Part six: Merfolk

Chapter two: Birds, Bees and the Mermaid

The mermaid poked her head out of the water. She entered the cavern and then turned to wave Mike forward. Pulling the invisible line that connected them, she brought him closer to her and into the cavern. She purred and sang a little, seducing him further. Mike smiled and wrapped his arms around her. The mermaid wrapped her tail around his waist to bring him even closer. She tangled her fingers through his hair and planted a sensual kiss upon his lips.

"Be my lover forever." She sang softly.

Mike nodded and melted to her touch. He leaned forward and kissed her on the neck.

"Tell me…" he whispered "Do you have a name?"

She moved into him and kissed him. "Aya."

He smiled and repeated her name as though it was the most amazing thing he had ever heard. Melting even deeper into her, he kissed her. As the kiss deepened, he felt something strange with her tail. It seemed to slither off him and then it wrapped around his waist and hips again. Only something weird happened; it had split in two pieces. The two pieces strengthened and they wrapped firmly around him. The scales smoothed out but no longer felt slippery. The fins also shortened and thickened into an odd shape. When Mike finally dared to break the kiss, he looked down and saw a pair of legs. He was startled for a moment and then he looked at her in amazement. She merely nodded with a smirk and pulled him into another kiss.

Mike felt himself ease inside of her. The instant that he felt her was the biggest surge of incredible sensation that he ever felt. It was so surprising and he wanted so much more than what she probably could give him. He had never felt this good before. It was so addicting, just to feel her. She was nothing he felt before and everything he ever felt all in one. He needed more. He needed it all.

It was in that moment when Peter, still in fish form, swam up to them. He transformed and gasped. He stared at them at first, then winced and looked away. Only he couldn't look away too long. Aya's pull was too strong. He had to look at her. Her beauty was hypnotic.

Aya looked in his direction, her dark eyes shining. She smirked and blew him a kiss, which stabbed him in the heart. Peter melted and smiled at her. For just a moment he stared at her with a dopey grin, unable to do anything else. However, the moment that Aya tore her eyes off him and focused on Mike, Peter snapped out of his hypnosis. He blinked and then looked at them in confusion.

"Michael!"

Mike pulled away from Aya and stiffened his back. He snarled at Peter and swam over to where he was.

"Get away, mother fucker!" He shoved Peter away. "You can't have her, she's mine!"

Stunned by Mike's actions, Peter knew he had to do something. He also knew there was no way that he alone would be able to get Mike away from the mermaid and her power. He needed the others to help him break the mermaid's spell. With a huff, Peter turned into a bird and flew out of the cavern.

…..

Micky clung close to Davy as they walked on the ice. The entire time, he was nervous about slipping. A few times he was so fearful to move that he slowed his pace to barely inch along. When he would do this, Davy would turn and glare at him. Davy would then grab his arm and pull him along. In reality, Micky wasn't just nervous about slipping on the ice. Fear of melting the ice was also running rampant through him. He had never been near so much cold for so long without needing to use his power, and he didn't know how long he would be able to hold out.

Davy picked up on Micky's nerves. He knew he would have to do something to ease Micky's mind if they were going to seriously search for their friends. He decided to distract him by having him focus on the scenery. The view through the ice, which was clear as glass, was breathtaking. The ice seemed to illuminate the ocean below and expand upon the features. Everything in the ocean was now seen brilliantly. Micky couldn't help but stare in awe at the magical, painting-like scene in the water below.

"That's… that's beautiful." He said, barely above a whisper.

"It really is." Davy said. "You feel better now?"

Micky grinned, "I do."

"Good. Now come on. We have to find Mike and Peter. So, time to keep your focus, mate."

Micky nodded and gulped a little. "Right." He held Davy's arm and let him lead again.

They walked along the ice, and kept a sharp eye for signs of their friends. After walking for what seemed like miles, they stopped as something in the distance caught their attention. They couldn't tell what it was at first only that it was moving towards them. Once it was a little closer they saw it was a bird. The bird swooped down and splashed into the water. When they saw this, they knew that this was Peter.

Peter, now a dolphin, swam up to them at full speed. When he reached the ice path, he turned back into a human. He panted as he struggled to climb up onto the ice. Davy and Micky helped him onto the ice and he started a frantic, yet, breathless, tale of what he had encountered. As he spoke, the other two listened in confusion.

"I saw them!" Peter gulped in a deep breath of air. "Mike! He was- he was with- a mermaid!" he exclaimed between breaths.

"What are you talking about?" Micky asked. "A mermaid? Peter you sure you weren't hallucinating or something? Maybe you were under the water too long."

"No! I promise!" Peter pleaded. "It really was a mermaid! She took him to this cavern and she was doing sexual things to him. I think she had Mike under some sort of spell. He wasn't himself at all!"

Davy nodded, although he wasn't ready to fully believe Peter's story. "Alright. Show us where they were."

"The cavern was this way." Peter pointed. "But they might be gone by now."

"But we still have to find them!" Micky exclaimed. "Even if they're not in the cavern any more they could still be in the area!"

Peter nodded with a firm lip. "Right."

"So let's not waste any more time standing around here." Said Davy, taking on a leader stance. "Let's go fellas!"

Aya swam ahead, bringing Mike with her. They went deep into the ocean, much deeper than anyone had ever gone before. Mike often asked her where they were going, but Aya would just smile or laugh a little.

