Different Waters [Logic/Mageling]
 

It had been almost 40 years since everything fell apart. Normalcy had just started to return to the so called country he called home. Marcus had always grown up with stories of what it was like before the flood from his parents. How the large metal cities would shine in the summer light. The way air planes looked while they flew through the sky. How electricity was always flowing when they needed it and all the things it powered. These stories were far different from the world he grew up in. After the drastic rise in seas levels there was barley anything left of the old world. Whole cities were swallowed. Coast lines were pushed in-land by miles. There was not a signal country that escaped the water. Thousands lost their lives and those left behind face an uncertain future. Lack of food and fresh water drove some countries to war. Places in Europe began to revert back to a almost medieval way of governance. Cut off the South America, The USA and Canada merge together creating a land with out borders and dubed itself the UCA (Untied Citizen Alliance). It was in the UCA that Marcus lived in a small fishing town which sat upon a high cliff face. Where ever you went in the small community called Doolin Heights; The Ocean could be seen, along with the ruins of a large Metropolis. Farm animal were everywhere in the town. They not only provided food, but transportation. Few Cars still ran on the roads. Fishing was the main revenue for the town. Whose that still feared the water lived farther in land and needed the seafood to survive.

Marcus was not scared of the water. He was more scared of what was underneath it. Old wife's tales spoke of 'Sea children', Mer-folk what like to live off rocky coast and in coral reefs. The tales spoke of these creates luring sailors to their deaths. Some of the more extreme tales he had heard claim that these Mer-folk wait in shallow water for stupid humans swim by then attacked. Sucking the poor persons blood in order to stay young for a while longer. Marcus did not believe half the stories here heard about these Mermaids. There was probably little truth to a story which clams if you become a food source for the mermaid then your will live as long as they do, breath underwater like a fish. There was probably little truth to the stories, other then mermaids really did exist. Fishermen had caught them in their nets. The those human that had captured these creates said they possessed fearsome powers that almost did not seem real, like an ability to control the way the water moves. In all his years of fishing the coastal waters he had yet to capture a Mermaid in his nets. Even though the water was warm and ruin city had turned itself into a coral reef. Perfect habitat for those beasts if the stories were to be believed.

The sun was starting the poke its head over the land. Marcus had been up for an hour. He fixed his hair and picked out his clothing. Making sure the house was locked he rolled his bike to the road and got on it. The bike he used around town belong to his Mother before her death. It was a girls bike, complete with red hand holds and bright pink paint which was in the process of flaking off. Without hesitation the young boy of 20 years road through the town. Doolin was dead. There was no one to be seen. At 6am every one was asleep and would be for at least another 2 hours. Marcus would have been a sleep too if the nets just off the beach shore did not need to be checked for fish. In fact the young fisherman would be asleep now if there had not been a cold wind against his face. It took more then 20 minutes to follow the winding road from the village on the cliff top to the beach below where he dismounted his bike. Beach was a very kind word for where the land meet the water. The waters edge was like a mud hole. Tall grass and reeds mad it difficult to see where you were walking. Marcus had mis-stepped before and gotten stuck ,up to his knees, in the mud. It was the farthest thing from the classic image of a beach. Marcus took off his shoes and started to walk through the muddy bank. He could see patches of sand that had been washed in by the ocean waters. Most of what the ocean covered now had been farm land 40 years ago. The feeling of slimy grass against his bare skin, as he got into the water, was not something Marcus like at all. The farther out you got, the sandier it became. Out on the sea you could look down and see the bottom the water just that clear sometimes. Waist deep the young boy finally reach his fishing net. His wet shorts were ,now, the least of his problems. There had been the storm the night before.The storm had snapped the net line and the lose net had washed into the bank, getting tangled in the reeds. Marcus took hold of the net and gave it a few good pulls, But it would not move. With a deep sight he start to walk for the tangled mess which was a good 50 feet away.

The world beneath the surface was very different than the world above. The land that the sea had reclaimed was slowly being overtaken by corals and seaweeds, and the tides were constantly bringing in fresh sand from the deeper parts of the ocean. The remains of the human cities still stood, in remarkable condition, but the structures were still being colonized by corals of all shapes and colors. Schools of colorful fish had moved into the shallower parts, closer to the surface where the sun lit and warmed the water. Sharks had moved in to the lower levels of the new reefs. The only creatures that were not represented in the ruins were whales.

