Ocean Storms

A/N: Please review if you like this story, i'd really like to know what you think.

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Everyone was secretly surprised when the tank was rolled into the lab. Then they were overjoyed. They thing they were looking for the last two and a half years was finally there.

“Hurry up, I think it’s hurt!” Hector bellowed, noticing a red mixing in with the water in the tank. They hadn’t been able to look at their capture clearly.

“What happened?” John Swigger came up, another scientist. He had been waiting for them to come back. He was one of the elder scientists there, with a balding head, and white, sickly looking skin from staying up for days on end. He always carried a handkerchief around, coughing in it profusely, and everyone was afraid for his health.

“We think it might have gotten itself hurt,” Vic said, before Hector could reply, probably to ask if he was being accused of something he didn’t do.

“Well hurry up and get it out. Put it in the net and get it in the tank.” John ordered, and people were quick to comply. “We’ve already checked everything out while we were waiting.” He scowled as he watched the others jerk the net accidentally, after the mermaid had been picked up. It’s thrashing had gone down. For a moment, John thought it was dead, before he saw something twitch.

“What’s going on?” A man walked up, probably the youngest of everyone there, other than some of the workers. The representative, Damien.

He was dressed in black, despite the heat, and people thought that he must not sweat, since they never seen it. His eyes and hair were black as well, and contrasted deeply with his skin, which was a pale white. He seemed to be around twenty or so.

“They’ve caught it,” John replied, his scowl deepening.

“You call yourselves experts? The deal was to not let him be hurt, even when you brought him in.” Damien had noticed that there was blood trailing on the floor, it was dripping off the mermaid in the net, along with the water.

“He was hurt before we got him,” Vic explained again, before John started an argument, as he was bound to do.

“That had better be the case,” Damien said menacingly, and walked off to oversee the moving of the newfound creature.

“I’m going to kill that man,” John said after the younger man was out of earshot, but Vic only shook his head.

“He’s just doing his job.” He replied, before going off to join the man they were talking about.

“Hey, just be happy we caught it. Now things can start progressing, and we can finally get to do what we were sent here to do.” John’s scowl turned into his trademark frown, but nodded.

“We have to send word first. We have to wait until the say so before we can start the experiments.” The scowl returned, and John walked off this time, leaving Hector alone, to sigh and mumble unintelligible curses under his breath.

The net had finally been lowered over the tank. It stood at twenty feet in height, forty feet in length, and was made to look like an underwater habitat. Sort of. The bottom had about a foot of fine sand, and was filled three quarters with salt water, the rest just air.

There was a large, hollowed out purple rock in one corner, which had a flattish top rising out of the water, allowing the mermaid to lay up on the top if it wanted.

Since they didn’t know exactly what the mermaid would need, so there where a multitude of things on hand, ready to change the environment if needed. They even had a smaller tank, full of freshwater, if that’s what it required.

The mermaid was gently placed into the water, and the net was removed, and top closed. That’s when everyone got a good look at it, or rather, him.

It looked to be a young man, younger than Damien, who claimed himself to be twenty seven. He had short, light blue hair, and wide yellow eyes. His skin was almost plain white, and had a small body, and gills on the side of his neck. He looked completely harmless if it weren’t for the strong, scaly legs.

The scales started off, right underneath his belly button, rounding around his hips. They were a bright blue, almost the same color as his hair.

It looked as if they were just a pair of skin tight pants, covering his feet as well. But, instead of toes, it was fins, as if he was wearing flippers like a scuba diver.

When he turned around, they could also see a trail of scales on his back, where his spine was, leading up all the way to his neck.

They could also see where the blood came from.

There were three, long red gashes starting on his side, and ran across his chest and stomach, at a downward angel. They didn’t seem that deep, though it was hard to tell, since the boy wouldn’t keep still. His powerful legs propelled him from one side of the tank to the side, in a hectic try to get out.

“How’re you going to keep him from dying?” Damien asked Vic, who looked on sadly.

“I’m not sure. I’ve only studied lore, not a real merman.” The small man said, hoping they could help somehow. But they couldn’t do anything. They could be out of a job if they went against orders.

“Just hope that he doesn’t kill himself,” Hector came up behind them, arms crossed.

“Wonder what happened.” Vic said offhandedly, not noticing Damien walk off, out of the room.

Nobody had an answer.

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The merman was being monitored 24/7, but it didn’t give them an answer when they saw him the next morning, the gashes barely scratches.

He also seemed less calm. He was swimming around frantically, going back and forth, back and forth, then pressing up to the glass, to look at everyone that passed, who looked back in turn.

Damien hadn’t been in the lab since the merman came, instead, spending his time in his room, doing who knows what.

After a few hours of staring at him, the scientists decided to give him a name. They began to call him Angel. No one was really sure why, probably thinking of Angelfish, but they couldn’t think of something better.

Angel it was then, and Angel was very agitated.

Especially when people came to look and stare at him.

The locals were becoming restless again, speaking about demonic omens. Some even abandoned after trying to warn the others about a terrible tradedy bound to befall them.

But still, people were happy. They had just found a mystical being, and now they were going to be able to study it, how could they not be happy?