Chapter Nine

"Len. M-my... my name is called... Len." The merloid boy stuttered. It was obvious he was still fuzzy on speaking properly. "Is you... afraid, yes?"

I trembled in shock at the sight of him. And it wasn't even the fact that he was speaking to me! Of course I was used to that by now. Though it still came as a bit of a surprise, considering the last time we had spoken, I was really "in the moment" so to speak. But anyways, that still wasn't what I was so confused about.

"B-b-but, you, why are you here?" I stammered, "I thought you lived in the ocean! And, and... why are you trying to help me s-so much? I mean, w-with the food and the water, and I'm sure now that it was you who saved me from drowning earlier! And that bite-" I let out a bewildered moan as he shoved his tongue into my opened mouth. As we stood there in the water together, I shook so much my body nearly fell apart, but I couldn't keep myself away from him. He tasted salty and fresh, and with his soft, delicate fingertips running themselves up and down my chest. He was irresistible! Slowly, so as not to alarm the gentle creature, I wrapped my hands around the small of his back, massaging him with my palms. He whimpered in response, stepping even closer and shoving his... leg in between my thighs? I quickly pushed away, peering down into the glass-like pool. And sure enough, his tail had disappeared and now two legs and an, um... excited member stood before me. I gasped, placing my hands on his stomach to keep his legs in sight.

"Where the hell did these come from?" I asked him, at a loss for words, "I thought you were a merloid! Until a few nights ago, I didn't have a clue that you could walk on land, let alone in water! What's going on here?"

Len, or so he said his name was, bowed his head bashfully. "I-I-I, they..." He mumbled, "The pool. The moon pool, it gives me power. Great power, to grow the legs."

"The moon pool?" Now I was even more perplexed. I listened closely to him, hoping for some sort of explanation to what exactly he was.

"Merloids, long ago... were... cre-cre-created? B-by, the Sky Inventist..." He began uncertainly.

"Do you mean to say scientist?" I asked, but I received no response. He just continued to speak.

"In those days... the sun, it gave... energy t-to... the many." I nodded for him to continue on. "So, the sci-en-ti-st, he wanted new somethings. And so he used moon."

'I see..." I thought to myself as Len continued telling his story, 'So, these creatures must run on moonlight.'

"And the moon pool... it, it, it has moon energy. So... w-when moonshine isn't, I come here. Where moon pool helps me grow my legs."

It was all suddenly becoming much clearer. 'The reason he was weak last night was because it was almost a new moon. And tonight...' I gazed up at the stars, seeing no trace of the moon except for a small patch of rounded darkness. 'Tonight is the new moon, so he came here to retain his power.'

"But still..." I began nervously, gazing into his entrancing blue eyes, "Why did you risk your life to feed me last night? Why even bother when you could be eating me?"

He answered with another, more chaste kiss. He grabbed my face and pulled me right in. After tasting his warmth for a few seconds, we parted, his hands still cupping my cheeks. "Because," He said breathily, "I love you!"

I KNOW that moonlight is really just reflected sunlight but just BARE WITH ME ON THIS, okay? The scientist new that the downfall of solar energy is that it can't be used effectively at night, so he decided to harness the powers of the solar energy reflected off the moon when making his merloids. This would allow them to retain power without having to replenish their energy in broad daylight, which would allow him to keep them a secret from the public. And the moon pool? That's just pure magic and fantasy. Remember, I STILL need a few more people to answer my poll/leave a review about who should transform. Thanks for reading. ^-^