Adeline POV
I lay wide awake, staring at the stream of moonlight shining through the windows, cringing at the breathing figure beside me.
It's been two hours I think of tossing and turning, and of course untangling myself from the arms of the snoring asshole who of course crashed right after I got off of him... as per usual.
I know I'm good at this, I know that because the other party involved always passes out right after the final moment. As for me, I already got up and cleaned myself up in the bathroom by taking a shower and changed my clothes into something more comfortable than what I'd strategically worn before, and now I've been trying to go to sleep for once after, but nope. I stared with daggers at Grant, now that all of that's out of my system, I usually just get upset.
And like usual... I'm upset.
I'm upset that I had to use my lure so many times, which is funny because I always do. No, I don't use it to persuade them to have sex with me, that's not the problem at all, I have to use it to stop them from doing what I don't want them to, because especially the popular boys don't like to listen. So I instead have to lure them in the right direction, which is just basic, normal, raw sex. I don't want anything else from them, I say that when they get here every time, they agree at first every time. But then they'll try to pin my hands, pull my hair in a way that just straight up hurts, try to "spank" me or whatever which I don't like in the slightest, try to determine the position that benefits them more than anything else, I could go on! So yes... I hate that part of this a whole lot.
Second, I feel... gross after. Unfortunately, merpeople tend to have quite the drive for this stuff, I genuinely feel the need at first. But then after, when they're fast asleep and I'm fixing myself up in the bathroom, I just feel... shitty. It's so horrid, I can't fucking win. My sense of clarity returns right away, only to be clouded again in a week or two. And it's only gonna get worse as I get older, so... I'm fucked!
Third... I don't like cuddling, and these dudes get so handsy afterward! Even in their sleep! It's like they get clingy or something! I'm constantly wrestling my way out of their arms and legs after they've fallen asleep, also... I hate people in my bed.
My sleeping space is a sanctuary, merpeople sleep differently than humans after all. The sea is unforgiving, therefore our instincts are very different. Despite being predators rather than prey predominantly, on the same level as sharks in the ocean, we're very on guard all of the time. I've learned to try and chill out, but for the most part, it's like being paranoid almost all of the time. So my bed is one of the only places I have to be fully safe, but it hasn't felt very safe in a long time. And this whole sleeping with people thing doesn't make it better, but once again my instincts are all out of wack! And I don't sleep at anyone else's place anymore, I just... I don't do that anymore. Welcome to how puberty and maturing work for merpeople, it's a goddamn nightmare... I would take human periods any day, that sounds so much better than this bullshit.
Instead, I get one MONTH AND A HALF of that in the spring because that's how our cycles work, and of course, I get this all year round. Don't get me started on how I'll supposedly behave this year now that I'm nearly a full adult, apparently, it happened for my mother at this time as well so my genes all line up, but usually the month and a half long cycle is just horrid pain right? Well, when you fully mature into adulthood, the pain... shifts to what I deal with all year round... times a hundred. Yeah... I'm locking myself in my room and chaining myself to the wall when that happens, I will not allow it to get the better of me goddammit!
I love being a mermaid... but this stuff is absolute torture.
Enough of worrying about the future and what I'll eventually have to deal with however, the current issue is snoring so loud I can barely hear my own thoughts.
I promptly sat up and stared at him, narrowing my eyes before beginning to poke his shoulder, I don't think I can handle it anymore. After a few consecutive pokes, I just took his shoulder and gave him a shake, startling him out of his sleep, but even then, he snored through it like a champ. Fine.
He's about to be real sorry he slept on his stomach, and without a shirt on.
I smirked ever so slightly as I gently placed my hand on his lower back, rubbing back and forth for a moment before slowly arching my fingers into him. One of our best assets is our long, naturally strong nails that we file with stones into the sharp points we desire. Our nails are said to be as strong as human bone, and if you're part human like me, you utilize this to your full advantage. I disguise this amazing weapon in pretty colors and shiny add-ons, so the humans just think I have acrylic nails. If I dig in hard enough, I could slit their throats with just my pretty little nails. But in this case, I'll just dig the pointed tip of each of my nails in just a little bit before suddenly swiping up the rest of his back.
That woke him up with a sudden jolt,
"F-Fuck, Addie what's your problem?!"
He hissed as he clamored to sit up, thanks to his sudden movement I reckon my nails sunk in a bit deeper than I intended, not that I really care. I giggled a bit and resisted the urge to lick the blood off the tips of each of my nails. I worry if I ever allow myself to taste human blood I won't be able to resist the urge, so I'm seriously going against some slightly natural programming here for human's sake. They should be more grateful for my willingness to spare them by the way.
