in the fresh\nwater, and so developed a minor inflammation from the freshwater. \nThey returned around, once Savarna and Merrick had eaten\nsome bull shark, but the had to retreat when Merrick sensed a human nearby. It\nhad entered the pool, and is swimming around. Savarna wondered why Merrick\nlooked at the human the way that he did... Saddened and longingly, as if he\nwanted to engage contact with it. Nonetheless, Merrick escorted his sister out\nof the tunnel, and the two Adras played elsewhere.\n \n \nAs the pod swam, Merrick rubbed his thumb along the barnacle\nthat concealed his picture of Adam. It was all he can do without breaking into\ntears in front of the whole pod, to say the least if he opened the barnacle to\nlook at the picture. At this time, Noita Umiato can sense an immense anguish\ninside her son. She looked sadly at him as his body gave off a large aura -\nmixed feelings of severe sorrow, longing, guilt... Self-hatred. \nIt pains her to know her son is feeling so much negative\nenergy in his heart, and the worst part it, she does not know why his aura is\nso wounded. Does it have something to do with the human scent he holds when\nthey come to these waters? Did that human scent originate from a companion of\nMerrick's? If so, did he lose this friend?\n \n \n\"HALT!\" Kaiken called. The whole pod stopped swimming.\nKaiken sent out a few long reaching signals up ahead. He scowled as he scanned\nahead, listening for the details up ahead, \"Something colossal is ahead. It is\npiercing the ocean floor...\" He said aloud, \"We must travel around-\"\n \nBOOOOOOM!! \n \nBefore they can take the alternate route, there was a huge\nnoise out of the endless void. The merfolk screamed from the sudden rapture.\nKaiken glared forth, and gasped, \"SIRENS!\" He roared out as a small handful of\nvivid red and violet, twin-tailed merfolk sang savage melodies as they raced\ntowards the pod. \"Arm yourselves!!\"\n \nThe merfolk scrambled about calling to one another - the\nmermen readying their spears and the mermaids holding their short bows and\npoison spiral-shell arrows to strike.\n \nThe sirens spotted the pod, and jet towards them. The sped\nand loomed around the blue, green, and purple pod. The merfolk clashed with the\ncannibalistic sirens, both males and females singing their mad tunes as they\nfrenzied into the pod. Biting into the merfolk, and getting attacked in return.\n \nMerrick snarled as he swung his trident at a male siren. It\nsimply taunted him as it laughed its musical voice, goading on the Adra Triton\neven more as the blue and silver merman charged at it. The red and purple siren\nwhirled around Merrick as it continued to sing at him. As highly skillful as\nMerrick is, this siren is too fast; he only managed to get in a scratch at a\ntime. \n \nThe sound of the singing male was beginning to make Merrick\ndizzy. He knows the song is starting to enter his mind and distort his\nthinking. If he doesn't end it now, he will be at the ruthless mercy of the\nsadistic siren, just like...\n \nMerrick let out a shriek of anger as he swung his trident in\na manic way, making the siren falter for just a moment - one moment that\nMerrick needed! \"PERISH NOW!!!\" He hastily thrust his trident into the stomach\nof the siren. It screamed and bare its razor sharp teeth. Merrick released a\nfear-instilling call as he took a fishing knife from a notch in one of his\nsharkteeh belts, and carved into the siren's head!\n \nOnce the creature was dead, Merrick yanked out his trident,\nand swam ahead... Or was it backward?\n \nAdra Merrick looked around. He feels so disoriented, the\nsong is still in effect - it's totally distorted his sense of direction. The\nmerman spiraled about, trying to figure out which way is left. Where is right\nagain? Up and down isn't the same thing, are they? He tried swimming up, but he\nfelt the water getting heavier as he went. He whined as he swam in any\ndirection, his whole sense of balance is completely thrown off. \n \nAs he swerved about, Merrick began to taste something...