Fish Tails

The dark ocean waves licked and lapped at the edges of the pier and the salt spray blew in his face causing shivers of anticipation to run through his entire body despite the warm night air. It had been nearly two nights since he had been able to sneak out of the Slifer Dorm to come down to the pier and his body ached with the need to Change. Chazz pulled his shirt off over his head laying it on the boards next to his jacket, socks, and shoes, leaving his pants and belt on. He had discovered years ago that he didn't need to take these last articles of clothing off – they would Change with him and also prevented embarrassing accidents.

The young duelist stood at the very edge of the boards, staring down into the swirling blackness dotted with shattered moonlight, smiling to himself. Then raising his arms over his head, Chazz dove in. He felt a surge off energy rush through his veins. His entire body seemed to sigh in relief at its final freedom, the ached in his chest and arms and legs suddenly disappearing as though they had never existed. He let out all the air in his lungs and breathed deeply in the dark cradle of the water and then opened his eyes. The painfully intense salt of the ocean should have caused his eyes to sting and turn red with tears – if he had been a normal human that was. But he wasn't. Chazz had an extremely rare recessive genetic glitch – so rare that neither of his brothers even had it – that caused him the Change in water.

It wasn't something that caused him pain – the doctors had told his parents when they had first discovered their youngest son's strange reaction to water that Changing caused a huge amount of endorphins to be released in his brain making him enjoy the Change. Truth be told, he was much happier in the water than on land – he felt more at home there, but he was seldom able to find time on his own so that he could Change without being seen. No one outside of the Princeton family knew about his peculiar condition and they preferred for it to stay that way.

Change complete, Chazz ran his hands along the smooth, dark, gray-blue scales which covered what had been his legs before. His black hair floated around his head in an inky cloud, the ocean currents making it ripple and dance. Turning his gaze downward, several swift beats of his powerful tail propelled Chazz quickly downward until he was resting gently on the silt and sand of the ocean floor beneath the pier. He nestled himself into the tangle of green plants which grew there and sighed in contentment as the water lulled him to sleep. He was too tired to swim properly tonight – he'd just have to wake up extra early tomorrow.

--

As usual, he woke up just as the dawn was beginning to color the horizon. Good, he could get in some satisfying swimming in before he had to Change back and run back to Slifer Red to change his pants which would be completely drenched.

After a good hour or so, he forced himself to head back to land – he didn't want to be late for classes. Slowly he swam back up to the edge of the pier, so he could pull himself out – it was much, much easier for Chazz to Change back when he wasn't fully submerged in water; it took far less concentration. Reaching up he reluctantly grabbed the edge of the boards and started to haul himself up, only to curse and let go again once he saw the pair of feet standing a few feet away from him, inspecting his abandoned pile of clothes curiously with a toe. The person turned to face him upon hearing his muffled curse and Chazz performed probably the fasted revert of his life, and the strange black/blue markings which feathered down from the corners of his eyes down his neck and then spread like cobwebs across his shoulders, back, and chest (for some reason always the last part of his appearance to become normal again), were just fading away when Alexis Rhodes peered down into the water at him. He lifted an arm again towards the boards, wincing now at the pain that came as a result of Changing back too quickly. Water dripped off the end off his nose as Chazz pulled himself out hoping against hope that Alexis hadn't seen anything.

"Out swimming," he mumbled in hopes that that would suffice as an explanation and let out an internal sigh of relief when she only raised an eyebrow at him.

However, unbeknownst to him, his luck was running extremely low that day.

Alexis frowned slightly as she turned and headed back up the pier without saying a word. That had been weird. Why was Chazz, of all people, out swimming off the end of the pier while wearing slacks? Strange as that was, what was stranger still were the odd markings that Alexis thought she had seen on his face when he first surfaced but, when she had looked again, had disappeared. Shaking her head, Alexis continued her walk back towards Obelisk Blue.

--

Chazz was just sitting down, his hair still damp from his late night/early morning excursion, as Professor Banner began his lecture.

"Today, my students, we are going to be talking about the Merchildren." Professor Banner's eyebrows bobbed up and down enthusiastically as he announced this. Chazz stared at the teacher with his mouth hanging open slightly. Why did they have to have an Alchemy professor at Duel Academy?

"Now, the Merchildren," Banner continued, "are not just the creations of stories – there have been actual documented accounts of their existence, though, not a great deal is known about them. To look at a Merchild out of the water, you would never guess that they are any different from you or I. It is only in water that the distinction can be made."

An obnoxious Ra Yellow boy waved his hand in the air and was permitted to ask his question.

"Professor, are you saying that there are actual mermaids swimming around that can live in and out of water?"

"Yes, though I'm sure that not all of them would appreciate being referred to as 'mermaids.' Women are not the only people who can be Merchildren – men can be as well."

You bet they don't like being referred to as 'mermaids' Chazz thought in annoyance as Banner continued his lecture.

"When a Merchild is put into salt water, he or she instantly under goes a Change, wherein their legs fuse together and lengthen to form a tail, fins come up on the upper and lower arms and a somewhat taller and longer dorsal fin appears along the spine stretching from the first vertebrae of the spine all the way down to the base of the lower back. Dark markings which are believed to be used as camouflage and resemble the pattern of light through water also appear across the Merchild's face, neck, shoulders, chest, and back. These water marking are unique to each individual, like a finger print." Alexis sat up a little straighter in her seat as Professor Banner put up a picture of a fully Changed Merchild on the screen behind him. The water marks looked extremely similar to the ones she had thought had been on Chazz's face. "In salt water, the urge to Change can only be resisted for a matter of moments with extreme concentration. However, in fresh water, the need is not so great and therefore things like, say, showers or rain, do not become a problem – usually. However-" Whatever Professor Banner had been intending to say next was drowned out as he was consumed by a cloud of sulfurous yellow smoke. The array of test tubes which had been gently bubbling and fizzing behind him had exploded without warning – not an unusual occurrence. Banner coughed and looked distressed as the fumes cleared. "Ohhh! Those were for next period!"

