The Mermaid and the Beast.
Chapter 1- Prologue
It all began on a stormy night.
Despite the entire ruckus happening above the surface, the creatures of the sea continued with their daily lives. Some of them were just awakening from a good day's sleep, and swam out of their homes, looking around the algae and corals for something to eat. Although the storm and rain didn't affect the bottom of the ocean, the lightings could be seen from the darkest depths.
A sudden scream of pain startled them.
It was a woman's scream; it sent shivers down every fish's spines. Turtles retreated inside their shells, stingrays returned to their hideouts in the sand, and fish swam back into their homes upon hearing it. However, there were a few fish that felt curiosity of the origin of the soul-tearing screams, but most of them swam back when they realized the screams were coming from one of the most dreaded places in the seven seas.
Sharkania.
Very few fish dared to brave the Sharkanians' homeland; there were cannons filled with lava running across the land, with scattered sunken ships which served as homes for the shark-like merfolk. What made the Sharkanians even more feared by every creature in the sea was their temper; strong, proud and aggressive; one wrong word and you slept with the fishes (literally).
The screams were coming directly from one sunken ship in the Sharkanian territory, but no one dared to go and find out what was going in there; they imagined a poor mermaid was being attacked or tortured by one of those sea devils, or even worse. The screaming continued for what seemed an eternity, until finally, it stopped, as mysteriously as it had begun.
Baby crying took its place.
Saltwater Orphanarium was one of the least recurred buildings in Atlantica. There were only a few orphans in King Triton's reign, given that in his rule, all the merfolk lived peacefully and with almost no wars or anything that could leave a merchildren as orphans. But not everything was colored in pink, as humans said, and despite the King's efforts, there were still a few orphans there and there, either abandoned by their families or having run away from home.
The warden of the orphanarium was a mermaid in about her thirties named Sky, and she was among the few who genuinely cared about orphans. She had tan skin, and brunette hair, which was tied in a ponytail; her eyes were, like her name implied, of a sky blue color, tinted with a little navy blue. Her tailfin was a moderate cherry pink, she wore darker pink shells to adorn her breasts.
The merchildren of the orphanarium all adored her above all the other volunteers working there: she was like a mother-like figure to all of them, and encouraged them that someday they would have a loving family. But unfortunately, there were actually only one or two pair of married merfolk that were interested in adopting an orphaned child every generation, since most of them preferred children with their own flesh and blood.
That particular night, after tucking in the merchildren who were afraid of storms, Sky headed back to her office to organize her paperwork, which in one of her small mistakes were blown by a current that came in from her opened window. After closing her window securely this time, the mermaid started picking the papers up and placed them back on her green coral desk. Before she could finish with her task, the bell rang, calling her attention.
"Who could it be at this hour?" thought Sky as she swam towards the door; whoever it was, it surely didn't want to adopt a child. Opening the door, she realized there was no one around the streets, except for a few guards who were on patrol, just in case one troublemaker or two appeared. But before she could close the door, a faint sound reached her ears. Sky looked down, and took a delicate hand to her lips, containing a gasp.
There was a giggling newborn baby at the doorstep, inside a small algae basket. She was covered with a pink blanket: The baby had storm blue hair tinted with a little red, and her skin was of a sandy color. The tip of her tailfin, which stuck out slightly from the blanket, was a metallic, grayish blue, which would remind Sky of the Sharkanians' color- NO! What was she thinking? This girl had nothing to do with those… monsters.
Sky noticed there was a slip of paper clipped on the blanket, and there was a small paper nametag on the basket, which read:
Spark
Sky picked the basket up, staring at the newborn, which had started sucking up her index. The mermaid playfully tickled the girl's nose, and the baby took a hold of her finger after setting her hazel eyes on it. She set her attention on the slip of paper, and taking it from the blanket she started reading. Her eyes widened a little, realizing the note was addressed to the daughter; she would have to put it away until the girl was old enough to read.
"Welcome to the Saltwater Orphanarium, I guess," Sky smiled warmly, closing the door and taking the girl from the basket, she headed towards the cribs. After tucking the now drowsy newborn on the closest to the door, Sky returned to her office and opened the drawer to place the note, not before giving it one last read.
My dear little Spark…
I'm sorry it had to be this way, but please understand that I cannot keep you. Your mother died giving you to me, and my… kind doesn't tolerate children born out of wedlock. I'm writing this because I want you to know that despite anything that happens, I love you. But as much as it pains us both, it will be best that you never find out who I am.