\nDisgusting. He gagged as he tried to huff out more water to get the taste out,\nbut only more of it seeped into him! He looked about, discovering the blue\nocean has been darkened in a mass of blackness!\n \nThen, his gills began to feel... Slippery and raspy, like pain\nis racking in his gills. It's getting harder to breathe and they hurt like\ncrazy! Merrick swam around frantically, trying to find the surface! Where's the\nsurface!? Did it just disappear?! Where's the rest of his pod?! What happened?!\nDid the sirens kill them all off?! If so, why haven't they come for him, yet???\n \nMerrick gagged as he struggled to find the surface. He\ncringed and grunted horribly as his insides began to churn and ache, as if his\nstomach is full of writhing urchins! His mouth gapped more as he became unable\nto breathe, choking on the very water he's lived in for so long. \n \nEverything in his line of vision is blurring. His world is\nturned completely upside down. His head is spinning as everything became dark.\nHe moaned weakly as he drifted into darkness.\n \n\"... Adam...\" He uttered quietly as he passed into nothingness,\n\"... Aa ... Dah...\"\n \n \nThe next thing he can feel is coldness, but heat as well.\nCold and heat playing on his body as he also felt the rush of the winds.\nSomething is patting his face as the darkness became lighter and lighter.\n \n\"... Merrick...\" Echoed a familiar voice. His name bounced in\nhis head as his eyes peered, squinting from the burst of light above him,\n\"Merrick!\" Echoed the voice again, \"Merrick! ... Please wake up, baby! ...\nMERRICK!\"\n \nThe light around the figure slowly came into focus,\n\"Merrick! Open your eyes!\"\n \n\"Unnngghhh...\" Merrick groaned as he still felt heavy and very\nill.\n \n\"Merrick?! MERRICK\"\n \n\"... Ah... Adam...\" He croaked very weakly. He lift up a\ntrembling, webbed hand to the human's cheek, \"My Adam...\" Adam sniffled and wept\nas he took Merrick's cold, oily hand, and held it in place against his cheek.\nMerrick felt himself smile as his palm pressed in on the somewhat prickly spot\non Adam's face.\n \n\"Merrick...\" Adam sobbed as tears rolled down his face.\n \n\"Adam... You came for me...\" Merrick uttered weakly, \"I broke\nour hearts...\" shimmering white tears formed around the Adra's eyes as he looked\nup at soaked human, his heart soaring in happiness and confusion, \"And you came\nfor me...\" \n \n\"I love you, Merrick...\" Adam said as he pulled the headband\noff of his head, pressing his forehead against the other, \"I'm never letting\nyou go again...\" He held Merrick close to him, holding him tight, \"Never, never\nnever...\" Adam said as he cried even more.\n \n \n~~~\n \n \n\"Those damn boys...\" Yuri said as she stood at the sandy back\nlawn, \"Who the hell do they think they are?? Taking Dad's boat...\" She turned to\nthe sea, and spotted the motorboat in the distance. \"THERE they are...\" She\ncrossed her arms as she spotted Jamal at the controls. \n \nSoon, the boat came to a slowing halt. The Japanese girl\nglared daggers as she stalked up to the shore, as Adam hopped off, splashing\nonto the water, and wading quickly through the shore, carrying someone wrapped\nin shells and seaweed, \"Where the hell have you guys been?!\" She demanded as\nAdam approached her, \"Where do you get off?! Joy riding my father's boat like\nthat?! Who do you think-\"\n\n\"Yuri!\" Adam called out, as a wave of water hit him, and splashed onto the\nperson he's holding, \"Please, I need your help!\"\n \n\"Adam, who're are you-\" Yuri gasped and clapped her hands to\nher mouth as she saw Merrick looking like he's sleeping in Adam's arms, a lot\nof water splashed onto him, showing large blotches of blue scales and a line of\nblack frill on his legs, which are partially melded together from the water.\n \n\"It's Merrick! He's sick, please, Yuri!\" Adam pleaded. Yuri said as she saw\nAdam's eyes, looking pink and swollen from crying, \"Help him...\"\n \n\"Lets take him to my room, quickly\" She said as she rushed\nback up the sand.