It was another night of visiting the gateway world, this time the goal was to take the boat up the river to the next town, explore it a little to quell L's curiosity.

"You can get in the boat you know?" He said, leaning overboard to look at you.

"Nah, more fun in the water" you replied.

As to be expected from a siren.

The boat wasn't anything fancy, just a little one with a small motor that got around the river just fine. Not fit for the ocean, but he wasn't going there so he'd be alright. And if somehow he did fall overboard you'd be in the water ti catch him anyway.

"So... I hear from my youngest he's seen a fish person" L bought up.

"That... may have been me yes" you admitted.

"Bit of a risk getting that close to the orphanage don't you think?"

"I'll be fine. Who believes a 6 year old when they say they saw a fish person? Apart from you and me who know I'm real that is"

You had a point, only the people who knew you existed and total conspiracy theory quacks would believe anyone. The adults would brush it off as a kid with an imaginary friend, and the other kids would probably treat it like a ghost story. As long as no adults spotted you and tried to catch you for trespassing on the property or something you'll be fine.

"He's a sweet boy, such a cute little thing. The fairies would love him and his Little Rock towers. I saw you being dragged into a game of tag too" you teased.

"Oh god, you saw that? Bet I looked like I was dying of exhaustion. Those kids are so energetic..." L replied.

"You're still playing along through, I told you babysitting wouldn't be that bad. Goggles kid is hilarious, outrunning you by going under your arms as you try to tag him is smart"

"Matt? Yeah he's a trickster. You can't leave him and Mello alone for more than two minutes or they'll find some way to get into trouble"

You knew that L was worrying about taking care of them for no reason. He was doing a good job, playing with them and teaching them, keeping them engaged and entertained. You were sure that if things kept going this well they'd be getting attached to each other sooner or later.

"Also... after he told the Librarian he's seen a fish person, she came to me since I'm the one babysitting him... and turns out she knows about this place too" L explained.

That peaked your interest, so L wasn't the first one to use the gateway around here? Interesting.

"Really? I've never seen anyone but you down here" you replied, swimming alongside the boat.

"It was before we were even born. She's a lot older now and couldn't really walk around the rougher terrains down here. She hasn't been here in years but the second I started getting obsessed with mythology and stuff she figured it out. And when Near talked about you it proved to her the hunch was right and I'd found this place too" he explained.

"She must have been sneaky because I don't think I've heard any stories of humans finding that gateway. You were the only one I've ever known of"

"She didn't really interact with anyone, just explored the place. But it's so weird to think that hundreds of humans have probably come through that gateway years ago before we did. And you guys are only aware of a small few, and the humans who've come here never spilled the secrets of this place, only wrote fairytales"

It was rather interesting that the people that did find this place never actually exposed it. It always remained a secret only ever spread through fairytale books most poorly thought were stories. There's absolutely some humans in the world that'd try and destroy this place if they found it, but everyone that's come down so far has protected it. It was like passing through that gate changes you in some way, any thoughts of spilling the secret and endangering the place vanished.

L would always keep this place a secret, to protect it from the humans that would seek to destroy it. The only ones who get to know are him, Miss applebee and if the circumstances called for it, maybe the boys. But it'd be wammys little secret, no one would hurt the land hidden underneath it.

He'd hate to see his amazing world destroyed, and your rightful home taken from you.

"Looks like you and your orphanage buddies have a little secret getaway club now don't you?" You joked.

"Seems like it, I promise I'll keep this place safe. I'd hate to see it hurt" he replied.

"I trust you to protect my home. You're the world greatest detective after all, I know you can. I'd fight tooth and nail for my river to be safe if it came down to it"

This river was always where he found you, and you always called it 'your' river. While the waters of the land belonged to all merfolk, you'd definitely claimed this stretch of river as yours. People could commute it all they liked as long as they didn't pollute it, you protected the fish and plants of the river. It was your little job to keep this land beautiful.

"Throw the anchor down up here and it'll be shallow enough to walk to shore. Roll up your jeans though" you instructed.

Turning into a shoreline, he was very impressed by what he was seeing. Up in the tall trees that lined the land near this end of the river were treehouses and platforms connecting them. Like the whole town was raised up into the trees, he absolutely had ti explore this. Docking the boat by the shoreline and wading to the riverbanks, he pulled you out of the water and let you transform.

Each time you did your make some new trick with the shirt he gave you. Turn it into a dress, wear it as an oversized shirt, make it a strapless wrap, your creativity never failed to amaze him.

"Alright, this town is called treetops for obvious reasons. Lost of sky dwelling creatures and dragon owners live here since the town being up in the trees makes for a good environment for them. Lost of room for flying and wings and such, and on the ground under the trees is plenty of room for dragon stables. But since it's close to bottlebrush where we were last time and right next to the river there's a lot of water based creatures here too. So as long as you keep your hood up, they'll see you with me and just think you're another siren or something" you explained, brushing the sand from your skin.

L looked up at all the treehouses and bridges connecting them like an amazed child. What kid doesn't want to climb trees and live in treehouses? His inner child was screaming at this.

"Is there somewhere to get ghost brew here?" He asked.

"Yeah I know a place, don't get drunk off it though it won't end well" you teased.

"It's so good though, hard to believe something that sweet is alcoholic..."

"Knowing you and your sweet tooth, something tells me I'll need to keep an eye on you around ghost brew..."