【R76】Tide wave

Mermaids and humans have many similarities.

Regardless of facial features, hands, and limbs, if you can use magic to extract the inner spirit of the two, you will probably find a comparable curiosity.

So when Morrison told the story of Snow White to Hana and the little black shadow, it was the girls who thought they would pay attention to the ending of pure love as before.Has Daddy ever seen a dwarf?Why can't my mirror speak?Why did the little princess bite the poisonous apple?What is an apple?Is it really as delicious as you say?

If the previous problems are easy to deal with, but when it comes to Apple, Morrison is also a little helpless.The mermaid suddenly realized why after the harvest festival, the god of death ordered herself to ask the Shimada family for coral trees—the girls' ability to stalk and find out the truth is more troublesome than the endless fishing boats on the sea.He had no choice but to divert the girls' attention with scallops and fresh fish eggs as snacks, and took out some activity toys made of whale bones to make them temporarily forget about the apple.

But this method can only last for a short time.

There was always a day when the bedtime stories were finished, so several popular stories were begged to be repeated again and again, not to mention Hana, even the little octopus who always came to visit was thinking about Apple.

There is always a solution to everything, Morrison thought.

On the eve of the full moon, the mermaid visited the octopus wizard again.

There was another guest ahead of Morrison.Probably just finished chatting with Death, the guest was about to leave, Morrison turned his body to make way for the other party.The gentleman had a dolphin's tail and was a little sluggish.The mermaid soon noticed that a large fin was missing from the male's side, and the cut surface of the wound was horrifying, with dozens of criss-crossing tender scars attached to it. It was unknown whether it was injured by a human weapon, or was used by the god of death as an exchange material.This realization made Morrison a little uncomfortable. His tail was slightly raised, and he touched his side fins subconsciously with his hands, as if confirming something.

The Grim Reaper saw his small movements and sized up the mermaid from head to toe. There was no sarcasm or pleasantries, but he just stretched out his tentacles and pointed the tip at the mermaid's arm: "So you really don't think about it?"

Hearing the god of death talking to himself, Morrison looked in the direction where the god of death's tentacles pointed, and it was the armband that Reyes gave him. "I have no intention of exchanging it." Morrison declined the other party angrily, with a bit of anger in his tone, "But is it necessary to ask for my opinion? It hasn't been exchanged every time before. Is there a reason to forcibly replace things?"

Over the past few months, every time he made a wish, the things Death wanted from Morrison became more and more expensive. From the scales and tear crystals to the cartilage on the tail fin and the fin spines on the back, he even took a lot of Leyer Si sent his own human stuff.Leaving aside Morrison's ever-present armband, the ivory ball Reyes gave him, the jeweled dagger, the mica badge (besides two teddy bears for Hana, sadly, though The little mermaid likes the soft puppet very much, but under the caress of the mermaid's strange power, it quickly turned into pieces)... none of them were spared.

I don't know where the god of death got the news (you never know how many wizards' eyeliner there are in the entire sea area), as long as you meet Reyes and make a wish next time, the cunning wizard will definitely remove Morrison from the human race. The gadgets obtained there are packed and exchanged.

"Because there is magic in this broken stone, you can only send it out on your own initiative, and it will be useless if you take it from you by force. Damn it." The god of death was a little irritable, and the already hoarse voice sounded even more terrifying.

Morrison was not afraid of the attitude of death: "I can only give it away? What is this thing? What are you going to do with it?" The mermaid's fingertips touched the cool black diamond along the hollow metal line of the armband, It's not like he didn't ask Reyes about the origin of the armband, but the human being always showed a dazed and innocent look, saying that it was just one of the ornaments left by his mother.Its commemorative significance is greater than its actual value.

"You don't understand magic. But if you are willing to exchange that stone with me, I can fulfill all your wishes." Death sighed, "In your hands, it's just an ordinary stone, it's better... ..."

"Absolutely impossible." Morrison once again firmly rejected Death.It is rare for the octopus wizard to be at a disadvantage, and Morrison will not let go of any opportunity to let his stubborn temper out.But to Morrison's surprise, the Grim Reaper didn't continue the previous argument. He was silent for a while, and even his usual sarcasm subsided.

