Cura let out a heavy sigh as she leaned back in her chair a bit and looked at Lupe and the others.
“It was maybe 10 years ago, I was just a little girl about 16 or so.” Said Cura as everyone around the table did the math, Cura was about 26 which was about of age with everyone else. Lupe was the youngest at 23. “My parents had taken us to the resort area near some cliffs, really beautiful looking up at those high cliffs, a great place to get close to land because no humans can get there with any ease.”
“Ok…what happened?” inquired Lupe, her heart racing a bit there was an area near where she grew up with cliffs which went straight down into the water.
“I was out exploring and got too close to the human area.” explained Cura “I was just sitting there watching the scene around me when suddenly one of those…what do you call them large cars with multiple seats in them?”
“Buses?” offered Colton
“No smaller.” Stated Cura
“Mini-vans.” Offered Harmony as Cura snapped her finger and pointed at her.
“Yes, Mini-vans.” Stated Cura “Well a Mini-van came plowing over the edge and came hurtling straight down at me. I swam out of the way but the van crashed into the water and began to sink. When I looked in there was a mother and son. They would have died without me, I was still young enough to use my magic and I transformed them both.”
“You saved their lives?” stated Adrian “What was wrong with that?”
“Well…the mother had no useful skills according to my brother and worse turns out it wasn’t an accident she had tried to kill herself and her son…Alejandro, I think that was his name.” stated Cura as Lupe’s eyes widened a bit. “She had an abusive husband on land and was addicted to drugs and she tried to commit suicide and take her son with her.”
Now it was Adrian’s turn to wince.
“The transformation removed all traces of the drug from her but not the mental need for it. She found substitutes on our own underworld but she still wanted her old stuff. Within a few months she died when she injected a needle of human drugs she had found.” Stated Cura “Those drugs are very deadly to use even in the smallest amounts…which left this 10 year old boy a new made merman and an orphan. They found him a new home, not sure where and a new family.”
“I see.” Said Harmony “I don’t see how that is your fault?”
“My brother is what you would call raciest toward human turned merpeople, he considers them third class citizens and only after two or three generations are their descendants worthy of being normal citizens.” Stated Cura “They will never be the equal of the pure breed merpeople in his eyes, my whole family is like that.”
Suddenly she grinned.
“It was funny when a mermaid princess, direct blood of the Queen of the Indian Sea married a newly turned merman.” Stated Cura “That was fun to see them try to wrap their minds around that.”
“The only exception in their view is if the human has some skills they want…Chloe and Stacy are prime examples of that.” Explained Cura “That is what he meant by this group of humans being better then the last ones I found.”
“I see, so we will face racism because we where formally humans?” inquired Colton
“A little depending on where you go, the closer you go to the center cities the purer blood merpeople there are. Here most people have a former human in their blood history and my brother would look down on them.” Stated Cura “It is more classism then anything else, Chloe and Stacy will be welcomed because while they used to be human they will be very useful to society and rich. Adrian as a hunter would not be welcomed in the same circles…hell I wouldn’t be welcomed either. I may be pure blood but I am a backwater no nothing aid to a no nothing town. So we are all in the same boat as humans would say it.”
“I see…so what do we want to do now?” inquired Harmony
“Well we can follow the example of the other members of our group or…” said Cura as she reached into a pouch on her own belt and pulled out a watch. “The bars and night clubs will be opening in an hour or so.”
“So either go to bed or go out and party?” inquired Lupe
“Yes.” Confirmed Cura