\n \n \nMerrick moaned weakly as Adam carried him to the house, and\ninto Yuri's room. She readied a rollaway bed, with a towel laid down on top of\nit. He gently placed Merrick onto it, and he dried him off with another towel,\nmaking his legs and various parts of his body appear as human. Yuri watched as\nthe blue scales slowly melted into droplets of water. \n \nShe and Adam removed Merrick's sharkteeth crossbelts and\nshell-shoulders, leaving him wearing only the bracelet and his necklace.\nMerrick moaned weakly as his skin looked... Oily. Even his blonde hair is damp\nwith a wet darkness.\n \n\"Alright, I'm going to need some time,\" Yuri told softly to\nAdam, \"Just stay in the living room, and wait for me there.\"\n\"Ok...\" Adam said, as he looked nervously at Merrick, then at Yuri, \"Please,\nYuri-\"\n \n\"I'll do what I can, Adam...\" She said as she had him leave\nher room. He sighed as the door closed, and he went to the living room. He sat\ndown on the couch, before Jamal sat beside him. Adam huffed, and sniffled,\nbefore putting his hands to his face, and started to sob. Jamal scooted over,\nand out his arm around Adam, patting him gently.\n \n \n+++\n \n \n\"Ennngghhh...\" Merrick gurgled as he peered out, his eyes\nlooking darkened and red around his blue irises, \"Adam...\" He mumbled.\n \n\"Just stay calm, Merrick,\" Yuri said as she hooked up the\nearbuds to her stethoscope to her ears, and pressed a cold pad onto Merrick's\nstomach. \n \n\"Yu... Yuri...\" He moaned.\n \n\"It's ok, you're back at the house...\" She said softly as she\nmoved the stethoscope.\n \n\"Adam... He said... You're a... Healer?\" He asked drearily.\n \n\"Training to be one, anyway\" She said, \"I'm gonna need you\nto stay quiet...\" She said as she pressed it over Merrick's chest. Yuri frowned\nas she took the earbuds out of her head, and went to her desk, \"Ok, Adam said\nyou're sick, so if you feel you need to throw up, use this,\" She said as she\nthen placed a small canister next to the cot. \n \nShe then took a small flashlight, and looked held it to\nMerrick's eyes, holding the eyelids open, \"Oh my gosh...\" She uttered. The blue\nirises had darkened, his pupils are dilated, the whites around his eyes are\nbloodshot, with a shade of blackness around, \"I've never seen anything like\nthis... What in the world has happened to you...\"\n \nShe sat down next to him, and placed an armband around his\nleft bicep. \"Are you experiencing any nausea, tight chest, dizziness?\"\n \n\"Wh... Whaa?\" Merrick mumbled.\n \n\"Tell me how you're feeling right now.\" \n \n\"I... I...\" Merrick gurgled, and started to cough. Yuri picked\nup the tub, and helped Merrick up. \n \n\"Go ahead, let it out...\" Merrick then began to gag before\nvomiting a mess of blood, oil, and various other chunks.\n \n---\n \nAdam flinched as he heard Merrick from the other room,\nmoaning and coughing violently. Another tear rolled down his face as he\nlistened from the couch.\n \n+++\n \nOnce Merrick lay back down, whimpering painfully, Yuri wiped\nhis mouth, and sat down to her computer to type, and the band started to\ninflate. Merrick gasped and started to writhe, coughing as he tried to tug the\nband off of his arm, but to no avail\n \n\"Wh-What are you doing?!\" Merrick yelped.\n \n\"It's ok! It's ok, calm down, Merrick!\" Yuri said as she\nheld him down, \"It's supposed to do that, I'm just taking a look at your blood\npressure.\" Merrick whimpered as he reluctantly stayed still as the band got\ntighter and tighter. It stopped, and shrunk a little. A little more. One more\ntime. Then, it deflated, and Yuri took ripped the velcro off of around his arm,\nand checked the stats on the computer.\n \n\"... Not good.\" She said as she put the arm band away, \"Your\nblood pressure and pulse are extremely low... If you even know what that means...\"\nShe took out a small, plastic object, a bandaid, a few cotton balls, a few\nthin, glass tube, and a disinfectant wipe. She rubbed Merrick's finger with the\nwet wipe.\n \n\"What... What're you doing??\" He asked.\n \n\"I'm taking a few blood samples. I need to know what I'm\ndealing with here,\" She then put the plastic cube onto Merrick's fingertip,\n\"This is going to hurt.\"\n \nCHKT!\n \n\"Nhhh!