Sirens and mermaids are like first cousins after all, a lot of our genetics are shared, and a lot of sirens get with mermaids and a lot of mermaids get with sirens. Many of us have mixed genetics, it just depends on how the genetics even out! And I know I must have mixed genetics that balances quite in the middle... because I know I'm a mermaid at heart, but I get tempted sometimes to do very siren-like things... like tasting the blood of a man I just fucked. That's how you get vegetarian sirens and man-eating mermaids as well, it's possible.
Instead, I just cleaned my nails off with my other hand before delicately swiping the blood onto his chest, it both soothed him a bit, as he wasn't aware why I was touching his chest, and kept the blood out of my mouth and off of my expensive linens. I raised a brow and locked eyes with him, smiling just a bit as I sighed,
"Grant, you know I don't like it when people stay in my bed. I let you have your post-performance nap, you know the drill"
I said before throwing the rest of the blankets off of him so he could get up. He does know the drill, he gets a nap, he can take a shower, but then he has to go. But tonight, he let out a long sigh and tilted his head a bit, trying to come across quite sweet with an innocent smile,
"Addie, can I at least like... spend the night somehow? I'll take the chaise, that's fine, I'm not picky"
But I know why they want to spend the night when they ask. It's not because it's fun or they want innocent little cuddles... not that I like those, but they just wanna be able to wake up in the morning and go for round two, and that's usually the last thing I want in the morning. Also... how dare he attempt to disrespect my chaise like that?
"That's my chaise, no one except me lays seductively over my chaise besides me"
I said with narrowed eyes, making him chuckle as I'm sure he thinks I'm kidding, I'm not,
"Fine, can I have the floor?"
He asked next, leaning a little closer to me as if his charm was gonna actually persuade me. It never will, he is one of the more charming guys I'll give him that, with warm brown eyes and bright blonde hair, even some freckles, and the fact that he's an avid tourney player, he's a good-looking guy... doesn't mean I want him in my damn room though. In my opinion, he's far more attractive than Chad is, Chad is only popular because his parents are who they are I'm convinced of it. I crossed my arms and raised a brow,
"On my shag carpet which is on top of my dark oak polished floors?"
Grant stared back at me blankly, like he didn't entirely understand what I meant at first, like he thought I was joking. But when I didn't say anything more, he eventually just let out a sigh,
"Addie... come on, the bathroom?"
"Oh my marble floors?"
If he wants to play his charm, I'll do the damn same. I leaned a bit closer to him too, tilting my head the same way as him as he lightly rolled his eyes,
"Addie I just want to stay the damn night, you rode the fuck outta me for two and a half hours! I don't even get how that's humanely possible!"
He hissed, not wanting to be too loud of course. FG randomly roams the halls to catch things like this, or wanderers, you know the drill. There are also a few cameras naturally, but FG prefers the old-fashioned way, which is a flashlight and her own determination patrolling those halls. I giggled a bit, he sure is funny... I get for humans that's a long time, but for merfolk, it's child's play. I go extremely easy on the humans I have sex with, yet another thing I do for them without them even being aware of for the most part. I shook my head for a moment and rolled my eyes back before leaning forward just a little bit more to give him a quick peck. It usually helps them not throw such a damn fit, against his lips I then whispered,
"And I let you nap, and you can use the shower to take a hot shower if necessary, but your room is just down the hall and I don't like it when people sleep in my space. Also, I'm not very human Grant, that's a you problem more than it's a me problem, my stamina could've kept me going but you were a blabbering mess, couldn't remember your own name, your eyes were rolled back nearly permanently, the slightest of my touch made you cry from overstimulation, and I hopped off when you couldn't talk anymore, be glad you'll still be able to make it to tourney practice tomorrow"
I hope I humble these guys... I really hope I do.
They always talk such a big game, that's part of the reason why I give them my time at all. I mean... it's also because it's in my instinct and I need to get it out of my system quite often, but also because I like showing them that their groundbreaking, extraordinary way of fucking is... quite frankly, quite average. I'm always the one who tires them out instead, and I hope that sticks with them. I don't usually talk about how hard I could've gone though, as Grant went wide-eyed and looked at me with pure shock and some horror,
"I... you're scary as fuck, you could kill someone like that I bet. Give someone a heart attack... wait, you literally host all-girls slumber parties every Saturday what the fuck do you mean?"
He suddenly said as he looked at me with an almost offended look,
"Are you a girl?"
But that was all it took for him to drop it. Then, he slowly reached behind his back to feel over my scratches,
"Gods... also I think my back is bleeding"
"You better not get blood on my linens or any of my blankets Grant"
I mildly threatened with a little sing-song voice, checking my nails as I did so. Shaking his head he muttered,
"Well if you hadn't clawed me I wouldn't be bleeding, what was that for anyway?"
