Alastor spent his day cleaning up the house. He knew that's pretty much what Niffty was for and he appreciated her help but he liked things to be a certain way. Call him OCD, but he had his own system. At least in matters of his room. He started by arranging his clothes in the drawers how he liked them when he found something that had fallen behind the dresser. Something he thought that he would never see again.
A little wooden box that contained all his mother's memoirs from she was married to his father. Wilson had wanted to erase all memory of Jameson after he married her but she managed to hide a few things from him. Things that she kept in a box and hid somewhere in the house. She called it her treasure chest.
He opened the box and went through the little treasures kept inside. Photo graphs of the couple together on dates, on their wedding day, spending time with Alastor, love letters Jameson had written to her when he was in the navy, her engagement ring, their wedding bands. She even kept a CD of the song that played the first time they danced.
"The Heart's Content." He read the title.
One of the few modern songs that his old fashioned taste parents enjoyed. He still remembered the story that went along with that song. His father had taken his mother out on their second date to a fair that had opened up but it started pouring down rain and his car had broken down so they sought refuge at a nearby diner. As they were drying off, the song played on the radio and Jameson asked Daisy Lee to dance. It took some prodding because she felt a little coy about dancing in the middle of a diner but eventually they too found each other having a whirl of time. Dancing hand in hand, holding each other in their arms, and laughing. That's when Daisy Lee Alden knew that Jameson Boudreaux was the only one for her.
"You listen to me Alastor and you listen good." He recalled her saying to him when she was secretly celebrating the 15th anniversary of her first marriage. "Don't ever do what I did. Don't you ever marry for any reason other than love. Don't you dare stay with anyone unless you love that person more than your own life. I don't care if you met someone who offers you money, a big house, our endless nights of passion, it all means nothing if you don't love that person."
"You didn't love Wilson when you married him, did you Mom?" He had replied then but it was something he had deduced years earlier. "And you still don't love him."
"No honey I don't."
"Then why stay? Why can't we just leave?"
"It's not that simple. He'd stop us before we even got out the door and even if we did make it, he's rich enough to hire any detective to find us. He'd bring us back and he'd hurt you to punish me. He's told me that he would do it many times. Besides I can't risk another beating. At least not for nine months."
Alastor looked at her upon realizing the implication.
"Mama are you gonna have a baby?"
She nodded sadly.
"Oh Mama."
"He's been so demanding and rough with me, he doesn't give me time to use protection anymore."
"Mama he's gonna hurt that baby. He's gonna hurt it just like he's hurt you and me! That baby probably won't even make it to a year old!"
"I don't know what else to do!" She had wept. "I know we should leave and I want us to leave but he'd break every bone in your body if I even thought about leaving him! You remember when you were nine and you had that 'accident'? That happened because he caught me looking at a police officer that day!"
That was the day Alastor finally understood why his mother took so long to leave the bastard. Thinking back, he realized that each time he had an "accident" it occurred each time his mother got the idea to leave or report the abuse. So he chose to keep quiet like she did. But he wished that he hadn't. He wished that he had gone to the police back then. Maybe she'd still be alive.
He quickly reburied the sad feelings beginning the rise back up and put the box back where he found it. He proceeded to finish cleaning and act as if nothing had upset him.
Since meeting Beth, Charlie had felt very happy. Despite her caution around humans she had always wanted to be closer to them. To befriend them, live among them, study their ways. Prove to her father once and for all that humans were not an evil race. Speak of the devil, Charlie suddenly noticed that the pool of water in her cavern was bubbling rapidly. Bubbling and started to form a familiar looking image on the surface of the water. She became frustrated when she realized what that meant.
You see merfolk had a way of communicating with each other from a distance through small bodies of water. Of course the time was limited and the water needed to be close to the person they were trying to reach, but it was the closest thing merfolk had to telephones.
"Hello Dad." She smiled nervously into the pool.
"Charlotte of Magne!" Her father's voice answering furiously. "Just what do you think you're doing?!"
"Charlotte is that you?" She heard her mother's voice ask with concern.
"Yes Mom." Her daughter replied.
"Oh my baby! My darling! Thank goodness!" She sounded frantic. It made Charlie feel guilty about leaving. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Where are you? Please tell us!"
"Lilith let me handle this." Her father said. "Young lady do you have any idea what you've put me and your mother through these past three days?! Swimming away without a word and then tricking us into thinking you've gone to an entirely different ocean!"
"I'm sorry Daddy. I didn't want to make you worry but you left me no other choice. I just can't mate with Seviathan!"
"You can't just reject him! We need the forces of Eldritch! How else are we supposed to accomplish our goal?"
"Your goal Dad! Not mine! I don't want to drown out the entire human race!"
"Have you forgotten what those humans have done to our kind for thousands of years?"
"They can't all be like that Dad. Besides the lot of them don't even believe in our kind anymore. They hardly pose any intentional threat to us these days so why can't you just let this hatred go?"
"You wouldn't understand! You don't know what they did to our family! What they took from us!"
"They have families too Dad! They love and have feelings just like we do!"
"Don't be naive daughter. They're all the same. Savage, heartless, incapable of any emotion!"
"You don't know that! They're you go again, always acting like you know exactly what goes on in another person's heart! You know much Dad but you don't know everything."
"I am not having this discussion with you again!"
"Of course you don't! You never want to discuss how I feel! You never want to talk! No strike that, you always want to talk but you never want to listen."
"Come home this instant!"
"No."
"How dare you! Charlotte, respect your father!"
"I'm not a youngling anymore! You can't just order me about like you used to! I'm an adult! I can make my own decisions! And I've decided that I'm not coming back! Not until your ready to listen!"
"Oh! Why must you be so stubborn?! Why can't you just understand that I know best like your sisters?"
"Because I don't think like you do! I don't believe all humans are barbarians! I actually believe they have a right to live! If you can't see things my way then you'll never see me again!"
"Oh God no! There's no need for such a drastic choice! Maybe we can work something out." Lilith offered. "Now be reasonable Charlotte, you can't just expect us to change our view points on your say so. From what we've seen humans are cruel. We've seen no evidence of this love and kindness you speak of."
"Well what if I did get evidence of it?"
"Then I suppose a change in plans is open for discussion."
"Lilith!" Her husband protested.
"Quiet Lucifer! We weren't getting anywhere with your method! Now here's our agreement angelfish, we'll give you til the end of Summer to prove that humans are no different from us in matters of feelings, compassion, and love. If you succeed then we'll call off your betrothal to Seviathan and leave humanity in peace."
"And allow me to choose my own husband?"
"We'll talk about it."
"But if you fail." Lucifer added. "You are to come straight home and become Seviathan's mate. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir." Charlie agreed.
"Til the end of Summer. That's all."
"I understand."
"Be careful Charlotte. Humans are never to be trusted. They're easily corrupted."
"Be sure to let us know how you're doing." Lilith said. "We love you. Don't ever forget that. We may not understand you and we may struggle with seeing things from your point of view, but we love you more than anything and everything we do for you, we do because we truly believe it's what's best for you."
"I know." Charlie said. "I love you too and I hope you know that I didn't do this to hurt you. I just...I just need to get out on my own for awhile."
"Just please be safe." Lucifer said.
"I will. Goodbye."
So Charlie had worked out a bargain with her parents. A way to get out of spending her life with a merman she didn't like and causing the destruction of countless innocent lives. She just had to prove that human beings were not just mindless savages. That they had thoughts and feelings just like merfolk. That they were capable of love.
One problem though. How in the world could she find evidence that proved her beliefs if she was confined to the sea all Summer?