I banged on the ridiculously oversized doors with a grumble, not excited by the upcoming event at hand. Who the hell needed doors this big anyway? The doors were ten feet tall and eight feet wide, covered in ornate metal mermaids amongst metal waves. It shouldn't be surprising to me that the Ampora family household had a door like this considering that Mr. Ampora ran the aquarium and had a love for the water he forced his sons to endure. Also because the gigantic mansion he called home sat on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

"How you doin' chief?" Cronus smiled as he leaned in the doorway, having come to the door before Eridan. He was nailed in the head with a Harry Potter book and a moment later Eridan stood at the door.

"So you actually show-wed up." Eridan shut the door behind him. "W-well we don't have all night. Come on." Eridan grabbed my hand and dragged me with him.

"Why wouldn't I thow up? The view from the othean ith probably better than my apartment." I continued following him even after he let go of my hand. We took the short cut down the stones in his yard to the beach to see the waves lapping low along the shoreline. He lead the way to the short pier that started at the patio overlooking the ocean and quickly we were both in the only boat at the end of the pier. "Are you thure we can go out on the boat?"

Eridan sighed. "Yes Sol. If I didn't do you think I w-would be here? Besides, dad thinks it's good practice for me." He untied the rope, but waiting a moment before tossing it onto the pier. "Do you w-want to see the firew-works or not?"

"Hell yeth."

With that the rope was tossed to the pier as Eridan took to the controls. The boat's motor hummed as we went out into the waves, and I held on tightly to the seat next to Eridan. The boat felt like it was going over bumps, but Eridan didn't seem concerned so it must be a normal thing. Eventually the boat slowed then came to a stop.

"Don't tell me you're scared to get up." Eridan pulled me up to my feet. "Sol, the w-water is outside the boat. You don't have to sw-wim at all."

I still wasn't sure about this. It seemed like such a great idea to come out on the water to watch the fireworks for Fourth of July, but now that I'm out here on this rocking boat for from shore it seemed like a terrible idea. "Why did I let you trick me into thith?"

"It's just a boa-" Eridan stopped a moment. "You've never been on a boat, have you?" I shook my head frantically no. "Sol, you're going to be fine. You can sw-wim, even if like a panicked dog paddle, and the boat w-won't rock any w-worse than this. As soon as the firew-works stop I w-will take us back."

"Why not now?"

"Because I w-want to w-watch the firew-works Sol." Eridan looked over the water to a boat off a ways. "See that boat? They launch firew-works for the Fourth of July. W-when they are done w-we w-will go back."

"Who ith that?" I could barely make out the blond heads on the boat.

"The Striders." They seemed to be doing something. "W-what are the-" suddenly a bottle rocket sped over, hitting the water mere feet away.

"Wath that on axident?" In answer several more bottle rockets were sent our way, although none of them got closer then a few feet. Still, it was terrifying that they kept being shot our way. "Get me off thith crazy thing!" I was probably choking Eridan with my death grip, but I don't want to get shot with fireworks in the middle of the fucking ocean. These waters were already bad enough to begin with. Eridan was just trying to keep us both upright, but he soon failed because we both went toppling over onto the deck. We stayed down even after the squeals of bottle rockets stopped and boom off other explosives. When we both got up I had to stand on my own shaking legs, leaning against the boats edge for support on this rocking nightmare.

"Are they done?" I looked up just as they had set up something. I realized it was a mortar as they were setting it off. It boomed and my head was spinning already and before I knew it I was sinking in the tossing icy waves. I was trying desperately to get air, reaching air to cough out the burning salt water from my lungs and barely getting air before I was tossed under again. I don't want to die, not here in this fucking cold ass water, not now. I swear I heard someone yelling my name, but their voice got farther, the water darker, and my lungs burned from the salty water I had accidentally breathed in and my lack of air.

It was a struggle trying to swim my pathetic swim to the surface and try not to breath in the water, and just as I was about to breath something had a hold of me. I panicked only to find that the arms felt human, dragging me up. As soon as my head broke the water I coughed up the water and started desperately sucking in air. "Are you okay guppy?" A high, girlish voice asked right next to my ear. That definitely wasn't Eridan or Strider.

I panicked and ended up going under again only for those arms to hoist me up. "Woah! You'll drown again!"

I clung to this girl, who I didn't even know. I'm freezing, confused, and need to get back on that god awful boat as soon as possible. "Please don't let me drown."

