Mermaid Gigantes
by Starcross
The Middle Part
It used to be called "coming out" in the distant past. When Kana Wiltzchen declared her long-term homosexuality, her parents became ecstatic. This outburst of joy from Mr. and Mrs. Wiltzchen was not because homosexuality had been accepted into the mainstream hundreds of years ago in Demiterra. Kana's parents were cheap and greedy. If she was straight and married a man, there would be a lot of liability hurdles and taxes attributed to her.
Demiterra was a normal terrestrial planet with ocean surfaces outnumbering dry land two to one. With the languages standardized and aerial transportation easily accessed to all, Demiterra eased into an age of technological prosperity, and a utopia was just around the corner.
Then again, it was just a pipe dream. The planet itself was being heavily overwhelmed by the population of over thirty billion. There was not enough environmental generators, or space trees, to satisfy a billion more newborns with their oxygenated gases and protection of the ozone molecules. Population was strictly controlled, and the Demiterran global government urged people to settle on other extraterrestrial planets. Other methods included temporary sterilization, a sort of internal chastity belt created by a wall of rugged nanomachines in a male or female's sex organs. Then there were dark rumors of the global government secretly committing acts of genocide through diseases and accidents.
Applying for the right to give birth was tedious, and the couple had to go through numerous screening tests, all of which they had to pay out of their own pocket. The unlocking of their internal chastity system was also expensive as were hospital stays and the hiring of midwife nurses. Even if the pregnancy was successful there were the expensive genetic tests for defects, the payment for health care, and schooling. It was discouraging to have a child, especially in the age of globalized inbreeding, but even so couples struggle hard to bring at least one child into their lives. In fact, having a child was often a sign of wealth and prestige that many attempted to obtain, or at least exert an image of success.
Back then however, Kana was young and had no interest in having children. She enjoyed her youth dating girls and having sex with many of them. After college or its equivalent, she married her chosen sweetheart Uuli Kyuner. Their nights of love were blissful, but friction between them began to develop when they got older.
A few years after they married, Kana had announced she wanted to have a child. Her parents and parents-in-law frowned and murmured uneasily. Even Uuli was against it since no one in their families had enough money to go through the tests and pay for the taxes.
"A lesbian couple can have children right?" asked Kana.
"You picked a good moment to say that," said Uuli.
"But you can insert your DNA in a blank sperm."
"Homosexual couples having children is twice more expensive!"
She was right. The unique methods for lesbians and gays to have children made the process more costly. The subject was then dropped, and a disappointed Kana gave up on her dream. It was at that time she and her wife stopped having sex.
In order to fill in the void of her life, Kana took an interest in marine biology and moved to the beach along with her reluctant wife. Kana eventually bought an ocean research vessel and ran a side business keeping tabs on the ocean life for the Demiterran Ocean Society and running a seaside gift shop with the help of Uuli.
Kana often went out to voyages without her wife since Uuli easily got seasick and had a bad experience involving black jellyfish. Uuli never liked swimming as she nearly drowned when she was a girl. In contrast, Kana loved swimming and scuba diving, and was once the seventh-place world championship swimmer during her school days.
The friction continued even into their house. Every time Kana returned to her voyage she was bringing strange fish creatures to research, to breed for zoos and aquariums, and to keep as pets. Uuli became annoyed at staring at what she viewed were ugly creatures, and she had to put with the smell and the uncomfortable dampness Kana failed to notice. Uuli hated seafood, and she had to be hospitalized due to her allergies to shrimp.
At night during bedtime, Kana would always apologize to Uuli about their new life by the sea, but Uuli would always sigh and said that as her wife she had to put up with it.
"You don't have to live here," Kana had said. "I could buy you a apartment or small house uphill."
"It's all right," sighed Uuli.
"How did we end up with this?"
"You wanted to have children."
"I forgot."
"In reality though, we're really not supposed to have children. It's unnatural."
"Yeah."
"But I'm still glad we fell in love."
"And have hot sex."
"Those were the days."
"Yeah."
Uuli had put up with her wife through everything. Though Kana's crew consisted of men, Uuli wasn't too worried. The men acknowledged Kana as one of their own, and due to the way Kana had cut her hair and wore her clothes they often forget that she was female. But when she bought in Lola as the tomboyish first mate, Uuli began to feel uneasy.
"You're not interested in her in anyway, are you?" asked Uuli.
"Of course not," replied Kana. "Lola and I go way back."
"I see."
In this relationship, clichÇ and irony reared its ugliness. Kana came home one night and didn't realize amidst the noise of her many fish tanks that her wife was cheating with her first mate. Kana had stepped in as Uuli was on top of Lola grinding her vagina onto her new partner. They stopped immediately to stare at the gaping Kana. Kana then dropped her bag, took out her knife, and then slashed Uuli. Blood splattered on the wall.
Fortunately though, that was all she did. However, Uuli was blinded on her left eye, and she wore an eye patch as she awaited a new eye replacement. Kana, who had a fuzzy memory of the event, was arrested and pleaded guilty to assault. She was sent to prison for an equivalent of two Demiterran years, and during which Lola ran her business until it was sold to a new owner.
