Aquata Cove Ch. 76

"Oof!" Triton Bertone grunts as the pod is suddenly halted. He laughs as he puts his thick arms around the tiny boy, squirming against the warm fur. "Where did you come from, Son??"

"Well, this is certainly unexpected." Noita Vanora says as the Kenovani comes to them. Noita Rayette looks up, and smiles as she sees the pod of Coshitons come to them.

"Oh, wonderful." The otter Noita swims to them, and raises her right arm, "I, Noita Rayette of the Amnien merfolk, greet you peacefully, in the name of Guardian Charybdis."

Samudra raises his trident to her paw, "And I, Triton Samudra of the Holsien merfolk, greet you peacefully in the name of Guardian Kraken. So let it be."

"Were you looking for us?" Rayette asked.

"I was about to ponder the same question." Vanora said with a chuckle.

"No, our youngest suddenly felt a surge of energy to bolt without a warning." Samudra jested. Arnaav purred loudly as he pushed his head into Bertone's chest, hugging him as hard as he can.

"I was just thinking how my Son was faring." Bertone says as he rubs his large paws up and down the kid's back.

"Not well." Vanora said, "He stayed upon the land for far too long, and he is still recovering."

"Son?" Rayette turns to him, "Is this true?? Are you alright?"

Arnaav turns around, still keeping within the arms of his Dad, "I am alright, Mother. I was with Merrick, and the humans who live with him take good care of me!" He says with zeal.

"I hope you are not getting into trouble." Rayette says sternly, "You know you should not venture onto the land for more than 14 suns – I can already see your waning health."

"Leave him be," Bertone dismissed, "He is in the sea now, and he is getting better." The polar Triton turns to his own pod to call for a reprieve "It has been half a sun's travel! We shall rest for sustenance!"

"I will tell operate the Scouts and Hunters then." Rayette says as she and her daughter move to them, knowing Bertone is going to want to spend as much time with his son as he can.

"As for us," Bertone says as he swims and carries his boy, "It is past time for another lesson."

"OoH! Father!" Arnaav spoke up as he squirmed out of those thick, warm arms, and swam up and onto his back, "I met this human while I was on land – a human girl. I think she might be my mate!"

"Oh? A human mate, you say." Bertone says as he swims forth, "Tell me about her then."

~~~

"Woo, that was. Awesome!" Adam says as he walks out of the place, "What time is it?"

"Like, 1AM." Nick says, drunk with his pants perpetually slipping down.

"Not sure if this was a real Stag Party," Harold said, "Merrick wasn't here, and we didn't have any sentimental crap or any wedding presents to do or some shit."

"I'm up for a next time," Adam said, "This place was fun. And we can arrange a better gay-themed party, and give it a few months for the whole 'wedding' thing to sink in, not just a few weeks after I just proposed."

"Prissy lil... Whoa," Nick took a swing, but swerved around.

"Ah, easy there." Someone said as they helped him back up.

"Aight... *HIC* Whose sober nuff to drive?" Jamal asked, "I feel fine, but if I touch a wheel right now, my probation is gonna kick my ass."

"Eeemm..." Adam pondered, before shrugging, "I've only had a couple of Cosmos. I'm pretty ok."

"Wait, wait." Harold said, "Since when do YOU drive?"

"I've been taking secret lessons for a couple of weeks. I do ok when Yuri's teaching me, but I keep throwing Jamal around when he's in the seat."

"He fuckin bash my head in, man!"

"Do you even have a permit?" Harold said.

"Yeah, I got one." Adam said as he takes out his wallet and pulls it out, "I'll be right back, we're only parked one level."

"I don't know, man," Harold said, "Aren't you supposed to have someone with you when you don't have a license?"

"I'll be right back," Adam dismissed, "It's literally 5 seconds away. You guys wait here, I wanna surprise you all." He jested.

"Ugh, I'm too tired to argue." Harold said, "Your ticket, your problem."

"Gee, thanks," Adam playfully punched him before he walked off.

"Fuck, my head..." Jamal groaned.

~~~

Kaiken and Umiato guide their pod through the bottom area of the Indian Ocean. Savarna adjusts her a few strings of around a couple of shells onto a short, singular branch – lately, a few Noitas and Adras have been crafting rods that they use to channel their power, calling them 'staffs', and so she is going with the trend. Umiato prefers to be free-handed, and besides, she must carry the gleaming egg safely with her full care.

Kaiken signals for the pod to slow down, as they all hear a distinct sound from below.

"Waallllllllhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Comes a low-pitch call as a few Sperm Whales glide below them. They gaze in awe of the selection of giants as it seems they prepare to dive down into the darkness. They Triton smiles gently as he sees a small whale stay close to its mother while they dive slowly, before clicking a sound to motion the pod to move.

Brishen chuckles as he holds his tiny daughter in his arms, with Penina billowing beautifully beside him, he then passes her back to his wife for her feeding, until his eyes catch something in the distance. The green fish hunter stops and stares into the vast blue before them, narrowing his eyes as the others swim past him.

"Brishen?" Penina said, the jellyfish mermaid gliding around him, "What is the matter?"

"... It cannot be..." Brishen's eyes widen as he sees a pair start to approach rather quickly.

Kaiken signals to the right, and signals left, until his sonar and his sight immediately catches the existence of a living being. His eyes locks, and gasps quietly as he spots a silvery blue merman swimming away from a most bizarre animal, of a goat and fish.

"Stop!" He instructed. Several members cease their swimming on his command. Umiato and Savarna's aura sights trace the energy of someone familiar. Both of them gasped as they see the long lost prince of their pod.

"Brother..." Savarna whispered with shock.

Merrick swims over to his old family for the first time in so many moons and endless suns... His chest pounds as he sees his Mother and Father... The graceful, white mermaid looking with surprise, the strong, dark blue merman looking with shock, and the young, mild frilled mermaid looking with a mixture of her parents.

Brishen compressed the urge to jet up and hug with the banished Triton as he comes closer to them, his insides churning as he yearns to tell Merrick everything that's happened since his exile. He whines internally, also thinking of how the Triton would react to their own Theros Hunter showing such a display...

Kaiken pushes through his shock with a stern, judgmental gaze before his own son, as he has arrived to the front of the pod "What do you mean to come to us. You know you are Coshiton." He stated.

'Predictable,' Merrick thought as his eyes leered with exasperation to his father. 'Always with the stone-like formality.'

"After all of this time, Father," Merrick said, "Of all this time, since I was banished, not knowing whether I was dead or alive. That is truly all you have to say to me?"

"You know the Laws... Coshiton." Kaiken answered, holding his trident, his stomach sinking to see a regular, human-made spear mounted on Merrick's back instead of his own trident, "You should not be here, before us. No rogue may ever come back to the pods they were once born. What you do and where you go is no longer relevant in this, or anywhere."

"You can at least call me by that you have named me." Merrick said, "Despite the archaic concept that I somehow do not exist anymore, I still live as I am and as I was."

"You will address me with the proper respect that I once taught you." Kaiken scowled, pointing his trident at Merrick "Do not think I will not-"

"Kaiken!" Umiato grabbed one of his strong arms. A look of shock overtakes the mighty Triton again as he looks into his mate's eyes glimmering with a flash of anger. "And you will not treat to him with anything less than how you have treated him before he left your side."

Kaiken growled stubbornly in his hesitation, but showed restraint in his words. The whole pod feels a distinct shudder from Umiato's tone – they rarely hear any kind of hostility or anger from her. Kaiken glared back back to his son, "State your purpose. Why have you returned to us... Merrick."

"I humbly seek a private audience with the Noita of the pod." Merrick said, calming himself as well. "I have a request that only she can grant, if she will allow it."

"As I said, you know the Laws, Merrick." Kaiken repeated, "At this time, you do not have the right to be with us, nor did you-"

"I believe I was asking of Mother's permission." Merrick said, "Not for yours, Father."

"Watch your tone with me, Merrick." Kaiken warned.

'You won't even call me Son anymore?' Merrick thought.

"I am telling you for your own safety," Kaiken continued, "You may not-"

"I acknowledge him," Umiato interrupted while she drifted forward, gaining another shocked look from her husband, "And I accept the Coshiton's request."

"Umiato." Kaiken sternly said, "You know what happens when a Coshiton comes back to his pod. This is not about principle."

"One mermaid with one rogue should not draw attention." Umiato answered, before turning to look at him, "And besides, he is my son. What sort of parent would ever dream of rejecting their child?" She asks with a hypothetical flick of her tone. Kaiken sighs through his nostrils as he leers at the two of them.

"Come." Umiato says calmly as she places a hand onto Merrick's back, "I will allow your private audience."

"Thank you." Merrick said as he turns with her, and swims away from the pod. Savarna grimaces as her sibling swims away from her. Her hands clench on her short staff as she fights every impulse to rush up to him and beg him to take her to race some dolphins are help her set up her Sea Spot the next time they are in his waters.

