While Zac and Mimmi were talking to their birth mother, something strange was happening on land. A thin, red headed girl was sprinting as fast as her legs would carry her. She wove in and around people walking on the street. She looked behind her and saw that they were still chasing her. She was so close to the ocean. Just a little bit further. She jumped over a small child playing with a dog, earning an annoyed look from the child's parents.
"Sorry!" she screamed behind her, but kept running. Only a few more blocks and she would be free. She dared to look behind her again. The cops were still chasing her, but they were losing steam fast.
'It's from all of the donuts.' The red headed girl thought to herself. She then took a sharp left and saw what she was looking for: her favorite privet spot on the pier. She jumped into the pile of old boat parts and shimmied until she was completely hidden from view. She had the smallest opening to see what was outside.
The cops stopped harshly to avoid falling into the water. They puffed heavily and looked around.
The ginger girl ducked down in her hiding place to avoid the smallest chance that they could see her baby blue eyes. She held her breath, trying to make as little noise as possible.
"Blasted girl!" one cop commented. "That pet shop was the third one she hit in the last two weeks. For the strangest reason, she only steals the fish. I don't understand, though. The clerks always say they see a strange flash of blue in the corner. This one had a more interesting story, though. He claimed that he saw all of the water rise in the air with the fish in it. Then the fish were divided into bags in midair. We are checking his vitals now for drugs."
The other cop laughed. "Floating fish, well that's a new one. Still, this thief has a weird obsession with freshwater fish. We need to inform every fish seller so they know to look for this girl. Who knows when she gets bored of fish and starts to steal money."
The cops looked around once more and then left the pier.
The blue-eyed girl let out a sigh of relief. She was safe. Carefully, she crept out of the boat pile and looked up at the streets. There was no one there. The cops were not waiting to ambush her.
She crept to the water's edge and opened up her black leather jacket. She carefully pulled out six bags filled with small fish. The girl opened one after the other and emptied the fish into the ocean.
"Be free, little ones." The girl said in a Canadian accent. Once all of the fish were swimming happily in the water, the girl threw the bags in a small wooden crate. Inside held many plastic baggies and a spare change of clothes. The girl then pushed up a loose log on the pier. Underneath, sand was shoved aside to place the wooden crate. Securing everything back as it was before, the girl dusted the sand off on her jeans and walked back to the edge of the pier and looked into the water. She glanced around once more before diving into the water which now held the free fish.
The ginger girl finally relaxed when she felt her golden tail form. She had did it once again. She had freed the fish that were taken brutally. She thought she was safe until she felt a poke on her shoulder.
Shocked, the mermaid spun around until she saw her accomplice.
The merman looked at her with judging eyes, his tan arms crossed over his bare chest. He pointed out toward sea in a firm way. He was acting like a parent when they told their children to march upstairs to their room.
The mermaid rolled her eyes, but did as she was told. Without a single glance behind her, she knew the merman was following her. Together, they sped into open waters.
When they were far enough from land, the pair surfaced.
"I cannot believe you followed me!" the mermaid said in exasperation.
The merman sighed. "Seriously, Andromeda. How many times do I have to tell you? You cannot keep stealing fish from land people pet stores. There are so many fish in the ocean. Those don't even make a dent."
Andromeda groaned loudly. "And how many times do I have to tell you, Nic? Those monsters are taking the fish inhumanely. (infishly? Is that the mermaid version of humane?) It isn't right."
"An-drom-e-da" Nic said, putting emphasis on each syllable of her name. "You are the only vegetarian mermaid that I know. I know you believe what you are doing is right, but you cannot keep going onto land and stealing them. That is abusing your moon ring!"
"I can abuse my moon ring by turning you into a sea slug," Andromeda muttered under her breath.
"What was that, Andi?" Nic asked.
Andromeda brushed a wet curly lock of hair out of her eyes. She smiled sweetly at Nic. "Nothing."
Nic put his head in his right hand. "I swear, if Arista knew about this, she would hang me by my tail right on the pier."
"Well, my mother doesn't need to know about this. Come on, Nic. Where is your sense of adventure?"
"I've lost it after 6 years of hanging out with you. No wonder the merman pod kicked me out. I still don't know why I agree to do stuff with you."
Andi brushed up against him. "Because your life would be so incredibly boring without me." She said, looking up to meet his gaze. It kept longer than they both intended. Andi broke the eye contact when his strong blue tail began to tangle up with her golden one. She turned so her oldest friend wouldn't see her blush.
