It was December, many months now since the big move, the one that brought me from a small town to the big city. It had changed my life, for the better I suppose. I have friends now; people who know my secret and who care about me. I have a best friend who I wish I could confide in. And I live with a cute merman. I have it pretty good.
My lessons with Pendragon in Stark Tower don't affect my grades. He's gotten good in the time he's been training with me. And it gives me the chance the practice as well. When I first showed my tail to Fury, I'd gotten sick from using my powers excessively. Not anymore. I'm so much stronger now than I'd ever dreamed of becoming, and I'd started to learn how to control weather like I had in the Moon Pool that night. Fury didn't meddle with lunacy anymore, but I doubted that was the end of it.
I was sitting on the comfortable pleather couch in my favorite sitting room, watching the clouds. Pendragon swaggered into the room, looking rather proud of himself. He dropped onto the couch next to me, and threw his arm over my shoulder, yanking me into some sort of half hug. I shrieked in alarm.
"Jack me old pal!" He said loudly, "I have wonderful news!"
"Getoff!" I shouted, muffled by the fabric of his holiday sweater. It was a horrid, itchy thing that he wore because it bugged me. I would never admit that I hated it because I didn't have one that was so ugly.
"Tony was going to have Jarvis tell you, but I wanted to be the one to see the look on your face when I told you," Pendragon grinned, choosing to ignore the fact that I was being smothered by wool, "The tunnel is done!" I managed to force his arm away, and jumped to my feet.
"He finished it? It's all lit up and everything?" I asked, "Tiles too?" Pendragon nodded, grinning so wide I worried he'd get stuck like that. It would be too creepy. He stood up and we both hurried downstairs to an underground room that had been closed off to us the entire time we'd been living there. It was that room that a new pool was being constructed in, one that would take us out to the bay area.
The pool was built a little above the floor, with a wall around it so that water wouldn't flood the area. It wasn't full to the brim with the brownish water, but it was still deep enough to swim around in comfortably. There were also lights underwater, ringing the pool. I could see the tunnel from where I stood.
"Glad you could come," Tony smiled, before handing Pendragon and I a couple of rings. We turned them over in our hands, confused.
"I installed a couple doors along the way. They have motion sensors that let us know when someone is outside. If the scanner doesn't pick up the variety of ID stuff I loaded into the rings, it lets me know someone's trying to get in."
"But what if a fish sets it off?" Pendragon asked, putting the ring on his right index finger. I copied the motion, and the band adjusted its own size to fit comfortably.
"I took that into mind," Tony said, "Jarvis will check on the doors, there's more than one, and only let me know if it's not a fish." I turned to Pendragon and smiled.
"You've never swum in the bay before!" I said, "There's one more perk I haven't shown you." Tony's pool was nice, but it was nowhere near big enough to power-swim, or torpedo around. Swimming faster than anything in existence, leaving only bubbles in my wake. It was amazing. And Pendragon still doesn't know it's possible. I couldn't wait. I put my hands on the tiled wall and catapulted into the water. I surfaced, shivering a little in the chill. Despite the snow on the ground outside, the cold water had no effect on me. I liked warm water, sure, but if the water wasn't frozen than it wasn't too cold for a mermaid.
"You want to go swimming now?" Pendragon asked, startled. I nodded, grinning like an idiot. Instead of jumping in like I had, he chose to walk around to the steps on the other side. He slid smoothly into the water, embracing the change so that he transformed instantly. I had to remind myself to breathe.
"So," I began, turning to Tony, "How does it work going out?"
"Easy, just swim, the motion sensors on this side will let you out without question. The lights go all the way down. Make sure you're home for dinner." We nodded and ducked underwater.
I was amazed at the luminosity the lights provided. The white tiles bounced the light around, brightening up the tunnel. Red colors were still lost in the water, making Pendragon's skin look more bluish and his lips a shade of purple. I shook my head a little bit to shake out thoughts of the merman next to me as we approached the first door. It emitted a beeping sound before the several pieces spiraled out like a camera lens. Cool.
We passed a second door like this, then a third. That third door opened up into the bay. I considered swimming to the surface to see where we were. Pendragon appeared to have the same idea. As we ascended, I saw that the door was in the wall of a ridge on the floor of the bay. When we surfaced, we were a ways away from where any human could easily spot us. There weren't any boats out that could see us.
