I rub my belly frantically trying to clear my thoughts but with each passing second the pulses gets stronger and speed up. "You don't feel that Mike? The pulses. They're getting closer."
Mike's eyes open wide. "Pulses? Do you think they could be contractions? You did grow quite a bit. Maybe the babies are coming!"
I close my eyes and rub my sides. "No its not that. I feel it in my tail. And..." I feel the pulses coming closer as if something else is coming towards us. I can feel something in the water moving in our direction. "...and something is coming this way!"
Mike turns his head around to look. "Oh Tori, its a rescue boat! They must've seen me wreck the jetski and have come to help."
"No its not the boat. Its coming from over there." With my eyes still closed, I rotate in the water and point out to the open sea where I feel the pulse coming from. I open my eyes and look out a the horizon. Mike does too. "Tori, I don't see anything... Wait. What's that?" I focus in on the horizon an can barely make out a small bump in the waves. The pulse's beat hastens as the bump in the horizon speeds towards us and then... "Mike, there's two of them."
"Two of what? What's coming?"
"I don't know but whatever they are, there is two of them. And they're coming in fast." I can feel the two pulses clearly now but I can't tell what exactly they are. They feel safe, but aggressive. "I don't think they're here to hurt us."
"What? Tori this is crazy. Now you can talk to them? Come on, lets swim to the boat." Mike and I both can see the two incoming torpedoes clearly now. The growing surges they have built up are starting to drag water inward and have calmed some of the waves around us. I close my eyes again and focus on the pulses. "They're slowing down. They're almost here."
"Do you think you can out-swim them? At least to the boat?" I look over to the boat which is moving cautiously in our direction, too slow to reach us in the next hour. "No, my belly is too big and I can't swim that fast." Mike scoffs. "'Can't swim that fast'? I couldn't catch up to you and the jetski was pushing 80 miles an hour!"
"It doesn't matter. They are obviously faster than me. And besides..." I feel them dive down to use the stronger pressure to slow to a stop. They're making their ascent. "They're already here."
I open my eyes and point to the surface about ten feet in front of us. "Look." On cue, two figures break the surface. Two mermaids -- well, one mermaid and one very obvious merman -- clad in bronze armor on their chest and arms that make them look like Roman centurions. They both hold long bronze spears in their hands and I can see sheathed swords hanging from belts on their waists. Their uniforms are identical save for the female's long brown hair being braided back and extra leather under her chest plate to hold her breasts in place. It's obvious these two are soldiers and I can see Mike getting nervous. "Who are you and what are doing here?" I demand, making the first move before their spears do.
The mermaid speaks first, her voice strong yet somehow melodic. "It is uncommon for our kind to speak in front of humans. Shall we dispose of him for you?"
"What! Absolutely not! I don't care if it's 'uncommon', you can speak to both of us together!" I pull Mike to my side and he rests his hand on top of my belly. The merman speaks now, his voice rougher than the female's but somehow smoother as I find my tail tingling under its sound. "Is this human related to you?"
I compose myself in front of Mike. "Yeah, yes. He's my husband. And the future father of my children."
The merman attaches the spear to a hidden strap on his back and swims closer to us, slowly as if to show us peace. "He was married to you. But now you are mermaid and your vows to him are invalid. You are our Queen and you belong to the sea and to your people."
"You can't take her away!" Mike yells at the handsome merman. "She belongs on land with me! Tell them Tori!"
Before I get a chance to speak, the merman dashes quickly to float two feet in front of us with an intense glare directed at Mike. His body thriving with rage and so close to me allows me to better see his impressive physique with muscles rippling off every marble edge. I try to shake the horny pregnancy hormones out of my head, but he looks so delicious when he's angry. "Do not confuse my mercy for kindness, human. As the father of my Queen's offspring, you have been granted special protections, as a favor to Her Majesty. The instant you threaten my Queen or the prosperity of her seas, you will be dealt with." He breaks his glare with Mike and bows at me, his body language and voice softening to its previous coolness. "Apologies, my Queen. I only meant to make our intentions clear." I don't like it, but he has me hanging off every word.
"No problem," I sigh droopily. Mike turns to me with pure shock on his face. "Tori? What the hell?" "Huh, what?" I snap out of my fantasizing and try to recover. "I mean you can't say that to him." I look at Mike but he's only half convinced that I mean. So am I. The merman chuckles a little drawing our attention away from each other. "Forgive me, my Queen. But the changes have already starting to take place."
"What changes? What else is going to happen to me? I already have a tail and look like you guys." I look at my giant belly. "Well sort of."
