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Once upon a time, there was a mermaid. She was the first daughter of one of our mer-kings of old, and was as cheerful and strong as a mermaid could be. But once her fifteenth spawning cycle was past, she changed.
As a princess, it was her duty to go amongst the people, and display her strength and courage, and be the bravest hunter and fighter. But instead, she kept to herself. She either swam alone, brooding, or left the depths to swim above the waves.
More and more of her days were [[lost]].She'd spend them above the surface of the waves, away from her home in the depths. She swam close to the shore and perched on a rock. She ignored her scaly iridescent skin flaking off in the sun, her gills fluttering, starved of air.
She had an [[obsession]].It was a human. She saw it on the shore almost every day, and she thought it must be a prince amongst its people. Its raiments glimmered in the sun, and it carried a long spear in its hand.
It always left its weapon leaning against a rock to sit down, took off its shoes, and sat next to the lapping waves. Sometimes it walked across a shallow rock formation that extended into the sea, and dipped a peculiar instrument made of wood and string into the water. The instrument seemed to enchant fish, and they ended up caught at the end of the string somehow. The maid wondered what kind of magic could hypnotise [[fish]].
She wondered what being a [[human]] was like.
[[She needed no magic. She could swim fast enough to catch them easily.|obsession]]Humans are so different from our kind. They need to stay above water to live. They live in structures made of wood or stone, while we live inside homes of coral and fragrant seaweed.
From time to time, some of our people have managed to look at humans up close. They often travel on the waves in moving, floating wooden homes, and those are fragile. Storms break them easily. Humans never last long after that. They exhaust themselves, or swallow water, and sink beneath the waves like dead fish.
The mermaid had eaten human before. Meat is meat after all, and surely such plentiful offerings from the gods of the sea should not be rejected.
However, she never cared much for the taste. Instead, she examined the humans with all the [[curiousity]] our kind has.Their skin was always so different compared to her own. Pink, suffused with blood like liquified coral. Brown darker than seaweed. Colours she couldn't even name.
Their eyes were large, their teeth small and weak-looking.
Humans are ugly; but the maid didn't think so. She found them fascinating. Their appearance, their strange customs and inventions. And the most fascinating one was the human on the [[shore]].There was something different about that human. It could have been its glimmering outfit, or its magic fish device. In any case, the maid was intrigued.
Everyone thought she was daft, but she didn't care. She wished to have this human, and she knew of [[someone]] who could help her.The Sea Witch is a fearsome creature. She lives in the darkest depths of the ocean, where even our own people fear to trespass. The creatures of the deep trenches are as strange as the ones above the water; warped by the immense pressure, luminescent in the dark.
The Sea Witch is the same; the maid had never seen the witch herself, but she'd heard stories about her. She had a kind of wisdom, and knowledge of strange magic, and she drove a hard bargain. She may give the maid her heart's desire, but for a [[price]].The maid decided to visit the witch, arming herself with nothing but courage.
She swam down, the light getting dimmer and dimmer, until she could only faintly distinguish the shapes around her. Her usually sharp senses were muted and fuzzy.
She know where the witch was; she'd asked here and there. Most mer-kind didn't know, or at least pretended they didn't, but there had been some who had used the witch's services before.
The witch's home was a cave very near the sea floor, formed aeons ago from an underwater volcano that erupted.
[[It was fitting that she would make her home in such a place of power.]]!The Covetous Young Maid
!!An oceanic folktale
[[Play|start]]
[[Credits]]
Background image by lostandtaken.com
The story inspiration came from a tiny Emily Carroll comic called The Prince and the Sea.
[[Back|Untitled Passage 1]]The entrance was guarded by a swarm of strange, bulb-eyed fish. From each one's head is extending a long antenna, a glowing tip on its end. The light, after so much darkness, hurt the maid's eyes, but also warmed her up in that dark place. She felt a surprisingly strong desire to touch it...
Something hissed from the inside of the cave, and the fish abruptly parted to let her pass. She shuddered in fear, but she'd come too far to stop now.
[[She went in.]]Inside, the cave was dimly lit by phosphorescent moss on the walls. It was quite small, only slightly bigger than a dwelling of someone of our kind.
