Neptunes Blessings Ch 025 030

Warning:

Mathias gets brutally beaten in chapter 27. If you want to skip it I'd still recommend reading the first few paragraphs and then skipping down to the first set of ~~~~~.

Chapter 25

Mathias and his fry rapidly fell into their new routine. Although occasionally the octopus dropped into their nest would not be dead and so Mathias would have to pry it out and send it on its way. But other than that his life followed a predictable pattern of enjoyable days and terrible nights. And before he knew it five months had passed and his fry were coming to grips with their adorable little hands much faster than he expected.

He was watching as Curiosity, who was just barely no longer the smallest, led a couple of others in figuring out how to pull apart a sand crab with their blunt little fingers when he noticed Cora approaching. He allowed a brief sad smile to form on his face once the round crustacean was pulled asunder. Their hands were indeed strong enough to hold tight while he swam properly. Then he whistled for his fry to follow as he narrowed the gap between them and Cora.

He had gotten better at maneuvering through the shallow waters, just as Cora had gotten better at walking through them. So he easily pulled up in front of her and gracefully sat up in shallow enough waters that almost the entirety of his chest was exposed. Nine of the fry swam cheerfully about her feet as Shadow breached eagerly in front of hir father, only to become easily overbalanced by hir large head and with a frustrated growl fall face first back into the water. Mathias chuckled as he touched hir back reassuringly, ze not only took after him in looks but was already trying to copy his every move.

Pretty soon Shadow had switched tactics and slithered up Mathias' chest to nestle hir head against his shoulder while Mathias supported hir bottom with an arm, so that ze could watch the excitement with the adults.

As soon as the hubbub had calmed down, Sleepless, the one that was always the first to wake and the last to sleep, started trying to climb his arm while holding a piece of sand crab in hir mouth. Once Mathias had hir settled against his other shoulder and as hir siblings poked their eyes and ears above the water, ze held out the bit of shell towards Cora and started babbling excitedly in hir babyish voice. Their vocal cords would not be properly formed until their metamorphosis completed in another month. But they were already pretty close, and Mathias and Cora both found the breathy babbling adorable.

"What's that, sweety?" Cora asked while leaning close to examine the shell.

With a solemn smile Mathias explained, "They managed to pull apart some sand crabs without any help today."

Cora gently bumped her forehead into Sleepless as she excitedly exclaimed, "Oh good job baby!" Squealing happily, ze dropped the shell as ze grabbed Cora's face. Cora chuckled, carefully extracted her face from hirs grasp as a chorus of demanding trills rang out.

Looking down she saw eight little wobbly necked, scaled babies pushing their heads up to demand their own praise and affection. Indulgently she spread her wings for balance as she leaned even further down to give each baby a gentle bump and a word of praise. After Cuddles had snuck around for a second round she moved up to give Mathias and his little shadow some affection as well.

Finally having the masses appeased she hesitantly asked Mathias, "Does that mean you'll be leaving soon?"

Flashing Cora a reassuring smile Mathias buried his melancholy to cheerfully respond, "We should leave to join the other mermen and fry in the morning."

Cora thought it over for a moment and then perked up asking, "So that means I get you guys all to myself for one more afternoon."