Kana divorced Uuli during her imprisonment. At the same time, she lapsed into a state of depression and nearly committed suicide, forcing her to be placed into suicide watch. She willingly allowed herself to be violated by the other inmates and the guards on occasion, for she believed it was her own fault that she caused Uuli so much pain and their estrangement. There were times that she screamed her head out and cursed the world, the universe, and its deities. Then her soul went half-dead, and she had become complacent, thus allowing her to be brought into a halfway house.
During her stay, she learned of the Galactic Genetic Diversification Program and the benefits of becoming a life partner of an alien humanoid species. She immediately applied online on the global nexus network since it did not charge an application fee.
Then she said to herself, "What kind of program would accept the likes of me? A criminal no less." Kana tried to enter as little information as possible regarding her past crime, and chose a "No Preference" choice. There was, however, a personal statement she had to write. Though she wrote three paragraphs' worth, it generally said that she wanted to get off the planet.
To her surprise, she was accepted, and this prompted her early release.
Only her parents were there to bid her a possible final goodbye. She would have expected to see Lola, or at least Uuli to show up suddenly, but no one knew the fate of her ex-wife.
The divine must have smiled upon her. Whether it was hormones or not, Kana was happily in love with Mather Madison, the Mermaid Gigantes. They could not have picked a better love-partner for her.
Since their first sex, Kana quickly adjusted to subsequent lovemaking as it happened almost all the time. Mather had explained during a late lunch that after their first sex mermaids would continue to furiously have sex until one of them becomes pregnant. On that moment, Kana just shrugged her shoulders and leaped right over the table and into Mather's arms. They immediately proceeded to have sex in the kitchen and dining area.
For Kana, it was effort absorb all of Mather's pheromones, which meant she had a licking fetish. For Mather, her sex drive and hormones was activated, and her drive was to donate her pheromones onto her lover's body and pump her ova stream into the uterus, which was the reason for the mixing foam that often developed between their merging vulvas. Like Kana, Mather also participated in licking every part of her body, and that was done to spread and impart more pheromones. They were hungry for each other, and despite a few intentional biting they were fortunate enough to not want to literally eat one another.
In the next seven days or more--the couple lost count--they proceeded to have sex every chance they got. Actually, the only time they weren't having sex was during their meals, which they kept short, toilet breaks, and during their sleep, which they also kept short. Even during their baths and showers they had sex. It was nothing but sex, sex, and sex in their minds, but also in their minds was the desire to see one another being pleasured at the utmost. They had sex everywhere, which ended up breaking a lot of furniture they didn't care about. They wore little or no clothes and did not care if they were secretly peeped (then again, this was Meta Fifth, a planet full of love).
They could barely function normally outside of sex. They would get very anxious if they were without each other for more than a minute, even if they were just in different rooms or facing away from each other. They tried to go out to eat or see a show, but they could not keep their hands off each other. Thus, the police, in accordance of the planetary laws, were ordered to go home or to a segregated section where public sex was acceptable. But Kana and Mather were private creatures. They would not allow anyone else, female, male, or other to look at them lustfully, and in fact Kana or Mather (Mather least likely since she could exert poison) had assaulted a lesbian just for staring at them.
Since they could not be together in public, they remained home, having more and more sex. The condo was a complete mess. The floors were not cleaned, nor were the dishes and almost all of the clothes. They just could not stop having sex, which served as their only source of entertainment. They were forced to order delivered food, but requested that only demure female-types with lesbian leanings to deliver it. As a matter of fact, there happened to be a special delivery service that was staffed by female bisexuals and lesbians.
Answering the door was a heavy chore for Kana and Mather. With one psychologically dependent on the other, they instead opened the door together dressed in hastily worn robes clinging on one another. If only they could see the look on the delivery girl's face when they kissed and fondled. It would always take a while to pay her via credit-point transfer. Eventually though, Kana and Mather became the deliver services best customers.
This could be seen as a mad love, but mad was an insufficient quantifier for the likes of Kana and Mather. This was essentially divine pandemonium localized inside a one-story condominium decorated for those who loved the sea and lived by the sea.
Their constant lovemaking eventually came to an end, and even for mermaids too much could also kill them. The Mermaid and the Demiterran were sleeping naked on the top mattress of the round bed that was separated from the bottom half. Kana was the first to wake, and finally realized the sheer mess before her eyes. She continued staring, wondering if a robber came in or a she and Mather had a fight.
"How did this happen?" Kana asked.
Kana shrugged her shoulders. She had to go the bathroom. Then she screamed.
Mather bolted up and ran into the bathroom.
"What happened to my hair?" Kana asked.
"It grew longer," said Mather.
"I mean this," Kana pointed. "It's starting to turn into the same color as yours."
"Oh, that. I remember mentioning to you that when you have sex with me, you'll take in so much of my pheromone's that you'll be colored by me. It's one of the ways we can tell who's sleeping with who on Marieno."
"I don't remember hearing that."
"Honestly though, I sort of remember saying that, but you just kissed me and we had sex."