The mermaid explained the purpose of her trip today through rare silence.

The two remained silent until Wizard Octopus spoke first.In a businesslike tone, he offered to remove the two spines on the mermaid's side fins, and the pocket watch that Reyes had given him last time in exchange for this wish.

The pain of peeling off the fin spines from the side fins was no less painful than being pierced by a human harpoon. Morrison gritted his teeth loudly, his eyes were wide open, and the blue crystals were slowly crawling out of the eye sockets.Soon, the octopus wizard finished the work at hand, and the Grim Reaper's workmanship was not bad, he didn't tear the rest of the nearby soft fins, and the incision was neat and only a little blood flowed.The god of death patted the shoulder of the mermaid that had been solidified into a statue, and ordered Morrison to close his eyes before passing the small ball to him.

This time, the god of death kissed very lightly, and the rough and tyrannical appearance in the past disappeared, leaving only a cautious touch.The blind mermaid's eyes were closed tightly, and some extremely fine crystals still stuck to the eyelashes. With a slight tremor, the debris fell on the cheeks, and the octopus wizard wiped it gently with his fingers, and the traces disappeared again. "alright."

Morrison opened his eyes, and the Grim Reaper had already pulled half a meter away from him, leaving a silent back, and none of them spoke again.

The water flowed across the mermaid's ear fins, and the familiar sound of Susu was now extremely harsh.Morrison licked his lips silently.Come to think of it, since I came to the octopus wizard's territory to report on time every month, the relationship between the two of them has taken a turn for the worse.Aside from the episode just now where I don't know if it was a quarrel or an argument, the Grim Reaper hasn't had a good conversation with him for a long time.Morrison wanted to say something to lighten it up, whatever it was, just like the old days.Whether it's a boring joke or an incomprehensible magic theory, it's better than saying nothing.

Suddenly Morrison remembered the conversation the two had had a few months ago.

"As a result, she asked for more and more, and finally disappeared forever."

"I won't..." Morrison remembers answering.

"Don't be so sure, Jake. I've seen too many dudes talk their own way."

Death's words stirred Morrison's mind. The mermaid opened his mouth, but he couldn't utter a word until the end. Bubbles leaked from the corners of his lips. Everything that was familiar before him looked like a rainstorm hitting the sea.He paused for a moment, then turned and slapped his tail and swam out towards the anglerfish tunnel.

Reaper turned to look at the lonely figure of the mermaid, realizing that he was constantly making himself lonely.

※※※

Reyes looked at the mermaid beside him with great interest: "It's so rare that you would ask me for something. But why an apple?"

"Thanks to the story of Snow White that you told before." Morrison sighed resignedly, "The little things are making a fuss, so I just want to know what this thing tastes like."

Reyes nodded knowingly: "I see. Then I will send the apple here tomorrow."

"Thanks."

Humans can't soak in cold water for too long, so Morrison began to look for caves near the headland after discovering that Reyes was shivering from the freezing sea water in the boat.In normal times, mermaids will never appear too close to the beach. Although there are many hidden reefs near the cape, few fishermen will pass by here, but the busy docks and lighthouses in the north that are visible to the naked eye really increase the danger of being discovered. .

The entrance of the cave Morrison chose is not large, and the interior is a bit sloping. When the tide is high, a small part of it will be submerged by sea water. After the tide ebbs, the entrance will be fully exposed again. Like many caves, it is damp and cold.Reyes was not very particular about it. When they met again, a large piece of fishing net wrapped with green leaves had been hung outside the cave as a sheltering curtain. Unless they looked closely, no one would discover the secret: nearly half of the space in the cave was used for A shallow pool was built with pottery bricks for the mermaid to rest, and many utensils unique to human society were piled up in the rest, which were obviously the masterpieces of Reyes, and it could be seen that he was quite satisfied with the cave.

"You were a little absent-minded today. What happened, did the pirates come back?"

"No, there are no pirates." The mermaid was stunned by Reyes' question, "Why do you think I'm absent-minded?"

"Because my intuition tells me that you seem to have something on your mind."

"Come on less." The blue tail patted the bottom of the pool lightly, and the splashed water droplets left a string of traces on the dry ground.

