Everyone grew silent after what Keith said. Keith was waiting for a response, Pidge was waiting to see what I would say, and I'm simply thinking.

It was hard to think, though. I am still reeling on the fact that, floating before me, is a real live merman! Of course, I had seen him before- interacted with him, but I was beginning to doubt that he was real. I had almost thought that I had imagined it all.

It's different now. Pidge is with me, she can testify that he is, in fact, real. That in itself seemed like a dream.

Focus

Okay... how much does Keith already know? I'll start from te beginning, explain everything. It would be easier anyways.

"Lets see... there's been a few rumors about merpeople in captivity, kept on land... I'm sure most of them are false, though. Except for one. Pidge says that it may be forged, but I was given a scale that belonged to one of the supposedly captured merman- an old one- as proof by some creepy fisherman." I said, shifting my hand behind my collar and gently lifting my necklace per my head.

Keith's eyes lit up at the mention of a scale.

I handed him the necklace, holding the said scale. He grasped it gently and examined it, flipping it this way an that, sniffing it- I will never admit how cute that was- and even holding it against the light of the sun.

It was a translucent scale, a tinge of shiny brown. It was the size of my thumb nail, if not a little smaller.

A smile broke across Keith's face. "It's my fathers!" He exclaimed. Relief flashed in his violet eyes before it morphed into determination. "What is the.... govement... You-something. I do not recall what you said before."

The what?

At my perplexed expression, his lips lifted up, sharp teeth bared slightly, and he snarled. "The you- something govement." He said firmly.

"U.S Government?" Pidge asked.

And just like that, I remembered more.

"Oh yeah! I came across some guy who briefly mentioned strange activity with an organization owned my the government." I said, happy with myself for recalling it.

"So who is you-es govenment?" Keith asked, incorrectly pronounce the term.

"U.S. Government," Pidge emphasized, "is a large group of people who control what's going on in our country. They essentially protect us and guide us, as well as provide."

"Oh..." was all Keith said.

"I believe the organization which could have possibly abducted mermaids and merman is called the FBSE; Federal Bureau of Supernatural Entities. It was originally just a joke among citizens, rumors of people; ghost hunters and the like. I guess it's real..." Pidge added.

Keith nodded, soaking in all the information.

"Yeah. Now that you mention it, I believe I've seen them, especially recently, along the coast of Florida; here. I, at first, thought they were just a strange herd of individuals looking for something." I said.

A group of people had been coming to the beach, now on a regular basis, investigating the waters and shores, looking at people and speaking amongst themselves.

They would have seemed normal had it not been for their attire. Black crisp suits, red ties, white shirts, black shoes, and, of course, sun glasses much too dark to see through. They even had small earpieces, which I only notice on the 50th day of their arrival.

Sometimes, I would see them go on boats and travel far out with strange equipment.

Keith looked perplexed. Understandable. Then, his eyes widened and his mouth slackened. I could practically see an idea pop up into his head.

"Take me with you! Maybe they have him!" Keith shouted, violet eyes flickering back and forth between Pidge and I.

Pidge rose an eyebrow. "How exactly will we be able to do that? You have a fish tail, remember?"

Keith slumped in defeat, leaning further onto the boat, causing it to tilt ever so slightly. His pout looked absolutely adorable.

Then, I got an idea. "It's just a theory, so I'm not sure if this will work, but... could you get into the boat?" I asked Keith. He looked at me, skeptical. He slowly backed away, distancing us.

"I promise, this- if it works- will help you find whoever your looking for." I said, walking to the edge, closer to Keith.

He halted. I could see the turmoil in his eyes, determining whether or not he should abide by my suggestion. Finally, he swam closer, dunking in the water before shooting out and onto the boat.

He flopped around a bit, like a fish- pun intended- as he adjusted being on a dry surface.

"Pidge, get me some towels. They're in the duffle bag over there." I commanded, pointing to a spot beside a seat. A black duffle bag was placed in between the seat and the edge of the boat.

Pidge nodded and pulled out a large pink and yellow towel, with large white flowers on it.

Keith made a disgusted grunt before allowing Pidge, who understood my intention by now, to do what she needed.

Pidge wrapped his tail in the towel, which was barely long enough to cover it, and commenced massaging the water out from Keith's tail.

A few minutes of uncomfortable grunts and groans later, Keith was dry.

He didn't look so good either.

Did I just unintentionally hurt my friend?

"I don't feel so good." Keith moaned out, breathing raggedly.