18 Child's Tale

It was calm. Not only the waves but also the air and moon. The small boat didn't rock harshly against the sea but slowly drifted by back to its homeland, ready to greet its family. A slow and long trip was about to come to an abrupt end with the waking of one child.

Stepping down the wooden steps, a young Caspien held up a magic stone to light his way. He squinted his eyes to try and see further into the darkness only to find a shadow sneaking around where it didn't belong, "w-who's there?" He stumbled down the last step as the shadow froze in the hall. Caspien stood frozen not knowing whether to scream or to run toward the person. Instead, he stood his ground and turned the light on the stone up, or so he thought.

A flash of light erupted between the two of them. Caspien dropped the stone making it shatter on the ground. He watched the shadow run into a room down at the other end of the hall and slam the door shut behind them. This time, Caspien screamed his heart out. He made sure every man and woman on that boat was wide awake and alert to the situation. Lights flickered on in every room while people rushed down to where he was but made it too late. Wood scattered everywhere as flames crept up from everywhere. People scattered around fishing water from the ocean but the flames only burned brighter. Caspien coughed up smoke as he laid on the ground calling for help, but no one came. Coming in and out of consciousness, he tried to focus on what he saw around him.

Water and fire mixing. The once calm seas roared with an intensity the little boy had never seen before then "help! Someone help me," he shouted. He laid there not being able to stand or scream anymore with the smoke harboring in his lungs. Planks fell from above him, crushing his slender arm making him cry out in pain. Tears spilled over his eyes as he looked around for anyone left on the boat. All he could make out were two glowing red eyes peeking out from the sea. "H-help me…"

As the water filled the keel, Caspien felt cold hands wrap around him as he passed out. Swimming up through the boat, the two of them rose to the surface to see flames swarming the upper deck. The remaining sailors jumped ship while the last rowboats scurried away across the water; abandoning not only the ship that carried their weight halfway home but always the helpless little boy traveling with them.

Venus lugged him up onto a piece of driftwood just in time before a pole fell into the water where she had him earlier. She laid next to him with her tails twinkling against the fire across from them. Brushing back Caspien's hair she sang a melancholic song, "My child, sleep a little while.

Feel brighter and better by the mourn.

My child, wake when you feel better.

Feel refreshed and safe, do not yearn."

With her simple words and a smile that couldn't mask her obvious pain, Caspien's eyes fluttered open as he called out in a hoarse voice, "mom?" He reached for a hug but Venus slid away. She didn't correct his mistake until he began to cry, "I'm sorry for causing trouble again. Please don't be angry at me, mommy!" His eyes began to focus as he realized the woman in front of him that shined under the roaring flames was the exact opposite of his own mother. Instead of honey blonde hair, it was dark and shorter than what he was used to with violet eyes burrowing into his instead of warm and welcoming brown ones to match his own. But the women in front of him now had something his mother would never have: scales climbing up and down her body leady to a green and blue fishtail. His jaw hung low as he gasped, "a mermaid!"

Venus didn't know how to answer so instead, she went to grab his arm to heal it but he tugged away from her. The sudden force shifted the driftwood they both lay on making them flip into the icy midnight water. Caspien flailed and cried as he tried his best to stay above water while she picked him up and held him farther away than what was necessary.

Propping him back up on the wood, she laid her head on the edge and asked, "are you going to calm down now, little boy?"

"I'm not little," he pouted.

She chuckled and stared at him for a bit as his cut dried out. He sniffled and looked around as she cut into his thoughts, "they've all left. I'm sorry to hear that you don't like my company though." The twirled the wood around in the water smiling Caspien's stoic expression broke into a fit of giggles.

His anxiety melted away as he looked up to the night sky to see the stars going past in streaks of white and yellow. When she stopped him abruptly, he swayed for a bit then fell completely backward to look at the sky. He sighed, "I guess I should've expected them to leave me behind. I wasn't supposed to go back home this early anyways…" He tried his best to hold his tears in but with once small stream pouring down his cheek, the others followed. "Why...Why doesn't anyone want me?" He cried with blurry eyes to the sky."

Venus stared at him trying to figure out what he meant as she pushed small strands of hair from his face. She asked him, "who wouldn't care?"

Caspien looked down at her sniffling, "huh?"

She laid her head on the wood and twirled her finger in a circle explaining, "well, for starters, everyone on your boat wok up at the sound of your screams and came rushing towards you. I'm sure that if they didn't care they would've ignored your cries until the explosion. I've met many humans before that didn't care for the people around them but those men, they cared enough to try their best to find you." She perked up and pulled the salty tears from his face. He watched in amazement as they floated through the air only to be soaked up into her fingertips. "They didn't abandon you, my sweet child. They just couldn't find you in time." She pointed to the sky to have his tears shoot up from her hands into the air and combust into soft snow drifting down upon them. She smiled at him through the small flakes as his eyes beamed like the moon above them.

"You think so?"

"I know so," she poked one of his cheeks making him giggle.

He reached out his hand, "my name's Caspien, my mom and friends call me Ien!" He waited in anticipation for her name as well but she just stared down at his tiny fingers.

'I shouldn't get to know him but he's just a little boy,' she thought to herself. 'It should be fine since he'd drift alone back to shore if I didn't stay with him.' She softly grabbed his hand and laughed, "my friends called me Vee." She gave a melancholic smile as she thought of all those that she lost in the genocide created by the humans she just saved from drowning. Her grip around his hand tightened as her thoughts ran wild on the revenge she could take right here and now but then saw his eyes wince at the sudden pressure. She released him and asked, "so, Ien, where were you headed?"

He stopped rubbing his fingers and answered, "back home. My dad said that I couldn't travel on his boat anymore because it was getting too dangerous for me, so he was sending me back home. My mom was supposed to come too but she wanted to wait for a little longer." He swung his feet back and forth through the water cheerfully.

"And do you have any idea who blew up the boat you were just on?"

He thought for a moment but sighed, "no! I wish I saw his face! I wouldn't have let him get away if I knew who he was!" He huffed as he kicked the water up into the air.

"Then how'd you know it was a man?"

Caspien opened his mouth the closed it to think of his foolproof excuse.

"You should think before you talk, little Ien," she ruffled his hair making him pout. She didn't let up for a second thought, "if you don't know what kind of species or even whether or not the figure was a girl or boy, you shouldn't lead others to believe the slip of your words, no matter how innocently you may sound while saying it." She pitched his cheeks making him squirm away.

"Am sowweh," he tried to apologize.

She let go, "as long as you've learned your mistake."

As the sun began to rise over the sea, Caspien yawned and laid down on the wood. He asked, "will you see me again tomorrow?"

She softly brushed her fingers through his hair to think for a bit. He drifted off to sleep before she could answer. Just as he did, a heavy set boat sailed out of the foggy morning air bearing a deer with great antlers. Its golden eyes shone through the fog as if it was jumping out from the flag towards the two of them. Nodding her head, Venus kissed Caspien's forehead before diving down below the waves just before the boat came any closer. Shouts erupted from the ship as a light cast down on the young boy and let down a rescue boat to take him in. A weeping mother and a concerned father embraced their son trying to piece together what happened. After a not so thorough investigation and ignoring the story of their son, it was reported that the sirens burned down the boat and killed the sailors.

Caspien fought for a long time in his younger years to try and convince the king that the sirens were innocent but no one listened. Even when she visited him the day after the incident and every day later for the longest time, still, no one believed him but her. Their friendship grew with the trust built between them but also fell apart at the same time without either of them seeing it coming.