I immediately scream and Abigail covers my mouth to muffle the sound.

After I stop screaming, I remove her hand from my face. “Agh! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! What is that thing?!” I frantically shriek. 

“It’s a mermaid tail, and a pretty one, at that.” Abby replies. 

“Now is not the time, Abby, can you please get it off?” I squirm around on the beach. 

“How am I supposed to know how to get it off?” 

“I dunno, just do it!” 

Abby flips me over onto my belly. “Look, it’ll be okay. I don’t exactly know how, but it’ll be okay. There’s got to be a scientific explanation for this.”

“Scientific explanation? There’s nothing scientific about this Abby! I’m a mermaid! That’s physically, scientifically, astronomically, biologically, mathematically and impossibly impossible! It defies the laws of nature, physics, common sense, everything! It defies the laws of the universe! This is not a thing!”

Abby sighs, frustrated. “Look, we are women of science, and as women of science, we know that there has to be a reason for this. Maybe it’s something in the water, or maybe it’s the blue moon.” 

“Abby, the people that have died after swimming in this lagoon were never reported to have fish tails. It can’t be something in the water and it can’t be the moon.”

 “You don’t know that. Maybe it just affects you specifically.” 

I scoff. “Unlikely.”

Abby drags me onto the sand. “Well, what if you were born like this?” She inquires. 

“Born like this? Explain, please.” 

“Well, you’ve never met your mother and you’re not allowed to swim properly. Maybe this happens when you’re completely submerged in water. And every time a body is found here, the heart is ripped out and the rest of the body is ripped to shreds. A shark wouldn’t do that, especially the ripping out of the heart bit and the fact that the bodies are found on the shore.” 

“That would make sense...oh what am I saying?! There can’t be other mermaids! There can’t be any at all!” 

“Well, then, prove me wrong. Swim to the bottom of the lagoon and see if there are any mermaids there. If there aren’t any, then tell me.” I sigh. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Holding my breath, I push myself back into the water. 

I quickly swim to the bottom before my air runs out. Man, this lagoon is deep. Much, much deeper than the coral reef surrounding the island that houses Delaris. My chest starts to hurt once I see lights. I swim even faster and even deeper, closer to the town below. I see a line of bubbles coming towards me. They stop right in front of me, clearing to reveal a beautiful girl with black hair and deep sapphire blue eyes. I begin to scan her. She’s wearing a sleeveless layered pink dress with a black infinity scarf. Underneath the dress peeks out a silver tail. 

“Hi! I’ve never seen you before!” She says. She’s speaking in another language that I can understand somehow. Obviously, if she can talk, she can breathe, so I gasp and inhale.  

“Uh, hi.” I reply in her language. “What’s going on?” I ask, and she immediately laughs. 

“Did you hit your head? It’s the Blue Moon Festival! Y’know, the giant empire-wide party? When mer are their most powerful? Not that it matters anyway, really.” She scans me. “Woah! Is that a black Atlantean silk dress? And wow! Your tail is so pretty! Unlike any from any kingdom I’ve ever seen! What race are you?”

“Excuse me?” I ask, slightly offended. 

“Oh yes! I shouldn’t ask you such personal things without even knowing your name.” She grabs my wrist and drags me down to the town below. She leads me to what looks like a restaurant or a bar. She gestures for me to come in.

“Welcome to the Lucky Oyster!” She says, sitting at a bar stool. I sit next to her. “So, what are you in for?” The mysterious mermaid asks me. 

“I don’t understand what you mean.” I reply. 

“Oh, sorry, I thought everybody knew about the Lagoon. Oh well. Let me explain. The Lagoon and the nearby coral reef are the only places in the world ocean that aren't part of the Mermalian Empire because it has built up a reputation for being cursed. Because the empress doesn’t have any jurisdiction here, the Lagoon is home to runaways, outcasts, and the wrongly convicted wanting to start over. So, then, what are you here for?” She asks me again. 

“I’m just passing through.” I answer.

“So let me guess what race you are. Obviously, you’re not a temperate, coral, or freshwater mer, since your tail doesn’t have any fish patterns. You can’t be a polar mer, since you don’t have a whale tail of any kind. You can’t be a siren, your tail isn’t even black...but Atlantean mer don’t have iridescent tails...what are you?” I don’t respond. I have absolutely no idea what this girl is talking about at all. “Oh! Forgive me! I’m a bit nosy. Man, we haven’t even properly introduced ourselves yet. I’ll go first. I’m Gloria Mako.” She holds out her hand. I hesitate, but after a while, I shake it. 

“Lyra. Lyra Hendrix.” 