"I think you're right."
The two sighed.
"Wow, what an experience," Kana asked. "What time is it?"
"It's 1625 hours."
"That late? I have to prepare dinner."
"Um, Kana..."
Kana saw the complete mess in the kitchen. "Okay, let's just head out."
"We don't have any clean clothes," said Mather. "You know how important that is for me."
"How much money we have?"
"About five million credit points."
"How the heck did we spend all that? As a matter of fact, how come we're speaking fluently without translators? Just how many days did pass?"
Mather shrugged her shoulders. "I say that's good news."
The couple had one change of clothes delivered to them, once they were wearing them they ate out to a fairly high-class restaurant in the city. The dresses they wore didn't match the atmosphere. Whose didn't in Meta Fifth?
This time they didn't misbehave, but they were still feeling romantic. They fed each other, and sometimes exchanged pieces of food through their mouths. Even with Mather covered almost entirely Kana didn't hesitate to touch her skin once in a while. Inadvertently, that made Mather's ears become erect. She blushed in embarrassment and tried in vain to hide it with her aquamarine hair.
"They won't know," Kana whispered.
"But they're engorged," Mather said. "Like those horns your males have."
Kana could not help but smile at Mather's innocence.
They got home to immediately clean up. There was a voice message left on their messaging terminal as well as their Data Readers.
"Hey Kana," said Bram's voice. "We just wanted to know if you and Mather want to come with us to see public erotic show of Demiterra's A.I. system merging with Booa's A.I. system at the Elm Stadium. Oh, and I would like to add that we're really sorry about making you suspicious about your partner. We have no right to spread such vicious rumors about her, so please forgive us. Um, bye!"
"We should go," said Mather. "So I can forgive them."
"Mather," said Kana, "the message is eight days old."
Kana played the next one, which was four days later.
"Hello Kana Wiltzchen," said Phim's voice. "We dropped by to see if you were still angry with us, but when we saw your silhouettes, we were flabbergasted. My boys were just stunned to see such crazy, um, sex with you and Mather. I promptly led them back to the air taxi and went home blushing. Then the three of us had sex.
"I am really jealous. I mean, wow. You two were breaking lamps here and there and making the walls rumble. The roughest three-sex we have back home at Embriga doesn't even compare. Looks like we're all relieved the two of you hadn't died yet. It is a shame that you missed the merging of the A.I.'s. That is something you don't see everyday.
"Anyway, I hope you and Mather have many children as will I. We'll drop when we leave for Embriga in five days."
"Five days!" cried Kana. "They'll be dropping by tomorrow!"
Knowing that their friends, however short the time they knew them, would be going away, Kana and Mather dressed in their best yet fairly inexpensive clothes. On this occasion, Mather intentionally left her right hand exposed that she would always be holding Kana's left. However, Mather insisted on covering their hand holding with a satin scarf wrapped around their wrists almost like handcuffs. That way, Mather felt, she would not accidentally be touched or touch anyone else. Although she her body was now "locked on" Kana's being, meaning that her pheromones won't have the same effect on other people, Mather simply felt possessive. Kana did not mind. She was possessive over her lover as well.
It was Bram and Krisk who appeared at the doorstep wondering why they were handcuffed with a satin scarf.
"No, it's not a cultural thing," said Kana. "I just don't want Mather to touch anyone else."
"What's with the suits guys?" Mather asked. The suits the men wore were not of Demiterran origin. It had a slim yet bulbous quality, but nonetheless made from high quality materials.
"This?" Krisk said. "This is to celebrate Phim's pregnancy. After all, we're all 'horny' creatures, right? Right?"
Bram slapped his own head. "Anyway, we also came here to apologize."
"It's all right," smiled Mather. "In some sense, it is my people's fault for being so secretive."
"Yeah, a lot of the planetary governments are secretive."
"Bram," said Kana, "where is Phim by the way?"
"She's in the land taxi."
"She doesn't feel well?"
"She's pregnant."
"I know, but... she can't walk?"
"The pregnancy takes a huge toll on her. Already she has triplets."
"Women on Embriga become physically weak when they're pregnant," said Krisk. "It used to be that they die after childbirth, but nowadays it's just extended hospital stays."
"That doesn't explain why you have to go back," said Kana. "Wasn't there a civil war going on in Embriga?"
"There is," said Bram. "We discussed over this, and although we could stay in Meta Fifth, Phim is homesick and likes to give birth to our children on her planet."
"Don't worry though," said Krisk, "her city is located far from the battlefield."
"I don't like to cut this short, but our wife is waiting. She can't stay out this long without proper medical care."
"Do you think we can see her?" asked Mather.
"Of course. Just not too long."
The automated land taxi was dark and elongated like a limousine. It might was well be called a limousine if not for the medical equipment situated in the center. Bram and Krisk entered, and the rearmost side window rolled down. Phim was in a heavy robe. Her skin was pale and had faint colored spots in a sporadic pattern.