Looking at the sea witch, the maid understand why she lived alone in the darkest depths. She looked frightening; her body was sleek as an eel's, and she had no arms at all. Her head was mostly an open mouth, rowed with sharp teeth. She was floating next to a small rock formation arising from the ground, shaped into a container much like a human cauldron. Probably where she mixes her potions, the maid thought.
The witch was surrounded by the tools of her trade. Somehow, she had shaped the rock walls into shelf like formations, where rows of small clear vials, orbs, and human artifacts sat tidily. The maid couldn't even begin to comprehend what everything was.
The witch hissed again, bringing the maid to the present [[once more]].It was time to ask the witch what she wanted. But what did she want?
[["'I wish to give myself the ability to breathe out of the water,' the maid said!"]]
[["'I wish to give someone else the ability to breathe underwater,' the maid said!"]]She'd lived her entire life underwater and she was tired of it. She wanted to explore the land.
The witch kept looking at the maid, as if waiting for her to elaborate.
[["I want to be transformed permanently. I want to live on land forever," the maid said.]]
<<set $potion to "forhuman">>She had decided that she wanted the human to live in the ocean, by her side. That would make her happy. And to do that, the human needed gills.
The sea witch said nothing. She's waiting for elaboration. "A human, to be precise," the maid said. "Can you do that?"
Slowly, the witch nodded. Then she swam up to a shelf with sinuous, yet deceptively quick, movements. Using only her agile tail, she grabbed a small orb and pressed it with the tip. Somehow, it popped open, hollow inside. A small pearl hid in it, a faint hum emanating from it.
The witch brought it to her mouth and swallowed it. To the maid's shock, she whispered in a deep, throaty voice, "Do you want the human to live with you underwater, forever?"
"How did you-" the maid stammered.
"The pearl. It contains someone's voice. It was a payment for a love potion I gave him. But it was a long time ago, and the voice will be lost to the winds soon." The witch rubbed her throat gingerly. "I rarely speak if I can help it, but it's difficult to communicate with your kind without speech. Now, answer me the question."
[["Yes, I do," the maid said.]]<<set $potion to "formaid">>The witch swam up to a shelf with sinuous, yet deceptively quick, movements. Using only her agile tail, she grabbed a small orb and pressed it with the tip. Somehow, it popped open, hollow inside. A small pearl hid in it, a faint hum emanating from it.
The witch brought it to her mouth and swallowed it. To the maid's shock, she whispered in a deep, throaty voice, "Are you absolutely certain? Many have made that request from me, and I believe some have regretted it."
"How did you-" the maid stammered.
"The pearl. It contains someone's voice. It was a payment for a love potion I gave him. But it was a long time ago, and the voice will be lost to the winds soon." The witch rubbed her throat gingerly. "I rarely speak if I can help it, but it's difficult to communicate with your kind without speech. Now, answer me the question."
[["Yes, I'm certain," the maid said.]]The witch nodded firmly. "Very well."
Once more she swam up to the wall-shelves, and picked up some of her materials. A small vial of bright red liquid, and a scrap of...something. It was coloured yellow, glimmering so bright it almost had its own illumination in the gloom. "What is that?" the maid asked.
"A scrap of garment," the witch said. "They're cold, up there, and cover their bodies with these."
It must have been made of similar material to the glittering outfit of the human the maid love, to glimmer so. The witch deposited it inside her cauldron, then poured the bright red liquid on top of it. "Is this human blood?" the maid asked.
"Yes."
"Why is it so red?"
"I never claimed to know much about the human world, girl," the witch said, annoyed. "Now hush." Her tail caressed the underside of her cauldron, which almost instantly glowed red with heat.
While the potion bubbled, the witch explained. "This will turn you human. Well, not exactly human, but human enough. Enough to walk and breathe landside."
[["Can you not make me fully human?" the maid asked]]The witch sighed. "No. Even magic has its limits. I cannot change your true nature. I can form you into an approximation of what a human is."
The maid would have to accept that.
The witch took a peek at the potion. "It's almost ready, so it's time to discuss my [[payment]].""What do you want?" the maid asked her, uneasy. The sea witch would never settle for trinkets.
The witch looked at her for a second. "I know. Your voice. I need a new one, and yours is sweet. I don't like this one. Too low, you see. I think it scares customers away."
The maid doubted that any customer brave enough to look at that face would balk at the sound of her voice. "If I have no voice, how will I communicate? Humans themselves use their voices. I've heard them."
