The Blue Scales

Elisa couldn’t believe what she had done. She stood in the airport in Ostmont, the sultry air assaulting her senses. Yes, she was an avid archaeology student, but what had she been thinking?

She couldn’t think of a place worse for a mermaid to be. Across the world from her siblings, parents and five year old nephew, Harrison. And more importantly, cut off from any substantially sized body of water. Well, substantial for a mermaid, anyways.

A sigh escaped her mouth, so abruptly it almost sounded as though she snorted. There was nothing she wanted more at this moment in time to curl up under a tree of some variety and have a sleep, or pick at her cuticles. Elisa examined her fingers with a critical eye. Nope, her cuticles were ravaged from the flight over.

Deciding that entertaining her bad habits was a lost cause, Elisa decided to expend her efforts on actually waving down a taxi. In Ostmont the taxis were green with yellow stripes down the side – unmistakable through the airport traffic that clogged the ‘arrivals’ section.

Elisa put two fingers in her mouth, letting out an ear-splitting whistle whilst waving a hand and trying to
keep a hold on her medium sized suitcase. Soon enough, one of the elusive green-and-yellow taxis was pulling up alongside the gritty curb in front of her. The driver had brown skin and dark curly hair.

“Where to?” Elisa cringed internally at his heavy accent and yellow stained teeth. She wished desperately for the little black taxis at home, missing it dearly already.

“Hotel Fusine, please.”

The cab driver nodded and started to drive through the thriving, windy streets of Ostmont. Through the window, tall metallic buildings reflected the hot streaks of sun that radiated down to the ground, evaporating all the water there was to be seen. Ostmont had an average temperature of 44˚C, and Elisa was feeling it. Away from the humid climate of her hometown, Elisa found herself reduced to a puddle of sweat, uncomfortably plucking the damp material of her shirt away from the skin with an unpleasant sucking noise.

The roads in Ostmont were hectic, with all disregard for road rules and general common sense. Elisa found herself anxiously clutching the scruffy door handle with sweaty palms and a beating heart as the taxi driver swerved around another car to come to a skidding stop out the front of the run-down Hotel Fusine.

Elisa bit her lip as she paid the necessary fee, glancing around at her. She seemed to be in the pits of the city. It seemed to be typical that the university would place her here. As the car pulled away and Elisa stared at her surroundings, she couldn’t shake the wary feeling that lingered at the back of her neck.

The eastern district of Osmont appeared to be the poverty stricken area. As well as the dirtiest. The intense feeling of needing a bath wouldn’t leave Elisa until she had at least a shower – at least.
The reception area of Hotel Fuisine was much nicer than it appeared from the outside, with tacky gold accents and red stuffed chaise’s, but a beautiful marble floor that seemed to be in pristine condition, baring the scuff marks in some areas.

She strolled towards the desk, noticing two others of a similar age. Probably more archaeology students, Elisa mused to herself. One was a girl, petite and skinny with milky skin. The suitcase next to her was large and bulging. For a brief second, Elisa wondered how she managed to get it on the plane, the concept sending a lash of amusement through her. The person next to her was a male, with shaggy brown hair and broad shoulders. His smaller sized suitcase was much more suitable.

Elisa straightened her shoulders and stalked towards the desk, readying her documents to check in. She glanced at the attendant from underneath her lashes, pretending that she was fussing with the papers.

“Hello, my name’s Elisa Purswell, I’m with the Montbleu Archaeology Program,” Elisa muttered. The petite girl that now stood beside her glanced in Elisa’s direction briefly.

‘Definitely an archaeology student.’, she thought as she briefly studied her.

“Paperwork, passport and ID please, Miss Purswell,” said the receptionist as her long acrylic nails clacked against the computer keys. Elisa mutely handed them over, whilst looking at the receptionist.

She was quite a pretty woman, to Elisa’s thoughts. Thick, tightly curled hair that was worn in a short afro of black hair, it was cropped before it reached her shoulders. Pearl stud earrings adorned her ears, with coffee coloured skin and dark brown eyes.

Elisa handed over the requested documents quickly, eager to get up to her hotel room. She could feel sleep pressing on her eyelids, urging her to go to sleep. Much longer, and she’d probably pass out. Silently, she hoped that she would receive a room with a bathtub. They just made everything so much easier in an arid landscapes such as this.