Farewell, my child.
Your real father.
Spark sighed sadly as she put away the note in her armor. The fifteen year-old girl had grown into a beautiful young mermaid, with long, wavy hair that often waved with the water currents and was so long it almost reached her waist. Her tail fin was long and with a good waist, she was considered beautiful by the young mermen that swam by her, but she paid them no heed. She was not interested in finding a boyfriend right then; she was mostly interested in finding out about her past.
Her lifelong dream was to meet her family, and find out why they had abandoned her. According to the note, she assumed her mother died at childbirth, and for some reason her father could not keep her with him. For fifteen years, all those times she cried, all those times she laughed, she wished her father would have been with her. But what upset her the most was the fact was that at times she felt... like an outcast.
Most mermaid girls liked thinking about the boy they liked, or the latest fashion trend, but not her. She was always interested in sharks, something she could never explain. As a child, she would sneak out of the Orphanarium and swim towards the open sea, where she often observed passing sharks, not minding if they came closer to her. The most shocking fact about the whole thing was that even if they noticed her presence and even swam closer to her, they never attacked her. The sharks usually sniffed her, then swam away, but young shark pups often waved their tail fins playfully, like a dog from the surface.
Because of this, Spark lived as an outcast most of her time. her fellow orphans of the Orphanarium thought of her as a shark-loving freak, and even gave her a nickname to rub it in her face: "Shark-girl." But she didn't care. Spark didn't care what they thought of her, if they didn't like her, it was their problem. She never listened to them at all; Sky was the only mermaid that she could trust. Although the older mermaid didn't understand Spark's... unusual fondness of sharks, she was the only one who didn't ridicule her because of it.
After turning fifteen, Spark was allowed to live independently, and she decided to join the regiment, which made her former fellow orphans think he had gone completely nuts. Only mermen were allowed to join the army, but after showing that she was a capable fighter and a stealth spy, Spark was reluctantly allowed in the Atlantican regiment.
Most of her assignments included patrolling the streets at night, sneaking on potential threats (such as a passing octopi an or suspicious-looking fish) and guarding the gates to the palace. In one of her shifts in the palace, she befriended one of the swordfish named Bluetail, who had recently joined the palace guard; it was one thing they had in common, both newbies, inexperienced and completely alone in the world. They became very close, like siblings.
"Sparky?" Bluetail's voice caught Spark's attention, and she turned to look at his golden eyes.
Like his name implied, he was colored of a solid blue, with his jaw and underbelly colored of a light blue. His tail fin had a few scars and bite marks, probably from a fight with a shark, and a spiky spine ran down his back, ending at his tail. His nose was long and sharp, like all swordfish's, and two fangs stuck from his mouth, pointing downwards. he had thick, black eyebrows, and navy blue rings around his eyes.
"What is it, Blu?" Spark replied, letting out a yawn and accommodating her helmet, "Did the attaché have one of his panic attacks again?"
Bluetail let out a small laugh, "No, not this time. Mr. Sebastian has not had one of his 'little scenes' these days, thank Triton for that, I wouldn't stand hearing his yelling again."
"What is it, then?"
"Well, we..." Bluetail swallowed the lump in his throat nervously, "Remember when you said you wanted to go 'out there and find something to fight with'?"
Spark started playing with the tip of her lance, "Yep"
"Commander Narcissus assigned us both to infiltrate a Sharkanian camp and steal their plans. He thinks they are planning to attack us, and he wants those plans to figure out what they are thinking."
...
"Sharkanian camp?" Spark repeated, a glint of hope in her eyes.
Bluetail sighed in resignation, "Unfortunately, yes."
The swordfish was taken by surprise by a hug from his mermaid friend, who spun around in excitement.
"I can't believe it! Finally some action! And I get to meet Sharkanians too!"
"Hey, hey, hey, wait a second!" Bluetail pulled away from the hug softly, "I understood the action part, but why would you want to meet Sharkanians? Haven't you heard? They're barbarian, bloodthirsty monsters! I don't think we should accept this assignment at all..."
"Come on, Blue!" Spark put her hands on her hips, "When did you become so boring? Besides, it's a piece of cake. All we have to do is to sneak in when they're all asleep, grab those plans and then come back."
