What appeared on the scene was so strange that Cormac and Melusine both wondered if these truly were mermaids at all. Their hair was pale green, bioluminescent snakes, their tails those of eels and their upper halves were those of skeletons. Their skulls had no nasal bones, their gaping mouths were filled with fangs and the size of them! They were sixteen feet in length! The leader of these mermaids, the one named Urefenkebos, had minor differences in her appearances for her fingers were clawed and her eyes completely blank. Were Hans Christian Andersen alive to see these mermaids, he would have wept.
Though both Cormac and Melusine felt terror in their hearts upon seeing the mermaids, so much more monstrous in appearances than the merrows, Cormac could only wonder how these things could possibly live. They were impossible and yet, so was he.
Immediately Cormac placed himself in front of Melusine, though he wished he could have been braver than he actually was. Shaking with fear, he watched as Urefenkebos approached, feeling that it would have been better to have encountered the three Gorgons of Hellenic myth. At least then he would have been turned to stone by their ugliness, but then… What would they do to Melusine?
Feeling Melusine's hand upon his shoulder, Cormac turned his head to look behind him. There she was, her reddish-brown eyes staring at him with an encouraging smile upon her countenance.
Looking back at Urefenkebos, Cormac found himself surprised. Despite the lack of flesh upon the skull and the blank eyes, he could have sworn there was a surprised expression upon the Natural-Born Mermaid's countenance, one of recognition even. Wherefore? Surely, she must have seen Children of the Storm before.
Extending a clawed finger, Urefenkebos uttered: "Forgive me for asking, young man, but what is your name? Your Surface-Dwellers usually have multiple names so I ask for the name of your house, your family, your clan."
"I will do no such thing, madam." said Cormac.
"So abusive!" exclaimed Urefenkebos. She then looked at one of her five followers and said something in a language that neither Cormac or the Helena of the Deep understood. "I made an inquiry and you dare abuse me by not rejoining?"
"I would hardly call declining a question 'abuse.'" Stated Cormac. "Besides, I don't trust you. So, I shall be taking the Helena of the Deep and we shall be making our departure from 'your' delightful company."
Melusine continued to smile at Cormac, no longer encouraging but proud and they began to make their departure until Urefenkebos spoke once more. "You are an Egan!" Immediately, Cormac froze. How did she know his family? "You have it all! The red hair, the jaw, the nose, the eyes, you are an Egan! How many children did that acclaimed undersea adventurer have? Had he a brother? Are you his nine times great-nephew?"
Cormac could only stare. He had no idea what Urefenkebos was even talking about. Until his paternal grandfather and great-uncle, who had been an acclaimed undersea adventurer, had immigrated to Ireland from Bahrain and taken Irish names, his paternal family had been the El-Baz family. Cormac was completely confused. Still, he would dare not say anything to Urefenkebos. It was best not to give a witch, which he suspected the Natural-Born Mermaid to be, too much information. He merely departed, leading Melusine away, while Urefenkebos, aged windbag that Cormac perceived her to be, merely turned away as she thought of someone she could turn to.
Yet even as Cormac departed the scene with Melusine, the appearance of those mermaids stayed in his mind. So horrifying, so nightmarish and yet the merrow were so beautiful. He knew from the stories that merrow-men were to be very ugly with their green hair and teeth, pig-like eyes, a tail growing between their scaly legs and stubby fin-like arms, merrow-maidens would seek out men on land, sometimes even luring young men beneath the waves to live in an enchanted state. The response of the merrow-men was to drown sailors and lock them in cages in the Deep, though Cormac had wondered on the Surface if they would abduct human women and now in the Deep, he wondered if merrow-men would seek mermaids like Urefenkebos and her band, creatures as ugly as them, for companionship.
Thinking aloud, Cormac uttered: "I think I prefer that thought."
"What was that, Cormac?" asked Melusine. Explaining his thoughts to her, Melusine nodded and said: "I must admit the thought of merrow-men finding companionship in mermaids like Urefenkebos and her followers is more appealing to me as well." Taking a moment to rest on a rock, Melusine then said: "The merrows are so different from Mamlambo."
"What is Mamlambo?" asked Cormac, curious to know what this Mamlambo was.
"Mamlambo is a water spirit in South Africa." Melusine explained. "The Zulus call her by that name while the Ndebele call her NoMlambo! She looks like a mermaid." She then gestured at herself and added: "A normal mermaid, not like those we just met. She carries a mirror and has a large snake for a companion. They say she will abduct random people while they are swimming or boating, bring them to a paradise and should she allow them to return it will be with a new spiritual understanding, and they will grow wealthier, more attractive and more easygoing in general."
A little bit disturbed, Cormac wondered aloud: "What is it with merrows and water spirits taking people beneath the waves?"
Melusine could only shrug, before she then asked: "Are you comfortable, Cormac? Swimming fully-dressed I mean."
Removing his jacket, Cormac answered: "Not particularly."
Watching Cormac remove his shirt with a small smile, Melusine asked: "Cormac, how much do you know about mermaids?"
