The Worlds Between Us

THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER ONE

In the world above, our struggle is erased from history books, left as mere myths to tell to children. The way they exiled us from the land we fell in love with, as if we were creatures taking over "their" world. Pushed into the perilous, unexplored depths that covered our Mother Earth, our eyes felt as if a scalding fire had been placed inside them. Our lungs were drowning in water as we helplessly flailed, begging for mercy. But, they just stared with amusement running through their pupils as my people screamed. Magically, we adapted with hand-crafted special slits on our necks and tails made out of the most vivacious corals of the Great Reefs. My father built our kingdom in honor of our fight to survive using the finest stones of obsidian and jade, but of course the filthy humans scattered their garbage on Earth, which choked us sea dwellers.

I used to think of the Little Mermaid, a tale made by humans to look superior, in soaked hatred. Who would want to be with those monsters up there, the ones that cause our suffering without a care down here?

I plunged through the ocean's surface, quickly flashing my golden tail in hopes that no one saw. The sun was set high in the sky, glimmering light upon the scales. I allowed my body to become wanton, feeling a rush of relief from the temporary leave of the home that was tucked away in the Pacific sea, where the light dies. As I laid there, I failed to realize the winds becoming strong, as sharp as the golden triton tips of Poseidon against my skin. Deafened by the water clogging my pointed ears and blinded by my closed eyelids, I was in pure serendipity, unaware of the terror that lurked ahead.

It happened all at once. The wrap of ropes constricting me like a water serpent, the flexing and thrashing of my body, the tightening choking me like a noose. Salty tears free fall down my face into my love below, the ocean, as I waved goodbye to it before the world around me blurred.

The tortuous rocking seemed to be never ending, leaving the ropes tightly coiled around my body. The struggle to stay conscious was difficult. My body was numb and my tail was rendered useless in the trap encasing me. I cracked my eyelids in an attempt to figure out how to escape. The hideous thing before me noticed my rousing and released a tantalizing laugh from the root of his stomach.

"Can't let my pretty little penny leave." He stroked my dried locks.

I spat a wad right in his lumpy face, reminding me of the barnacles scattered around the kingdom. He was dazed momentarily, and I bared my spinal needle teeth.

"You're going to regret that, fish breath." He sneered, turning to grab something.

Wriggling my body, I ignored the pain and tried to break this treacherous bind, but I was too slow. The brute force slammed against the side of my fragile head. I screamed for I had never experienced someone even daring to touch me. Slowly, I slipped into the abyss of darkness.

*^*^*

Freezing. I thought, wondering if someone flipped off the sun's light switch.

"He's starting to rouse, take notes Charles."

"Look at that tail, it looks as if one scale would be worth millions."

"I can't believe they're real, I thought mermaids were just a myth. Imagine how much this could further our knowledge?"

All the voices hit my sensitive ears at once, making me instinctively writhe. Tubes snaked through the insides of my transparent arms, preventing too much movement. I didn't feel any ropes on me, but the cuts were fresh, and stung with the salt water filling them.

Wait, saltwater, is this the ocean still? I pondered.

My eyes snapped open, revealing my violet irises to the horde of humans before me. I hissed furiously, but their ears lay deaf to my venomous anger, a glass screen dividing us. I tried to swim forward and extracted my claws from my fingernails. It felt as if I had been set ablaze as a current flowed through me. The paralysis spread like a wildfire. I ripped out a cry of pain from within me. They only watched me in awe, writing on objects foreign to me. All except for one, who stared in horror with acute crescent moons for eyes.

Yes. Look at me the way my whole village looks at just the name of your malicious species.

"Charles, I said take notes, he's our new scientific discovery, and my oh my. Have you seen anything more atrociously beautiful?" One of the humans said to him, pushing back the huge circles on the bridge of his nose. Said 'Charles' peered away, showing off the glint of light on straight, jet black hair.

Soon, the crowd dispersed, leaving me with the humongous metal tanks and the pale yellow lights washing the room. I gingerly tugged at my blonde hair of fluff, still barely being able to move. I let it cascade down my back again. The lights flickered off, and only the one suspended above my open tank remained.

"Hi." His gravelly voice rasped, startling me.

He slowly approached the tank and gave me a full gummy smile, displaying his crooked teeth. I looked on in silent disgust.

For I am not the pathetic Ariel, and will never fall for that stupid smile. I thought.

He sat in front of the giant water prison, looking like a dwarf compared to its size.

"Maybe you don't understand English?" His crescents opened slightly in wonder.

I grew angry at this accusation, turning my luminous skin to a reddish hue.

"I am not an imbecile." I lashed.

He smiled again. "I'm sorry, for everything, I wanna help you."

"Stop standing there being useless then and help me." I snapped.

He started to squish his face against the glass of the tank, stretching out his features. It almost made me laugh.

"No one deserves to be treated like a caged animal." Pushing himself off the glass, my seemingly one chance of leaving this Purgatory, left me with words that bit holes into my skin.

A/N: THIS IS MY FIRST TIME WRITING ON HERE. AM I DOING THIS RIGHT?!?>? Anyways, I've been just wanting to put my writing somewhere besides my Google Docs so, hi! Eventually I'll change the cover, and androgynous king Danila Kovalev is Jesse.