\" Merrick flinched as a very sharp point stabbed into his finger, seeing\na drop of dark blood seep from his finger. Yuri held the glass tube with the\ndrop of blood, and squeezed Merrick's finger to draw more red fluid from it.\nOnce she collected enough blood in the very small tubes, she took a cotton\nswab, and wiped up Merrick's finger before wrapping it with a band-aid.\n \n \n---\n \n \nJamal offered a glass of orange juice to Adam, which he\nshook his head to, and ran his fingers through his hair.\n \n \n+++\n \nYuri looked under her microscope, at the blood from Merrick.\n\n \n\"... I really don't like the looks of this...\" She muttered. She\nthen took off one of her rubber gloves, \"I need a second opinion on this...\" She\nplucked up a sanitary wipe and another finger-prick. She wiped off her own\nfinger, and took a sample of her blood. \n \nOnce she put it on a glass slide, she put it under the\nmicroscope in order to compare it to Merrick's blood sample.\n \n---\n \nIt felt like hours since Yuri and Merrick have been in\nthere. Adam paced back and forth, while Jamal sat on the couch, twiddling his\nthumbs and staring at the coffee table. Adam gasped as he heard Yuri's door\nopen. He dashed up to her as she left her room, and closed the door.\n \n\"Yuri! Is he-\"\n \n\"Shhhh,\" Yuri shushed him. \"Lets talk outside.\" With that,\nYuri, Adam, and Jamal walked out the front door.\n \n\"H-How is he Yuri?? Please tell me he's gonna be ok...\" He\nsaid, fresh tears already forming in his eyes.\n \n\"He's not doing well at all,\" She said, \"He's suffering from\na very bad case of blood poisoning. That's ONLY a guess,\" She then took out a\nsmall, plastic bag, containing one of the small tubes with a blood sample,\n\"Here is the plasma sample I extracted from him,\" Adam looked and cringed as he\nsaw half the tube filled with red, the middle of it black, and the rest of it\nclear yellow.\n \n\"Adam, he has oil in his BLOOD,\" She said, \"It's like it was\ninjected into him!\"\n \n\"Yuri...\" Adam trembled head to foot.\n \n\"And now I have a question for you, Adam, and I'd appreciated\nit if you are completely honest with me,\" Yuri then looked Adam directly in the\neye.\n \n\"What IS he?\"\n \nAdam stared back at her, \"Yuri-\"\n \n\"Don't lie to me, Adam. What IS he??\" She plucked up the\nstethoscope around her neck, \"I listened to several areas of his body, and\nNOTHING sounds right in there!\" She crossed her arms as she looked at him,\n\"Then there was when you brought him here from the boat, and he... Changed when\nthe water splashed on him. Tell me, Adam,\" She said very sternly, \"RIGHT now.\"\n \nAdam sighed, and looked down. And then looked back up,\n\"Alright... There's something about Merrick I didn't tell you guys. Something I\nlied about, partially for his protection, and partially because I didn't think\nyou guys would believe me.\n \n\"Merrick is a merman.\"\n \nYuri raised her thin eyebrows, \"He's... What???\"\n \n\"Is true, Yuri,\" Jamal said as he nodded, \"It's true, I saw\nhim when Adam hauled him on the boat.\"\n \n\"This morning, there was a news report about an oil spill\nand...\" Adam rubbed the back of his head, \"I don't know how or why, but... I felt I\nhad to find him... Like I KNEW he was out there.\"\n \n\"NOW will you tell us why he broke up wit chu?\" Jamal asked.\nAdam sighed and nodded.\n \n\"He's... Sort of a prince among merfolk...\"\n\n\"How can he be SORT of a prince?\" Yuri asked.\n \n\"Well, they don't use the word 'Prince' - they say 'Adra'.\nSee, in a pod of merfolk, they have two leaders: Triton, the 'King', and Noita,\nthe 'Queen'. And their children are called 'Adras'. In his pod, Merrick is the\nAdra Triton, and he has a sister called the Adra Noita.\n \n\"See, in order for a Triton to lead a pod, they have to fall\nin love with a mermaid, and make her a Noita from the connection. And vice\nversa if a Noita happens to fall in love with a merman. Eventually, an Adra\nTriton has to either succeed the pod, or start a new one of his own. And...\nWell...\"\n \n\"He can't lead a pod and be with you at the same time...\" Yuri\nsaid.\n \n\"Exactly...\" Adam said.\n \n\"Wut about that bit about you bein his mistake and all?\"\nJamal asked.