Whitecap Bay

Anat

I meet Arabelle's eyes, to reassure her and nod with a little smile. "It's very nice though," I say, looking about all the little hollows and their items. Nothing like the ocean in size, but still big enough. Like all the schools of fish following the faster tides to go places.
"It's still the start of summer," he says, going on, and curiosity has me being less tugged along by Arabelle. "It gets busier after the Fourth of July."

Arabelle
"There are more of you?" I asked without thinking, unable to grasp the thought of so many humans. No wonder why we were so close to extinction, if they were aware of us, we'd stand no chance!

Aiden
I give her a look of confusion. "More of what? Vacationers? Of course. Beach towns get crazy around here," I say. "Where are you two from, exactly?" I realize I never asked her yesterday. Going swimming in the harbor and not knowing of the usual tsunami of people to the coast... So inland, maybe?

Arabelle
I flashed Anat a look, thinking fast. "You've probably never heard of it. We don't get a lot of... vacationers. The sea's beautiful. Have you lived here your whole life?" I asked, changing the subject.

Aiden

"Me? You could sort of say that," I say, already reliving the memories that come with traveling through the town. "My aunt runs the Inn on the bluffs; I've been coming to stay with her every summer to help. And I've been working with Phil since I was ten at the lab, you met him yesterday. The old sea dog's always been a pain, but at this point I think you could call it mutual." I give a little laugh.
"The guy knows every sea song and legend about the area, from the crazy fish that have set records to the old mermaid tales the whalers used to tell. When he has the patience, it's really entertaining to sit down and just listen to him tell all that stuff." Once he gets started though, almost nothing would stop the flow of stories.

Arabelle
I did my best to remain calm, though I felt myself tense considerably. "Stories about mermaids?" I echoed, looking up at him. "Such as...?"
Clearly he didn't believe them, which was good. But it was probably best we knew what the humans still thought of us, when our other sisters decided to come onto land, it might save their life.

Aiden

Girls always like the mention of mermaids... "Pretty ladies with beautiful long hair and sparkling scales upon their pale skin, eyes that could capture a man with a gaze and a song that would drive them into the ocean, but with a secretly deadly smile and disorienting screech to take fishermen into the sea and drown them," I say, looking at all the mermaid souvenirs of the shops.
I grin back at the two of them. "Quite a different tale than the Disney Little Mermaid."

Arabelle

My eyes pinched but, once again, I worked hard to keep my face empty, allowing amusement into my smile. "I see that..."
The Little Mermaid? Disney? What?
"It's quiet the story," I chuckled, looking away and to the suveniers. What ghastly little things... why would they make figures and such of us? "Do you believe it?"

Aiden

I shrug, giving a half frown. "I dunno... The people who made them must have been pretty convinced about their existence. Down south, they say that it was just manatees that looked like half fish girls, but we don't have anything like that up here. So... I have an open mind, you could say," I explain after a moment's thinking. "We know more about the moon than our own ocean. Why couldn't they exist, or have existed at some point, you know? Might just be out there hiding." Naive of me? Probably. But it was fun to just imagine possibilities like that again.

Arabelle
I shrugged, shooting Anat a glance. "I say it's wishwash. Don't you think you'd all see one one by now?" I flicked my hair over my shoulder, sighing. It was probably better to curb any suspects of us when we had the chance, even if it was just with one person... who I was about to kill.
...Well it made sense in that moment.
"Where are we now?" I asked, changing the subject and looking around.

Aiden

I look up at the question. I had been focused on our conversation so much, I hadn't really been keeping track of where I was going. "South Shore. This goes around to the southern side of the peninsula. More bluffs, a few tide caves... real rocky. More for the scenery and the twin lighthouse than for swimming," I say. "What would you like to see next?" I ask them. Her sister was awfully quiet, wasn't she...