Pausing, Cormac thought a bit. How much did he know? Maybe not a lot. When he was twelve, he had read "Moby-Dick", in which there was a chapter where the crew of the Pequod heard human-like cries in the night and believed them to be the sounds and either mermaids or ghosts and thus, a sign of a bad omen. Captain Ahab had explained it as them having passed by a colony of seals, but that had done little to calm the superstitious sailors, especially when a sailor fell to the death from the masthead the next day. Then there were "The Chronicles of Narnia", full of rather pleasant Mer-people. There was also that adaptation of "Peter Pan" by Walter Disney, an awful film that Cormac had hated, where a mischievous group of mermaids had tormented the character Wendy Darling and even admitted to wanting to drown her. Other than that, Cormac did not know anything else about mermaids. Thus, did he tell Melusine all that he knew and when he was finished, he said: "No doubt Urefenkebos and her group are the mischievous, bad omen type."
"Did you say you were twelve when you read 'Moby-Dick?'" asked Melusine, sounding impressed.
"Yeah, well, my dad was our age when he read it, so I feel like you have to be more than ten years to read that book." Replied Cormac, struggling to remove both of his shoes, even attempting to simply undo the laces, but found that would not work either. How tight had he tied them? "How old were you when you read 'Moby-Dick', Melusine?"
"Thirteen." Melusine answered, her eyes wide as Cormac struggled with his shoes. "D-Do you need a hand there? I've never seen someone struggle so much with trying to get their shoes off!"
Getting his left shoe off, Cormac gave a sigh of relief. "No, no, I got it. Just need to get the right one off now." Thus, did he proceed with getting his right shoe off and as he did, he inquired: "So, did you read 'Moby-Dick' for school or out of your own free well?"
"I read it because I wanted to." As Cormac succeeded in getting his shoe off, Melusine asked: "How tight did you tie your laces?"
"That's something I'm wondering myself." Replied Cormac, quickly pulling his socks off and then rolling his pant legs up. It might not have been his pair of swim trunks, but at least he was a bit more comfortable now. Sighing, he looked Melusine over, looking at her bracelets, headbands and seashells before asking: "When you were turned into… Uh, a merrow, a mermaid, whatever… were those articles you've got on included in the transformation?"
Taking a moment to look at one of her bracelets, Melusine answered: "No, I was actually wearing a dress, but I am thankful that conveniently vanished otherwise I'd just have that slowing me down prior to taking it off."
Cormac was not sure what to make of that. One the one hand that was unfair, but on the other Melusine had gone from human to mermaid or merrow, he on the other hand just went from air breathing to water breathing, but still he wouldn't exactly have minded a costume change so to speak… But what would he have gotten? A pair of swim trunks? A loincloth? He wasn't exactly sure he could pull of the look. He wasn't Johnny Weissmuller, Lex Barker, Denny Miller or Gordon Scott. What was he going to be? Tarzan, Lord of the Deep with Melusine as his Jane Porter? If so then who was his N'kima? Who was his Jad-bal-ja? As long as he didn't have a Nikolas Rokoff, he was fine.
Sighing, Cormac looked up to the Surface. He could see the sun shining down on him and Melusine. A smile appearing on his face, he swam up and stared at the sunny sky, barely a cloud in sight. He then looked towards land… Ireland… His home… His former home. If he could not be outside of the water for more than five minutes then it seemed the Celtic Sea was now his home.
Hearing Melusine surface, he looked over to her, a sad expression upon his countenance as he said: "My dad is the only family I have."
Quietly, Melusine said: "I have a sister, brother-in-law and nephew, but they all stayed in South Africa while my dad and I moved here. He said there would be better work here, better education… My sister and brother-in-law disagreed. My dad might not be my only family, but he is here in Ireland as well and I don't want to leave him all alone."
Gently taking her hand, Cormac asked: "Are you going to be alright?"
"Yeah!" Melusine replied with a nod. "Just wishing it was more than just the two of us. With a tail instead of legs I can't exactly run on in to check if my dad is okay."
"And with me being unable to be outside of the water for more than five minutes I am operating on a time limit." Commented Cormac, a small expression of annoyance upon his ruddy countenance. "I wish Orlaith and the rests of the merrow-maidens were here. They would be able to go onto land no problem!"
Confused, Melusine asked: "H-How?"
"Those caps they wear!" explained Cormac. "They allow them to be able to travel between land and sea!"
The small expression of annoyance now upon Melusine's front, the she commented: "Wish my headband would allow me to do that."
Staring at Ireland, Cormac began to think. He and Melusine were both Children of the Storm, he able to breathe underwater but unable to be outside of the water for five minutes and she was now a mermaid or merrow-maiden, whichever she preferred. How many others had been transformed into Children of the Storm recently? How many more citizens of Munster were now transformed? Had they been transformed as he and Melusine had? With boys his way and the girls now mermaids? Or had there been others with more monstrous transformations?
Sighing, Cormac shook his head. What was he expecting they were going to encounter? The Gill-man? He would have preferred to encounter selkies.
"There has to be more than just us, right?" Cormac asked, looking at Melusine.
"I don't know, Cormac." Melusine answered, an uncertain expression upon her face. "Orlaith spoke of Children of the Storm like she met others, but how are we to know if we are the only ones to come from the recent storm?"
For a moment, Cormac was silent. Then he asked: "Melusine, what do you think we are going to find? Do you think our fathers will be there when we go to look for them?"
Melusine did not answer. Cormac could only wonder if she didn't want to think about what would happen if she went to find her dad and instead find him… No… There was no wondering about it. She definitely did not want to think about that and the fact was he did not either. His dad was all he left and Melusine's was the only family she had in the entirely of the Republic of Ireland. Lose them and what then? Cormac would have no family at all and Melusine's family were residing in the southernmost country of another continent.
Diving down, Cormac and Melusine began their journey towards Ireland to find out what had happened to their fathers.