I giggled just a bit, I just think it's funny... I don't know, it's just funny! I let my giggles die down into a long sigh,
"You were snoring, being so fucking loud, you sure you don't have sleep apnea or something? There's treatment for that you know"
I said like the smart ass I can be, making him groan as he rubbed his eyes and shook his head, obviously quite peeved with me, not that I care about that too much,
"You clawed the fuck out of my back because I was snoring? I won't be able to work out shirtless until this shit is healed you know, let alone change in front of the guys in the locker room"
"Awe, are they gonna get all jealous?~"
I sang with a little snarky pout, as if jealousy isn't what I wanted to stir with my choice of sleeping partner. I love seeing them turn on each other, and now it's going to be a family affair as Chad will undoubtedly get pissed that I texted Grant, and then it'll become why Chad isn't happy for Grant, and then it'll be about why Grant even answered my text, etc! Grant looked over to me with a tired look about him, I mean I'd be tired too if I'd been fucked the way he was, but of course I wasn't, so... tough shit I guess!
"Addie I was sleeping peacefully as ever before you woke my ass up, I'm cranky and I have tourney practice tomorrow, please just let me sleep, I'm gonna get made fun of for being so shaky on my feet tomorrow anyway"
Awe, he's cranky! What a sad tale, truly I'm nearly brought to tears! And the poor thing is gonna be shaky on his feet tomorrow, too bad he's the only one with such struggles. I let out a deep sigh and slowly just... decided I was done, that this guy is getting out of my room this instant. So I carefully leaned towards him, lifting my leg and placing it on his other side as I gently cupped his face, the straddle position alone made him jolt, even though all I did was allow the deep purple haze to flood my eyes as I allowed my luring voice to take the forefront of his mind,
"That's a shame, I'll be wearing my five-inch heels comfortably tomorrow, I'm glad one of us got fucked properly. Anyway... be a doll and leave my room bud, I want peace and quiet~"
I slowly slid off of him towards the end of the bed where I got to my feet, his face still cradled in my hands, trapped in my lure, I brought him up with me and led him to the door, smirking as I took one hand from his face to open the door and gently led him out before stepping back into my room. With that, I let my lure fall, and with that, he was snapped back into reality,
"Wait I don't have my cloth-"
And snapped into the fact that I put him in the hallway with just his boxers on. I giggled as I shut the door, pleased as ever as I raised my voice just enough,
"Better use those good legs of yours and hustle then!"
And with that, I heard muffled curses and quick walking down the hall, all in an attempt to not alert FG to his presence. I would've given him his clothes back if he'd left when I asked nicely.
Whew, that was harder than it had to be... hehe, that's what she said.
I let out a long sigh as I heard the light but fast footsteps in the hall of Grant having to book it back to his room that he shares with Chad. I'll kindly deliver his clothes back to him tomorrow at his tourney practice, though Chad is already gonna be woken up by him rapidly pounding on the door before one of the hallway monitors catches him running around almost completely naked. But it'll make Chad and all of the other boys jealous when I make it very apparent tomorrow!
That and I'm thinking of making a comment about his back when I see him... like, "Sorry about your back, I'll try to be more gentle with you next time", or something like that, I bet his friends would hate that... and I love it for that exact reason.
Anyway I am... not tired whatsoever, and it looks pretty lovely outside, I suppose that calls for a midnight adventure huh? The real question is... in the ocean, or the enchanted lake? Hm... choices choices choices... the enchanted lake is lovely, it has a few caves in it, it's very serene and calm, the water feels especially lovely, but the ocean is where I'm drawn to most, it's true salt water which is very good for my skin, it's far more vast, there's more to do, but I do have to pay some relative attention as well because natural predators are out there. Hm... do I wanna relax or have fun?
Well... it's not too late yet, why not have both?
I'll start with the ocean and then go to the enchanted lake to unwind afterward, sounds like a lovely time! Now I just need to get dressed.
Call me extra, but I love to get dressed up to go swimming! I feel all ethereal and divine when I get extra dressed up in my mermaid attire, even if it vanishes into nothing when I transform, it makes the walk so much nicer.
I happily trotted over to my closet and swung the door open, walking into my lovely walk in I immediately turned away from my designer usual clothes and gowns and faced the other half of my closet, filled with what I would wear if I were lounging by the water more often as I should be.
I quickly grabbed one of my favorites, a gorgeous pearlescent light purple two-piece dress, strung with pearls as decorative dangly bits and extra long flowy sleeves. It stays off the ground as well, so I can safely traverse the landscape without tripping over anything. I feel like... some sort of wonderful forest creature when I wear things like this, I can't resist getting all fancy for the ocean, she deserves it after all.
