the dark tunnel, tiny specs glow in the rounded walls, illuminating my path just enough that I can see. If it weren't for the faint little light creeping in from a crack in the rock above, the tiny glowing specs would be disorienting, like tiny moving stars. Neon pinks and yellows oscillate ever so slightly as I pass by. Small fish swim past, but the darkness reveals nothing more than movement of tiny fins. The fear loosens its grip in my chest as the tunnel brightens and widens out, like the reverse of a funnel. I pick up speed, working my tail against the water to drive me further in, towards the light.
When the passage takes me higher, more and more light filters in and almost immediately I can feel change in the water here. Less salt, more warmth. I spill out into a pool of warm light and I nearly cry out as I see the canopy of my willow appear beyond the water, her trunk dancing in the ripples. The pool is thick with sea grass and vegetation near the bottom, creeping up around the edges. My willow’s so much more beautiful than I ever noticed from above, reminding me that perspective is everything. I feel like I'm seeing this place with a new set of eyes. An entire ecosystem was living right below me all of this time without ever realizing it.
I break the surface of the pool and breathe in the fresh forest air.
"Hello, Willow," I greet her as I push myself onto the small bank of sea grass. I feel like it's been ages since I was last here, lounging in the crook of her arm. My entire world has been turned upside down since then. I may not be able to climb your limbs, but I'm still me. I'm not sure if the comment is more to assure myself or the tree. In response, the willow's vines sweep around my shoulders, caressing my body. The feather-light breeze sends goosebumps up my spine. I can hear a faint melody carry on the wind, like a song whispered on a single breath. The air around me suddenly feels charged. Electric.
A powerful presence is here.
I sense movement in the water before I hear it. The light splash of water parting way for something. Or someone. I shimmy back into the pool as quickly as I can while scanning the perimeters, my eyes just above the surface. Not that my hiding will do any good. Whoever is here has either already spotted me or will see me idling in the clear pool soon enough. The only reason I risked coming here was because this part of the forest is always empty of visitors due to the proximity to the palace grounds. No one wanting to be caught trespassing on royal grounds by mistake.
A strange female appears from the other end of the pool, pale and beautiful.
"You have nothing to fear from me." Her voice is almost ethereal. Like tiny bells chiming through a gust of wind. She approaches me slowly with the sun beaming off of her, creating a soft golden glow. “I know who you are.”
Her porcelain skin is as pale as the moon and her eyes are an ice blue so pale that they’re nearly colorless. The faintest hint of pink graces her lips and cheeks. She looks like she just dropped down from heaven with her pale yellow hair braided in a crown atop her head. She continues to move closer until she is mere feet away. Her generous lashes are the length of spider legs, fluttering as drops of water fall from the tips. An obvious reaction to this stranger should be fear, but I can’t but feel anything but awe. This female is absolutely breathtaking in an unfamiliar way. With my guard down, I dare to move closer. My self-preservation clearly needs a priority check as of late.
The female is draped in jewels of gold and pearl and gems. Her braided crown sparkles, as well as her pointed ears and neck. Beads of pearls and boldly colored gems adorn her chest, layered like amour. Finally, I find my voice again after taking her in, "A pleasure to meet you . . . ?" I wait for her to supply me with a name.
In answer, she rises from the pool, water pushing her higher, like a fountain, defying gravity and revealing the rest of her scaled body. Unlike the other merfolk I've encountered, this creature is covered in scales starting just below her necklaces. Rather than a single tail ending in a fluttering fin, this sea maiden has two tails that branch off at thigh level. The scales that make up most of her body are pale blue, almost iridescent, capturing the light and turning it into magic.
"Most refer to me as the Lady of the Lake, but I prefer my given name, Alana."
The rush of water burbles behind her voice as it settles her back down into the pool. Something tells me this one has an affinity for the theatrics.
"And you are Princess Cealene, of course. Heiress to Aqualasia and the key to breaking our curse, if Calypso is to be believed." She knows Calypso? I want to ask her how but skepticism laces her words when she says the last part. It’s clear she’s suspicious about the prophecy Calypso claims to have seen. I don't comment on my own doubts about breaking this never-ending curse.
"You don't believe the prophecy?" The words leave my mouth before I can even be sure I want the answer. The tightness in her jaw tells me tension surrounds the topic. But what makes her so skeptical of Calypso? Is she known for being unreliable? Or do these two have a tangled past?
