Chapter 6 Mer Cove

James, Son of Edward, was a proud member of the Diagon Tribe. He had short black tentacles and hazel eyes that always held a certain mischief quality. The young male was only sixteen cycles, but was, without a doubt, strong in his magic. His family pod was small, but growing, and he himself was the only child to Edward, Son of Hendrick and Annalisa, Daughter of Natasha. He had an uncle and aunt name Charlus, Son of Hendrick and Dorea, Daughter of Violetta, as well as a second-cousin, who was ten cycles older, name Damien, Son of Charlus. And just last season, Damien bonded with a female from one of their sister tribes and this season his mate gave birth to a beautiful little girl name Elisa, Daughter of Ivonne. She was only two weeks old and already had both Damien and James wrapped around her little fins.

The Siren took great pride in his family and the bonds he shared with each of them. His father had always stressed the importance of family and how to represent their pod to others proudly. That didn't mean that James didn't have fun; he and a few others were known for their numerous pranks at school. Nonetheless James strived to excel in every one of his subjects as he inspired to be a warrior, a defender of the tribe. It was because of this aspiration, his hard work and dedication, that James was handpicked by the headmaster of the Academy of Warriors himself as one of the ten scouts to help the expectant fathers protect their pregnant mates. It was a high honor, and one that did James' pod proud.

His people went to great lengths to protect the merchildren. Though the ocean was a vast and beautiful place, it held its many forms dangers. From the pirates roaming the seas on the surface to their natural enemies: the Cecaelias, half man, half octopus and the Carcharions, half man, half shark. The latter of the two his tribe had more in contact with, especially in recent years prior. There was once a Carcharion that would attack the small children of their tribe that went by the name of Fenrir. His friend Remus, Son of Lyall, was one of the victims; he doesn't talk about it much.

With the thought of his friends, James looked about him. Two of his best friends were also chosen to escort the migrating pod, Sirius, Son of Orion, and the aforementioned Remus. Sirius had long, black tentacles, gray eyes, and had a tattoo of a sea serpent on his bicep; his mother was furious when she found out. He was a boisterous merman and always seen with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. The two of them, James and Sirius, were so inseparable that some made the mistake of thinking of them as brothers. Though in James' mind, they were brothers in all but blood. Then there was his other closest friend, Remus.

Remus had sandy brown tentacles, that was tied into a band down to the nape of his neck. He had ambers eyes, a lone scar on his left cheek and was the calm and voice of reason of the group. Remus was also more studious than the others, while James and Sirius studied because it was necessary, Remus studied information that was not required simply for the sake of seeking knowledge. Sirius had often teased that Remus should have been sorted into the Rowena Clan to which Remus would respond saying that James and Sirius wouldn't have made it pass their first year without his help. With the fourth member name Peter, Son of Robert (who wasn't present) together they made the group known as the Marauders.

There were ten young mermen that were scouts this season. James and his friends were the youngest; as the requirement was to be between the ages of sixteen to twenty-five cycles. The eldest was the son and firstborn of the Merchief name Cassius, Son of Thomas, he had recently bonded with a young mermaid from a northern tribe. Next was one of Cassius' best friend name Rabastan, Son of Fabius, and Lucius, Son of Abraxas, they too were twenty-one cycles and just at the start of the warm season, Lucius bonded to one of Sirius' cousins name Narcissa, Daughter of Druella. The fourth was name Kingsley, Son of Kazeem, who was twenty cycles and in the midst of becoming a warrior. The other three males were eighteen, Franklin, Son of Benjamin, also becoming a warrior, Killian, Son of Roy who had an affinity with explosions, and Isaac, Son of Nathaniel.

James looked around and noticed that Isaac was not among the other males congregated at the mouth of the cove. Had Isaac left with the others to the hippocampus' call? He was one of the few that could speak their dialect. James thought how lucky Isaac was, to go investigate such a strange hailing. Maybe he should have learned to speak hippocampi from Hagrid like the others and currently Remus. Which reminded him. "Remus, did you understand what the hippocampus said?" James asked

Remus, who was reading a scroll, looked in the direction where some of the mermen swam off to and pondered for a bit. "I couldn't understand all of it, but apparently they have a mermaid with them." That piqued Sirius' interest.

"A mermaid?" he grinned slyly. Remus rolled his eyes at his rather hormonal friend. "Do you think she'll come here?"

"If so, then she's most likely pregnant but was somehow stranded from her pod. In other words, she's unavailable." Remus spoke dryly.

Sirius pouted at the young male. "Always trying to ruin my fun."

"I think he's trying to save your poor heart from another rejection." James commented impishly.

