His Aquatic Angel

8 - The truth in the myth

As anticipated, Aaron was back in the ocean the next day.

Now, it had developed into a habit, he felt like a dog that kept diggng the same hole at the park. But he didn't mind.

He wondered if Nephrin came by yesterday while he was at the hospital. He thought it was very likely because she had confessed to him that while he scowled for her in the ocean for two weeks, she had just been watching him from a distance.

And as he drove out his father's boat to it's usual spot, his ears peered up at the sound on a body moving noisily on water.

He halted his boat and looked out into the water. There was nothing there, all that was left was the water moving unsteadily.

And he got suprised when she popped her body out of the water quickly. He then cursed out loudly at his shock.

Nephrin on the other hand laughed. She just found it funny when she saw the grown man scared and cursed out after.

But Aaron felt ridiculous, he hated that he still held a bit of fear when it came to her, even though she knew that she meant no harm.

The least he could do to the girl that saved her was at least throw out his fear on her out the window.

But sometimes, he really couldn't help it. All the alarms in his body rings when he sees the razor in her teeth at the back, or the dark glow of her eyes.

"Where were you yesterday?" She asked him as she crossed her hands at the opening of the boat.

"About that, I couldn't come because I had to meet my newly born niece. Her name is Eva and she's so tiny." Aaron said, with admiration for Eva in his eyes.

"Oh, she's a baby?" Nephrin asked.

"Yes."

"I have never seen a human baby before, but I don't know what to expect from them."

"Well, they are just so beautiful. They are so tiny that they barely fit into your arms. They feel so fragile and when you look into their eyes, you see that they are –"

"Pure." She completed his sentence in a low tone.

"Yes, they look pure, and so very innocent."

Nephrin noticed the twinkle in his eyes as he spoke of his niece. "So, was this baby really important that you couldn't come down here?"

He laughed at Nephrin as he had noticed that similar tone of voice. "Are you jealous of a baby?" He asked, quirking his eyebrows up.

"What? No." She shook her head profusely. "Why would I be jealous of a child, a child that can't even tell it's cealva to it's cobarru."

"I'll never get used to your dialect, Nephrin. But I understand if you're jealous."

"I'll never understand yours. It feels odd flowing out of my mouth. And I told you before, I'm not jealous." She crossed her arms and frowned.

Now that expression made her look scary and if she hasn't met Nephrin before and met her with this expression on his face, he would have blacked out from fear.

"Okay, I believe you. Don't frown."

"Thank you, and you can't tell me that I shouldn't frown."

"Yes ma'am." He said tipping his fake hat and Nephrin didn't exactly understand what he was doing.

So she shrugged.

She then looked at the direction where Aaron always come from. She saw the sand and the lights and seemed for far away.

"You like what you see?" He asked her.

"I don't know, it looks beautiful. But we're always told that land isn't what it seems, it's in fact, a minefield."

"You're right, but we can choose to set aside the negatives of life as a human and live your best life." He said. "I've always wanted to ask you, do you consider yourself a mermaid?"

"A mermaid?" She looked up in thought. "Wait, men consider half fish, half woman as a mermaid right?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm not exactly that. But I guess I am a mermaid."

"Fascinating. So the creatures that sailors had seen on the water were in fact, mermaids. It is hard to believe sailors that have been at sea for so long but to every myth, there is some truth."

"Yes, but I doubt the creatures the sailors had seen exactly in their pure form like me. They would be frightened instead of mystified and if they were too scared to even came their way, how would we get our sacrifices?"

"Your what?" He said in shock.

"What?" Nephrin said to sound clueless on what she has just said. She hated her blabber mouth now more than ever.

"Nephrin, you're now scaring me a little bit."

"I'm sorry, it's not what I meant to say. I freaked out and said the wrong words. I have such a loose mouth."

"No it's fine. About this true form thing you just mentioned, you guys can change forms?"

"Most of us, some mermaids live on land in their human form and they are taught on the human culture."

"Really? Are they really common?"

"Yes, more than you think. Except for places that are too far from the water."

"What do they do on land?"

"They..." she started. "Um... It's not important really."

Aaron knew she lied but she didn't want to push the matter further as she didn't seem eager to tell him about that.

"Okay. Can you turn into a human form too?"

"Yes, but it's not in my place to."

"Why?"

"We have different roles in our kingdom and there are people that dwell on land, and there are people that operate their duties at sea. I don't go to land, I'm not even allowed to be here." She smiled a fraction.

"I'm really drawn into this, I'm really curious to know about the mermaids on land. But it's fine if you're to shy to tell me."

"I'm not shy." She rebutted.

He shook his head at her need to revel at every word he said.

"So how do they choose who goes on land and who stays in the water."

"We don't choose, we're born into it." She started. "I'm a not product of two mermaids so I stay in water. I'm not exactly like the rest of them."

"How aren't you?"

"They are a product of two mermaid and have the full blood of the... how do I say this to you? The Verkallath."

He shrugged, not understanding what she meant by that.

"The Verkallath mates with the mermaids to keep our bloodline in check." She said and he finally understood. "So people like me that are not birthed from two mermaids are much rare. So, I stay in the water and will birth another set of mermaids with the Verkallath."

"I don't know if it's appropriate for me to say, but that is sad.

"It is." She said looking at land. "Enough about my kingdom, tell me about your Eva. Who is she going to mate with when she matures?"

And just like that, Aaron facepalmed and laughed at her obliviousness.