"Come on," I said to Pendragon, "I mentioned something that none of the other know about, now you'll get to find out!" Pendragon grinned excitedly at me, and we both ducked underwater. I grabbed at his wrist, but caught his hand instead. He gripped mine, and I smiled at him, then pumped my tail. We shot forward like a rocket, almost flying towards the old yacht I'd only visited twice.
Slowing down, I judged we were a few yards from the yacht. I glanced back at Pendragon, who was grinning with delight and awe. I swam to the open door and into the cabin. There was only a thin layer of silt on the floor and instruments. I looked over at Pendragon, who was exploring the outer area of the yacht. I hadn't gone down into the belly of the boat before, but he seemed interested in doing so.
I swam out of the cabin and to the door where Pendragon was pulling on the door. It was stuck fast. Pendragon frowned at the door, and raised his hand. I watched with pride as he used the powers I had taught him how to use in order to open the door. He flexed his fingers, and the door made a loud cracking noise. I gripped the handle and tugged. It swung open, creaking ominously.
I peered in, but it was too dark for me to see properly, but what I did see was covered in silt. I frowned, turning to look at Pendragon. Motioning with my hand, I swam up to the surface.
"So now what?" I asked when Pendragon popped his head out of the water. He wiped his hair from his face.
"We could always get a flashlight and come back," Pendragon shrugged. Suddenly, a thought struck me.
"Hey… If the door was really that stuck, what if people died in there?" I asked, "When it sunk, I mean." Pendragon blinked.
"I hadn't thought about that," He admitted, "Now I'm not so sure I want to know." I nodded in agreement.
"Now I have to find a new clubhouse. Can't have one that's haunted now can I?" I chuckled.
"That was supposed to be a clubhouse?" Pendragon asked skeptically. Suddenly, I regretted opening my mouth. I must seem like such a child.
"Clubhouses are supposed to be all awesome and elaborate. We need a find a place where we can actually talk without having to tread water." I laughed. Okay, when we were off doing something, Pendragon was a pretty cool guy.
We swam around the coastline until we happened upon an overhang carved into a cliff area. It wasn't enclosed, but it had smooth stones for sitting on, high up enough for the waves to not batter us silly. There were no sharp rocks that we could hurt ourselves on diving from the sitting stones. It was nice enough.
"I declare this cove the temporary clubhouse," Pendragon announced, making me laugh out loud.
"Temporary?" I giggled.
"Of course, until we can find something cooler, like another Moon Pool." I froze, and chewed on my lip nervously.
"I don't actually know if there are more Moon Pools," I admitted, "I think there must be, but I've never met any other merpeople or anything." Pendragon perked up.
"You know what this means?" I shook my head, "If we find another Moon Pool, we should also find other merpeople! If we look up mermaid sightings online we should have some pretty good leads!" I smiled.
"That would be incredible! I mean, other merpeople? I just…" I trailed off. The idea of having others to interact with and talk to would be great. The problem is it made me feel small, the only mermaid I knew of. The only one.
"Hey," Pendragon interrupted my thoughts, his voice calm, "It's okay. You don't have to feel alone anymore." I looked up; he had climbed onto my rock to sit with me. He took my hand and gave it a squeeze.
"You have Tony and Steve and Pepper and Pavatti and your mom. People who care about you, and you have me." I smiled weakly, adverting my gaze to my lap. Pendragon took my chin and turned my face to his. I blushed furiously, and before I could turn away he leaned in, pressing his lips to mine.
I froze, stunned. Pendragon sat up straight and pulled me into a hug, holding on tight. It felt… Right. Like I was supposed to be there. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed. I never wanted it to end.
I'm so tired. Because I woke up with a surprise cold, all plans that I had today ended up being canceled. Which gave me more time to write. This chapter isn't as long as the others, but it took me all day to write and it was starting to drag on. I had been hoping to upload around 2 pm EST, but it's not just after 7 pm and I'm pooped. I've done nothing today but drink tea and lie on the couch and bitch about stuff with my little brother, who is also sick. Everyone is sick. The apocalypse is upon us. Yeah right. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Night everyone!
