Hey everyone. SOO, I finally got a couple reviews! Good to know that I am not the only one enjoying/curious about this story. So please keep reviewing! Because I KNOW you're reading it!

NOTE: The first and second reviewer of this chapter before midnight Sunday, who tells me what they would like to see happen or some kind of special feature they would like the mermaids to have then I will put them in this story as a minor character but they will have several parts as either:

One of the wolves imprints

A friend of the Vamps (if you're on the Vamp side)

Or I will make you a mermaid!

YOUR PICK BUT YOU MUST REVIEW!

Translations: Cara- Dear Mia Bella- my sweet (It is not uncommon for members of Italian families of all relations to call each other this. For instance, a sister calling a younger sister these is common. I don't speak much Italian but I AM part Italian…so yeah.

Of Merscales and Pearl Tears: StarCrossed Species

Chapter Three: Selkies and Sisters

"I thought I'd never find you."

My mouth snaps shut, and my eyes narrow.

"What the hell?" I finally regain use of my mouth, "What kind of greeting did you expect!?"

She frowns and her hand falls down to her side.

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

"I don't know," I shake my head, "How do you expect me to react? You abandoned me for twelve years! Twelve. Years."

I am pissed, and confused, and happy all at the same time. But at the moment anger is winning, and I am not afraid to show it.

"Cara, I am so sorry. I thought you would have understood by now," a look of profound sadness washes over her face, "I only did what was best at the time. I know I hurt you, Mia Bella. But it was time for me to join Mom. She had called to me. Our Marion had been under attack; she had been fighting them for years, but she knew I would be ready when she called me, so she did."

"What!? No, no," I gasped.

How can this be? Did mom survive? What attacked them?

"Bella," Camilla whispers, breaking me out of my reverie, "It was humans."

"What!" I yell, "That's impossible! Humans have nothing but childish myths on us! Was it accidental?"

"They were scientists," she said, "they came with these large, clear tank-like cages that they put underwater, and once one of the young Marionettas ventured in on accident, the cage shut and they pulled her up out of the water! After that, the rest of the Marion scattered, but they used guns with these fuzzy bullets that shot through the water so fast. Most of us didn't make it."

Tears welled in her eyes, and she collapsed onto the sand, staring out at the ocean. I walked cautiously up to her, and sat next to her.

"Clammy," I used her old nickname, "What about mommy?"

Silence. I began to fidget nervously with my fingers as the worse possible scenarios flashed through my head.

"She didn't make it," she said in a raspy voice.

No, I close my eyes, and cover my mouth.

"Bella, the state of things is so much worse than you could possibly imagine," Camilla continues, "The waters are so, so chaotic. It's anarchy. All the Marion leaders are declaring a Deep Sea Hibernation."

"Things can't have gotten that bad!" I am shocked as hell, "There hasn't been a Deep Sea Hibernation amongst our kind since the Middle Ages when the Selkies began drawing too much attention upon us."

Deep Sea Hibernation is exactly what it sounds like. It is where all the Marion heads, the leaders of a certain number of Mermaids in a concentrated group that travel, eat, and sleep together, declare a hibernation period due to some kind of threat to our extinction or a threat of discovery by the human population.

The last time the Marion leaders ordered one was in the medieval times, and a sister species of ours, the Selkies, began drawing far too much attention from the humans. They had started becoming more and more reckless, and were getting kidnapped off shore when they let their guard down. They were creating a spectacle, and the mortals were beginning to question the existence of our kind as well. The Marion leaders all over the world agreed to head into a sort of cryogenic sleep until the Selkies' situation died down.

Selkies are beautiful women that live underwater, and take the form of seals. When they become dry they can remove their seal skin, and underneath they are extremely beautiful women. Without her pelt, a Selkie is forced to live on land as a mortal. Because of the Selkies' flighty nature, they would not stay in one place or one form for very long which is what we had been counting on.

We figured they would eventually head back into deeper waters, away from humans and we Mermaids could resurface in a few decades or so. We were wrong. The hibernation lasted precisely four hundred and seventy-nine years before we could come out of hiding.

While in Deep Sea Hibernation, An entire Marion would travel together, and find a place in the deepest parts of the ocean to lie down on the sand and slow their body's processes down in order to preserve their heart and life force for however long they plan to go without food. They become still like statues, and their scales lose their shine, their hair is reduced to nothing much more than seaweed and the gills lined on their spine seal up. The only thing to wake a Mermaid in hibernation is a tap to their BirthCrown.

Back then BirthCrown's were sewed into their hair, and on display, thus making it easier to wake them. They are worn in all different manners now, as trends come and go.

The fact that the Marion's were contemplating Deep Sea Hibernation is frightening. It means I would have to leave my family for God only knows how long. I would not be able to stay on land, once a state of Hibernation has been ordered, it is physically impossible to refute the order. I am the Marion leader in our trio, however my native Marion in the water has a different Marion leader, and I would hear her call no matter how far away.

"Bella?" Camilla is touching my shoulder gently.

I am startled to realize it has been multiple minutes since we last spoke. I didn't even notice the time.

"Yeah?"

"You know what has to be done, right?"

"If they order it, I must comply. I am well aware," I speak coldly.

"I am just making sure. I know about your family," Camilla shrugs, "and I am sorry, but you know the way of our life. It is the best for them as well."

"How can leaving my family, be good for them!" I burst out, frustrated.

She looks stunned but recovers quickly, "Because if the humans found you there would be nothing they could do to stop them from taking you. It would only bring them pain."

Damn. She's right. But she doesn't know that we are vampires, she didn't factor that into my survival rate.

"I guess," I murmur nonchalantly.

"Well, now what?"

"I don't know. I was heading out to-" and then it dawns on me, the comb!

"Cam, do you have your BirthCrown?" I ask hurriedly.

"Duh," she looks at me like I've grown a second head.

Fair enough, you either have it, or you're already dead.

"Well, I found this," I dig the comb out of my pocket and hold it out to her, "when I went swimming earlier this morning."

She gingerly handles it, and then to my shock she brings it up to her mouth and her tongue swiftly peeks out and taps it.

"Uh, Cam?" I raise an eyebrow, "watcha doing?"

"It's a skill, Mom and I never got around to teaching you. We have superior taste buds; any DNA left on this comb can be identified by our taste. I'm getting a bit of a freesia vibe, which is you because you touched it last. I also smell Water lily, and Poppy, is it?" she looks to me.

"Yeah, that's Kim and Emily. My Marionettas," I confess.

"Oh, your two friends up in the house?" she asks, "I can feel their mind link pinging every now and then, their talking about something."

"So other than them, do you taste anything?" I asked.

She looks like she's thinking hard and then finally she shakes her head, and sighs.

"Well, what good help you gave," I roll my eyes playfully.

She smiles at me. I haven't quite forgiven her for abandoning me. At least now I know why, and I would have done the same thing if it had been me. So it's a start. Maybe it's possible to regain the trusting relationship we had before.

"So, what should we do?" I twist my fingers anxiously.

Camilla pauses for a moment, and looks out to the water once again.

"Well, for right now?" She suddenly turns and smiles at me, "how about you introduce me to your two 'lil Marionettas up there?"

I laugh, the tension eased a bit.

"I can't. My husband is expecting me home soon. But you can go if you like, and I'll tell them through the mind link that it really is you."

She shakes her head and winks at me.

"Nah, I'd rather meet this husband of yours!"

Well that's it for this chapter, but I am already working on number four! So please review! Remember if you're the first reviewer before Sunday I will put you in this story!