"Are you breaking up with me?" She asked her sarcastically. Looking up from the magazine she noticed the seriousness of Darya"s face and put it down and focused on her.

"Sorry sweetie, sit down and we can talk. Unless you want to go on a walk?" She suggested like they used to when she was just about to become a teenager and going through all those horrible awkward changes.

"Yeah, let"s go for a walk on the beach. I think I need some air." She fiddled with the hem of her shirt while her mother grabbed her jacket for the walk. Following her daughter, through the back door and onto the sands of the beach behind their house she wondered what has her all worked up.

"Darya are you going to start or shall I guess what"s going on?" Denise gently asked her while trying to simultaneously catch up with Darya.

"I"ve been thinking about what Dan-Raj told me. Maybe it would be good to see where I came from, that side of me. There are a lot of unanswered questions and a whole world to learn about." Darya spilled her beans and watched her mother"s face go from concern to sadness. She didn"t want to make her mother sad but it was something she has been thinking about for the last day and honestly most of her life.

"You want to leave me?" Denise"s voice cracked slightly and as she tried to hide the tears that began to form in her eyes.

"It"s not like that mom. I"ve had you for fifteen years and I love you so much. But I"m tired of making birthday wishes to meet my father because I feel half empty inside. The moment you introduced me to my father I felt like my life was beginning to become whole. I"ve had a great life and that"s thanks to you, you filled half my heart with love but the other half needs my father. Please don"t be mad." Darya asked as she grabbed her mother into a hug hoping she didn"t hate her too much.

"I never thought you were this empty. I should have paid more attention to you. I should have loved you more...I-" Darya cut her off and pulled the two of them to the sand to take a seat while the waves pushed and pulled against the sh.o.r.e. They both loved the ocean so much and now it was a major player in tearing at both of their hearts.

"I"m not empty mom, there is just this part of me that longed to know my father. I shouldn"t have said that I was half empty. You loved me enough and honestly, it was plenty for two people let alone just me. But with everything that he"s told me...I"m too curious for my own good. It"s not like I want to live with him forever. How about I use this summer to get to know that half of me?" She asked while the crash of the waves in the distance made her heart beat slower calming her.

"Just for the summer?" Denise asked with a bit of a pout on her lips. She looked up at her daughter and saw the excitement in her eyes. She wished she could shield her from everything forever but her daughter was always braver than her.

Darya was about to lean in for a tight hug with her mother but the sound of someone choking brought them out of their talking bubble.

"Oh my G.o.d!" Denise shrieked as they both watched a man crawl his way from the crashing waves. He spat water out as he pulled himself using the sand as much as he could. Denise jumped up and ran to him with Darya on her heels. The dark sky around them didn"t allow for good viewing of the man coming out of the water but the moment he came into view Denise knew he was a part of what Raj had brought into their lives.

"Sir! Are you okay? Sir!" Denise asked over and over hoping to get some sort of answer from him but all she received was a gurgle of water. She pulled him so he was on his side and tried to clear his airway. It was like he had never breathed air before. She looked him over and saw that his skin was almost translucent and the more he dried the more solid his skin became.

"Mom, is he what Raj is?" She asked while she looked around the beach for an indication of where he may have come from.

"He just might be, is there any way you can find your father? I know I told him to leave us alone but I think he may know who this is." Denise asked her and before Darya could try anything she felt the presence of someone standing behind her. Turning she sees her father not more than ten feet away from her with a look of stern concern stretched across his face.

"Kain, what are you doing out of the water?" His deep raspy voice came from behind Darya making her jump slightly. Her mother was right, he knew who this is.

"He"s a merman, like you? What"s he doing here?" Darya didn"t know how their world worked, which is a big reason she wanted to go off and learn, but she knew that him laying on the ground not speaking wasn"t good.

"He"s one of my elite guards and he isn"t supposed to bother me while I visit the mainland. Please step aside Denise." He warned her before kneeling next to the man that was practically floundering in the sand like the water hadn"t completely left his lungs.

Raj turned him on his back and placed his palm in the center of his chest, Darya wanted to ask him what he was going to do since that was not how you performed CPR but when his hand began to glow a light blue color she kept her mouth shut.

"Not all of my people can manage the change. It takes a very strong person both mentally and physically. Since he is mostly one of those things this didn"t go as he had hoped. I have to change him back, could you help me pull him to the water?" He looked up at Denise with questioning eyes. She nodded her head and grabbed his feet to start dragging him to the ocean behind their backs.

Darya watched with curiosity and it was quenched once they laid him in the ocean"s salty embrace. She walked closer to the man lying in the water while Denise and Raj backed up to the sand. They all watched as the light blue glow began to surround his whole body and the water licked at his torso and legs and before their eyes, his two long legs became one very long fin. It shimmered slightly under the light of the moon just above them.

Darya looked down and ran her eyes over the scales taking in each and every one of them. They were light green in color and when the moonlight hit them they turned almost translucent like his skin was before on the sand. She jumped back when his eyes opened suddenly.

"Kain, you"re awake, what did you nearly kill yourself for?" Raj asked as he kneeled by his side while the water lapped at his body. Denise did a quick scan of the beach to make sure there were no wondering people seeing a literal merman on the beach.

"My king, we need you back the underlings have returned. They were spotted not far off from the outer ring. We cannot fight them off without your power sir." He blurted out not knowing that he was also surrounded by humans. Taking a second Kain looked to Denise and Darya almost brushing them off as a human caught up in the mix. His eyes quickly looked back at Darya"s, he noticed how similar they were to his kings, but it wasn"t his business.

"I will return in the morning send the first defense in my absence and make sure the sighting was only a few and not an army like last time. I promise to return in the morning. Now leave and get back to our kingdom." Kain nodded without another word. Scooting himself down the sand and into the water some more he left without another word.

Raj turned to Denise and Darya with sad and concern across his face. He didn"t want to rush things here but his kingdom was still in danger and he couldn"t have a ma.s.sacre like they did fifteen years ago.

"I"m sorry but I have to return early. Did you give my offer any more thought?" He asked the two of them. Denise thought she would have more time to say her goodbyes to Darya but it seemed as though it was coming to a quick end.

"Dar, if you want to go now you can. I don"t feel good about sending you into a war zone if what that man was saying is true. But I have to let a part of you go, I know that now." She pulled Darya into a tight embrace and tried to hide her tears in her hair.

"Will I get to say goodbye to Marty?" Darya turned and asked her father.

"Of course, we will depart tomorrow. We will have to get your tail situated before we go after all." Darya"s eyes went wide for a second. She almost forgot that she would have to have a tail like a man she just saw. Her stomach dropped and she suddenly felt a bit sick. What did she get herself into?