"That has yet to be determined. I am reluctant to believe most things these days." Her tails spin and flutter beneath her as she glides around the pool, almost as if they have a mind of their own, swimming and moving through the water, as the top half of her is engaging in something entirely different. I wait for her to continue, learning that the less I say, the more information I receive when it comes to creatures of the sea.
"Before I was chained to this small, misplaced piece of the ocean, I lived freely in the sea just as the others. Until I was summoned to the land by the king himself. He required my services to create an enchanted sword for him from the sea to defeat his enemies. You see, not many mermaids can do what I can. So he sought me out, hearing the tales of my magic.
"I was as surprised as any to discover my love for him ran deeper than any ocean. I begged and pleaded for the merfolk to let me live on land with the king, as I was bound to serve the sea by duty. But since the Sea Wars, they couldn't understand how I could have any affection for a human. It was a rarity for the king to even reach out to our kind after the blood had settled from the Sea Wars. I saw his request as an opportunity to create a connection, but my sisters did not. They took my feelings for the king as betrayal of our kind and cursed me with these tails to mock my desire for permanent legs and exiling me to this small pond so that I may never live on land nor in the ocean." Her eyes glisten with unshed tears. "Sometimes I wonder who holds the prize for the cruelest of beings."
My throat tightens with emotion feeling the pain from her story. What a cruel thing to do to a mermaid. What a hurtful way to mock someone’s dreams. I watch as the sorrow spreads from her eyes to her entire face and curse myself for feeling any gravitation towards the fisherman. Another mermaid who fell in love with a human. Another life ruined from loving the wrong species.
It occurs to me that Alana has been here for quite some time . . . yet I have never noticed her during all of my visits to the willow. "I've never seen you here before."
"Oh, but I've seen you. Many times. I've watched you grow over the years as you've visited this part of the forest. Always so eager to run away from the palace."
How could I have never noticed such a presence in what I’d always considered my part of the island? She answers me like she can hear my thoughts. "You never saw me because I didn't want to be seen." Her sorrow-filled eyes turn cold and hard. "I choose to stay in the shadows of life now. It's easier this way. Simpler. When you've been turned into a mockery of a creature, there is really no place in the world for you. Not that I have much of a choice now.
"And if I'm truly being honest, between you and me, I'm not quite sure what would happen if I unleashed my fury onto the merfolk for what they've done. Burn me once, I turn to ash. Burn me twice, I will rise in flame."
Something dark simmers beneath her ice blue eyes. Such darkness in contrast to all of that light, ethereal grace. The chills return to my skin. I look at the pool and, as lovely as it is with its vibrant colors and mystical atmosphere, to be trapped in such a small space for the rest of your days, is torture. I would know. There were days where the walls of the castle threatened to crush me. My advisor who planned my daily lessons and meetings constantly breathing down my neck, demanding more of me, critiquing my every move and every word. That need to be free, to get out was almost unbearable. Those are the days that I would end up here. Under the willow, where the breeze flows as free as the vines of the tree.
My paradise in the forest was a beautiful prison to her. The exact opposite of what it means to me. A sea creature versus a land creature. Two completely different worlds, colliding in one place.
Although we might have opposing views on this place, we yearn for the same thing. We understand the suffocating feeling of being trapped within the walls that someone else built for us. Alana and I may come from different worlds, but in this I know her sorrow. I feel her anguish intimately.
I look to the Lady of the Lake and see her despair beneath her jewels and glow. Her own people made a mockery of her. For the merpeople to do such a thing to their own kind is quite telling for how much the Sea Wars must have wreaked havoc on everyone, even after it was over. I didn’t need to experience war to know it had a lasting impression.
"I'm so sorry for what they've done to you." My apology sticks in my throat, like I've swallowed too much at once. Her long lashes flutter closed as she bows her head in appreciation.
"Don't ever forget that even roses have thorns." With that she turns away from me and sinks down under the surface as a cold wind sweeps through the pond. I swim towards the tunnel that leads back out to the ocean and leave the Lady of the Lake in peace but turn towards my willow one last time.
I will see you again, old friend. I nod toward the willow’s trunk before diving deep into the crystal pool to find the tunnel hidden below.
When I reach the ocean, I try to swim off the eerie feeling I was left with after meeting the Lady of the Lake. Like the water surrounding me was filled with a heaviness, clinging to my scales and pulling me down. I swim through the kelp forest and find myself in a narrow strip of mangroves outcropping the western sea, their roots like spider legs digging into the sea floor. Wildlife rush throughout the maze of roots, creating a flurry of motion as I pass.