\n \n\"Yeah, he DID say that. And it hurt,\" Adam said shortly, \"A\nlot. And... When I think about it, he DOES have a point, but...\" Adam sighed and\ncontinued, \"That's why I told you he's a Nudist; merfolk don't see the point in\nclothing - the most they'll wear are shells, kelp, and other little things. They're\nperfectly comfortable walking around naked. I also told you that he has issues\nand Anthropophobic, because he IS afraid of humans - ALL merfolk are afraid of\nhumans - they believe all sorts of ludicrous atrocities about them. I also\nasked you guys to not ask him any questions about his life because he doesn't\nknow anything about human society.\"\n \nAdam sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck, \"I'm sorry I\nlied to you guys about this, you know I hate lying, but as I said, it was for\nhis protection, and because I didn't think you'd believe me. And even if you\ndid, he wouldn't be willing to come over to meet you; remember last month, you\nguys met by accident.\"\n \n\"So...\" Yuri began, \"Is this why you can only see him for a\nmonth after 6 months?\" \n \n\"Yeah,\" Adam said as he nodded, \"His pod migrates and\ntravels around the ocean.\"\n \n\"Then... What about those pictures? Why does he look human\nnow?\"\n \n\"I took a lot more pictures than that; I only showed you the\nones where he wasn't in his true form. See, most merfolk change when they dry\nup. They morph into human-shape when the water leaves their bodies. But any\nspot that gets wet with water transmutes back into scales and such.\n \n\"A-Anyway, we can talk about this later! We need to get\nMerrick to a hospital!\" Adam said.\n \n\"Yeah! I'll go get the-\" Jamal began.\n \n\"No, guys...\" Yuri sighed and looked down, \"That isn't going\nto work...\"\n \n\"Wh-Why not??\" Adam asked, \"Yuri, please, I don't want to\nlose him again!\"\n \n\"Adam... He doesn't have any medical records, family records,\nno history at all in any place,\" She explained, \"The papers alone would take\nhours to compile. Even if he was taken in... There's nothing the doctors can do\nfor him...\" \n \n\"Wh-What're you talking about??\" Adam said as he held her\nshoulders.\n \n\"Adam, there's OIL in his BLOOD. There's no cure for oil\npoisoning. The only think I can think of that could help would be a\ntransfusion, but that's no use. My scanner can't make heads or tails of his\nblood type. Adam...\" Yuri said as she shook her head, \"I don't even know if we\nshould take him to a doctor or a vet.\"\n \n\"...\" Adam looked in horror as he let go of her, \"Yuri...\" He\nslowly stepped away, \"Anything...?\" Yuri held her hand to her eyes as she\nsuppressed a tear; she feels so useless, after all her training and schooling\nto save lives, there's nothing she can do to save the love of her friend's\nlife. \n \nAdam then turned to the wall pressed his forehead onto the\nwall, and held his head as he felt himself tear up.\n \n\"C'mon, gurl!\" Jamal said, \"They's... There's gotta be\nSOMETHIN we can do! We can't just let him die like this!\"\n \n\"Wh-What about his family? O-O-Or, pod, couldn't THEY help??\nLet's just take them to his pod.\" \n \n\"We can't...\" Adam croaked, \"We have no idea where they could be, and besides\nthat, contact with humans is strictly forbidden. They find out he's had\nanything to do with me, they'll banish him...\"\n \n\"Then why do we have to take him?\" Yuri persisted, \"Why not\njust leave him in the water, and wait for them to show up? If he's a prince to\nthem, then he'd be too important to just leave behind. Do they know how to\ntrack? Maybe they've been looking for him.\"\n \n\"... Yeah...\" Adam said as he turned around, \"Tha-That shell\nslice on his necklace - that's how they keep track of each other, no matter\nwhere they are.\"\n \n\"Ok... Why don't you talk things over with him, see if he has\nany input on what to do.\"\n \n\"Alright...\"\n \n \n~~~\n \n \nMerrick grunted as he lay there, his own body feeling filthy\nand heavy. He opened his eyes as he heard some soft footsteps, \"Adam...\" He\nmuttered, his voice very feeble and raspy.\n \nAdam felt his eyes water up once more as he looked at his\nlover, \"Hi baby...