Cormac could not understand it. He could survive underwater and not be outside of it for five minutes, still looked just as he had before the coming of this strange storm, but this Melusine had been turned into a merrow? Wherefore? Why were their transformations different? Was the transformation different for each "Child of the Storm"? It seemed likely if he looked the same but now was an inhabitant of the deep in contrast to Melusine who was completely changed into a merrow.
Approaching Melusine, Cormac inquired, his voice a deep baritone: "Your name is Melusine?"
"Y-Yes, Melusine Johns." She answered. Her accent did not sound Irish, it was foreign Cormac knew that much. "Who are you?"
"Cormac Egan." He said, giving a nervous bow only to stop halfway and wonder wherefore he was doing such a thing. After his bow, Cormac then asked: "Are you from Brigid as well?" Brigid was the name of the coastal town from which Cormac had resided, prior to becoming a denizen of the Deep. Considering it was named after a goddess sometimes associated with water, he guessed his predicament somewhat appropriate… Maybe.
"Originally, I come from Cape Town in South Africa." Melusine answered. "A little while ago my dad and I moved here to Ireland, not to Brigid, but to Boann."
Boann was the town just south of Brigid. Named after the goddess of the River Boyne in Leinster, Cormac had always found it strange that there was a coastal town with such a name in Munster, Leinster's northeastern neighbour. He also found it appropriate that a girl named Melusine had been turned into a merrow, for every little school boy and girl knew the legend of the Plantagenets having been descended from a water spirit with that very appellation. Cormac was only left to wonder how many Children of the Storm ended up becoming Children of the Storm simply due to the names their begetters had given them.
"Your dad?" Cormac asked, only then to realize that he did not know what had happened to his own paterfamilias. His was a beach house! Had his father gone in search of him and been washed out to sea? "Good lord, I don't know if my dad is alright!"
A similar look of realization formed upon the countenance of the Helena of the Deep. "Nor I mine!" she exclaimed. "We both have to know if our fathers are alright, may I accompany you and will you accompany me?"
Cormac could only smile. Wherefore not? He and Melusine could get to know each other better as they went to see what had become of their respective paterfamiliases. It sounded absolutely—
That moment a natural-born merrow swam onto the scene, a look of fright in her eyes. Cormac and Melusine both turned to look at the newcomer as she exclaimed: "Urefenkebos, Orlaith! She and her band of followers are here!"
Immediately, the other merrow began to flee in a panic. Orlaith, the one who had been addressed and the one who had spoken to Melusine when Cormac had appeared, was the last to leave. Before she had fled the scene, she looked at the two redheads and uttered: "Flee! The two of you! Urefenkebos comes!"
"Who is Urefenkebos?" inquired Melusine.
"A mermaid!" Orlaith replied as she fled.
Cormac was puzzled. A mermaid? Not a merrow? Did Urefenkebos come from somewhere other than the Celtic Sea?