A mermaid is a legendary aquatic creature with the upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including the Near East, Europe, Africa and Asia.
Eleanor sat silently in the park. She was sitting up like a child in one of the trees, hugging her knees to her chest with her back against the trunk. She hadn’t climbed a tree in years. She forgot she loved it. In the tree, she was away from her problems. She was safe and hidden. That’s why she was there now.
She remembered. She remembered who she was before. She was a monster. She was a sad, depressed, cursed monster. She remembered how the people she had loved were afraid of her. But did they even know her here? She remembered the kids who bullied her in grade school. Did they even exist? She was having a crisis.
Eleanor was also afraid. Afraid her curse would follow her here, afraid her friends in the town would find out that she was a cursed creature, afraid her friends in town were even here; even real! Would they forget her to go find their friends from before. That smoke. That strange slimy smoke had taken her from the forest. Why? How? The last thing she remembered was raindrops dripping through the roof of her shack, and then it was like she had lived a whole other life. Was any of it real? Did someone—some demented god that was controlling their reality and fantasy—make her have memories of being bullied so much as a kid she had problems? Sure, none of that really happened. But it did.
No one from before the slime would want to see her now. Not after she scared them. Not after she abandoned them. What about her friends here? Marcus, Facilier, Maris, everyone? Would they remember her? Would they still want to be a part of her life? Or would she never see any of them again because they have their own past to deal with too.
“This can’t be real,” she said softly, “who could be that cruel?” She noticed someone sitting beneath the tree, she raised her voice a little, really wanting an answer. “Who could give us all false memories of bad things happening. Why would someone do that?What…What do you gain?” She felt herself on the brink of tears; and Eleanor wasn’t a cryer. She used her sleeve covered palm to wipe her eyes. “Sorry,” she chuckled dryly, “I’m just… So fucking confused.”
Ariel had never been one to dwell on the past. Perhaps because hers wasn’t all that difficult. In both memories she had wonderful and loyal friends; albeit, meeting them far too late in one of her lives. She had a family that loved her, despite being a bit overwhelming and, on her sisters’ part, underwhelming. She had plenty of obstacles to push through; her father’s disapproval, her mother’s death, picking up after her sisters. But nothing that had held her down. Not in the way she saw it hold some of her older sister’s who remembered their mother’s vivid image and mourned over the loss of that.
When something from her past upset her, she avoided the topic. There were times where she found that too hard but those nights would fade away to one day out of 365. In short, Ariel was an expert on blocking most things that upset her. That is until she was confronted directly about them.
She remembered the pain she felt when her father wouldn’t let her explain herself. She remembered how she was constantly belittled and how eventually that took a toll on her. She remembered when the things she cherished were destroyed. She remembered sorrow. However, the sorrow she heard in this girl’s voice was different.
Sorrow was always unique, she’s come to know. Not one was like the other for few experienced the exact same incident. This girl’s was deep, cold, and needed answers. It was saddening to hear it. By this point Ariel had come out of her high of being a human. She had noticed that this was no dream but more along the lines of a curse. There was no happiness in this life when she had no one she loved with her.
Ariel had looked up upon hearing the voice, not quite seeing the girl who hid behind the shade of leaves. As she went on, Ariel felt as if she was intruding. It was a personal moment and from the sound of it the girl was near tears. Ariel stopped searching, letting her head fall back down to merely listen. She didn’t know if the girl hated it as well but Ariel couldn’t stand others seeing her cry. She hoped the action to be a semblance of privacy.
“You shouldn’t apologize. If anything, you helped me feel not so alone with this whole...thing.” Ariel bit her lip for a moment, replaying her questions in her head, wandering just what were this woman’s memory of? What had hurt her so?
“It doesn’t sound like you’ve had the easiest of lives.” Ariel said bluntly, finally looking up at the tree again, searching for the girl. Ah, there she was.“Did...you just start remembering?”
What’s happening? What’s this? I swear to God, I didn’t get high on the smell of chocolate.
Anna thought quickly as her memories began to return to her, it started off with random moments, like reaching into the cookie jar when she wasn’t supposed to, her mind concentrating on the cookie and not the oh-so suspicious ladder that she used to get the jar in the first place. Then it continued with her sister Elsa who was quite the anti-social hermit. One by one, her memories returned. Anna was confused, but at the same time, happy. Then it hit her.
“Elsa!”
Anna looked around frantically, trying to find her sister. With this sudden appearance of her memories, Anna couldn’t bear the thought of what was going through Elsa’s mind. The Snow Queen. Then she realized the bigger dilema here.
