Two Tails, One Rotten Heart

A new beginning

Nala followed Cari until the dark hallway lit up by floating balls of light. Nala stared in wonder as the balls whipped this way and that as if they had a mind of their own.

"Are you going to keep up or must I carry you?" Cari said dryly from the end of the hall.

Nala gritted her teeth and forced her tail to move, it was slow and hard work having a tail and she still was not sure how to properly use it but at least she was moving even if it was at the pace of a turtle. They came to the end of a hall which opened up to a wide space. There were no walls here only the open ocean and it hit Nala then, she really was underwater, breathing it in. It took a moment to notice all the people staring at her, all females in a range of different colored, hair, skin, and tails. They seemed to be training some with swords or knives and other had shield strapped to the arms while other were bare handed which seemed strange to Nala. How could you train without a weapon?

Everything stopped as she and Cari crossed the open space and Nala noticed the other buildings a little farther from the training ground. They were low structures that might be rooms for the other and higher structures shapes like swirls. They were amazing and unlike anything Nala had ever seen in town, unlike those ugly square buildings these were colorful and strangely shaped. Nala spotted other swimming above them in groups, some carryings weapons or scrolls and some even...playing with each other? It looked like two girls were chasing each other and mocking one another. One of the girls, a dark skinned girl with bright red hair, looked down and grinned right at Nala. The girl whipped her tail, a dark purple color, and shot right towards them. Nala was amazed that she could move so fast.

"Cari! Since when do you take the time to show the new ones around? Were you that scared of a rematch with me?" The new girl grinned wickedly at Cari but she just huffed.

"Don't get too confident Asherah, this will only delay our fight. I will still be beating you in front of everyone and enjoying the sight of you bowing to me."

The other girl laughed and to Nala's surprise she got her hand behind Cari's neck and yanked her down until their lips meshed together. It was a hard fierce kiss and only lasted a second before Asherah darted away but not before licking Cari's lips once more. Cari shook her head and watched the girl swim away before motioning for Nala to continue following. Nala had never seen two woman kiss, it wasn't something the ladies in town did or was ever mentioned. Woman were expected to marry and then bear children, nothing more. It didn't mean Nala liked these people or wanted to be here but despite her feelings a spark of...curiosity grew in her. She wanted to know more.

Cari led Nala far away from the other buildings until they reached what Nala could only assume was a castle. It seemed to be made of some sort of crystal and huge spires that ended in points rose up from the ground. The entire structure seemed to glow blue reflecting the water and also summoning it like the center of power in the entire ocean rested in the castle. There were guards posted outside but one nod of Cari and they were let through. The inside of the castle was almost as magnificent as the outside, everything shone white, almost blinding you but it was impossible to look away. The pair stopped outside of large double door. The first set of doors Nala had seen since waking up under here.

"I know you are new to this world but you are about to meet the Empress of the Northern seas. Try not to get killed." With that last warning Cari grabbed Nala by the arm threw open the doors and tossed her inside before the doors slammed shut. Nala, still new to moving underwater, could not control her tail correctly and sprawled on the ground.

After a small beat she pulled herself up though to her humiliation it took a couple of tries before she was able to use her tail to stand up straight. She came face to face with Cari. Or at least the woman looked like Cari, maybe she was her twin the way Ula was to Nala. But no, Cari was outside she had thrown Nala in here to face the Empress. The woman sat on a throne, spikes coming out of the top and sides of it, spikes that shot out and retracted at random intervals and vaguely Nala wondered if she would be impaled on one of those if she failed to impress. The woman had Cari's same pale hair although hers was long and full of curls with a crown of sea stars pushing the hair from her face. She had no fabric covering her full breasts and Nala couldn't help the blush that spread across her face so she quickly looked down towards the woman's tail. It was a dark green color almost emerald and instead of one tail she had two, halfway down her tail split so she had four sets of fins and a long needle nestled in between.

"Unimpressive." It was one word but seemed to echo in the silent room the woman's eyes, as pale as ice, stared right through Nala's soul.

"So sorry I didn't have time to learn proper etiquette when facing my kidnapper. Shall I come back?" The words lashed out of Nala's mouth before she could rein them in and she prepared to die. Again.

The woman raised one eyebrow, "Kidnapper? Would you have preferred I leave you to drown?"

Nala didn't say a word because she didn't know what to say. The woman sighed before slipping off the throne. "Are you and Cari sisters?" Nala finally blurted out.

"No, she is my daughter." Nala blinked in surprise, it didn't seem possible. She had no ideas these creatures could have children, she hadn't seen any men around and they looked too much alike. Cari had almost the exact same face, neither one looking much older than Nala herself. The woman swam in slow circles around Nala, her eyes watching every movement Nala made.

"You are very rude. The color of your tail matches your fiery temper. A temper that could very well lead to disaster. You also don't seem to want to be here, even though you called us, have no idea how to use your strengths correctly. You might be more trouble than worth." Nala took all the insults without snapping back though if she grinded her teeth any harder she might break them. Strengths? What strengths? You made me beautiful and useless.

"You are dismissed. Cari will fill you in on everything you need to know to survive here though whether you actually do survive and make something of yourself is up to you," she started to swim back towards the throne, "oh and next time we meet I expect you to address me by my proper title, Empress Aphrodite, instead of kidnapper."

"And if I don't?" Nala paused waiting for an answer and the empress stopped before slowly sitting down. They both knew what Nala was really asking.

If I don't make myself useful

If I don't behave

What will you do then?

"Do you truly need me to answer?" the question was soft but not weak and no. Nala did not need her to answer because she already knew the answer. Aphrodite had brought Nala into this new world and the only way she would be leaving was as a corpse.