Nic pulled back too. He cleared his throat. "I supposed it would. You keep me adventurous and I keep you sane. It's a win-win situation." He paused and looked over Andi's shoulder. Andi followed his gaze. In the distance, they saw Arista, Andi's mum, waving at them. Nic's green eyes looked into Andi's blue eyes. She could see the flecks of gold that she had grown to love.
"We should go and see what she wants." Nic said in a hushed tone. Andi nodded. The pair dove under the water and met up with Arista.
"Hi, Mum." Andi greeted.
Arista sighed. "Andromeda. Why is there a rumor among the dolphins saying that they saw you on land?"
Andi looked confused, one of her most convincing facial expressions. "I have no idea, Mother. It must just be someone who looks like me. I've been with Nic the entire afternoon. Right, Nic?" Andi asked, jabbing her elbow into his ribs. He let out a noise like a squeaky toy. He glared at her, the sun shining off his golden hair as it dried.
Nic cleared his throat and answered Arista. "Yeah, we have been together all afternoon. Just hanging out."
Nic was less convincing as he refused to meet Arista's eyes.
"Mmm," Arista hummed. "Is that so? Okay, then. Just remember, I can keep Nic a secret from the mermaid council, but I can't keep land people from figuring things out. Be careful."
"Of course, Mum." Andromeda said. "We are always careful."
"Hey Arista, have you met any other mermen?" Nic asked.
"I haven't, but if they are all as cute and sweet as you are, then I don't see why we have to be enemies," Arista answered, pinching Nic's cheek. Andi groaned.
"Though," Arista continued. "Mira, in her old age, has mumbled something a few times of having a grandson. That would be crazy, though. That would mean my best friend Nerissa would have mated with a merman. I'm not going to explain the whole process to you both again," she said, waving her hands in the air, sending water droplets everywhere. "she might be mistaking Mimmi as a boy."
Andi lit up at that name. "Oh my gosh! Mimmi! I haven't thought about her in the longest time." She turned to Nic. "before I met you, a mermaid named Mimmi was my best friend. You've heard of Nerissa, right?"
When Nic nodded, she continued. "Well, Mimmi was her daughter. Oh! We were so close! I wonder how she is doing. She relocated to the Southern pod over 10 years ago. We used to send messages back and forth to each other, but after we hit teenage years, we got busy. "
Arista nodded. "Mimmi was a special young mer. I still don't understand why Nerissa didn't let her own mother raise her. I mean, even though Mira was weak, her mind was still sharp then. The pod would have helped raise her. But something about the Southern pod was appealing to Nerissa. I remember that she hid a lot after Mimmi was born. She became very secluded and wouldn't talk much. After a year, she went to the Southern pod, and after that, she was fine. I do admit, it was weird. I wonder…" Arista zoned off in thought.
Andi cleared her throat. "Hey mum, that's fun and all, but Nic and I have to go and do something. I'll see you later."
Arista watched as her daughter and the secret merman swam away. Arista still floated there for a while after they left, with the confusing thought of her best friend on her mind.
Introducing my own characters!
Meet Andromeda (Andi), Nic, and Arista. They are from the Northern pod. I was planning to introduce them in the next chapter, but I feel like some of you think this story is becoming boring. I wanted to tie up things that appeared on Mako before adding my own characters, but I wanted to keep you all interested. These characters will appear frequently and become main characters soon.
Next chapter is Mimmi and Zac's choice about going with Nerissa.
I would also like to say a huge thank you to Aeon The Dimensional Girl for helping me realize that this is my story and I should just ignore negative comments.
I really appreciate the majority of those who review the sweetest things. I read every single one and I take in count your suggestions. I have thought about your critiques and it helps me to become a better writer. This is my first fanfic and the longest story I have ever written. Heck, the next chapter is 30 and it's because of you guys that I keep writing.
To those who leaves negative comments: if you don't like it, then don't read it. If you have helpful comments on how to better my story, please tell me. Don't say that you don't like it or any of that. That's not helpful, and instead, it makes me doubt my abilities of being a writer. And that's all I'm going to say on that subject.
Now, how are you guys liking Andi and Nic? I'm going to have fun with them.
I love you all and thanks so much for reading.
Xoxo
~Moonlight Mermaids