"Yeah, if you don't take into account that Sharkanians are not precisely merciful..."
"Please, Blue! It's our chance to prove ourselves! We might even get promoted if our mission is a success! Besides, you would be away from Mr. Sebastian..."
Bluetail thought for a moment, "Well, when you put it that way..." finally, he smiled, "Alright, we should give it a shot."
Spark swam around the swordfish in excitement, "Oh, great! Just wait! We'll be done with the job before you can say 'Were Screwed!'"
Spark and Bluetail silently swam through the algae fields, in the direction Commander Narcissus had given them. THe particular camp they were going to sneak in was not that bit, it was simply a base for the Sharkanian soldiers to stop for supplies and then continue with their patrolling. It was located in the border between Atlantica and Sharkania, just in case Triton attempted to sent some of his troops to invade Sharkanian territory, despite the Atlantican monarch not having any interest in attacking Atlantica's neighbors.
When they finally reached the outskirts of the camp, the pair of friends hid behind one of the boulders that was located just outside. A few guards were still stationed around the camp, watching for any potential threat. Spark noticed there were poles on one side of the camp, and to those poles there were tied Great White Sharks. Apparently, Sharkanians preferred them over giant seahorses; in fact, Sharkanians were the only known seafood that could actually domesticate sharks. the sharks had coral saddles on their backs, with a thick algae belt keeping the saddles on their backs. The saddles were especially designed for those sharks, with one hole for the dorsal fins. Also, the bridle was long, tied to the masts.
A plan began forming in Spark's mind, but Bluetail was the only one who could do it. She gave Bluetail a glance.
"Hey, Blue..." I have an idea.
"What is it?"
When Spark motioned to the shark, Bluetail's eyes widened in realization and horror.
"Oh, no!" he whispered in low voice, attempting not to yelp, "They'll eat me!"
"No, they won't! I'll cut untie their bridles, you gain their attention, and I'll sneak into the tent to get the plans when the guards go after them.
Bluetail groaned in dismay, but gave his friend a nod.
"You untie them, I lead them away."
"Great. Stay here, and when I give you the signal, gain the sharks' attention and swim as fast as you can, but make sure they are still following you."
Spark quietly swam towards the pole the sharks were tied to, hiding wherever she could every time the guards looked around. When she was about to reach the pole, she took her trusty coral knife and started cutting the rope, but stopped when one of the shakes yawned, baring his sharp teeth, and went back to sleep. The mermaid sighed in relief and kept cutting the bridles. When she was done, she motioned for Bluetail to start with his distraction, and the swordfish reluctantly swam towards the sleeping sharks just as Spark sent to hide behind a chest.
"Hey, you ugly things!" Bluetail called out, earning the attention of both the sharks and the guards, "You want a piece of me? Come and get me!"
Saying this, he swam away at top speed; the sharks didn't hesitate and almost immediately swam after him, craving swordfish meat.
"Hey, get back here!" One of the guards cried out before apparently all of the Sharkanians on patrol swam after their now-loose mounts.
Spark made sure there were no more Sharkanians around, snickering as she heard the guards' cries getting farther and farther. The mermaid accommodated her armor and silently swam around the camp (in case there were Sharkanians sleeping in the tents), trying to locate the Commander's tent. She took a while, but eventually, she peeked into the largest tent, which she assumed was the place she was looking for. It was a meeting room for the Sharkanian commander and his closest warriors: there was a wooden table (probably from the sunken ships) in the middle of the tent, illuminated by a coral and rock lamp, and an algae bed on the ground. A chest was located across the room, in which Spark assumed the plans were being kept.
The mermaid swam into the tent, making sure there was no one in there, and trembled slightly when she saw the collection of spears accomodated on the side; Spark felt a shiver down her spine, imagining how sharp Sharkanian weapons were. Spark swam towards the chest, took out her knife and started lock picking it. After a while, the lock gave way to her knife, and the mermaid smirked in triumph as she opened the chest... only to find it empty.
"What the-?!" Spark was cut off when she felt something sharp pressing lightly against her back. The mermaid fearfully turned her head around and found herself looking into the reddish pink eyes of a Sharkanian. The commander of the camp, she guessed.
"Make one fake move, and you're dead," he growled deep within his that, sending shivers down Spark's spine.
"Crap..." was all Spark thought before everything became dark.