Laughing Mathias nodded as she pulled the crock out of her bag. Once he had finished sharing this last hot meal with the fry the two of them set to supervising the youngsters as they hunted. With many a happy break as the fry sought out one or the other for praise for their successes. Then with one last lingering kiss between the adults they parted ways, Cora to go tell her flock what was up and Mathias and his brood to go get some sleep before the morrows journey.

~~~~~

Early in the morning right after Mathias' third nightmare of the night and before daylight had even started to filter into the water, he urged the fry to finish the seaweed before starting off. He took it slow at first, but then went faster and faster until he got close to his normal cruising speed. Once he was sure that they were all hanging on securely he sped up just a little bit more and headed for the pod's current nesting grounds.

Contrary to what he had told Cora and Helen he was not sure that he'd be gone long. He was sure from the way Chloe kept trying to use contacting his family as a bribe that she did not want him nesting around the other mermen. But he wanted the harpies who had done so much for him to continue to have hope if he did not return again. And he was sure that if the worst happened to him that his fry would be free from their mother and so able to grow up safely.

So when he approached the furthest out of the nests he did not have his customary smile. That combined with his cautious movements, his abundant scars and his still malnourished frame meant that no one seemed to recognize him. He realized it as he listened to the mermen's confused murmurs, as he flinched from any rapid movements. He could no longer feel safe outside the harpies' presence. Without that feeling of safety he could not hide his distress as well as he wanted to.

Just as his fry's hungry whines forced him to stop and look for a place to allow them to hunt, he heard a familiar voice call out in wonder, "Matty?" Flinching, he turned to face his eldest brother. Romulus, otherwise known as Rommy was the only one of his parents first clutch to grow into a man, and the only one of Mathias' older siblings to share his coloration.

With his six two year old merlings trailing behind, Romulus gestured for their other two brothers to stay back as he slowly approached the frightened looking merman. "Mathias?" he gently asked again as he got within touching distance.

Peeking out from behind their dad, Romulus' merlings let out a hopeful chorus of, "Uncle?"

Mathias pulled his trembling lips into a brief smile as he whispered out, "Hey Rommy, hi niblings."

Giggling, the six ducked back behind their dad, who reached a cautious hand to Mathias' repeatedly scared cheek while worriedly asking, "What happened?" Only to halt his hand when Mathias flinched and a small form in his hair revealed itself by growling.

Reaching into his hair to give hir a reassuring pat, Mathias soothingly said, "It's okay Sleepless."

Romulus gaped in surprise for a moment before cautiously asking, "Who is the mother?" Last he knew the only mermaid that Mathias was even mildly interested in who had gone gravid this year had chosen someone else as a mate a week before Mathias went missing. And since no mermaids had gone missing at the same time as Mathias, he was worried that the elders would not be happy with Mathias bringing in an unknown mermaid's offspring.

Defensively hunching his shoulders Mathias spoke the name as if the sound leaving his mouth were making him ill, "Chloe."

Romulus' face hardened. He didn't know the girl well, hence why he didn't recognize her scent on his brother. He had never seen her show any positive interest in Mathias. Coupled with Mathias' current state and her consistent presence around others without ever mentioning her mate's whereabouts meant that he was not happy with her. "I see," he growled angrily. Then at the trio of defensive growls issuing from his brother's hair and Mathias' instantaneous defensive shift to take any blows on his left, scared up side, he took a deep calming breath then in a more equable tone he asked, "How many are there?"

But Mathias could not answer, he simply let out a soft whimper as he drew into himself, his eyes darting around looking for an escape while he breathed in rapid, open mouthed fear.

Sadly and cautiously Romulus drew closer, then once Mathias accepted his gentle hand onto his trembling shoulder Romulus slowly pulled him into a hug, his arms slipping under the fry filled hair. He rocked, soothingly shushing into the younger man's ear while rhythmically patting his back.

As Mathias shifted to clinging to his brother his fry all started humming to him, and his niblings moved from behind their father's back to rub comfortingly against him. Eventually Mathias relaxed and let out a hoarse, "Thank you."

Releasing him Romulus spoke gently, "No problem. Now how about I show you a good place for the fry to hunt?" At Mathias' mute nod he turned and led him off, the both of them ignoring the shocked gossipy gazes they were receiving.

Within moments Mathias broke the silence to say, "Ten." At his brother's inquiring gaze he forced himself to elaborate, "I have ten fry."

Astonished Romulus asked, "How many eggs did she lay?"

Giving him a confused look Mathias answered, "Ten?"

"Ten?" Romulus repeated in amazement. At Mathias' bemused nod he shook his head and asked, "Matty, how many eggs do you think Helena laid in our first clutch?"

Mathias experienced a brief moment of confusion before remembering that Rommy's mate's name was indeed that similar to Helen's. Then he thought about it and remembered meeting those first seven niblings when he was nine he softly answered, "Seven."

Sadly shaking his head, Romulus corrected him, "She laid twelve. I lost three of them in that first month..." Flashing a sadly proud smile he continued, "It's common for a first time dad to lose over half his clutch within the first year. And even beyond that, usually mermen lose a couple of fry with every clutch." Carefully Romulus clasped his wide eyed brother's shoulders as he said encouragingly, "Dad's the only merman I know of who has never lost a fry or young merling, and he always attributed that to the, in his words, sensibly sized clutches that mom would lay. So you still

having

all ten after several months, you should be proud of yourself." At Mathias' shy smile he gently squeezed his shoulder before releasing him as they approached the one brother who had fry just a few weeks older than Mathias'.

Before he left him with Felix, Romulus cupped Mathias' cheek and pressed their foreheads together as he softly said, "I'm sorry I used to threaten to squash you."

Patting his cheek reassuringly Mathias responded just as softly, "It's okay, I never thought you would."

"Still," Romulus insisted, "I'm sorry, and I'm glad you're alive."

"Thank you," Mathias whispered roughly.

Then with one last affectionate bump Romulus pulled away saying, "I'll show you to my nest tonight, you can use it as long as you need to." Then after his merlings had gotten a chance to hug their long missing uncle Romulus herded his six youngsters off to their preferred hunting spot.

As Mathias' attention turned to him Felix held his hands up in a playfully defensive way as he teasingly said, "Every time

I

threatened to squash you, you deserved it, so not sorry!" At Mathias' weak chuckle he lowered his hands with a smile and cheerfully said, "It is good to have you back though."

"Yeah," Mathias quietly agreed before calling his fry out to hunt.

Felix watched in amazement as they flowed out of his brother's hair and started poking around near his own slightly chubbier four. Then he broke into Mathias' wary vigilance to ask, "So where have you been?"

Mathias gave him a brief glance as he answered, "In the dead nesting ground, near a huge boulder that sticks out of the water for most of the day. It's only fully submerged around midday."

Then, before Felix could ask another question, Mathias surged forward and slammed a hand down, crushing the skull of a wobbegong that a couple of fry had gotten too close to. As Mathias ripped the small shark that Felix hadn't even seen until it was dead apart for the fry Felix wryly said, "Okay, I take it back, I am very sorry I ever threatened to squash you."

Mathias snorted suppressing a hysterical giggle before responding with, "I'm sorry for making you want to squash me."

Nodding regally Felix continued his playfully voiced interrogation, "Was there any good hunting left in there?"

Mathias devoured the parts of the shark that were too tough for his fry before answering, "No, but there was decent hunting for the fry in the sandy shallows."

Felix frowned and nodded before settling into a cheerful discussion about the various methods for teaching a fry to hunt with his little brother.