I wonder about the power of the merfolk and how foolish I would be if I wholeheartedly trusted them with my life. I think back to the few mermaids and males that I've met thus far and couldn't detect any ill will from them. They all seem to present themselves with none of the hidden agendas that I’m used to encountering on land. Calypso is much too complex a creature to truly get a read on, but then I remember the aquamarine gem anchored into my ear and think about her words. Mermaids were born to live wild and free. She wanted only that—a simple life of freedom . . . and love. Plus, she’s family. That has to count for something. I am her descendant and the one who can bring fertility back to her people. There has to be enough value in that to keep me relatively safe for now. At least safe enough not to end up like Alana.
As strange as our meeting was, I feel a deep connection to her, to her story. Maybe, under different circumstances we could be friends. She could probably use a friend, despite her wanting to hide what she’s become. Even in this different form, she is still beautiful.
Alana’s final comment snags in my mind, bringing question to the curse breaking. Even roses have thorns. Was she alluding to merpeople as a whole or Calypso specifically? My mind hovers over my great grandmother and how she hasn’t told me how to break this curse. Something tells me it’s because it is a lot more complicated that she wants to admit. I have to imagine that for a witch to place such a curse on an entire species, it can’t be simple to break. I shudder at the thought of what breaking the curse could entail. The notion that snags in my mind is that the price could be my life. Am I willing to pay it?
As the sun begins to set, a shadow casts along the mangrove trunks, alerting me of the time. I need to head back. When I make my way through the caves back to the pod, I see the male from earlier who anchored the gem to my ear with another male. His copper colored hair flows through the water as he moves. Robin egg blue scales shimmer in contrast to the deep maroon tail of Okiro’s. They swim together in tandem; their bodies move freely in the water and their fins follow their pattern, extending their movements like a graceful trail. Their fluidity is enticing, like a dance between two lovers, and I wonder if they are. Trying not to stare as I pass them by, I remember what Calypso said about our kind mostly keeping to themselves.
Anxious to meet with Calypso and hear about her discoveries on how to break this curse, I search the caves above and below for her onyx tail. Before I get very far, I feel a webbed hand tug at my arm, pulling my body through the water. Not hard, but enough to startle me. Without even thinking, I bare my teeth and turn to face whoever has a hold of me. Immediately I calm when I see one of Calypso's right-hand sea maidens stare back at me with amusement, as if I could ever take her on. Her hair is black as night, billowing around her petite face. She nods for me to follow, the same way Calypso did the night we first met. I follow her amethyst tail as it gleams through the tunnel, catching light where it can. The color is so saturated and bold, I can make out the vibrancy even in the darkness of the ocean at dusk.
We swim up when we hit an open cave and I can already see the pink glow from the unusual sea life, lighting up the room. We glide onto the stone surface crusted with algae and crystallized salt. Calypso sits in a pool of seawater that dips in the cave floor, like a natural divot was carved out from years and years of the rushing water wearing away at the rock. A tiny waterfall trickles behind her, filling and spilling over the pool, making the cave wall glisten. Her onyx tail curls around her like a snake. Two other mermaids accompany her in smaller water pools as we approach. Each one lovelier than the next.
"I'm Marina, by the way. Nice to make your acquaintance, curse breaker." My stomach drops as the purple-tailed mermaid addresses me. The weight of this expectation is starting to become quite heavy.
"Cealene," I introduce myself, already knowing she knows exactly who I am. It seems everybody does.
"Cealene, my dear, how did the waters treat you today?" Calypso asks in that honey-coated voice. Marina glides on her belly under the trickling waterfall, arching her back and letting it shower her black locks down her spine.
"Quite well. I don't think I could ever get enough of it." I mean every word. The ocean is a beautiful beast with wonders at every corner. But I don't wish to delve into my love for the sea right now. I want to know what is required of me to break this damn curse. Because I have a feeling it might be more than I'm willing to give.
"I'm anxious to hear what you've discovered today." It takes everything in me to ask this without sounding as frightened as I feel, pushing the subject to someone who seemingly never does anything she doesn't want to.
"So eager, my dear. Come, sit. Lyla's bringing us her famous clam medley." I bite my tongue as I swim through the shallow water and prop myself up on a ledge, letting the water trickle over my tail. Sure enough, a copper-haired mermaid who must be Lyla appears carrying a large clamshell filled with various colors of white and pink meats, careful to keep it above water. Sea greens garnish the edges and it almost looks like something that would be served at the palace. For a moment, my heart tugs at the memory of my home, of Chef sneaking me morsels of the day's meal when I chassé through the kitchens.
