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Iris
I watched from my hidden spot in the bushes of Sugarland. It was dangerous territory for a young faery like me. I tried to conceal my large wing span as the whole land seemed to go into a ruckus. Trees were falling over themselves, an overly large creature, which was pretty terrifying to look at, pounded the ground with its fist angrily. I peered at the ocean to see what had caused the fuss. There appeared to be intruders coming into the bay. I gasped at the sight of a mermaid, with a could that be a.... yes. There was a human on her back! Two forbidden elements to anywhere, but their own homes, and they were together... in a forbidden land. Never in my life did I think I would see either of those creatures, and here I am, seeing both of them together, with my very own eyes. What were they doing here? What was I doing here?
Appalled at what my eyes were beholding, I watched the creatures react to the intruders.
“We must alert the Witchy Lady!” one tree said to another, as they went to find her. I zoned in on their whereabouts, my eyesight as clear as lazors- a trick I was glad to have at this moment. The witchy lady was found hovering over her crystal ball, in the midst of deep forest trees. She resided in a small hutt that she was granted by the lords of Sugarland, in exchange for her healing powers and knowledgeable abilities. I was glad to hear this information as she thought it, my mind reading abilities as sharp as my sight.
“Witchy Lady, Witchy Lady!” Exclaimed one of the trees, bursting into her yurt mouth first.
“How dare you disturb me!” She shrieked, causing all three trees to scramble back, escaping her rath.
“Please, please,” one of them pleaded in a loud whisper, “Intruders have entered Sugarland!”
She gasped, gazing into her crystal ball, “Agh, so they have.” she pondered to herself in a hushed tone, stroking her chin and tosseling stray white hairs that poked out from its warty surface. “Don’t you know I already know everything?! You idiots!” She shouted, knocking their heads together with one swift motion, causing the trees to recoil again, falling into the lineup of creatures waiting to see her, “Get out of my yurt!”
The clumsy trees pushed past them impatiently and the other creatures began to complain, “Witchy Lady!”, “There are creatures approaching the forest from the east!” they whined.
“I see them.” she replied sharply, her hands circling the crystal ball on the table in front of her. “A Human and a Mermaid, together... this is forbidden!” She suddenly exclaimed in shock, her messy eyebrows rising high on her old face. The creatures once in an orderly line, now all starting to panic and run amuck. “Contain yourselves!” she yelled above the bustle. They all came to a halt. “You must gather an army at once!” We are going to meet these unwelcome intruders at the east wall,” “Go!”
I watched as the entire village of Sugarland made their way to the east end of the land, as the witchy lady zeroed in on her prey...the ball glowing, reflecting her anger upon its shimmering surface.
As I watched, a new voice appeared in my mind, the voice of a woman. It was beautiful, like a song... the song of a Siren. I snapped my head in the intruder's direction, “We need to find someone to change my tail to legs,” the voice said, the human followed her gaze as her sentence trailed off, “On another note, maybe we won’t get the chance. It looks like we are going to be met by the entirety of Sugarland.”
I watched as all residents made their way to them. A ragged homeless man, got to them first, “I can grant you the wish that you seek,” his voice matched his appearance. “I just need some coin in return,” He rubbed his grimy hands together, standing from his position on the grassy shore.
“And why should I trust you?” The siren narrowed her eyes.
“I know that you are trying to redeem a wish. I can grant that wish.” he beckoned. “Besides, what other choice do you have? That one is clearly dying,” He nodded in direction of the human, who glared at him, “and you are seeking adventure...” He raised his eyebrows at the mermaid, who looked away as to not give away her intentions, “And I have been kicked out by my no good wife, and need some coin to get back on my feet.” He finished, letting out a disgusting cough.
“How do I know you aren't bluffing?” She enquired.
“I can tell you the wish that you desire.” he continued.
She seemed to think about the offer for a moment, looking at him warely. “What is it then?” She asked after a moment had passed.
“You wish to exchange your tale for legs.” His words rang true, causing a shocked appeal to spread across her face, and obviously confirmed her suspicions.
I scoffed, knowing that anyone could have guessed that wish. It was a Mere and a Human approaching land- what else could they want besides to get on land?
