Ariana's next task was finding a place to stay. She asked a friendly looking woman who pointed her in the way of a nearby building. It seemed clean and safe enough. She wasn't sure of what humans housing looked like but it met her unknowing standards. A few of the men at the bar gave her looks that she didn't quite approve of but they seemed harmless enough.
The man behind the bar seemed to be in charge so she approached him.
"I need a place to stay" she told him.
"How long for?" he asked without looking up from what he was doing.
"Indefinitely" she replied.
Finally he looked up "you're not my regular type of clientele" he commented upon seeing her appearance. She ignored this and pulled out the money Florence had given her.
"How much do you need?" His eyes widened at the money but tried to stay calm. "I'm not sure that will quite cover it. But after all, im a kind man, I like to help out people out. All of that should cover about a week and…"
"Dale!" some woman yelled, interrupting his lies. She quickly came over and began threatening to hit him with her frying pan saying, "how dare you try and cheat this poor young lady out of a vast amount of money. Honestly, it worries me the kind of man that you have become. My mother always said 'Charlene, there are many types of bad men in this world but if you marry a cheat, you will be cursed to a miserable life' and I didn't listen." All the while Dale was rolling his eyes at Ariana and mocking his wife when she wasn't looking. She continued on her rant about his immaturity and laziness until Ariana assumed Charlene had long since forgotten what her rant was originally about. Finally she turned back to Ariana and said "I am sorry for my idiotic husbands behavior. Now lets sort out a decent deal for you."
Ariana still wondered if she had been cheated, Dale still had a strange look in his eye. Charlene gave her a key saying "your room will be up the stairs and second to the left. Breakfast is served at seven and no later then eight. There are three meals a day available but the other times are flexible."
The other rules continued to be listed and Ariana struggled to remember them all. Finally she was released and she wandered towards the stairs. She had never seen stairs before and thought them rather peculiar. It took her a long time to get up them but finally she made it to her room. She soon decided on everything's purpose. The large comfy thing must be for sleeping on. It was a lot comfier then a rock. The big square with smaller squares that moved must be for storing things so she shoved the few possessions she had in them. Then she had nothing else to do. She amused herself trying to make the candle work. After learning the hard way that the flame was rather hot, she settled back into boredom.
She decided to brave the stairs again and explore downstairs. Charlene saw her coming and yelled to the men "now the thing coming down the stairs is what we call a young lady. You all treat her right of be thrown out." They all groaned and averted their eyes.
"It's not our fault" one of the told Charlene "we're just so unused to seeing a lady about these parts. All we normally get is you." She gave him a hard whack on the head and 'accidentally' knocked his ale down his front.
The others roared with laughter and she yelled "watch it or you'll et the same treatment." Ariana loved the way she controlled the men. She couldn't understand why they didn't consider her a lady, Ariana thought she was quite pretty. Well she was rather on the large size with a few grey hairs but there was still something about her that Ariana admired.
The door opened and a man came in that Ariana recognised. She realised it was the scruffy man from earlier in the day that she had made Eric buy shoes for.
"Charlene" he called out "I require your finest Meade"
She glared at him "have you got the money Clay?" He proudly produced a few silver coins which she quickly grabbed and gave him a mug. Ariana looked him up and down and was not happy that he was not wearing his shoes. After all Eric had done for him she was rather angry that he seemed to have sold them. She stormed up, ready for a full rant. "Missing something?" she said as she approached him. "I know you from somewhere" he said, ignoring her question.
"Well let me refresh your memory. I helped you get new shoes that you appear to be missing."
He reached down beside his stool and pulled up the shoes. "Happy" he asked "and I cant help but notice that you're not wearing yours either."
That got her as she realised she had taken them off long ago. "So what makes you so high and mighty are?" he asked, delighted at the turn of events "where are you hiding yours?"
She hesitated before answering. "You're going to think I'm crazy" she told him and gave her look which made it clear that he already thought her beyond crazy. "I like having bare feet" she explained "because I like experiencing the different types of ground. For instant, this wooden one right here, is kind of new to me and I just enjoy feeling it."
"Yeah you're right" he said "I think you're even more crazy."
After a few mouthfuls of Meade he asked her "so you really think I sold my shoes?" She guilty nodded. "Because I didn't" he informed her "I gambled them." She pretended to understand by nodding her head in an agreeing fashion, hoping that wasn't something humans were expected to know.
He chuckled "you don't have a clue do you?"
She shook her head, suddenly engrossed in this gambling thing.
"Come with me," he said with a delightfully wicked smile of mischief on his face.
The next she knew, it was morning and her head was aching in pain. Everything was a blur as she searched through her brain, trying to remember where she was and how she got there. The legs were a clue. "Now it I could only remember how to use them," she muttered to herself as she attempted to get out of bed. She remembered being nervous when Clay had taken into a darker part of town. It didn't have the bright innocence of town. Every few steps they ran into another drunk stumbling along. Of course Ariana didn't know the term 'drunk' back then and didn't know what to think. She tried to hide her fear as she saw that Clay was so relaxed but ever so subtly walked behind him slightly so it someone did see fit to attack, he would go first.
Being attacked seemed less likely as they walked along. Everyone seemed to know Clay and greeted him happily or at least with a polite nod.
"I'm their king," he said in response to her confused look.
She paused "really?" He just laughed at how easy he could fool her.