She places the shell on the stone surface before hoisting herself onto the platform. She slaps her silvery tail onto the surface and waits for Calypso to take the first piece. Not sure if this is out of respect for Calypso, who is clearly the leader of this pod, or if it is a sacred rule of the merpeople. I wait to see how sharing a meal among this species unfolds. Without hesitation, Calypso stabs a piece of meat with her taloned nail and the rest follow suit in a relaxed and civilized manner. I grab a piece of my own but can barely wait a moment longer for Calypso to spill the information I so desperately crave.
"Lyla, you've outdone yourself yet again," Marina says between bites. Her canines sharp as knives.
"The lagoon always has the best pick of shellfish this time of year," Lyla counters, modestly. The tight curls of her hair spring up as they begin to dry. She looks strikingly similar to the copper haired male that was with Okiro earlier. I wonder if they’re siblings.
“How do you prepare it?” I ask, hoping my question doesn’t sound rude.
“A magician never tells her secrets.” Lyla eyes me playfully before serving herself onto a small open-faced shell. “If you’re asking where we make all of our meals, there’s a ledge behind the draped vines over there where we keep our tools and dried herbs. They call it Lyla’s Ledge, but truly anyone is free to use it.”
Before I can thank her for the meal, Calypso grabs my attention. "Sweet descendant of mine, today I had my sea sisters visit an old friend of ours to confirm a few details on how to reverse this spell. As you can probably imagine, it has been years since we discovered how, exactly, to break the curse. If and when the time came around, we wanted to be prepared.
"As suspected, the ring of the Dark Witch who cursed us is required for this to work. Fortunately for us, she died years ago. Unfortunately, she was buried on the Island of Bones. The ring was buried along with her body."
Never hearing of such a place, I can only assume it is some sort of resting place for the dead. Witches don’t typically frequent our islands, preferring life in the mountains of larger lands, but they’ve visited the islands in the past on occasion. Personally, I’ve never met one, having never left Aqualasia before. But after meeting this pod, I wouldn’t mind coming across a witch, if they weren’t as threatening as they seem.
"The Island of Bones is a tricky place to get to by ship or by fin. For us, we will need to wait until high tide before the storm hits in two days’ time, so we can reach the center of the island without getting our tails shredded by the viper vines. They have thorns so sharp, they'll tear you to ribbons if you aren't careful." Her brows raise in a knowing way, as if to warn me of the risk. If she’s trying to instill fear, it’s working. I can’t help but feel out of my element here, still so new to this life. Despite my connection to the sea, I still have a lot to learn.
"No creature ever escapes their hooked claws. Once you're in, you never get out," Marina comments, now lying on her back under the waterfall, swaying her tail through the flowing stream. I note the trail of aquamarine stones lining her left ear and wonder about the story that each hold. I’ve come to associate one’s character with how many stones adorn their ears, knowing how rare and sacred they are to our kind. Most don’t have any at all, their ears bejeweled with other treasures of the sea: pearls, shells, sea glass, various stones, and my favorite, a fishing hook. Merfolk can be quite ironic it seems.
"Can't you cut through the vines? So you don't need to enter during a storm?" My voice quivers with uncertainty, knowing I must be missing something.
"The vines were designed to protect. So not only are they very strong, stronger than most metals, if burned or cut away, they will grow back within seconds, fusing together the opening created." To my appreciation, Calypso's voice holds no irritation at my question and my lack of knowledge on the subject. I’m shocked to find she is happy to enlighten me. Calypso seems like someone who doesn’t take kindly to her time being wasted.
"But don't worry, dear. You won't be going anywhere near the Island of Bones. It's simply too much of a risk to send you in with no experience on the unique nature of the island." My stomach tightens at the thought of such a place. "Luckily, my second and third have extensive experience with places of this nature. I will send Marina and Brea to fetch the ring, as they are my most trusted subjects with the highest agility and strength. This won't be their first tangle with the viper vines in a manner of speaking."
I look toward the dark haired sea maiden with thousands of tiny braids trailing down her back jeweled with tiny gold ornaments at the tips and wonder if she was given the choice to say no to such a dangerous journey.
Calypso turns to Marina and Brea. "You two have proven yourselves time and time again. With every battle and breach, you both come out as victors." Both mermaids nod and mutter their gratitude for the opportunity. But I still have so many questions.