~~~~~

Mathias tried not to, but around late morning he was starting to relax. Which, of course, is when Chloe showed up.

Mathias had become very attuned to Chloe's scent, and so when the barest trace of her scent showed up on the currents Mathias called his fry over and coiled up protectively over the top of them. Leaving Felix and a couple of nearby mermen dumbfoundedly calling their fry to them as they frantically looked around for the source of danger. They just could not conceive of the fact that Chloe might be the danger that Mathias was reacting to.

She stopped and stared at Mathias, her pretty face marred by her obvious displeasure. "Mathias, take them back to your nest," when her normally melodious voice snarled out the command the other three merman jerked in startlement as their gazes snapped to her. With a fearful whimper Mathias straightened out and chirruped the fry back into his hair before stiffly making his way to what he had hoped would be their former home. As he swam away Chloe turned a warning glare on the other three before swimming off in an entirely different direction.

Chapter 26

When Mathias finally collapsed back into his nest he was a whimpering trembling mess. Eventually his fry's nudging and humming got him singing to them, which slowly calmed him down. With a sigh he set to cleaning the no longer needed rocks and coral chunks out of his nest before taking his fry to go fetch more seaweed.

As the group was planting their new batch of nighttime snacks a barely heard sound had Mathias coiling protectively atop the nest.

A delicate hand gently settled on his trembling tail as a familiar voice sorrowfully sighed out, "My little Silver."

Peeking through a gap in his coils he gazed into a sad face which was full of more emotion than he was used to seeing on her, and so he uncertainly spoke. "Mom?"

With a gentle pat she encouragingly asked, "Can you come out and let me see you?"

