The Sea Legend - 1

UNDER THE SEA

Mermaids' grand beauty was no secret. Legends and storytellers loved mentioning the utter elegance that surrounded such creatures. Their swift moves and mystical bodies traveling miles through the seas, calling forth all the living in the water and the sailors on the surface with their voices.

They let their melodies cruise through the wind, slowly spreading and controlling one's mind until they had you walking toward them, hypnotized enough to give your life away with a smile.

Besides their beauty, that could be compared to deities, their tails were said to color the sea and move the current from one way to another. It glittered like gems and the scales themselves could be sold for millions of dollars, if not more.

Someone even said that their laughter filled every corner of the sea. They were playful and mischievous and enjoyed spending time with sea monsters.

Nobody actually saw a mermaid - or caught one as a matter of fact. They have a secretive nature and they feared humans. But, it was known that some people claimed that they had actually seen a mermaid once, or caught a glimpse of one while chilling on a cruise.

But, almost everyone doesn't believe such things.

After all, it was all just a legend. Mermaids didn't exist; mermaids were just fairy tale talks.

The funny thing was, the mermaids knew.

These rumors and talks did catch mermaids' ear and all the sea knew of what the humans thought of them, which was such a relief for many, but not for her.

Humans have vast seas that they didn't explore half of yet and they think they know it all. How disappointing.

The water today felt different. It felt cool yet tragic at the same time. The waves were chilly and forceful as they hit her body with full force. It might be because of an upcoming storm but that didn't matter.

What mattered was the chaos that seemed to fill the waters. The sadness and the fearful tones that reached Lia's ears every time she passed by a fish.

'Did you hear?'

'She was caught! Caught!'

'How dreadful! How terrifying! The gods are playing a game.'

'Oh, I'm never nearing the surface again. This is horrible!'

Lia continued swimming, crashing through the tides and left her mind, soul, and whole being in the water. She felt endless and more. These voices didn't matter to her, and as horrible as her line of thoughts went, she really didn't care.

Lia let her body twirl around, dodging a rock in the way and then brought her arms down to her sides, creating a force as they moved from her head. That gave her enough speed to pass through the small tunnel that was created by sea beds and shells, decorated by forgotten treasures and corals. She closed her eyes and let a smile grow on her face.

It was a habit she had always done as she toured and greeted the areas she grew up in. Lia knew almost every corner and every treasure that hid between and underneath those rocks. She could travel to wherever she wanted with closed eyes and a confident stance.

While she was enjoying her moment, a fish decided to interrupt her and slam itself onto her face, making Lia instantly stop to rub the pain away and glare at the careless fish. The fish didn't give her an apology as it swirled around to get back to its right position and continue swimming away from her. But, not before sending news right to her ears.

A mermaid had been caught by humans. Lia sucked in a deep breath.

It was the first case after so, so, so many years of hiding and keeping distance of the green lands. It was scary what humans were going to do after seeing this mermaid.

A beautiful and vulnerable creature in an environment that was so new to her.

If she was smart enough, she would turn into a human before any more eyes caught the sight of her splendid tail.

But, it was probably too late, because the ones who got to see it would tell other people and that would lead them to investigate and research her legs. All of this would lead them to discover the huge difference between a mermaid bone structure and strength and that of a human.

It was horrible, and it stung Lia's heart a little, but it also worked for her advantage. Guiltily, a sinister plan started working its way inside Lia's mind.

This was her final chance of getting away from this place. Her chance of being welcomed to the colored surface; a world where she could be anything - not just a mermaid.

Joy and glee sprang inside Lia's body, and she twirled around a gigantic jellyfish before bouncing herself onto its head. A giggle left her lips as she felt herself being forced backward, away from the creature.

Anonymous words reached her ears, but she paid them no heed. She didn't bother to match her wavelength with that of the jellyfish to understand what it was saying. She was just too lost in her thoughts.

When she finished celebrating, Lia realized that it was too early to be happy about anything. After all, for that plan to work, it wouldn't be an easy process at all.

She would need an official authorization from a sea supervisor that lived near the surface. It also meant that she would have to get her ability to turn into a human checked and have her face drawn to keep a check on her. Not to mention, every sea creature would know of her and would catch her news every now and then.

It was an endless procedure and on top of that, not everyone was allowed to leave the sea. There were almost hundreds of other stuff to go through.

It was because some mermaids and mermen thought of leaving without telling anyone, once upon a time, but they were soon caught fast by the guards and supervisors. They were recognized by their scents.

Lia sighed as she looked at the sun rays that had somehow reached her. Her eyes dreamily looked at the faraway surface and knew that if she wanted, she could reach up there in a few minutes. But that would cause more harm than good.

"Just so you know," a lullaby-like voice neared her and the current around Lia's body suddenly changed, making her a little unstable. "Your thoughts were probably heard by every fish nearby." She looked amusingly at her dear friend.

"I know, but they probably forgot already," she said with a flick of her hand. Though odd, it was true, and how peaceful the fishes paced around her stood as evidence to her words. She was just lucky no other mermaid or special species were around… Well, except for her red-tailed friend - Talia

Taking no offense, Talia swam around Lia leisurely with her hands behind her head, swiftly moving her tail left and right to stabilize her body. Talia's fingers brushed against one fish and then hugged it close to her body, stroking it like a pet, and totally ignoring its struggling.

Talia pinched the fish's cheeks and then gave Lia aside eye before saying, "Mo got caught, you heard that?"

Lia sighed and looked away, "Yeah,"

"Hmm, you don't look happy. No need to act." Talia continued playing with the fish, enjoying as it bit her finger, probably trying to escape, but it only made her coo at it. "I know something must be going inside that head of yours. Ah," She sighed, finally releasing the poor fish, "must be nice being the daughter of Ster, so careless, yet unique,"

The way Talia was assessing and observing Lia made Lia feel uncomfortable. It was like she wished she could get a piece of her meat.

"Yet, how unfortunate," Talia continued with a flick of her red hair that matched her tail, "you are stuck with your weird fantasies."

Lia puffed her cheeks before saying, "At least I know how to tell the difference between my sisters!"

Lia didn't need anyone to remind her who her father was, or how she was raised. She knew that these were all silent reminders that her future plans were to be counted as huge crimes if done. And if her father were to know of such a thing-

No, she couldn't imagine his anger.

This time, Talia got offended but she didn't have the chance to respond because her eyes caught the sight of a flickering light coming from underneath some rocks deep down the sea, which caused her beautiful green eyes to widen and she swam toward it in full speed. Her crazy look didn't escape Lia's eyes.

How she survived for this long was a mystery.