After quickly throwing on the beautiful get-up, I fluffed my hair up a little bit and headed over to my window. I don't think they've tried to add any locks on my windows recently, I think they had to give up. There's gotta be a fine line anyway due to the fact that I need to be able to get out in case of an emergency, so I quickly unlatched everything and popped the window open before slowly climbing on out into the warm summer night air. I'm on the third floor of Auradon Prep, and while that's not ideal, I have a path I like to take.
I carefully walked along the slanted roof over to a certain tree, one that I casually leaped onto. I'm quite nimble I gotta say, for a mermaid with human feet I'm pretty solid on them if I do say so myself! It's all the walking in heels I do I'm convinced, though being on my toes is a bit more natural to me. I tiptoed across the branch I leaped onto and hopped down onto lower branches when it became possible, and just like usual, it wasn't long before I hopped onto the dewy grass.
When I'm not... trying to be normal, I dress and behave like I do out here. I don't wear shoes, I enjoy how the grass and the moss feel beneath my feet, I wear flowy, shimmering clothes that compliment the light of the moon and allow me to move as freely as ever. I let my hair down and let it get its curl back with the humidity, and I let my skin breathe and I let the wind brush my hair behind my ears when I usually try to cover them.
I try to cover my... odd features. Point blank, I do, I wish I didn't... but I do.
I wear my hair down to cover my long, pointed ears, I decorate my nails to look like acrylics, I don't smile with my teeth, I don't wear what mermaids traditionally wear if they have a human form in front of humans, and most of all... I don't let people see what I look like in mermaid form.
It's fun to wear my hair down, it's fun to decorate my nails, part of it is fun... but it was better when I did it for fun, not because I didn't want the humans to see. Once upon a time I didn't care... when I was naive and... frankly, stupid. Back when I thought everyone would think it's cool that I'm a mermaid and no more, before... before... I... I don't wanna think about it, it's stupid anyway.
I shook it off and looked into the sky, smiling as the moonbeams shined down upon me. I took a deep breath and tried to leave what I nearly thought about behind and broke into a little skip towards the forest. I know the trails like the back of my hand, sometimes I even come out here and just... climb and find a good spot in a tree and sleep there, it's a safer feeling than my bed, even though my bed is specially made for me and everything. Either that, or I'll swim into the deepest underwater cavern that lies within the enchanted lake and curl up nice and tight and sleep there. My parents get so upset when I disappear like that... I try to tell them the truth, but they don't listen to me.
I skipped into the woods and let out a deep breath, smiling at the little glowing shapes surrounding the area. Auradon may be pretty far removed from the use of magic, but the land isn't. There are all sorts of plants and little creatures who still shimmer with magic, and it makes the forest just spring to life at night.
The forest greets me, and so do the little creatures that whiz on by or scatter under my feet. As I feel my spirits lift, I bend down and grab a good-looking rock to file the sides of my nails with it as I walk, I noticed the shape is getting a little dull, and it's imperative that I keep them as sharp as possible. I heard an owl cooing in the distance, and the crickets chirping filled the rest of an otherwise very quiet night. I don't know... personally, I like the bits of noise, it doesn't bother me one bit. The little sprites and fairies that wiz on by making the most adorable twinkling sound, and though they can be mischievous, they don't dare pull any tricks on one with as sharp teeth as I do.
Instead, when they let me get close, I whisper the names and faces of those I don't like so when they come into the forest they're often met with the mischievous little creatures who wish to stay on my good side. They're just lucky they're not the horrid sort of fairy, but then again, with how the humans avoid or simply try to catch the fairies and sprites as pets, I doubt they'd know a good fairy from a bad fairy until they find that their luck has run dry.
I smile at them as they chase each other around the forest canopy, not just to show my love for their presence, but to also remind them how sharp my teeth are. Then again, we... creatures per se, the ones that aren't humans who make up the majority of the population, kinda have an unspoken agreement to look out for each other when it comes to defending each other from humans after all. We each have different abilities we can utilize to assist each other, so why wouldn't we when humans can be so cruel? I can even hear the enchanted lake waterfall from here, and it's tempting to veer off and go towards the sound of running water, but I wanna go to the ocean.
Besides, mom and dad said there was "another security measure" they were going to put in place soon, and I wanna do what I want as much as possible before whatever that hurdle is may try to get in my way. Nothing has really worked yet, but... they said this would be different, and I wouldn't be able to work around it, so I'm just gonna go to the ocean while I still can... just in case.
Before I knew it, as my mind grew quieter, I reached the gentle ocean. I... feel at home right away, how do they expect me to stay away from here when it feels so instinctual to come here?
The gentle waves crashed onto the soft sandy beach, and as the grass turned to moss and the moss turned to sand under my feet, I heard the twinkly chattering behind me. They're just as fascinated with me as I'm fascinated by them, and seeing as the fairies, the sprites, the bugs, the spiders, the birds, and the woodland creatures that reside within the woods have never hurt me, I allow them to watch what so many humans would pay to see.
