The Search For Peace 2

Chapter 31

Although every sound was muffled by the air bubbles around their heads, Harmony and Alyssa quite enjoyed their little your of The Pisces Clan.

Neri and Delbin as their guides, the two girls watched a band of mermen and mermaids play songs with unique instruments, similar to the ones above yet all the more different.

They speculated the twisting towers of coral in the city, and witnessed a spectacular dance by the mermen and the fish.

The Pisces Clan was all smiles and happiness, everyone doing something or the other that was both fun and useful. But, as night was approaching and their stomachs were empty, the girls decided to find some shelter.

So, Neri and Delbin led them out of the depths and into the open air of a mystical clove, tucked inside the arched roof of an old cave.

Its stoned surface shone blue with the teal water, and a number of unidentified items lined the dark walls.

"This is where me and Delbin hang out when we're bored."
Neri explained to them as the girls pulled out of the water, their teeth immediately starting to chatter.

Delbin made a face at his pink friend. "No, this is where you hang out when you're bored." He corrected her, but she only giggled in response.

"W-well it's a-amazing." Harmony managed to say through her shivers. Her clothes were soaking wet.

"Oh, you must be cold!" Neri gasped when she noticed their sorry state. Hurriedly, she swam to a corner, while Alyssa wringed out her shirt.

They were relieved to see her balancing a pile of dry garments on her pink head upon her return. "Here you are! I collected these from a shipwreck that happened closeby once. I was fascinated by the style you humans have."

Alyssa gave the clothes a lookover. There were brownish, greenish slacks, a worn gray hoodie and t-shirt, a pink, faded sundress, and an oversized woolen sweater. "Yeah, we have better style than this."

While Harmony chose the slacks and hoodie, since they were more comfortable, Alyssa chose the dress and sweater, because they were more feminine.

However she instantly regretted her decision, as the dress was so voluminous it could fit a pregnant lady, and the awful sweater made her look like a grandma. She knew all this by staring at her reflection in the still sheet of water.

"I wonder if there's a stove around here." Harmony's voice echoed in the empty space, and Alyssa watched her with a hint of envy. Even in those worn out men's clothes, she looked better than Alyssa ever could, most probably because she was so slim and tall. It was like she could wear anything and still look spectacular without even trying.

And then there was her, who was plump and freckled and undisarable in every way. She could only sigh in despair as she ogled at her sorry reflection.

"Hey look, there's a stove!" She half listened to Harmony as she pulled out a stumpy cylinder of metal that Alyssa could not see as a stove. "I think it's a gas one." She didn't even know there were 'gas ones' out there.

Harmony crouched on her heels and examined it from all sides, turning a rusty knob. Sure enough, the sound of gas building up reached their ears, and now Harmony was on the search for a match.

"Oh, wow, you made it work!" Neri called out as she surfaced, cradling two plump gray fish in her arms.

"Did you happen to collect a matchbox, Neri?" Harmony said as she searched.

"A matchbox? What's that?" While Harmony got busy explaining what a matchbox was to the mermaid, Alyssa strolled off to the other side, and planted herself on a smooth, flat rock by the rim of the hole in the sea.

The gurl wished her phone would turn on. Maybe it was because it's charging ran out, but there was also a few cracks on the screen, and she was worried there was water swimming inside of it. Her parents were gonna kill her.

Suddenly feeling very alone and deserted, she sighed once again, the chatter in the background itching her brain. She was useless to them anyways, since she didn't know much about stoves or cooking. Her only strong points were taking cute selfies and pictures and following people on social sites. And now she couldn't do that, either.

"Sulking, are we?" A voice at her side startled her, and she was even more surprised to see that it was Delbin, his human side propped on the ledge and his fish side dipped in the teal abyss.

"I'm not sulking." Alyssa found her composure, lifting her chin, but she also found herself sniffling back tears.

The merboy grinned at her knowingly until he caught her gaze. In the end, she gave in and said: "I just wish I was more like Harmony." She knew there could be no harm in telling a merboy about her worries.

The boy's small eyebrows rose at the confession, but he stayed silent for a while, urging her to continue.

"I mean, she's good at everything. Seriously, you should see her at school, and she's skinny and pretty and everyone likes her..." She trailed off as a hot bubble of tears welled up in her throat. "There's nothing she can't do. And she's saved my life twice. I just...I wish I had some sort of talent so I wasn't so useless all the time."

Delbin let out a breath and turned to look at the girl in question. Harmony Leo, huh? She was one of a kind. And he fairly knew why a girl like Alyssa was jealous of her. Even now, with a cheek smeared with grease, she was smiling at the fish on the stove like it was a work of art. She was one of those special cases of people, the ones that could so easily be themselves. People like Neri.

"Harmony is Harmony." He said finally. "And you are you." He glanced at Alyssa, who's shoulders were still hunched forward, and picked up a steay pebble. "I think it's a waste of time, trying or wishing to be someone else. I mean, everyone's their own person. You probably have traits and talents Harmony can never have."

"Like what?" She grumbled bitterly.

"Well..." He shrugged slightly. "That's for you to figure out."