Thus she wandered about miserably for some years, never to find that which she yearned for
- Jacob and Willhem Grimm, Rapunzel

Encounter
noun
1. a meeting with a person or thing, especially a casual, unexpected, or brief meeting:
verb (used with object)
1. to come upon or meet with, especially unexpectedly:

Spring, XX87, Fiore Ocean

Today was just meant to be a simple day of harassing the humans. That was the plan.

Lucy was pretty sure she had never swam so fast before, dodging and weaving between sharp coral and strong rocks that could break her brittle bones into pieces. Her plan was not going quite as smoothly as she wanted.

Why was it so hard for the humans just to let the plan happen? All she was going to do was break the surface, sing to a few stupid humans, drown a couple, and then go back to her usual day. It's not that bad of a plan. But of course the humans had to ruin it. How she supposed to know the humans had ear protectors. The white little buds protruding from her ear seemed to spite her as she fruitlessly sang to them. Lucy swore she saw some of them laugh in her face.

So here she was, trying to lose the bane of her existence in the dangerous underbrush, her tail constantly changing colours to blend in with the vibrant coral and dark rock. Lucy hadn't been this close to the humans' home ground in years. Their small boats gliding across the ocean overhead thanks to the help of some strange glowing crystal; Lucy could feel the magic radiating from it, disrupting the peace of the shallow water bed.

Shallow water...? Oh clam, it dawned on Lucy that they were trying to corner her on the shore. As soon as she bypassed the coral forest she would have nowhere left to go, rocks lined her right and the humans had formed a semi circle around her to the left. All there was left was sandy shores ahead of her, just enough water covering the shore to move. Lucy was trapped; these humans would capture her and do who knows what to her.

Lucy had to summon someone she never would have thought, or wanted, to ever call for. Reaching down to the key ring positioned on her belt, pulling out the key at the back. It was rusted and seemed to make all the water surrounding it darker, wicked. Compared to the other keys it felt heavy in her hand, almost as if wanting to drag her to the very depths of the ocean, although that would only be less than a foot downwards from where she was trapped.

"Gate of the Sea Witch, I open thee: Porlyusica."

Dark, brooding clouds circled overhead, a stark contrast to the sunny blue sky a few boats length in the distance. The temperature of the sea seemed to drop to an almost icy chill as a tall figure rose above the surface of the water. I guess she has a thing for dramatic flair? Lucy glanced around as a chill shot up her spine, rattling every individual vertebra. The world was frozen, not literally, but it was as if time had stopped. The usual relentless waves stood still for a first and the humans were lifeless statues, halfway through their actions to capture Lucy.

The Witch's pink hair was pulled back into a bun and her bangs didn't move from their place framing her face, even as she swivelled around to glare at Lucy.

"You better have not called me here to fight; you wouldn't be stupid enough to do that. Would you?" The heated glare Lucy received made her stiffen up, unable to tell the Sea Witch that, yes indeed; she was stupid enough to do that.

Porlyusica seemed to realise that as she released a long winded sigh that Lucy was worried her soul would leave her body. "You've got your fathers blood, I know because you believe in the same foolish behaviour. You two are just like the humans, a race of simpletons who see fighting as the only way to accomplish things."

Lucy would have retaliated as the witch began to mutter about 'stupid humans' and 'reckless mermaids', but unfortunately the witch was her only hope at escape. What was that human saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you?

"I just wish to get out of here and not end up in their capture, and if you could help me, it'd be much appreciated." Lucy knew that the woman in front of her appeared frail and light handed, but the very magical energy Porlyusica released was enough to keep Lucy using her most humble language. Guess she should thank her father for the 14 years of etiquette lessons.

"I could rescue you from your predicament, but you must know, I don't do favours, I do deals. What would you give me in return?"

Lucy paused for a moment, the word 'everything' on the tip of her tongue, but she was smart enough to keep it caged in her mouth. Who knew what the witch would do with that power. "What would you want?"

There was a pause as Porlyusica stared into Lucy's eyes, each second making Lucy feel more and more exposed. "My key back, I am not a fan of knowing that someone has the ability to summon me whenever. I stay seclude for a reason, it won't work for me if some stupid mermaid keeps summoning me left and right."

"Of course, here," Lucy rushed back to the ring of keys she had placed back on her belt after summoning the Witch, "you can have it back. Thank you for saving me."

A scoff left Porlyusica's mouth as she looked down at Lucy's head, only just above the surface, her arm protruding from the water. "Don't thank me yet," The Sea Witch said as she snatched the key from Lucy's webbed hands, "I'm opening an underwater tunnel system, it will lead you to what you want most. Don't start crying if you get lost though, all tunnels lead back to the ocean."

