Thoughts will generally be in italics.
Mermish is bold.
"regular talk".
Points of view will be separated by the line, for the first chapter I left in the (X * X *) symbols.
Some people say myths are just that, that creatures cannot exist. And yet there are wonders such as the man of steel, or the fastest man alive. Why can we believe in them and not in the simple existence of something from the deep. Something far older than an Atlantis citizen. That is what my race of people are, we who can walk among two legs or swim in the deep. We of the seven seas...
The salt of the murky water tasted wrong, the fresh texture of kelp missing and instead replaced by a repulsive fake tang that felt erroneous. The chill from the four glass walls was nothing compared to the depths of the deep I hailed from. Faint voices could be heard, who they came from I known not. All I knew at this moment was darkness, floating captured in a small section of ocean.
Darkness shrouded the corner of my eyes, making it hard to focus on the blurry figures outside of the tank. All that could be made out was that they were land dwellers. Slowly the blackness encroached further until I knew no more.
X * X * Three Weeks Later * X * X
I finally awoke from my hibernation, generally the chill of the water should have receded enough for me to be active. Only, when I came too I found myself in a greenish murky water. The water was nothing like what I came from. Looking around wildly, hair flowing with a burbling swish noise, I found myself enclosed in a small see through box. Webbed hands pressing against the glass I looked out of one of the walls to see two land dwellers.
They wore white long garments and seemed to be gesturing to me in what appeared to be excited. I couldn't understand them all that well do to the glass and water muffling their sound. If they had been under water with me, or all of us above the liquid then I probably would have been able to comprehend. Or perhaps it was still just the sluggishness of a cold season hibernation lingering in my veins. Lips parting I let out a wailing cry, the sound waves bouncing off of the glass and going nowhere else. Flipping around, long delicate beta fish like fins swirling the water, I tried to use another sonic cry but found that I could not pierce the glass.
The sonar did come back and tell me everything I had assumed. I was trapped with land dwellers in a mockery of an ocean tank, small by my standards and left me feeling cramped and itchy. A soft pinging noise rippled through the water, whirling quickly I came face to face with the land dwellers. A chill ran up my spine, Ak'yna always warned me about these white coats. They were apparently the scientist of their species.
Bile rose in my throat, I needed someone to come help me. Like King Arthur...or even Aqua Lad aka Kalder. Ak'yna couldn't come up on land like I could, so I was stuck unless someone could help me. The triumphant grins on their faces had a shiver running over my tan flesh, my scales itching, and dolphin like flipper twitching. Scowling, I banged my fists on the glass, the two seemed even more pleased for some reason.
What do they want with me? If they wanted to study us they could have simply asked...unless they want me to...to dissect. Fear bubbled up in my stomach. As the gills on the left and right of my jugular flexed with panicked breaths. Bubbles bursting from my nose I thrust my powerful tail into the glass. A loud thump resounded, a small crackling noise echoed through the water. Eyes focusing on the small fissure I flexed my dorsal and slammed it into the glass again. I could see red flashing lights on the outside of the tank that hurt my eyes, a wailing noise unlike anything I've ever heard punctuated each flash. Disoriented I slowly floated backwards and then an odd cording fell into the water with me, crisscrossing ropes. Floundering around I attempted to escape only to find myself yanked up out of the water in a net. Water pouring from gills as they fluttered and then slid shut into small red lines, air rushing and harshly scratching the salt burned throat. Coughing and gasping I allowed myself to switch from gills to lungs.
"Fre! Fre!" Twisting and turning, the squealing cries erupted from my lips as I called for help in Mermish. The two scientists grabbed their ears as the words were cried out, before a dart shot into my neck. The sluggishness of before, the feeling of hibernation swept over me. Face contorting I vehemently tried to ward off the sleepiness to no avail.
"Fre...Toh..."
X * X * POIINT OF VIEW SWITCH * X * X
"Damn, it fought hard Dr. Harpinder...what should we do with it?" The younger scientist inquired nervously. Eyeing the mermaid in the large net, a tranquilizer dart set up to down an elephant sticking from the shoulder, the younger doctor grimaced at the sight of the teal and black scales. Soft tan skin merging with them at the hip, soft pink lips and long mahogany hair. From the hips up it could have passed as a seductress, a siren, he mused.
"She, Mr. Andrew. She, not it. This specimen will draw in the new age of ocean discovery. Besides those Atlanians, we've never found another form of intelligent life besides the dolphin or wale. We'll make history." The older doctor whispered with pride. An obsessive and greedy glint to his eye, he turned with a flourish and spread both arms with palms up to the ceiling.
