Come the very next morning, Charlie and Beth walked down to the docks. They left very early so they could watch the sun rise over the horizon and it was an magnificent sight. The sun was always a personal favorite of Charlie's in regards to the surface world. She thought that humans were so lucky to be able to bask in the sun's warm glow everyday while her kind was lucky enough to get a glimpse of the morning star. It was especially beautiful whenever it would rise or set. Adding further beauty to the scene were the few boats sailing over the calm waters which made the entire atmosphere appear as a water color painting.

"I can see why you wanted to watch this." Charlie marveled. "I don't think anything could be more lovely."

"Wouldn't it be great to see this every morning?" Beth asked.

"It would."

They watched the moment for an hour and then proceeded to explore the docks. They observed all the boats and the people working on them, the fishermen getting ready to go out or just coming in, businesses like shops and restaurants starting to open up for the day. During their walk about, several men took note of the beautiful Charlie and would stare at her for a few minutes. Her curvaceous figure, her slender legs, her long blonde hair, and especially her impressive bosom. Charlie herself did not notice this but Beth did and it made her anxious.

"Crap." She thought. "I may have kept her distanced from my brother to protect her but I forgot about other men who would be interested in her. Well as long as Charlie remains oblivious to her admirers I shouldn't be worried."

Yes Charlie was very much unaware of the men gawking at her. She wasn't even aware that she was a beauty, which was strange for most mermaids tended to be very vain. Now she did take care of her appearance and she thought herself to be decent looking, but it never once occurred to her that she was the loveliest female anyone on land had ever seen. And perhaps it was her innocence to her charming features that made her so alluring.

"Beth so many people are staring at me." She whispered to the girl when she finally realized that she was being watched.

"Just ignore them and keep walking." Beth whispered back.

"Am I doing something odd?"

"No. They just like you."

"But they don't even know me."

"No I mean, you're pretty and they like that."

Charlie blushed a little, she never thought that she would ever be attractive to human males. She didn't even think herself to be attractive to mermen.

She then spotted a hand mirror on a table and thoughtlessly picked it up, using it to study her face. She couldn't quite figure out what was it about her that could be considered attractive. She didn't really bear much of a resemblance to her Venus-like Mother nor her equally gorgeous sisters, and they were the fairest creatures under the sea. How could she possibly be pretty when she didn't look like them?

"Excuse me but do you intend to pay for that?" A rude voice interrupted Charlie's thoughts.

The mirror she had grabbed came off a stand. A stand owned by a man who was selling items.

"Oh I'm sorry." She put the mirror back. "I didn't know."

"You can't return it now. You put your dirty finger prints all over it."

"We're sorry sir but we don't have any money." Beth said. "But we can go back home and bring some."

"Like hell I'll fall for that one!"

He seized Charlie roughly by the arm.

"You're hurting me!" She cried.

"Back off creep!" Beth ran up and tried to jerk the man's arm. He responded by shoving her to the ground as hard as he could.

"How dare you!" Charlie berated. "How could you do that? She's only a little girl! What's wrong with you?"

"I'm pissed off because some tramp and her brat stole from me!" He raged. "Why don't we go over to the water police next door and see what the cops have to say about this?"

Suddenly the dreadful man was clocked right in the jaw by a fist. The pain caused him to release Charlie who instantly went to aid Beth. The man clutched his jaw which was now bleeding and turned to see that the one who attacked him was another young woman.

"Lousy bitch!" He spat at her. "I'll have you arrested for assault!"

"Go ahead." She dared him. "I'll just tell them it was in defense for the defenseless woman and child you assaulted!"

"They won't believe you! You're from that freak show! I'm just an honest business man."

"They'll believe me when they see the bruise on that woman's wrist and the scrape on the girl's knee." The woman pointed toward Charlie and Beth's injuries to make her point. "Not to mention you're not so very honest, I happen to know that you're on parole for assault and battery. Now you wouldn't want to go back to jail, would you?"

For a moment he looked like he was going to punch that woman just as hard as she punched him. Then he stopped to think and came to the conclusion that her threat was valid.

"I saw the whole thing, she didn't touch the glass so there aren't any finger prints." The woman continued. "Take your useless junk and get out of my sight."

He glared at her hatefully but did as she demanded. As soon as he was gone, she looked over at Charlie and Beth softly.

"Are you two okay?" She asked them.

"I'm alright but Beth might need a little help." Charlie said.

"Charlie I'm fine." The girl said.

"Sweetie you're bleeding."

"It's nothing serious. I just need a bandaid."

"Here I always carry one or two in case of an emergency." The woman pulled a bandaid from her pocket and handed it to Beth.

"Thank you." Beth said applying it to her knee.

"And thank you for what you did back there." Charlie said.

"It was no trouble. I spend most of my life dealing with assholes like him, and I wouldn't want anyone else to be in the same situation. But if you don't mind me asking, what are you two doing in a market with no money?"

"We didn't come here for shopping." Beth said. "We just wanted to watch the boats and stretch our legs a bit."

"Well a bit of advice, don't touch anything unless you can afford it."

Charlie helped Beth on to her feet. At that moment a noise came from both of their stomachs to symbolize hunger.

"We really shouldn't have skipped breakfast this morning." Beth said.

"If you guys are hungry I know a diner around here that serves the best waffles." The woman offered. "My treat."

"That's very kind of you but you don't have to." Charlie said. "We can always go back to the house and eat there."

"I know don't have to but I want to. I eat in that diner alone all the time and I'm started to look like a loser with no social life. I could really use some dining bodies."

"But I wouldn't want you to pay for-"

"Charlie don't pass up a free meal." Beth cut her off. "Besides the chance to eat waffles is rare in my lifetime."

"Well..." Charlie thought about it. "I suppose if you really want to Miss uh?"

"Vaggie. Call me Vaggie." She introduced with a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you Vaggie." Charlie replied with an expression equal to hers. "My name is Charlie and this is Beth."

Charlie held out her hand to shake. Vaggie accepted it, but as soon the two women made contact a sense went off inside of them. Kind of like a biological alarm. Charlie and Vaggie looked at each other in the eyes, discovering the paranormal twinge within their pupils. Charlie seeing the flaming gold amidst the hazel, Vaggie seeing the foaming silver amidst the blue. They quickly realized that their new acquaintance was not a regular person.

"How far is this diner?" Beth asked, bringing the ladies back to reality.

"Oh it's just down the block." Vaggie said, hiding her suspicion very well. "It's not a long walk. Follow me."

"Oh my mouth is watering already." Beth said eagerly. "You know I love waffles but Alastor hates anything with sugar so he barely makes them. I'm gonna order them with lots of syrup and butter and powdered sugar and-"

Until they reached the diner, Beth was the only one talking. She just rambled on and on about her morning meal choice. Charlie and Vaggie on the other hand just kept quiet and thought. Thought long and hard about what they had seen in each other.