“Anyone could have guessed that.” She scoffed, raising a perfect silver brow “We are waiting at a bay, I have a tale, and we and a mermaid and human pairing, that is an odd enough sight to see.” despite her words, her expression weakened, giving away that she knew as well as he did, she didn’t have much of a choice other than to trust him. I felt my heart ache for her, despite my disgust for mermaids and the latter on her back. I could see from a mile away that he was looking to take advantage of that poor girl and her human.
“We should take the deal,” The human half-whispered to the mermaid, who turned her face to him, hushing. She was resisting.
“What other choice do you have, than to trust me?” The dirty man repeated her thoughts.
With hesitation she agreed, revealing her tale by emerging from the water, placing it onto the grassy shore.
“This is not how I wanted to do this...” She said, “But, it seems like this is the only choice we have, unfortunately.” She rubbed her temples in angst. “I don’t have any coin, though. Do you?” She looked at the human, who reached into his pocket to scrounge up any remaining loot. “I have this,” He offered a single coin, scuffed in appearance.
“That is not enough,” Hissed the miscreant.
“Well... it’s all I have.” The boy hung his head in shame, causing the dirty man to pace around in a circle, finally heaving his chest and agreeing on the available price.
“Now, give me that,” he narrowed his eyes, causing the coin to flick out from the boy's hand into his own, everyone but him gasping in horror. He grinned at their reactions, “This is going to involve a spell, so i’m going to go over some terms and conditions before we begin.” he cleared his throat. “It's going to have repercussions along your lifespan, such as...” He rushed the rest in a low and hushed tone, that was inaudible to any ears in range.
“Could you repeat that please?” The mermaid asked.
“No.” he said quickly as he raised his hands to begin the magic. I couldn’t take it any longer. Despite my hatred of both races in front of me, I couldn’t let them get into a binding spell that would ruin their lives forever.
“Wait!” I jumped out from my hiding spot. What was I doing, risking my life for these two. I sighed, holding my ground as they all gasped in horror.
“What the...” The miscreant began.
“You don’t know what you're getting into!” I continued.
“I can help you!” I quickly added, surprising myself and the others.”
“Where did you come from?!” The man jumped back, as did the human and mermaid, fleeting as they were still partly emerged in the water.
I ignored him, continuing on with my offer. “I’m only just learning how to balance my magic, but I think I can do it. It’s better than you trusting... that,” I nudged toward the repulsive odour, who was now scowling at my insinuations.
“That's true...” the human started, mesmerised by my breathtaking wings. I looked at him. Hearing his thoughts were flattering my ego and encouraging my confidence in what I was offering. He was considering the options.
“Okay, but I better not regret trusting a Faery.” The mermaid suddenly mumbled, stealing away my attention from the human, she rolled her piercing silvery-purple eyes in my direction.
“That is so hypocritical!” I exclaimed. “You almost make me want to change my mind about helping you at all!”
“Hypocritical?” She smirked in return, “How so?”
“Well, for one, you have a human attached to you...” I scoffed.
Her thoughts told me that she understood her accusation, but was holding strong. She turned her nose up, “Don’t help us then,” She said, crossing her arms.
“Ha! Fine. I should be getting back anyway.” I faltered. If she was going to be so stubborn, I wouldn’t lend my time. I didn’t particularly know what to do in the way of helping them, anyway, so It was probably for the best.
“Wait!” The boy interjected; He couldn’t be more than my age, I thought before he continued, finally speaking after being taken aback by my beauty. “We need your help... please. I’m sick. I’m dying in fact. This mermaid can only do so much to help me. I know our worlds have been astray for many years, but if we could just come together...”
“Ha!” The mermaid, myself and the man all scoffed in unison.
“Hear me out,” he continued, “If we all come together, we could be stronger, as a unit.”
“You nearly didn’t come with me on the account that you didn’t want our kinds unifying.” the mermaid said at once, looking for a reaction before quickly returning to her stance, nose turned toward the sky.
“He's right though,” the unattractive man agreed. All three of us looked to him in surprise, forgetting he was even part of the conversation.
“Whatever.” I said, “Do you want my help or not? I really have to be getting back.”
“Yes.” The mermaid said, finally surrendering. Though she never would have if it weren't for the human and her curiosity about legs and everything that came with them.
“Great, let's get going then.” I said reluctently, “Let's take a look at that tail.”