Carefully unwinding himself he moved into his mothers waiting arms. Wrapping her arms about him she pressed their cheeks together as she softly whispered, "My sweet little merling." Mathias let out a sad little whimper as he restrained himself from squeezing her to himself. After a few minutes she pulled back and started inspecting his wounds with every scar and every bruise both old and new just adding to her anger, but other than a slight tightening at the corner of her mouth there were no outward signs of this. When she got to the stitched up cuts along the back of his tail she asked while touching the stitching, "Who did this?"

"Um, I did," Mathias answered while trying not to fidget, he felt like he should tell his mom more, but also like he shouldn't. And it was very confusing. But he could see the curiosity in her eyes as she looked up at him and did not ask any additional questions, which was a bit unlike her. That was also when he realized that his mother wasn't emoting more than normal, he had just gotten better at reading her.

Finishing her inspection she straightened up in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders as she coaxingly said, "I need you to tell me what caused all these injuries."

Mathias closed his eyes and shuddered as he forced himself to blurt out, "Chloe."

She squeezed his shoulders reassuringly as she carefully asked, "Can you tell me why?"

Gulping Mathias nodded and stammered out, "Sh-sh-she d-didn't l-like the look on my f-f-face."

Her lips tightened again as she took a moment to calm herself before asking, "Has she hurt the fry?"

Quickly Mathias shook his head before saying, "Not... n-not physically at least."

His mother looked over to where his fry were peeking warily over the edge of the nest. "I see," she said with a trace of sadness, "You know your niblings all swarmed me the first time they met me, or any other new mer. But your fry... It's almost like they're afraid of strange adults." At Mathias' slow nod she patted his shoulder and gestured to the large tuna that she had wedged under some coral branches and said, "You should show them that it's safe to eat."

He whistled them to follow as he darted to the tuna that was nearly as long as him, and definitely more massive. His mother settled serenely on the edge of his nest as she contentedly watched them tear into what she provided. Once Mathias had filled his belly he came over and placed a hand on her shoulder and chirped at the fry. As they were cautiously swarming over their grandmother Mathias asked, "Would you mind keeping an eye on them for a little bit?"

Startled, she nevertheless nodded a subtle smile playing over her lips. "I'd love to watch them," she assured him. Flashing her a brief smile he whistled once more, patting her shoulder before swimming off.

Without having to worry about or slow down for his fry Mathias was able to gather seaweed much faster and in more abundance. So he soon returned to see Glutton back at the tuna's remains eating what ze could, while Cuddles was curled up in hir grandmother's lap and the rest poked around amongst the rubble between their grandmother and the tuna.

As Mathias started arranging and anchoring the weeds in his nest, Shadow quickly joined him. His mother glanced at him briefly before turning her eyes back to the fry. "That's a lot of seaweed. Does it make the nest comfier?"

Mathias shook his head and explained, "Not really, there's something missing in the water and so the fry need more to eat at night than they might elsewhere."

"Huh," she said thoughtfully before popping out a complete non sequitur, "Your father has never lost his temper." Mathias looked up curious and confused. Seeing her gazing out at the fry as she spoke he returned to what he was doing while paying attention to her words, "When we were merlings I had quite a temper and so I got into a number of fights, and while he fought alongside of me he never lost his temper or started any fights."

Mathias nodded, he'd heard a few tales about his mothers struggles to learn to control her temper as a subadult, so he wasn't too surprised. She chuckled almost inaudibly before continuing, "When we went to complain to the pod leader and the elders, they said some upsetting things, and your father lost his temper." Mathias opened his mouth, but then recognizing that she was in storyteller mode he snapped his mouth shut and moved to lounge on the edge of the nest, very soon the rest of the fry joined them, all except Glutton who was acting like he might decide to live in the tuna carcass.

Nodding to her audience she continued to speak, "I never liked that girl, I could tell that no good would come of her being the next pod leader. Ever since the announcement I've been gathering people to split off and go form a new pod... I just thought we'd have more time. I didn't think she could sink this low this fast." Sighing she shifted streams again, "Your father lost his temper, broke the pod leader's partner's nose and got banished." At Mathias' incredulous expression her lips curled into a satisfied smile while she elaborated, "Breaking his nose was just his first swing. By the time they got some other men over who were willing to pull your father off of him the old cad was beaten into a bloody pulp."