“Oh my god, Kristoff! Wait, and Sven! Oh my god, what if Hans is here?” She began to ask. Her hands signed along vaguely since it was a natural instinct, but she was just too shocked and worried to do so. She looked around the park, trying to find any trace of them.She needed to make sure they were alright. She wanted to make sure her friedns were alright. Not so much Hans as the others but even so.
Anna began asking random people if they had seen either Sven or Elsa, knowing Kristoff never separated from Sven no matter what. That was when she approached someone she nearly didn’t recognize, tapping their shoulder before signing as she spoke rapidly. “Have you seen my sister? Her name is Elsa Edel. She has platinum blonde hair, fair skin! Tall, has ice powers too. Has her hair in a fishbraid usually. Or maybe Sven Bjorgman? He might be acting like a reindeer, or maybe he’s cheering because he isn’t a reindeer anymore. Basically, he has brown hair, a bit of scruff, tall like his best friend Kristoff! He loves carrots!?” Anna exclaimed as she signed, afterwards showing her frustrstion at how she had NO absolute idea where they were and if they were alright.
Ariel had been taking a stroll around the park trying to get used to her new form of transportation. Luckily for her, it wasn’t as hard as she had initially thought it would be--though, she did have to run home and trade in those short heels for flats. That was a whole new level of walking she was not ready for.
Walking along, Ariel hummed a tune of a song. For the time being she was filled with glee. Yes, the first hour of gaining her memory back was frightening. The confusion, the loss, the where the heck was everyone I care about? There was too much to think about that she decided to take it one step at a time. If she was here and human, what were the odds that her family wasn’t here too? It was a large enough city! Besides, if this turned out to be all a dream and she was to wake up back in her bed in Atlantica, she wanted to enjoy it as much as she could.
Ariel’s attention was hard to catch moving from the flowers to the trees to the sky to the dirt. She was seeing things with a new--or rather, old--set of eyes and they simply didn’t move quick enough! What truly caught and held her attention was the girl that had come up to her and started talking excitedly. Her hands were waving around in an interesting fashion and she looked as if she had so much to say but little time to say it all. Ariel thought it was rather cute until she realized that it wasn’t joyous excitement but distraught.
“Wait, wait, wait, I lost you.” Ariel tried to stop her in order to make sense of what she was saying. What she could get out of it was a very similar situation to Ariel’s. She wasn’t missing just one person but a crew of people. “...You’re missing people too?”
Toby hadn’t been talking to the girl, but he had been in the area when she seemed to lose sense in her legs. He wasn’t even entirely sure if that was what had happened. In fact, for the first time in a long time, Toby had been minding his own business.
There was something to say about a man/dog who wasn’t being nosy. In most cases, he’d be watching every other interaction, studying the people and getting far too curious about their lives. Now, he was merely interested in his own life. Or rather, his past life.
Well, he had managed to mind his own business until the girl took a tumble. He wasn’t sure what had happened, not really, but he watched as she turned away from whomever she was talking to before tripping to the ground. “Hey, woah.” Taking large strides, he moved forward. He was too late to catch her, but he could still help her up. “Are you alright?” He asked, reaching for her hand to pull her up.
Ouch, sidewalks, not the greatest thing to fall on. Her knees and palms were lightly scraped but other than that she was fine; though, it had sparked the memory of whenever she’d scrape her fin or elbows on hard coral or the rocky sand. Not fun. Unsure of her trust in her balance, Ariel was weary of getting up. A part of her knew how to walk just fine--she even knew what muscles were being used to move! It was an involuntary action she’d been doing since she was two!
But that Ariel, the one who never had legs, expected to fall, so she did. Because she expected to not understand how human legs work they stopped working on her. She wondered if perhaps they didn’t work because of her mind rather than her body.
Ariel looked up as a kind bystander came up to help her. She looked up immediately and a bashful smile curved her lips. “I’m fine!” She was quick to assure, the human side of her terribly embarrassed for that public and awkward display. What grown woman forgot something they learned as a baby? “Forgot how to walk there for a second.” Ariel laughed, waving off the accident as an act of clumsiness.
