Mate of a Merman: Archenemy Or Myth

Chapter 2: Distance,Confusion,Acceptance

Some time later I woke up to find myself nested into a small underwater cavern. I could tell that we weren't very deep underwater because there was still a lot of light illuminating the water around me. About 10 feet away floating in the water facing away from me, was the merman from before, and I could hear him talking to himself.

"Could it be that I was too forceful, ahh no it's supposed to go like that right? I guess I do feel bad that it had to go that way, but at the same time I had no choice. I wasn't about to just let my mate drown like that, neither of us deserve that... No matter what I do or say he will still be hard to win over, especially now that the transformation is complete."

Wait... transform...oh my. I looked down to see that my legs were gone and instead I had a long slender indigo tail that seemed to dance with light when I moved it a  bit. I started to twist around in this new form and pondered about how I was going to escape. This might just be a bit too difficult to manage since I have no idea how to swim effectively with my tail, I don't know how to shift back, and even if I escaped I would have no Idea how to get back home. If that wasn't enough, I have to find Carl and make sure he's safe, he better be safe...

I was so lost in thought that I didn't see him start swimming over to me.

"So, You're finally awake. You didn't hear any of what I've been talking about over there have you?" He asked, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"I have, but just because it's part of the process doesn't mean that I have to be okay with it." I said, sinking to the cavern floor with my arms crossed across my chest.

"Well yeah it actually does, you are meant to be with me. It is decreed by the Primordials, eventually you will learn how to adjust, and of course i'm here to help you. Come on, if you just take in the beauty of your new world you would love it and me." He chuckled.

"I guess that I have to admit that it is rather pretty down here. I also know all of that, do you think that I'm an idiot? I grew up just like all of the other supernaturals knowing just what you are, I know how this works okay.

"My name is Jacob Shard, what is yours love?"

"My name is Nick." I hate that he's my mate, but I can't help but feel the pull of the mate bond. He is also very handsome... I'm trying not to dwell on it too much, in order to develop much needed boundaries.

Jacob swam up to me grabbing my hand and pulled me out of the cave and into the strong current. It seemed like eons past as we were swept past caves littered with an array of rusted items covered with seaweed, crabs, and starfish that seemed to have a bioluminescent glow. After a while we stopped and sank in front of a small tunnel lit by torches that had the same glow as the sea life that we had passed to get here.

When our bodies met the sea floor, I was surprised to find that I had legs again and so did he. I checked out our bodies to see if we stayed wet or were dried through our transformation, and we were still wet. We traveled for what felt like hours on foot down the smooth weathered cavern floor.

"You know we're not as bad as you might think we are, as you can see you are back to being a werewolf. I'm not a monster that permanently takes away what you grew up as, now you just have the gift of being 2 different supernatural species. Mermen are what is called a duality, we are both or not at all. No shifter species would be whole of even sane if your other shifting half of your soul was completely stripped away from you that they had lived their whole lives with, and then replaced it with both a new one and a mate.

We live in a massive underground set of caves with a central capital ruled by the Duad councils. The higher council is made up of the leaders of each cavern city, and the second is made of their children being raised to take over. Of course that isn't going well, but you'll find out why later. We better keep moving, I'm really excited for you to see your new home!

Hey, before I step into that first cavern I need to ask an important question. I need to ask if you saw my best friend Carl who was on the ship with me when it crashed into something? Now that I think of it, I have no idea of what we could have crashed into.

I'm sorry about your friend Carl, but I have no idea what happened to him. To be honest I was too preoccupied saving my new mate from drowning to think of looking for other people in the water. Hopefully some other shifter came to help him like I did for you. I'm also sorry for sounding a bit creepy earlier, I guess that I have a bit of a possessive side, but so do most other mermen shifters. Although you weren't born as one so it seems only fair to you to explain some things to you.

Now as you already know we have an underground society, it is made up of an enormous myriad of large caverns that each have a unique environment suited to quite a few different types of shifters. You see each shifter that becomes the mate of an original denizen of this kingdom gains a second form upon meeting their mate. Therefore both biologically and magically, you still require the environment that you were born into, otherwise both them and their mate would slowly die from being cut off.

So in truth everything comes with a price, there must be balance. We may have the gift to transform our mates, hence the added second form. For now you won't be able to use your beast form for a while in order for your body to fully adjust to its new form and abilities.

As I mentioned earlier all the caverns are run by a dual council. The first is made up of the leaders of each major cavern city, and the second is made up of each of their children and their mates if they have them. In truth there used to be a third, the council of elders but they disappeared for unknown reasons. At least that is what most here believe, But both me and my brother along with the rest of the second council know better.

Wait, you're a prince down here?

Yeah, we both are. Hopefully my brother will be there to meet us once we step inside, now we should get moving okay.