HI MINNA! I don´t own mermaid melody or any of its characters, but I DO (as far as I know) own the story, Emma and Isabelle, so PLEASE don´t re-use them without me saying that it´s ok-ok-okay, nee? ARIGATO̅!
EMMA
I was told I that they found me washed up on a beach in Scania after a storm when I was 14 years old. I was placed in a foster home and that´s where I am now, since they never found out who I really was. They gave me the name Emma, since that´s what´s written on the red seashell that they found next to me. They assumed that I had been wearing it until the chain broke. Then I probably held it in my hand until I passed out on the beach. Why I would be so attached to a simple seashell with a pearl inside it, I don't know, but I guess that it made sense to me at the time. I´ve been wearing it every day for the past two years, hoping that someone who recognise it will see me.
I´m 16 years old now and I still don´t remember anything. I´ve been scared of water ever since then, so going swimming with my friends had never been an option if I had any. Even learning how to swim hasn´t crossed my mind. Why I´m scared is still a mystery, perhaps it´s because I don´t WANT to know who I was. My life before I was 14 might have been hell on earth. But on the other hand it could have been perfect. Or just normal. I go down to the local marina or the beach where they found me sometimes, hoping to get some clue to who I was before. Today was one of those days.
I was walking along the pier in the marina as I usually do. It was getting dark and I was thinking about heading back home. I reached the end of the pier and was just about to turn back when I heard something splashing just below the pier. I bent over to see what it was and I must have bent out a little bit too much, considering my poor sense of balance, because the next thing I knew the water was rushing towards me. The whole thing probably took a second, but it felt like an eternity. "This is it. This is how I die" I thought before I hit the water. I was shocked by how cold the water was, but since it was still only April, what was I expecting? This was Sweden after all, not the Caribbean. When the first shock had settled I knew that I had to try to get to the surface somehow. I remember how I´d seen other people do and tried to do the same. I tried to move my legs, only to realise that I couldn't. I looked down and what I saw then shocked me once again. I didn't have legs anymore… Instead I saw a long, red tail. I shook my head to see if I really saw right, only to get long, deep brown hair in my face. I turned around to see who had come to help me, since my own hair was short and light brown, but there wasn´t anyone there. I didn´t know how to get up and started to panic, when suddenly I saw another girl in my age coming towards me. "Finally, I´m saved" I thought, but as she got closer I saw that she also had a tail, but hers was navy blue. She reached me just as I was about to pass out from shock and exhaustion.
"Noel" was the last thing I said before things started to become darker.
In a distance I heard someone repeatedly calling out my name before I woke up, instantly recognising the beach. It was the same as last time and when I turned my head to see who had been calling my name I saw a girl who looked almost identical to the one who saved me, except that her hair was shorter and she didn´t have a tail. I looked down to see if I really did have a tail, but then I saw my legs. "Of course I don´t have a tail" I said to myself "because that would mean that I´m a mermaid and mermaids only exists in fairy tales".
"Emma? Are you okay?" the girl suddenly asked, making me jump at the sound.
"Yea, I´m okay, eeem…"
"I know it´s been two years, but considering we´ve known each other basically all our lives, you should know very well who I am" she said, sounding a bit insulted.
"But the thing is that I don´t know who you are. I lost all my memories two years ago… Wait a minute, if we´ve known each other all our lives, does that mean that you know who I am and where I come from?"
"Your really don't know, do you?"
"I already told you that I don't remember anything before two years ago, so if you know anything, can you please tell me?"
"Okay, but first you have to promise that you won´t think I´m crazy or tell anyone what I´m about to tell you and please don´t interrupt"
"I promise, but can you please tell me your name first?"
"My name is Noel and I come from the arctic ocean."
"Arctic ocean?! How…"
"I asked you not to interrupt me, but knowing you I shouldn't be surprised… Anyway, like I said I´m from the arctic ocean and the reason that I can be from there is because I´m a mermaid. We are real, even thought people today have forgotten and passes us of as fairy tales. Now you're probably wondering how we could have known each other when I´m a mermaid and the answer is quite simple. You´re a mermaid as well, but you're the princess of the Baltic, North and Norwegian sea or, as we call it, the Nordic kingdom. It was such a beautiful and peaceful kingdom until it was destroyed by a great storm two years ago. The red mermaids scattered to other kingdoms, most of them came to the arctic and the north Atlantic kingdoms. You, on the other hand, disappeared without a trace, and since we never found you or the red pearl we had to assume that you were dead and that the red pearl was lost forever. Your kingdom is still in ruins because it was no use to rebuild a kingdom without a princess."
"Couldn´t they just vote for a new princess?"
"No, they couldn´t. Only a mermaid born from the red pearl can become a princess of the red kingdom."
"And I just happen to be that princess?"
"Yes, it´s us and seven others"
"So you´re a princess as well?!"
"Yes, they don´t let princesses play with just anyone"
"Okay and the other seven? Where are they?"
"The other seven is Isabelle of the Mediterranean, Rina of the north Atlantic, Hanon of the south Atlantic, Lucia of the north Pacific, Coco of the south Pacific, Seira of the Indian ocean and my twin sister Karen of the Antarctic ocean. They are princesses of the lilac, green, aqua, pink, yellow, orange and purple kingdom respectively."
"What about the black sea?"
"I don´t think that it´s actually an ocean…"
"So they don't have a kingdom then?"
"Well, they used to, it was called the crystal kingdom, said to be the most powerful kingdom to ever exist and was the only one where mermaids and humans lived as one people. Unfortunately, it was completely destroyed thousands of years ago. People on land blamed it´s disappearance on a gigantic tidal wave but in reality it was destroyed by sea monsters who was after the crystal pearl, but they never found it and the pearl is still missing. They say that when the pearl is found humans and mermaids will finally be able to live in peace and harmony once again, but like I said, that´s only a legend."
"I thought that mermaids were no more than a legend until a few minutes ago, so that crystal pearl legend of yours could very well be true."
"Good point… But come on, we have to go back now!"
"What? Go where?"
"Go back home of course" she said while pointing to the ocean
"My home is that way" I said pointing in the other direction
"But you're the red pearl princess of the Nordic kingdom, you belong in the sea, with your people! They miss you and without you they don´t have a home to go to"
"They don´t need me, they need their princess and I´m sorry, but I can´t be that princess. A princess has to be born from her pearl, right?"
"Right…"
"Then, here!" I said removing the pearl from the seashell. "Take my pearl and create yourself a new princess, one that actually WANTS the title, because I don´t want it!"
"It´s not that simple. We can´t create a new princess just like that. To be able to do that you have to officially decline the title under a big ceremony and allowing the new princess to be born that way."
"Isn´t there any other way?"
"There is ONE other way, but that includes you dying and I guess that neither of us wants that, am I right?"
"So I really have to go back to the ocean don't I?"
"Yep"
"Can at least go back home and fix something?"
"Sure, can I come with?"
"No, I´ll be back in like five minutes"
"Okay then"
I walked away to my house and went inside. The only thing that I wanted to do was to write a note to my parents, saying that I´d gotten a clue to who I was and that I had to leave right away to look it up. I also told them not to worry about me and that I´d be back as soon as I could. I took a look around the house before walking back to the beach to meet with Noel. I wasn´t going to be gone that long, but I couldn't shake of the feeling that this might be the last time I was ever going to be here.
"Are you ready?" Noel asked when she saw me coming. I nodded before taking another look around me before stepping out into the water. It felt so natural to me now that I felt silly for being scared of it for two years. I almost laughed at myself as we swam away.