Keeping her head up and eyes focused at Kana and Mather was an effort. She tried to speak, but her two husbands stopped her from opening her mouth. Instead, she smiled at the female and female couple as her goodbye. Bram and Krisk said their goodbyes, and the taxi drove off.
At the same day, video news of the civil war in Embriga became grimmer. Kana and Mather prayed for their friends' safety and the safety of their unborn children.
(They had learned later through the info directory of Embriga that women becoming pregnant with three children were not uncommon. Usually though, males were born.)
The couple didn't make many friends afterwards, but they did not mind. Their own company was their constant, and although the throes of passion had subsided, they continued to make love here and there. Around the house or in private booths amongst public sectors, they would often touch if not embrace one another for regular skin-to-skin contact. Mather had explained that this was normal for devoted mermaids, as they would regularly exchange pheromones. Bathing together and sleeping together naked were their most intimate moments, which would often lead to softened sex. On the subject of oral sex however, Mather was against it. Her reasoning, as with her people's, was that it would unfairly cannibalize the line ova that was supposed to go into their lover.
"However, they do it often in the city on Marieno," added Mather. "They are more liberal there."
"Then would it be murder if the line ova doesn't go into the other partner?" Kana asked.
"It is, but it is not enforced. All of us have to make sure that doesn't happen."
"So you don't masturbate as well."
"Actually we do. The line ova do not ejaculate unless a partner is present or if infected by your partner."
"I see then."
In their culture, the couples assimilate with each other. Kana only passed a minute amount of her pheromones into Mather, but it was still enough for the mermaid to fall in love with her. Changes within Mather were not apparent, but it was more drastic for Kana. All of her hair was turning aquamarine, and her skin was becoming lighter than usual. She had worried that she was too old for Mather when she first arrived on Meta Fifth, but the constant sex had revitalized her and had actually made her younger.
Mather had bought additional clothes to cover almost every part of her body, including her face, for outings. It was a bit disappointing for Kana, but Mather insisted in case of accidental skin contact and attraction from others. Fortunately, Mather's tall and feminine form was still apparent, and as a matter of fact it was even more arousing. Mather looked very alien and mystical when covered in a latex or leather body suit. She was lucky enough that her clothes had zippers for quick release so that she could allow Kana to touch her. For them, if they did not touch regularly, they would become anxious like they used to. They were each other's drugs.
When Kana's hair and skin became completely colored, it became a sure sign that she was impregnated. For the people of Marieno, the lovers would have long kiss with their wives as an informal test, but nowadays they use Entity Readers that could be purchased from a store. They did a test in their living room in one afternoon...
"Sorry I couldn't impregnate you Mather," joked Kana. "Does this mean I will be the Maam?"
"It doesn't work that way," replied Mather. "It is the children who determine who is going to be the Falka and Maam. Basically, the one who is dominant in our relationship will be the Falka."
"The parents don't necessarily make them choose, do they?"
"We are not allowed to do such things. It's a crime to force a child to make a certain parent be the Falka or Maam. There was a time a Falka was allowed more opportunities than the Maam, but anti-discrimination laws almost eradicated such a tradition. Now Falkas and Maams are equals."
"That's strange considering you're a one-gendered society."
"It does happen."
Suddenly, Kana began sobbing.
"What's wrong?" Mather asked.
"Isn't that something? I'm impregnated by a woman. I've finally able to have children."
The two embraced.
"Mather," wept Kana. "I'm sorry happy. I want to say that I love you, and I'll keep on loving you for all eternity."
"Do you believe in the concept of forever love?"
"Yes."
"It's a central tenant of my religion. Once a couple is married, they are destined to be together, and when they die they rise up to be goddesses. Nothing, not even fate will ever separate them."
Kana's tears eventually dried up. She didn't move from the spot, as she then cuddled on the couch like she would always do with Mather. Both them were dressed in nothing but their one of their many house lingerie.
"I hope Phim and the others are all right," said Mather. "The civil war is getting worse."
"That does remind me though," said Kana. "I'd like to see your home planet."
Mather choked up.
"Something wrong?"
"Ah, it's nothing!" Mather exclaimed.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot. Did your planet expel you?"
"It's not that." Mather then sighed. "I should at least see Maam and tell her about you."
"Your mother?" asked Kana.
"Something like that."
"If you don't want to, that's fine. Maybe you can visit my planet."
"I don't think I can. Mermaids aren't allowed to freely travel wherever they wish. It's either Marieno or planets like Meta Fifth."
"The poison thing..."
"That and my government forbid it."
Kana stood up. "That settles it then. Let's visit your home planet."
"Um, okay."
The approval for their travel took almost a month. So far, Kana didn't see any changes in her womb, as unborn mermaids take a bit longer than Demiterrans to develop. That was a rough estimate though, for inside Kana was a Mermaid-Demiterran hybrid that may or not be sterile.
With their pairing as a rare case, they were granted a generous amount of security from the GGDP at little or no charge. However, they had to abide by strict travel rules created solely for them, but they knew it was focused for Mather. They were to travel alone with simple androids, not just because they were the only ones heading to Marieno. They could only cook their own food, but that was compounded by the fact they were limited on what they could bring from Meta Fifth. In addition, only they would be the only pilots and copilots for the trip. Everything except for the maintenance of their shuttle would be performed by them.