The comment brought forth memories of Sirius' latest attempt to 'court' a young female. Sirius was known for his flirtatious attitude with the fairer sex and yet there was one that seemed infallible to his charms. A young Siren that was a year older than the three mermen named Marlene, Daughter of Edith. Sirius had taken an interest in her two cycles ago and every conversation he attempted to have with the mermaid was met with a sigh and an eye roll before she swam away. James had laughed mercilessly the first time he saw it. He had never seen Sirius' jaw drop so low. "She cannot resist my charms and looks forever."

"But your so-called looks won't be there forever, and I'm sure you never had any charm to begin with." Remus smirked.

"Must you always poke fun at me!" Sirius lower lip jutted out. James shook his head fondly at the two. Honestly the two of them acted like bonded elders.

"Someone has to take you down a peg or two." Remus replied.

"If you're both done bickering, Isaac and the others are returning." James pointed out. The small pod of mermen were swimming back to the cove, each of them were singing joyously and swam protectively around a mermaid. James couldn't make out her features but could see that she had the rare auburn tentacles. The mermen seem to be celebrating, for what James knew not. He was confused as to why there was a lone mermaid that was traveling with a pod of hippocampi. Not that there wasn't anything wrong with the water horses, it was just peculiar.

The pod swam closer to the entrance and James and the other scouts could make out the words the mermen were singing. "They found our lost sister?" James asked in shock. He wasn't the only one that was in a stupor. Sirius and Remus were in similar states of disbelief as the pod swam closer. Isaac broke free from the other men and swam excitingly to the scouts.

"Our sister has finally come home!" Isaac sang with glee. "She has been traveling with a pod of hippocampi for the past few weeks!" The pod swam past the scouts into the safety of the cove and James was able to catch a good look at the young female.

She had long auburn tentacles that flowed down to her back, an oval shape face, and the most mesmerizing pair of green eyes he'd ever seen. "She's beautiful." he breathed, his gaze followed her until he could no longer see her passed the jagged rocks that made up the cove, he missed the knowing looks traded between the three males. "Did she say what her name was?" James asked Isaac.

"Why, are you interested in her?" Isaac asked knowingly.

Much to James' horror he could feel himself blush. He never blushes! And worse, it was in front of two of his fellow Marauders. "Is guppy James blushing?" Sirius cackled "Oh I think James is interested in her, very interested."

"Shut up, Sirius." James grumbled

Sirius wrapped his arm around James' shoulders, a large teasing grin on his face. "So our brave and glorious leader has finally found a mermaid worthy of his greatness! And what a beauty she is!"

"Remus help." James pleaded

Remus smirked at his friend's plight. "You know how he is. It's best to let him get most of it out of his system now." Remus smiled at James' frown.

"Traitor."

"And wait until I inform our cousin Damien and dear Alpha Edward and Annalisa! They'll be excited that you finally had taken an interest in finding a mate. And it's with our long lost sister!" Sirius boasted. The other scouts rolled their eyes, long used to Sirius' attitude. "Should I inform the folks of your bonding ceremony?"

"Alright Sirius, you had your laugh." James said tiredly "Go swim in circles or something." he muttered

"You know I will tease you mercilessly for the next few weeks, right?"

"I'm aware Sirius." James groaned

"Just checking, so when are you going to court her?" Sirius asked excitingly. Remus shook his head but still had a bright smile on his face.

Before James could even make a witty or sarcastic remark they were interrupted by none other than the Merchief's son. "No one will court the mermaid. Not until she has been accepted to the tribe by my father. And even still, the young Siren will be too busy learning the dialect and our culture to be chased around by hormonal males. Return to your posts." the stern merman, Cassius, ordered.

"Always a git, that one." Sirius muttered before swimming a few feet away from James and grabbed hold of his triton. James took hold of his as well; it was strapped to his back. A triton was as unique to a Siren as a wand or staff was to a Magi. No two tritons were alike, they were the same length as the user's arm and made of an ore that grew exceptionally fast in the chasms and was a good conductor for ones magic. A Siren was allowed a triton once their magic had settled at eleven cycles.

Clearing his thoughts James focused his attention back to the open waters to watch for any dangers. The last of the calves were born a few days prior and the pod would soon return to the safety of their tribe. A few days ago, however, one of the scouts had spotted a lone Carcharion swimming just beyond the jagged rocks that surrounded the island. It disappeared before any could attack it, however its presence had made all the other Sirens more wary. The females did not bring their tritons, their magic was used to help the unborn child grow in their wombs, and were therefore defenseless. It was why the males accompanied their mates and why there were scouts, all to protect the merchildren. James and the others would give their lives without hesitation than to see one of the young ones die at the hands of the Sharkpeople.

