Daughter of the Tide

Mother, Dearest

 A siren's song is made from the tears

of heartbroken lovers.

That is why the lustful and the wicked

are drawn to her call. 

Her voice echoes the pain and the sadness

that their blackened souls yearn for.

— Mermaid Phantom

~~~

"Hello Francis," she replied, looking past me towards him. He was quick to place himself next to me, taking the door from my hand.

"What're you doing here?"

"You know what I'm doing here," she answered, her eyes shifting back over to me. I suddenly felt very uncomfortable and I looked at my dad.

"Rina, why don't you—"

"I'll go sit in my room," I nodded, resting my hand on his shoulder before turning away. I could feel her gaze on my back as I tried not to walk too quickly back to my room. I made it around the hallway and pressed my back against the wall.

"Are you going to invite me in?" My mother's voice spoke.

"You're not taking my daughter away," he stated. I heard the door shut and for a moment, I thought that he'd shut the door in her face.

"She's our daughter, Francis," she replied, "I believe that she deserves a chance to get to know the other world she belongs in."

"She belongs here with her best friend and me," my father argued, "you abandoned her along the shoreline and only checked in once." I hadn't known that she'd checked in at all.

"You can't keep her from me forever, she's just as much my daughter as she is yours," she told him. "I had to go through the pain of a human birth, I have a right to at least speak to her."

"Yes, you may have been there for her birth, but you weren't here for her after that. You didn't even show up to visit her or be a part of her life. You don't know anything about her," my father stated.

"I want to get to know her," she said. I closed my eyes at the sound of her voice. For some reason, I couldn't find a reason to pity her.

"I'm not in the dark about what's going on in your world," my father added, "you need her and that's the only reason you're even here."

"You can't keep her here forever, Francis," she argued, "she's more of a mermaid than you want to admit."

"Mira, I'm sorry but my answer is no," he snapped. I opened my eyes in shock at his tone, having never heard it like that before. There was a moment of silence and I leaned closer to the doorframe.

"There was a time when you wouldn't even dream of saying no to me..." she sighed, "but I guess not even that could last."

"I loved you, Mira," my father added, "I gave you my entire heart and you stayed long enough to play the game before you left."

"You knew it wasn't easy for me to be on land," she shot back.

"And you know it's not easy for me to let my daughter go. I'm not letting you take her," he said again. "She's safe on land with her legs and not knowing about you or her other half." A light chuckle rose into the air and she hummed to herself.