Our Fated Tail

Anilena

They left me here to die. Chained to a huge rock, dressed in a thin red dress that flowed around my feet. I had tried to pull off these chains so much, my fingers had started to bleed. The longer I held my breath, the more my lungs burned. Tiny black dots decorated my vision. I was only two or three miles out in a shallow area. Slowly, I watched to blood from my fingers mix with the water. We were in the Atlantic Ocean. Sharks were in these waters!

I curled my fingers into my dress to stop it but it was too late. A bull shark was swimming around about half a mile away and turned towards me. The chains around my ankles restrained me as it moved forward. All I could see were those teeth. Huge, sharp, white teeth ready to sink into my flesh. Then I saw scales. They were and iridescent black, like the feathers on a rooster. I followed the scales up to see skin. Bronze, smooth skin pulled over taunt, slim muscles. The softest looking hair I had ever seen. It was a marvelous shade of ebony with subtle blue highlights.

As I processed this, I realized my lungs had given up and my vision was almost completely black. The creature turned around and I saw the prettiest sea green eyes. Warm calloused hands grabbed my arms as everything faded away.

"How long has she been like this?" I marveled at the high notes in the woman's tone next to me but kept my eyes shut.

"About a day and a half," a gentle, rough voice said.

"I think you need to take her to your father, Eren. He would know what to do with her. You should have left her."

There was a grumble and then someone was picking me up. Immediately, I opened my eyes and screamed. I was being carried by a man fish thing! Then I realized I was still underwater. Two people looked at me. Oh. My. Gosh. I'm being watched by two mermaids. The man who was carrying me gave me a startled look. His skin melded into scales at his waist. The woman, she was beautiful with her long white hair, smooth ivory skin, and dark brown eyes. Her scales blended with the skin at her waist and a small strip of her blue scales wrapped around her chest.

The man loosened his grip on me and moved me upright. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm terrified!" I flinched at the sound of my voice. High alto that rang like bells. Slowly, I looked at my legs. They weren't there! In their place, were very beautiful ivory colored scales. They glittered with different colors as it moved. It made sense why I could breathe underwater and talk. Then it all sunk in. I'm a mermaid. "What did you do to me?"

He looked confused. "I turned you. You were drowning and that shark-"

"You should have let me die!" I screamed viciously. "I was there for a reason! I deserved what happened to me!"

Neither spoke and the man, whom I realized was Eren, started moving with me towards an opening in the room we were in. The "room" was a globe of dark grey coral that had gaps to let in the moonlight. As we exited, the woman sealed the opening with a curtain of seaweed. I looked around us in amazement.

We were in a giant reef. Some parts were a vibrant orange or a dark red. Splotches of a variety of greens and blues were everywhere. But the one one that caught the eye, was the castle. It seemed to float above all of the other structures and stretch high in the blue waters. Eren picked up speed with a flick of his tail and we headed to the castle. Other mermaids looked at us as we passed and bowed their heads. Weirdos.

As we continued moving, I thought about it. About how I got chained to that rock in the first place. All I could think about was how his face was so contorted in pain. I wanted to cry. But he tried to kill me first. I won. Then I got turned into a mermaid. How does this even happen? Mermaids don't exist! And why did Eren save me? He turned me half fish! Can I ever go on land again? Will I ever be able to see my family again? I don't even know how to use my tail, let alone be able to follow rules. What are the rules anyways? All of these thoughts and questions were running through my head so much, that I hadn't noticed we had entered the castle.