Written for QLFC - Season 9, Round 13
Team: Wigtown Wanderers
Position: Keeper
Prompt: [Book] The Surface Breaks - Louise O'Neill
No Warnings!
Word Count: 1,645
It is night, and the reef is quiet. Only the coral bears witness to Fleur's escape. She slips out of the castle window and dips down low to swim amongst the rocks and anemone. The cave she wants is three echoes away. A long swim for anyone, let alone someone who is forbidden to race or strengthen their tail, but she is determined to try.
It takes hours to reach the Sea Witch's cave. The seabed begins to slope, and finally the ocean veers away from her, looming down into an inevitable sort of blackness. The bottom drops out of her stomach. She has always lived in the deep sea, but even deeper waters await, seething with even darker monsters.
The Sea Witch's cave hovers above the dark abyss. Fleur swims a little closer, eyeing the floating structure. No discernible ledges are anchoring it in place, so it must be magic. The mere thought sends shivers up her spine. Mermaids are not permitted to do magic, no matter how capable they might be, no matter how much they feel the siren call.
Strange music drifts out of the cave. Fleur glides through the water, pressing her hand to the open doorway. The inside looks dark and gloomy, but the water isn't toxic the way she'd been warned.
"Nymphadora Tonks?" Fleur calls.
Her voice echoes through the cave, drifting back to her. The music stops abruptly, that unfamiliar land-walker warble cutting off without warning. Fleur grips the doorway, feeling rough stone beneath her webbed fingers. There is nobody there. But there has to be. All she has to do is look. Heart pounding, she pushes off from the doorway and sinks into the cave, scouring the dark room for signs of life.
Glowing eyes. Her heart triples its pace. She lets out a little gasp, backing up, and then stops, drawing herself up.
"Nymphadora Tonks?" she asks again, a little more firmly this time.
The glowing eyes turn pink, and then purple, before settling on a rich, dark colour. Tentacles come tumbling out of the shadows, followed by a plump figure wearing a tight, mussel-encrusted corset. Her face is round and her lips are dark. Her hair is cut inappropriately short, painted a vibrant, shocking shade of violet. Fleur grits her teeth, determined not to back up any further as the Sea Witch oozes towards her.
"It's just Tonks," says the Sea Witch.
Fleur blinks. "Pardon?"
"Tonks," the Sea Witch says, emphasising carefully. "Not Nymphadora. What brings you here, Princess? I've gotta say, you're the last soul I expected to sneak in here."
"I have…" Fleur clears her throat, drawing on her courage. "I have come to form a contract."
Tonks brightens. "Oh, well that's easy enough! Follow me."
Tonks swims with surprising grace to the middle of the room, clapping her hands. Pearlescent shells begin to glow around the room, some streaked with paint to make the colours darker or lighter. She is too cheerful as she darts around, gathering scrolls of parchment and ink, searching for ingredients amongst the vials she keeps on her shelves.
The soldiers said the Sea Witch's cave was full of dark, noxious magic. They said she kept the tails of mermaids that dared to cross her path pinned to her wall. They said she wore their scales like jewellery. With every inch of the cave highlighted with pale light, it is easy to see that none of that is true. There are comfortable cushions and shelves full of oddities, and though the cauldron in the centre holds a strange, garish green gas, it does not appear to be simmering with mermaid blood.
"They lied to me," Fleur murmurs.
"You talking about the snooty guards back at the reef?" Tonks glances over her shoulder, sympathy written all over her face. "Yeah, they lied to you. About much more than me."
Fleur shakes her head, the plait at the back of her hair pulling tight with the motion, earning a wince. But she is used to it. She ignores the pain, propelling herself across the room with one quick motion of her tail until she lands at Tonks's side. Tonks looks oddly taken aback, shifting her tentacles to make room, still holding one of the vials.
"What else did they lie about?" Fleur demands. "I know some things. I have gathered information. Mermaids go missing, and I know it is because they ask questions, defy orders. But I am already technically missing, so asking questions won't cause any more trouble, will it?"