"Voiceless humans exist. You can use gestures. You can draw. Your hands are agile enough." The witch swished her tail irritably.
The maid pondered for a moment. Was it worth it?
[[Yes.]]"I hope you don't regret it," the witch said. But now that the bargain was agreed, the maid felt relieved and happy. She felt she had made the correct choice.
<<if $potion eq "forhuman">>The witch approached her cauldron. "It's done," she said. The maid peeked inside, curious. The fish fin and her own blood had somehow coagulated into a smooth, green sphere.
<<elseif $potion eq "formaid">>The witch approached her cauldron. "It's done," she said. The maid peeked inside, curious. The yellow scrap and the human's blood had miraculously solidified into a brittle, golden nugget.
<</if>>
The witched handed it to the maid carefully. "Take care, it's fragile. <<if $potion eq "forhuman">>
Your human must consume this and then swim underwater as quickly as possible. Otherwise it might get confused and suffocate. The change happens quickly. Do you understand?"
<<elseif $potion eq "formaid">>
You must swim up to the surface, and consume it only when you are almost breaking the waves. Otherwise the pressure will crush you, or you will suffocate. The change happens quickly. Do you understand?"
<</if>>
[["Yes," the maid said.]]The witch nodded. "Very well."
Once more she swam up to a shelf. This time she brought with her something peculiar; it was long, thin and metallic. The maid could see its sharpness as it moved within the grasp of the witch's tail.
The witch let out a hiss, and from the cave mouth came a small fish, one of the swarm that had guarded the entrance earlier. Obediently it positioned itself inside the witch's cauldron.
With a quick, agile movement, the witch flicked her long tail towards it - the sharp thing still in her grasp. The fish twitched away, maimed, as its left fin dropped in the bottom of the cauldron.
The witch then backoned the maid. [["Come. Your blood," she said.]]The maid shuddered with fear, but approached. "Only a little bit," the witch said. The maid stretched her left arm over the cauldron, and with another quick flick, her skin was sliced open. Pale green blood dripped down.
The witch's tail caressed the underside of her cauldron, which almost instantly glowed red with heat.
While the potion bubbled, the witch explained. "This will turn the human into something of your kind. Well, not exactly your kind. But enough, to let it survive down here with you."
[["Can you not make a human into what I am?" the maid asked.]]The witch sighed. "No. Even magic has its limits, at least my magic. I cannot change any creature's true nature. I can form it into an approximation of another's."
The mermaid had to accept that.
The witch took a peek at the potion. "It's almost ready, so it's time to discuss my [[payment]].""Good. It's time for my payment now. Oh! One last thing," the witch said. She swam up, to the farthest reach of the cave ceiling, and brought down a tiny flower. It was black and red, its petals pointy, swaying in the current.
"I understand the sacrifice you have to make for this," the witch gestured at your throat with her tail, "so I will not ask for further payment. So take it, and trust me. It will be necessary."
"What is it?" the maid asked, confused.
"If your human eats it, it will fall in love with the first thing it sees. Which must be you. I know enough of humans. They find us frightening. So you must help things along, otherwise your human may try to escape you. Or it might even try to attack you."
The maid considered the flower. And what did she do in the end?
[["In the end, she took it."]]
[["In the end, she refused it."]]<<set $loveflower to true>>"Clever girl," the witch said. "And now..." she gestured at the maid's throat.
"How..?" the maid asked.
"I will wrap my tail around your throat. Do not be alarmed, it will end soon." The maid braced herself and closed her eyes, and she felt something slimy and strong wrapping around her throat. It wasn't tight enough to keep her gills from drawing oxygen, but she felt the urge to claw at it all the same, and fought against it.
Almost in an instant, she felt a tremendous wrenching, as if someone reached down her throat and pulled out her lungs. Then it was over, and she tried to scream in fright. But no sound came out of her mouth.
Something was in the witch's grasp. A strange, ethereal thing, like floating kelp, although it looked silvery and transparent. Before her eyes, it shrunk down into a small, white pearl.
The witch spat out the old pearl, and put the new one in her mouth. [["Thank you," she said in a clear, girlish voice, that had until very recently belonged to the maid.]]<<set $loveflower to false>>"Foolish girl," the witch said, shaking her head. "Now..." she gestured at the maid's throat.
"How..?" the maid asked.
