Instructors

Her day started just as it always had, with her mind slowly regaining clarity while her body stretched out.

She yawned widely, showcasing a set of extremely sharp and durable teeth. She stretched fully one last time, the bones in her back and tail creaking pleasantly from the action, before relaxing once more, enjoying the dull afterglow of a nice and long sleep.

She swam out from her little self-made home, now decorated with some of the things she'd found pretty and decided to put in there. Her favorites were a half-eaten yet still alive sea star that she enjoyed taking bites out of whenever she felt, and a smooth green piece of glass the size of two of her scales that reflected light in a way that had attracted her attention.

She felt a bit peckish, and although she knew the food-bringer would come soon and bring his namesake to her, she was still determined to catch some food on her own.

The larger and faster fish still eluded her, but considering she'd been going at it for three days at this point, she was confident she could at least catch some of the slower ones.

Unfortunately, If hunting was just about speed, then she could easily catch them all, but that just wasn't the case. The fish loved to dart between corals too small for her to follow through, and they also loved hiding in the algae, something which often led to her losing them.

It was unfortunate... Well, unfortunate for the mermaid. For the poor, innocent fish who had to flee for their lives from the human-fish hybrid that wanted to eat them up, it was a true life-saver.

Still, she was learning and improving, something which she intended to prove to herself on this day by catching her very first fish. She really, really wanted to see how they tasted, and if the food-bringer's fish was better, or those already in her tank.

First, though, she noticed some movement from outside her home, something which had not happened ever since her transfer to this large aquarium. She swam over to the border, curiously peeking out.

The thick glass made it somewhat more difficult for her to see as clearly as she did within water, but it was still possible for her to tell the general shapes. Strangely enough, though, her hearing was completely blocked by it, making it impossible to hear the things being said outside of the aquarium itself.

There were three two-legs standing outside, one of whom she could recognize as the food-bringer. She tapped at the glass with the tip of her claws, quickly getting their attention.

The two two-legs whom she didn't recognize stayed where they were, observing her with their eyes alone. Meanwhile, her food-bringer walked up to where she was, waving his hands in a human greeting that the young mermaid had seen before.

She replicated his action, gaining a small smile from the man. He tapped the glass three times in quick succession, an action that he always used whenever he wanted her to go to the top of her home.

She looked at him dejectedly, wanting a bit more time to herself before playing. Unfortunately, the food-bringer looked wholly unsympathetic to her plight, simply tapping the glass twice.

He'd bopped her on the head hard enough to bring tears to her eyes that one time she'd been too busy chasing after fish and had thus ignored his call three times in a row, something which she had no wish to reenact.

She darted away, swimming towards the training area and leaving the three men behind. Unbeknownst to her, Marcus wasn't a big fan of using physical force as a method of punishment, which was why he practically never raised his hand against her, finding the very idea of it counterproductive.

After all, considering her growth rate, she would likely be tens of times stronger than him by the time she reached two or three months of age, and at that point, if physical punishments had become the norm, Marcus would find himself in a bind.

Besides, the young mermaid was suprisingly obedient. She wasn't necessarily submissive, but she was still far, far easier to work with than what he'd imagined he would be dealing with. Force really wasn't necessary to deal with her.

"Hmm... She definitely seems obedient. It seems you weren't lying when you told us that, Mr. Castle." One of the men besides Marcus said, musing his thoughts out loud. Marcus nodded, tearing his gaze away from the mermaid who soon vanished into the floor above.

Turning to face the man, Marcus couldn't help but let his eyes examine the man. While he knew he was straight and that he already had a wife, Marcus could confidently say that, had he been gay, this man would have definitely caught his eye in a more personal way.

The man had long, smooth black hair that reached his behind combined with a handsome face, plus two piercing green eyes that seemed to stare straight into Marcus' soul. He averted his gaze, turning back to face the aquarium.

"Yes. I was hoping to get started on her speech training. Her pattern recognition is, frankly put, amazing, so I have no doubt you gentlemen will be able to work wonders for her. She is a very intelligent and curious student, although I do have to warn you on one thing." Marcus said, pausing at the end to see if they had anything to interject.

They didn't, so he kept going. "Her voice has a strange quality to it, one that I believe might be a charm. I know it might seem stereotypical, but I have heard it myself. When she was first born, even if she spoke for a minute, all I got was a minor headache, but now, a single scream of hers was enough to stun me and several women for several seconds, leaving us with horrible headaches for an entire day."

"That sounds... Troublesome." The second man commented. Unlike the other man, this one was quite a bit more standard-looking. Still, Marcus didn't dare disrespect him, for he was the foremost expert of mutant development and research in the entirety of Freedonia, and perhaps even beyond that. Such a title had a weight that even Marcus wouldn't dare go against... yet.