He stopped teasing each other. "Actually...you're frowning." Reyes pointed at his brows and said teasingly, "You're really easy to understand."

The negative emotions brought by death to Morrison are always entangled with him intentionally or unintentionally, like the back molars that always hurt when he was young, before Angela gave him sedative drugs, the pain continued; The only safe area in the trench is within reach but out of reach.

The mermaid stretched out her index finger and rubbed the stiff muscles between her brows, as if this could push the god of death away from her mind.Then, he raised his head and met Reyes' playful eyes with some helplessness: "You little brat..."

Reyes didn't go to correct Morrison's name for himself. Just judging from the color of his hair, the mermaid seems to be right. "Jack, I've been having a dream lately. The same dream."

"how?"

"This dream is very vague. You see, it's like the blanket on my lap. If I stand up, I can only grab the edge of the blanket before it slips off if I react quickly enough."

"So did you catch it?"

"It's hard to say, I can only grab a part of it every time I wake up." Reyes stood up from the chair with his arms propped up, and the gray blanket on his knees fell on the wet ground, with some wet sand stuck on it, "It's messy, but I have this feeling that they all belong to the same dream."

The golden red sunset, the salt flowers left on the skin after the sea water dries up, the childlike wobbly steps and the hands on the shoulders, the footprints on the beach, the noisy chatting in the bar and the unique smell of rum, the night opens The sea surface, the blue fish tail, and many more fragments that are difficult to put together.

Morrison's Adam's apple rolled up and down, as if he was swallowing something, and he said after a while: "You dreamed that I became a human being."

Reyes shook his head: "It should be 'temporarily becoming a human'." He squatted on the edge of the pool, stroking the mermaid's tail protruding from the water with his hand, (Reyes told Morrison that physical contact is a part of human etiquette. After normalization, the mermaid no longer rejects each other's touch) "It's different from the mermaid in fairy tales who exchanged their legs with their voices. You use gadgets on land to make deals with wizards under the sea."

"It turns out that there are similar stories on land, humans who fell in love with mermaids?"

"On the contrary, in human stories, it is the mermaid princess who falls madly in love with human beings. I guess human beings narcissistically think that as the spirit of all things, they can attract any other kind."

Morrison was amused by Reyes' dismissive tone: "According to you, the fairy tales handed down by mermaids are the same."

"I can't rule out the suspicion." Reyes chuckled, because the mermaid's gills would always make some amusing popping sounds when they laughed, "Here."

"What?" Before Morrison could react, he saw Reyes take out a square box inlaid with gems of various colors from his backpack.The man opened the lid of the box, and the clear, crystal-clear notes flowed into the cave unhurriedly.

"Is the song contained by magic?"

"Oh, of course not, this is a music box." Reyes briefly explained the principle of the sound, and seeing the mermaid half-understand, he added, "You know, there have been no wizards who know magic on land for a long, long time. .”

"Where did they go?"

Reyes shrugged. "Evicted, or killed."

He closed the lid of the music box, put the sound back into it, and then stuffed the box into the mermaid's arms.The whole body of the music box carved out of a single piece of opal is cold, and the top cover is thin and slippery to the touch, gently touching the mermaid's abdomen. "Jack, do you want to come to land to see? One day, just one day is enough."

Reyes had given himself many gifts.Morrison was not a fool either. The sum of all the gifts was far higher than the reward money a hunter caught a mermaid, and the music box in his arms was even more valuable.

At this time, the land turned into a huge and tightly closed clamshell. Morrison circled around, but couldn't find a way to open it.But now someone held his hand, handed him a very thin sharp knife, and instructed him how to cut open the clam's closed muscles.The clam shell opened slowly, and a large number of water bubbles fascinated the mermaid's sight.

The human being in front of him was sincere and humble, staring at him contemplatively, his dark brown eyes were full of tenderness, mixed with a shadow, just like the reflection of a reef thrown into the sea under the sun, expressing his desire to the mermaid restlessly and hesitantly , something Morrison had never seen before.

The mermaid's gills opened and closed somewhat mechanically, and the scarce water content in the air made his throat dry, and he wanted to stretch out his hand to scratch it.

Morrison found himself unable to say no.

TBC