The shuttle was hybrid type, which meant that it would take off from the spaceport, go through Dark Space Jump gate on Meta Fifth's moon, and appear at Marieno's moon. From there, it would descend to one of the few spaceports Marieno possessed.
Though it was rendered in many names, the shuttle was called Jellystar in Kana's language, and though it sounded silly it had a sleek pointed shape. Perhaps it was named so due to the reflective tendrils or tentacles that was at its rear. These tentacles exerted a thrust at the tips to control a myriad of functions such as acceleration, steering, and braking, despite the main hull possessing those functions. The interior was heavily organic, and some of the furniture and appliances were very uncomfortable for Mather and Kana. Fortunately, they put up with it because they would not be using it for too long.
The journey took a couple of days in their time, and it was streamlined that they would go through customs a lot quicker. Being a native of Marieno, Mather pre-screened through most of her and Kana's belongings, most of which posed no danger. When Kana saw the planet through her window, it was just as Mather had described it. It was like Demiterra, but the lands were scattered about in numerous chains of archipelagos.
"There is my place," said Mather. "Middle Mesopotamia."
"Wait a second," said Kana. "That sounds similar to some of the places on my planet."
"It does happen. The people in the city say that everyone in the 7-Arc Starculster descended from a common alien species."
"I've heard of that..."
Kana heard of a irritating thorn in the United Starcluster Federation of the Church of the Common Ancestor and their terrorism against conservative believers of Isolated Evolution. A radical idea sprang up that the reason why many could interbreed or infect one another through diseases was that everyone descended from a space-based and highly technological civilization who had fallen from glory perhaps a billion or so years ago. Since then, their descendants had evolved to suit their environment.
The Isolated Evolutionists dispute this because there were many species of organisms these so-called descendants could have evolved from. If everyone was descended from the common ancestor, where were the relics of a space-based civilization? None were found, so far, and the Isolated Evolutionists assumed that the Common Ancestor church participated in a campaign of destroying the relics in order to spread their views. The debate continues on with no end in sight. Many, however, do not really care.
The spaceports on Marieno were their own enclaves, and even though there were non-natives on Marieno, particularly merchants and traders, they were forbidden to permanently settle elsewhere on the planet. There was a small party of Demiterran guards and their soldier androids protecting Kana and Mather as they ventured out.
Jerusalem Port was a murky trading city unlike the pictures of the beautiful organic cities seen on the outdated pictures of Marieno's culture. Non-natives make up the bulk of the population, but there were also Mermaid Gigantes wandering about.
To Kana's surprise, Mather was right. Mermaids were very slenderly tall, just over two hundred and fifteen centimeters (seven feet) on average, whereas Mather was a petite one hundred and ninety-eight centimeters (six feet and six inches). Almost all of them wore full body suits of latex, rarely leather though. Their faces were obscured by masks that only have eyeholes, and the headdresses were blossoming large and wide to hold all their long and flowing hair. Yet even with their bodies totally covered, they were beautiful and alluring, and their designs had variations in their pattern, cut, and the amount of buttons and ribbons.
Mather wore a similar suit of Indigo, but she didn't obscure her face with a mask. Instead, a transparent veil was pulled over her lower half of her face so that Kana would recognize her. Her headpiece diverged from the top like V, and satin cyan tassels fell from its tips.
Kana also wore a matching bodysuit, but opted not to wear anything obscuring her head and face. She felt no danger in spreading her ineffective pheromones to other mermaids. Her height, however, made her appear to be a mermaid child to other mermaids. The few teens she had seen so far were taller but did not have their faces covered.
The port itself was an island, and to leave the island Kana and Mather had to go through the traveling bureau for pass to Mather's hometown of Bara Qu in Dimashq Island. Kana had unknowingly learned enough of Mather's language to get around (she thought it was the constant sex that was the cause), but she was annoyed to being belittled and being treated as a child by other mermaids. One of them assumed that she was one of the rare pygmies at Congo Island.
Finally, they were allowed on board a beautiful organic vessel on the basis that Mather had now been married, which was confusing to Kana as there was no formal ceremony. "There doesn't need to be," said Mather. "One night of fornication means that we already are. Of course, you still have to register with your local government, and then post-marriage ceremony will take place. Considering my position, that won't happen."
"What exactly did happen?"
"I was raped."
"Raped? You don't have pe--I mean, horns between your legs."
"Rape here is different from your planet, but even on Marieno the definition fluctuates. A rich girl named Iyanna Novn became smitten by me, and while I was flattered she took advantage of me by ripping my clothes. By the time she touched me it was too late. I came to almost two weeks later realizing I was colored by Iyanna.
"Where I come from, it isn't technically rape. Maam insisted that I register with my previous lover, as did my neighbors and friends. I convinced myself that Iyanna was the one for me but instead of coming home to her, I ran away. I didn't know why I was so scared. Despite Iyanna taking advantage of me, I was in love with her. But it just didn't feel right."
