Sunlight hit my eyes. A blurry sky slowly appeared through narrowed eyes. Light, wispy clouds floated high above, contrasting neatly against fuzzy blue. It was cozy…and warm…

          “Don’t fall back asleep.” A certain someone’s hand chopped down on my forehead.

          “Yes, dear.” I let my upper body arise to an upright position, blinking at the world before me.

          Sea stretched out above a city at the bottom of the hill we were resting on. Ships were anchored off the coast a ways, smaller boats traveled between them and the city’s edge. Taller buildings blocked the view of the harbor.

          “Vel-dear” I looked around for the boy, who was oddly absent. Normally when I awoke the two would be joined at the hip.

          “The boy went to explore the city. Mostly to scope out how they feel about Demons.” He tilted his head to me and tapped his horn, “Ports are normally fine with outsiders, but considering the luck we’ve had with humans I thought this would be…safer.”

“safer for who” I muttered, scanning the various people leaving the city. After a minute of Blackie complaining about something I wasn’t paying attention to, something about fire or humans or a safety hazard, I finally spotted our baby boy head towards us.

          I looked down at the hands that were currently latched onto my left wing, and felt my cheek puff up a bit as my mouth squished hard to the right.

          “We are trying to be subtle, quiet even. Launching yourself right into oncoming traffic, even if most of them are walking, is the opposite of that.” So he said, with that ever familiar air of annoyance. Yet, I still heard a softer tone under it. “…stop smirking, Bone-brat.”

          So I waited patiently for him to get to us. It was like two elderly grandparents holding hands and waiting for our grandbaby to come home from choir practice. Except it was my wing, and Vel probably wouldn’t immediately start crying he gets back.

“Mo-“ Vel coughed, “You’re awake.”

“You needn’t be shy with Mother.” I patted him gently. “Call me Grandma.”

          “…no. Old man, they allow demons and angels in the city. I saw a few roaming the town so if you wear cloaks you shouldn’t stand out much.”

          “Let’s be off then!” I reached around Babaris and grabbed a cloak that was splayed out behind him.

          I smiled elegantly with the grace of an elder, as I was forced to stand with my arms out while those two dressed me after threatening me with the loss of treats if I refused to cooperate.

          After a few minutes of torture, they deemed me suitably fit for public. The rope was disguised and shortened so it was mostly translucent and went from my wrist to Blackie’s wrist with almost no slack.

          “No one will notice, they’ll just see you two holding hands!” Vel grinned with the air of the one to blame for this embarrassment.

          With my ever-warm smile, I looked down at our hands and sighed. The old man was so clingy.

          “…Aena.” Innocent eyes met a pair of rueful ones. His face slid from tired to amused, right back to rueful and slightly annoyed. “Don’t let go. You could dislocate my wrist.”

          “…oh we’re being serious.” I quickly fixed my expression to a more serious smile. “I swear to never let go Bar-bar.”

          They both rolled their eyes, adorably in sync.

          The port city was nestled in a rare flat out-cropping of land that was close to the sea, surrounded by sheer cliffs that melded into the sea with raw, jagged rocks. As we entered the narrow path into the city, the lovely sunlight was soon blocked by those natural high walls. The city gate was open, a few guards were up on the towers, playing games. I think I saw a fight break out over what might have been chess, but they soon ducked out of sight.

          “How immature.” I pondered how easily children can get caught up in petty little squabbles over mere games.

          I felt two pairs of eyes, but neither said a word.

          As Vel-dear said, we were able to enter the city with nary a turned head. Many houses were close together, some even two or three stories tall. The buildings even touched in some places. I could see the taller buildings that previously blocked my view of the docks. They were lighthouses that towered over the rest of the city. The two largest were made of a mostly black, slightly purple stone, while the smaller ones which were closer to about five stories high were more reddish brown.

          We were there to look for a ship headed to the South-Western most continent, so our best bet would be at the docks. Vel apparently helped his last group get from the Center Craters to our home in the South-East, so he was in charge.

          Our boy looked so confident in his ability to extort/negotiate with humans, but when we came to the docks, it really gave me a good start.

          Walkways were suspended a good 20-30 feet above sea level, hammered into sheer cliffs that arose directly out of the water. Pullies and wheels carted goods that were being unloaded or loaded onto extremely sturdy boats with guards on the side to help them from slamming into the cliffs.

          Brightly colored heads bobbed in and around them, pulling or pushing them into position. Large tails occasionally broke the surface while doing so.

          “Sea-folk!” I yanked an arm in excitement.

          “The Maritime?” Babaris sounded confused.

          “…Mermaids?” Velris looked at the two of us in confusion. “…They’re in every port?” As if this was normal.

          “They are? Weren’t humans and the maritime hostile?” Blackie asked, massaging his shoulder.

          “…What century was that? We’ve been trading and working with them for as long as I know.” Vel shrugged.

          “Clearly, you haven’t been to a port in the past thousand years.” I calmly patted his shoulder, making him wince.

          “…You were clearly surprised too.” Blackie retorted, smacking my hand.

          Vel rubbed his forehead. “Anyway. If you see some wearing blue or blue-green colors, they’re merchants. They’ll ask if you want to see their wares and it’s rude if you say no without at least asking what they have. If they’re wearing reds and extremely little, they’re…not. If they ask if you want to see their wares…don’t.” His expression was grave and with a hint of pain in those eyes.

          “Alright then.” I neatly broke eye contact with the… well-built young merman with nothing but a lovely red cord around his neck who was studying us from a suspended waterway attached to the walkway.

          “TIDE’S COMING IN” A loud, deep voice echoed in the basin of the docks. Merfolk latched onto the walls of the waterways while the rest of the land dwellers either pulled out safety gear to anchor themselves or booked it to high land.

          Then, the tide came. Sadly anticlimactically. It took about an hour for the water to bubble in, filling clear up to the walk and waterways.

          Never one to let curiosity bubble idly, I decisively lead my boys over to that nice young merman who seemed willing to help!