Amongst The Water-Fresh Waters

Chapter 32: Seventh Addition! Part 3

FIRST UPLOADED: JANUARY 5, 2020 UPDATED: AUGUST 1, 2020 5:42 PM

"So know that we all know that Matt and Finn are both in love with Kylie; can we go back to talking about something else." Brian blurts. Kylie, Finn, and Matt look at him. Kylie's face reddens. She looks at Matt and Finn, her heart racing more than it was before. "This can't be true." She says, ignoring Brian's request. Matt looks at her and shakes his head. "This is just wonderful." Finn says sarcastically.

Matt ignores him. "I know my feelings for you. But, Finn never admitted his true feelings for you." Finn rolls his eyes at Matt and smiles at Kylie. Matt quickly looks away, hurting from their longing looks at one another. He wishes he could receive the same looks from her.

"I love you Kylie. We haven't gone out on an actual date yet. But I love you." He grabs her hand and kisses it. Kylie's heart leaps nervously. She knows she loves him, but she doesn't know if she's ready to say it yet.

"It's called a Double Bond when this happens." Matt says, looking back to Kylie and Finn. Finn slowly lets go of Kylie's hand. And they both look at Matt. Matt sighs. "It's when two Mermen choose the same human or mermaid to Bond with. And Bonding is the closest the Mer-World can get to a Marriage ceremony." He explains. Kylie's eyes shoot open. Her heart starts racing again.

Finn looks back and first to her and to Matt nervously, while Nicholas gasps. "They are too young to get married!" Evie exclaims. Matt looks at her. "Not in the Mer-World. It's acceptable to be Bonded at the age of 16, sometimes 15 if the family is royalty." Kylie swallows hard. "But I'm not ready. At all!" She exclaims. Finn shakes his head agreeing.

Matt looks at them both and rolls his eyes. "We don't have to. A Merman or Mermaid can choose whoever he or she wants to Bond with, and when the time comes; typically before age 25. If we live that long." He stares down at the magical-looking sand. Finn looks at Matt and shakes his head. "We have an expiration date now?" Finn says, feeling angered. Matt looks up from the sand. "Not exactly." He takes a deep breath. "Due to Sea Creature hunters, Global Warming, and humans disposing toxic materials into the waters; our species has been dieing off and some don't make it to the Bonding age. Many are hunted down and...." He looks around him. "And what." Evie demands, her voice sounding harsh. "Killed or traded over to other hunters for money."

Everyone gasps. "Why would they do that?!" Nicholas asks alarmed. Matt looks at his face. He doesn't want to tell him the reason, he wishes he wouldn't have mentioned the hunters with Nicholas being around. But he wasn't thinking, all he could think of was how Kylie and Finn needed to know what was going on and so does Brian and he is certain Evie too. He knows for sure she is a Mermaid. 

He hears Poseidon talks about and he feels the 'Mer-Folk' connection he does when he's around Brian, Kylie, and even Finn. He hates to admit it, but the strongest feeling is when he is around Finn. And that angers him because he wants Kylie so bad, but he can't screw up the only possible relationship he could have with Finn by taking her away from him. Other than his parents and sister Lonnie; Finn is the only family member on land who is part of his world. Even though Finn wasn't raised and possibly wasn't born at sea, doesn't mean Finn isn't part of the Mer-World. Even Half-Bloods and Poseidon's Half-Breeds are. He just is curious if Finn is a Full Blood or a Half-Blood. As much as he knows about Finn, he doesn't know anything about his mom. He only knows things about his dad and that he gave up his powers.

Nicholas pokes Matt. Matt looks at him and nods. "Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts." Nicholas laughs. "Kylie does that too." "Sometimes I do it." He shrugs. Matt smiles at him. Admiring his innocence and remembers that he isn't as clueless as people think. He knows he is witty and quick for a 12-year-old. Even Kylie forgets that. Matt takes a deep breath. "Well, the hunters would do that because some of them are curious about us. Others know that we will be and are worth a lot of money." He sighs, not wanting to get to the next part. Kylie, Brian, and Finn look at Matt curiously. "We are worth money?" Kylie asks. She rolls her eyes appalled. "Typical. People are always out for money." She grunts. Finn and Brian roll their eyes.