“Hmm...Lyra. Lyra is a siren’s name for sure, but sirens don’t have last names. And Hendrix doesn’t sound like a mer name at all.” Gloria stares at me intensely. “Where exactly are you from?” I begin to get nervous, but I respond.

“Uh, I don’t know, this is my first time swimming and-” 

Gloria covers my mouth. She takes my wrist and we speed off to the surface, while I try not to scream. We finally surface in front of some large rocks, and Gloria climbs onto one of them. I follow suit. 

“Ok, what’s going on?” I ask once I’m on a rock. 

“This is your first time swimming?” Gloria questions. I nod. 

“So I’m guessing you have a human parent?” 

“Well, yes. So based on your questions, it’s not possible to turn into a mermaid if you’re a human and vice versa?” I ask. 

“Afraid so. You have to be born like that. Which brings me to my next question. Have you ever met your mother?” 

I shake my head. “No. We don’t even have any paintings or pictures of her. I only learned her name today so I don’t know her at all.” 

“I see. Have you ever felt...different? Are you obsessed with every aspect of the ocean? Are you innately good at finding uncommon sea treasures? Have you ever communicated with sea animals? Are you forbidden from swimming?”

“Uh...yes?” 

“This is bad. Really, really bad. There hasn’t been one of these in a few millennia.” 

“Uh...what are you talking about?” 

“Have you ever heard of halflings?” Gloria asks. I shake my head and she sighs. “I was worried you wouldn’t. Alright. Halflings are half human, half mer hybrids that can have legs once their tails are dry, and tails once they’re completely submerged in water. They’re insanely powerful, being able to cause natural disasters, control water however they please, and speak any language of the sea without studying it. They also have mer abilities and human abilities. There has only been one halfling in existence that we know of. A little more than 4,000 years ago, humans and mer coexisted. This was a time filled with magic. One day, in the city of Atlantis, a boy named Demitrios was born. His mother was a mermaid and his father was a Mage, so he was extremely powerful. He had mastered his human magic and his mer abilities, but no one knew how to deal with his hidden powers that only halflings could have. He didn’t know how to control his powers, and one day, he caused a big storm and he killed the love of his life with a bolt of lightning by accident, a girl named Thalia. His grief was so strong that the storm got bigger and he caused an earthquake. Atlantis was sinking, and by the time he had killed himself with a bolt of lightning, the city was already underwater. Since then, it has been declared illegal to birth a halfling. If the halfling is discovered, he or she will be executed. After the sinking of Atlantis, mer stayed under the surface, and now the existence of mer and magic have faded from human memory, only to exist as legends. And that’s the way we want it to be.”

“Wow. So humans used to be able to do magic?” I ask, in awe. 

“They still can, but no one knows how to tap into their power anymore. Those born with natural magical talent are called Sorcerers. Those born with a mastery of magic without any training are called Mages. There is only one Mage in the entire world at a time. Once one Mage dies, another is born. There have been many, many Mages since the separation of humans and mer, but they died without knowing they could use magic, so their talent was wasted. The way you can tell if someone is a Mage is if they can move things with their mind without any training. Telekinesis is the hardest skill to master. Only powerful Sorcerers can master it, and it takes a lifetime to do so, unless you’re a Mage, who can do it with little effort and no training.” Gloria explains.

 “So, what can humans and mer do?” I ask.

“Humans can communicate through telepathy, use telekinesis, and use magic. Mer can use telempathy, which is the ability to read minds and emotions as well as communicate empathically and telepathically. They can also swim extremely fast, breathe under and above water, have night vision, the ability to hear sounds that humans, dolphins, and whales can hear, and they can innately find sea treasures easily.” 

“That’s why I can find messages in bottles so easily! Finding those are rare.” I exclaim.

“Sirens are special. They have a power only they can use. Other races of mer can’t do this, even if they wanted to. They can control humans and mer with their voice. Usually, they use this ability to seduce sailors and crash ships.”

“Wait a minute. Did you say their singing was magic?” 

“Basically, yes. Why?” 

“I’m not allowed to swim and I’m not allowed to sing in front of other people. Does the name ‘Iaira’ ring a bell to you?” I ask, a bit fearfully. Gloria’s color drains from her face, her eyes filled with terror. 

“W-What’s wrong? Was it something I said?” 

“Lyra...Iaira’s the name of the siren queen.”

“What?!” I scream, and Gloria shushes me. 

“Shh! You’ll wake the entire island!” 

“What do you mean, my mother’s the siren queen?” I whisper harshly. 

“I mean she’s the queen of the sirens, duh!” Gloria sassily replies. 

“Explain, please.” I snap.