\" He whimpered as he pulled up a chair, \"H-How are feeling?\"\n \n\"I'm...\" Merrick winced for a moment, \"I'm dying, Adam...\"\n \n\"No no no, don't talk like that, sweetie, you're gonna be\nfine,\" Adam said, \"We'll get your mother here, and she can heal you, right? You\nsaid Noitas are the healers of your pod, you're going to be alright-\"\n \n\"No, Adam...\" Merrick said, \"The black blood of the earth...\" He\nwhispered, \"It's a poison, otherwise known as the Shroud of Death...\" He moaned,\n\"There is no healing me...\" Merrick whimpered. He reopened his eyes, and looked\nat his human. Adam whimpered as he looked into those sickened eyes, \"Adam... I'm\nso sorry...\" He grunted as he lifted up his shaking hand. Adam held his weak hand,\nfeeling a weird residue on his skin, \"I am so sorry, I said those things to\nyou... I can never forgive myself for breaking you... Shattering your heart...\"\n \nAdam sniffled as he wiped his eyes \"Why, Merrick? Why did\nyou try and break us up? Is it because you're an Adra Triton?\"\n \n\"In part... But in truth, it was futile to try and leave you\nbehind...\"\n \n\"What do you mean?\"\n \nThe merman took a deep breath, pausing before looking to his\nhuman, \"... Adam... What is love to humans?\" Merrick asked.\n \n\"Well... It's uncertain; it's confusing, it's awesome,\npotentially painful, and very elusive... Humans, we... We look for people to date,\ngo out with. It doesn't always work, and we have girlfriends and boyfriends.\nAnd eventually, they can fall in love with each other, and stay together... But...\nIt is difficult... A lot of people never find their true love...\"\n \n\"Hmph,\" Merrick snorted, \"How clueless and primitive,\" He\nblinked slowly, and took a deep breath, \"For us merfolk, it is just the\nopposite.\n \n\"Under the night of a red moon - a Lunar Eclipse, as you\nhumans call it - Pods of merfolk gather together, and swim in a spiraling\nfrenzy. These small spirits, called Undines, appear as well, on these rare\nnights, and frolic with us, for it is they who emanate the love of Sea Mother\nAtargatis, and allow us to find our mate...\"\n \n\"... On the night of the 3rd red moon since I\nbecame eligible for love... I have once again failed to find a mermaid to become\nmy Noita when the time has come to succeed my pod...\" He closed his eyes again as\nmore pearly white tears seeped through, \"Humiliated, I swam awa... I wanted to be\nalone... And then... An Undine came to me,\" Merrick said as he spoke lowly, \"It was\ncurious to see me... But it disappeared shortly after finding me...\n \n\"And then... I heard a voice... A very strange voice...\" He opened\nhis eyes again, \"I followed it to the surface, and saw a human... A human male...\"\nHe smiled as he chuckled weakly, \"He had a short patch of black baleen on his\nhead, and he wore a bunch of sails around his body. He was moving so strangely\nand chanting some absurd prayer or hymn of some sort... Or, I suppose he was just\nsinging; at the time, I still did not know any male could sing...\n \n\"I was fascinated... He did not fit any description of any\nhorror fable of humans I've ever heard... I followed him along the reef, until he\nsaw me... He didn't even know we had made eye contact, and then... His baleen began\nto shimmer, and his eyes gleamed with the beautiful aura of the Sea Mother's\nlove, as did other parts of his body... Hheheh... He didn't even realize he was\nglowing, even when he saw me... I was hiding behind a rock... And then he spoke to\nme... He came into the water, but I was too scared... I couldn't even talk to him.\nThat's when I realized that I was glowing as well. My body too, was reflecting\nthe light of the red moon... A magenta light dancing upon my tail...\"\n\nMerrick turned his head at his awestruck human, \"You and I are bonded, Adam...\nYou will always be mine, and I will always be yours...\" Adam sniffled, and cried\nas he wiped his eyes, \"I am sorry... But you can never love another man, and I\ncan never love any one else. And they cannot fall in love with us,\" He reopened\nhis eyes, \"No mermaid, no merman can ever become infatuated with me. As neither\nany man nor woman can ever be infatuated with you. It is a solemn gift of the\nSea Mother's tender love.