For a few more long seconds, the click-clack of nails filled the otherwise silent room. The silence made Elisa uncomfortable, used to living with a family of six people, even if they weren’t related to her by blood.

After minutes of shifting on her feet, the receptionist suddenly handed her the key to her room, “You’re in room 424. Dr. Booth has left instructions for a meeting of students in the dining hall at six o’clock.”

Elisa smiled at the lady, taking the wooden keychain into her palm. After thanking her, she grabbed her suitcase and began rolling it in the direction of the stairs. Looking up the spiral staircase, Elisa suddenly wished she had one of her brothers here, or at least brought a lighter bag. She had noticed a general disliking of escalators and all things that made life easier in Ostmont. It appeared that their levels of technological were a bit behind, even though everyone appeared up to date on personal items.

Hauling her bag up to the fourth floor was no easy feat for her, even though she was fairly strong in her upper body. She was used to grappling with her own body weight though, and the idea of a suitcase was completely different. Or maybe it was just the sheer exhaustion that made her arms shake with fatigue.

Unlike most hotels at home, the key to her room was not just a keycard, but instead an actual key. Old fashioned in style, it reminded her of the old iron skeleton keys that she had briefly studied as a part of medieval culture.

The sparsely decorated room was a welcome sight to her, and without looking she flung her bag onto the bed, filled with renewed energy. Bursting into the bathroom, her newly-bare feet slid against the tiled floor, blonde and blue hair obscuring her face. Excitement filled her as she saw a gleaming white bathtub - it was like finding an oasis after walking the desert of an eternity.

Clothes went flying as the tap turned on, and Elisa sunk into the chilly water with a contented moan. Goosebumps spread up her arms as the familiar tingling filled her body. Slowly, as she watched herself, scales began pushing out from the skin on her legs, which snapped together as though magnetised. What could have seemed like minutes was over in seconds. Elisa was inherently more comfortable in this form, as was her brother Lachlan in his fae form. She had never seen another mermaid born, but knew from her mother that they were born with a tail, and didn’t emerge from the water until five years of age.

As the water began to lap at the rim of the bathtub, Elisa reached up and turned off the flow of water. The world above the water rippled and distorted, the sounds of taxi’s honking were muffled and to some degree, disappeared. It was in this environment that the world made the most sense to her. In this moment, Elisa wished for nothing more than to be in the ocean, or pool at home, where it was deep enough to reach out and not touch any air at all.

Sensing time passing by, it wasn’t until she looked at her watch that she noticed that there was less than an hour until she had to meet with her peers and professor. Draining the water, Elisa pulled herself out of the bathtub, tumbling to the floor. The sound of flesh and scales hit the tiles with a hard thwack, and she cringed, knowing that at the very least, her stomach will be incredibly red.

‘I’m an idiot,’ Elisa chanted to herself as she realised that she had forgotten to bring in a towel, and unlike home, they weren’t handing on a little rail.

She glared out of the open door, mentally preparing herself to drag herself to the bed, and therefore to the towels. Blue scales shimmered in the artificial light as the muscles in her tail twitched from the ridges and rough texture on floor beneath it. Halfway to the bed, the tingling that represented the change swept through her body, leaving her laying awkwardly on the floor, naked.

“It couldn’t happen sooner?” she muttered to herself as she jumped up and wrapped a towel around her wet hair. Moving to the abandoned suitcase, she pulled out her single formal outfit, consisting of a pair of black heels and a cocktail dress. She quickly applied a minimal amount of make up and pulled her still-drying hair up into an elaborate twist.

She couldn't help the feeling that twisted inside her gut, like she was always running late. Glancing once more at her watch, she knew she had plenty of time - ten minutes, but the nerves just seemed to overtake her. It was the first time that she would really be socialising with people in her degree. Once she got down into the lobby, Elisa noticed a large gathering of people heading towards the eastern hallway, opposite almost exactly of where she was.

Assuming that this was the place to go, she followed the crowd of well dressed, young adults. No one appeared to be older than twenty-five. Some elegantly dressed ladies were holding delicate looking glasses that were most likely filled with some kind of alcoholic beverage. Elisa didn’t think she would ever, ever, be able to drink the stuff - between the revolting smell and the lightheaded feeling that accompanied being drunk, she simply didn’t like not being in control of a situation.