"That's because you've been taken advantage of!" Kana said. "It's considered sexual assault!"
"That's what the liberals say in the cities, but please remember Kana that divorce is heavily frowned upon, and that separating from your lover is the worst sin you could ever commit. You are essentially ostracized from society. That's why I had you talk with the seaport officials."
"Eh? They were pretty friendly to you."
"I'm cautious. Some of them might from where I live. It'll get worse when we arrive on Dimashq."
Kana was on the deck leaning against the forward railing. There was water everywhere, yet there were large islands in the distant horizon. Reptilian sea birds followed the sea ship powered "clean" White Fire cells. The dolphins that swam alongside and ahead looked somewhat like the mermaids Kana saw in fairytale picture books back at her home planet due to the fact they had elongated arm-like fins and a stream of antennae that looked like hair.
She was the only alien amongst the mermaids traveling on the ship. Their clothes now varied widely, but they still retained their full-body covering. The crew and captain were dressed in white naval uniforms along with white masks. There were young children the same height or taller than Kana, and some of them had invited her to play. Patrolling the boat were the police-marines in their blue and red uniforms. Their hats, borrowed from other planetary cultures, looked reminiscent of the caps of officers on Demiterra. Their masks were essentially black-tinted visors. Each carried a short "bloodsword", which uses the blood or mainly sweat of the officer to poison their criminal. They also carried regular gunpowder-based pistols, and a palm-sized medicine pack. Mather had explained that the medicine pack really contained only half medicine, and the other half contained various pills and disposable syringes used to create poison in the officer's bodies. Though faceless, the officers were fearsome, and often watched the movements of Kana and Mather.
Mather on the other hand stayed in one place alone on the deck. She was always on the alert, but she felt that her sin was the reason for her ostracism. Kana was not sure if her townsfolk were on the same ship, and she really couldn't do anything, as she still wasn't aware of the breadth of Marieno's culture. Besides, she was only a foreign visitor.
Dimashq Port was the major city of Dimashq Island, and to Kana it was heavenly beautiful. Though made of metallic materials and glass, the buildings were sculptured with a curvaceous bent, almost as if the city was yet another coral reef. The few flying vehicles and the cars were also designed in the same way despite being made of hard plastics and steel.
Almost everywhere it was clean, including the so-called slums where the purported crime groups were located. The city was orderly and reserved due to the reasonable physiologically of the people. It was a common sight for Kana to see a lot of couples holding hands, sometimes ungloved or wrapped in a scarf.
"I thought it wasn't a cultural thing," Kana said the Mather after they disembarked.
"I thought it was just a recent city trend," said Mather.
There was no way to tell the ages since everyone was veiled. Although it was said that touching and kissing in public was frowned upon, younger couples in the city, as told by Mather performed it without a care in the universe. This was done by taking off their masks, but it was easier to do so using veils. At the seaside boardwalks, Kana saw many couples doing this.
Married couples also kissed their children, but not very often on the lips. This was so that the child could absorb the pheromones from both parents so that she won't be attracted to them later in life. This also has the added benefit of dispelling incestuous lust between sisters and cousins, although the latter seemed to be increasing in Marieno's own global inbreeding. When faced with that decision, Marieno would rather inbreed themselves into extinction than to make their world impure.
Kana was relatively tall at around one hundred seventy-two centimeters (five foot eight inches) back home in Demiterra, but in Marieno everything was tall for her, and it made her feel like a child again.
"Why is it that everyone is so tall?" Kana asked.
"I don't know really," said Mather. "I think it was because our ancestors had to swim from island to island to follow the fish. Or was it so we could extend our reach to the bottom of the sea harvest clams."
"Bearded clams?" Kana grinned.
"Huh?"
"It's nothing. Marieno feels different on my feet."
"It is slightly smaller than your planet."
"That explains it. You weren't too uncomfortable on Meta Fifth, were you?"
"Not to worry. I took pills so that my body system would adjust."
"But you're height was all right. You're not too tall."
They had lunch at an outdoor café. The food Kana ate looked like steak, but in reality it came from a tough bull-whale that mermaids breed in the oceans. She was astounded that the people of Marieno had conquered the ocean and used it as their breeding ground. They had developed membrane technology to enclose their movable "pastures" for their aquatic animals ranging from plankton to giant squids, which was a favorite mermaid delicacy.
During their meal, there was a child in a purple body suit waving at Kana. At least she thought it was a child. When she approached her, the child removed her mask to reveal herself as a Demiterran living in Dimashq.
"What a surprise to see another one of me here," said the girl. "My name's Ariko Fosye."
"Kana Wiltzchen." Kana extended out her hand, but Ariko declined it.
"I forgot," said Kana.
"Nah, that's all right," said Ariko. "You'll get used to living here."
"Actually, I am just visiting."
"You are? I thought you were 'kidnapped'."
"Well," said Mather. "Kana and I married."
"Ariko," said Kana. "This is Mather Madison."
"Hello," bowed Ariko. "So I guess you live in a different city."
"Different planet actually."