I looked back at them for a moment before giving them a sly wink, returning my gaze to the warm, familiar land of salt water I slowly stepped forward into the waves. With every step, as I sank deeper, I felt my skin begin to tingle with delight. I felt the odd peeling-like feeling of my gills opening up as my airways shifted a bit, the second my waist was under water I put my legs together and flipped onto my back to lay on the surface of the water for a moment before rolling back in head first. My ears tingled as their form grew just a bit into a more fanned appearance and I closed my eyes for a mere moment to allow them to adjust to the dark sea, and once I opened them, the gorgeous world I so desire was illuminated.
And with that, I felt my legs going fuzzy. It feels very... odd, describing it is tricky, but it's like when a limb falls asleep, however, it's immediately and it's my waist down. I can feel the bones and skin morphing and changing, but due to the numb feeling it only feels fuzzy to me rather than painful. Within a few moments, my legs vanished and melted away, and in their place is my tail. My skin, muscles, and bones always have a lot of work to do in the few seconds my transformation takes, as my tail alone is just about five feet long, the fin is proportional yet that makes it very sizable as well, and of course my skin hardens and comes together to make my gorgeous, shimmering violet scales.
It feels... like the best... possible feeling on the planet I think, shifting into what technically is my true form that is.
My tail is a deep purple at the fluke, and as it crawls up my body it grows lighter. Where the usual tail would end mine continues to crawl merely with its scales, wrapping up my waist onto my stomach. It's not complete scales, my usual skin shines through in many places, but my scales crawl about as they reach my breasts, as that's what covers them after all. The scales that cover my breasts are dark as well, but not just that, wherever I have scales it's like having armor as the scales are far harder than skin. The scales can be damaged, and it hurts a lot when they do get damaged as there's pure vulnerable flesh underneath, but it's harder to hurt where my scales lay. The scales continue to flutter around my arms just a bit and onto the backs of my hands, on my collarbones to accentuate the sharp lines, and up my back a way before fading back to the skin. The center of my stomach, the left side of my waist, the mid and top level of my back, my elbows, my right shoulder, and a few more small areas remain purely as skin. As for my ears, they develop a fanned appearance to help keep water out of my ears as that's still quite uncomfortable, I can hear just fine, but it definitely makes my ears obvious as they suddenly have a shell-like shape to them in a light violet pearlescent shimmer.
Then again, all of my scales and mermaid parts have a pearlescent shimmer, it compliments the moon best after all.
I slowly rose back to the surface to look at my little woodland resident friends and give them a little wave before flipping back into the water so they can catch a glimpse of my tail. Now... what on earth are we gonna do today?
I looked around for a moment as I slowly descended deeper into the ocean. To me, it appears slightly dim due to the fact that it's nighttime, but between the moon and my eyes, I can see just fine. A few schools of fish swam about, I can see a few eels and octopi closer to the sea floor, but I adventure around the sea floor all the time! I love looking at the coral and helping any little creature that needs assistance, as despite my diet of mainly fish, I'll still help them out if I'm not hungry. And... I don't catch the fish I eat, it's prepared for me, so... killing one myself is weird.
I feel like I have a lot of energy... I think I'm just gonna swim nice and quick at first to get my zoomies out.
I'm quite a quick swimmer not gonna lie, but also... having a tail as large as mine, both in length and the width of my fluke, can do one of two things. One, it can weigh me down and be a struggle to handle and manage, or two, it can be a massive tool and advantage when learned. When I had my first few growth spurts it was super difficult to manage, thank goodness we can breathe underwater because I would've totally drowned otherwise, but when I was eleven or so I just decided to work on my abs and legs a lot to make them stronger so my tail wouldn't be so difficult to manage.
Since then I've grown to be somewhat addicted to going to the gym... not gonna lie. Not to bulk up either, I just like being surprisingly strong. That and I like to do things like aerial silks and gymnastics on the side, as we mermaids with human feet are naturally a little clumsy, and I need to actively fight against that every day. The only clumsiness I allow is post-swimming clumsiness, you know, the few hours after a swim when I forget how my feet work and trip over air because having feet is indeed strange.
I swam and swam, and with each propelling motion I just went faster and faster, I do like going fast anyway, it's good to be fast when you piss a shark off a little too much. Though sharks have humans beat when it comes to how fast they can swim in the water, we merfolk are the top dogs when it comes to speed. You'd be surprised, the only creatures that come close to us are black marlins, sailfish, and swordfish, which is ironic because I like to stay far away from those... all of them have that bill that most people associate with swordfish, you know, the thing that looks like a sword... yeah I don't wanna get Ursula'd by a fish thanks, that's just not in good taste.