Kaiken glances, and grumbles, as he sees his daughter fight her thoughts and feelings.

Umiato and Merrick swim down to a bed-reef of pink coral darting with blue and green and yellow fish. Merrick turns right around, and hugs his heavenly mother. Umiato holds him tightly in turn as her son nuzzles her as he whines affectionately.

"Thank you for seeing me, Mother..." Merrick muttered.

"... No child should ever have to ask permission to see their mother and father." She said lowly. "I have missed you."

"And I have missed you as well. And everyone..." Merrick then look to the beautiful pouch with the opal egg tucked away in its soft folds. He smiles as he feels along the smooth surface, "Will it birth soon?"

"Hahaha, no." She says, "This one still has several moons before it decides to hatch. So," Umiato drifts backward to look at her son, overjoyed to see him so very healthy and now as an overflowing glow about him. "What do wish me to grant?"

"My mate has given me this," Merrick lifts up his left hand, and showed Umiato the sterling platinum ring with the small diamonds with the thing curves and swirls, "It is a symbol of a sacred ritual humans hold to bond with each other."

"..." Umiato takes Merrick's hand with both of hers, examining the ring closely, "... Such stunning detail and elegant design on such a small item. And these stones are so small and beautiful..." She gives a small gasp as she notices the ring being planted into Merrick's webbing, "Is this embedded into your flesh??"

"No," Merrick chuckled, "It is a ring, I put it on while in human form. My flesh just reformed around it."

Umiato then looks to Merrick's chest, and sees an heart-jeweled angelic key pendant twinkling on a silver chain, "Is this human made as well?" She says as she touches it.

"Yes. It is another gift from my love." Merrick smiled.

"Humans do have such eloquent taste with metal and stone."

"Yes. And in the ritual I mentioned, both partners are given a ring by the other. My human gave me this ring. Mother..." Merrick digs into his stiff net pouch, and brings out a pouch. He empties it over his other hand, and lets a few oddly shaped pearls, and a couple of small and tiny round pearls drift slowly to his palm.

"Oh, I see now..."

"Will you please make a ring for my mate with these pearls?" Merrick asked, his chest pounding again, "I-It needs to fit this rod too," He also brings out a short wooden dowel, "This wood is the size of his finger."

"Ah yes." Umiato takes the rounded stick and a large, jagged black pearl, "Reformation then?"

"Y-Yes." Merrick nods, his insides churning with hopeful optimism.

"Very well then." Umiato scoops the various pearls from Merrick's hand, while her inner power started to radiate from her hands, "Hold my wrists, and close your eyes."

"Yes, Mother." Merrick smiles with glee as he gently takes her arms and does as he is told.

Reformation; an art that requires a lot of energy and thought. Through a Noita's power, and a Triton's imagination, the pair collaborates on a transformation of an item of any sort – some tridents are fashioned this way, while others are crafted manually from various materials.

The pearls' structure began to morph and melt in the Noita's hand as her light begins to reshape their form.

~~~

"Why is it, that every time I do a graveyard shift," Yuri says as she and Dennis walk along the halls of the hospital, going to reorganize the equipment, and then to change the bedsheets, "The hospital always chooses to go into a slow night?"

"Is there really nothing for you to do here?" Dennis asked, "I'm still in my volunteer hours, ever since the psychiatric ward was built right next door."

"Yeah. I always request for as many hours as I can, but for the past while, all I've been doing is checking on patients, I.V.s, bedpans, and other stuff... Ah, sorry, I shouldn't be bitching like this."

"N-No, it's cool," Dennis smiled, "I like listening to you, and I can only hope I can help or something..."

"Thanks, Denny," Yuri smiles as she pats his shoulder, "I usually complain to my roommates, but Jamal barely gives a damn, and he always has to make a sex joke or a sarcastic reply. Adam's ok, but he never really has any good advice. Merrick's always a good ear, though his suggestions are a bit silly, and he hardly understands what I'm saying since he's not from around here."

"Do you even have a diary?"

"Eh, I used to. My grandma scolded me for not writing my private thoughts in Japanese-"

"Wait, your grandma read your diary?"

"No. She just caught me writing in English, and gave me a small scold. And I kept trying to keep up with a diary, but I just lost interest. I either got too much to think about, or I was too lazy to bother with a diary."

-BEEP BEEP- Yuri's pager dings up from her belt, "I'm glad you're here anyway; quiet halls like this get a little spooky when it's only me and a few other nurses and doctors." She picks up her pager, and looks at it.

"Heheheh, thanks, Yuri," Dennis smiled, "I'm usually not supposed to-"

"What..." Yuri stares at her pager,

"Huh?"

Yuri takes out her phone, calls a number, and holds it to her ear, "This is Dr Umiyama, on station, what's the Emergency?" She listens for a moment, "... What?? What are you saying, is he..." her stomach sinking as she stands there, her feet and hands becoming cold and numb. "O-Oh my God..."

"Yuri? What's wrong?"

Yuri bolted to the nearest window. She gasps as she sees flashes of red and white. "Oh my God, no. O-Ok, I'm on my way, get him to the ER and get the detox and disinfectant equipment ready," Yuri ends the call, buttons up her lab coat, and started to trot, "I have to go!"

"Yuri! Wait!" Dennis calls out.

"Later!" Yuri pants with terror as she sprints down the halls, 'What happened??' She thought frantically as she jumps down the stairs, 'What the hell happened??'

