The ocean was on fire. An emerald tail sliced through the dark waves, which sloshed sprinklers of wood deeper into the water. Thunder rumbled throughout the cloudy sky. The mermaid, Venus, stuck her head out of the choppy waves accessing the waters.
Orange flames devoured the remains of a ship. Two rowboats fled from the scene, panicked shouts echoed from the frantic crew. Barrels of wine, charred fabrics of once creamy sails, frayed ropes, and burnt corpses dotted the water. Venus ducked behind one of the barrels, she had no desire to attract the attention of the humans.
All mermaids knew shipwrecks, no matter how gruesome, held treasures. And all mermaids loved treasure. It was in their blood. It was why Queen Alessandra covered her palace in jewels. If a mermaid spotted a shimmery shell in the sand, she'd hurry to pick it up and fashion it into a necklace. And ships, especially ones of this size held the most treasures. Candlesticks, jewelry boxes, silverware.
A strike of lightning illuminated a diamond necklace around the throat of one of their bloated bodies floating near Venus. For a split second, she thought about ripping it off of the woman's neck. She quickly scolded herself for the thought. Only a soulless siren would do that.
A shrill sound pulled Venus's focus from the necklace. A scream. Though, it was unlike the other screams that echoed throughout the shipwreck. Venus knew this sound well.
It was a child's cry for its mother.
Venus's baby, Adri, made the same cry whenever Venus was called upon by Alessandra. Her motherly instinct swallowed her, Venus swam quickly in the direction of the cry. A wicker basket bounced in the water. Nearby waves threatened to pull the baby under. Venus reached into the basket, using her tail to lean onto her back. She balanced the crying baby onto her chest.
"There, there, little one," Venus cooed softly. She put the baby's damp chocolate brown curls. A tiny hand instantly fastened around Venus's finger causing her to softly laugh. "Where is your mother?"
Venus's gray eyes flickered towards the row boats, then to the humans in the water. Surely the mother or father would have heard their own baby's cries. They wouldn't have left her. Venus bit her lip and pulled the baby closer to her.
She couldn't leave her.
Venus summoned the energy brewing deep inside her. Mermaids had small gifts that they could use to aid humans. With a twist of her wrist, an air bubble surrounded the baby. Venus guided to bubble to the depths of the ocean. Once they finally reached the sandy surface, Venus led the bubble to the mermaid queen's castle.
Venus had known the mermaid queen, Alessandra, her whole life. They had grown up together. They were the closest of friends. Venus was confident Alessandra's powers could somehow help the child, after all the queen was the most powerful mermaid in the ocean.
"Alessandra," Venus called out. Some of the castle staff looked at her skeptically for her informal manners.
Queen Alessansara poked her head out into the hall, her pinky curls swaying around in the water. "Venus? What's the matter at this time at night? Is Adri alright?" The head mermaid hastily flapped her golden tail to reach Venus. Her eyes dropped down to the baby in the bubble. "Whatever is this?"
Venus smiled innocently. "I believe you mean 'who is this.'"
"Don't play games with me, Venus–"
"Aless, there was a horrible shipwreck from the storm. Everything was up in flames. And the baby– oh this poor baby– she was all alone. I couldn't leave her for the ocean. She wouldn't survive. So I figured–"
"You figured I could help." Queen Alessandra sighed.
She took Venus's hand in her own and led her to her study. The queen studied the baby girl who now lay asleep, unaware of the odd predicament she was in.
"I'm not sure I can do anything, Venus, dear." Queen Alessandra said looking around her potion shelf. "I can't transform her from a human into a mermaid, not without the missing trident necklace."
Venus watched as her friend gingerly pushed aside vials and tokens. Her eyes next fell to the baby. Heat rose in her chest. Her mind flashed to the moment earlier when the girl grabbed her hand.
Venus reached out to a book that sat on the table. She scanned the pages, hoping to find anything. "There must be something. It is the responsibility of merfolk to protect humans when they are in the ocean."
Alessandra's heart squeezed at the sight of the human girl. It was this responsibility. Whether they knew it or not. No one took the job as seriously as Venus, who used to go searching for humans to save.
"Hold on," the queen smiled, realization striking her. She swam over to the shelf and pulled something out of a box. "This should do it."
In the queen's hand sat a tulip shell on a brown string. Venus's raised an eyebrow in confusion. "If the baby puts on this necklace, which is enchanted by mermaid magic, she'll be able to breathe underwater. I remember reading about it when I was training. Many queens past would use it to help save humans stranded far from their boats, a reassurance of their safety. Tides have pushed the tulip shells out of the mermaid kingdom, so they're very rare. This the last enchanted shell."
Venus delicately took the necklace. She dissolved the bubble and strung it around the baby's neck. She let out her breath, relieved at the sight of the baby's chest rise and fall. Venus and Queen Alessandra cheered, and Venus hugged the baby to her chest. "It's perfect, she's perfect."
"I assume you'll arrange someone to take care of her," Alessandra said to her friend.
"I know exactly where she'll go," Venus smiled.
Venus's cave wasn't far from the castle. She perched on the edge of Adri's sponge bed, a wrapped blanket concerning her surprise. She stroked her daughter's hair, soothingly waking her. Adri's pink tale curled up and stretched and she smiled at the sight of her mother. Venus swept her into her arms and planted a kiss on Adri's golden hair. "I have a surprise, my dear," Venus whispered.
Adri was only a few months older than the baby, but her gray eyes widened at the sight of the creature. She sat in awe at the little baby toes that peeked out from the baby's cotton dress. Adri laughed and kicked her tailed. The baby, now awake, followed suit and kicked her feet playfully, causing both of the young girls, one human, and one mermaid, to share a childish laugh.
"This is your new sister, Cora."
Welcome to the second book of the Unfamiliar Fairytale series! I'm so glad you're here, thank you for reading.
If you're unfamiliar with my books, no worries.
The Unfamiliar Fairtyales series is a series of fairytale retellings. I recently finished Golden: A Retelling of Rumplestilskin so I'd love for you to check out that story in my profile. The books in the series are all stand-alone, they just exist in the same universe (aka the continent from the previous page). You won't be confused if you don't read Golden, but I'd still appreciate it lol
I'll try to update Legendary as soon as I can, I have it all outlined, but my life is very busy with school at the moment.
Once again, thank you for reading, it means so much to me! Stay tuned
xoxo Canary
YOU ARE READING
Legendary: A Retelling of The Little Mermaid
Fantasy✴UNFAMILIAR FAIRYTALE 2✴ Cora has always been caught between two worlds. The ocean and land. Life isn't easy for a human who was raised by mermaids. Her legs divide her from the merfolk, but she's never walked on the sand of human land. A mission f...