Not to mention, the irony would kill before the fish could.
As I swam, I looked over the underwater terrain, which when you get the view I do... ignoring the Isle of the Lost is very tricky. People don't know how massive it is first things first, then the gap between Auradon and the Isle isn't much underwater, it's just not. But that does make me think... there is that underwater cave that I think may lead under the barrier, maybe that's what I go do today.
I mean it would be fun, different, interesting, something new... fuck it, let's go find this thing.
I smiled at the thought of a new little adventure and propelled straight towards the sea floor, as it was quite far down here if I remember correctly.
As I neared the rock formations a the bottom, which isn't super far down comparatively as we're so close to land, and began looking around for what I thought I saw earlier.
I swam right up to the infamous barrier that is keeping the island otherwise completely isolated, and it does go all the way down to the sea floor. But there's this rock formation that the barrier lands right on top of. Underneath the rock formation however there's a little cove-like thing, and that's what I think may go all the way through. It just depends if the barrier is truly a solid object in a way or magically clips through solid objects to keep its shape. I suppose we're about to find out, as I'm approaching the rock formation I spotted a few nights ago.
I looked around it for a moment, observing the small fish and the nests of eels who'd made a home in this rock formation. Luckily I don't think I have to bother any of them... let's see... I lowered myself down to be equal with the path I'd noticed and... no fucking way... I see light on the other side!
It's quite narrow which... I hate, I hate a lot actually, but the tunnel doesn't look too long. I should be able to butch up and just weave my way through the tight space. I'll probably have to fold my fluke to get through which means I'll need to use the rocks to grab and push off of to get through as well... well... I did want to do something different right?
I really hate tight spaces, but I have to do things I hate often, so I'll just do this nice and quick.
I backed up a little bit to get some momentum before propelling forward, putting my arms out in front of me with my hands laid on top of each other, I spun my body around to make almost a drill-like form. Just before I entered the rocky tunnel, I coiled my fluke as best as I could so it would remain mostly unscathed hopefully.
The second my vision was reduced to only the tunnel, I felt my lungs tighten. I pushed through it as best as I could as I carefully navigated the tight tunnel, grabbing onto rocks and pushing off of them to keep my momentum as I got through. Besides, there's literally no turning back now... I physically can't, which kind of makes my anxiety worse but... I can't help it very much.
Once the other end of the tunnel came more into view, my pure panic rushed me toward it. I pushed faster and harder as my breath quickened, and the second I could I violently threw myself out of the tunnel with a panicked pant.
Okay... I'm fine... I knew I would be, for fucks sake.
I paused for a moment and put a hand over my heart, feeling it beat through my chest as per usual. My fear of tight places and such was always kinda bad, but in the last few years it's just... gotten worse, no fault of my own... but the fault of... nope, I'm not going there.
Once I'd caught my breath and felt stable again, I finally looked up at the world above me. Obviously, I can't see much from here, but right off the bat, it doesn't seem too bad over here, but the overall quality of the water is not great.
I'm gonna lie low for a bit, not just to avoid being seen, but to avoid that water. It can become quite hard to breathe when the water quality gets bad, I've even heard of some merfolk becoming landbound for large periods of time to get treatment for it, it's like... suffocating from what I've heard, very unpleasant.
Down here though... there's so much trash! Geez, they'll just throw anything down here... I- wait... oh there's... there are little things everywhere, oh my mermaid senses are tingling, I'm gonna look around here first!
We merfolk all have something in common, a deep, burning passion for... shiny things.
Yes, it seems a little arbitrary, but who doesn't love something shiny? Not to mention, we're slight hoarders of anything shiny we can find usually, I try to keep it to a minimum, especially because I do have a... lot of money to buy many shiny things with, but there's something so magical about genuinely scavenging!
I looked about, carefully of course as I don't wanna get nicked or caught on any of the debris around here, and carefully picked through the mess, using only my nails to do so. Another wonderful feature is having such a safe way of picking up potentially dangerous and harmful things, especially with all the broken glass that's down here.
I picked out a few bits of sea glass and some dingle- forks... forks, and other types of cutlery, please I... we called them that until I got in school, guess who got bullied for it? Sorry... it's pure habit.
Anyway, yeah I found... cutlery pieces, sea glass, bits of metal that seem to come from blades of some sort, normal shards of glass which I just picked up and put into a pile as an effort to at least minimize the damn mess down here, and other odd pieces of all sorts of knickknacks. Small gears, rusty paintbrushes, bits of chain, old nets, all sorts of odd bits of rubbish.
I don't care, it's still fun to scavenge even if you don't find something good, that's the best part of it! It's win-win.
