After staying up a little too late, the twins overslept the morning before their first day of school. Zeph was the first to wake up, and in a rush, he stumbled as he did his best to get ready.
'Dad was right, I'll never get used to having legs.' Zeph thought as he regained his balance.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52533410244_2ba8900a47_b.jpgDylan was right behind his twin, but he struggled just as much to regain his balance.
'Who would have thought that walking would be this hard.'
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52533409064_2eb5049657_b.jpgAs Dylan reached the edge of the waves, he was stopped by his uncle. Dylan felt a little embarrassed about oversleeping and tried to think of a good excuse for almost being late to school on his first day. The words that came out of his mouth were very different from what he wanted to say.
"Good Morning, the weather looks nice. The sun is shining..."
"Dylan, shouldn't you be at school?"
"Well, you see..."
"It's fine. Just hurry up and get to school before you're late."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52533129226_1cb3b18982_b.jpgAs Dylan stumbled in the sand to catch up with his brother, Kemps called out. "You two need to stay together and watch each other's back. As soon as school gets out, swim home!"
The twins raced across the island to give their legs a good stretch before diving back into the sea. The human high school was in another world called Copperdale. Swimming the Sea Between Worlds was something merfolk could do easy enough. Humans sailed across the Sea Between Worlds and flew through the Sky Between Worlds. No human understood how the worlds were connected and the passage of space and time seemed different in the places between worlds. All humans knew was that it was a quick way to travel. Even the merfolk didn't fully understand the places between worlds.
Since Arihi was an Elemental Spirit, she had some ideas about it, but she kept her thoughts to herself. She would vaguely say that her sons are like Ship Anchors to Calum. That would be all she would say.
When the twins arrived at school, they changed into the disguises their father gave them. As they approached the building they would study in, they noticed a young man that seemed to project a negative aura. He carried the same energy as someone that ruined the World of Sulani in pursuit of wealth ages ago. For merfolk, his existence was a flicker in the dark, a moment they would outlive and, consequently, ignore. But for the twins, it was different. They didn't know why, but they felt the need to approach him and confront him.
Dylan was the first to approach the blonde. He held out his hand to him. "Hi!"
The blonde extended his hand grabbed the merboy's hand. "My name is Mal..."
Mal felt a surge of electricity pulse through him. Merfolk had some control over electricity similar to how electric eels can discharge pulses in the water. Dylan didn't hold back as he gave the teen a good shock.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52585297882_6730ce7a84_b.jpg"Nice to meet you Mal." Dylan tried to hold back a chuckle.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52586205165_7dd78490d8_b.jpgAfter Dylan, Zeph extended his hand to Mal. The blonde regained his senses and said. "I meant my name was Malcom."
Malcom grabbed Zeph's hand and felt the same shock.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52585297092_981a28e2cb_b.jpgMalcom stumbled, but quickly pulled himself together. "That was quite the greeting."
"We just wanted to say hi." Zeph said. Zeph was more perceptive about people than Dylan. He instantly knew that Malcom did not have good intentions for others. Zeph could only describe what he sensed as an Evil Aura.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52585297857_7c7bd8746c_b.jpgAs if reading eachother's minds, the twins decided to make up an urban legend to make the human tense.
"I heard there things called ants that lurk around the school. They're like a colony of shrimp that live in sea sponge. They have a terrible bite." Dylan began the story.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52586286158_daf4083e6a_b.jpg"The ants are called Synalpheus Formicidae. They are named after the dreaded Synalpheus Regalis." Zeph explained.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52586205120_ae1afa2891_b.jpg"Or in simple terms, the Snapping Ants!"
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52586205115_bfcb316984_b.jpg"Snapping Ants are an Alien Creation and they come from outer space!" Zeph started geek out.
Dylan looked at Zeph. His brother started to confuse him.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52585297832_cf9af3a3d6_b.jpg"Snapping Ants created the West Side Story with their signature snap! A unique ability only Synalpheus Formicidae could do."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52585297817_f9f27802c7_b.jpg"Snapping Ants snap to intimidate others. It's a real struggle to overcome an encounter with them."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52586205140_f2081f3fc8_b.jpg"An encounter with Synalpheus Formicidae is an Emergency Event. It's definitelty no easy thing to overcome."
Malcom just silently listened. He wouldn't tell the twins how ridiculous the story was. More than anything, he felt confused by it.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52585297802_763e9dcb59_b.jpgThe twins left Malcom and headed into the school. They didn't waste time finding a place to sit down. Without anything else to do before class, they started to study the human books.
"That was fun!" Dylan enthused. "But, why did you bring Aliens into the story?"
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52500251320_fc0d2f62f2_b.jpg"Well, once you started talking about Snapping Shrimp that live in Sea Sponges, I couldn't think of a better way to spin the story." Zeph answered.
"So, you think ants that snap like humans snapping their fingers because of Aliens makes more sense?"
"Anything as crazy as ants that snap like humans makes more sense if Aliens are involved."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52500327378_c619a96316_b.jpg"And you mentioned the West Side Story. How does that work?"
"Well, we both haven't read the story or seen the movie, but we've seen pictures that got lost at sea. Seemed like the reason why those humans snapped their fingers."
"To intimidate?"
"Why else would they gather like a bait ball and look so synchronized?"
"Well, I wouldn't say a bait ball is intimidating..." Dylan thought for a moment. "Sure, they look synchronized, but there's usually nothing left of a bait ball after the bigger fish are done with it."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52500249415_21d24302d7_b.jpg"Well, I guess it depends on the fish that school together. I bet you would be intimidated if you saw a school of sharks?" Zeph asked.
"If it was a school of sharks, it would definitely depend on the sharks that gathered. Nurse Sharks and Hammer Heads aren't as dangerous as they look." Dylan answered.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52500327353_7dc8f3c5b0_b.jpg"I just had a genius idea! What if Aliens spliced the DNA of a Great White and Giant Pacific Ocotopus!"
Dylan stayed silent and turned to the human book. "Based on what humans taught each other, he wouldn't be surprised if humans believed that a half-shark, half-octopus creature existed. Their ancient history books had a lot of mythical creatures that were half of different animals. Most of them were myths even to merfolk.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52499285882_34999456e9_b.jpg"What do you think would be more of a struggle to survive? A half-shark, half-octopus created by Aliens, or a tornado filled with sharks created by Aliens?"
"That's a difficult question." Dylan replied. "Would I be able to use a blade of some kind? Maybe something that cut automatically using the sludge found around the deep sea."
"No mechanical blades allowed." Zeph said.
"Then, a tornado of sharks created by aliens would be much more challenging to survive."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52500325403_1916749cf0_b.jpgAfter working on their studies, the twins got lost wandering around the school. They didn't exactly know where they needed to go. Eventually they ran into Malcom Again. Malcom told them that they needed to go to their music class. The twins beleived him and headed to the music room. When the twins saw the musical instruments, they decided to try and start things off by impressing their teacher with their musical talent. This, however, didn't impress everyone the way they thought it would.