Merpeople had also moved in.

Merpeople were no myth. Like humans, they had different skin tones, different hair colors, different eye colors. It varied from person to person, as it did with humans. Merpeople also came in a myriad of colors by way of their scaled tails. From black to white, every shade was represented somewhere.

Most merpeople stayed well away from the surface world. To them, humans were vicious, brutal creatures. Humans caught fish by the thousands and butchered sharks and whales to the point of endangering the species. Why would merpeople want to get within any sort of distance of humans?

Lotus knew what any merperson did about humans. Most of the time, she made sure to stay well away from the surface and the shore, any place where humans were likely to be. The storm had rolled in too fast for her to escape, though. The waters were rough, with towering waves caused by the ruins under the surface. She had been thrown around, and ended up tangled in a human net. She struggled and thrashed, trying to escape the net, but it was no use. The floaters on the top were tossed towards the shore, dragging the rest of the net, and her, onto the muddy beach.

The mud covered her scales as she was dragged through the murky, reedy water. She was grateful that her kind could breathe air when they had to, or else she would have already suffocated. Her heart raced, and she worked to free herself. The water she was in was too shallow, though. She couldn't maneuver; all she could do was flop about and get herself even more tangled. Finally, she gave up and lay there, exhausted and covered in mud.

Nearing the area the net was tangled in, Marcus found the water had receded to knee level. The cold wind which had wiped up from the ocean chilled his bones. Making the youth wish he was still back in bed. The thin fishing line was almost clear and hard to see. Marcus dipped his fingers into the water picking up a large part of the net which still floated free. Holding it up to the morning like the fishermen could see many small holes which must have been created by the storm. It was going to take a lot of time to fix this net.

By the time Marcus had walked up to the main tangle the water was now licking at his ankles. He pushed a large clump of tall reeds to the side and what he saw behind them almost stopped his heart. A girl was laying in the mud. His fishing net tangled tightly around various parts of her body. He rushed forward, dropping to his knees beside the girl. He lifted the girls head out of the water. She looked close to his own age. A swimmer perhaps, washing into his net buy the sudden storm. He had never seen her face before that was for sure. "Hey are you ok?" He asked shaking the girl a little bit it get any reaction at all. He had asked a stupid question but it was the best he could come up with at this point. Pulling a medium side hunting knife from his pocket. Marcus cut the net which bound her Right arm. He looked over her body. The net was laid in every direction he could think of. Who Ever she was she must have struggled for a long time to get herself into such a bind. He placed his warm hand against her cheek. She was freezing cold. Marcus was no long sure if she was even alive. The thick mud covering most of her body made it hard to tell if she any injuries. Sticking the knife into the watery ground, He unzipped his light hoody. He pressed his warm skin again her cold body. Wrapping the cloth around what his body did not cover. It was not much but it might help keep the cold off the girl while he figure out what to do next.

Lotus stayed still as the human started to cut the net off of her. Her tail was still hopelessly tangled up, but he was starting to free her arms. Maybe once she could move a bit more, she could somehow get her tail free and get back to the ocean! She almost growled in frustration when he stopped cutting her free of the net, but completely froze up when he pulled her into his arms and draped some sort of thing over her. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was still warm from his body, and his skin was much warmer than hers was. She didn't know if all humans were so warm, or if she was just that cold, but she didn't care. When it didn't seem like he was going to harm her, she looked up at his face with her startlingly blue eyes. He looked surprisingly like one of her kind. There were very few differences.

She kept her eyes on his face as she slowly reached down with her free hand to try to get more of the net off of her tail. The mud that was caked onto her scales was starting to dry and crumble, revealing the brilliant blue underneath, and the mud that wasn't falling off was scraped away as she worked at the net.