"Your physical transition to a full mermaid has stopped, yes. But that's only half of it; you're still changing in your mind and in your heart. As a mermaid, you have a deep connection to the ocean and to its inhabitants. Merpeople can sense each other and feel other's emotion and thoughts from miles away, drawing us together despite the ocean's massive size. As Queen, your connection is intensified to levels we common merfolk cannot even understand." He swims closer to me till Mike is forced to tread water by himself. He floats close to me, his armored chest inches from my straining bikini top. I focus on the water dripping down his juicy pecs and... Man what is he doing to me? I look up at his face, examining the strong cut of his jawline and the crystal blue of eyes. I look into his eyes and nearly get lost, but I find desire staring back at me. That can't be the hormones. "From the legends, we know that you can sense any merperson's innermost thoughts and they will be unable to resist your pull." Oh boy. He starts to lean down as if in a trance and his lips part slightly. My mind almost scoffs but I find myself stretching up to meet him. I snap out of it and break us apart when I hear Mike yell. "Hey fish boy! What's the big idea trying to seduce my wife? Get away from her!" Mike, still exhausted from his crash and trying to stay afloat this time, shakily tries to swim up to the merman and punch him in the face. He only manages to hit his chest plate, though, and his hand bounces off leaving him wincing in pain. The mermaid gets ready to charge Mike, but the merman pauses her with a steady hand. "No need, Kaeva. And my name isn't 'fish boy', it's Gerrick."
"Oh, Mike are you okay?" I swim closer to Mike to try to check his hand, but he jerks it away. Tears roll down his cheeks, but know that its not from his injury. "How could you do that to me, Tori? Doesn't our marriage mean anything to you? Don't you love me?"
My heart feels completely torn. "Of course I love you, I'll always love you. But I'm not sure what I'm supposed to feel or what I'm supposed to do. I'm just so frustrated!" I close my eyes and rub my belly for support. Mike seeing that I'm really struggling here, puts his hand on my shoulder to relax me. "I'm sorry I snapped, the stress can't be good for the babies. But this is bothering me too. You were so ready to come live with me on land and then your tail started pulsing, and these two showed up. What happened?"
Gerrick and Kaeva exchange surprised looks. Kaeva smirks. "You felt the pulse, Majesty? Your powers are coming in faster than expected. We thought we surprised you." Gerrick takes over. "See my Queen? You're changing in ways you don't understand. But one thing is clear: you belong in the sea. Don't you feel it? You and your Mike are not even the same species anymore. You belong in the sea, to rule and raise your progeny as merpeople." Gerrick takes a deep breath and continues. "I while I would not like to offend you, my Queen, we took an oath and will do whatever necessary to bring you with us. And due to the lack of control over your transition and your being heavy with child, you will not be able to stop us."
I look over to Mike who is left broken and defeated, trying to plead one last time, but he already knows what I'll say. "Please, Tori. Don't go."
"I'm sorry. But you know they have a point. I have a tail, Mike, and our kids will have them too. We can't just live the rest of our lives in a pool or in a tank in an aquarium." I look at Kaeva and Gerrick, avoiding eye contact with the latter. "I felt something pulling me towards them as soon as my tail felt them all those miles away. I need to be among them."
"But what about the kids? They're mine too. I wanted to be there for them. I was going to be a father."
"You still will be a father." My hormones kick in and I start to cry. "But until we find a way to turn you into a merman, you can't even survive out here. Once they're born I'll bring them by to visit. You'll know your kids, Mike, and they'll love you. I'll make sure of it."
"I hadn't even thought of that. I'm going to miss the rest of our pregnancy. What about doctors?"
"I'm pretty sure merpeople know how to birth merpeople. And besides, think of how hard it was for me to walk on land before. Now I'm almost twice as big and I still have a few months to go. It would be impossible to move. The water makes it easier to move, hell easier to breathe."
"What am I supposed to tell people, huh? That my wife got turned into a fish and got dragged away into the ocean? They'll think I killed you. Or worse, they'll come after you."
I hadn't thought of that. "Who else saw me swim away?"
"I don't know. After the monsters started attacking on the beach, most people were running away in a panic or helping the injured get out of their rampage. The rescue boat is probably following us because they saw me crash the jetski."
Kaeva interrupts, "Excuse me, but the best option may be to fake her death."
Gerrick catches on. "Of course. If many were injured in a monster attack, the guards could be inclined to believe she got eaten, so no body need be searched for. Its the perfect cover up."
