Unknown Depths.

Chapter 34

The strange thing to Delia however, well I mean, one of the strange things to Delia was that his tail was so different. It hadn't even occurred to her before that not all mermaid tails would look the same. In fact, it hadn't even occurred to her that there would be other mermaids, let alone mermen... 

Gabriel's tail was longer than hers, green (as opposed to black) and looked rougher. Despite the fact that it had similar scales, it appeared as though some of his were damaged, scarred even. The biggest difference however where the fins... Hers had clean straight edges, where his looked jagged and even cut in certain places. 

It was as she stared at him that she realised something, how could they talk to each other underwater? Sending him a confused look she realised, that just like she had been staring at him, he had been staring at her. He swam closer to her, circling her and looking at her from all angles. Delia turned, confused as to what he was doing when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her with him. 

Startled and a bit confused she let him lead her, and silently followed. Now Delia thought that as a mermaid she could swim rather fast, but it paled in comparison with how fast Gabriel swam. She tried to keep up with him, but instead just got pulled along. 

They went down deeper and got closer to the cliffside until they reached an opening. Gabriel pulled her closer to him as he manoeuvred them through the tunnel until they reached what appeared to be a cavern. Pulling her up he surfaced, taking in a breath of air. 

The cavern was so dark that Delia couldn't see anything, so when he let go of her wrist and swam away she started to get scared. But then she heard a clicking noise, and a light overhead flicked on, "I was hoping it would still work." Gabriel said with a smile as he held himself up on the wall, having pulled his upper body out of the water, "This is just one of the air bubbles around here." 

"Is that what you guys use to communicate?" Delia said looking around the cavern, "Airpockets?"

Gabriel chuckled as he let himself fall back into the water, "If we wan't to speak a human language," He said moving closer to the shallow end, "Our language, a mer-language, so to say, is made to be spoken underwater. Technically it could be spoken above the water, but similarly to speaking a human language below the water, it's not understandable. But as you don't speak my language, this would be a better place to talk."

"So there are more of you?" Delia said as she moved closer to the shallow part of the cave, resting on the floor. 

"You thought you were the only one?" He said with a chuckle. 

"I don't know," Delia retorted, "I mean I was just panicking over the fact that I had turned into a goddamn fish..." 

"Fish?!" Gabriel exclaimed, his eyebrows raised, " I'll have you know that we are still very much mammals, thank you very much. We don't lay eggs and our tails are horizontal, not vertical." 

Delia chuckled, "Alright, I turned into a marine mammal, still something quite odd, at least to me. So can you tell me what happened? And what has the orb got to do with it?"

Gabriel sighed as the smile he had on his face faded, "I wish I could... I don't even fully understand it myself. The orb is a relic of sorts, a part of our history and culture. It had been stolen and I was sent to find and return it. However, trying to do so resulted in it ending up at your aquarium, where those who stole it tried to steal it again." 

"The burglars?" Delia asked quietly. 

"Yes." Gabriel replied nodding, "I thought that they had gotten it that night... As I could no longer sense it in the water. But when I saw you that following morning I knew something was up... And when you first entered the sea I sensed the return of the orb to the water so I figured you would have it..." 

"Well, I don't..." Delia said, "But you think that orb turned me into a mermaid?" 

Gabriel nodded.

"So what kind of thing is that orb?"

Gabriel let out a humourless chuckle, "That is a very good question... It's an item that we merfolk hold sacred, however, it is ancient, and I don't know the origins. But I know it's powerful and in the wrong hands can cause a lot of trouble."

Delia sighed, "That's still quite vague."

"You could see it as a vessel of magic, it can't be used by everyone, but if you know how to use it you can access the magic inside." 

"You're telling me magic is real?" Delia said furrowing her brows, "And that orb contained it?"

Gabriel nodded once more, "Magic powerful enough to turn a human into a merperson, but also to do so much more... My theory is that when you came in contact with it as you fell into the water, you accidentally triggered  the magic inside, made it turn you into a mermaid."

Delia stared down at her tail for a moment, gently moving it almost to tell herself that it was really still there, "So it was an accident?" She said, "And if we find the orb you can turn me back?" She asked looking up at him and locking eyes with him. 

Gabriel sighed, and a sympathetic smile appeared on his face, "Theoretically yes, but then we'd have to find it first." 

A silence fell over them before Delia spoke up once more, "Who is the one that is trying to steal it? and why?" 

"And old friend of mine who's up to no good..."