He watch her hand fumble around the the net. Pulling and pushing the plastic line which did not wanna break. It was nice to know she was live and had strength left. I large sigh of relief came to him at that fact. She asked for no help for. Nor said any words of thank you for the help he had given. Pride must have been a large factor. Few dared go out in the water. She must have been very independent to be swimming at this time of day. Picking up his knife for the water, His large hand moved to covered hers as he forced her to stop her work. "let me get that for you.." His voice calm and relaxed. "After I get you free. I will bring you to my home. Where you can get clean and have some hot food." His eyes shifted from her face to where his hand was. The sharp blade of his knife pressed against her pale white skin. "Be still I don't wanna cut you.."

With a Quick flick of his wrist the plastic lines snapped. Giving the girl a little more freedom. three more large bunches of wire fell to the blades edge. His actions reliving a little more blue with each victory over the fishing line. Which he ignored at first reasoning it was her clothing. By the time he had freed her 'Legs' up to the knees he knew something was a miss. Confusion played out on his face as he watch the mud flack away to revile more blue 'fabric'. Marcus knew of no swimming suite which covered the body down to the knees. "What The Hell?" He mumbled. His eyes scanning down her legs. He saw more patched of blue and in the muddy water his eyes captured a glimpse of what looking like a Fish fin. The Human sat down laying the cold girl on his lap. Laying the knife with in quick reach. Marcus's one free hand work to wipe the mud from the girls lower 'legs'. The Blue covered every inch of skin and there was no separation for her legs. "Is this a tick?' He asked out loud. Alarm sounding in his voice. He had not gotten much sleep the night before. This whole weird thing could be in his head. Seeing things that were not there. He exposed her waist next. Lifting up the hoody just enough to place his hand on human skin. He brush the dry mud from her body. Her skin turned into bright blue fish scale so natural that he knew it was not in his mind. Fore he did not have that good of an imagination.

Lotus stayed still as he worked more of the net off of her. Why struggle when this human was setting her free himself? Once she was free enough to move, she would slip away and somehow drag herself back into water deep enough to swim away in. Her heart skipped a beat when he pulled her onto his lap. He was pulling her closer and closer, and further out of the mud, away from the water. That's when she started to struggle a bit, tugging on the ropes and trying to get them loose enough to get away. She didn't know what this human was planning, but she didn't really want to stick around long enough to find out.

She winced when the thin lines from the net started to get under her scales and dig into her. The lines were being dragged upwards as she struggled, and they were scraping off her scales and revealing raw patches underneath that started to seep blood a bit. The pain made her struggle harder, and the lines cut into her tail even more.

He watched as she squirmed. His actions must have freaked the creature out. For she now thrashed about. Her strong muscles raising and falling like the ocean waves. Her fined tail splashing in and out of the water. Patches of raw flesh appeared as the line dug into her skin causing the lovely blue scales to fall off into the water. Marcus need to clam the distressed girl down. She was now doing more harm then good. "Hold still" he slightly snapped. One of is strong arms pinning the small girl against his chest. His other hand stopping the movement of her tail. "I bet you don't even know what I am saying" he sighed to himself. They were so close he could hear her fanatic heart beat. It was far faster then his own. The Golden sunlight gave a health glow to her skin and hair. He could see her every feature. A blushed rolled over the young boys cheeks. The Girl was a beauty and barely clothed. Thoughts of keeping his catch started to work their was into his mind. Along with thought of what other fishermen might do if they capture this creature in their nets. It took only 5 more cuts to free the Fish girl completely from his net. Letting the Knife fall into the water he placed his second hand under her 'knees' and lifted her out of the water, standing as he did so. He then walking out into deeper water. Carefully stepping over the free floating net. Marcus stopped walking when he was well away from shore. Standing in chest deep water the boy let the Mermaid's tail go allowing it to fall into the water.

Lotus fought him as he tried to hold her still, until she realized that he was cutting her free from the net again. She forced herself to stop struggling, but still whimpered slightly when the lines pulled a couple more scales free as they fell away. There were thin, bloody lines crossing her tail from where the net had bitten into her flesh and torn away scales. When he stood up, she clung to him, not wanting to fall. The water was shallow enough that if she fell, she'd actually hit the bottom. The water wouldn't cushion her fall at all. She braced herself for being taken out of the water, and was surprised when the human actually carried her back into the water. He gradually carried her deeper and deeper, until she could actually feel the water supporting her weight again.

She was even more surprised when he let her tail go.