Ariko sat with Kana and Mather and listened to their situation.
"So you actually participated in the GGDP," said Ariko. "That's interesting. Usually, we just go to other planets and steal their women."
"Mather, I thought that wasn't true," said Kana.
"Well," said Mather, "not to the extreme. It does happen."
"It was a little frightened meeting Camyl at first," said Ariko. "At a bar no less. She was in a full body suit of black leather so I assumed she was some lesbian biker. I don't know what happened, but somehow we accidentally touched each other and it clicked. Camyl took me here and I became her wife."
"Say," said Kana, "Camyl isn't a..."
"Oh, no! I know it's difficult for a mermaid to get off this planet, but it isn't impossible. Camyl's the type looking for adventure across the stars."
"Are there more of us on this planet?"
"Just under a thousand total along with other female aliens. You don't see them often because you know; we're all dressed like this. Occasionally some there is newsbreak on the television of a interbreeding couple getting into trouble, so we're practically invincible and untouchable. Unfortunately we can't get real jobs due to us being aliens."
"I don't intend to stay here."
"It is still a nice place here. And the sex... woo! Never thought I'd go lez for Camyl."
"Do you have any children?"
"Lots! And my first great-grandchild is coming out this month!"
"Great-grandchild? But you look so young?"
"Mermaid pheromones girl. It's the fountain of youth."
"Actually," said Mather, " you retain your beauty and live a bit longer than many other species."
"I guess the tales of devouring a mermaid's skin has some ring of truth," said Kana.
"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Ariko. "Ah, my wifey is here!"
A very tall mermaid in a black suit received the embrace of Ariko. Camyl lifted her veil, and kissed her wife for almost a minute.
"Camyl, this is Mather and Kana," Ariko said. "They're newlyweds."
"Pleased to meet you," said Camyl.
"Sorry that we have to part. I have to meet up a couple of my granddaughters for a picnic outing. We'll see each other again. I'm sure of it."
And they went away.
"Did you know about this?" asked Kana.
"Not really," said Mather. "The government is purposefully ignorant about these matters, although it does make me feel relieved that our children will certainly be fertile."
"Thank goddess."
"I haven't seen their children, so although they may be hybrids they are certainly looked upon as full-fledged mermaids. Maybe it's because of our aggressive internal physiology."
"That could be it. It seems to be overriding my natural state."
Now that Kana thought about it, it could be that mermaids have the natural ability to eliminate large swaths of life or prolong the life of their loved one if they so chose. Mather had mentioned that single mermaids die decades earlier than coupled mermaids.
Bara Qu was northeast from Dimashq Port. A single road running through a narrow stretch of land was the primary access. Kana and Mather took what was called a road train, which was really a non-stop bus. Actually, the non-stop bus made only one brief stop in the middle of the trip by a seaside village built on a platforms and land reclamations.
Mather hid her face with more effort than what Kana was accustomed to. Already she heard in the regional dialect of Marieno's primary language whispers from the other passengers about a petite mermaid sitting at the back with an ignorant child. A few times Kana wanted to go up to them and make them say their insults out loud, but Mather restrained her.
"It's not worth it," said Mather.
"You can't let them trample on you forever," said Kana.
But only Mather sighed. She was too used to her ostracism.
Bara Qu, Kana realized, could be an island if not for the long narrow stretch of land connecting it to Dimashq. It was small city or a large town. It wasn't anything modern like Dimashq port, for most of the buildings were built with "coral" bricks or palm wood in the rural regions. Fish farming was its main industry with breastfruit serving as an addition.
"Breastfruit?" Kana asked as she picked one up fallen from tree near the bus stop.
"There are better ones further in," said Mather.
"But why are they called breastfruit?"
"Because they look like breasts. Something wrong with it?"
"Not really."
Kana could not wait to drink or eat it.
"So your mother, I mean--"
"Mother is fine," said Mather.
"She lives here?"
"She's staying at a hospital."
"Oh my. Did something happen to her?"
"My falka died."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"She is 'half-dead' in a sense. Usually, mermaids will die immediately after when her mate passes away. Maam, however seemed to live on further. It may not seem strange to you, but it is very strange in our culture."
"Maybe your maam didn't love your falka."
"No, they were in love all right. They were a bit weird though."
They ran into difficulty when they attempted to stay at the hotel, the most expensive one in the town. Mather gave Kana basic instructions on getting room, which wasn't all that different in getting one on Demiterra. She then hid herself and hoped that the staff or anyone else working in the building noticed her.
Kana was sent to reserve a room for two, but was told not to indicate that she was staying with Mather. Alas, she had difficulty relating her wishes to the receptionist in their language, for Kana was not smoothly fluent and she could not fully understand the accent of the region. Eventually, a tall and veiled manager appeared to look down upon her.
"Are you with that woman hiding in the front?" she asked.
Kana bit her lip. She didn't want to lie, especially in a foreign environment.
"I am," said Kana.
"I am sorry, but we cannot allow you two to have a room. However, you are welcome to stay child."
"What? Why can't I stay with my wife?"
"Her kind has no business in Bara Qu."
