Jack woke up with a yawn, his eyes locking on the fish that was staring dead at him. Confusion lighting up his face as he finally realized that there were waves gently trying to pull him with them.

It finally hit him where he was and what was happening. He was a Mer. An odd looking Mer that didn't know how he was supposed to act. His ravaged shirt was still on and he really didn't feel like taking it off even if there was rips and blood stains all over it.

His blue hair floated around him as he slowly sat up, looking around to see if anybody else was awake.

"Hi Kiache." He was careful to keep the conversation private since he didn't want to accidentally wake anyone up.

The confusion was etched into his face as he replied. "Oh um, if you want me to then sure. I wouldn't want to intrude." Jack's cheeks turned a soft pink.

Kiache looked at Jack oddly, "I wouldn't offer if I didn't mean it. This is a happy and fun story. Short." Kiache hefted the piece in her hands.

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The memory was old, like most of the memories in Kiache's room. This was the result of age, and having not been viewed in years. There were flickers in the otherwise all encompassing story, which first flared out of the darkness by a hand grabbing the wood. Immediately, emotion pulsed through the story - a small sadness, but mainly happiness and the feeling the being successful. "Tres! Malik!" The other two triplets emerged from an indent in the seafloor, "Yes?" The resounding echo from both voices made it know that this was being seen from Sheena's point of view, "I found a a piece of wood. It's perfect." The two triplets swam over, and as Kiache said, they were identical. They both had smooth gray tails, with a fun in the back, like a shark. Their hair was chopped short, like most Mer, and a violent shade of red. One's red hair was slightly paler than the other, with teal eyes. The teal eyes ran dominant in the kings line. Jack and Kiache couldn't see Sheena, but they too looked the same, with slightly darker red hair.

"Yes! Oh, Sheena it's perfect..." Somehow they knew it was from the lightest haired one, who was Tres. They all had a soft sadness to them, "Let's get back home. We'll make sure Ki doesn't see you," The other one, who was Malik, added.

//

Back at the palace, Sheena parted from the other triplets to head to their room. There, from Sheena's eyes, the memory showed the little octopus forming, being carved with a sharp bone. Once the carving was done, Sheena carefully reached out with her mind, touching a dull sadness, "Ki? I... Can I come to your room?" "Yes, of course... Is something wrong?" Kiache's own strong mental voice cut through. Sheena didn't answer, and just went to the room. Peaking in, Kiache was curled up on the same bed, sitting, with a heavy heart, "Ki? I... I got you something." Kiache looked up, "Oh Sheena you..." Kiache fell silent when they saw what was in Sheena's hands, "Oh." It was barely a whisper. Kiache took the wood, following the lines with her fingers, "Oh Sheena... It looks just like her. Just like Gesta. Thank you.... Thank you." Kiache swam up from the bed, and the two linked tails, and as the memory faded, there was a pulsing happiness.

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"The octopus was Gesta. One of my best friends. She was captured by humans. I never saw her again, but the carving... Sheena was so sweet. Later, Tres and Malik made my favorite meal together, and we all had it in my room. They were friends with Gesta too." Kiache still remembered Gesta with a soft sadness in her heart, but life turned on in the ocean.

He supposed that underneath the waves families realized that it wasn't all about themselves. They all had one common problem and didn't seem to be angry at each other. Well at least Kiache's people seemed like that. Granted, Jack's home was supposedly much more peaceful than in the days before the flood but it was still so utterly cold stifling there. Families broke apart, most friendships were fake and people died because of other's mistakes.

Which was why Jack hated his world, because he too had been part of the problem without realizing it.