"Good morning daughters! I am glad to see you all awake and ready. Now today we - - wait, where is Roan!" Terentio was the Sea King's brother, and father to the great number of mermaids.
Apsara rose to greet her father, her orange tail writhing with forced movement.
"Father, last night, we were all sound asleep when we heard Roan scream for help far away. We followed the voice of our sister, and it took us up to the pool. When our heads broke through the water, we were stunned to see Roan, naked, coupling with a human man. First we were angry, until we realized that it was not of her will. We took the man, but we had to leave Roan. She was so damaged we could not bring her down."
The Prince sunk to the sand ground and was silent. After a few moments he rose shaking with anger, and asked to see the man. One of the mermaids opened their chest where they kept their jewels, and there sat a man, naked from waist down. He was tied with seaweed, and was conscious only because the mermaids had given him breath so that he could endure the wrath of the prince.
"You, scum of the earth, have violated something you knew nothing about, and have ruined the way of life we have known all these years. For this, you shall pay. And to you, my daughters, know now that the surface is no longer a place of intrigue."
The Kingdom was called forth to the royal palace, and stood outside its gates as the King delivered a speech.
"Last night, one of ours has been raped and murdered by the humans. My niece, Roan. Though she should not have been above the water, this does not change the fact that humans have destroyed the mutual trust we have had. The man who committed this deed will be hung above her gravestone, though we do not have her body, in pieces. Let this be a lesson to us: humans are not nice creatures. They are an evil that we must fight, we must battle them. To do so, we will disappear. No longer will we aid them when water becomes their death. No longer will we make appearances in human's domain. We'll let the stories of our kind die. To institute these regulations, no more frolicking too close to the surface, and no more playing at the Pool. You may go."
Roan's sisters sat in their room, mourning their loss. Pael was out with their mother, and they began discussing something.
"We need to tell Minne," said one sister, speaking of the sister who was disgraced, living in the shadow lands. "Yet who will venture into her domain?" The girls remained silent, the shadow waters were places normal merpeople did not visit, they were dangerous, full of the riff raff of their kind.
Iara, the eldest, swam in front of her sisters. "I'll do it."
Swimming away from the merpeople land, Iara wondered how she would know she had arrived. Time went by, and she thought of her little sister Minne. She had wanted pretty things, and had done dirty deeds with the rich mermen in the kingdom to achieve sparkling little trinkets. She had broken apart several marriages, and ruined the lives of many. Iara soon notice the sand growing darker, the seaweed thicker, until it rose high into the sea. Pushing her way through the seaweed she struggled not to turn back, she gripped the knife her sisters had given her tightly.
The places seemed to be touched with darkness. Everything was darker, denser. The water was colder. The creatures she saw were filled with disastrous emotions, and she was shocked to see what went on in such a place. Dimly lit kelp bulbs illuminated the gritty roads, where trash was displayed all over. She stopped into what she thought was an inn to ask where Minne lived, and to her horror she had stumbled into a house of ill repute. Mermaids young and old, fat and slim, ugly and pretty, were laying on every surface, their breasts naked. Mermen took their pleasure with whichever one they wished, and moved on to the next. She pushed past a merman who tried to pull off her seaweed shawl, and tightened her grip around it. She found a girl who was not busy at the moment, she had pale yellow hair, her yellowish tail hung limply, her scales unkempt. Iara could see that her ribs stuck out prominently, and her breasts hung loosely and were bruised. Shocked to see that the scales around her abdomen that covered her privates were long gone, a sign of prostitution and excessive amounts of coupling.
"Excuse me, do you by some chance know where Minne lives?"
The girl stared at her limply. "Follow the road down for a bit, and then turn when you see the coral turn black. Keep swimming until you see nothing around you, and you will see her cave. She charges a lot, unlike some. And miss? Get out of here while you still can."
Iara thanked her, and hurried out of the place. She continued on, dismissing the men who shouted her way with a flick of her knife. Swimming until she no longer saw any building, she continued.
The cave was simply one big rock, surrounded by dead fish and dismal sea plants. Taking a deep breath, the poor mermaid rushed inside. She looked around until, in a corner, she saw her sister curled in a crevice.
"Minne- - Minne it's your sister."
The once beautiful mermaid opened her faded eyes, and uncurled her pale blue tale. She sat up straight, seemingly daring her sister to comment on her exposed body.
"Well well well. If it isn't the good old sister coming to see her failed kin. I have business arriving soon, so be quick. I should warn you that once you come here, it is near impossible to leave."
"Minne, Roan is dead."
Thanks so much for reading, I'll be updating really soon, and the next chapter will be a lot of Minne, which will be interesting.
Fireworksinmybackpocket: I'm sorry the last chapter was so confusing, Roan was the one raped and killed, by the human on the surface.
CherishGrace: I realize now it was confusing, because of the change of point of views. I guess I just got really carried away. I hope you still like it and keep reading!
Midori Kosatsu: I'm glad you liked it, I'm trying to update this one a lot.
Your Requiem: I know sorry it was so confusing!
Metaphorical: Yay I'm so glad you liked it
Glaze: I'm updating regularly, thanks for reading!
Ardente