She giggled. "Alrighty then. Do you need to go back to the land or something?"

"I was on a boat." I looked over my shoulder to where I could hear my name being shouted to see the boat. Immediately she was carrying me over to the boat.

I must have tightened my grip because she started giggling again. "I'm just getting you back to the boat gilly!"

"Right, I knew that."

"Sol!" Eridan spotted me. I was very quickly at the side of the boat and with the girl pushing me up and Eridan pulling me in I was back on the boat in no time. "Thank you for your help! I don't know-w w-what I would have done if he had drow-wn."

"That'th actually thurprithingly nithe of you."

"W-well, I'm supposed to kill you not the fucking ocean."

"You motherfucker." I looked over to the girl. With the light of the boat I could make out what she looked like. Her hair was long and dark, floating all around her in the water. Her eyes were like fuchsia gems surrounded by long eyelashes and her face had a slight chubbiness to it that made her look adorable. She was about the same age as me and Eridan, and to my surprise I couldn't remember her from anywhere. I knew everyone who lived here, yet she seemed to get past my radar. Maybe she was a tourist? "What's your name?"

"My name's Feferi. What's your names?" She looked up at us with excitement.

"I'm Thollux, that'th Eridan."

"Sollux? That's a weird name."

"That's because it's short for S-" I covered his mouth. My name was stupid and there was no way I'm letting him tell this cute girl that just saved my ass my horrible name. Unfortunately he overpowered me. "Short for Solluxander."

"That's a cool name!" Feferi smiled.

"Hey, do you w-want to come aboard?" Eridan asked. "The w-water is freezing."

"Woah, I can come aboard?!" Feferi seemed insanely excited. "I've never been on a actual floating boat before!"

"Yes. Need help up?" Eridan asked. She nodded and we both helped her up. Neither of us were ready to believe, to our surprise, when we saw her tail.

Her tail was covered in fuchsia scales except for her fins. She had the tail fin along with two fins on her side and a dorsal fin, the last three fins I mentioned barely poking out under the soaked oversized black hoodie that hung off one shoulder. She also had ear fins, which had several golden earrings and a fishhook bent into an earring. Her hair went well past where her fins poked out from under her hoodie around where her waist would be if she had legs.

It was a moment of complete silence as Eridan and I took in what we were seeing. Eridan broke the silence. "You're a mermaid?"

"I'm a mermaid? So that's what humans call us."

"Us?"

She turned to look at me again. "Yeah. Of course, there are none in this area except for me."

"Tho it'th jutht you? What happened to the other mermaidth?"

"The shoreline is dangerous because humans can find us easier, but you guys always forget all sorts of cool stuff in the water. Like-" she pulled out a piece of seaweed, unwrapping it to reveal a shard of green glass. "-this stuff! Oh," she wrapped it up again before setting it down and pulling out a plastic shovel," and this, and these things." She pulled out a little bag, made from what I don't know, and opened it to reveal that it was full to the brim with coins. "And of course this thing." She gestured to her hoodie, putting her things back in her pockets. "And you guys talk funny too!"

"Tho you don't naturally thpeak Englith?"

"Nope!"

"Then how-w do you know-w English?"

"I picked it up from the humans on the boats. Lots of them come out here to get fish."

I wanted to chat the night away with fish girl, but I also don't want to be on this boat any longer than I have to. "We need to go home, but ith it okay if we talk to you tomorrow?"

"Can I go with you? Please, just to the shore?" Feferi gave us big pleading eyes. "I've never seen a human home before."

"Sure, but isn't it dangerous for you near the shore?"

"Only if I get stuck."

"Alright then." Eridan seemed a bit concerned about her, but didn't say anything. We worked together to carry her over to the bench to the controls, sitting her down between the two of us as Eridan checked over the controls. I had one arm around Feferi to help hold her up and the other digging into the side of my seat, Feferi's arms wrapped around me as well. The bumpy ride back didn't seem as bad as the one there, and before I knew it we were back to the pier where we had started.

"That's a human house?" Feferi looked at it in awe. "It's huge!"

"Believe me, the house ith bigger than they uthually are." I slowly got up, along with Eridan. "Need help getting back in the water?

She looked at the edge of the boat and nodded. Eridan and I had to work together to lift her up and carry her to the side, then we tried to gently put her back in the water, but she slipped from our grip and splashed us both. "I'll meet you guys here tomorrow, okay?" She smiled excitedly, just overjoyed.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow-w." Eridan waved to her.