Strange Scales
by NemmaStar is an AU of The Twilight Saga starting shortly after the events of Eclipse. When Bella visits a local beach, she is 'abducted' and transformed into a mermaid by a group of mermaids living off the coast, which leads to her and her associates learning about the third species of immortals in the world. As other parties try to provoke the Quillettes into war with the mermaids, Bella's allies are forced to adjust their own expectations to adapt to Bella's changes.
Strange Scales contains examples of:
- Achievements in Ignorance: Bella unintentionally proves a myth that the kiss of a mermaid lets others breath underwater when she gives Seth CPR after he nearly drowns during the initial attack.
- Closest Thing We Got: A particularly happy variation of this; with Kali as Rosalie's permanently seven-year-old biological niece, Rosalie finally gets the child she always wanted, with the bonus that Kali is actually related to her even if she's not Rosalie's direct biological daughter.
- Creepy Child: Kali is a downplayed version of this, as she never does anything obviously disturbing but it's still strange to those who know she was turned back in the late 1930s and still acts like a little girl despite being older than Bella.
- Dead Girl Junior: Basically the principle behind Kali's real name; her father was Rosalie's younger brother, and he named his daughter after the sister he believed was dead.
- Fantastic Racism: Balthazar hunts mermaids even when his own son vouched for the fact that at least one of the mermaid groups he was hunting didn't kill people.
- Happily Adopted: Riana and Kali are invited to remain with the Cullens even before Kali is revealed to be Rosalie's niece, prompting Rosalie to essentially adopt Kali; once the relationship was revealed, Kali, Rosalie and Emmett spent several hours off forming their own family unit.
- Heel Realization: The Quillettes realise that they were wrong to try and kill the mermaids after Riana has a chance to talk with them directly.
- Heinz Hybrid: After Jacob imprints on Riana, Edward wonders what kind of child they might have when it would be part wolf and part mermaid.
- Interspecies Romance: Bella and Edward remain in love despite Bella becoming a mermaid, and Jacob later imprints on Bella's mermaid friend Riana.
- Long-Lost Relative: During her time with the mermaids, Bella meets one mermaid, Kali, who appears to just be a seven-year-old girl, but it is later revealed that Kali's real name is Rosalie Katherine Hale, she was turned in 1940, and she is the daughter of Rosalie's younger brother.
- Mama Bear: Rosalie swiftly becomes this once Kali is identified as her niece, to the extent that she becomes hostile towards Seth when he jokingly pretended to imprint on Kali.
- More than Mind Control: While stuck with the mermaid colony, Bella is subject to the mental influence of the colony queen, Mara, who prevents her telling anyone outside the colony her real name or making contact with her family or friends, until some of the Quillettes manage to 'capture' her.
- Never Grew Up: Kali is revealed to have been a child since the 1940s and is basically 'stuck' as a seven-year-old.
- Offing the Offspring: Balthazar is revealed to have killed his own son just because his son was in love with a mermaid, Balthazar arguing that his son was dead already as he was convinced that the mermaids had basically brainwashed him.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: In this continuity, humans can be turned into mermaids in a similar manner to how vampires can covert others into their own kind. Once transformed, the mermaids can feed on blood and fish, and can also return to a human form once on land, although they can only communicate in English while underwater, requiring the Cullens to learn 'Mermish' through Edward translating based on the characters' thoughts (characters speculate that they could make a 'mask' that would allow Bella to talk by placing water over her mouth, but no such mask is created in the narrative).
- Our Vampires Are Different: On top of everything else that makes the Cullens and similar vampires different from the traditional image, it is revealed that they can turn mermaids into vampires if they wish, with the transition from mermaid to vampire actually being easier than human to vampire.
- Parental Obliviousness: Invoked but subtly defied; after Bella returns, Renee accepts the cover story that Bella was found with amnesia and head trauma in a nearby hospital and her inability to talk is psychological. Charlie makes comments that at least suggest he has some idea that his daughter isn't 'normal' any more, and also observes that he may recognise Raina from Missing Persons reports, but he accepts their decision to stay with the Cullens.
- Shipper on Deck: As the mermaids learn about Bella's history, the colony all become 'fans' of her various supernatural allies, with particular groups showing their support for Edward or Jacob or just expressing a fondness for certain wolves or Cullens; Seth is particularly amused to learn that Paul has a large underwater 'fan club'.
- Taking the Bullet: Applies in essence when Balthazar tries to throw a dagger at Riana and Carlisle puts himself between the blade and the mermaid, although the dagger just ricochets off his back without causing any damage.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: For some time, Edward and Jacob have to work together to find out what happened to Bella, although their relationship 'improves' after Jacob imprints on Riana.
- Token Good Teammate: Riana, initially just one of the other mermaids, eventually becomes Bella's closest friend in the colony, being the one member of the colony Bella trusts with her personal concerns.
- Token Minority: The mermaid colony technically had a vampire member in the form of Randall, who often joined them underwater and was mates with Kiera, one of the mermaids, although he reveals that they plan to turn Kiera into a vampire to make their own way.
- Translator Buddy: While the Cullens and others are trying to learn Mermish, Edward uses his telepathy to help both sides communicate.
- Unfortunate Names: With Bella and Edward having time to consider the possibility of having a child, Edward talks Bella out of her initial thought of 'Renesme' for a daughter due to the idea of giving a half-mermaid child a name with obvious potential links to the Loch Ness Monster.
- Wham Line: Kali reveals that her human name was Rosalie Katherine Hale, and her subsequent tale of how she was turned into a mermaid confirms that she is the daughter of Rosalie's younger brother, who named his daughter after his lost sister.