Chazz spent the rest of the period resisting both the erg to squirm uncomfortably in his seat and also the want to raise his hand and correct some of the things the professor was saying. It was a relief when the class was over, even though the odious Dr. Crowler's lesson was up next. The day dragged on with painful slowness and Chazz had finished off both of the water bottles he had brought with him and was still thirsty by the time lunch break finally arrived.

Jaden and Syrus caught up to Chazz as he was bending over the water fountain. He rolled his eyes as Jaden began to bounce up and down – why couldn't they ever take the hint and leave him alone?

"The end of the world is coming sooner than anybody expected," announced Sy once the black coated Slifer finally straightened up. Chazz raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because Jaden not only stayed awake through an entire class – he took notes as well, proper notes, detailed notes!"

He stared at the short blue haired teen in utter shock and disbelief, but Sy's claims were soon confirmed by Jaden himself, who was still bouncing happily from foot like a red bouncy ball.

"How could I sleep through a class like that? It was so cool! Those merkids sound like living duel monsters! That's so awesome!"

Great, I've been classified as a duel monster, thought Chazz morosely.

"I mean, they should have an Elemental Hero card for them!"

Elemental Hero? Hm. I guess I could deal with that.

"What's this about Elemental Heroes?" asked Alexis, joining the group.

"Jaden was saying that there should be an Elemental Hero card for the Merchildren Professor Banner was telling us about," summarized Syrus concisely.

"Really? That would be a cool card."

Alexis thinks it's cool? I could definitely go for that!

"Yeah, I'm gonna write Chumly and tell him my idea!" replied Jaden proudly, momentarily ceasing his bouncing. Jaden pulled the notes he had taken out of his pocket and eagerly showed them to Alexis, who looked over them appreciatively.

"Wow, Jaden! I didn't know you even knew how to take notes! These are amazing!"

"Thanks!"

"Could I barrow them?" she asked as turned over yet another page that was covered back and front with writing. Jaden had almost written down everything Professor Banner had said word for word.

"Sure, Lex." Suddenly distracted by the rumbling of his stomach, Jaden changed the topic. "Come on, let's head back to the dorm – I'm starving!"

"You're always hungry, Jay," grumbled Sy, nonetheless also turning to head back for Slifer. Chazz trailed reluctantly behind them. He didn't really want to eat, though, he could definitely go for some more to drink – he was just extremely thirsty today for some reason. And the ach that Changing usually resolved had already started again. Before he had been able to go for nearly a month without the need to Change, but in the past few weeks Chazz had been barely able to make it three days before the ach became unbearable. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and quickened his pace to catch up with Jaden and Syrus some.

Alexis lagged purposefully behind and then, when she was certain none of her friends wouldn't notice, she darted back inside the main Academy building and headed for Professor Banner's classroom where she knew he would still be cleaning up after his last class. Banner looked up from the smashed and melted remains of his latest demonstration when she ran in.

"Oh, hello Alexis. Did you forget something?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you a question, if it's alright."

"But of course! What is it that you would like to know?"

"Well," Alexis began a little hesitantly. "Just before those test tubes exploded you where saying that Merchildren could easily resist the erg to Change in fresh water – normally – and you never got back to why they might Change in fresh water as well."

"Ah, yes, I do remember that! This time when even fresh water poses problems occurs when a Merchild is around sixteen or seventeen. Their body requires that they Change far more often than an adult or a child and they consume huge amounts of water. Every time the Merchild becomes wet during this period, at least some part of their physicality Changes – usually the water marking appear on their faces. They themselves do not normally understand what is happening to them and often find it quite frightening. Call it the Merchild version of growing pains."

"Thank you, Professor Banner. That was exactly what I wanted to know." Alexis turned and ran to catch up with her friends.

--

That night after Alexis had finished her homework she went over Jaden's notes again and then took the time to write out her own copy for future reference. Maybe she was letting her imagination run wild with a trick of the light but what if… what if she was right? For some reason she was desperately curious to know and she was strangely hoping that the answer would be that it had not just been a trick of the light.

With a sigh, Alexis opened the volume that she had discovered in the library after lunch and began to leaf through it. There were so many fascinating books in the library if you just knew where to look. The volume in her hands looked ancient and probably hadn't been checked out in years. The pages crackled ever so slightly under her touch and after turning a couple of pages too quickly, Alexis was rewarded with a face full of dust. As she read she had the crazy feeling that she should be wearing a pointy black hat and cackling every now and then as she threw parts of small, innocent animals into a boiling cauldron. Having no pointy black hats or cauldrons readily available, Alexis gave the cackling a try just for the heck of it – and felt absolutely ridiculous. She needed to go to bed before she started thinking in Shakespearian verse, which was what the book was practically written in.

Slipping a bookmark in to mark her place Alexis shut the book and turned off her lamp, too late remembering that her lamp had been the only light on in her room. In the inky blackness which ensued Alexis somehow managed to knock over her lamp. She muttered a curse to herself as she heard the bulb break. Great. She stood very still so as not to destroy any more of the contents of her room and contemplated the darkness for several minutes letting her eye adjust. Eventually the dim out lines of the furniture could be made out and she could see clearly of her window again.

Just as she looked, Alexis glimpsed a dark figure dart across the grass and head quickly down the path towards the Lighthouse. Feeling like a stalker, Alexis crept stealthily out of her room, finally able to see where she was going, and also slipped out of the Slifer dorm.