Chapter Text
Both mermaids lifted half of their bodies out of the water, shivering from the cold night wind. A human ship sailed in the distance, its back to them, heading toward land, so the older mermaid saw no problem in staying there. They continued gazing at the natural satellite and sharing stories when, at some point, a seagull, a friend of Ariel, joined them, starting a game of “guess what’s happening on the ship,” where the two mermaids made guesses about what was occurring inside the huge vessel, and the seagull flew over to find out as much as possible to confirm or deny their hypotheses.
“Both are wrong; apparently, it’s the human prince’s birthday party,” the seagull replied to the girls.
“Damn it,” Ariel grumbled; she had bet on a honeymoon.
“Looks like I’m in the lead,” the older one said softly, who, although she had guessed it was a baptism, had gotten the previous round right when she guessed it was a party.
A good amount of time had passed since they emerged, and as the night wore on, the winds grew colder and stronger, to the point of creating gigantic waves that began to trouble even the two sea beings present there, especially as they were pulled closer to the human construction. The seagull left while it still could, and the two sisters were about to do the same when a huge lightning bolt struck the ship they were still watching. They were close—so close they could see the panic of the evacuation, men shouting and giving orders to release the lifeboats, waves threatening the small boats as they were filled with crew members, flames drawing nearer, and then a sound amidst the smoke, the bark of a poor dog left behind, trapped in the chaos.
“We have to help him,” Ariel insisted. Adhara was about to agree when one of the humans left the safety of the boat and returned to the hellish heat.
“Ariel, down! We’ll help, but cautiously; we can’t put ourselves in danger,” warned the older sister, pulling the redhead down until they were submerged in the dark water.
The human quickly freed the dog and threw it into the sea. The animal began to swim toward the boat on its own, but it was quickly exhausting itself against the force of the waves and sinking. Adhara signaled to her sister, and together they swam beneath the dog, holding its belly and stabilizing it, forcing it upwards until it reached safety. The man who had remained on the deck checking if anyone else needed help was about to jump back into the sea when the ground gave way beneath his feet, trapping him in the wood. The sisters exchanged glances; although that’s what legends told, no mermaid felt good about seeing sailors and other humans drowning, especially since they saw he had a good heart.
“Ariel, and... ARIEL, LISTEN TO ME!” Adhara held the struggling redhead, wanting to go toward the sinking boat. She quickly pondered her options; what she was about to do would go AGAINST her father’s rules, but she knew it was the right thing to do. However, while she could escape relatively unscathed from her father’s fury, her younger sister wouldn’t have the same privilege. “I’ll save him, I swear, but you have to get out of here. The current is too strong for you, and I’ll be faster alone if something goes wrong.”
The younger sister didn’t want to leave, perhaps feeling that Adhara was putting herself in the line of fire for both of them, but when another wave pushed her, she recognized that she couldn’t help her older sister. Her tail wasn’t yet as strong as her sister’s, which had been strengthened by more layers of fins when she entered adulthood. So, she submerged and swam deep enough that the violent sea wouldn’t affect her, hoping that everything would turn out well.
Adhara, on the other hand, swam beneath the flames, carefully dodging parts of the mast that fell heavily into the water as the structure continued to be consumed. When the deck had already sunk, she finally managed to reach the man, who had his leg trapped among broken wood, the water already reaching his waist. Thick, dark smoke filled the compartment, making both their eyes burn and the man’s throat start to irritate. When he saw the mermaid, for a moment, he thought he was hallucinating from the smoke, but when his brain registered the truth, he tried to pull away, but there was nowhere to go and ended up letting out a groan of pain as more splinters dug into his skin.
“Don’t move! I’m going to try to get you out of here, but you need to trust me. The more you resist, the more risk we both run,” warned the princess, who kept a safe distance until she received a nod from the human. Only then did she dare to approach, and forcing the boards aside with the man, she finally managed to free him. She reassessed the situation for the second time that night; the man was free, but she doubted he could reach his crew on his own. His leg was twisted at an odd angle, and uneven splinters had pierced his skin, drawing some trickles of blood. She wasn’t a healer and didn’t understand much about human bodies, but she was sure this wasn’t a good sign. Moreover, fire spread all around, preventing him from simply floating to the lifeboat. Making a risky decision that would certainly get her in trouble, Adhara embraced the trunk of the human, causing him to look at her in confusion.
“Hold your breath as much as you can; I’ll take you to shore,” she ordered, diving as soon as he did.
The return journey was much more difficult, considering that now she carried the weight of the prince (though she didn’t know this) while dodging the burning wood that continued to fall. Leaving the boat behind, she surfaced again for the human to take a new breath and then submerged once more to face the breaker and the waves of the undertow. When they reached the beach, the day was already dawning. The prince sat in the shallows, a bit dizzy from repeatedly depriving himself of oxygen for so long, as well as from the throbbing pain in his leg.
“Are you okay?” he asked his savior. The mermaid looked around and saw that the beach wasn’t far from what appeared to be a human village; she couldn’t risk taking him to a beach with people, but maybe if he yelled for help, he could attract someone’s attention.
For the first time out of mortal danger, the prince could finally pay attention to the mermaid. Her black hair, with some silvery strands, reminded him of the night sky with its silver stars, adorned with a crown of shells and gold. Her face had delicate Latin features, full lips, and vivid blue eyes that seemed to sparkle, just like her tail, which was a soft purple with some reflections of a lighter lilac, as light as the clouds in the dawn sky. She looked like an angel and undoubtedly acted like one by saving him.
“Yes. Thank you so much for saving me; I don’t even know how I could start to thank you,” Eric replied sincerely.
They looked at each other, their gazes lingering as they wondered in their minds whether they should say something and, if so, what?
She knew she should say goodbye, quickly return home to face her consequences with her head held high and dignity intact, but those eyes seemed to plead for her to stay a little longer, the sunlight illuminating the bronze face of the handsome man, leaving her fascinated and slightly embarrassed by the intensity of his gaze.
Eric felt the infernal pain in his injured leg; he knew he needed help as soon as possible, but he also knew that the moment he called another human over, his angel—this beautiful mermaid—would disappear, perhaps forever.
Before they could decide, a net fell over the sea princess, surprising both and breaking the magic of the moment. They were so distracted that they didn’t notice a pair of fishermen approaching over the rocks of the breaker, who were now violently pulling the net where the mermaid was tangled.
“Hohoho, who would’ve thought, Fergus, a mermaid! A real mermaid! We’re going to be rich, buddy,” one of them exclaimed, as big as a wardrobe. They completely ignored the man on the sand, thinking he had already been killed by the mermaid, and even if not, he was just a foolish sailor who had the bad luck of falling for her charms. It wasn’t their problem; no, their problem was figuring out where to sell that creature for the best price and thinking about how to spend the fortune she would bring them.
“Release her now!” the man ordered in a firm voice, straightening as much as he could while still sitting in the sand.
“Oh, what the hell, man, come on... Prince Eric, your highness, forgive this humble servant for lacking in respect,” the man bowed to his sovereign, as did the short one beside him. Eric usually hated all that formal pomp, but in that situation, he was immensely pleased to see that the men in front of him owed him obedience.
“Release the lady, now,” he ordered again.
“But your highness, this creature...” the fisherman tried to argue.
“She saved my life from a shipwreck, so I’d be careful what you say about her,” he threatened in a serious voice, glaring at the men, who visibly swallowed their insults, trembling at the tone of their prince.
“Of course, your highness.” The man finally obeyed the order and let go of the net’s straps. As soon as the movement was complete, the woman tangled there began to free herself.