~~~

The glowing hoop between Umiato and Merrick rotates slowly in the water as invisible chisels carve into the nautical gem, smoothing out around the wooden dowel, before the process slows down, with the ring's color darkening and sliding down from the small cylinder.

A cracking sound can be heard as the ring lowers down into the same pouch its pieces came from. Merrick pulls at both ends of the silvery ropes to seal the little bag.

"That was faster than expected." Umiato smiles. "It is a small item, I suppose."

"It's perfect." Merrick says as he holds it dearly before tucking it safely into his stiff-net bag. "I better leave now. I have something to give to Sister before I depart."

"Very well, Son." Umiato then places her hand onto Merrick's back as they ascend from the reef, and swim off.

The pod idle as they wait at the sandy bottom, a few of the scouts have been gliding forward below a mile outward in several directions. Kaiken paces stubbornly, still feeling a little scorned that the assemblence of order and proper lawful etiquette has been breached, merely by the arrival of a Coshiton to his own pod. It's simply not done.

Adra Savarna wonders about the branches of coral growing here and there along the sand, before her senses pick up the strong radiance of her mother, and the familiar shine of her brother. She turns around, and smiles as she sees them both coming their way she swims forward, and meets Merrick shortly.

"I have to leave now, Sister." Merrick says.

"Wha..." Savarna's smile fades almost instantly, "But you must-"

"You know the Laws, Daughter." Kaiken said as he comes beside her. He turns his gaze to Merrick with a heated stare, "I assume you have concluded your business."

"I will be removed from your imbalance shortly, Father." Merrick retorted, using an attitude he never would have gotten away with in the past.

"Know your place." Kaiken growled as his fist clenched on his trident.

"Son..." Umiato squeezes Merrick's shoulder gently, "Do not taint yourself with disrespect so easily."

"Yes, Mother." Merrick nodded, before turning to his sibling, "And what is this you have here, Sister?" He said as he notices Savarna's rod.

"It is a staff. A few Noitas and Adras have been making such items of late. I have been trying to make one of my own, but I cannot seem to become satisfied with previous designs."

"Perhaps, if I may suggest..." Merrick begins to dig into his bag.

"Merrick-" Kaiken clenches his teeth.

"Kaiken, this is not the right time." Umiato warned as she drifts next to him, "I would like to see and feel my Son while it lasts..."

"Ghh..." Kaiken restrains himself.

Merrick pulls out a string of tied oyster shells in a sort of garland, topped with the largest shell, and leading down by size, "I tried to make these into a sort of armor to tie on, but I could not quite figure it out."

"You mean to tie it around the staff, Brother?" Adra Savarna asked as he approached her.

"Let us see..." Merrick puts the top of the array at the top of the shaft, and started to coil the oyster garland around the staff in a spiral sight, with the pearly sides of the shells facing outward and the black sides press into the wood. As he crafts on the staff, Merrick glances, and notice something on Savarna's headband – where her shell-link to Denizyr used to be, is now a small, white scallop shell tucked into the seaweed band, marked with the Chinese kanji for 'moon'...

Merrick smiles as he looks back to the staff, and secures it, "How does it look?" Savarna takes her short staff, and examines the gleaming Mother of Pearl scales arranged in a downward spiral, the larger shells up and the smaller shells ending down.

"This feels as a good style." She answered, smiling as she channels her power into the rod, and seeing the white textures shimmer from within, otherwise remaining unchanged. "Woooow."