Matt nods. "I agree. It's despicable. But it's worse than our teeth, skin, and other things are the things that are worth the money." Evie, Nicholas, and Kaylee cringe. "Eeeewwww." Kaylee says. "Ouch!" Evie exclaims. Matt nods at them. "Yes. It's incredibly painful and disgusting. So much blood." He shivers, his eyes going dark blue for a moment. "Woh!" Brian exclaims. Finn and Kylie look and each other worried. Matt snaps out of his trance and looks at them. "Sorry about that." "Your eyes were a deep blue." Kylie says at the same time Matt speaks. Matt nods. "Yeah, I know." Brian and Finn look at each other and huff. "And how do you know that?" Finn asks him. "Because that's what color they turn when Mer-Folk recall bad memories." He says as a chill runs down his back.

"I take it was terrible," Finn observes Matt's reaction. Matt shakes his head furiously. "It was the worst experience of my life." Kylie, Finn, and Brian look at the others. Evie looks at Matt and sighs. "Will you tell us. Then you can tell us more about my new Mermaid identity and Finn's family." Evie says, somewhat accepting the fact that she might be part Mermaid.

"I don't think there is much more to tell. Unless you suddenly remember anything from your childhood. Or anything peculiar." Matt looks at Finn. "And there is a LOT of stuff to tell him about our family." Finn sighs. "You can start with my dad. If you know anything about him?" "I do. But first, I need to know if Evie has remembered anything." Matt looks at Evie, her eyes are a deep purple. Finn and Kylie look at Evie worried. They look at Matt. He smiles. "It's a good thing trust me." Kaylee steps closer. "How can that be normal?" She says, pointing at Evie's eyes; Iris, Sclera, and Pupil all a beautiful Dark Purple. "When mine looked like that, except Dark Blue, it was a bad memory. But that color is a good memory. And it must be a lot of them or a long one." He informs them.

"Okay." Kaylee looks at him confused. "So much things to learn." She sighs. Brian nods. "Indeed." "Will you tell us your bad memory after she tells us her good one?" Kylie asks. Matt nods. Finn looks at Matt and rolls his eyes. "And why you had the need to try out for Prince Eric too." Matt recoils. "I thought we were done with that." Kylie frowns at Finn. "Me too." She says saddened. Finn shrugs. "I would like to know why you tried out when you had to have known I was also trying out. And I know you knew Kye was trying out for Ariel." Matt looks from Finn to Evie. "I didn't know he was trying out. Honestly." He says, placing his right hand over his left shoulder and sliding it down his arm, and clasps his hands as they meet. Everyone looks at one another confused. Matt looks at them and sighs exhausted. "Sometimes I forget that I'm friends with humans." He chuckles. Finn, Brian, and Kylie stare at him. Matt nods acknowledging them. "Pardon me for that mistake. I mean friends who aren't familiar with the Mer-World. And our customs." They all nod at him. "We appreciate the correction." Matt nods. "That sign I did represents locking in a promise in the Mer-World." He looks at Evie and continues.

"There are thousands of signs that we do to communicate underwater. Some of us don't know how to fully use our voice vibrations, so we communicate through the signs. Some words are difficult to vibrate underwater. We can talk underwater because we don't suck in water when we open our mouths like humans. Instead, the air that comes out of our mouths underwater creates small waves and vibrations which allows us to talk." Everyone stares at him with wide eyes. He laughs. "It's confusing if you haven't experienced it." "It's another skill Mer-Folk has to learn. In fact, some merfolk die from trying. They try too hard and suck in water instead of creating small waves. But it's really rare. At first when they try to speak underwater, usually only screeching and barely any waves come out. After some practice, they can create vibrations that sound like the words they need to say. The next step is to actually mouth the words out loud. The vibrations and the mouthing imitate talking. The closest thing we can get to talking underwater."