The salt water stung her where the lines had cut into her, but she didn't care. It meant that the salt was cleaning out the wounds, and besides, the water was washing the mud from her body, revealing the bright, nearly shimmering blue of her tail. Lotus looked up at the human's face again. He didn't seem like he was going to capture her... Quickly, she jerked out of his grip and hurried away from him. She didn't get far, though. She slowed down a few yards away, and then stopped and turned around. He'd saved her, for all intents and purposes, and then let her go. She couldn't just swim off again.

Slowly, she approached him again and poked her head up to the surface to look at him.

Chest deep in water,Marcus was now at the disadvantage. The water slowed his movement. Numbing his arm and legs. The boy backed up a little bit making sure to retreat the same distance that Mer-Girl advanced. She blended into the water. If it had now been for the brown hair which floated at the surface Marcus would not have know she was still around. Seeing her blue eyes bob up and down at water level remind him about the cat he owned. How the feline would stock mice. Waiting for hours watching the prey silently from a far until it was the right moment to strike. The Thought made his skin pale. He did not think she wanted to attack, because there had been many chances before this moment to do it. Then again he did not wanna see if he was wrong. Marcus moved a few more feet back. The water now at his mid abs. Growing closer to one of the three wood posts that anchored the net in place. He did not lose sit of the mermaid for a second. With her around he was starting to think about skipping his outing to the ruined City to hunt for fish.

Lotus just watched him. She had no intention of hurting him, not after he gave her the same mercy. If she had wanted to hurt him, she'd have done it already. She lifted her head out of the water a little more as she tried to get closer. She wanted to thank him for not killing her or doing something terrible to her, and for freeing her from the net. She wasn't sure if they spoke the same language, but it was worth a try.

"I... thank you for letting me go," she said softly. Trying to reinforce the sentiment, she gave a gesture of thanks: touching her lips with the tips of her fingers and bowing her head slightly to him. She didn't try to move any closer, though. The human was moving into shallower and shallower water, and soon she wouldn't be able to maneuver anymore. She didn't want to put herself at that kind of disadvantage again.

It was like her words stopped his very heart. He stood there frozen watching the creature move through the water. Her graceful moments created very few ripples. She had spoken in his tongue it. Thanked him for helping her. He walked out into deeper water closing the gap between them, until he was on his tip toes to keep his chest above water. "You can Talk? I can understand you!"he said with a smile "say something again.." His hand was out stretched for her to take hold. "come here."

Second turned into minutes. One minute turned into two, then three and four. By the tenth minute the silence which had settled between them was starting to get annoying. She did not move or say a word. Maybe he had heard wrong. A trick made up by his own mind. It could not be a trick. The voice she had been soft and sweet to the hear. He wanted to hear it again. Even if that meant forcing her talk. The human boy pushed off into the water with great force. Rocketing him self across the distance that was between them. He garbed her fragile looking arm and pulled her into a hug giving the girl little choice but to go along with his actions. For he allowed his body to sink into the water. Pulling her down along with him. The Morning sun shine down through the water's surface in beams. Casting strange dancing shadows on the world before the surface. The grass swayed softly in the even changing current. Patches here and there had die from lack of oxygen. Although most of the grass still looked health. It was only when Marcus hit the ocean bottom (which laid only 6 feet from the surface) that he relax his grip of the girl and allowed her float an arms length away. His hand firmly on her waist so she did not get away. This was not the smartest way to maker her talk. In fact he was probably doing more harm then good at the moment. Scarring the Mermaid, so she would never come close to shore again. But he did not care, he just wanted to see her tail again. He wanted to see what she looked like under water. To take in the sparkle of her tail before he could never see it again. He watched the tail adjust to the changing currents like a fish's would. Keeping the girl perfectly still and balanced. Unlike his own legs which wildly bobbed up and down in the water. No matter how still he tried to keep them.

Lotus froze when the human suddenly rocketed at her and grabbed onto her arm. Her heart rate shot up and she tried to tug her arm free, but the human had a strong grip. After a moment, she fell still and just let herself sink to the bottom with him. The water wasn't deep at all, but that didn't matter. Eventually, he would have to let her go to get more air. She had no such handicap.