And even more good news, their lost sister has finally come home! It surely was a miracle that had to have been given by Poseidon himself. James was curious about her, he never did get a name from Isaac the git, and he wanted to know how the surface dwellers lived. He wanted to ask how it was she stayed on the surface longer than the others, how was she able to unlock her magic, how she found the hippocampi pod. She was an enigma, one that James found quite intriguing. But there was more to her than just mystery, there was something about her that was hard for James to ignore. He didn't know what it was, but he could tell it wasn't harmful for him. In any case at least he would befriend the lost one, who knows she might fit in well with the others.

Lily laughed giddily as she was surrounded by a small group of females, chatting away happily while holding their newborns. Matthew had just left Lily with his mate, Jolecia, Daughter of Adeline, and their firstborn son name Marcius with a few other females. He had assured Lily that he would return but was off to speak with the leader of the pod, thankfully Jolecia was almost as fluent in Hippocampi as her mate and so Lily didn't feel too left out of the group.

Currently Lily held the gurgling newborn Marcius in her arms. "He's adorable." Lily cooed softly. The infant had baby gray color skin, it would turn blue when he was older, a tail that flipped randomly, and large blue eyes the same shade as his father.

"Thank you." Jolecia said softly, Jolecia had light green eyes and dirty blonde tentacles down to the small of her back. She was a cycle younger than Matthew and was just as excited of being a new mother. "Marcius was born only a week ago, one of the last born this season." The other females smile kindly at Lily as she held the infant caringly. Lily always loved babies, whenever her elder cousins would give birth to their own, Lily was seen often around them to hold and coddle. Of course the moment they began to cry, Lily would quickly return the baby back to their mother. "Are you interested in becoming a mother anytime soon?" Jolecia asked

Lily spluttered and blushed profusely, the other women looked at the young mermaid weirdly but left her alone. "I'm not ready for that just yet." Lily laughed nervously.

"My apologies." Jolecia smiled "You look good with a child though." Marcius then began to quietly fuss and his face was scrunching up. Lily quickly panicked and handed the infant back over to Jolecia. Jolecia gave a hearty laugh and took hold of her son. "He's just hungry."

"I don't know how to handle crying babies." Lily replied sheepishly

"I was the same way when I was your age." Jolecia smiled, she looked down at the babe suckling and her eyes brightened. "You are a hungry little guppy aren't you." Jolecia cooed at her newborn son.

Matthew came swimming back a few minutes later and smiled proudly down at his mate and child. He traded a few greetings to the other females congregating near Jolecia and Lily then turned his attention to the young mermaid. "The Alpha would like to meet you." Matthew spoke kindly.

Lily felt a little nervous, was this Alpha the one to determine whether she stayed with the tribe or cast out to the open waters? Matthew smiled encouragingly and Lily felt slightly appeased. She had been treated with nothing but kindness from everyone. The environment was a complete contrast than the world she grew up in. Everyone here was so open, the lack of clothing may have something to do with this, emotions were displayed freely without the fear of condemnation. Interactions between bonded women with other males wasn't frowned on. It truly seemed as though women and men were on equal ground. Though if that were the case, why then would only the males carry weapons? Were women simply not allowed to carry those spear-things?

What also drew Lily's curiosity was the architecture. There were no definitive buildings like those on land. The walls of the cove were carved in that looked like homes for the new families. On some of the walls there were Siren figures carved in holding a weapon that differed from the weapons she saw the men hold. One of the figures was a strong looking male with long tentacles and the spear like weapon had three tongs, it reminded Lily of the pitchforks she'd seen farmers using. "Matthew, what is that weapon that that Siren is holding?"

Matthew looked at the passing figure. "That is Merchief Triton, the great-grandson of the first Merchief, Merchief Neptune. He is the creator of the legendary trident. Today we call all of our spears tritons, in honor of the Merchief."

"Merchief Neptune?" Lily asked again

Matthew smiled "You're a curious one." he spoke fondly "He was picked by the Great Four in their place to rule our tribe. By the end of their reign, the Great Four swam from tribe to tribe picking males and females that they saw fit to rule and govern their people."

"Females too?" Lily asked astonished. She had never heard of a woman partake in politics. It simply wasn't done!

"Of course." Matthew looked at Lily weirdly "Mermaids have always had equal ground with mermen. Is it not the same in the Drylands?"

"No." Lily spoke shortly, she'd rather not think of the surface as it would then lead her to remember a bitter betrayal. Matthew frowned at Lily's tone and expression but otherwise said nothing. Anxious to clear the awkward silence between the two, Lily asked "So if there are Merchiefs that rule the tribes, what is an Alpha?"

"An Alpha is the leader of a family pod. The oldest member of each family pod is considered to be the Alpha, their word and choices govern the family. In this case however the Alpha is the oldest male here that has a mate that had given birth to his child. Alpha Fabian is twenty-five cycles and he is one of the strongest males of our tribe. He doesn't speak Hippocampi so I will translate between the two of you."

