Prince of Rocky Isle

By: Aubrie1234

I ached when I awoke and my head was fuzzy. After hearing the music, I remembered nothing. Looking around, I found myself lying on the cave floor in my damp clothes beside the cove. What had happened? How had I gotten all the way here without knowing?

"You're awake!" Frank had popped up beside me, grinning once again, "Ready?" I was confused.

"Ready for what?" His face fell.

"You don't remember?"

"No...?" I frowned, wondering what he was getting at.

"I sang to you and you promised you wouldn't leave again, not for anything." Something occurred to me and I turned angry.

"You tricked me!" I snarled, "You sang to hypnotize me and made me do something else, something I would regret!"

"I didn't!" Fear and anger flashed in his eyes as he pulled himself up to his full height, "Guppy, you have to understand that each mer-species sings differently. Only Fish hypnotize. Dolphin voices are so wonderful they have no need for hypnotizing qualities. Sharks sing to attract mates and only those who love the Shark and the Shark loves back will be affected." His eyes softened, even as I recoiled.

"I don't love you!"

"You do, otherwise my song wouldn't have worked. I know you love me by that alone, so please accept that." I shook my head. I was straight, I was sure! I didn't love him, he was just an animal!

"I'm going home." I glanced at him, "I might not come back, after what you did." Fear appeared on his face.

"No!" he grabbed my ankle, "You promised you wouldn't leave again!" I slapped his hand away angrily.

"I was under your spell, of course I agreed!" I snapped, "Everything I said I didn't mean and you knew it! Why try to convince me otherwise?!"

"Joe-!" I got to my feet and ran. I wanted to get away from him, he hurt me and had no regrets about it! As I ran out of the cave, I saw him again.

"Joe!" Frank's head popped out of the water a short distance away, "Please wait!"

"Go away, I hate you!" Right now, all I was feeling was anger, but my emotions were jumbled and I was taking it all out on him. Ignoring Frank, I went to my boat and tried to start the motor. It started and ran fine, but the boat didn't move. Looking over the side I realized that the propeller was gone and that what was left was just churning the water.

"Looking for this?" the mershark hissed as he appeared a few feet from the boat, just out of reach. He was glaring at me, his teeth bared as he waved the fan like a trophy, "You promised not to leave me so I'm making sure you keep that promise. And we made love, too. You gave yourself to me willingly and we slept together. I dressed you, I put you on the cave floor, and this is what I get?" he threw the fan over his shoulder, far into the bay, before swimming forward and grasping my ankle again, "You're not leaving."

My brain had nearly stopped working, however, when he said we made love. My hands gripped the rail tightly as I tried to process his words. That was impossible. Even under his magic, I would have never fallen for it! But if what he said was true... Tears came to my eyes and I fell to my knees, forcing him to let go. Instead of being angry, his face contorted in worry.

"Gup-?" he wasn't able to finish as I gave him a fury-powered punch to the jaw. I punched him so hard he was sent backwards and went under. He quickly came up and went back to glaring, "What was that for?!"

"YOU TOOK AWAY MY VIRGINITY WITHOUT MY CONSENT!" I screamed at him, closing my eyes tightly, "YOU RAPED ME, YOU CHUM-EATING, SLIMY, HIDEOUS, HEARTBREAKING FREAK! I WOULD HAVE NEVER LET YOU DO IT IF I WAS NORMAL, AND YOU HAVE NO REMORSE!" I began to sob as reality came crashing down on me, "Taking virginity is a sacred thing and you treated it as if it was something you could do all the time! I'm just 17, you know! I wanted to save myself for someone who I would truly care about, not just give it away like a present! You took that moment away from me, don't you understand?! You took it and now I can never get it back..."

"...Joe, I..." I blinked my eyes, trying to see him. It looked like he had swum away during my outburst and was slowly coming back. His face held sadness as he kept his distance, "...Shark songs don't force the listener to do anything. You would have only did that if you wanted to, I could never have forced you. You did it because you wanted it."

"Liar." I hiccuped.

"Joe, I love you too much to even think of doing something to hurt you. If I do, I punish myself." The end of his tail appeared out of the water and near the end, where the stalactite had hit, the wound was scabbing over and looked bigger than I remembered, "When I saw the blood from your head, I clawed and bit at my wound until I couldn't feel the pain anymore. But your pain still hurt me, your words hurt me. And during the song, I knew you loved me back, so why don't you show it?"

"I don't love you. I could never love someone who raped me." I felt no love for him, as overcome with anger and sadness as I was.

"...Goodbye." he dipped beneath the waves and soon the boat was moving again, but not by propeller. Frank was taking the boat back to the mainland by hand, so I turned off the motor to save gas. I watched the water pass by underneath, trying to get my mind off everything. But I couldn't. I felt so violated, scared, angry...and heartbroken. I wish he hadn't tricked to me, we could have been great friends. It was also at that point I realized what Frank had meant. The uneasiness I had always felt around him wasn't uneasiness. It was desire, but I had misread my emotions. At this revelation I stood and found myself back at the Bayport Docks. Frank was already gone, his fin in the distance.

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

I never went back to Rocky Isle after that. But my heart ached for him and wanted me to forgive him, even after what he had done. I couldn't, though, and I wasn't sure why. I loved him and I knew it, but I wasn't able to make myself go back. And when I returned to my boat after getting another propeller, I found something on deck. It was a pearl necklace wrapped around a pack of cards, which I shakily took into my hands. The magic necklace that allowed me to breathe underwater and his favorite thing he had found in his loneliness. He had given both to me and I cried over them. Usually I wasn't so emotional, but he had taken my heart, broken it, and pieced it together again. There was no reason for me not to be emotional, after all. I took the items home and placed them in a special wooden box to be kept with my other memories of my childhood, no matter how much those two particular things hurt.

As the days passed, I began to remember the events when I had been under his spell. He had said he was a prince, that he didn't want me to leave him again, and that he could make me immortal. Despite being blinded by love, upon looking through my memories, I could see the desperation in his eyes when he asked me to stay. He truly hadn't wanted me to go and I had broken that promise. No wonder he had been so mad and sad. He had been willing to do anything for me, and he took me home when I never wanted to see him again. He was an amazing guy with a kind (if obsessive) heart. Why had I ever been angry at him?

But then... I got another chance, a few months later. Another chance to earn his love again and possibly have a happy ending. I wasn't going to waste it, not this time.

So...short... *dies* Anyway, here's the chapter and epilogue. Yet it feels a little lacking... But please read & review! The next story should be out soon, I hope!