Tonks laughs, sounding a little startled. Her laugh is loud and braying, with a little snort at the end. Fleur stares at her, a little shocked and a little fascinated. All her noises, no matter how much they are surprised out of her, must be quiet and pleasing to the ear. That is the rule most mermaids live by.
"I guess it won't cause any trouble," Tonks agrees. "It doesn't seem like you're too concerned about trouble anyway. So, what do you want to know first? There's so much. Did you know mermaids and mermen used to be equal? They ruled alongside each other. And they all had the same amount of power, the same amount of weight. Mermaids trained for battle, and men read bedtime stories to their younglings."
A throaty sound leaves her, entirely unexpected. "And what else?"
"We could wear whatever we want," Tonks said, sounding a little more careful now, trying not to look at Fleur's silver tail and coverings. "Didn't matter if it was too short, too long, if it covered everything or nothing. Nobody could tell us what to wear except us. And you never had to braid your hair."
"Never?" Fleur reaches back to skim the end of her braid, breathless. "You are not lying to me?"
The scrolls and the potion is entirely forgotten as Tonks lays the vial aside, shaking her head.
"Not lying," she says, sounding almost eager. "You think I'm the only one they branded a Sea Witch? Those missing mermaids you mentioned; a lot of them were banished, and live further away from the reef."
"And the ones who were not banished?"
Tonks hesitates. And then she shakes her head.
"I knew that would be the answer." Fleur swallows thickly, unable to hide her trembling hands. "I knew it, and yet…"
"I know."
And she does know, Fleur realizes, as she meets Tonks's gaze. There is pain there, a deep sort of grief and an undeniable rage simmering under the surface. Much of what they are is forced to lie under the surface. Fleur has always tried not to mind it, to bide her time and accept the truth of her existence. It seemed safer that way. But now she feels like she could burn it all away.
"No more," Fleur says.
She reaches back to undo the plait. Every morning and every evening, a silent mermaid comes in to comb out her hair until it shines. And then they re-do the braid. Every morning, and every evening. Her hair is never allowed to be free, never allowed to tempt another merman in the Kingdom. It makes her stomach twist violently as she fumbles for the bands holding it in place.
"I can do it," Tonks offers softly. "More power to you if you want to do it alone, but you don't have to. I've been there."
Fleur glances at her hair, shaven short at the sides, styled into spikes at the top. It still looks soft somehow, but there is a reason it's so short, even if Tonks would like to pretend it is only for her own amusement. She nods, letting her hands fall away. Tonks looks so surprised that she almost drops the vial, but she gets herself together, gesturing for Fleur to turn.
The long, elegant braid comes apart in Tonks's hands. For all her fumbling, her fingers are quick and sure. She doesn't get too close, doesn't take any liberties. No breath on the back of her neck. Only the slight clunk as pins and bands land on the table beside them, and the odd curse as she stumbles upon a snag. Fleur holds her breath through the last few pins, and when it's done, she lets it all out in a rush.
Fleur's hair turns to white-blond silk in the water. It drifts and floats freely. A sort of mangled laugh comes spitting out of her throat, strangled with a strange sense of grief and relief. Not her prettiest noise, but she doesn't care. When she turns, still laughing, Tonks only grins at her. Her cheeks are a little pink from proximity, but Fleur finds that it isn't the same as those leering soldiers that stare at her when she swims demurely through the hallways. It is much sweeter, and much more careful.
"So, if you still want that contract," Tonks begins, but Fleur shakes her head fiercely.
"I want a different contract," she declares, leaning forward into Tonks's face, her hair spilling all around them. "Teach me how to use magic. I have always been able to feel it, but never have I known how to use it. Teach me."
Tonks stutters, and she realizes how close they are. She has never been allowed to be this close to someone before. It gives her a strange jolt of triumph, and she takes a little pleasure in seeing the pink in those cheeks deepen. She smiles, much like the sharks she sees swim idly by nearer the surface, and leans back for long enough for Tonks to get her breath.
"I have a feeling you're going to end up teaching me more than I can teach you," Tonks mutters, though she doesn't sound too disappointed about it. "But yes. I'll teach you."
Fleur bares her teeth in a decidedly un-pretty grin.