“Damon?” inquired a voice he knew all that well, as he turned his head and looked toward the beach where he saw that his car wasn’t the only one in the parking lot anymore, there was a black jeep siting next to his car. He knew that Jeep very well because it belonged to his best friend, his best friend Jon stood on the beach and he wasn’t alone, Jon’s girlfriend Cindy was standing beside him and so was his girlfriend Sarah. All three of them where high school students and had been best friends since they where in 5th grade. He could see that Sarah and Cindy where still in their high school one piece swimsuits with jean shorts on, while Jon had his own swim trunks on with a t-shirt on. All three of them where on the schools swim team and given that Sarah’s house was down the road, they must have seen his car while driving back from swim class.
“My God mermaids!” said Cindy as she pointed at them.
“Sarah?” said Damon in his new voice as he looked at his friends, they where maybe 30 feet away from him and given the full moon, they could easily see him and likely the tail as well.
“Damon?” inquired Sarah again. “What the hell is going on?”
Before Damon could answer he heard his mother take in a deep breath before the air began to fill with a strange beautiful song. Damon turned to see his mother was singing and then he looked back at his friends, for a second nothing happened and then his four friends seamed to freeze where they were, a second later they began to shaking a bit and take steps toward the water.
“What are you doing!” yelled Damon as he looked at his mother, as his friend’s feet reached the water’s edge and kept heading into the water.
“Mermaids can’t be seen by people, it leads to them hunting us.” Answered his mother as she paused for a moment with her song. “I am afraid that by law they have to die.”
“No!” yelled Damon at the top of his lungs. “I will not let you kill my friends.”
For a moment his mother looked at him and looked at his friends who where starting to come out of their musical trance. They where now in waist deep water.
“Alright, are all of them under 18 years old?” inquired his mother
“Yes.” Confirmed Damon, he was the oldest of this group of friends.
“Good, then since they aren’t 18 my magic could work on them. Then there is one other option, they can become mermaids or mermans.” explained his mother as Demon blinked. “As a mermaid of Royal blood I can turn them, so will you once you get older and learn your magical powers. Go up to them and explain it to them, either they become merpeople or I am afraid they will have to die.”
“Can’t we just let them go?” inquired Damon as his mother shook her head.
“Not without causing our own deaths, that of your siblings and in the end the three of them because they will be hunted down and killed for knowing the secret.” Explained his mother “I am sorry, Scarlett but it is either they turn or they die, one or the other.”
“But Dad must have know about you being a mermaid.” Countered Damon
“A King can do as he pleases, not the subjects.” Explained his mother as she looked at the three humans in the water. “Go explain things to them.”
Damon looked at his mother before swimming toward his friends, to his amazement instead of swimming on the surface he dove under the water and with two powerful kicks he reached them.
“Ok, why are we in the water?” inquired Jon
“I saw mermaids.” Explained Cindy as she shock her head and looked out to see to see one of the mermaids still there. “I see a mermaid.”
“I see two.” Whispered Sarah as Damon broke the surface before them. For a long moment none of them spoke.
“Alright this is going to be hard to explain, I don’t understand it myself.” Said Damon
“Mermaids are real.” Stated Cindy
“Apparently Cindy.” Said Damon
“How do you know who I am?” inquired Cindy
“Damon?” asked Sarah as she looked at the shell necklace that her boyfriend always wore and now graced the neck of his mermaid. Damon nodded his or rather her head. “You’re a mermaid?”
“Until a few minutes ago, no.” admitted Damon “Well not really according to her, she is my mother and I was born a mermaid and turned into a human. She transformed me back into one.”
“Ok…” said Jon as he looked back at the mermaid, he could see some resemblance for sure. “So why did she start singing.”
“Well…” said Damon as he thought about how to say it and decided to just go straight to the point. “According her, there is a law Mermaids can’t be seen by humans and she just tried to kill you.”
“Kill us!” yelled Cindy
“By making us walk into the Sea.” Stated Sarah “I assume she stopped because you convinced her to let us go?”
“In a way, she can’t let you go but she will give you a choice.” Said Damon “She can turn you into merpeople and you can follow her to wherever she is from or she can start singing again and kill you.”
For the longest time his friends looked at him, her and back at his mother who suddenly disappeared under water only to reappear only 10 feet away from the small group.
“Scarlett speaks the truth, either you become mermaids or mermans or I am afraid you will die.” Stated his mother “I am sorry but that is the law and if you where let go, more merpeople would come and lure you and maybe your entire family into the water to die. It is a peaceful death, you just walk into the water and die but it is death, I am sorry.”
“So either we become merpeople and leave our lives behind us, leave our friends, our families everything or we die?” inquired Jon
“Correct.” confirmed his mother “You will have great lives under the sea, we always need more mermaids or merman’s depending on which you choose.”
“Wait…choose?” inquired Damon
“Yes, I can change their genders if they so please.” explained his mother
“Wait…couldn’t you have turned me into a merman?” inquired Damon as his mother shook her head.
“No, I was awakening your true form not making a new one, Scarlett.” Explained his mother before looking back at the three humans. “So what will it be, turn or die? Become Mermaids or Mermans?”