The clouds above started to dissipate as the water around the sea witch bubbled, and before a word could leave Lucy's lips the witch had disappeared.

Tch, stingy. She could have at least taken me home, or got rid of the humans. Lucy quickly glanced up at the humans as she saw them readying a net into the water. Feeling the pull of magic behind her, Lucy doubled up over herself and swam in the opposite direction of the humans, her chest touching the bottom of the sandy ground at times.

Ahead of her underneath a collection of coral and battered down rocks, Lucy spotted a small opening, just big enough for her to go through without getting stuck.

Lucy began to beat the sandy ground beneath her, making sure to pull up as much sand as she could to give herself cover. This'll be a beach to clean out later but at least they can't see where I'm going now.

As Lucy reached the entrance of the tunnel her claws slid out above her fingertips and sunk into the sides of the rock, in one quick burst of power Lucy pulled herself forward to speed up her momentum in the tunnel.

Luckily there was more room inside of the tunnel, enough for her tail to help her hastily rush through the tunnels, but before she even got a meter away from the entrance it collapsed behind her, rocks pilling on top of each other.

I guess I won't be going back that way anytime soon.

Lucy followed the narrow path for what seemed like hours, but she couldn't say for certain, the lack of light and details didn't help her distinguish how long she had been trapped in the tunnel. Lucy was thankful that she lived at the bottom of the ocean, it had helped her develop a resistance to dark waters, as she could make the faint outlines of the rocky wall. While her sight was helpful, the most information she got about the tunnel was from her hands dragging and pulling along the edges of the tunnel, the delicate webbing between her fingers touching every bump and ridge of the wall.

When Lucy began her journey in the tunnel she would have thought the confining spaces and darkness would have been the most terrifying aspect, but what scared her most was the fact that there was nothing living in these tunnels. No barnacles on the side of the walls, no plankton scuttling around on the bottom of the floor, and not even any amoebas floating through the water to be caught on her fine webbings.

The long hours of swimming must have caught up to Lucy at some point because she awoke at one point on the bottom of the tunnel, her tail folded back over her as a blanket, the thick webbing in of her caudal fin acting as a pillow.

What caught her attention was the way one of the ends of her wispy dorsal fins moved in the water, dancing back and forth to silent music. Movement meant current which obviously meant there was an opening somewhere. Somewhere hopefully with light (even the bottom of the ocean had bioluminescent worms and fish to light up the city) and food.

Lucy raced off down the tunnel as new hope filled her, pushing her forward against a current that stronger the closer she got. She felt the change in her tail and glanced down to see the hopeful blue of her tail, the colour so similar to Aquarius. The reminder of her old friend made her tail dim, whether from the sadness that had crept into Lucy's core or from shame of comparing her tail to one as beautiful as Aquarius. Lucy would have thought by the age of 18 she would have settled down, to have a colour of her own, to have one less thing to be looked down for.

Giving her head a quick shake, Lucy faced forward and halted to a stop, the water too shallow now to swim in. The water in the tunnel had reached a small hill; a hill with water on the other side of it, Lucy noted as her ears picked up the sound of flowing water crashing against the opposite side of the small hill. Upon further inspection, it seemed it was less of a hill and more of a rough rock protruding from the ground. Lucy ran her fingers down to the bottom of the rock to see if she could pick it up and swim under it, but her persistent pulling was going nowhere.

She had to climb over it.

With a heave Lucy had managed to slid her fingers into a crevice above the surface and pull her torso out of the water, the strange sensation of water sliding down her back was foreign but not unpleasant. Leaning her weight forward, Lucy managed to keep her body suspended on the rock as she pulled her fingers out of the rock's crevice and began searching for another one towards the front of the rock. Just a bit more and I can use my momentum to slide down the rock onto the other side. Frustration grew as Lucy found nothing to grab onto, she knew she had to slide her claws into the strong rock but was worried on whether they could break into the tough rock, especially after all the wear of dragging herself in the tunnel yesterday. Having no other choice, in one quick motion she stabbed her hand towards the rock, only managing to get a fraction of the talon in before it became too rough to penetrate.

That would have to do.

There was one paused moment after Lucy gave one forceful yank over the rock; she laid there, her tail hanging over the edge of the rock while her torso extended forward, her hands still in the rock. Then the moment was gone as her tail swung forward over herself, hitting the ceiling as fell forward, a sharp pain striking through her. As she had fallen, her tail had hit a low hanging stalagmite, and Lucy so distracted by the blow had momentarily forgotten to withdraw her claws.

