Ursula's Beginning

15. You can't get something for nothing, you know

Ursula was staring at an expanse of common brown kelp that Siddikah kept in the rear of her house. The space was heavy with despair and Ursula was desperate to leave it, but the Squid Witch insisted she study it "to learn more about Transformations." This made no sense to the young healer, but Ursula stayed and observed obediently; the sorceress had made her own upcoming Transformation dependent upon it.

"Well, sweet plum, what do you think of my little garden?" Siddikah asked pleasantly as she sidled up to her guest.

At the sound of the witch's voice, the plants began to twitch and writhe. Some trembled and bent themselves away from the source of the sound.

Ursula shuddered. "What are these?" she asked.

"Not what, but who," Siddikah replied.

Puzzled, Ursula inched closer to the garden's edge. She crouched down to study the plants at closer range. "Who are you?" she whispered.

Several broad blades of kelp crumpled and dimpled in response, and Ursula saw faces take shape on their surfaces. They were twisted, agonized faces. The eyes were large and sorrowful, and the mouths displayed permanent screams.

Ursula shot backwards, blanching a paler shade of purple in her terror. "No," she said, clapping her hands over her mouth.

"Oh yes. They were merfolk once. Merfolk that just had to have their way," Siddikah said airily. "Can you hear their moaning?"

Ursula shook her head. "Please, let me leave this space. I've seen enough..."

"Listen!"

And suddenly Ursula could register it—countless low groans overlapping one another. It was one of the most heart-wrenching things she'd ever heard—and she had heard her share of merfolk in pain at the temple, while working on the sick and injured. This was different: there were no clear words, only the sound of hopelessness itself rolling out of the garden in waves.

Siddikah ushered Ursula away. "So?" she prompted cheerfully.

"Is this your way of telling me I will become that if I transform tomorrow?" Ursula's skin remained an ashen purplish-gray.

"No, jewelfish, one doesn't become that for something as small as a temporary Transformation."

Ursula gulped. "What did those merfolk ask for, to end up like that?"

Siddikah sighed. "Each one wanted something different. Typically something big. Usually something unnatural. For example, to fundamentally change who they were permanently." The Squid Witch waved her hands languidly, as if to wipe away her words. "Well...nothing is permanent. So let's say 'long term' instead. Others wanted to appear to never age, or to have powers that their creator did not grant them at birth."

Ursula thought of all the monsters in the Uncivilized Waters, and felt sorry for the lot of them. How could this fate be worth the sharper teeth, the extra tentacles, the faster swimming capabilities?

Siddikah interrupted her reverie. "The saddest cases, of course, are the merfolk that wanted to change in fairly minor ways, but without putting in any effort of their own. Some agreed to end up in the garden in exchange for instant improvements that—with a bit of patience and dedication—they could have achieved entirely on their own in a few months or years."

"You mean all of them agreed from the outset to come a...a...whatever they are?" Ursula asked.

"Every last one. This is the deal they made with me. You can't get something for nothing, you know."

"Yes," Ursula replied slowly. She feared Siddikah could hear her racing heart. "What is the price for tomorrow's change?"

"Oh, you have pre-paid, squidlet. By bringing me information about the royals of Atlantica that I didn't have previously."