Death at Sea

First Meeting

The attack was going well, i think, that is until i saw the old man get drowned. A Merrow, a mermaid meant to collect souls of men, had an old man in her arms, 100 feet below the surface. He didnt move at all. Soon, she let go of him, and let him sink to the depths below, a blue orb in her hands. She smiled and put it in her armor. A splash hit the surface above me.

A man, only in shorts, swam around briefly, obviously searching for something. He went back up for air before coming back down, his eyes squinting to see in the darkness. Shrieks of joy hit my ears, and Sirens raced towards him, one of them grabbed his ankle and yanked him down. Several more followed, and dragged him even further down. His eyes were frantic, he didn’t even fight. They locked with mine, although I know he couldn’t actually see me. My body snapped, and raced after them, without my mind wanting to. I let out a shriek and swam faster than I ever thought I could. I tore off the mermaids clawing at him, and brought him up to the surface.

“Come on, breathe!” I cried as I tried to keep his head out of the water. “I wont let you die on me.” I saw a beach that looked as if no one ever went there, and it looked out of eyesight for any direction. “Please breathe,” I whispered as I hoisted him onto the sand. “please, just open your eyes or something. If you die, I don’t know what I will do.” I don’t know what was wrong with me. I have never acted like this before, especially not around any men. What does this mean? Could this mean… No. I refuse to think about it.

As soon as my entire body is out of the water, I feel a pain like no other in my tail. I feel as if my body is being ripped apart like a octopus tearing apart its meal. I cried out, my handing digging into the sand. Tears streamed down my face, my entire body screamed with the pain. What is happening?  I managed to look at my tail and nearly lost it. There was blood everywhere, and scales littered the beach. My fins drooped lifelessly, losing their color. It was too much, How could I lose my tail? I never did anything wrong, never defied the gods, never disobeyed my mother, I didn’t do anything.

**

When I came to, sunlight blinded me, the sand hot around me. I groaned, my body hurting like nothing ive ever felt. “Dear gods, what happened?”

“You’re asking the wrong person.”

I sat up instantly, my hand reaching towards the dagger that was on my waist. When I couldn’t find it, I simply hissed at the man who was squatting over a fire.

“Oh come on, relax. I didn’t do anything. I swear, well besides taking away the knife that would have killed you.” He stood, and I couldn’t help but look at him. He was tall, taller than most mermen I knew, and his features were much, much sharper. His dark eyes squinted at me, probably because of how bright the sun was. His curly blonde hair was curious, seeing as curls don’t usually last underwater. If I was a silly girl, I would have definitely taken note of his strong arms and his bare chest. But im not, so I tried my hardest not to look down any further.

“I swear, I just found you like this, I didn’t do anything.”

I found my voice, “Do what, exactly?”

He pointed at what used to be my tail.

Instead of my glorious tail, I had two human legs, all of which had remains of dried blood on them. A few scales remained, but it didn’t help. Something snapped, and tears streamed down my face. “What… Happened… to… me?”

“I don’t know, I found you like this when I woke up this morning.” He came over to me, and extended his hand. “Im Tobias, who are you?”

“M..Meri.”

“Meri? I like it. C’mon, let me help you up. Your parents are probably worried sick about you.” He tried to help me up, only to have me fall on my face. He laughed, then closed his mouth. “I apologize, there isn’t any reason for me to laugh at a lady, even if she’s… Nevermind.”

“Its fine. I just don’t know how to walk is all.” I struggled to my—what do the humans call them?—knees. “just help me to the water, and you’ll never have to see me again.”

“No! You aren’t ok, there is blood all over, You’re… naked. There must be something wrong. Who knows why you’re over here. Who knows what the Merfolk have done to you. We need—“

“No! Just help me to the water!” I tried to take a step, and I collapsed.

“Holy crap, just stop already, will you?” I felt hands grab my sides, and I was in the air. The next thing I know, im being carried like a bride up the beach towards the cliffs. My whole entire body relaxed for some strange reason. “I’ve never met a girl more stubborn!”

“Just let me go, and forget about it! Put me in the water and it will be like nothing happened!” My body didn’t respond to anything my brain wanted it to do. Crab cakes.