A Fishy Business

Chapter 10: Marianelli

A merman had suddenly appeared at the bottom of the pool.  He had come out from the tunnel I had first gone through to get the Venture.  He looked up at the girls, swimming closer to them at an alarming speed.  He was much bigger than me, with one of the largest tails I had ever seen.  It had pointy edges that propelled him quickly.  His head rose above water.  The girls swam as quickly as they possibly could to the edge of the pool in a mad panic.  Dave had fainted on the floor in horror.  My classmates made it out of the water and huddled together in a corner.  As the merman swam towards the side, he took something out from a pocket in his tail.  It was a bottle of something. 

“The potion!” I gasped.  King Tyamides had made a second batch of Aqu’s potion- with my blood!  The merman was drinking the concoction rapidly, desperate to make the transformation into human form.  But his metamorphosis looked painful, just as mine had been.  At first, his gills began to shrivel up, and mould into his neck.  He hyperventilated as he tried to breathe air for the first time.  But, after a minute, the process of breathing became more natural to him and he could speak.  He looked around, huffing and puffing noisily. 

“Where is she?!” he bellowed.  “Where is Marina?”  My heart started to beat quickly.  I needed to leave.  This merman had been sent by the king to come after me, and I knew I had to get out of the swimming pool quickly.  Any sudden movement I made would surely attract his attention.  Slowly, I sidestepped away from the bench I was sitting on.  I noticed my classmates had not told the merman about my whereabouts.

“Come on, girls!” replied the merman.  “Where is the mergirl?”  But he ceased asking questions as his transformation continued.  His tail ripped into two muscular, long legs.  I couldn’t watch the rest- it was too gruesome.  It was unlikely that the merman would notice my exit, as he was facing the opposite direction to me, and concentrating on my classmates.  This was my chance to leave.  Speedily I ran out of the room.  I bumped into a woman as I ran out into Archway Bathing House’s main corridor.  She dropped the clothes she had been carrying onto the floor. 

“I’m sorry,” I said, hurrying off.  I ran as fast as I could out onto the street.  I wasn’t sure what I should do, but across the street was the bus that would take me home.  I looked strange sprinting towards it, and I noticed several people waiting at the bus stop take a step back.  The bus arrived, I jumped on and it left.  I breathed a sigh of relief, whilst looking behind me to see if anyone had noticed me leaving Archway Bathing House.  To my horror, the merman had completely transformed into a human and was standing outside, completely naked, looking around to see where I’d gone.  Well, hopefully he wouldn’t be able to see me on the top deck, I thought.  Wrong!  The merman looked upwards, and spotted me.  I suspected that my worried expression had given him confirmation that I was the girl he was looking for- the world’s first half-mermaid.  He sped after the bus, but his legs did not seem to operate as he wanted, and he fell flat on his face.  The merman looked up again.  This time, he was shouting something, but I couldn’t hear.  Before he had a chance to catch up with the bus, it had gotten away.

As soon as the bus arrived at my stop, I got off and ran as fast as I could back home, where I burst through the front door.  Rob was reading the newspaper in the kitchen. 

            “Where’s Mum?” I shouted.

            “What’s the matter with you?” he laughed.  I ignored him and carried on looking for mum.  “Did you hear me?”  Rob went on. 

            “You…” I said.  “You wouldn’t understand.”  Rob looked slightly hurt.

            “Woman problems?” he suggested.