1 ONE

The moonlight reflecting into the sea made the scene alight with the colors of the fish and the dolphins and coral. It bounced and danced on the calm, rippling water. The sky was clear of clouds and blanketed in stars. A cool breeze rose from the waters and blew gently, only slightly stirring up the current below. In the distant, a shore could be seen with a medium-sized town. A town that lit up the night and obliterated the stars.

My father's golden tail flickered in the dark blue waters ahead of me and I raced to catch up, my odd black tail a shadow in the dark. I was the only one in the whole kingdom with a black tail, of course my tail was littered with dark blue scales, but they were sparse and hard to see. My tail fins were also black, but transparent and easily see through. My father's tail on the other hand was prime example of a powerful, royal merman. His solid golden tail had long flowing fins that resembled a female's, but all merfolk of the royal bloodline have long and flowing fins.

Our fins help guide us through the water and our scales are often bioluminescent - aside from mine. Merfolk have anywhere between one to five fins. Those with only one tend to resemble sharks, dolphins and whales, but those merfolk sometimes have a dorsal fin. Others may have a tail fin, a dorsal fin, and two pelvic fins, or an anal fin.

There are three classes of merfolk and each class is represented by the tails that they have. The lowest class is the sleek-skinned working class. They have bodies that resemble sharkes, whales and dolphins - never fish. They aren't highly thought of and tend to fall in poverty and have the highest crime rate. The general name for those in the lowest class are Skintales. They're not really considered to be real merfolk.

The second class is the middle class, better off than the Skintales, but not rich like royalty. The second class never exceed three fins, a tail fin, a dorsal fin, and an anal fin. Their scale colors include oranges, greens, and blues and the occasional purple. They are the most human-like out fo the all the merfolk. Their human half never holds any trace of the mer half.

Then there's my class, the rich and royalty. I think the lower classes call us Guppies because of how bright and shiny our tails can get. We also have the least in common with our human counterparts. I've never seen a royal with less than three fins. The scales of a royal can sometimes extend all the way to their chin. Our fingers are webbed, our teeth are sharp and pointed and we have visible gills on our necks that close when we reach air so that we can still breath on land. Tails colors include gold, silver, white, pink, red, and sometimes more than one color.

Due to my tail color, the kingdom has always looked down on me. They've always seen me as less than them. My father has a gold tail, his father had a gold tail, his father's father had a gold tail. All the males in the direct king's lineage has had golden tails, but my tail is a color that's never been heard of before and I'm my father's only son. I was meant to be the next king, but instead he's going to break tradition and pass the title to my sister Charity who was born genderless and has a gold tail even though she identifies as female.

I think this is why I'm being sent to the land. For my senior year of high school, father's sending me to a school on land. The ocean-side town that many merfolk have vacationed at in secrecy amongst dragonshifters - dragons - and werewolves.

Getting to the shore was the easy part. Finding a secluded place to rest and dry off enough to gain legs is the hard part, but that part I had to do on my own. Before we got anywhere close to touching the ocean floor with our tails, father stopped and spun around, facing me as I hurridedly tried to stop without bumping into him. His dark golden eyes stared into my dark blue eyes with regret, but I think I also detected a hint of dissapointment. And I knew I was. The first merfolk in generations to be born with a black tail and it just had to be his son. His one and only son, the only one he'd ever get.

"Do you remember the rules?" Father asked, his voice dark with guilt. His arms were folded over his sparkling gold chest and he held himself as if he was looking down on someone lower than him. Miles away from the kingdom and I understood why I was less than him.

"Yes, sir." I responded. "Don't reveal what I am. Don't start trouble if I can't finish it. And don't get close to anybody, I'll be back in the kingdom at the end of the school year."

Sastified with my answer, he uncrossed his arms and took off through the water like a jet, back the way we had come. The bubbles left in his wake clouded around me before being swept apart by the light current.

Sighing, I kicked off and headed to the shore.

My mother had bought my a nice house on the outskirts of the town. It was completely furnished and I'd seen images of it on the internet. Yes - merfolk have internet, although trying to connect to servers in the dry world makes it extremely slow and lagging. That's mainly the only reason we have it and only the upper class has access to it. My house was a single story and a basement. Mother had sent some construction workers and had the basement turned into an underwater escape. I had yet to actually see the finished product. My family would pay for the house and bills, but I had to find and job if I wanted food and other essentials. Luckily, Charity gave me the money she had so I could buy some human clothing.

My father's the only one who dislikes me. My mother adores me and my sisters always seem to have my back. I hadn't been able to say farewell, as we'd set off in the middle of the night, but I had no doubt I would be seeing plenty of my sisters. Besides Addison, who was only ten years and not yet allowed outside the palace grounds.

I reached the sandy cave at the very far end of the beach that many merfolk used when they wanted to come upon land. I pulled myself up onto the sand and further, making sure my extra long tail wasn't still in the water. There were no other creatures or merfolk around so I allowed myself to relax in the cold sand, waiting for my tail to dry off so I could form human legs.

Merfolk gaining human legs isn't just a process of drying off. A dry merfolk can still have a tail. To gain legs, one has to learn the magic when they are young and then practice for years before they can master effortless transformations. When I sensed my tail was dry, I propped myself up on my elbows and focused all my energy into transforming my tail into legs. It took only seconds, but I was drained. After such a long journey, it was tiring even though I've had years of practice under me.

Once I had my legs, I couldn't help it as my body . . . drained and exhausted . . . forced me into a cold, dreamless sleep.