Siren

XIV. crab

Hands covering her wound, she gasped in pain as she doubled over. Her attacker stood watching in surprise. The dagger in his hand seemed to suck the life out of her as turquoise shadows seeped out of her wound and into the sharp metal. Eric's eyes widened, looking at the dagger before rage and horror embraced his heart.

"What did you do?!" He lunged at the pirate captain with every intent to rid the world of Hector Faucon once and for all, oaths and honour be damned. Another lower ranked pirate held him back, preventing the admiral from hurting his captain as the nymph wheezed on the ground. Numerous pirates walked into the light, watching the girl in surprise.

Eric tried to shake off the man's grip to get to his friend who had fallen to her knees with a loud cry, only he could not.

"Calm down, Eric." He heard a familiar voice he had not expected to hear in their current situation. He turned to see his aunt in all her glory, coming out of the fog. She smiled gently at him, and immediately he was dazzled as soon as he looked her in the eyes, doubting all which he had recently learnt.

His mind forced him to snap his head back to his pained friend, sparing her a look. Clutching her chest as she seemed to change inside out. Her shadowy figure was becoming... Normal. Almost human.

The red at the ends of her hair seemed to rise to the roots as her hair became a servant to gravity once more, falling down to her back. Her pointy joints fixed themselves to look humane again, making her cry louder. Her emerald-hued skin started turning a shade of diamond white, almost reflecting the light from the moon and the torches as the haunting glow of her eyes started flickering.

"What is happening to her?" Eric mumbled weakly in concern.

"She is turning back to her true form." The temporary queen shrugged her shoulder, staring down the wounded girl who glared up at her through her pain. Her body spasmed before she fell on the ground with a loud cry, making Eric try to get to her again. "Calm down, Eric." Vanessa demanded as the pirate still holding him, forced him to look at her.

"She is in pain! What was that dagger?! What did you do to her?!" He shouted, taking the queen by surprise. How is he breaking free?, she thought. Rage and pain filled Eric, looking at his friend's suffering form.

"Look at me, boy!" The aunt hissed. The shock at the humiliating title forced the prince to look in the eyes of the woman. She composed herself as the eye contact remained still. "That dagger was a gift from someone - a woman who knew how to put an end to the siren's monstrousities."

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, body relaxing gradually.

"Oh, she has not told you?" The queen feigned a surprised expression. "Well, I would not be surprised; she lied to you, too." She walked closer to her nephew, stopping in front of him as his struggling against the pirate ceased, trancedly. A bittersweet emotion made its way to the woman's face. "Eric, she lied to you just as she did, many others. Even under the sea she is known to be an abomination. She is a siren that deceives land and underwater creatures alike to gain strength. A castor found her and tried to stop her, but that girl still found a way around the curse. She found a way to use you.

"However, the castor made this dagger - a dark object. If the siren is stabbed with it then, she starts dying." Eric stumbled back, almost breaking out of the trance.

"Dying?" He breathed out in pain.

"She only has three sunsets until she wastes away." The older woman shrugged, preventing a smirk from breaking onto her face.