"It is indeed quite 'troublesome', as you put, Mr. Jiron. However, as I have said before, I have full confidence in both my charge's intelligence and your own abilities, gentlemen." He said, perhaps a bit more standoffish than was necessary. Still, the two didn't look all that offended. Intrigued, perhaps.

He led the two men up the spiraling stairs, answering a few trivial questions which mostly consisted of how he'd trained her so far, what her eating and sleeping patterns were, as well as the rather strange question of where she excreted.

He'd actually been forced to pause for a second at that question, realizing he'd never actually seen her do that, nor seen evidence of her ever doing it.

He'd told the two men as much. Strangely enough, they weren't as surprised as Marcus would have expected, but he was quickly told that, while not common, it wasn't unheard of for some of the more exotic mutants to have such efficient methods of digestion that they left behind no waste.

It was... interesting, if not a bit disturbing when the man started talking about the composition of mutant excrements. Mr. Jiron went into just a bit too much detail for Marcus' liking, but the man looked so happy blabbering away on this topic that Marcus lacked the heart to shut him up.

Finally, when they reached the upper floor, Jiron finally shut up, allowing his two fellow men to heave a sigh of relief.

The somewhat funny moment didn't last long, however, as the two newcomer's eyes practically glued themselves to the figure hanging out in the full-water zone, watching the three humans with evident curiosity in her eyes.

Jiron was, unsurprisingly, the first to step forward, but he was stopped by Marcus' stern glare, something that made even the obsessed expert pause in his steps and shut his mouth.

"Please stand back for a moment, gentlemen. I believe showing you how I generally train her before doing anything else would be helpful, as you could help me improve. Please keep your space for now." He spoke authoritatively before walking over to the mermaid, fishing out his bag of treats from the inside of his jacket.

The amount and size of treats had been steadily increasing every day as the mermaid required more and more food until she was satisfied, something that had forced Marcus to hide those treats practically all around his quarters. Nowadays, every time he was scheduled to go to the mermaid, he tended to bring a backpack of them just for easier carry, but that wasn't possible today due to obvious reasons.

He beckoned her over to him as he went to stand in the 'amphibian' area. She looked mulishly at him, eyeing the treats he kept in his hands before dully dragging herself out of the water and crawling a short distance into the closest 'puddle'.

After taking a small breather in the kiddie-sized pool, she dragged herself out once more and crawled over to the next one, then again, and again. Finally, a few minutes of pain-staking crawling, she reached her destination.

Marcus allowed her to grab the treat directly from his hand, immediately letting go once she grabbed a hold of it to avoid the risk of being dragged down into the puddle the mermaid currently occupied. She didn't really understand her own strength, after all, and he couldn't do anything to correct that just yet.

She nibbled on the rather small fish while doing her best to remain submerged. When she was finished, she looked up at Marcus with blinking eyes, awaiting his next directions, something he gladly gave her.

He had her crawl around the amphibian section for a while longer before allowing her to return to the fully aquatic area. Usually, he would simply have her do some basic exercises like 'swim in circles' or 'fetch this', basic things that even a dolphin could do. Now, though...

He wanted, no, needed to show her off a bit. The two men with him had agreed to work with him for a generous price, but only on the condition his mutant impressed them enough. After all, men and women of their standing really didn't care that much about money, instead being more focused on knowledge and opportunities.

"Alright. Be a good girl, and go grab me a fish." He said, pointing down at the hole that allowed the mermaid to come and go from the aquarium below.

She looked confused at his actions, so he took out one of her treats, pointing at it, and then at hole once again. She blinked confusedly for a bit, her gaze switching between the hole and the treat a few times before a figurative lightbulb went off over her head.

She dived down into the deeper portions of the aquatic section, swimming over to the passageway before vanishing into the aquarium below. Marcus waited patiently, hiding his nervousness behind a stern yet blank stare.

The three men weren't kept waiting for long as, not even three minutes later, the young mermaid returned. She quickly swam over to Marcus, and when he saw what she held in between her teeth, he let out a silent sigh of relief.

Held between her sharp teeth was a small fish the size of Marcus' middle finger. It was still alive, although it likely wouldn't be for long considering the teeth digging into it.

She opened her mouth, dropping the fish into the water below her before grabbing it with her claws. Marcus reached out his hand expectantly, and the mermaid reluctantly complied, surrendering her food in the hopes of receiving more.

Marcus didn't disappoint her as he rewarded her greatly for her performance, giving her ten entire fish, which she quickly and happily began gnawing on.

Seeing that the mermaid was now occupied, he turned towards the two gentlemen at the side. They looked suitably impressed, staring at the half-fish, half-girl next to Marcus.

Marcus just smirked, patting her head gently before walking over to his fellow men, ignoring how the mermaid paused her eating temporarily to give him a confused look.

She'd done good, and headpats were a nice reward, in Marcus' opinion. She'd learn in time.