Chapter ONE

The children were awed by the sight. Surely, they had never seen anything like it before in all their lives. The closest they'd come to such a thing was in the movies. The adults were no different either - they were just as awed as the children and the wary ones among them could be easily overhead wondering if what they were seeing could possibly be real. But in spite of the doubts, the fact that there was water in the glass cage could not be questioned. What seemed unreal to them was the merman swimming around in the cage. Weren't merpeople supposed to only exist in myths? To avoid accidents or any adventurous moves q or even malignant acts and most importantly, to make money, there was a gap of one meter between the glass cage and the glass partition through which the viewers watched. It had cost the owner of the place, a big, brawny, tattooed man named Lucio, a lot of money to organize all these things and just as much money to purchase the creature itself, but from the start, he had known that it would be a highly profitable investment, hence he had gone into it with both feet in, without thinking twice about it. Since then, he had not only made back all of the capital, he had also reaped a sizeable profit too. All it took was telling a few people that he had a live merman on display in his restaurant, bar and nightclub which was all rolled into one and managed by him with the help of only over half a dozen main employees while the rest were purely on contract. Soon enough, people from all walks of life began pouring in to see the creature and Lucio's gate fee was steep. Getting close or actually touching the glass cage that contained the merman required an even greater fee, which those who could afford it did not hesitate to pay. Today, the place was filled up as usual. He had hurriedly built an outhouse to accommodate the crowd he knew it would attract after he had gotten the merman and as expected, every day saw the place full to capacity. Not every day did a lot of people who were rich enough come to pay to get the chance to see the merman up close. Today, only one had come, so far. It was a couple with a young daughter who was celebrating her 12th birthday. People who sought the extra-special privilege, as Lucio put it, of seeing the merman up close were always brought to Lucio's little office for direct negotiations while the ordinary viewers dealt mainly with the gatekeeper. This couple had already agreed to the price after trying unsuccessfully to gain a discount, but the parents were shocked when Lucio told them that they would not all be allowed to see the merman. Since they had paid for one, only a single person would be allowed to go in and that person of course would be their daughter since it was her birthday and the whole thing was being done just for her. The only alternative was of course that they pay the "family of three price" which was two and half times more than the price for a single "extra-special viewer". "But tha... that's ridiculous!", the mother of the girl spat, her face reddening in anger. Lucio was taken aback! He could see from the corner of his eye as the husband tapped his wife's hand to calm her down. Clearly, the woman had a quick temper. Who would have thought that such a pale-skinned beauty could be so quick to anger?? Lucio had been admiring her since the moment they walked into his office and was even wondering how easy it would be to snatch her from her husband, but now that he had seen her ugly true colors, he was no longer interested! "Um... that our policy here, Madam," Lucio said apologetically. "Quite a thieving policy it is," she murmured. But her husband swiftly cautioned her with a severe look and then he turned to Lucio. "We can't just let our daughter walk into the same room with a strange creature without us being there to see that she is safe." "Don't worry. She will be fine," Lucio said with a professional smile. "And how can you guarantee that?" "Because I will be there with her. With all respect, I think she can better be safe under my watch than with yours." Saying this, Lucio flexed his pectoral muscles and clenched his fists to make his already bulging biceps bulge even further. The demonstration was more than enough to prove his point, considering how slim the girl's father was. "Okay then," he glanced at his wife and sighed. "We'll do it." And the little girl breathed an almost inaudible sigh of relief. While her parents argued with Lucio, she had been very worried that the whole thing might be called off and she had held her breath while her heart pounded so hard, making her blue in the face. But now that the whole thing was settled, she couldn't help but break out into a grateful grin and Lucio could notice the spring in her step, as they all filed towards the door of his office, which reminded him of his little daughter back in Argentina. "You watch with others from glass partition if you want to see everything including merman... or you stay here and see only me and your girl," Lucio said to the couple as they stepped out of his office. From where they were, they could see the crowd of people at the other side of the partition and they could also see the opaque side of the cage where the merman was kept. The couple looked at each other and their daughter's fears were revived again while Lucio waited patiently. But it didn't take them long to come to a decision on the issue. "We will stay so we can be close enough," the husband said, speaking for both of them. Lucio shrugged and then took the girl's hand. As he took her over, he didn't know whether to consider them good parents or paranoid parents. "Here we are," he said and grinned at the girl when they finally arrived at the side of the box. "Now, close your eyes." She obeyed immediately and he took her by the hand and led her to the front of the glass where it was transparent. "Now, open your eyes." "Oh my God," she gasped in surprise as she came face to face with a live mermaid for the first time in her life. But instead of the toothy grin and happy wave she had thought she would get from him, Thansa had his arms across his broad chest and was scowling angrily at her. He was sick and tired of being endlessly used not only as a source of income, but also of being put on public display. If he had his way, he would reach out and squeeze the life out of these people who paid a lot of money to come stare at him. But that was impossible. Since the day he was sold to this tattooed devil of a man, the glass cage had been his permanent home and the walls were way too thick as his knuckles and forehead had learned to their detriment. All the headbutting and punching had turned out to be completely fruitless. "Is he... is he mad at me?", the girl asked with a shudder, looking up at Lucio with wide eyes. "No, no. That the way he greet special visitor in his tribe. He like you very much, believe