My breath caught in my throat, and any gasp of surprise I might have made died with it. Wise turned his hand, curling it into a fist and the water he'd lifted froze, then hissed into steam. He met my eyes, his expression void of his usual cheer. I stared back, in awe. I never would have suspected this.
"You're…" I started, trailing off, not sure of how to continue.
"I'm a merman." Wise confirmed, "And you're a mermaid." I nodded stiffly, and the two of us fell into awkward silence.
"Who knows about this?" I asked. He shoved his hands in his pockets.
"My wife was the only one who knew. She was a mermaid, like you, but she died." His voice wavered.
"I'm sorry…" I crossed my arms over my ribs.
"I always wondered if there were others, did the higher-ups tell you to use your powers?" Wise broke the impending quiet. I nodded. "So they know?"
"Not everyone. My abilities are on a need to know basis. The director knows, as does the entire Avengers Initiative, and a few others." Wise's head snapped to stare at me. "I told you before I have friends in high places." He laughed, obviously surprised by the admission.
"I didn't think you meant them. I admit I wondered about the mysterious "witch" reported during the Incident, but I didn't think that was the work of a mermaid. And the stuff with the Mandarin is you too?" I smiled and nodded. "That was a bit more obvious I guess. Giant water pillars. But there was another person there. There are others then? People like us?"
"I've found two moon pools so far. Where's yours?"
"That doesn't answer my question. My pool is kind of in Connecticut." I smiled, making a mental note to ask to visit when I had the chance.
"There's a small pod I met in Australia, and my pool is in Pennsylvania. There's one more who belongs to that pool." Wise raised a single thick eyebrow.
"Anyone I know?"
"No, but I could introduce you." I smiled, slipping my phone from my pocket. Feeling thankful once again that my gloves were touchscreen compatible, I tapped out a quick message to Pendragon, asking him to bring some extra food to the meeting room Wise and I were in with a promise to reimburse him for the sushi. I received an "OMW" reply instantly. He knocked on the door 10 minutes later, looking a little confused. Poor guy.
"Pendragon, this is my colleague, Benjamin Wise. Wise, this is my boyfriend Pendragon Marbend." Wise greeted him with a smile and a handshake, then they sat down on either side of me. Not wanted to beat around the bush, I laced my fingers together and sat up straight.
"Pen is the second guardian of the pool in P.A," I said. Pen stiffened, looking a little alarmed.
"I guess she didn't tell you much in her text," Wise said quickly, hoping to relieve the awkwardness, "I'm a merman, and from what Thompson said I assume you're one as well?" Pendragon relaxed, and the tension disappeared. The rest of lunch was spent chatting about merpeople stuff, powers and experiences with lunacy, what the Australia pod had called moonstruck. Wise and his late wife Lenore had called it moon madness, which we all agreed is yet another very accurate term.
Suffice to say, it was a bonding experience. Us merfolk have to stick together after all, it's in our nature to be communal. When lunch was finished, we resumed our usual schedules, training and studying, and in Pendragon's case, secret science stuff.
Thanks to our shared secret, Wise and I grew closer as a team. We had a better idea of what the other was capable of, letting us work better in sync. Since my secret was out, in the eyes of the trainers, our training got tougher. Paintballs were swapped with rubber bullets, and the bars were raised. Mistakes were more costly, and more painful.
The week flew by and the weekend came quickly, enabling Wise, Pendragon, and I to do what merfolk do best. Swim. We followed the East River along the Connecticut coast, heading east of course. We swam full speed for just over an hour, much easier for me now due to my stamina training. Pendragon kept up alright, thanks to him joining me on my almost daily jogs for the past few months. We came to a stop at a small island that Wise told us was located south of the border between Connecticut and Rhode Island, but still within the state line of New York.
The water was cooler here, though not too cold for my tastes thankfully. The pool was larger than the other ones I had visited, and the water was more shallow. The cave was smaller though, the rock ceiling lower and the porthole to the sky was a bit more obscured. Crystals scattered throughout the stone and at the bottom of the pool reflected the light, illuminating the cave with a soft blue glow.
"It's beautiful," I breathed, taking it all in. Wise smiled, though it was a sad one.
"Moonstone," He said, "They're common along the coast, all the granite here."
"Do you like geology?" Pendragon asked, turning over a rough crystal in his palms.
"Not me, my wife." Wise moved a loose stone in the wall, taking out a small bundle of cloth. I covered my mouth in awe when I saw what was in it. A small pendant carved from moonstone, circular in shape with a bas-relief mermaid engraved on the face.
"I made this for her for our fifth anniversary," He said, both sorrow and love written all over his face. "Just a few months before she died."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Pendragon offered quietly. Wise shook his head, rewrapping the pendant and placing it back in the niche.
"It was a few years ago now," He said, "I've had time to cope." I paddled over, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. He took a deep breath, then smiled. "Thanks, Thompson." I returned the smile.
"We found this place on a walk," Wise said, "Lenore wanted to look for crystals, and this area was far enough from town we figured that it wouldn't have been combed as thoroughly. We were climbing over some rocks to get to a hidden area of beach when I fell in." He pointed to the opening in the roof of the cave. " She was so scared, but I found the tunnel out just fine. We came back a few times after I told her about all the crystals in here, just to relax and get away from it all. I proposed to her in here. The full moon rose just after she said yes."
"And you two were transformed?" Pendragon asked. Wise nodded, bittersweet smile on his face.
"Lenore embraced it, she was always in love with nature and the world around us. It took me awhile to get used to it. She discovered her magic first. It was her love of our abilities that made me let it into my life."
"Reminds me of someone I know," Pendragon smiled, wrapping an arm over my shoulder.
"She was the light of my life." Wise stopped, his voice threatening to crack.
"Hey," I said, "You don't have to tell us if it hurts too much to talk about." He waved it off.
"I'm sorry, this place brings back so many memories."
"If it's okay to ask," Pen began carefully, "How did she die?" Wise took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his jaw.
"She…" He started, "We saw a fishing boat, they were trawling near here. She saw some seals caught in the net. She was cutting the net to free them when the boat got too close to some rocks and the net was too close to the surface. I guess the fishermen weren't paying attention to where they were going. I tried to stop her, but she was caught between the hull and the rocks…" He trailed off, clearing his throat and turning his face away from us. "It knocked her against the rocks. I took her to shore and raced her to the hospital, but it was too serious. She died of her injuries the next day. We scattered her ashes to the sea, it's what Lenore would have wanted."
"I'm sorry…" Pendragon said softly. Wise just shook his head.
"No, I'm sorry, you're here to explore, not listen to sad old stories." Before I could say anything, he ducked underwater and swam out. Pen and I gave each other a worried glance before we followed.
We swam back to Manhattan in silence, leading Wise to the secret tunnel Tony had built us what felt like forever ago. He was confused about where Pen and I had taken him, but we'd decided in advance to surprise him. We rode the elevator to one of the uppermost levels, the one that we had met and fought the demigod in.
I couldn't help but smile mischievously as Wise took in the sights.
"Wait," He started, "Is this where I think it is?"
"Welcome, Benjamin Wise," Pendragon said, lifting his arms dramatically, "To Stark Tower!"
Whaaaaat another update? Sorry if it's a bit clunky, I'm out of practice writing and emotional stuff is difficult to write. Excuses. I'm still not 100% sure where this is going, so pardon the filler. Actual original storyline in progress.
