Chapter Seven- Quest Complete
Lance and Shiro arrived at the city around mid-morning and, after checking in with the king and queen, they swam into the city with the pearl shop as their destination. Shiro was aware that he seemed to be attracting attention and none of it good. He saw looks of fear or hate on the faces of those he saw and wondered what Veronica had said while they were away.
Lance also noticed the looks but proceeded to the pearl shop without comment. He chose to ask Krolia what had happened yesterday. He entered to see Krolia at the counter, looking nervous and a bit scared, the latter aimed at Shiro. "Krolia, what is it?" he asked.
"Is it true?" she asked. "Is Shiro really part merman?"
"Who told you that?" Lance had his suspicions but didn't voice them as he wanted to hear them spoken aloud.
"Your sister. She said she saw Shiro with legs."
Damn, she must have followed us. Out loud, Lance said, "Yes, it's true, but Shiro truly does love me and how we live. He's not out to endanger us or expose us to other humans."
"He has taken to our way of life," Krolia said slowly and thoughtfully. "And he could have betrayed us some time ago, yes?"
"We've known each other for a year," Shiro said defensively. "If I had wanted to capture Lance and sell him, I would have done so not long after we met."
Krolia smiled at him. "I believe you. I should have known you were no threat and should not have had any doubt."
"Thanks, Krolia," Shiro said. "Lance wanted to introduce me to Keith. Is he here?"
"No. He's off today. He's likely shopping and enjoying himself."
"I'm sure he is. Come on, Shiro. I think I know where he is." Lance swam out and led the way to the city's center square where most citizens went to relax and enjoy other's company, but when they got there, the center was ringed by merpeople but the exact center was empty. Lance pushed his way into the center with Shiro beside him. He looked around and his fins twitched in irritation. "Veronica!" he shouted and said mermaid swam out of the crowd. "Yes?" she drawled.
"Your jealousy has gone too far! Mother and Father approve and have no problem with Shiro being part merman."
"They have no idea how much of a danger Shiro could be. He could be waiting for us to completely relax our guard before betraying us."
Shiro swam up to her. "I won't betray anyone. I have loved the water and all the creatures in it my whole life."
"I don't believe you and I can't stand for you pretending to be one of us!" She swam beneath Shiro, seized the fins, and yanked the slip-on off, exposing his legs.
There were gasps from the crowd and then murmurs while Veronica smirked at the revelation. But Shiro was unfazed by the action. He had anticipated that Veronica would remove the tail to prove that Shiro was a human instead of a merman. I'm not all human. I'm human and merman. Now is the time to declare to all my love for Lance.
He kicked his legs to propel himself over to Lance. He seized Lance's hand in his right hand and clutched the small pearl in his left hand. "I am part merman," he announced in a loud, clear voice for all to hear. "I may not look like you, but I can feel just like you. I can laugh, cry, and be angry. Most of all, I can love. My receptivity to the existence of mythical beings is why Lance revealed himself to me. We became good friends and then fell in love several months later. I love Lance and being part merman. It is a heritage I am proud of."
"I love you too, Shiro," Lance said. He kissed Shiro in front of everyone.
Shiro felt a warmth in his left hand and opened it to see his pearl turning black! His heart pounded as he snapped the cord of the lone pearl, pulled it free of the cord, and tucked it snugly into the shell.
The white of the shell changed color, becoming an iridescent black shell. Shiro felt a warmth surround his legs and glow so brightly that he closed his eyes against it. The glow ended and he heard awed murmurs as well as Lance gasping, "Shiro. Your tail…it's so cool!"
Shiro opened his eyes and looked down to see his legs were gone and an emerald green tail with a spiraling black diamond pattern down its length was in their place. The fins flicked and a smile came to Shiro's face.
"I have a tail, a real tail," he said and then kicked it to swim in a circle around the center. "Strong too," he added to himself. He returned to Lance who had a huge grin on his face.
"You figured out the force needed for the pearl," Lance said.
Shiro nodded. "Love," he said softly as they hugged. "I guessed it was love and accepting of who I am. I thought if I declared my love to all while holding the pearl that the transfer would trigger."
"And it did. I really love your tail. I can't get over it."
"You better as this is my natural one," Shiro said and then noticed a raven-haired teen with a red and white swirled tail approaching and Lance turned to see who Shiro was looking at.
"Keith! We were looking for you. I wanted to introduce Shiro to you."
"I was hoping I would, mostly because of what Veronica had said. I had been relaxing here until others started to gather and I heard them saying the part merman would be showing up in the city square soon." His eyes looked Shiro over before giving Lance a playful punch. "You are so lucky. He's very handsome."
Shiro had noticed that the crowd had dispersed when Keith came forward and there was only Veronica who sat on the bottom, her head bowed. Curious, he swam down to her and sat before her. "Veronica?" he asked.
"Lance was right," she said in a choked voice. "I am jealous. I didn't want to like you and held your humanity against you, even when I realized that you were part merman. I'll…understand if you hate me and never forgive me. I know that's what I would do."
"Veronica, I don't hate you. I can and do forgive you. Yes, you let your jealousy get the better of you but you were mature enough to admit it. I would like for us to start over." He held out a hand.
Veronica, who had lifted her head during Shiro's little speech, looked at his hand, and timidly took it. "Yes, let's start over."
"Good." Shiro pulled his hand away and pushed himself up with his hands while Veronica used her fins to put herself upright. Shiro smiled at that. "I need to know how to do that."
"It's not hard. You just need practice."
"Okay. So, what do you like to do?"
"I love shopping, especially for tails."
"Maybe we could do that right now. I mean, maybe try some on."
Veronica smiled happily. "Definitely and afterwards, we show my parents your tail."