Suddenly, from the surface that feels so far yet so close, there was a splash.
I looked up and furrowed my brow, a... silver thing just dropped in, okay... my intuition is dying for me to go grab it...
... I'm gonna go grab it, my intuition is persuasive and my actions are usually impulsive, a perfect match.
I quickly propelled myself up towards the object as it slowly sunk, and slowly the water quality got worse, but I don't think it should be too bad. There are fish and wildlife over here at least, which means there's at least some sort of ecosystem to help improve water quality, which is a good sign despite the trash at least! If there was no wildlife over here I would've booked it back through the damn tunnel, that's never a good sign. There are even some sharks I swam by, which is super neat! They seem very battle-hardened and were very stunned by my presence, but left me alone as I left them alone all the same.
I reached up as I got to the sinking object, gently grasping it as it floated into my hand. I pulled it back to me to examine the shining silver, it's definitely the shiniest thing here without a doubt... looks... kinda threatening, I won't lie.
I fiddled with it a bit and adjusted how I held it, I think... I think it's a handheld hook? Who... Who makes handheld hooks? It's like the ones pirates use to replace their hands when they get lopped off, but you hold this one instead. This is... quite odd, and a little concerning, I don't exactly like pirates that much.
I mindlessly floated to the surface just a bit, and as I did, my ears picked up something quite riveting.
Crashes, the sound of wood snapping all over the place, shouts and rogue screams, the sound of metal clashing together, and all sorts of thundering sounds!
I... how the fuck can't I look? Are you kidding me, it sounds absolutely severe up there! I gotta... I know it's not a good idea in practice, I could be seen and such, but... come on! I have to know what's going on up there to cause so much ruckus, I'll just be very sneaky about it.
I slowly rose to the surface just enough for my eyes to peek out of the water, and the second my ears were above the surface too the sounds just got so much louder. Upon the initial scan of the area, I saw what I thought I saw underwater. It seems like this area is primarily made up of docks, there are a few ships around here but it's not as fully docked as I'm used to seeing. Beyond the docks there are plenty of run-down buildings and... sorry, it seems that I was hearing a fight go down, because after looking around just a little bit I spotted quite the scene!
My wide-eyed gaze was immediately glued on the scene, I... don't know what's going on here, but I do love a good brawl sometimes I suppose! There were five individuals involved by the looks of it, but... it also looks like it's one against four.
One of them, a... very tall, good gods so tall, and super... ripped guy, wearing a striking long red jacket and wielding a long sword seemed to be dominating the rest of the individuals... I... okay, I wasn't aware I was going to be given such eye candy today, but I do not mind.
Especially after having sex with Grant, this is a royal treat!
When you can tell that a guy is ripped and buff as fuck through a jacket, green flag. It's the shoulders, those broad... gorgeous shoulders. I swam a bit closer and slowly raised a hand to hold onto the docks, keeping the little... hook thing held underwater. Meanwhile, I'm just... good gods! I watched in awe as this guy parried back and forth with one attacker, kicked another back at the same time, flung the first attacker into the third, and knocked the fourth unconscious! All practically at once! He finished off the final three with rough, tactical hits with either his fist or his sword, geez he's unforgiving... brutal... and hot as fuck.
I'm so glad I chose to come over here, this was such a good choice.
I happily watched as contently as ever as threats spilled from his lips for "messing with his family", oh and he's a family-oriented guy too? Geez... what a package! I don't know if he's the full package but with looks like that and being loyal to his family... those are already two big plus'.
I don't know what the other four did, but they were quite bloodied and bruised after the altercation, meanwhile this... daring stranger was seemingly unscathed. As the four quickly gathered each other up to run away, he suddenly... looked this way, right at me... well... uhm... so usually I would quickly swim away in this case, but I... I'm tempted to stay.
I'll just duck under the water for right now, I'm a little shy in my mermaid form alright?
Quickly dipping under the water, I heard quick thuds on the surface, footsteps of boots on the wooden dock without a doubt. I sank a bit further down, feeling a little nervous about being so close to... a boy... in this form. I saw his silhouette peer over the edge of the dock, and against my better judgment, I wearily came back to the surface just a little.
I trusted in the murky water to keep me mostly hidden as I just peeked out and up, immediately... I locked eyes with him for real this time. Gods... those are some piercing eyes... and jawline... good gods what? Dark, almost black hair contrasted beautifully with his ocean-blue eyes that were surrounded by a mask of black eyeliner. As I looked at him with such intrigue, he slowly began to smile a little, like he was happy to see me. And... and he has some light dimples too?! Good gods... one of the gods has a favorite, that's a damn fact! It means a lot for me to be so taken aback by a guy's appearance, usually, this is my reaction to most women, but good gods!