"If mermaids have the ability to manipulate water, can't you summon a wave large enough to carry you safely over the viper vines?" I hate how my voice sounds. Hesitant and weak. But if there were a way around the risk of the viper vines, I would much prefer they take it.
"We do have the power to bend water to our will, but so does the Mother. If a storm of this size is brewing, her powers will outweigh our own. As good as I am with water wielding, I won’t risk Marina’s safety in the possibility that I am not strong enough to get us over safely," Brea explains, her voice as quiet as a lullaby.
"But what if . . . I mean . . . Isn't it dangerous?" I don't know how I feel about having someone else do the dirty work while I sit around swimming in the ocean. I’ve never been one to sit in the background while someone else gets their hands dirty. As my father says, I’m a doer, just like him.
"No need to worry about us, Cealene. We're pretty deadly, ourselves. Plus," Marina turns her body towards me, getting my full attention, "we want this curse broken as much as any mermaid. And we're willing to face danger if that's what it takes."
Her direct candor is a welcome change to this conversation that seems charged with dangerous plans but no outward emotional response whatsoever. I don’t doubt that Marina and Brea are intimately invested in ending this curse. I’m sure they or someone they know would jump at the opportunity to bear a child. But I still can’t just sit back and wait, and if I’m being perfectly honest with myself, I want to go. I want to see this forbidden island with a deathly barrier. For too long I’ve been sheltered from life and I’ve just begun really living. I’m going.
I just need to figure out how to get Calypso’s approval.
"What is the ring needed for, exactly?" I try to calm my breathing, excited to get some answers on what lies ahead.
"The ring will need to be worn by the curse breaker for the incantation to work." Calypso's emerald eyes simmer with steadfast power. This creature is not one to mess with.
I wonder if breaking the curse will directly change her life, and if she desires to procreate again after all she endured the first time. After all of these years with the curse in place, it seems only half-bloods can reproduce on land in human form, and it seems even they might not know what they truly are anymore. Not after the Sea Wars caused panic amongst the half-bloods. It wouldn’t surprise me if most were like me, not even aware of another part of them lying dormant their entire lives.
Maybe Calypso’s time to create a family has expired altogether. I never asked if mermaids have an infinite number of years to reproduce or if their childbearing years are limited as humans are. If their lifespans are much longer than that of humans, I would guess their childbearing years would be too.
Imagining how hard it must have been for Calypso to live with such a loss, to know her child was being raised by humans, a species she despises for so many reasons, must be unbearable. It must have felt like she was living a nightmare to have someone physically tear her apart. Like the arteries and muscles snapping in two, severing the connection of life. To then go on living with a piece of you missing for eternity. I never asked how old Calypso is but it is clear she has been around much longer than the average human. To live so long with that loss, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. She may just be the strongest being I’ve ever encountered.
Admiration swells in my chest for this fierce female who sacrificed so much. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be here today. My mother nor her mother before her. If the birth of her child had gone a different way, my life may have looked much different than it does now.
I want to be a part of this journey. Of this change in history. "I want to come to the Island of Bones." My request comes out surprisingly strong and is not how I intended to broach the subject, but I continue, not wanting to lose this chance to persuade her. Calypso respects confidence, that much is clear. She responds to dignity. "I need to be a part of this. I can't just wait around while someone else journeys for what I was made to do." I try and sit up straighter, puff out my chest. I want her to know the severity of my request.
She scrutinizes me, debating, and I try not to shrink under her crushing gaze. I swear ages pass as I wait for her to say no, to tell me it's out of the question, that I am too much of a liability. But Calypso seems to know how trapped I felt at the palace. She seems to understand what it means to live with the same freedom as they do in the sea. Would that be enough for her to say yes? To let me travel the seas with her most trusted mermaids? I continue to hold my breath as I wait for her reply, and it seems I'm not the only one. The cave is silent, save for the rushing waterfall.
"Very well," she says, her voice clipped. "But you will not enter the island itself. It is too much a risk for you to set fin on the island. You can accompany them on the journey, for the sole reason that I refuse to deny you a chance to live as you always should have. You've had too many years to live in the sea stolen away from you as it is." Heat spreads in my chest as her words hit me. "But you will not go anywhere near the viper vines. If you are compromised, our kind will face absolute extinction." She pauses, and I wait, knowing there’s more. “There is a fine line between protection and captivity.”
"Understood," I smile at my victory, but feel the dread closing in with every second that passes. Because although I successfully compromised with Calypso, I also just volunteered myself to travel to an island of the dead.