Everblue

Chapter 6 - Fin

FIN

 

Unsure where to go the next morning, I hung out by the palace—the place I was supposed to meet Azor the night before—and waited. Standing him up wasn't the most brilliant plan, but I wasn't thinking straight last night. A steady stream of females went inside while the mermen headed towards a sandy field behind the palace. I drifted in their direction, looking for a familiar face.

The crystal ball shot sunlight into the city, making my tail ache to change back. Rarely did we spend the night in Natatoria, let alone the next day. Normally, we hung out in our retrofitted basement swimming pool with easy access to the lake through the hatch.

Unused to being solidly underwater, I attributed Natatoria's atmosphere to the claustrophobia that slowly started to choke me. But what I missed most was coffee, something impossible to brew, let alone drink down here. Plus the few pieces of fish I'd eaten for breakfast had already burned through me and I craved some substance like French toast or pancakes.

If it wasn't for Dad's mission, I'd be on the deck of the Empress right now, sipping a good Sumatra and showing tourists the bay in full sunlight. Instead I was listening to some guy named Chauncey explain the rules for today's hand-to-fin combat tournament. The only reason I paid attention was because the winner got a golden trophy cup filled with rubies—not a bad reward.

When Chauncey finished his rhetoric, I floated among the group, trying to look like I fit in. Where was Azor?

"Aye, son," a redheaded merman with a thick Irish accent said. "You'd be Jack's son, right?"

"Yeah," I said, unsure if that was a good thing.

Without hesitation, he swam over and gave me a bear hug. "I'm Badger. Good to meet ya. You'll be my partner today. How's that?"

"Okay." I guess.

I followed him over to the edge of the field. Memories of Dad talking to me about him vaguely came to mind.

"What's with you, lad?" Badger asked.

I pressed my thumb against my temple, willing away my caffeine headache. "Don't you ever crave something other than fish?"

Badge threw his mane of hair back into the current and laughed. "Aye, lad. Every day. I'd love me a thick Guinness right about now and me mum's fried shredded potato."

His full-bodied holler echoed over the field, which lightened my spirits. "That does sound good."

"Ya missin' the food from the Pacific already, aye?" He raised one hairy eyebrow.

"Dad's on a mission, so I'm stuck here training on temporary assignment until he returns."

"That's what I've heard. Well, we aren't half as bad as ya think, but then, most of these boys would start blubberin' like wee girls at the first sign of combat." Badger flared his fin to reveal the deadly barbs just under the surface. "You're with the best."

I smirked, suddenly remembering the time Dad came home from Natatoria with a limp. Badger was the one he was sparring with that day. "So I've heard."

Badger beat his hand on his tattooed chest, inked with obvious important issues of his past. "The Irish Republican Army is where I got me battle scars. But me thinks ye be needin' some real home cookin' to deal with yer homesickness. Sandy's makin' me somethin' special tonight." He looked left then right and whispered. "Somethin' from me country."

"How'd you get—?"

"Oh, I've got me ways. And with that air gizmo, it'll be something to savor. Me mermaid's an excellent cook." He nodded and under his knobby beard, his lips pulled into a smile, revealing a gold incisor. My taste buds watered at the possibilities of what she'd make on a real stove in an oxygen-filled kitchen. "Now let's get to sparrin' so I can bring home that cup 'o rubies fer me doll."