If I'd known the Isle had little hidden gems like him on it I would've come over here to explore a long time ago, not gonna lie... I mean it's quite the motivation, isn't it?! I allowed myself to emerge a little bit more from the water, just to my upper chest so I could be a bit more level with him as I watched his every move while trying to take in his stunning appearance.
But... a human boy is still a human boy, and I cannot trust them, even if this one is insanely attractive and quite intriguing by the looks of it.
I slowly raised the hook I had caught and looked down at it for a moment, it does look like... a pirate thing, and he did look over here the second the fight was finished as if he was indeed looking for something. It fell over the edge, maybe someone knocked it from his hand and he's come back to get it. I let my eyes flicker back up to him, observing how his eyes suddenly went wide with a bit of joy at the sight of it. It must be his then, well... I suppose it's the least I can do.
I gently and very carefully set the hook onto the dock right in front of him and quickly took my hands back, not wanting to give him a chance to grab me or something. He quickly picked it up with a chuckle of disbelief and relief by the sounds of it, looking back at me with... a very mutual sense of intrigue. I could see the questions in his eyes, I do look a little odd with my ears and the scales that he can see after all, but I can't answer any questions. It's just not safe.
I slowly let go of the docks and backed away, our eyes staying focused on each other as I slowly allowed myself to descend into the dark waters below. I can't trust a human boy, especially not one I've never met... even though he's intriguing. His silence was telling, like he... knew I couldn't answer any of his questions, so why waste his breath? Just before my eyes went below the water, he slowly nodded his head to me, almost like some sort of bow, and with that, I disappeared.
I.... I should be going home anyway, though the Isle has a grand sense of intrigue to it now, especially about... whoever that was. That doesn't mean that he's anything special though... I'm just intrigued, that's all, that's it, I swear.
Harry POV
She's... so much more captivating in person... at least I don't have ta wonder if I'll ever see her again...
... Adeline Cordelia, ya mischievous lass... make it home safe.
I'm on my way, darling.
A/N
Hiya! Alrighty! I wrote a bit of a longer chapter for you all so we can find a bit of a happy medium as I know how a lot of you love longer chapters, so I hope you all enjoyed the longer bit from Adeline, especially as... we finally get to see her mermaid form! :D
And... got to see a lot about how Adeline handles guys, she's a little confusing, isn't she?
Adeline has a complicated thought process surrounding boys especially, but do you have an idea as to what may be the root cause(s) of this issue? Because there's definitely an epicenter to the hurricane that can be Adeline...
... and I think how she treated Grant, one of the better guys that she doesn't exactly like, shows a lot about this tug of war.
She's both reasonable and harsh, fun-loving yet strict, pleasant yet rude, Adeline overall is quite complicated, but I'm hoping we're all starting to get a bit of a feel for her as we continue to get to know her! :D
Especially as she revealed that she purposely hides her mermaid features for some... secretive reasons.
But we did see a lot of who Adeline really is the second she snuck out, I must make that clear and underline it, because Adeline has many masks, but the second she's in her element, in the wild, amongst the trees or in the sea, she lets her guard down ;D
Now... this mermaid situation, can we just take a moment to truly break down what Adeline's mermaid form looks like? Because... she is a gorgeous girl, and yet she becomes an absolutely earth-shattering mermaid ;D
So just so it's quite clear, in our little lookbook that's in the middle of this chapter, basically goes over both the vibe and what she looks like! :D Her tail is quite obvious, that gorgeous purple and violet tail which is five feet (and two inches to be exact) long all by itself! And then her scales travel around her body like armor while leaving some spots uncovered, then she does get a swirling shell-like appearance to her ears which is mainly for functionality purposes, and overall, she looks drop-dead gorgeous, I hope you all can visualize what she looks like! :D What are your overall thoughts on her mermaid form?
Now, Adeline found her way to the Isle and... surprise! Got to meet a certain someone, I didn't hint that at all so I hope it was a nice little surprise for you all! :D
Though it was silent, what do you think about how their interaction went? Especially when it came to what Adeline was thinking...
... but let's be honest, I think you all are gonna be more excited about getting a nice little snippet of Harry's POV, as short as it was... I think the impact is gonna be huge ;D
Remember... he's been basically studying for months to learn her in general ;D
I super super hope you all enjoy this exciting chapter! Between seeing Adeline's mermaid form and getting to see Harry again, I really think you all are gonna love this chapter, so I hope I'm right! :D I can't wait to hear what you all think about it all! :D
Remember to stay hydrated and to be kind to yourself today! :D
-Brooke
P.S. this chapter is called "Willow" because I couldn't hear any other song while Adeline was in the forest and having fun in the sea where she was truly in her element and could be herself, for some reason it just works so nicely in my head :)