REBORN

Apollo was playing with Sylvia when I arrived then said,"I still can't believe I'm forty and already a grandpa."

Apollo burst into hysterical laughter as I walked closer to the child then said,"Hi there Sylvia."

She tilted her head, made a squeak then squirted water at my face.

I tried to block it but the water curved and continued hitting my face.

Apollo laughed then said,"Aww, she hates you."

"What?! Why?!"I yelled.

All he did was shrug till she vanished then appeared in my hair and started crawling through it, sending shivers down my spine.

Then she bit me...hard.

I yelled and tried to get her out but she kept hydroteleporting out of my grip to another part of my body, till my... private part.

I finally got her out and gave her to her father who rubbed his nose on hers and gently hummed and she immediately calmed down then he gave her back to me.

I didn't want the... previous event to happen again so I declined, but he said it was fine.

When I took her this time, she made gentle purring sounds while slowly stirring in my palms as she began to seek warmth in them and sleep.

I smiled at him then made the water in my hands increase in temperature to make her even more comfortable, which worked.

I then looked at him then asked,"How did you do that?"

He smiled then said,"I simply imagined I knew how to calm her down and make her like you."

I frowned in a joking way then said,"Cheat."

Merpeople like Maame and my grandkids were naturally born with their lights activated, this type of birth activation was called Merphal foetal metamorphosis, after mermaids, dolphins and narwhals, three aquatic creatures in which this phenomenon was common.

This was because in order for a light to be activated, a set of sophisticated chemical reactions had to take place in one's DNA just like neuroplasticity, this was called Nucleic acid plasticity, it caused Merpeople to change when in contact with water from a specific water body and what caused level changes in one's light, this was an adaptation for the young Merpeople to survive alone in the wild.

***

Micky looked at his back, where Nicky had time jumped, Ricky on the other hand, was scared out of his mind.

Ricky sat on the floor of the hut with his legs crossed then asked,"So, how did it go?"

"Meh, he wasn't my type, we just didn't connect."She said.

"Well that's because you didn't tell him you liked him."

"He's engaged to someone else!"She blurted out.

"What?"Micky asked.

She had tears in her eyes now as she said,"He told me he was engaged to some princess from a nearby village but it doesn't matter anyway, it was stupid for me to actually start liking him."

"Wait...you liked him?"Micky asked.

"No, these are just tears of joy, of course I liked him!"She yelled.

"Well maybe we could talk to mom and dad about it, speaking of mom and dad, where are they anyway?"Ricky asked.

"They went with some of the villagers to the forest, that's all I know."Catherine said.

The boys then hugged Nicky as she cried her heart out...

Alexa was walking through the clearing Curtis was making with his light when she gasped then ran away.

Curtis yelled her name and chased after her.

He teleported besides her and caught her then asked what was wrong as tears poured down her cheeks, then she pointed to a man standing in a clearing...it was Trevor.

***

Anneliese stirred on the bed and looked at me with a smile which immediately turned upside down.

She woke me up then I asked in a coarse voice,"What is it?"

"Honey, did you bath before coming to bed?"She asked.

"I control the universal cleaning agent in all its forms, of course I did."

"Then why is there black mud all over your face?"

"I'm African, I'm black all over now let's get back to bed."

"You'll dirty that bed, move and take a shower."

"If I took another shower, will you let me sleep?"

She nodded.

I groaned then vanished into the bathroom and she sensed swirling currents of soapy water envelope every limb of my body and scrub them clean right before being rinsed off by distilled water, then evaporated.

I walked back then asked,"Happy now?"

"You actually missed a spot."She said.

"Where?"I asked, slightly pissed.

"Everywhere."

I groaned then turned to leave as she squinted her eyes then said I should wait and walked closer.

Before she could speak, Alex appeared in the room, a moment before I got a call on my phone.

I asked him the problem and looking like he'd seen the ghost he was, he said I should answer the phone call.

It was from Alexa, as I placed the phone to my ear, I gasped then looked at Anneliese then said,"We're going to the North..."