\"\n\n\"But then,\" Adam said, his voice thick with emotion, \"If that's true... Why did\nyou try to end it between us??\"\n \n\"... My Mother and Father... They are beginning to suspect that\nI have had human contact... Mother saw the bracelet you gave me, and she can see\nthe affection coming from it...\" His fingers tightened around Adam's hand, \"I\ndidn't know if the principle of love would apply to a human...\" He smiled weakly\nas tears continued to drip from his eyes, \"Even though I wounded your heart...\nEven after I shattered you in the inside... You still love me...\" He exhaled again,\n\"I panicked... I feared I would be banished, and so I tried to leave you behind...\"\nMerrick shook his head, \"I could not have been more wrong...\" He frowned as he\nlooked at the ceiling, \"It is only a matter of time before they discover that I\ncannot fall for a mermaid. I cannot become a complete Triton without a Noita...\"\n \n\"Merrick...\" Adam sobbed, \"Why can't you live with me? Leave\nyour pod and just be here with me?\" Merrick moaned and shook his head, \"Please...\nIf you're going to get banished eventually anyway, why not stay here???\"\n \n\"I cannot, Adam. I belong to the sea... I can never leave the\nocean behind... And my pod is precious to me...\" Merrick said, \"I am the Adra\nTriton, I have a responsibility to my people... I am torn, between my love for\nyou and my devotion the my... My family...\" \n \n\"What about Belinda? She's a mermaid, and she lives among\nhumans. She lives near the sea too, that's all she needs.\" Adam persisted.\n \n\"She is a Latolcus, Adam,\" Merrick responded in disgust,\n\"She has capabilities that aren't normal to have. She stole most of her talents\nand abilities - walking, able to live out of the ocean, and so on. I cannot do\nthe same as her...\"\n \nThe merman winced as he felt his stomach, as it gurgled\nviolently, \"And now... Enngghh... I'm dying, Adam...\" He said as tears continued to\nflow, \"I still don't know what I should've done... If saving you from that siren\nWAS a mistake...\" Adam held Merrick's hand to his lips, \"I'm glad... That I made\nit...\" Adam shook as he cried, tightly holding his hand.\n \n\"Please, Merrick,\" Adam sobbed, \"There has to be SOMETHING...\nPlease,\" He was close to going hysterical, \"Don't make me lose you again...\" His\nvoice is heavy with sadness, \"I don't want to lose you again, I'm not strong\nenough, please don't die on me...\" He pleaded, \"I need you, Merrick, don't...\" Adam\nclenched his eyes shut as he cried more, \"I can't live without you...\"\n \n\"...\" Merrick stayed quiet for a while. Adam wept as he held\nMerrick's oily hand, \"Sing for me?\" He asked, \"Please... I want to hear you...\"\nMerrick trailed off. Adam slowly nodded, and took a minute to breath deeply,\ntrying to steady himself, before thinking up a song to give Merrick.\n \n \n\"~~If I never knew you\n~~If I never felt this love\n~~I would have no inkling of\n~~How precious life can be...\n \n\"~~And if I never held you\n~~I would never have a clue\n~~How at last I'd find in you\n~~The missing part of me...\n \n\"~~In this world so full of fear\n~~Full of rage and lies\n~~I can see the truth so clear\n~~In your eyes\n~~So dry your eyes...\n \n\"~~And I'm so grateful to you\n~~I'd hve lived my whole life through\n~~Lost forever\n~~If I never knew you...\n \n \nAdam held back more tears as he kept imagining all the good\ntimes he shared with Merrick. Swimming with him, exchanging questions, kissing,\nthe wonderful bursts of passion... He tried hard to block it out to keep singing.\n \n \n\"~~If I never knew you\n~~I'd be safe but half as real\n~~Never knowing I could feel\n~~A love so strong and true...\n \n\"~~I'm so grateful to you\n~~I'd have lived my whole life through\n~~Lost forever\n~~If I never knew you...\n \n\"~~I thought our love would be so beautiful\n~~Somehow we'd make the whole world bright\n~~I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong\n~~All they'd leave us were these whispers in the night\nBut still my heart is saying we were right...