Chapter 1
Merfolk in general have a tail that makes up two thirds of their body length. With a fin that is shaped like that of a betta but positioned like a whale’s. Males, called mermen, have the longer fins while those of mermaids and youngsters called merlings are shorter. Their upper bodies are outwardly very similar to those of humans. Their dentition most resembles that of a feline or ursine, excepting their human-like but still sharp incisors. At the end of their fingers are semi-retractable claws, those possessed by mermen being more robust and harder, while mermaids have thinner, sharper claws.
–Excerpt from Marvin’s Marvelous Field Guide to Nonhuman People
Trigger warning! There is a flashback to rape about halfway through the dream sequence.
A merman, like so many others this time of year, coiled up around a depression in the coral, guarding his nest of eggs. Unlike the others he was uncomfortably close to shore and extremely isolated from any nearby nesting mermen. Not even fathers teaching their young merlings how to hunt amongst the coral were within sight, nor were they close enough to hear if he was in trouble. Which, in this desolate sickly patch of coral he was.
Mermaids were supposed to bring their mates food while they guarded. If nothing else they should visit a few times a day and offer their breast. But his mate had not appeared before him even once. Not once since the day nearly four weeks prior, when she had laid his eggs and departed.
His name was Mathias. He was considered by most to be the most handsome merman of his pod. He had strong straight features, marred now by four parallel, bright red scars going diagonally across his left cheek. His eyes were dark blue, and his short hairs were medium blond. One of the ways that he stood out was the rich emerald green of his long hairs and posterior scales. Which transitioned smoothly along his sides into the bright silver of his anterior scales.
Most of his pod's coloration was more of a faded green on their posterior scales and long hairs, sky blue anterior scales. The delineation between the two was stark. Dark blonde short hairs, grey-blue eyes and tan skin were also the norm amongst this pod, all in contrast to Mathias save his tan skin.
Mathias stared broodingly at his eggs. A face that seemed more suited to smiles and laughter, already seemed to be forgetting what such actions are.
With a sigh, he buried his face in his arms to contemplate how he wound up in this mess. 'I never liked her,' he thought, 'but now I think I hate her.' "Oh gods," he whimpered out in despair, "I hate the mother of my children!"
He spent a few moments fighting the urge to scream, or yell, or cry. None of it would help right now. And he had no energy to spare on emotions.
Finally he got back to thinking, 'Well, she always viewed me as her rival. Although I never viewed her as mine. I was always trying to be the best me I could be. I don't care how I compared to others. But rivalries in a school is normal and it doesn't normally lead to this! ... But then most people aren't power hungry, narcissistic, psychopaths like she is. Yeah that's probably where this all came from, her personality.'
'It must of been such a shock when we came of age. Going from being the strongest and fastest to being the third strongest. But mermen are stronger, so of course if she turned out to be a maid some of us would grow stronger than her. If our genders had been reversed I might have been faster than her.'
'Maybe she thought she would grow to be a man? I did once hear her telling her siblings that she would rule this pod one day no matter what her gender turned out to be. Well she is already being trained to be our next leader. So I guess she got her wish.'
With a small whimper, his head shifted slightly as his hunger and emotion fueled exhaustion dragged him down into a fitful slumber.
"Juno." I whispered longingly into a head of light brown and dark green hair. Juno was one of the younger members of our school, and so matured a year later than my two brothers and myself, who were all courting her. She was smaller and curvier than most, with darker coloration than any excepting her father. She would not be going gravid this year and so would not be choosing a mate until the next. However, practice was part of courtship.
"Juno." I whispered again as I trailed kisses down the side of her head. Something about the kelp forest we were floating in seemed ominous. And there was a growing pit of dread in my stomach. But no matter how I tried to stop and look for the danger I could not gain control of my own actions.
"Matty," she murmured in response as she turned her head to meet my lips with her own. Teasing my tongue out to dance in her mouth, she wrapped her arms around my neck to hold me close. My hands settled on her hips for a moment.