me." There used to be a mic connected into the cage through which he could communicate with the merman and ask him to behave nicely in the presence of special customers, but Thansa always made it a point to do the exact opposite and no amount of punishment, be it starvation or electrocution, could make him act any different. So the best Lucio could do was to make excuses for his abominable behavior. Assured by his statement, the girl became a little relaxed and comfortable enough to wave tentatively at the merman. But shockingly, Thansa responded with a furious display of his teeth in a wild snarl and an angry gesture with his hands that clearly implied strangling. The child was scared out of her wits and involuntarily took a step back. It was crystal clear that the merman had threatened her. No excuse could cover that up. "Come, let's go. He say he want to rest. You come back again," Lucio said and grabbed her hand. As he led her away, he looked back and shook his fist at the merman. He would surely feel Lucio's wrath in volts this evening. Before they reached her parents, Lucio tried all he could to make the girl believe that the merman had actually liked her a lot and what she thought were angry gestures were in fact considered friendly and caring in the world of the merpeople whose manners, he said, were the direct opposite of earthly manners. When they finally reunited with her parents, the girl was smiling again and when asked by them, admitted to having enjoyed the experience. Lucio knew that the full details of the "enjoyable experience" would most certainly be out of the bag by the time they get home, but then, it would be too late to ask for a refund. As for the merman, Lucio would make sure that he would have nothing to eat for the next 48 hours. That would teach him to not try to sabotage his owner's business. ***** As he lay there on the bed in just his briefs and nothing else, Lucio was in a special place between the lands of sleep and consciousness. This was the place where the well of his genius and creativity existed. He had drawn a lot of wonderful ideas from this well and tonight, he had returned to it, hoping to draw even more. New plans for the expansion of his business with the merman as an important central piece, if only he could get the bastard to behave himself. There was also the... Damn! What was making that banging sound? Was it coming from inside the well or was it coming from somewhere else? But it just kept coming and coming and Lucio unconsciously threw his arm on his head over his ear to block out the sound, but it was of no use. With an angry hiss, he rolled over on his other side and repeated the process with his other hand and ear, yet the banging still continued! "Aaaargh!", he roared and jumped up to a sitting position on his bed. Who the hell was disturbing his sleep with that endless banging?? It took him a few seconds to become fully conscious and then he realized that the banging was coming from the door. Grumbling and swearing furiously, he jumped off the bed and marched up to the door, pulling it open with great force. He was meaning to slap whoever was on the other side, but the sight that met his eyes made him pause in shock. It was one of his assistants, a young man named Fred, who was the only one who slept in his wing of the building. But this night, Freddy was on the night shift which meant that he had not been sleeping and here he stood, soaked from head to toe and with a fresh cut on his forehead. "What happen?", Lucio demanded from his breathless employee. "The merman... he escaped," Freddy gasped out. "What! Escape how? He have no leg!" "It all happened too fast. We tried to stop him, but..." Lucio was not one to dwell much on questions and answers. He simply pushed Freddy aside and without any clothing on, except for his briefs, ran down the short hallway. As he ran, he could hear the sounds of an ongoing pandemonium and the moment he turned the corner, he came in full view of the nightclub and he could see his patrons rushing for the exit in droves. There was absolutely nothing he could do but stand and watch. But he was not a man used to being idle for long. Shaking himself out of his lethargy, he walked up to the scene of the disaster and a disaster it truly was when he saw the place. The floor was covered with almost two inches of water and the extra-thick glass that up till now he had thought was absolutely unbreakable was in pieces on the ground. He was not a man to be so easily perplexed or confounded, but looking at the broken glass and flooded place, he couldn't help but shake his head. How on Earth this merman had broken the glass was something that he probably would never be able to understand even if an expert were to explain it to him. With what had he done it? When had he done it? How exactly had he done it? "Fred!", he bellowed. And Fred came running to meet him right where he was in the middle of the pool of water. "How it happen?", he asked and Fred cleared his throat before telling the short tale of the merman's escape. They had been busy attending to customers and keeping an eye on a quarrel between two drunk patrons lest it turn into a full fight when they heard a sound like that of a gun going off. The sound seemed to have come from the area where the meman was situated and all the attendants on duty had rushed to the area only to find the merman out of the box and the woman and children shrieking endlessly. "How he go through the partition and leave no mark?", Lucio cut in, turning to look at the glass partition which was still very much intact. "He jumped over it." "Uh?" "I said, he jumped over it." Lucio couldn't believe his ears. He looked at the height of the partition and wondered how on Earth anyone could easily jump up to such a level. But then he remembered that this was not anyone. It was a merman. If he could break down such an extra-thick glass, then jumping over the partition would certainly not be an impossible feat. "Whoo!", Lucio sighed and shook his head again. "But how... how... with no leg?" "He had legs," Fred said quietly. "But how?" "I don't know. He just developed legs out of nowhere. It all happened too fast. I still can't comprehend what exactly happened." "This is miracle," Lucio admitted in defeat. "Go to sleep... all of you... everyone." "What?", Fred asked in surprise. "But we have to find him. A naked man with sleek hair, how far can..." "I said, go!" Reluctantly, Fred turned and walked off to inform his fellow employees of the boss' orders. All of the customers had already left, so when the boys retired, only Lucio was left in the place. He waited till the sound of their footsteps had died in the distance before donning an overall and reaching for a bucket and a mop stick. Solutions to complex problems usually came to him when he was alone, quiet and working. And God knows this problem was really complex.