2.5 Fins to the Left, Fins to the Right

Phoenix is quite obsessed with being ruler of all. It's not so much the power that drives him, but the promise of being showered in 'shiny things.' Alex has learned to keep his treasures locked up before going off to auction, otherwise Phoenix totes them out and throws the gold coins in the air, declaring himself 'King of Everything Awesome!'

Luckily, his friends don't seem to mind his preoccupation with wealth. Kelsey Torres-Forman just laughs it off and hits Phoenix with a pillow. Her family lives in town and they're not hurting for cash, though there's rumors that her grandfather did some less-than-savory things to get it all.

Others aren't so accepting of Phoenix's love of the good life. Aren Matsuri brings him back down to earth, letting him know that while he might be obsessed with being King of the Shiny Things... he lived on a houseboat and he didn't technically have a mom. Kids can be harsh.

Of course, it wasn't long before Phoenix wasn't a kid. He'd grown up fast, faster than Alex would have liked. Worse yet, he was just so moody now. His temperament just seemed to take a complete nosedive after his birthday.

It certainly didn't help that he'd finally 'come into' his mermaid magic. He'd hopped in the ocean one day and realized his legs were gone.

"Dad. I'm a fish."

"No, you're a mermaid. There's a difference."

"I HAVE A TAIL!"

"A mermaid tail. It's all right. You'll get used to it after awhile. In fact, you might even come to like it..."

Phoenix was pretty sure he'd never grow to like being a fish! He spent ridiculous amounts of hours searching himself for gills, scales, and anything else weird. It all seemed to be focused on his legs. There were no scientific reasons for any of it. It was as his father had said--it was magic.

That was rubbish! Phoenix had big plans. He couldn't be saddled down with some ridiculous 'magic nonsense' inherited from a mother he didn't even know!

At least Kelsey wasn't freaked out. She said she'd always known. His legs were blue and weird even as a child. Mermaids were commonplace in Isla Paradiso. It was like vampires in Sunset Valley.

At least there was that. Phoenix was pretty sure he was ready for Kelsey to be more than a friend. They'd gone to prom together, but she'd been pretty shy the entire time.

It would have been easier if his dad wasn't coming down on him like a hammer every five seconds. What was the big deal? So he pulled a couple of pranks, so he may have released every single frog from the science lab, so what? The way his dad acted, you'd swear he'd bombed the entire island or something.

Phoenix just waved him off and tacked it all up to his midlife crisis. He'd get over it.

Alex got an even bigger surprised one rainy evening when Maya suddenly appeared. They'd returned, finally, after years of moving around the world. Maya hadn't seemed to age a day, looking the same as she did just before she left so long ago.

There was no awkwardness or hesitation. She all but barreled him over, throwing herself against him. Their reunion had been a long time coming. Maya had no intentions of leaving again.

Phoenix didn't share his father's happiness at the return of his mother. He was quite bitter about it, actually. For years, he'd stared out the windows and wondered where she was and what she was doing. What kept her from coming back? Why did she leave in the first place? None of it made any sense to him and now her sudden reappearance... well, he wasn't going to make it easy for her.

Maya had tried to hug him. And even if she genuinely cared when she asked after him and how he was, Phoenix took it all as an act. She was probably just going to leave again, anyway. What did it matter?

Maya was upset, but Alex assured her it would be fine. Phoenix would come around. He was just a little... difficult sometimes. Of course, Maya knew he had every right to hate her and to be upset. Still, she planned to make it right, even if he made it difficult for her. She wasn't going to give up.

At least things were going well for Phoenix. Kelsey was officially his girlfriend and he was quite happy about that fact.

They had their differences, though. Kelsey no longer thought Phoenix's obsession with wealth and the better things in life was endearing. She was quite easy to please and thought Phoenix was just being a straight-up snob.

Alex and Maya had no such problems. Despite their otherwise unconventional relationship and separation, they were still just as much in love--if not more so now--as they were all those years ago. Maya was happy to rejoin the family and move in. She assured Alex she wasn't going anywhere ever again.

Phoenix even seemed to come around, realizing that his mother was there to stay. She'd offered to teach him to drive--which Alex laughed about, given their combined lack of coordination with legs--but she was adamant about spending time alone with him. So they drove.

"Phoenix, what are you doing? You look ridiculous."

"All the cool kids drive this way, mom. Sheesh."

"We're going five miles an hour. I think you can do without the poses..."

While Maya helped Phoenix advance in life, Alex handled the less 'heavy' things. Spending time with Phoenix usually meant something silly like pillow fighting or having him assist on dives. It was always helpful to have a mermaid around.

Maya and Phoenix spent a lot of time in the ocean as he neared his Young Adult birthday. She was trying to show him all there was about being what they were and the magic behind it all.

Much to her dismay, Phoenix wasn't even sure he wanted to be a mermaid. When she spoke about the crippling loss of their magic, he was intrigued and asked for more details.

"It's very painful, Phoenix... and once it's gone, it will never come back."

"I think I could live with that. I mean, have you ever seen a mermaid go to college?"

Phoenix had big plans and being a mermaid wasn't one of them.

Phoenix was quite excited when his birthday finally arrived. Soon, his plans and dreams would be fully realized! Even better, he could surround himself with the luxury he'd always coveted. Of course, there were some things he had to do first...

Generation Three roll:

• Second Chance
• 2 Children
• Income: Political
• Secondaries: Scuba Diver, Military
• Generation Goal: Expansionist
• Misc. Fun: Random Traits

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The rules state that spouses of 'Single' parents can return once the heir is midway through their teenage stage, so Maya has come back and lives with them once more. I've been waiting for this since I had to kick her out. So happy to have her back! I wonder if mermaids age slower? Because she's younger than Alex now...

Phoenix got the 'Evil' trait from the random roll on his teenage birthday. Sigh. I have NO idea how that's going to fit into his career roll. I don't like random traits, you guys!

I don't think he'll stay a mermaid for long. It's driving me nuts. I installed Awesomemod (because I was getting crazy crashes and AM always fixes those for me), and mermaids now use boats/etc instead of SWIMMING everywhere... but keeping their hunger motive up is near impossible. Kelp is supposed to satiate them, but it never does and their bar always seems to plummet at obscene rates. Not even the 'good food' moodlet helps. Sigh. Plus the dehydration! Phoenix isn't as obsessed with the ocean as his parents.

Alex's midlife crisis was my first successful one ever. Pretty cool. He also completed his LTW (as per my 10 gen goal of fulfilling heir's ten different LTWs), which was earn 40k from diving. They have about 80k in the bank now. Money has not been an issue so far...