((DM: Raininstars120))

Hours and hours later, during which Lillian didn't seem the least bit tired, the three of them came upon the sea cliffs that formed part of Ultropolis's border, "Here we are!" the mermaid said, diving down lower, to over 12 feet below the ocean's surface.

From a distance, the underwater cliff face looked like one would expect it to look; choked in sea algae, blue green in color with gaps and cracks rippling along the ancient rock. But as they got closer, one could see distinct, well, doorways. Nets covered some large holes in the cliff, and one or two dogfish could be seen lurking around the entrances menacingly.

Lillian approached a round opening that obviously led into some tunnel. It was blocked by a net and a dogfish, which stared hungrily at the two humans.

The mermaid's throat vibrated, and an eerie sound echoed through the water, sounding not unlike whale song. The guardian swam off sulkily, letting Lillian pain-stakingly untie the net and then swim up the tunnel, captives in tow.

Despite the fact that all sunlight now vanished, a kind of blue glow emanated off the rock walls so that everyone could still see. Up and up they swam, until at last their heads broke the surface. Instantly, Lillian gave their leashes an extra-hard yank and the vines unwrapped. "Welcome to your new home!" she told Sandra and Andres with a bright smile.

They were clearly above sea level, inside the cliff itself! Small holes, naturally eroded into the rock let in shafts of meek morning sunlight. The cave was quite warm, quaint, had various decorations made of shells and seaweed, and more than half the floor was submerged three feet into a pool of seawater. With a low ceiling and close walls, this small cavern was just about as big as an average bedroom.

"Trinity here can help you adjust," said the mermaid, gesturing to the only other human in the room, "I even went through the trouble of buying you some nice clothing, and bathing suits. Here's your dinner," she unslung her bag, which weirdly enough was not wet, and pulled out a box of chicken and vegetables, "I'm going out for my own. Stay here and don't cause trouble. Trinity, make sure they don't do anything stupid!"

And with that, she sunk back into the water and disappeared down the tunnel.

"Sit down." She said simply, pointing to two rock and shell chairs. They didn't have any backs and weren't that comfortable but Trinity knew that it was good to sit down and get over the shock.

((Be patient while I write down her character sketch people. I have to go somewhere first.))

"These might not fit you but they'll fit you better then the rest." She tossed each of them a bundle and left it to them where they would change in the small room.

"Rather small. there is this room and a room in through there. I'll show you." She said the last words rather cheerfully and walked in wiuck steps toward a small arch way. It was rather dark but the was some still some windows.

"You'll be sleeping here." Trinity said to Andres.

Trinity turned arounf toward Sandra.

"We'll be sleeping together in the other room." She said ith a cheerful note. Then she spoke to both of them.

"There is a chest in there," She pionted toward the door to the larger room, "It has some stuff that might fill a little of the day. Some books, a pencil and a few sheets of paper."

"You can spend some time by your self." She said walking slowly toward the door, waiting for maybe a grunt or a nod for a reply before leaving.

Lillian sprang up from the pool, whipping her reddish blonde locks away from her wet face, "Hey!" she called to Sandra and Andres, "We're going on a trip! You don't have to come Trinity, Luis has already seen you."

"Where we going?" Andres asked, looking over to Lillian.

"You know I won't be left behind." she said in a sulky voice at Lillian.

"Where we going?" Andres asked, looking over to Lillian.

"We're going to see her boyfriend." She answered for Andres in a whisper so that Lillian couldn't hear. She stalked over to Lillian. She didn't feel very friendly and she especially felt mad at Lillian.

Once outside the entrance tunnel, Lillian took them farther along the drop-off cliffs, till they reached a maze of oddly-shaped canyons. Soon, it clearly stood out as a mermaid haven. Laughter traveled in eerie sound waves through the water, and flashes of tails and bright faces weaved in an out of sight. Finally, a whole crowd of merpeople gathered in groups all about the area. Voices began echoing and bouncing off the huge coral structures and protruding rocks.

"I say, Lillian's got new humans!"

"SEA SHELL NECKLACES! Trade me a sea urchin for a pretty necklace!"

"KELP DELIGHT! KELP DELIGHT HERE!"

"The Dolphin races are next week, and I am like, so going!" a small clique of blonde mermaids were giggling.

"Look! New humans! Oh mommy can't I have one yet?"

There was a distinct difference in the merpeople's appearances concerning age. All the younger merchildren had tails of a pearly white, which apparently would gain color the older they grew. A large amount of the sparkly-eyed creatures had gathered about Lillian and Co. One of them poked Andres.

"This one's old! Why didn't you get any kids, Lillian?" he asked.

"Isn't that one Trinity?" another said, pointing rudely at Trinity, "I don't like her name. Why don't you rename your humans?"

Lillian only smiled and answered briefly, "I like them the way they are, Sheldon. Hi Panzy! Hi guys!" she called out greetings as she continued on.

"He's a bad human," a merchild said in a know-it-all voice, "Angelica tried to keep a human once, but he was too dangerous and kept trying to get away. We had to put him down in the end."

Lillian gave a nervous laugh, trying to lighten up the foreboding feeling that had just settled over the children, "Well my humans are just fine, I'm sure they won't cause trouble," she said in a reassuring voice.

"Didn't know it was a kid." Andres apologized solemnly to her, not quite enjoying the merchild's last comment.

"Lillian! Where are we meeting Luis this time?" She asked shortly.

"Uh, Miss Trinity? I'm confused. Now that we're here...well, for starters, where is here?"

((Damn you American keyboards without accents or tildas...))

"Soy mexicano." Andres replied with a smile as he looked around at the merfolk. "Los ninos estan asustando me."

"What are you doing?" she asked them.

((Ok its time we got to Lillian's boyfriend.))

"Por que concordamos venir? No comprendo porque le confiamos, y ahora estamos aqui, en esto lugar raro."

((My Spanish isn't too strong, so feel free to correct me if I make any mistakes.))

((It's okay, mine isn't either. Never had to use it too much in my life.))

((I know I don't have any accents...I don't wanna bother.

And from now on, we should post translations. It's only fair to those here who don't know Spanish. Add it as an ooc comment.

"This is confusing... We came by swimming, right? But I would never leave my purse on the beach. Also, I ditched my brother, which I've never done before on a whim."))

Andres nodded to her. "Si, muy esta confundiendo. Dejo mi futbol, helicoptero, y casa pequena. "

((Yes, very confusing. I left my soccerball, helicopter, and my small home.))

"They're speaking weird! I thought humans only spoke English," a merchild said, confused.

Others were offended, and started whispering to each other in a series of high pitched song, groaning and clicks. It was like hearing dolphins and whales at the same time.

Lillian turned sharply to both Andres and Sandra, "It's rude to talk like that in public," she reprimanded, "So stop! And don't even think about doing it in front of Luis!"

With an extra sharp yank on the leash she turned a few more corners in the maze of coral pathways and soon came upon an entrance in the cliffs once more. Unlike hers, this one was completely unguarded.

"Luis!" she trilled in a very giggly voice, "Look what I brought!"

Someone came up behind her, "Boo!"

"Luis!" she gasped, whipping round in the water to see a very handsome blonde merman with a muscular sea-green tail. Without a word she threw herself in his arms and gave him a passionate smooch on the lips. It was nauseating to look at. When they finally broke apart she waved to the humans, "Check out my new humans! I just got them today!"

"Wow...that's...great!" Luis said in fake enthusasim.

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