Her eyes drifted to his hand and for a good second, she simply stared at it wondering if standing up right then would be a good idea. Surely the part of her that knew how to walk would take over, right? It’s not something your body would forget? Cautiously, she took it and put another hand on his arm to help her keep her wavering balance. Even when she was fully standing, she refused to let go, her grip on his sleeve tight but not harsh. “You don’t see a bench around here, do you?”
beware the ocean
for she wears a million faces
her foamy skirts
hiding shipwrecks
and secrets
the faces of the drowned
lie face down
underneath her petticoats
Drivel. Utter drivel. Two pasts, two sets of memories. Two nonsensical lives that involved much contrariety. A girl who wanted nothing more than to spend hours in an ocean and a mermaid who dreamed of land. It seemed like each was a dream; a vivid, beautiful dream. The mermaid saw things that the human wished too but the human knew of so much more than the mermaid. But both wanted what the other had.
A mermaid of all things? Some mythological creature that killed sailors for sport. Her life seemed nothing like that tale--well, no, that wasn’t entirely true. Her...past life(?) certainly knew of mermaids who would do such a thing but she wanted to do the exact opposite. She was so strange. But that was not nearly as strange as what her life was now. Her father reduced to the very thing he hated? It was a laughable! It was unrealistic.
This had to be some vivid dream, some joke.
Ariel blinked rapidly, her hand coming up to stroke her hair out of her face. The person she was holding a conversation with (was it a conversation?) was interrupted by her daze. She was no longer paying attention to whatever they had to say. Were they yelling at her? Angry, happy, sad, annoyed? The pain in her head could not make sense of it. She could think nothing but the throbbing pain from overthinking, overanalyzing.
A part of her felt like falling from never having used these limbs before. These new strange limbs? Feet? Legs? Those..aren’t hers. That was Ariel Balik’s. What was her if this wasn’t merely a dream? As more memories started to come back to her it felt more and more like her human life was the dream. And that was a very unsettling thought. Her human life was the one who knew anything about this Mythos place.
How did she get here?
“I...have to go.” Ariel interrupted, still unable to make sense of what this human was saying. She was clearly off balance; like a baby on its third attempt at walking. Turning around she took a couple steps before stumbling to the ground. What a wonderful job muscle memory was doing.
There were various Mertribes in Fantasia Grove. Atlantica just happened to be one of the larger ones. With her father given the title of the Great Sea King, many surrounding tribes saw theirs as a threat. After all, what made their King the King of the Sea? And if such a King were to exist, what stopped him from taking over the entire ocean? Needless to say, with such hostility starting to brew in the seas, Ariel and her sisters were kept under strict watch. They were not allowed to explore outside the walls of Atlantica. They had to be home by the time the moon settled in the sky. And, by no means, were they allowed to lift their heads above water.
It seemed simple enough. Atlantica was a beautiful and large city full of friendly mermaids, fun mermen, and silly fish. Their home had enough to keep his daughters entertained with their coral reef parks, scenery, and activities. Little flounders racing and seeing which can make bigger bubbles around the park. Sweetlips performing near the castle Ariel and her sister’s lived in. A marketplace to keep the girls browsing for hours! It wasn’t like the girls were kept prisoners in their home, not in the least. Their father tried to offer them what he could within reason. It just wasn’t what interested his youngest.
Ariel loved Atlantica. She loved her friends Urchin and Flounder. But she loved humans too. Their culture, their stories, their world. She wanted more than what Atlantica had to offer. As a child she would spend hours by her bedroom window, staring out beyond the city. Anytime she inquired about humans her father would grow angry or pained. Her sister’s would immediately hush her and change the subject to keep their father from having to answer. After those handful of times she tried to inquire it to him--the one man she believed knew everything--she knew it was a subject to bring around in his absence.
For a time, she was entertained by the stories the fish had to tell her. Even Urchin who saw her interest was peaked when that topic was broached, had told a fable of how he had met one. In her excitement, she believed him for a time being. With humans she was entirely naive, believing every word they had to say about them aside from all of them having such a cruel nature. How could a world that makes such wonderful things be bad?
It wasn’t until she walked past a rickety store that she thought to explore further into humans herself. Ariel was eleven when she entered the aged, elusive ‘Ocean’s Melody.’ The door took quite a bit of strength to yank open seemingly stuck to the...wood. That wasn’t something she saw often. The store was in a complete disarray; walls were covered in different aquatic mosses. She had to hover over the sea floor in order to get further into the store! Every spot seemed to be covered by objects she had never seen before! Yes, there would be the occasional shell necklace or a woodwind instrument but most were what she could deduce as...land objects!
She had seen few of these in other stores, and even a couple in her house from the time her father did like buying things that came from the land. However, nothing to this degree! Young Ariel wandered around the store, analyzing the objects that seemed they haven’t been moved for ages. The store was empty, dark, and with each turn she wandered if this was some sort of trap. Quietly swimming, she whispered a hello, not sure whether she wanted to be heard or not. This store was at the very far end of Atlantica and if they were to know she was King Triton’s daughter, she may as well kiss this store goodbye. No one wanted to get into trouble with him and a store filled with human artifacts was certainly treading on that.