Eventually they reached their destination. In this case, it appeared to be a run down house that creaked with every step Ariana took. A large man greeted them that looked like he could easily snap bones.
"Password?" he asked in a bored tone. He perked up however when he saw Ariana. It was not a regular occurrence for a woman like her to be in a place like this.
Then her memories started to blur. Rolling dice mixed with far too much of that bitter liquid spilled through her thoughts as she tried to rise
The ringing rose when Charlene banged the door open and bustled in, practically pulling Ariana out of bed saying "you're sleeping the day away. Goodness me you smell like a brewery. You should have known better to be around a man like Clay. I've drawn you a bath so you can attempt to get rid of some of the smell."
All of these words ran right through Ariana as she prayed that the banging would cease. They did, when she saw the water. She practically leapt in, waiting for the relief feeling that water always brought. It didn't come as she hoped. Over the first day amongst humans, not only had she gained rather cut feet but she had also had to live with a burning sensation all over her skin. She was horrified to find small scales appearing on her arm. At least they were high up so her dress sleeves covered them. This morning she found more on her legs. She knew that it must be the absence of salt in the water that prevented the relief. Or maybe it was the legs. Or both.
Still, she found peace in the stillness of the water and quickly fell asleep again.
Who knows how long she slept for but it must have been long enough. When she awoke the scales had paled and were a lot less visible than before.
This being excuse enough, she hurriedly dressed in anticipation for exploring the city once again. There were a lot more guards then the day before but she ignored them and all the strange looks they gave her. Once again she was quickly swept up in the wonder of a human town. Eventually she bumped into Eric, but it was obvious that there was nothing accidental about it.
"I didn't trust destiny," he admitted "so I asked a few guards to keep a look out."
Ariana observed what he considered to be a 'few' guards as she saw over half of the squares population consisting of guards. "I see the shoes are going well" he commented as Ariana was eternally grateful that he had caught her at a time she was wearing them. The last thing she wanted to do was appear grateful. But surely that didn't matter; after all she knew that she could never seduce a prince to help destroy his kingdom. The best thing to do would be to excuse herself and, well. She had no where else to go. Nor did she have any where else she wanted to go.
So instead she merely looked at her shoes and mumbled her agreement. "Now if only we could fix your clothes" he decided.
This got her rather upset. "What's wrong with the way I dress?"
"Nothing of course" he said quickly, trying to calm her. "Only your dress makes you blend into the crowd far too much. You deserve to stand out."
Maybe he was right. Her dress was very plain but it was all she could muster while being stranded on a beach. Still he didn't know that so she allowed him to lead her to a dress shop.
"This is a rather abandoned area," she said as she noticed the people slowly dwindling away.
"That would be due to Sibra. She's the town seamstress and you don't want to get on her bad side."
Instantly images of malicious old hags sprung to Ariana's mind and she walked a little slower in the hopes that he would change his mind.
Eventually they arrived and oddly Ariana felt comfortable in the musty smell of cloth. "Sibra" Eric called and received enraged mumbling from a side room. Ariana found herself stepping behind Eric slightly for protection and scolded herself for being such a damsel in distress. He found this rather amusing but said nothing.
Finally Sibra came out. She walked slowly, undoubtedly from age. Ariana got a sense that she had been beautiful once but now age had taken her beauty. She relied on the cane and still had a constant crooked figure. Her eyes passed over Eric and went straight to Ariana. Her glare made Ariana wont to sprint.
"This one needs new clothes" Eric said as he gently tried to force her forward. She remained solitary.
"What business sire, do you have buying dresses for young ladies?" She questioned, her glare passed onto him. It occurred to Ariana how this must look and she and Eric quickly stepped away from each other while mumbling about royal duty and other lies. Sibra seemed to accept this and hobbled up with a measuring tape. "You suit blue," Sibra informed her as she measured. Eric was beginning to fidget which clearly annoyed Sibra. She threw some thread at him "go amuse yourself over there." His eyes lit up at the prospect of laving this boring event and happily moved to another area.
Ariana however was transfixed with watched the woman work. Seeing her hands move so quickly over the material entranced her. Sibra was muttering to herself things like "I'll have to start from scratch. Too bloody small for anything I have already have."
It took longer than expected and Eric had to leave. Ariana opted to stay and Eric was rather shocked at her change in views of Sibra.
Within no time at all what was once long basic strips of material had transformed into a beautiful gown.
"I want to learn how to do that," Ariana said as Sibra presented her with the dress.
She looked at the young girls hands "you haven't worked a day in your life. Needles and pins will quickly cut up those hands."
"I don't mind" Ariana said quickly. "It can't hurt to try can it?"
The woman scoffed. "Be back here tomorrow. Early. I can't stand those lazy idiots who sleep all day." Ariana averted her eyes, hoping the woman couldn't read thoughts. "And if I'm in a good mood, I may teach you."
Ariana happily ran back to the inn, barley stopping when Clay called to her. "Same as last night?" he asked cheekily. "I can't," she said as she headed upstairs "I have to sleep." Rather then bother to explain to him she quickly bounded into bed and thanked that the long run back had tired her out.
This happiness was far more than simply the idea of learning a new skill. The true happiness came from how much she found herself loving the human world. After all, if her plan failed, she would be staying there for a rather long time.
She underestimated the strong call of the sea.
But for now she rested, unaware of the pain to come.