\n \n\"~~Oh if I never knew you\n~~There's no moment I regret\n~~If I never felt this love\n~~Since the moment that we met\n~~I would have no inkling of\n~~If our time has gone too fast\n~~How precious life can be...\n~~I've lived at last...\n \n \nMerrick smiled peacefully as he could think of everything\nhe's done with Adam. Yanking off his swimming trunks and hiding them, being\ncradled in Adam's arms, going shopping in the pier... He let all these images\nflow into his head as he slowly faded into slumber.\n \n \n\"~~I thought our love would be so beautiful\n~~Somehow we'd make the whole world bright\n~~I thought our love wuold be so beautiful\n~~We'd turn the darkness into light\n~~And still my heart is saying we were right\n~~We were right...\n \n\"~~And if I never knew you\n~~If I never knew you\n~~I'd have lived my whole life through\n~~Empty as the sky...\n~~Never knowing why\n~~Lost forever\n~~If I never knew you...\"\n \n \nAdam stopped. He couldn't sing anymore. He looked to see\nMerrick's eyes closed. He put his head to the merman's chest.\n \n...\n \n...\n \n... *Ba-Thump*\n \nIt's faint, but he can hear a heartbeat. He sniffled, and\nstood up, going into the living room, and facing his two roommates.\n \n\"... He's dying...\" He said, plain and simple. Yuri covered her\nmouth as Jamal stared at him. \"He said there is no cure for the oil... That there\nis no way to help him...\" Jamal stepped closer to him.\n \n\"Adam... I'm so sorry...\" \n \n\"... I... I need to be alone.\" He strode away from them,\nignoring anything they'd have to say, and ran out of the house. He dashed out\nto the beach. Stopping at the shore, and dropped to his knees. He hunched over\nand dug his fingers into his hair, weeping uncontrollably. \n \n\"No... Goddammit, NOOOOO!\" He yelled out, \"Not him... NOT him!!\nPlease, dammit, ANYONE but him!!!\" He panted and sobbed as he cried. Adam sat\nback as the waves washed up to his feet, \"He's so full of life...\" He whimpered.\n \nAdam looked up at the cloudy sky, \"... God... Or, Sea Mother...\nWhatever's up there... Please... Give me something... Anything... Don't do this to\nhim...\"\n \nMinutes pass by, and the sun is setting. He whimpered and\nshuddered as he got up on his feet, before he suddenly gasped. \n \nThere, on the rock near the reef, is a young, pearly\nmermaid. Her body is frilled and white with a tinge of light blue, opalescent,\nalmost, wearing a string of pearls around her neck and waist. Instead of hair,\nshe has long tendrils of frill hanging from her head. She has frilly membranes\nover her chest, and on either side of her tail. She just sat there, starring at\nAdam with a mixture of fear and curiosity.\n \nHe took one step, and she jerked back, \"Wa-Wa-Wa-Wait!\" Adam\nquickly said as he held up his hands. The mermaid lowered her body to the rock\nas her eyes stayed locked on the human. \n \n\"Please, don't go... I need your help...\" The small mermaid blinked\nand gave him a strange look, \"Do you understand me?\" He asked. There was a\nshort pause before the mermaid slowly nodded, \"D-Do you know Merrick??\" The\nmermaid nodded again, \"H-He's the Adra, right? Adra Merrick?\" She nodded again,\nconfirming that.\n \n\"He's sick, he's VERY sick! He was swimming in the uh...\" Adam\npaused, snapping his fingers, \"Uh... The oil, he was swimming in oil... Oh! The\nblood of the earth? Cloud of - No, the Shroud of Death?\" The mermaid gasped\nagain as her eyes began to water with glittering white tears. \"He tells me that\nthere isn't a cure, but please...\" He shook his head at as he looked at her.\n \n\"Please... Talk to me... Is there way to save him? Do you know\nanything that might help? ANYTHING at all???\" The mermaid stayed silent,\n\"Please say something-\" He took one step, and the mermaid turned and dove into\nthe water, \"NO WAIT!\" He held his hand out. He let down his arm and stood there\nlistening to the wash of the waves.\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/701814-aquata-cove-chapter-20.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/704244-aquata-cove-chapter-22.json"}