As more time went by she grew more bold exploring the store. Filled with glee, she would twirl around and run her fingers through the surface of each object. By accident she had hit a string of some oddly shaped thing and the string had flung up from the vibrations. A gasp left her lips and she moved back. Her earlier glee melted into apprehension and curiosity. Slowly approaching the object once more, Ariel reached out to touch it.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” An old grouse voice spoke revealing himself from another room.
Ariel immediately swam back, clutching her hands together and looking at the old, large fish. Her frown pleaded for forgiveness but her stance was ready to run away if need be. “I’m sorry--I didn’t mean to intrude. I-I thought I could browse around and--”
The old fish stopped her then with a raise of his fin and stayed in his place to show he meant no harm. “It is a store--a mess of one but a store nonetheless. You are free to look around, though touching may cause some consequences.” Looking at that stringed object, he directed his explanation to it. “That ancient thing almost cut my fin off the first time I touched it! Some instruments are just not meant to be played underwater.”
“An instrument?” Ariel asked. Always being a lover of music, it was interesting to hear that they too dabbled in the art. What sort, she wondered. Was it different than down here? Surely.
“A geetar to be exact.” The wise fish told her, moving towards it to explain it better. “On land humans stroke these strings and sing about a sailor’s life. Horrid, sad songs when you listen to the words. Though, they sing it with such gale. Odd things those humans.”
Ariel had let down her guard almost completely trying to imagine it. Human’s singing! Playing music, laughing, it was just like here! Alright, maybe that wasn’t a surprise to anyone else but most things she’s heard that they do are horrific! It was such a different and new insight, she couldn’t contain her awe. “You’ve seen them? Do they have more instruments?”
The old fish laughed, a tired, old smile rested on his face. “Most instruments of ours came from them. They created music, we adopted it.”
Ariel looked at him in shock for a moment before her face turned into complete disbelief. Their instruments? No one had ever told her such a thing. She had simply assumed that they created them. Aside from that, they have been playing music for an incredibly long time--it didn’t seem possible.
The old fish knew she didn’t quite believe this. It didn’t bother him, of course. She must have grown up thinking almost everything from Atlantica was made by mermen. “Your father holds a lot of resentment towards humans. But he never could fully turn away from music.”
There was a time he was pained by hearing music. Two years without any song being sung in the concert hall. She always correlated it with her mother’s death seeing as she had the most wonderful voice and would constantly sing songs to them. But perhaps there was something more to it. A sailor’s song. Roused out of her thoughts from alarm, Ariel blinked and looked bashfully at the fish. “My father? How do you know that?”
His smile was turned into one touched by sadness. “Your father and I are old friends from a happier time. I’m not surprised you don’t remember me. You were but a guppy then.”
Confusion rot her mind, she wanted to know more than that but it seemed that he would not tell her more. She had an aching feeling that if she asked further, he would tell her she must go back to her father so to prevent that she changed the subject. “Where do you get these things from?”
Knowing all to well that this curious mermaid may get herself into trouble if she knew the answer, he quipped a vague one. “Here and there. Now, it’s getting late. Your father will start looking for you if you don’t go back to him.”
Oh, fantastic! She thought she was being clever with her questions but it seemed that any question she would’ve asked would’ve had her sent home! With an obedient nod of agreement, Ariel hurried back to the castle. However, that was not the only time she had sneaked past her guards and visited the old fish. It took quite a few visits before he told her where his collection came from.
The Ship Graveyard. Now, she didn’t know the location of that, but the very name was chilling. She wanted to see it for herself. She wanted to start a collection of her own.
Hours were spent staring out the window beyond Atlantica’s borders. One of these days, she swore it, she would find the Ship Graveyard.
Within a year, Ariel finally found it. An eerie, depressing, murky place. A place that did look like all ships came to rot. There were far too many to count and too big to explore in one go. With a little red sack in her hand, Ariel did a very quick search to add the first collection she got on her own into her growing grotto.
Far out in the ocean the water is as blue as the petals of the loveliest cornflower, and as clear as the purest glass. But it is very deep too. It goes down deeper than any anchor rope will go, and many, many steeples would have to be stacked one on top of another to reach from the bottom to the surface of the sea. It is down there that the sea folk live.
romaincrisis
titsay
yousharknotpass
turnnoffyourmind
prguitarman
kaledo-art
snowghoul