Mike looks back at me and hangs his head, obviously defeated. I lift his chin to see tears streaming down his face matching mine. "I wish I could stay. I truly do love you. But I need to go."
"Visit me when you can. I'll be here." He wipes the tears from his face only for more to start welling up in his eyes.
"I'll try but how do I find you? I can't exactly call you." I turn to Gerrick."What do you think?"
"Majesty, I must insist you avoid further contact with this human. It could-"
"Damn it! I already agreed to go with you and be your queen! Tell me how I can see Mike again! That's an order!" I look at him, rage swelling up inside me. I notice water starting to swirl around Gerrick. The soldiers notice too and as the the water builds in strength, Kaeva is forced to back away from him. As the current picks up, Gerrick is forced to fight the strong rapids to stay above the surface. Clouds above us begin to form and darken. Kaeva is frozen is disbelief over my show of power and starts to get pulled in herself. "Okay your Highness!" Gerrick shouts out of actual fear."I will tell you! Just call off the storm!"
In my rage, I almost set a hurricane down on him, but Mike yells in my ear "Tori, stop this storm! He's going to tell us how we can still meet! Don't do this!" I look down at my love, who is struggling to keep his grip on my arm while pulled by the current and battered by the strong winds. Seeing him struggle snaps me out of my anger and I take a deep breath and calm down. The clouds fade away, letting the sun once again beam down on us. The violent winds die down back to a calm breeze. I have to focus to dissipate the whirlpool, but it does. Gerrick stops spinning and dives down to regain his bearings while Kaeva floats closer to us, clearly shaken. "Majesty?"
"Sorry Kaeva. I didn't mean to cause such a huge storm. I didn't even know I could do that."
"No mermaid can. This is a new power. You truly are the Queen of legend."
Gerrick resurfaces. He approaches Mike and myself with caution. He bows to me and then to both of our surprise, Mike. "Please forgive any disrespect I have shown to Lord Mike. I was not aware your connection to the Queen was so prominent. I assure you both I was only thinking in the way I thought was best for the my people. I will gladly tell how you may communicate with Lord Mike. I am at your mercy but please spare me, for I have a family." I nod and he rises. "Thank you, my Queen. Now, merpeople can sense each others presence within a certain radius. But when those two share a close bond, the pulse's sensitivity and radius increase. We can even sense humans, but its more general since no merperson lingers around them for long. We mostly use it to better avoid humans. However, with your combined powers as Queen and bond with Lord Mike it should be possible for you to find him, as long as he is touching the sea. The pulse is a power from the sea and is connected to it; it won't work on land."
I look at Mike. "Sounds like an option. In case it doesn't work, we should set a place and time to meet. the old fisherman's pier is pretty unused ever since that storm a few months ago. Meet me under it; it should provide enough cover from peering eyes. Kaeva, how long do mermaid pregnancies last?" I ask without breaking eye contact with Mike.
"Around ten moons, my Queen."
"Okay so ten months. I have about three months left. I will visit you as soon as I get settled wherever they're taking me. If something happens and I can't make it, I'll send Kaeva or Garrick. I promise, I will see you again."
Mike almost smiles. "I'll hold you to that. I love you, Queen Victoria."
I pull Mike into a deep and tearful kiss. It feels weird kissing him from the side with my belly getting in the way of a normal one, but I don't ever want to pull away. But I have to.
The humming of the rescue boat gets within earshot. Gerrick warns us , "Majesty, we must leave immediately. The other humans can't ever see us." I let go of Mike and let him tread water again. Gerrick dives down first, then Kaeva. I kiss Mike one more time before backing away. "I love you too, Lord Micheal." Once I'm plenty far enough so as to not hit him, I dive, splashing my purple tail on the surface, and submerging below the waves. I swim down a ways before stopping to watch Mike from below. I see him kick his legs to stay afloat and look at my tail, reminding myself I'll never be able to go back. after a few minutes, the boat drifts next to Mike and a life preserver is thrown to him. Two men in scuba gear plunge into the water and start swimming to him. To avoid being seen through their special diving goggles, I dive deeper but I can still see him. One diver leads Mike to the boat while the other looks for the seafloor. "Good thing I dove a little deeper or he might've seen me." The diver gets Mike to the edge of the boat and I turn to swim towards Kaeva and Gerrick. But before I do, Mike sticks his head in the water and yells "Aahhh Bluv U, Daury!" before the divers lift him up onto the boat. If you can cry underwater, I do a little bit. "I love you too, Mike." I rub my belly one last time and meet up with my waiting consorts, leaving my old world behind and swimming towards a new strange one.