Alekona didn't know how he felt about Marella's visit. It was unexpected, but he was glad to see her. Now he knew that she could visit him any time, which would really make his day. At least he thought it was night, but she would take naps when she got further along in her pregnancy. He smiled, but she also was in Acale's dreams. At least he hoped she was, he didn't wish that she would not appear in his grandmother's head. He shook his head, he must not think like that. She was safe, and she could visit him when ever she was a sleep. He only hoped that she would listen to him, and she wouldn't tell his father and sister about her gift. A gift that was presumed lost, there was no one who had this gift for over a hundred years. A door slammed shut, he looked up. There was someone inside the prison, was it his grandmother, he hoped not. He had just such a good day, and she would ruin it.

"Mother, please, I am not a fool. But I want to talk to him alone, he is my son after all." He heard his mother's voice. So she was here, something he did not expect. But his grandmother was here too, so his day was ruined. He slummed on to bed, and looked at the ceiling. He didn't want to see her, she was just as bad as his grandmother, maybe even worse. Alekona knew that his grandmother was nuts, but that his mother betrayed him like that. A sigh escaped his lips and he rolled with his eyes. What did he expect, she was raised by this hard ars of a woman and from what his father had told him, his grandfather was not much better. But did he feel sorry for his mother? Nope he didn't. "Alekona, we need to talk." His mother said.

"Well talk." He said, he didn't see the need for it.

"Why are you always this...." His mother said.

"Challenging, irritating, unyielding, bothersome." He finished her sentence. And he could hear her frustration. "I probably got that from my father."

"Alekona, I am serious." She snapped at him, and he pushed himself up. So he could look her in the eye.

"Oh, I know you are. And so am I. I am the one who is put behind bars. I am in here because I wanted to claim my daughter. I am here because I fell in love with a naiad." He snapped back. "And you are here because you believe you can talk some sense into me. Well let me tell you mom, another woman already did that. Kelby was a beautiful and gentle soul, from what I have seen, a great mother. Or she tried to be a good mother."

"I saw Marella today in the salon. She was there with your sister." His mother snapped at him. "She had no business..."

"What is she supposing to do then all day, stay at home. Playing with her thumbs, mom, she is only months into her pregnancy. And which woman wouldn't like to have her hair and nails done." He again snapped back, he was really losing it. He turned away from her. "I do not how to say this, so I am singing to you. We are from two world, two beliefs. But I am falling for you, I love you more than I love myself. I would give my life if you ask, take my heart and be safe. I will love you until the end of my days."

"What was that?" His mother said. He had hoped that the song was inside his, of course it wasn't. He always heard this song when he got upset, but he never sang it out loud.

"It is a song, Kelby wrote for me. She sang it on the last night, we saw each other. It was then that I really fell for her. Like a rock sinking to the bottom of the ocean. She knew about the siren song, and what it meant. Knowing that we would never share something like that, so she took the time to write me a song." If he was not surrounded by salt water, she would be able to see his tears. "I regret not going back to her, visit her, meet my daughter before all of this." He shook his head. "You know what, never mind. You do not care about my feelings, you only care about your mother's opinion."

"That is..." She started. 

"Do use both a favor and do not deny it." He snapped, and he looked at the ground of his cell. "If you cared, I wouldn't be in here." 

"That is not fair, you are in here because you went against your grandmother." She started once again, and he was done with her. She was really defending his grandmother's right to put him in a prison that could collapse at any moment. Not even talking about the fact that it was thanks to her that he was not able to claim his daughter in front of the whole council. If she didn't tell her mother about his intention...

"I have said everything I wanted to say, and more." He said and turned around. "A mother with a heart would have understood me." He walked over to the bed and lay down.

"Alekona, please." She said.

"I am done talking, mom." He said. "So say what ever you need to say, and please leave me alone. I am waiting for the ceiling to collapse on my head." He would have made a bet, that she was looking at the ceiling right now.

"I see you are not in the mood for a reasonable conversation." She said with a sigh. He could have said to her, before she started talking. But then again was he ever in the mood for one of her reasonable conversations. It were all his grandmother's words, spoken with his mother's voice.

"No, please, what has grandmother to say?" He said. "I really have nothing better to do."

"These are not your grandmothers words." She snapped, she could have fouled him, nope. She couldn't and she knew it.

"Well then say what you wanted to say." He said, with a sigh. She sighed too, but she said nothing. Instead, she just left without saying a word.

******

"I hope you are happy now?" His grandmother piped up.

"Happy as a clam, and you know I just told her the truth. She just didn't want to hear it." He said, knowing his grandmother all too well.

"That is true. That girl is weak, always was and always will be. But she is easier to bend over and listen to my every command. It is such a shame that your sister and your self were born with a shiny spine. But then again, you said it yourself, you got that one from your father. He is indeed a strong man, just like my husband was. He didn't take sea cow crap from anybody, especially not from me. Even when I got the title Matriarch, he simply stated that I could tell others what to do. But I couldn't tell him, he was off limits. When I told him it was my job to tell him what to do, ohh that was a glorious fight. A fight about domination, I won in the end. But he still fought against me, even after that." She told it if it was something to be celebrated. But all he heard was a tragedy, his grandmother needed to fight to make her voice heard. Fight against the one whose job was to comfort her and support her. But nope, this was his messed up family. Everyone would act as if the other was not important enough, or they hadn't proven themselves over and over again. "I see so much from him in you, Alekona." This made him sick. "The fight you have put up against me. Never doing as you are told, going against the stream at every turn." She sighed. "The only thing your grandfather wouldn't do was sleeping with somebody outside our species. He would turn in his grave, if he had one." So it was true, she has given his corpse to the sharks. What a cruel fate, would she do the same thing to Marella, or to him?  He didn't want to think about it.

"Well I will take it as a compliment and an insult." He said.

"Good, then we are on the same page. And for what it is worth, it is indeed a lovely song. The girl had indeed some siren in her, but not enough." His grandmother left him alone, and he wanted to scream. He hated how she planted this kind of seeds in his brain. Making him think all kinds of this, question is every move. He didn't question his love for Kelby, or his devotion to Marella. She made him question, if he hated her or not. If she was not just another victim, a victim that needed to be tough to survive. He shook his head, no he couldn't just hate her for what she has been through. He could hate her for the things she did, his grandfather was death. He couldn't hurt her anymore, and still she is acting this way. Even if he looked a lot like his grandfather, he was not him. He wouldn't have treated Kelby or Marella in that way. He would show them all the love and respect, he could give as a father and partner. He didn't know if he would ever be able to do it, but he would do his best. Once he got out of this place.