Lucy hit the cold water with an injured tail and two less claws, great. She let out a scream of frustration and pain under the water, the water level this side of the rock being much deeper, able to cover the sounds. After the throbbing in her hand lessened, Lucy glanced around the tunnel, elated when she saw a small set of fish approaching her from where they had most likely retreated after her fall. Yes, food! With the sight of living creatures in front of her, Lucy completely forgot about her injuries and jolted forward.

Bad move.

Lucy could taste the copper tinge to the water and could lightly see the red disruption of her blood in the clear water. Ok so tail doesn't work, and neither does left hand. I can totally do this. Slowly pulling herself forward, Lucy reached out her injured hand towards a fish, calmly not to startle it. With one quick move she used her jagged, but intact, nails to gut the fish.

Not the tastiest fish in the ocean, but it would have to do. Lucy stealthily continued to catch fish until she had 5 small, grey carps collected in her side pouch, placed next to some seaweed and various little snacks. That should last me a few days at least. Lucy had no idea how far away the ocean, but there was definitely not a high enough salt concentration in this water to be near the ocean. She just had to trust Porly's words and believe it would eventually reach back to the ocean.

Securing her belt and making sure all her keys were safe, Lucy set off again, hoping to reach somewhere suitable to sleep. Her back ached for soft sand and a soft pillow of seaweed, but looking around Lucy only saw I light coating of sea moss, not enough to make a pillow at least.

Lucy wondered if her father noticed she was missing yet, or would he be distracted by her sisters as usual. Gosh this tunnel makes me pessimistic, first Aquarius and now her father; she hadn't felt jealousy like this in years. Maybe it's the solitude?

Caught up in her thoughts Lucy didn't realise that the tunnel had gotten lighter and wider until she could see the claws on the hand dragging her forward. Light meant there was an exit nearby, an exit that hopefully had a tunnel to the ocean.

Lucy was right about one thing, up ahead, maybe a boat's length away, was a small circular opening, smaller than the last one. Lucy was dubious that she would fit but she had to give it a try, where else was there to go.

Lucy felt her heart beat fast in fear and hope, it showing physically with the mix of pale blue and black on injured tail. What if she didn't fit? What if she did and there was something even worse on the outside? Or even more terrifying, something better?

Lucy had a small annoyance for humans, but even after all these years she had still kept her curiosity about the surface world and all its glamour. She saw the interesting objects they dropped in the sea when there ship's sunk to the ocean floor. She saw the tall towers that climbed so high they could be seen from the ocean's plane. But she also saw the human's hatred and anger; the small wars and constant fighting.

Why would she want to see a broken world?

But right now she had no other choice, unless she wanted to starve in a dark cave, and that's if she didn't bleed out first.

Lucy's right hand reached out and grabbed the side of the opening, giving it a light tug: it seemed secure enough. Being careful not to put any pressure on her injured fingers, Lucy wrapped her hand around the other edge of the opening and pushed herself through, almost fully passed through opening. Key word being almost. With a crack and a grumble, she felt the opening begin to crumble underneath her hands, debris slipping through her fingers. Ignoring the pain, Lucy pulled her tail through opening, a mere second before the whole opening collapsed in on itself.

What was with these bloody (a human word that she learnt that always felt satisfying to say) openings collapsing? Why does the sea witch have a problem against sound architecture?

Lucy found peace in the feeling of her neck and rib gills fluttering as she took deep breaths to calm herself, taking a moment to collect her thoughts before she had to go drag herself somewhere else. Lucy looked left and right, only to find no more exits. No, this cannot be happening.

She found hope in glancing upwards, the familiar shimmer of low light hitting water calmed her as she realised there was a surface. Across the water, a strip of rock jutted out, similar to the seats that were carved into the limestone in the kingdom. Lucy decided she would sit down, possibly find something to bind her tail to stop the bleeding and eat a few of the carp she caught.

Lucy's body seemed to fight against her as she crossed the last few paces from the broken entrance to the seat, the build of fatigue and hunger from the last few days wanting to all rush out now. It seemed it was only by her stubbornness alone (her father's trait), that she managed to position herself on the bench before she passed out.

When she awoke again the light felt like a slap in the face, almost ten times brighter than before and all the more radiant. But now was not the time to get distracted by pretty lights, now was the time to eat, fix her tail, and think of a plan.

