Chapter Five: A Gem for a Mermaid
Steven and Spinel stared up at Lars as he introduced himself. This was all a little much. Spinel had never heard of Mermaids walking around on land like that. Though admittedly, she had been alone for a long time. What if some of them found a way and she just didn't know about it? Still, it wasn't in her nature to trust anyone right away. At least not anymore.
"Now what I'm interested in, is you two," Lars continued, walking over to Steven and Spinel, kneeling down so that he was eye level with both of them. "We've seen mermaids all over the place, but this is the first time we've seen one with a human. So tell me, were you trying to help this mermaid, or were you planning on selling her to the highest bidder?"
"Wh-of course I wasn't going to sell her!" Steven insisted, gripping Spinel's hand a bit. "I'm trying to get her home."
"Well you picked a hell of a complicated good deed, kid. Getting a mermaid back to the ocean is much harder than you think." Lars stood up and looked back at the Rutile twins. They nodded and waved down Padparadscha to get out of the water. Without a word, the small Mermaid lifting herself onto the shore and once her tail was out of the water, it separated into two legs. Her fish-like features had vanished, leaving her to look like a human child once again as she followed after Rutile back into the dark of the woods.
"I promised her I would get her home. So that's what I'm going to do," Steven said evenly.
"What exactly is going on here?" Spinel asked finally, getting a little impatient with all the questions she had. "How did that mermaid grow legs? Are you all Mermaids that just look human?"
"Not all of us. I'm human. Well, mostly human. My life was saved by a mermaid once and as a result, I look like this," Lars explained while gesturing to his pink skin and hair. "Though it's not without its perks," he admitted with a shrug. "You're right though, the rest of us are all Mermaids that just happen to look human. Well…mostly human."
"What about those girls…the ones with one pair of legs. I've never seen a Mermaid like that," spinel remarked. She was sure it sounded rude, but she wanted to make sure and ask while they weren't here.
"The twins? Oh, well…that's a long story and not really one for me to tell, but I promise you they're harmless. At least to you. Now, if you want to know how they make themselves look human, why don't you join us all back at our little hideout. Even if it would be hard to get here for a human, staying around any body of water is pretty dangerous when hiding Mermaids. It's the first place they look."
Spinel wasn't so sure. She was reluctant to leave the water after so long and it wasn't just herself she was worried about anymore. Technically, Steven was a traitor to his people now. Anyone who caught him would get a big reward as well. She looked up at Steven, "what do you think, can we trust them?"
Steven smiled and released her hand to extend his arms towards her, "I'll do whatever you think is best, but I don't think they plan to hurt us."
Spinel blushed and glanced away as she held out her arms as well, waiting bashfully for him to lift her from the water. She hated this. It made her feel like a child being picked up by a parent. "Fine…but if it turns out we have to fight, I'm not stopping just because you say so."
With that, Steven held Spinel up from the water and turned to Lars, allowing him to lead them back into the dark of the forest. Lars didn't seem to have a jewel like the others, so he lit their way with a small handheld crystal. They walked for quite some time before reaching another small clearing, but despite Lars' announcement that they had arrived, Steven and Spinel couldn't help but notice that there was nothing in this small field. Even so, Lars urged them to follow him further.
"Open it up," Lars ordered with a smile, speaking into something attached to his rather large collar. It wasn't long after that, a large door opened up, revealing that the empty space was just an illusion to hide a small dome that already had several tents set up inside of it. The twins and Padparadscha were headed into one of the larger tents and it's to that tent that Lars led them.
"So, what're your names?" Lars asked, sitting himself in a chair while two more were being placed down by the twins for Steven and Spinel.
"My name is Steven," he replied as he placed Spinel down into a chair carefully, deciding he would rather stand beside her chair rather than sit in his own. That way, he'd be ready to grab her and run if something happened.
"…I'm Spinel," she answered finally.
"Spinel," Lars repeated, "that's a bit rare, but I'm sure we can find it."
"What?" asked Spinel, completely confused now.
"You wanted to know how they can walk around like humans. Well this is how," Lars began to explain, pointing to Rutile twins and the conjoined gem over their stomach. Turns out, it's not a coincidence that Mermaids are named after precious stones and metals you can find all over the globe. If you infuse those stones with a bit of magic, Mermaids can take on human form and walk on land and when back in the water, they revert to mermaids without any effort."
