The New England Aquarium

Nerin woke slowly, stirring. Grainy sand, quite unlike the soft, organic surface at the bottom of her ocean home, ground against her smooth skin. She moaned quietly at the unpleasant sensation. The sand opened tiny cuts in her skin; too small to bleed, but large enough to burn with the chemicals in the water which surrounded her.
Water? No... but it was water. The last she had known, she had been lying on the beach, tangled in kelp, unable to escape as...
Humans. The humans had found her. That was where she was. In one of their tanks. In one of their poorly simulated oceans, surrounded by contaminated human water, with its simulated current and tough sand. There was nothing alive in this water. The billions of tiny creatures which always surrounded her in the ocean... they were gone. Their constant whispers were missing. And the silence frightened her.
Slowly, she forced her eyes open, sitting up on the bottom of the tank. Her soft brown hair floated eerily around her as she peered about, trying to see outside of the tank. But she couldn't. There was something covering the glass... like a blanket of kelp. She strained to remember what her teacher had called them. A tarp. That was it. The tank was covered by a tarp, and she could not see the room beyond.
Her heart began to pound wildly. What was she going to do? Trapped here by the humans, far from her people, far from Mother Sea. All she could do was wait for death, which the humans would surely bring. That was what they brought her people, wasn't it? Death?
Dissection.
With a wail of panic and despair and one slash of her tail, she rocketed off of the tank floor. Such a powerful stroke could have carried her easily for hundreds of feet. But this tank was far too small for her, in the end.
She slammed into the glass, ricocheting back against the hard sand. She lay stunned for a moment, and then curled up, bending her tail to hide her face beneath her graceful flukes. And she started to sob. There were no tears here, beneath the water. She had never shed tears. Nothing shed tears that lived beneath the sea; it would be pointless. But the noises she made were of grief nonetheless.

Gajeel

A loud thump noise caused Gajeel to slowly wake up as his mind tried to fingure out where this unfamiliar terriory was and how he got there. Which was hard to do since the back of his head was throbbing in pain and the rough sand did n't help to speed up his memory. What he did remember was Nerin went out for a swim but didn't come back within a hour or two like she always does, if she knew she would be out longer she would've invited him to go along. Gajeel has always been protective of his wife-to-be even as kids before their marriage was arranged. Anyway, Nerin never did come back from her swim. So he decided to go look for her, there are more than enough dangers for merfolk and especially for a future queen of merfolk. He swam too her usual spots, thinking she just lost track of time, but she was no where to be found. A school of sliver fish swam pass them muttering something about Nerin being tied up by sea weed on a beach near a human terrioty. He finally did find her but a small school of humans were already coming up to her, of course he tried to fight them off, but the monsters had the advantage with being on land and one of them got behind him and hit his head with something hard- knocking him out.

That's what he can only recall..... Wait, where's Nerin? Gajeel's goldish brown eyes quickle searched through the tank and spotted his princess sitting on the sand and her beautiful tail in front of the her face. Clearing in distress from being captured by humans and now in one of their glass cages. With a swift movement of his shark like tail, Gajeel swam towards Nerin. "Nerin?" He asked with his voice filled with concern and in their own language.

In the process of waiting for them to wake up, Vincent had fallen asleep. He had been astonded when they had brought them in, and then appalled when one of them suggested that they cut them open. No, that was not how they studied things. It wasn't how he worked. He wanted to study their behavior, not their insides. He had already begun to think about how he could get them a saltwater tank. And then of course there wa facing Tressa. She had always tolf him that mermaids existed, and he had always firmly told her she was wrong. Well, now the proof was right in front of his eyes, and he could no longer deny it. She'd get to have a feild day with teasing him, and saying "I told you so." He smiled in his sleep.

Tressa McCarthy

"YOU'RE SERIOUS!!! They're really there now?! ....... This better not be another of your pranks, Jorden, or else I'll get you back. Remember last time you pulled something like this on me, everything in your apartment was covered with christmas wrapping paper- even the food and toliet paper. If they aren't there, my pay back will be more creative and annoying than that- that's a promise!..... You sure?.... Okay..... Okay..... I'm on my way, but I'm not kidding about my treat Jorden. You and Vincent both know how serious I am when it comes to mermaids!" A firey red hair girl in her early twenties with shamrock green eyes filled with excitment and hope hung up her cell. Tressa was under one of her usual trees in the city park and was eagarly drawing away in her sketch book before the head researcher of the all marine biology departments of The New England Aquarium, Jorden, called her and informing her that a couple of people caught a pair of merfolk on the beach this morning. He said they won't be viewed by the public yet, but since she was a close cousin and friends he allowed her 24-7 free access to see them. Jorden was more of a annoying older brother than a mere cousin to Tressa, that like to prank her every chance he had. But she always got the last laugh.