My right hand traveled up to cup her breast. As the left traveled down to find the slit amongst her scales. Finding my goals my thumb ran circles around her nipple while my knuckle gently pressed into and ran along her slit.
Pretty soon my tongue was moving desperately in her moaning mouth. While my erection ground against her tail.
All too soon and not soon enough, she pulled her head away to breathlessly beg, "Mathias, please make love to me." With a needy groan I maneuvered her into position for my semi-prehensile penis to find her entrance. With a gentle tug at her hips to fully hilt myself, I wrapped my tail around her's and started undulating myself in and out.
My body has long since lost itself to pleasure. But my mind was still screaming that something was wrong. I just could not remember what. That is until I came. Then I remembered, this is a dream. It has already happened.
As he pulled away, I screamed at my past self, 'No! Don't go hunting. Stay! Cuddle, make love some more, talk until the moon rises!' But my pleas fell on deaf ears. As my mom often said, If people of the past could hear people of the future. Then the future would never happen.
She grabbed his arms and pulled him back with a playful pout. "Stay with me?" she asked him teasingly.
With a chuckle he kissed her forehead. "I've only had small meals for the past week." Smiling he caressed her cheek and continued, "It's time for me to go hunting and get a big meal."
Behind his smiling eyes I begged pathetically, 'Please Juno, command me to stay. I can go a couple more days with out hunting.' But of course she does not. What happened next has already happened, and like the nightmare it is. Will continue to happen. Until there is no longer a me to dream.
With a worried smile she sent him off. "Be safe hunting."
Grinning cheekily, he reminded her, "I always am."
I wondered as he swam through the kelp, 'Was that smile more worried than normal? Did Juno know that Chloe was laying in wait for me? If so was she commanded to silence, or did she have some faith in that psychopaths integrity?' These questions would probably never be answered. Because I doubted I would ever have the guts to ask them aloud.
Towards the edge of the forest Chloe called out, "Mathias! Wait up."
Groaning, he rolled his eyes and turned. She was heavily gravid. So for once he could have outrun her if he tried. But like a good little mer he stayed put and waited.
Once she got within conversing distance, he grumpily growled, "I'm hungry, so make it quick."
She beamed at him, as if she were about to grant him the biggest prize and the best favor all rolled into one. "Will you be my mate?" she asked him cheerfully.
He stared at her slack jawed and incredulous for a few moments before barking out, "Are you kidding?! Because it's not a very good joke. Also. No!"
Her smile slowly turned into a scowl, and her arms crossed as she asked petulantly, "Why not? We're both the strongest, fastest, smartest, and best looking for our genders."
I had always thought Juno's whole family was better looking than either of us. And I could think of at least five other people who were smarter than both of us. But such arguments had always been useless with her.
He brought up the only argument that mattered, the one that should have settled the issue, "But we don't like each other."
Huffing, she rolled her eyes. "I hardly think that ma-" she began only to be interrupted by his irritable, "It matters! So, the answer will forever be no!"
At this point I start to frantically scream and cry within the prison of my mind. Trying desperately to wake up or block off what came next.
With a roll of his eyes, he turned to swim off. Only to be halted by her command of, "Mathias, mate with me."
He bellowed out in shocked anger, "No!" But his body obeyed him no more than it would obey me.
He cursed as he plunged into her too firm depths. A tirade about how wrong this was tried to leave his lips before being silenced by her command to kiss her.
I focused on the feel of her claws digging into the back of his head. Did my best to ignore the feel of her tongue invading his mouth. The feeling of his penis plunging in and out of her slowly softening passage. I did my best to ignore the feelings of horror, revulsion, and complete violation that just gets worse every time I have this dream. I did my best to just focus on the pain. And like always, I failed.
Finally, he shot his load and was able to pull away. Panting as if he were in oxygen starved water. He stared at her in obvious horror and revulsion.
Obliviously, she gazed at her swollen belly and said with proud satisfaction, "See how much better it is when you just obey?"
When she looked at his face however her smirk turned into a scowl. And with a scream of anger she extended her claws and slapped him as hard as she could...