The manager sternly left.
"Ma'am," Kana said to the young and tall receptionist, "surely you can talk to her and let me squeeze us in."
"I'm sorry," said the receptionist, "but that's her rule. Personally I'm against it, but there's nothing I can do. She's my mother."
"Forget it. I'll remember not to stay here."
Kana stormed out and she just saw a drive-by pelting from a car, with Mather as the target.
"Are you all right?" Kana asked when she rushed to her lover's side.
"I am," said Mather. "Did you get a room?"
"Don't bother with those bigots. Let's get the second-best hotel."
"I don't think that'll work out. I know that it is run by daughters of the local priestess."
"You can't just give up like that. We're going there to demand a room!"
They walked to the mentioned hotel, also high class. Again, Mather was denied a room, while Kana was allowed to stay. It was the same case for all the hotels down the line. Not even the desperate ones wanted a divorced mermaid staying in their place, for they believed it brings a curse.
Mather put up with more whispers, heckling, and pelting shots throughout the town, and Kana tried in vain to defend her. Everyone was taller than her, including some of the children who ruthlessly threw rocks at Mather. But Mather shyly hunched away and forgave them.
"They'll probably arrest you if we sleep in the streets," said Kana when she and Mather sat underneath a palm tree. "Let's just go to the hospital and then head back to Dimashq."
"You're probably right."
"I hope they'll let us see her."
It was getting dark as they walked along a road by the beach, for no bus, taxicab, or civilian car would accept Mather. Mather had insisted that Kana should go ahead, but Kana stubbornly remained by her side.
"We're a couple," said Kana. "We have to stick together."
Then continued, taking a few breaks so that Mather could swim in the sea to absorb her fluids. Kana watched with content from the road until a sleek and curvaceous sports car pulled up right by her. A mermaid dressed in voluptuous red stepped out of vehicle, alarming Kana to her feet.
"Are you that strange child the people are talking about?" said the mermaid whose face was not obscured.
"I am," said Kana. "And no I'm not a child."
"Just chedking."
The mermaid waved to Mather who swam back to the beach. The petite mermaid blushed and hastily threw her clothes on her.
"Let's go," Mather said, grabbing Kana's hand. She ignored the mermaid in red and walked on.
"Hold on," said the red mermaid, "I wanted to give you two a ride."
"It's a two-seater," Mather cried back.
"Surely she can sit in front of you. It'd be like we used to."
"Mather, do you know her?" asked Kana.
Mather stopped.
"So she calls you Mather then," said the red mermaid. "Anyway, why don't you stay at the mansion with me and my wife?"
"Your wife?" Mather exclaimed as she turned around.
"Yes, I have a wife now."
"And she didn't run away like me?"
"If you put it that way, then yes."
"Mather," said Kana. "Don't tell me that she's..."
"My ex-wife," said Mather. "Iyanna Novn."
The sports car was large by Kana's standards, and very powerful to boot. It was made just like the cars in Demiterra, but the body was styled to the aquatic tastes of mermaids.
Iyanna couldn't take them to the hospital, as visiting hours was over, and the fact that one quick wireless phone call to Mather's maam indicated that she didn't want to see anyone at the moment.
The drive through to Iyanna's mansion, her parents' to be exact, was a swift one, and nearby was a swath of palm trees growing various sizes of breastfruit.
"I apologize for the town's mistreatment of you two," said Iyanna as she carried Kana and Mather's luggage. "I'll make sure my aunt puts out a special decree and compel them to apologize to you."
"So it's now your aunt?" Mather asked.
"My parents are vacationing--so to speak. So basically I run the plantation as well as the business. I guess I also run the town as well, but I'm not too good on it."
They were now inside the two-floor mansion. It wasn't overtly luxurious, but the furniture and furnishings indicated that Iyanna lived a privileged life. Mermaid maidservants arrived in pairs to carry their luggage away. At the same time, Iyanna took off her headpiece and unfurled her long and straight shimmering blue hair.
"Ah, that's better," said Iyanna. "Mather, take yours off. I'm sure your wife won't mind."
Mather reluctantly took her veil and headdress to reveal her aquamarine hair.
"You're exactly as I last saw you," smiled Iyanna. "Ah, there's my wife. Don't be shy."
Iyanna's wife, to Kana and Mather's surprise, was shorter than Kana. She emerged from the second floor dressed head to toe in a red body suit and her face covered with nearly blank red mask. She shuffled slowly because her womb had been enlarged.
"Already nine months into the pregnancy," said Iyanna. "Now come now Yuri. Take off your mask and show my friends your face."
The wife complied. Slowly, she took off her extensive bulb-like headdress, which was then handed to the maidservants. Yuri was also slow to take off her mask.
She had blue hair like Iyanna, meaning that she had been fully colored by her. But more shocking was that not only was she a Demiterran there was a recognizable scar running past her left eye, which was a slightly different shade as her other one.
Kana stood staring at her with a gaping mouth.
"Uuli," gasped Kana.
"Hello Kana," said the woman once named Uuli. "It's been a long time."
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