A Fish Tale

Lynn stood on deck with the rest of her friends as they pointed to the mesmerizing schools of fish and particularly fascinating pieces of coral visible in the clear blue Caribbean water. Angel and Brian were below deck being lovey-dovey; Johnny was near the edge with Laney, occasionally punking her out by nudging her off balance, Matt was close by to prevent her from falling in and Jimmy was keeping him company with Danni who kept hitting her boyfriend Johnny in the back of the head for his stupidity. Zacky was… he was…

“Hey baby,” Lynn smiled as two heavily tattooed arms snaked their way around her bikini-clad body. Zacky rested his chin on her shoulder after kissing her temple lovingly. “What’re you doing?”

“Just looking,” she replied, looking back out over the water while relaxing into his embrace.

“You enjoying the vacation?” He asked in her ear huskily.

“Oh yes. You’re methods of ‘gathering inspiration’ are very relaxing. I still can’t believe you lied to the label,” she laughed airily. “I take that back. I can’t believe the label actually bought it.”

“Hey now, I can’t take all the credit- it was Johnny’s idea,” she bit her lip as he talked, his lip rings tickling her ear.

“Well then maybe I should go give Johnny the thank you kiss, seeing as how it was his idea and all.”

“I think he’d be okay with me accepting payment for him,” Zacky told his girlfriend as she moved her head to face him; they kissed at an awkward angle but it worked.

“Dear Lord you two!” Some one yelled at the couple and they broke apart. “You guys are worse than Brian and Angel!”

“Shut up Jimmy!” Danni shoved him a bit, “You’re just mad because you’re not getting any!”

“Its true,” Jimmy shrugged nonchalantly, causing Laney to snort from laughing; it was very un-lady like, but totally her.

“Hey,” the group on deck all turned to see Angel coming from below deck, “The captain said it’s time to start heading back.”

Every one shrugged and agreed, Jimmy and Brian had eaten the food earlier in the day and there was nothing left on board, everyone was hungry not to mention the sun was beginning to set. Jimmy, Johnny, Angel, and Danni all headed below deck, leaving the rest of the group on deck to view the scenery. The two remaining couples on deck held each other at opposite ends of the boat, out of each other’s way.

“What do you want to eat when we get back?” Zacky asked, nuzzling Lynn’s neck. She squirmed a bit, being ticklish in that particular spot. She had never known she was ticklish there until she started dating Zacky.

Lynn looked up at the sky, sorting through her head to see if anything sounded good, “Uh…”

She almost had something when the boat jerked, causing her and Zacky to lose their balance. They heard a short scream from the other side of the deck and noise from below signaling that they weren’t the only ones affected by the sudden movement. Zacky had grabbed his girlfriend around the waist with one arm and used the other to hold onto the metal rail.

“Everyone alright up there?” Zacky heard Brian yell from below deck.

He saw Matt and Laney walking towards them as he loosened his death grip on his girlfriend, “Yeah. We’re good.”

“Whew,” Matt laughed airily as the two couples regrouped. “What the hell was that?”

Matt gave a dimpled smile as he looked at his friends.

“I don’t kno- whoa!” Lynn started, but was cut off by another jerk. This one was harder than the last, causing the group to lose their balance

“Lynn!” Zacky shouted as his girlfriend lost her footing and slid under the rail into the water.

Laney ran to the helm of the ship to tell the captain on deck to stop the boat while Matt went to grab a life preserver off the wall. Zacky wasted no time jumping in after his submerged girlfriend.

Lynn was confused for a brief second, her head and chest in pain, before she realized what had just happened. She tried to see which way was up, but the water became harder to see through as it seemed to thicken with discoloration. It wasn’t until the water was blatantly red and the edges of her vision started to blur that she understood the seriousness of her situation. Fatigue hit Lynn with such force she couldn’t fight it; she now looked through tunnel vision as she floated aimlessly in the tainted water. Black spots started consume her vision and the last thing she saw before blacking out was Zacky’s worried face coming towards her.

“Lynn?” She barely registered that someone was calling her name.

“Lynn?” She felt a tickle on her shoulder. She brushed it off, “Hey!”

“Get up!” The words were followed by a sharp pinch on the arm that had Lynn shooting up out of bed. “It’s about time,” she looked at the large hermit crab flailing its claws around in annoyance as he continued to rant.

Then something struck her, she recognized him; “Johnny?”

The crab stopped mid rant and looked at her concerned, “Princess are you alright?”

“Princess?” Lynn asked confused, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Yes…” Johnny scratched his chin with a claw, “Should I get the queen?”

Lynn got out of bed and went over to her vanity, “No, that isn’t neces-” she looked to down and saw that her lower half was covered in scales, “-sary…” With ease, she brought the tail of the scaled form in front of her face, there were fins attached to the end, “I have a tail.”

“And such a lovely tail it is!” Another hermit crab exclaimed smiling as it walked across the vanity with gusto.

“Danni?” Lynn raised her eyebrows in confusion.

“Yes dear?” Danni asked distractedly as she went through the jewelry box on the vanity shelf. “Here it is! This is perfect for today!”