"We've found a Mermaid Mr. Andrew. Now, we study her and if we play our cards right, the JL won't get involved and no damned humanitarian groups will catch wind." Dark laughter echoed from his lips as he strode away leaving the young scientist to gaze up at the netted form cast in shadow. Pity twisted his heart and brought a burst of nausea to him, they were going to torment an intelligent life form?
Twisting, he walked away and pulled his phone from his pocket. Now that he knew of Dr. Harpinder's scheme he could contact the JL. Being an undercover "assistant" was not his thing, but he was the only young doctor working with the JL that could pull it off.
Pressing the one key, he waited impatiently for the the link to click, signaling a secure connection had been made, and for someone to answer.
"Good evening Andrew Bowman." A crisp and slightly accented voice murmured in his ear. Leaning at the wall, the man glanced around and peaked around the corner before whispering hurriedly.
"Manhunter, there's been a change. The target has a specimen that King Arthur will be very interested in keeping safe." There was a pause and the sound of typing as Andrew waited for the alien to respond. Pushing a hand through his dirty blonde hair he anxiously looked around the corner again only to freeze when he saw the older scientist coming back into the room. His back facing Andrew as he pulled out a pair of tweezers and ripped a few bio-luminescent scales from the Mermaid.
"..An...there?" Coming back to reality, the young doctor have a soft grunt of acknowledgment and whispered quickly, "Sorry Jo'hn, hurry...for her sake." Ending the call, the doctor quickly joined the older doctor to avoid suspicion.
X * X * ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW CHANGE * X * X
"Was that Andrew?" Jo'hn turned to see Clark and nodded. His face grave as he faced the Kryptonian, said man was focused on him in concern as he listened.
"Andrew stated there had been a change, Dr. Harpinder has found a specimen that belongs to the Atlanian realm." Clark's face became alarmed as he nodded and whirled to go find Batman, Jumping slightly he realized the man was already there.
"I take it you heard everything?" Clark asked Bruce calmly, when the serious man nodded he started typing on his wrist computer.
"I'm already in the network, my system is downloading information as we speak. We'll have to tread carefully." He growled it lowly, his eyes narrowing behind his mask as he scowled at the screen on his wrist. It honestly amazed Clark sometimes how Batman could scowl behind the cowl and emit the black aura so well.
X * X * POINT OF VIEW CHANGE * X * X
Alertness slowly crept back up my spine, moaning quietly bubbles flew up from bruised lips. Scrapes and cuts bled in slow red wispy tendrils into the water. Patches of scale, pieces of fins and flesh missing. I hurt all over and had rope burn from where the net had rubbed. Looking up with drowsy eyes, the dark irises focused on the low light of the lab, the tank she was in had appeared to be cleaned as the water was a little lighter and the salt a little less. Honestly, not having as much salt as before made her grimace, the water tasting oddly sweet.
I wasn't sure how long I had been out...but I did know that that setanim was gone. He was the very definition of setantreaya, as my sore scales could attest. Suddenly a door creaked open, looking up I floundered backwards, bubbles rushing from my mouth as gills flexed quickly.
The younger setanim came in, the human walking around casually before creeping closer. What gave me pause however, was his eyes. Brown, such a simple color, yet when hardened with anger could be as dark as the ships that crashed against them. His however were soft...warm like the sooty bottom of the muddy brackish rivers where the whiskered fish lived.
Pushing away from the furthest glass wall I slowly swam closer, my powerful tail brushing the bottom as I used it to balance myself. Raising up a webbed hand slowly, I placed it against the glass wall and tilted my head, mauve hair floating delicately. He moved his lips, a frown pulled at my brow as I couldn't understand what he said. His words were warped from the glass and buffering the water between us.
The man motioned to his wrist and tapped a rather interesting device, it had small sticks that moved around. Suddenly the word came to me, clock. It was a clock of some sort..Ak'yan said that it helped humans tell time. How curious.
The man motioned to it, then wrapped his knuckles on the glass and made a motion to the door. He did this a few times before it clicked; clock, glass, door. He meant that they would escape soon? Nodding fervently I twisted around excitedly and he merely smiled as well.
The sound of voices echoed and the older man, the cruel scaahoo thief appeared again. And suddenly my new friend moved over to him. Right then I decided I would call him Otter, after all Otter's are curious and amusing creatures...much like him.
AN:
So what do ya'll think so far? I've been wanting to do something with super heroes and mermaids for awhile now.
In this story Mermaids are different from Atlantians, also Mermish can be understood by Atlantians, although it is an old dialect.
Translations:
1. Fre (fray)= help
2. Toh = no
3. setanim (see-tah-neem)= human
4. setantraeya (see-tah-tray-ya) = sneaky/untrustworthy person
5. scaahoo = scale
Let me know that ya'll think!
~D.R. Out