"Thank you." Lily said appreciatively

They came up to an opening of a lighted cave farthest from the entrance of the cove. A large, well muscled man swam up and smiled down at Lily. Lily figured that this was Alpha Fabian, he had short auburn tentacles, tattoos down both his arms, he wore a necklace that was made out of small seashells with a large sea snail shell in the center. A silver armband, with a blue gem in the middle, was placed on his upper left arm. And finally Lily noticed a triton strapped to his back. "This is Alpha Fabian, Son of Antonius." The large Siren splayed his right hand over the center of his chest and bowed to the young mermaid.

"Lily, just Lily." she copied Fabian's greeting and the man laughed boisterously in good humor. "What, did I do something wrong?" Lily asked Matthew worriedly. The Siren chuckled along with the Alpha and paced a placating hand on Lily's shoulders.

"Worry not, young Lily." he smiled reassuringly "He gave you a warrior's greeting, to which you returned one of your very own. He likes you." Alpha Fabian spoke a few more words to Matthew in his baritone voice. "He wants to know if you have been treated with the utmost respect by the other Sirens."

"Yes, I have." Lily smiled softly. "Everyone has welcomed me graciously since I've been here. I'm amazed that there has been this whole other world in the oceans that no one ever knew about." Lily expressed her awe.

After Matthew translated for the other male, Fabian smiled knowingly. "He says 'I imagine it is a lot to take in.' He also reassures that we will find a room to accommodate you by nightfall."

"That's not necessary." Lily said quickly "I don't want to intrude on any of the families here. I can sleep in the cove."

When translated Fabian shook his head brusquely and made a disagreeing noise. Matthew expressed similar emotions. "Nonsense," Matthew spoke "we have more than enough space. It would be an insult to you if we were just to leave you out in the cove!" Fabian exclaimed "You will not make anyone uncomfortable, besides the birth of our young, finding a lost member of our tribe is one of the best news we've had this season!" The Alpha quickly interjected a few words to Matthew before falling back into silence. "Fabian has told me that he has already alerted Merchief Thomas and the Council of this glorious news. They are all anxious to meet you."

"Really?" Lily asked in shock. Her head felt as though it was swimming, ignoring the obvious fact that she was submerged in water, so many important figures of a tribe she was soon going to be a part of, were excited to meet her. Was it really such big news that Lily had returned to the sea a few years later than usual?

Her question must have shown on her face because Matthew and translated quickly for Alpha Fabian "In the entire history of our tribe when Seekers left the ocean to find the two Landborns, they would always returned safe and sound and the Seekers were seen as heroes to the tribe. When our brother returned and you did not, it was a troubling time for our tribe and for the other tribes.

"Our race has lived in the shadows of the surface for millennia, our numbers does not reach the number of Man. Every child born is a gift from Poseidon, every Landborn brought to the safety of the tribe is in thanks to Poseidon. When you were never brought back, our tribe went into a depression for some time. It's a miracle that you have returned to us."

"You will not impose on anyone Lily, you are not a burden." Matthew said convincingly "Alpha Fabian said you could meet with the scouts at the entrance. They're about to go wave jumping with some dolphins on the other side of the island." Matthew looked excited

Lily wasn't too sure. "Scouts?"

"They're chosen by the Merchief to help escort the women safely to the cove and back to Diagon Tribe. They guard the entrance while the rest of us watch over our mates and go in hunting parties for the cove. But they need a break so a few of us are going to guard the entrance."

"You sure I can just go wandering off? I can stay and help care for the babies."

"The guppies are in good hands." Matthew smiled "You do not have to do anything, it is not your responsibility. Go, have fun."

"If you're sure." Lily said uncertainly

"I am. Plus Isaac will be sadden that you wouldn't want to spend time with him, he's probably jealous that I've been taking up much of your time." he jested.

The young mermaid giggled and her cheeks flushed. "Well when you put it that way." Matthew escorted Lily back to the entrance, where the scouts were waiting anxiously.

Isaac smiled widely when he saw Matthew and Lily swim up to them. "So our dear lost sister finally graces us with her presence once more." Isaac teased, light brown eyes twinkling in mirth. "We were just on our way to go wave jumping with a pod of dolphins, care to join?" he asked. Lily laughed at the young merman's antics and agreed. With a quick goodbye to Matthew and some of the others now at guard, the scouts swam out to the jagged rocks before making a sharp turn right.

Isaac had introduced Lily to his best friend, Killian, and was currently teaching Lily some basic words in Mermish. A merman the same age as Lily swam up beside her, he had wild black tentacles and hazel eyes that just screamed mischief. Lily's face made a small blush when the young man smiled charmingly in her direction. "Hello, my name James, Son of Richard." Lily was surprise to hear him speak in the hippocampus dialect. It was obvious to her, that he knew little of the language but she appreciated it all the more.

"My name is Lily."