She watched him as they floated there. He was flailing, much like an octopus when it was attacked by a predator, and it seemed to be doing more harm than good. Didn't he know that moving like that wasted more oxygen than just staying still? Her hair got between them a bit, and then was carried off to one side by the slight current. This close to shore, the currents were gentle, rather than the strong currents closer to the new reefs, so she had no trouble staying in one place.

Even though her heart was pounding and she was trembling, Lotus made no real move to get away. She didn't know if this human meant to harm her now he'd caught her, and she had no way of knowing if he had anything on him, like a knife or something similar. She had no idea what the humans did for weapons of any sort.

His hand twitched want to feel the scales once more. Stroke her tail with his hand. He stopped short of completing his mission. One hand inches from the top of her hips. For guy to stroke a girls leg it was considered a come on. Did the children of the sea have the same view of their tails? He had already touch her tail. but at that time she had little choice in the matter. Feeling it was safer to leave the subject alone Marcus released his grip on the Mermaid. His lungs were screaming for air. The Human surfaced second after leaving the bottom. His black hair clung to his wet skin. Blinding his eyes until he pushed the wet strands out of the way with her fingers. Finding a large, submerged, rock stand on a few meters away from where he had been under the water, The boy was able to tower over the waters surface looking for the girl he had let go of once again. "Mermaid..." He called out. Seeing it someone would answer "Are you out there?"

As soon as he let her go, Lotus darted away. She wasn't going to stick around to get caught a third time. She swam as fast as she could, getting far away from the shore, and the human that seemed oddly fascinated with her. She could only pray that he wouldn't tell anyone else about her, or else humans in their boats would come hunting for her kind with their nets and hooks and other unpleasant things they caught fish with.

She stayed well out at sea for a couple of days, tending her wounds and trying not to think about the human who had rescued her from the net and then tried to keep her. Soon, though, she couldn't ignore the urge to go back. Quietly, she slipped back into the shallow waters early in the morning, just as the sun was rising. The water was still cool from the night, but it would warm up quickly once the sun had a chance to work on it.

Lotus settled herself in the shallows, watching and waiting to see if any humans came along.

A new net have been leashed to the poles that were placed along the length of the beach. This new net however was far more visible then the last one. Compiled of thick black string, this net was visible to anything with good eyesight. In the time the mermaid had been away from the shore Marcus had not only changed the net, But moved it into deeper water too. In the hopes that it would not catch on the reeds again. As the Morning sun shone down on the large bay a small metal boat could bee seen a bout a mile into out in the water. It ancor firmly placed on the sandy Seas floor 20 feet below. A crude hand made hook was bait with a worm. Marcus's way of catching his breakfast. Since his encounter with the mermaid girl he had spent more time out in the bay in the hope of seeing the odd creature again. No luck so far.

Allowing the empty boat to sit out on the water. Marcus made his home on grassy beach. He had left the boat out there all night long. Too lazy to row it in. No one around here would wanna steal such a old beat up piece of junk anyways. The Human was dressed for swimming this time around. Wear orange shorts and no shirt. He fumbled around with bright red balloon looking thing. Fumbling around with it until the thing started to beep in a rhythmic fashion. with a click of the button the odd machine shut its self off. "that will do it for the radar" he sigh the to himself. "I have finally fix all the damaged units from the storm." Marcus start make his way out to the boat. The water quickly rising up to his knees. "Now I just have to up them back out on the reef"

Lotus saw the boat sitting on the water and drifted upwards to examine it, curiously. She could see the net this time, as well, and was able to avoid it. She didn't want to get tangled in it again. The area was almost completely devoid of sea life, aside from her and a few small fish. The crude, worm-dressed hook hung in the water, not looking at all tempting to anything that would be in the area. Lotus had no idea how long the boat had been sitting there with the hook dangling in the water, but it was clear that it hadn't caught anything. She wasn't even sure if anyone was even in the boat.

Some splashing caught her attention, and she looked over to see a human swimming out to the boat. She wasn't sure if it was 'her' human, but she still sank down towards the bottom again, out of sight. Turning, she quickly darted off into the city-turned-reef, where there actually were decent-sized fish. If nothing else, she could catch one for the human, maybe put it on the hook for them.