Red hair whipped through a stormy, undersea blackness lit by bursts of yellow lightning, the signs of electric jellyfish. The mermaid, however, was uninterested in them. She had more important things to do – namely, finding the one who could help her escape this cursed sea.
The mermaid's shark tail, unique to those of her homeland, violently flailed side to side as she pushed forward. That tall rock was here somewhere among the dark waters, and it was where he was waiting for her.
At last she found what she was looking for. She dove for an opening in the middle of the rock. As she slid inside the cave, gray walls met her black eyes.
"Caligo!" she whispered loudly in a harsh, raspy voice.
A shadowy figure at the room's far end turned to face her. He still wore his old armor, though it had gathered dust in the Sea of Storms. The reason he had kept it on was for his own sake – he had to remind himself of the great wrong he had suffered, and those he would exact his revenge upon.
"Lucasta," Caligo said.
"You called me here," Lucasta replied. "I demand to know why!"
"I told you," the merman said, annoyed.
"Yes. You said you could get me out of this wretched place for good. How will you do that?!"
"Patience, Lucasta," Caligo replied. "I propose a plan to get us both what is rightfully ours."
"I know you want something from me, Caligo. I know of you, and I know you use others to get what's yours."
"Exactly, Lucasta. You have something I do not, yet it is something I have always longed for. A most extraordinary gift."
Lucasta clenched her hands into fists as lightning crackled from them.
"You want me to use my power over storms."
"Indeed." Caligo clasped his hands behind his back as he began to swim upright around the desolate rock that was now his home. "Your gift has always been the pride of the Storm Sirens, and those who possess it have always had all they could ever ask for…friends, glory, reverence…but I could not have those things. I was named after my ancestor, Caliga, who sunk a thousand pitiful human ships with the tempests she made. Somehow, her power was diluted into nothingness along this accursed family line. I was the desperate hope of my parents…alas, I was no luckier than generations before.
"I always envied you, Lucasta. You could command the ocean herself, and I was just a common shark among a mass of children sharing your good fortune. I knew from the beginning I had to find mine elsewhere, and I found it. I married myself to Princess Aerietta, the sister of Queen Lorelei of Seagundia's husband. I had a son, and I knew that son would be my key to something better than any of them had dreamed of. His betrayal was most disappointing, but there was someone else who got in my way. Someone else who will not stand in my way again!"
Lucasta nodded, knowing who Caligo was referring to. When he had returned to the Sea of Storms, surrounded by a swirl of spinning pearls, he had quite publicly shouted his promise to get back at the Seagundian royal family, particularly their long-lost princess whose return had completely shattered Caligo's plans.
"You want to take back the kingdom," the mermaid said. "Fine, I will help you…but you must promise me one thing."
Caligo stared with annoyance, cueing her to continue.
"You must give me mine if I am to get you yours. I have tried to escape these harsh waters for years, and every mermaid kingdom has driven me away. You will ensure that I have permanent residence in Seagundia, where no one may attack me ever, ever, again!"
Caligo sneered.
"It's a deal."