Tressa hurried to put her book and pencils away and started running out of the park and to the concrete sidewalk. A yellow car was a little way up to high way, perfect timing! "Taxi!" She yelled with one arm in the air trying to pin down the taxi and her small one shoulder bag in her other hand. To her luck, the taxi stopped and no one was trying to get in. Which was rare for her. "Where to Miss?" The taxi driver asked with a traditional taxi driver cap on, not a lot of driver where them anymore, as he glanced at Tressa through his rear view mirror. "Drive to The New England Aquarium, please?" She replied as her right hand went down her navy jean pocket to dig out her wallet. She slowly opened it to a picture of a eldery man simling with calm and gentle eyes. "They're real, Gramps, but you believed me before anyone "proofed" their existance didn't you," she whispered to the picture as the taxi stopped.

As Jorden told her, she got no trouble getting in where the merfolk were being kept. Most, if not all, the staff her already know her face from always beening her and being cousins with the head researcher. What surprised her was that Vincent was sleeping on the job! How can he sleep when there were two merfolk in the tank in front of him, even though the tank was covered for now. A smirk formed on her lips as she moved behind him, and thumped him in his head with her free hand. "Wake up, Vincent! How can I give you grief about the exostance about merfolk if you're alseep?"




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Nerin stirred when she heard his voice, whispering to her in their tongue. She uncurled her tail, looking up at him through wide, frightened eyes. She was glad he was there, and yet she was not. It meant she was not alone...
But it meant that they were both going to die.
"Gajeel," She whispered, flicking her tail to carry herself up off of the sand. She swam into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder.
She couldn't come to terms with what had happened. She had always been one of the best swimmers in their kingdom. She'd never had trouble with storms before now. But she had, this time, and that was all that mattered. She had become tangled in the kelp.
And now she was here.
And so was he. And it was her fault.

Nerin stirred when she heard his voice, whispering to her in their tongue. She uncurled her tail, looking up at him through wide, frightened eyes. She was glad he was there, and yet she was not. It meant she was not alone...
But it meant that they were both going to die.
"Gajeel," She whispered, flicking her tail to carry herself up off of the sand. She swam into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder.
She couldn't come to terms with what had happened. She had always been one of the best swimmers in their kingdom. She'd never had trouble with storms before now. But she had, this time, and that was all that mattered. She had become tangled in the kelp.
And now she was here.
And so was he. And it was her fault.

Gajeel

When Gajeel saw that Nerin's eyes were filled with complete terror before she swam into his arms. He couldn't help to let his hatred for humans boil even hotter, but Nerin needed him to be the calm one out of the both of them, even they were in water he knew that his love was crying from fear of their unknown future. "It's going to be okay, Nerin, we'll get out of here somehow and go home." Gajeel said smoothly has he unwrapped one of his arms from her waist and combed his fingers through Nerin's soft brown hair. "Don't blame yourself, love. You know as much as I do I would've followed you everywhere even to hell," he continued. But the merfolk brief happiness was short lived when a unfamiliar voice that spoke a human language, English if he wasn't mistaken, came from the other side of the tarp. Gajeel's arm tighten around Nerin's waist, as if he can protect her from anything if he held her close enough to him.

Vincent woke with a start, and then smiled slightly as he realized it was Tressa. "Should have known you'd get here this quickly. And seeing as I've already eaten my own words many times over, hassel away, my dear." His eyes gazed upon Tressa, and he ran his hands through his hair. "I never thought I'd live to see the day that I'd say you were right Tressa...and I was wrong." He smiled at her, taking in her appearance. She really was a stunning woman.

((Crap, way to pay attention. Okay, I editied it. I'll wait for Ravelin to post, and then we'll uncover them.))

(There is a tarp over the mermaids' tank... Vincent can't see into the tank without removing the tarp...)

Nerin hissed sharply when she heard human voices. She understood English. All merfolk learned at least one human tongue while they were growing up.
It didn't mean that they sounded pleasant to her.
Human voices were harsh and grating, sawing away at the air as it passed through their lungs. Not at all like mermish voices, which were beautiful and melodic, shivering through the water which passed through their gills rather than through air coming from a pair of lungs. She had always hated the way humans spoke.
Worse, what she could understand... said clearly that they were gloating over catching them.
"Gajeel, how are we going to get out of here?" She demanded, suddenly sounding more angry than sad or frightened.