"I will wrap my tail around your throat. Do not be alarmed, it will end soon." The maid braced herself and closed her eyes, and she felt something slimy and strong wrapping around her throat. It wasn't tight enough to keep her gills from drawing oxygen, but she felt the urge to claw at it all the same, and fought against it.
Almost in an instant, she felt a tremendous wrenching, as if someone reached down her throat and pulled out her lungs. Then it was over, and she tried to scream in fright. But no sound came out of her mouth.
Something was in the witch's grasp. A strange, ethereal thing, like floating kelp, although it looked silvery and transparent. Before her eyes, it shrunk down into a small, white pearl.
The witch spat out the old pearl, and put the new one in her mouth. [["Thank you," she said in a clear, girlish voice, that had until very recently belonged to the maid.]]Until then, the maid had not realised how much she loved having a voice, even though admittedly she wasn't a good singer, nor a gifted orator. But her voice was hers, the way she made her desires known, and not having it anymore felt crushing.
But the maid consoled herself with the thought of the human. Soon enough, they'd be together forever.
[[So the maid, after steeling herself, set off for the surface.]]She perched for some time on a rock, close enough to see the shore, looking for her human. And after some time, the human appeared. As always, <<if $potion is "formaid">> it let down its weapon and sat near the waves, seemingly lost in a reverie. <<elseif $potion is "forhuman">>it carefully walked on the rocks that extended into the sea, evidently having decided to catch fish.<</if>>
But now that the human was there and she was so close to the culmination of her plan, the maid felt anxious and unsure. What could she do to <<if $potion is "forhuman">>take it back with her to the depths?<<elseif $potion is "formaid">>appear to it and seduce it?<</if>>
<<if $potion is "formaid">>
[["She decided to swim over to the beach, and swoon into the human's arms."]]
<<elseif $potion is "forhuman">>
[["She decided to swim near the rocky outcrop and lurk under the water, until she could grab the human and take it with her."]]
<</if>>She took the nugget and, putting it in her mouth, crunched down on it and swallowed it. Almost immediately, the pain started, a pain that the maid had never felt in all her life. It was like being split apart, like being ran through with hot knives. Her tail divided into two parts, and its ends grew into feet. Her claws shrunk, her gills disappeared. Her body became smaller, weaker, slower.
It was a good thing that the maid had already surfaced, because she was so horrified and confused by her transformation that she spluttered and almost floundered in the water. But her now human instinct prevailed. The swimming movements weren't that different, and she swam to shore.
[[The human soon noticed her, and got up, confused.]]She went close enough that she could almost reach out and touch the human's legs. She was fully submerged, and her eyes could see the human clearly.
With a swift movement, she grabbed the human's leg and pulled it into the water. The human let out a shriek that was quickly muffled by the waves. The maid took care not to pull it under too much; it still needed to breath, after all.
<<if $loveflower eq true>>[[Then she shoved the flower into its mouth.]]
[[Then she shoved the green sphere into its mouth.]]
<<else>>[[Then she shoved the green sphere into its mouth.]]
<</if>>Instead of falling into the human's arms, the maid collapsed on the sand. She shivered with pain and cold; she was naked and vulnerable, and was beginning to regret her rash decision. But she had not regretted it fully.
She saw the human approaching cautiously, hovering over her.
<<if $loveflower is true>>With the last of her strength, she threw her arms around it quickly and pulled it down. The human was stronger, but it was overwhelmed by surprise. And what did she do then?
[["Then she forced the flower in its mouth!"]]
[["Then she gasped out 'Help...' faintly."]]
<<elseif $loveflower is false>>
[["She had no more strength to do anything but gasp out a soft 'Help...' at the human."]]
<</if>><<set $drownedend to true>> The human struggled, but the maid held on tightly, with her hand over its mouth. She wanted this more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.
And eventually, the human's struggle stopped. It looked at her with new eyes. It felt the desire to be with the maid for the rest of its life.
The human took the mermaid for its mate. Because she looked so different from it and other humans, she kept to herself. They rarely had visitors, and when they did, the mermaid wore a veil that blurred her features. And soon enough she came to regret her decision. She was bored, and she missed her home and her family. And one day, she swam far out into the sea and drowned herself, wanting to feel close to home for the last time.