"So…if I had one of those, I could walk on my own?" asked Spinel hopefully. This way, she wouldn't need to burden Steven with constantly carrying her around and she wouldn't be so helpless when and if they ran into any trouble.
Lars nodded, "yeah, but it's not without its drawbacks. Once the gem fuses with your body, it becomes a part of you. It will give you the advantage of walking on land, but in return, you will become a bit more human. You'll need to eat and sleep when you have legs. It also will become your biggest weakness."
"Weakness?" reapeted Steven in concern. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"A mermaid can withstand a lot of beatings, but Gems can't. Once the Gem infuses into your body, it will be thing you have to protect the most, because if that Gem shatters or gets broken…you'll die with it," the right Rutile twin explained. "The problem is also…you don't get to choose where the Gem is exposed. It vanishes into your body and surfaces where it feels it belongs. …and the process of infusing your body with a Gem is terribly painful."
"So it's basically like putting a target on her?!" asked Steven incredulously. "People already want to hurt her just for being a Mermaid."
"That's right," answered Lars. "Also, though this will be a disguise to the general populace, the royal capital and guards are well aware of the Gems. So if they catch you, they will know exactly how to kill you. There's also the problem that you can't completely cover the gem. In a sense, it needs to breath. You can cover most of it, but not the whole things or you'll be very uncomfortable."
"This doesn't sound like it would help too much," Steven insisted, too reluctant to put an easily broken target on Spinel. Especially when they had no idea where that target would be on her.
"I know it might sound bad at first, but it really is the best way to avoid being caught by humans," the left twin urged. "We just needed to tell you the downside first so you could make an informed choice. We've helped a lot of other Mermaids by giving them these. Some of them are living as humans in hiding thanks to these."
Spinel didn't like all of it, but the biggest selling point was that she could make herself a bit more useful. Having a fish tail on land wasn't going to get them anywhere. If anything, it was just going to get them killed sooner or later. Steven was strong, but if he had to carry her during her a fight, they'd both end up on the ground. "I'll take it," she said finally.
"Wha-are you sure?" asked Steven anxiously. "She said it was painful and what if the Gem ends up somewhere too noticeable?"
"We'll cover way more ground if I can walk with you. Also, we can travel on the main roads since people will think I'm human. It's too beneficial to pass up. I can deal with a little pain if it means I won't be a burden."
Steven was still concerned, "does every mermaid you come across take a gem? Have you ever seen a gem get shattered?"
"Not every mermaid takes the offer. They said taking the form of a human was disgusting, but they didn't last long on their own," answered Lars, "and I have only seen one Mermaid die when their gem was shattered. It's…not a pretty sight. Still, we know this is the best tool for a mermaid's survival. It's why we do what we do. Our Benefactors acquires these gems and sends us out all over the place to offer them to any Mermaid we catch wind of."
"and who are your benefactors?" asked Spinel.
"You may have already heard rumors about them. A small group of Mermaids that are organizing an underground resistance against the royal capital," the right Rutile twin replied. "We can't give too much information about them, but the one that we work with directly is named Peridot. She brings us the gems that they've mixed with the magic we need to make them useful."
"Peridot," Spinel repeated with an excited smile. "I-I know her! Can I see her?!"
"She's not here, but she'll show up to give us your gem if you accept it. She's the one in charge of the procedure," answered Lars.
"I'll take a Gem. I don't see much of a downside," Spinel announced with more determination than before. She'd get an advantage on land and a chance to see a friend that she'd presumed dead for centuries.
Lars smiled, "Good to hear. We'll get you a place to sleep and send word to our friends. Outside the tent, Rhodonite will take you to your own tent and get you some water. I'll let you know when we hear back from Peridot."
Spinel nodded and a still unconvinced Steven scooped her up with concerned groan. He didn't think these people were going to hurt them, but this Gem deal left a painful pit in his stomach. Spinel seemed excited about it now, but he didn't know if that was a good thing. When Steven and Spinel were out of the tent, the Rutile twins turned to Lars.
"What do you think, Captain? Can we trust them? This is the first time we've gotten another human involved. Is it safe for him to hear so much about our plans?"
Lars stared at the chair Spinel had been sitting in, thinking for a moment before he replied, "we'll keep an eye on the human kid. There's something about him that I want to confirm."
The Rutile twins laughed lightly together, "You called him a human as if you're not a human yourself. That's a bad habit, Captain."
"Come on guys," Lars started with a sigh, "you know I haven't felt like a human in over one thousand years."