Sea of the Forsaken

Chapter 39 - Judgment

Chapter 39

Judgment

She knew this feeling all too well. She hadn't felt this since she came in contact with Cyrano. Next thing she saw was that she was up on the surface swimming in the open waters. She quickly looked around to see where the vision is taking place, but freaked out when a large, wooden, ship was coming straight towards her. She dodged quickly looking up at the sails and the sailors on board. "Sire, you must come see this." A crew member called out. A man later came to the edge of the ship asking what the trouble was but then set his eyes on the three mermaids swimming among one another. The ship slowed down and the three mermaids noticed they were being watched. He then spoke up in his native tongue but Amelia could understand.

"Are you in danger?" he bellowed. The mermaids looked at him bewildered at what he was saying and conversed to one another asking if they knew what he said. The crew overheard them speaking in a somewhat familiar tongue. "Sire, I think they speak Latin." Another crew member whispered this to his superior. He nodded in acknowledgment. He cleared his throat and spoke in Latin once more, "Do you need assistance?"

"He knows our tongue!" "What do we do? Do we go under?" The mermaids spoke in hushed tones wondering what their next move should be? "We mean you no harm." As he spoke to them, Amelia noticed one of the mermaids looked familiar. She was the palest out of the other two mermaids she was with. She had black hair that was tied up. Amelia then focused her attention to the mermaid as she convinced the other two that they should see what he had to offer.

After conversing with the men on the ship for some time, the three maidens agreed to go up to the ship deck. The crew stared blankly at their tails not believing their own eyes. The man ordered to bring some sheets for the maidens to cover themselves.

"What are your names?" The man asked. "I am Oria." The mermaid said with darker tanned skin with brunette hair. "I am Brigitte," Another mermaid said. She had lighter skin than Oria and had black hair just like the other mermaid. The last mermaid did not speak a word. "And what is your name, fair one?" The man asked. She spoke nonchalantly, "Astryd. And what is yours?"

"My name is Christopher Columbus. I am scouting for precious commodities in the far lands, but my expedition came short with some unexpected findings. I'm heading back to Spain to report back to their Royal Highnesses Ferdinand and Isabella on my findings." The man introduced himself.

"What is this Spain like?" Oria asked inquisitively filled with curiosity. "Spain? Spain is a country off the shores of the Atlantic way far out from where we are." "But I thought we are in the Atlantic?" Brigitte spoke up questioning his knowledge. "Oh, we are, but you see, this is only part of the Atlantic Ocean. See all this right here?" Columbus said circling the waters of the map he held. "That is all the Atlantic. We are here, and I came from all the way over there in Barcelona." He said explaining. The mermaids awed in amazement. "What will happen to us? What will you do to us?" Astryd asked. "I suppose we'll find some way..." Before he uttered another word, the maidens' tails started to change into two legs just like the rest of the crew. "My God..." "What is this?! What is happening? Are we dying?!" The mermaidens cried out. Columbus collected himself and kneeled down to calm the maidens. "You're not dying. It looks like you have legs just like us."

"Legs?" Brigette asked. "Legs. Legs are used to walk, run, jump, and do whatever you want with them." Columbus got up acting on the words he used to show what he meant. The crew laughed amongst themselves as they thought their captain was being silly. The maidens laughed at him. His eyes were set on Oria's while she was still giggling. "How do we use these legs?" Oria asked.