The eating part was fairly simple, consuming 2 of the 5 fishes, knowing she would need to save some more for later. The binding of her tail: not so easy. The only fabric she had on her was her pouch, which she needed, her bustier, which she also needed, and a few scraps of seaweed, not long enough to wrap around her tail. In the process of dragging herself over rocks and jagged ground, the coral and seaweed of her top began to fall apart, strips had started coming of it and left behind in the tunnels. It wouldn't be enough material to fully cover her tails, even when using the whole garment, but it would have to do for now.

In the method of wrapping her tail, Lucy noticed the damage that had befallen her hand. What she thought was a mere broken claw, was actually a complete mutilation, not only had her claw been completely ripped of her hand, but along with it had gone her fingernails. She should probably also wrap that as well, knowing how easy it was to bleed out in the ocean, the salty water not allowing the wound to scab.

This process took her well into the day, and when Lucy finally emerged from her task she was able to make out the pink and orange hues playing on the water. Guess I better see what's above.

Lucy's curiosity usually led her into trouble, alongside punishment from her father, but she recalled one time her mother led her to the surface, a few months after 'The Attack'. Layla spoke of how she didn't want her daughter to hate the surface; even after all it had done to her. Lucy remembers being so sceptical at the time, so sure nothing would make up the damage inflicted on her tail, but all words of rebuttal was stolen from her mouth as she saw what the humans called a sunset. The rainbow of colours that stretched across the sky seemed to sing to Lucy, creating a beautiful art piece with the water's reflection.

Even that sunset held no candle to the view she saw.

The strange coral that grew tall from the ground filled the scenery with colours of emerald and jade, and the ground was rich and deep in a brown she had never seen. Flowers of every colour seemed to blossom from every corner, and beautiful birds sitting in the trees where painted with reds, blues and yellows; breath taking compared to the plain white of seagulls.

"Hello,"

Lucy had to hold in a scream as she turned around in her seat. She felt her tail camouflage into the colours of the ground below her on reflex. There in front of her was the weirdest creature she had ever seen, and she had seen a squidworm. But why was this creature speaking human, was it the universal language of the dry creatures?

"Hello." She replied, one of the few human words she knew.

The strange creature looked her for a few moments before replying, "Hello." Why was he repeating himself?

"You are..." What was the word humans used after they escaped her fellow mermaids' grasp, "safe?"

"Aye." Aye? Lucy had never heard that word before; she would have remembered such a strange word.

"Aye?"

"Aye,"

Lucy was so close to skinning this blue demon, "What are 'Aye'?"

The mer flattened her tail to the ground as the annoying creature stepped closer, "You're weird."

Oh, Lucy knew that word. She had heard it many times whenever the mer's played tricks on the humans, "I am not weird." She yelled, picking up one of the hardened balls of mud and throwing it near its feet.

"Ooh scary." The deadpan expression of the creature did not support its words.

Unfortunately Lucy didn't know the human words for 'if you were any closer I would pull you into this lake and drown you' so she settled for dragging her thumb across her neck in the universal symbol for 'I'm going to kill you'. Extended claw for dramatic effect, of course.

"You're hurt." Lucy didn't quite understand what it was saying about her but the worried look in the small demons eye was not the reaction she would expect from someone who just received a threat. Maybe this creature was stupid?

Wings erupted from the back of the creature, knocking a green bag on its back. Lucy had to withhold a second shriek; she was not expecting this creature to have wings. "Wait right here, I'm going to get help."

Lucy understood two words in that sentence, only one of them were making sense. 'Wait'. Well were else was she going to go. Maybe she hit the mark before; maybe this creature really was stupid.

There was silence for a while, leaving Lucy to ponder over her thoughts. Maybe this creature knew how to get to the ocean, if so, how could she get its help without showing it her tail. Maybe she should just tell it?

Lucy perked up as she heard rustling in the distance before a distinctive, "Aye."

"Are you sure there's someone out here? I can only smell fish and plants. Is this some plan to get me to go fishing, because you could have just asked?"

So the creature had brought help. Lucy wondered if this one would be a strange blue as well, or maybe a different colour? Pink? Nah.

"I'm serious, there's a girl in the water. She's weird."

Hearing the word weird, she knew it was talking about her. Maybe Lucy should drown the blue creature; she had been offended twice already. But before she could fully develop her plan for idiot drowning the snap of a nearby twig made Lucy turn her head.

Oh no.

Lucy was definitely going to drown that little barnacle; him and his stupid pink haired human.

Let me tell you something, Australian weather is so indecisive. Wednesday was a thunderstorm with the temp of 22C (72F), then Thursday was 40C (104F) with fires left, right and center, and then again today its massive thunder storm at 30C (86F) now it's back to 40C. Like WTF Australia, get it together?