After swimming a while, they approached a large, bubble-like dome. From a distance it looked to have nothing inside. But as they got right up to it, Mike could see an entire city full of mermaids. He looked at Aya, stunned.

"What is this place?"

She smiled. "Home."

Leading Mike inside the dome, Aya took Mike into the city. She led him a little ways, swimming past merfolk who welcomed her as though she was someone important. Soon they approached a large palace and Aya guided Mike inside through the back way. Mike could not take his eyes off anything and he took in every detail of their surroundings. They swam down vast corridors and into a room. Aya shut the door behind them and brought Mike over to a bed made of coral.

"Come." She smiled and patted the space beside her.

Mike lay down beside her and smiled. "So this is your home?"

"Our home." She smiled, moving closer to him. "And in a month we will have our family here with us."

"What? A month? What family?

She giggled. "You fertilized my eggs, silly."

His eyes widened. "Your eggs?" He gulped.

"Of course! You're going to be a father!"

Mike froze, completely stunned as he stared at her. Suddenly, the strange hypnotic pull that she had on him broke and all sense and logic began returning to him. Shaking his head in disbelief, he moved away from her. He swam off the coral bed and hurried over to the room entrance. That was when reality hit him that he had changed. While checking out his body his breathing became heavy and panicked. He ran his fingers over his neck and felt the gills allowing him to breathe. A dorsal fin clung to his spine and his legs were fused together into a dolphin-like tail. That was how he was able to move so swiftly through the water.

With bulging, mad eyes, he whipped his head up to look at Aya. "What have you done to me?!"

"Careful with your temper or you'll boil us." She chuckled and then twirled a finger through her hair. "I improved you. You're a merman."

"What?" He grew furious. "I demand that you change me back!"

"You demand?" She laughed and swam up to him. "You don't know who you're talking to." She wrapped her tail around him and poked his chest. "Nobody demands anything from me. I chose you as my lover and you're going to stay here with me forever." She smirked him, her eyes shining and dark.

Mike broke free from her and knocked her away with his tail. He swam out of the room, only to get lost in the corridor. For now, his escape would have to wait until he could find a way out.

The other three traveled far, walking over Davy's ice path. Once they got to a good spot, according to Peter, Peter turned to Davy. He gave him a deep kiss, not caring that Micky was there, and then dove into the water. He transformed immediately into a fish and swam as fast as he could.

"Good luck, love!" Davy called the moment Peter dove into the water.

He turned to face Micky and caught his expression of confusion and shock.

"Are you guys… together?" Micky asked.

"Er…" Davy blushed grinning sheepishly. "Yeah I suppose we are."

Micky smirked. "How long?"

Davy shrugged. "Not… not too long."

Micky chuckled. "Wow. I never would have pegged you as the type to go after guys."

Davy blushed harder. "Shut it…." He cleared his throat. "We're supposed to be searching for Mike."

"Uh-huh."

Peter swam as fast as he could, changing into different fish along the way. He often called out for Mike, not stopping a beat. His concern grew into worry and his worry started rising into panic when he still found no traces of Mike. But still, he didn't give up hope. He knew Mike was around somewhere, and he was determined to find him no matter what it would take.

Meanwhile, Mike hurried around twists and turns of the massive maze-like corridor. He made himself rush through, despite not knowing his way around. This was because he knew Aya would be right on his trail. He had to find a way out even if it killed him. But he wasn't about to let himself die, not like this.

Soon, just before Aya caught up with him, he found just the right turn that brought him out of the corridor. The only thing he could do then was let his instincts lead him to freedom.

It didn't take long for him to leave the underwater palace. The trouble now was, he had to find his way out of the merfolk city, and out of the surrounding dome. He had to do this without Aya catching him and bringing him back under her spell. He swam as fast as his fins could propel him. He ducked and weaved around other merfolk, making his way even closer to the edge of the city. Soon he reached the dome and stopped to take in some calming breaths.

Suddenly, he perked his ears up as he heard a familiar voice call his name. He listened carefully and then burst out of the bubble dome. Swimming towards the sound of the voice, he dared not to look back at the city. Stopping for just a moment, he listened to the voice. He jerked and then swam directly toward the voice.

"Peter!"

"Michael!" Peter called again, swimming forward. "Where are you?"

Mike swam some more, searching for whatever form Peter may be in. "Peter! Stay where you are! I'm coming! Keep calling me!"

Peter stopped and called out, directing Mike towards him. When Mike got there, Peter swam up to him, circling his body, laughing in glee. Neither of them said a word about Mike's appearance, or even exchanged as much as a hello. They just immediately swam back toward Davy's ice path.

…..

Micky and Davy stared at the water as they waited. Neither of them spoke for nerves overtook them. They were sure that something had happened to their friends by now. But still they waited, hoping for a good outcome.

Suddenly, Davy jumped to his feet and pointed at something moving towards them under the water. Micky joined him and gripped Davy's shoulder. Both men held their breath as they watched as whatever it was come closer to them in the water.

Peter was first to pop out of the water. With a gasp he transformed back into a human and climbed onto the ice. Mike burst out of the water and clung to the ice, his lower half still in the water. All attention was on Mike as he and Peter took some time to catch their breath. He glanced up at Micky and Davy to see them in stunned silence as they stared back at him. Neither of them could take their eyes off his fins. Not a word could be spoken.