[[So...]]<<set $killedend to true>>The human let out a loud shout and dropped the maid roughly on the sand. Then it backed away. It screamed again, looking frantically towards the town and letting out more cries, and loud words the maid couldn't understand.
The maid was confused and scared. She understood at last that something had gone terribly wrong. The human grabbed its long stick from the ground and brandished it at her.
The mermaid heard the sound of footsteps getting louder, and a few seconds later a group of humans came to the beach. The human talked to them rapidly, pointing at her and brandishing its weapon. They were all talking to each other loudly, not taking their eyes off her.
The mermaid was terrified, and tried to crawl back into the water, but she realised the sea would be no sanctuary to her anymore. She didn't have gills, nor fins anymore. She was too human for it.
But not human enough for the humans themselves, because the one that she had loved and changed her nature for, raised its spear and impaled her through the heart. The last thoughts of the maid were of home.
[[So...]]<<set $poorend to true>>The human said something to her, something she couldn't understand. Then it picked up its pointy stick and poked her gingerly on her side. The mermaid swatted the stick away weakly and growled.
Then the human ran towards the town, shouting. The mermaid was now scared. She hadn't expected things to go so badly. She didn't know how to communicate, and she doubted she could anyway without her voice. She tried to crawl back to the water, but she realised the sea would be no sanctuary to her anymore. She didn't have gills, nor fins anymore. She was too human for it.
When the human came back, it had a pack of others with it. They pointed at her and looked, and eventually they carried her away from the beach. They took care of her, however humans can care for one of our kind, and let her rely on the charity of their community, thinking her a damaged idiot.
So the mermaid spent the rest of her life in the small town, pining away from her home. By the time she died, she had managed to communicate a little with the humans, though it didn't help her broken heart.
[[So...]]The human was still struggling, but she kept her hand over its mouth, and soon enough the struggling stopped. The human stared at her, somewhat dazed. Then it said something that the maid couldn't understand. No matter. There would be enough time to teach it her language later.
[[She slid the green sphere gently into its mouth.]]<<set $lovedend to true>>It took only seconds for the magic to work. The human started struggling and gasping, and its body changed rapidly. Its hand grew claws; the legs fused and became a long tail; Long slits sliced along its throat.
The maid grasped the confused and pained human tightly, feeling more in love with it than ever before. She wouldn't let it flounder. After the transformation was complete, she guided it gently under the waves and looked at it clearly for the first time.
It didn't look like one of our kind, not exactly. It had some similarities, but it just seemed smaller and weaker. Like a small sardine compared to a shark. The maid was too overcome with joy to consider this, however.
She took it to the depths and showed it the life of our kind, and they lived the rest of their lives together. But the former human was always melancholic, and didn't flourish underwater, so the rest of its life was short and sad.
[[So...]]<<set $lonelyend to true>>It took only seconds for the magic to work. The human started struggling and gasping, and its body changed rapidly. Its hand grew claws; the legs fused and became a long tail; Long slits sliced along its throat.
The maid grasped the confused and pained human tightly, feeling more in love with it than ever before. She wouldn't let it flounder. After the transformation was complete, she guided it gently under the waves and looked at it clearly for the first time.
It didn't look like one of our kind, not exactly. It had some similarities, but it just seemed smaller and weaker. Like a small sardine compared to a shark. The maid was too overcome with joy to consider this, however.
The human, however, wasn't. It was terrified and enraged, vulnerable against a transformation that had happened against its own will. It lashed out with its claws and raked the maid across her chest, and it swam away wailing.
The maid tried to find it, but never could. She never found out what happened to it; it might had been eaten by a whale, or might have prospered against all odds.
[[So...]]So, what is the lesson to be learned here, my little fishies?
<<if $drownedend is true>>"That humans and mermaids cannot love eachother! It's better to keep to ourselves, or we will suffer heartbreak!"
Exactly.
<<elseif $killedend is true>>"That humans are dangerous. They can't understand us, they think we're monsters. They'd kill us all if they had the chance!"
Keep that in mind...
<<elseif $poorend is true>>"That the human world isn't suited to us. We could never live in it, even if the humans themselves don't mind. We don't belong!"
Very true.
<<elseif $lovedend is true>>"That even if someone loves us, their true nature can never be erased!"
Never forget that.
<<elseif $lonelyend is true>>"That we can't force someone out of their world and everything they love. Eventually, they will always want to go back!"
You are so right.
<</if>>