“Today? What’s perfect for today? What’s today?” Lynn asked with obvious confusion. Something wasn’t right.

“I’m going to get the doctor,” Lynn heard Johnny as he scurried away.

“You’re brother, King Matthew comes home today from Battle. Don’t you remember?” Now Danni was concerned for her friend and princess.

“Oh yes. Yes, of course. I… must have forgotten,” Lynn shook her head to clear the fog. She picked up the gold necklace Danni had dug out and ran her thumb over it. It was a trinket their father, the previous king, had gotten her before… She put the necklace around her neck and picked Danni up, like always, and swam to the dining hall.

Danni, being just a little older than Lynn herself, was one of her closest friends. She was someone that the princess had grown up with, knew and trusted. Much like Matt and Jimmy.

“So, are you excited?” A voice asked, joining the pair.

“Well, duh. He’s my brother,” Lynn rolled her eyes before turning to the octopus, “What about you? He’s your best friend.”

“Yeah, some best friend he is. Instead of taking me to where all the action is, I get stuck here, babysitting the squirt!” He said, laughing a bit, a wide smile on his face.

“Jimmy!” Lynn smacked a tentacle away as he ruffled her hair. “That’s not nice.”

“Since when am I nice?” He retorted, he went for her again, but Danni pinched his tentacle with her claw, “Ow! Now that’s not nice.”

“Next time listen! You’re making my ride bumpy!” Danni stuck her tongue out at the octopus; he mimicked the gesture.

“Come on you guys,” Lynn giggled. “I’m starved, and we have things to do before Matty gets home.”

“What things?” Danni asked.

“I have to… take the princess… to…” Jimmy knew what Lynn was talking about. Neither of them told Danni about their adventures in the sunken shipyard; she was Johnny’s wife and they didn’t want to put her in an awkward situation with him. It was better she didn’t know. “You have a meeting with the dolphins.”

“Ugh!” She moaned, “I absolutely detest dolphins. They’re evil! Evil, I tell you! They’re-”

Lynn smiled at Jimmy, silently congratulating him on the distraction while Danni ranted in her ear. After breakfast they would leave. While Matt was away, Lynn explored the ships, sunk during human battles. She loved all the strange things that the humans had. Many of the items she found she kept in a hidden cave just outside the royal city.

Matt would surely have Lynn thrown in a cell until she was fifty if he ever found out. He prohibited anyone from going to the shipyard, having a personal vendetta against the human race. They had been on a family outing near the surface with a few of the royal guards when a ship had come upon them. As soon as the king and queen had noticed the ship, they had their children escorted away quickly; Matt and Lynn’s parents were speared through. Young Matthew had seen the entire occurrence; watching as the guards hurriedly removed his parents’ bodies so there was no evidence for the humans to believe that the merfolk were anything other than legend. It was something burned into his mind; Lynn, on the other hand, had been shielded by her older brother, saving her from the grotesque scene.

Matt took the throne as soon as he turned sixteen; he was the youngest ruler the North Pacific nations ever had, but he was also the best. The Southern nations had often attacked, under the belief that the young king was inexperienced, overconfident, and just plain naïve. They were sorely mistaken.

Matt, now in his late twenties, was a kind ruler, but still had an iron fist. Sometimes he had to remind the Southern nations just how powerful that fist is, that’s why he was away now. Today he would be coming back from leading the frontlines in battle, defending the Northern Pacific territory against the South; as usual he was victorious. Now he was returning to his wife, sister, and city- no one in the situation was upset with that either.

“Coral?” Lynn asked disgusted, even when cooked the stuff was nasty.

“I snuck in some extra weed wraps,” Lynn heard a low whisper over her shoulder. She raised an eyebrow at her brother’s wife, the queen, Laney. “Oh come on!” Laney continued to whisper, “You seriously think I don’t keep back up snacks on me?”

She pouted as she discreetly looked around her before pulling out a small, but good-sized container out of the sash that wrapped over her right shoulder and down to her left hip.

“I knew there was a reason I liked you!” Jimmy said excitedly.

“Jimmy,” Laney rolled her eyes, “You don’t eat this.”

“I refuse to eat my friends. Fish are friends, not food,” Jimmy raised one of his many tentacles, stating his philosophy.

“What ever,” Laney rolled her eyes, handing the box to her sister in law. “I actually have to go. I’ll see you guys later tonight at the welcoming,” she started to swim away, but just before she turned a corner she turned back and shouted at them, “And don’t be late!”

After eating the contents of the box, Danni took it to return it to the queen’s closet and carry on her day, while Jimmy escorted Lynn back to her quarters and helped her prepare for their adventure. They wanted to go exploring while Matt was out of the city. With him gone it made it less likely to be caught but they would be glad he was back nonetheless. It would just be less convenient.

“Hurry up Jimmy!” Lynn said in a harsh whisper as she swam to the sunken ships. “The one hanging off the cliff had something shiny in it, and I want to see what it is.”

Jimmy increased his speed and they left to explore.