More people crammed into the small room, perhaps thirty people in total. Though there wasn’t many people, the room suddenly seemed slightly claustrophobic, with people standing so close behind her that she could feel their body heat shifting as they restlessly shuffled around.

An older man, dressed in slacks with a white button down shirt stood at the top of the room, commanding everyone’s attention. The man, Dr. Booth, reached up to fiddle with the button closest to his neck, a nervous habit I had noticed in his lectures.

“Every one,” he said, “I see you’ve hopefully all arrived in Ostmont without issues.”

There was a general grumbling throughout the room, neither affirming or denying his statement.

“That’s…good,” he hesitated, “Well, welcome to the University of Evencrest’s twentieth undergraduate archaeology expedition. Some of you are here by your own financing, others by scholarship. I ask you don’t reveal that information to anyone else, because in the past there have been issues caused by it.”

Elisa glanced around, knowing that there would be truth in his words. Though it wasn’t a problem to her, some of the others seemed to glance around suspiciously. She felt as though she would have to watch her back, not knowing if anyone else here would persecute her due to being on a scholarship.

“Moving on,” Dr. Booth cleared his throat before having a gulp of water from a nearby glass. “Tomorrow we are leaving the city of Ostmont to go out into the field. So savour this night in a comfortable bed, from tomorrow onwards we’ll be camping in the field. We’re providing the basic necessities that are needed. So have a good night sleep and please meet in the lobby in the morning at 6 am. You’ll need to wear long sleeves and pants, with a hat, sunglasses and boots. If you don’t have these items, we recommend you get your hands on them as soon as possible. Have a good evening, everyone!”

With that he finished his speech, moving around the room to start conversations with the other students. A wall to Elisa’s left suddenly opened, revealing two long tables that each sat approximately sixteen people. There seemed like an almost stampede as the students rushed towards the seats, quickly sitting next to friends and acquaintances.

She settled into a chair that had an empty one on each side, figuring that there had to be others on this expedition that had come on their own. Soon enough, a tall, lanky brown-haired girl settled into the chair on her left, a red-headed boy on her right.

“A bit overwhelming, isn’t it?” The boy mumbled, leaning towards her so that she would be better able to hear him.

Whispering back, Elisa replied, “As good of an opportunity this is, I’m not sure I’m cut out for it.”

The boy laughed, settling into silence for a few seconds before turning to her. “I’m Jared,” he muttered, awkwardly holding out a hand to shake. Elisa realised then that Jared was also a lanky person as she noticed the length of the bones in his arms.

“Elisa Purswell,” she replied, hoping that she seemed somewhat enthusiastic when she smiled.
Jared smiled back, pointing at piece of hair that had fallen in her face. “I’m digging the blue streaks Elisa, but they ain’t going to last long out here.”

“I’m make them,” she winked at him, causing Jared to laugh again.

“I bet you $5 that they won’t last more than two weeks. There’s no bathroom sink here to re-dye your hair.”

Elisa arched an eyebrow at him, mimicking the way she had seen her brother’s - Lachlan - amanchara do at him.

“I’m willing to make that bet, Jared…” She trailed off on the end, shaking his hand as she accepted the bet. Jared blushed as he realised that she had caught him out on his reluctance to share his last name.

“Booth. Jared Booth,” he whispered. He waited for a couple of seconds before adding, “Alexander is my older brother.”

“Really?” she said as she looked from the older Dr. Booth to Jared, seeing the resemblance even though they had different colouring.

“I was definitely a surprise baby,” Jared confided, “Alexander is the oldest, followed by Stephanie. Stephanie is about twenty-eight.”

“Right. If it makes you feel any better,” Elisa shared, “I’m the youngest of three.”

Jared smiled at her, his attention taken away by another coed beside him, a lean man that talked to loudly. Elisa grimaced, watching around the room. Waiters slowly emerged from the doors with carts full of food. The smell wafted around the room, slowly quieting the students. Elisa felt her stomach grumble noisily, and pressed a hand to her stomach in vain hopes of making it stop.

A dish of almost unidentifiable vegetables was placed in front of her, and Elisa wasn’t entirely sure if she wished to eat it. She recognised the meat as either chicken, pork or turkey, and wasn’t too reluctant to eat it. She glanced around as she ate, watching other students eat and listening to the muted scrapings of utensils against porcelain. She hoped that tomorrow was a little more exciting.