Chapter One: Ship

Relena tossed her hair over her shoulder. She stared at the sea, her home. She slid into the water and searched for a clam, or something to eat. She pulled one out of a crevice and sucked the insides out.

“RELENA!!! A ship!” It was Relena’s older sister, Dorothy. She shot out of the water and used her arms to propel herself up onto the mystical rock next to her sisters.

“This is great!! The first ship in months!” Hilde screamed joyfully. All of the mermaids nodded joyfully. They started the haunting Siren song, a song to bring sailors to their deaths…

My name is Relena; I am a mermaid, a hybrid. My sisters and I sing for love, for life. We are shunned form the world like everyday trash.

“Wow!” My oldest sister, Noin, yelled. “Three ships!”

“Not a ship in months, and then three on one day!” Cathy shouted. Our four guardian dolphins swam up.

< The human men are on their way… there is a child one board. > I stopped singing.

“A child?”

< Yes, a girl. >

“Stop singing! Stop!” Noin shoved me off the rock. I scraped my back along the barnacles and then surfaced.

“There is a child on board!”

“We have waited too long Relena! If you do not want to see us take these men, then leave! Run off as you always do!” Noin continued singing. I launched back on the rock and drew my blade; it is the only dagger that can kill an immortal. It is gold; inside it contains dragon blood.

“Do not make me use this!” I hissed. My sisters abruptly stopped singing.

They stared at me in horror.

“Relena, we all want to be immortal, you do too.” Lady Une said soothingly. “I will not become immortal at the expense of an innocent child!” In an instant, I knew it was too late for the men or the child. The sound of wood cracking on the rocks frightened me. Noin smirked.

“You are too late girl!”

I spun in a mad rage and saw in horror that most of the men were sinking. They couldn’t swim!

My sister’s dove into the water to save all the men, I looked for the girl. We scanned the bottom desperately, searching for any signs of life. In all, five men survived. Two could swim the others we pulled ashore. It was a sad, sad sight. I stared at them in wonder; I was the only one who had never seen a live human man.

“What are you?” One of them yelled.

“Do not provoke them! They will start the demon song!” Another shouted. Demon song, was that really what it was to them?

“They killed over four hundred men-“

“They couldn’t swim!” Noin interjected angrily.

“The leader has shown herself, come forth.”

“They killed my daughter!” The man dove into the sea, his gun in hand. “Die demons!!!”

We scattered. The man started to sink, he couldn’t swim. Dorothy pushed him back towards the shore. He climbed on, and the men fell into an uneasy sleep.

That night we had started to look for parts of their ships so they could leave our cursed island. We brought up all we could find, which wasn’t very much. The water stinks with the smell of death. The men are awake. They got the parts we had left and stared at us with contempt.

“They did not get our nets, they wish to kill us from lack of food.”

We searched for the nets, but did not find them. One man had constructed a spear. He swam out and dove, searching for food.

“Help!! Help me!” Noin cried. The man was not surfacing. Together we brought his body to the surface; Noin took him to the shore. In a sudden rush, the four survivors ran forward and started beating her with rocks. She was screaming in pain. One ripped at her hair, the other cut at her fins.

She gave one last shriek and all her blood rushed to the water. We joined hands and sung the “Demon song” for the death of these vile sailors. And then we cried.