Tressa McCarthy

While Vincent was finally admitting he was WRONG all those years of being stubborn about mermaids are nonexist, a couple of maintenance workers of the aquarium slowly pulled off the tarp. Finally revealing Tressa's "proof" of the existance of mermaids, man if she could only see the looks on some certain people's faces when they reliezed that she was right all along. The merfolk were holding each other, as if they were lovers. It wasn't surprise to see them holding each other like that, one half of their bodies are human and her grandfather's stories always had the mermaids and merfolk have human like acts, expressions, and feelings. Taking a quick glance at Vincent, who unlike her was surprise that merfolk could have a few human traits, and shook her head a little before looking at the merfolk again. Now looking at them with new eyes because she was overwelmed by them at first glance, the smile on her face slowly turned into a straight line as her artistic eye examaine what most people, no matter how smart they are, would miss.

Both of the merfolk's bodies were tense and looked they were ready to either fight or flight, their eye's glaring at her with burning hatred, and the mermaid's eyes were a bit swollen and red as if she had been crying not long before. Not to mention there were was just sand and water in the tank, nothing else. No fish, coral reefs, rocks, or anything that would help they relax a little. Without taking her eyes off of the merfolk, "Hey, Vincent. How exactly did the merfolk get here? Jorden said you just want to research their behavior but how exactly can you if they don't have any fish, sea creature, or reefs to interact with?"

Vincent sighed, running a hand through hs hair, casting a sad glance at the merepeople. "I'm trying my best to get them a better place to live for now. If anything I'd like to learn if we could communicate with them. T.J. wanted to dissect them, which I was against completely. I know that tank is bad, esspecially since for now it's freshwater. I have no idea how that's even going to affect them. But the heads are against it, they keep telling me to work with what I'm given. But it's not like I can do much...I mean...they are half-human. I don't think others see that...they just see a new species of animal." He sighed again, his eyes turning hard. "Sometimes I wonder why I got into this feild of study..." In the back of his mind, he went back to the day he was sent to Juvi, and he knew exactly why he had become a biologist.

"Gajeel," Nerin whispered, even as she clung to him. "Are they going to kill us?"
She shuddered. These two seemed against the idea... fiercely so. But what about the other humans...?
He knew there were more. Many, many more.
She pictured the weapons they would use to slice her open... and almost broke down again.

Tressa McCarthy

"Well, YOU'RE not related to the head researcher that is also married to this aquarium owner's daughter, or you don't have information to make Mr.Pain-in-my-ass-cousin into Mr. Divorcee." Tressa said with confident smile on her face. "I sure that I could talk him into getting these guys a better tank and probably even get T.J. FIRED if her EVER MENTION DISSETING THESE MERFOLK!" Yes, it was no surprise for anyone that knew Tressa to find out that she was naturaly protective of merfolk. Who wouldn't if they spent over 15 years of their lives trying to convince people that they were real and then when a pair of them show up some idiot want to kill them! It was almost as natural as breathing air for Tressa to look out for the mer folk. She was probably was going to annoy Vincent about her being right, since now he no longer expected it. It was just plain no fun if he was going to let her tell him that she was RIGHT and he was WRONG all those YEARS. Until her phone went off, after looking at the caller ID, Tressa gve an annoyed sigh. "Well, if it isn't my FAVORITE regular buyer." She said in a saracastic tone to Vincent, he probably already figured out who she was referring. It was one of her richest and regular cilents that loves Tressa's art..... But there was one problem. "Hey, Mrs. Regina Massarotti. What can I do for you?..... PLEASE tell me you're joking? You want a 50" x 50" oil painting in a WEEK?..... I don't care how much you are going to pay for it. I have other paintings to do, I can not put all those on hold just for you..... Don't you hear me? I. Can. Not. Do. It. In. A. Blastin'. Week!..... Do not hang up on me! I'm not doing it! You hear-" Mrs. Massarotti hung up leaving Tressa with a annoying dial tone until she hung up also. "I can't believe that woman! How does she expect me to do her order in a WEEK? ..... Looks like I'm going need to pull another string of all nighters... And I just now gotten some sleep from her LAST order," she ranted to herself as she was making towards the exit. Turning back she gave Vincent a smile, "Hey. I'll see you later, I'll try to give Jorden a call to see how much my blackmail is worth."



((OOC: Sorry for not posting!!! I've been busy baby sitting my 3 year old cousin that last couple of days. When I take longer than a day to reply, please PM me.))