Raya couldn't swim. She could hardly move with the painful spasms passing through her tail. She wished she hadn't been stupid enough to try and block her pregnancy. Then she wouldn't be in this mess. The waters around her felt different. Strange even. She had never been to this world before, but she needed to find shelter. Blood was in the water and predators for miles around would smell it and come running. Suddenly a large hook shot through the water, catching the thick part of her tail and swiftly dragged her to shore. She screamed as she was thrown onto the sand, a new kind of pain wrenching through her gut. Fishermen. All around her. Laughing and licking her lips.
"Looks we're eating good tonight, fellas!" One of the exclaimed. Raya scowled and threw up a hand, causing a wave to crash upon shore and knock them all aside. It wasn't enough to get back into the water though. There was a flash of green light and fishermen all took running. A young woman moved towards Raya warily while at the same time shooting small fireballs at the fishermen to keep them running. She turned to Raya and ran to her tail. Raya tried to push her away.
"Wait." She insisted, bright blue eyes falling on the mermaid. "I just want to help. Please."
"Cave." Raya said. "With water. That's where I need to go."
The woman nodded, bright red hair swinging as she turned back to Raya's tail and removed the hook. Her hands glowed with green magic as she healed the wound. "You're still bleeding. Are you hurt?"
Raya closed her eyes, unable to keep them open any longer. The redhead tried to keep her awake, but it was no use. She was too tired. When she finally awoke again, she was in a sea cave. A large beautiful pool surrounding her. She was laying on the sand with her tail hanging in the water and the redhead was still at her side, trying to clean the blood off of her tail. It seemed in that moment that she only just noticed the tiny tail tip sticking out of the mother.
"Y-you're awake...and giving birth. Whoa. Um, wow. Is there anything I can do?"
"Push me into the water." Raya answered weakly. The woman obeyed, struggling a bit. A mermaid's tail felt like a brick of lead on land. As Raya finally submerged herself in a safe place, she started to push, smiling weakly as a little fluke came all the way out of her. It was a slow process. The birthing lasted for almost three hours. Finally her little babe was born into the world, a tiny mermaid with a blue-green tail and black hair. Raya resurfaced, holding the child so she could take her first breath. The woman had waited for them and she smiled at seeing Raya's baby.
"Who are you?" Raya asked. "I thank you for helping, but I have a few questions about you, and this land. Where am I?"
"My name is Zelena and you're in Oz."
"Oz." Raya knew little about it from her studies. Regina wasn't the only one who often neglected her duties to run off and play with her friend. Amphitrite was far less strict than Cora thankfully. "Why did you help me? Where are we now?"
Zelena quickly nodded. "As I said, in Oz. And this is a cave that is under the tower I live in. It was an old wizard's tower. Abandoned now. And I helped you because you looked like you needed help."
"And you live here alone?" Raya asked. It was surprising. Despite the fact that the woman was so obviously a peasant by her clothes, she was very beautiful. She had a slender build, but her clothes, old and worn as they looked, could not hide her curves. Red hair flowed about her shoulders, slightly messy and in need of a good brushing, but it hadn't lost its shine. Her eyes were her most mesmerizing trait, bright and clear and deep.
Zelena nodded again. "Um, yes. I decided that being alone was best for me."
"Why?" Raya inquired curiously.
"I um, ran away from my father after I found out that I was adopted. I went to the wizard and it turns out he was a fake, but he did help me find my birth mother and my sister. She was studying magic and she was horrible at it."
"I'm guessing you were better."
"Very much so. Her teacher agreed to train me as well. I was a much better student but he still chose her to be his only student. I guess I was never good enough for anyone." Zelena looked down for a moment. "So after that, I came here. I wanted nothing to do with any of them. It's quiet and peaceful and I can practice my magic as much as I want."
Raya smiled softly. "You're very good."
"Thank you. But why are you here alone? The father should be protecting you, shouldn't he?" Raya's smiled faded. "Oh, I'm sorry. Forget I said anything. Here, what about the baby? What will you name her?"
"Salacia." Raya answered with little hesitation. "It is the Roman version of my mother's name." She looked down at the tiny thing in her arms. Her little girl. She started to smile again, flicking her tail excitedly, spinning in a circle. Regina would've been so happy. Before she chose vengeance they would've been so happy.
"She's beautiful." Zelena said, attracting the young mother's attention. "You must be tired. Or hungry? I have plenty of food." She looked around. "For once." She added softly. Raya simply nodded her consent and the witch turned to head up a spiraling staircase, disappearing as she went mermaid turned back her child, conjuring a small clam shell bed and placing it at the edge of the pool and placed little Salacia inside. She didn't close it, just laid her head down and watched her newborn. Hot tears started to fall. She tried to smile at her baby but all she could see was the love of her life turning her back on her. Regina fallen in love with another man, had picked defending him over her, the one person who had stood back her side since they were children. Raya had lost almost everything. Regina had been her everything up until this point. Up until the little gift in front of her was born.
"I won't leave you." She promised. "I will never leave you. Your mama's always gonna be here." She picked up Salacia again and held her in her arms until Zelena returned with a bowl of hot stew.
"It's not that much. Garden hasn't produced much this year." The witch muttered as she sat down on the sand next to the pool with her food. "I brought extra seeing as how you'd just given birth and all. You must be famished." Raya pulled herself out of the water and sat on the edge to enjoy the hot food. Zelena ate while staring at her tail.
"You've never seen a mermaid before?" Raya asked, shoving spoonfuls of stew in her mouth rapidly.
"None like you."
The blonde continued to eat ravenously. Zelena had to go get more stew and a pan of baked bread to fill up the exhausted mother. "Thank you. I really needed that."
"Obviously." Zelena smirked. "What about the little one?"
"She won't need to feed for a while." Raya said. She sighed and looked down at her tail. She had no idea what she was going to do now. She couldn't go home. Regina was there and she was the last person that Raya wanted to see right now. Her mother was leading the migration although Raya could still contact her and let her know where she was. Other than her mother and Regina, she had no one. Most mermaids had many children, sometimes dozens, but Amphitrite had focused on her one. She would come if Raya called. She would come with no hesitation if her daughter needed her.
"I don't know what you were running from." Zelena said, gaining her attention again. "I don't know why you ran and I don't mean to pry. However, no one comes here. I don't use this space. You're welcome to it. I don't mind the company."
"T-thank you. You're very kind." Raya said.
Zelena dipped her head. "I wasn't always. I just decided to...Be better than I was. Otherwise I would've destroyed my entire world. More importantly, myself." She smiled and stood up, gathering their dishes. "Will you be needing anything? Blankets? Pillows? Cots?"
"I never sleep without my tail. I'll be fine. But if you have a sock, I could use that."
Zelena arched an eyebrow in confusion but nodded and headed up the stairs. Raya turned to her baby and moved the clam away from the water's edge. "Wouldn't want you falling off." She smiled. The witch returned with a small sock and gave it to the mermaid, who dipped it into the pool and slid it onto Salacia's tiny little tail so it wouldn't dry out. Zelena handed her a tiny little pillow for her to rest her head on. Raya looked around the cave. If she was really going to live here for the time being, she would need to make some adjustments. More tears started to flow as she thought of her sea cave with Regina. The one place where the world didn't matter and they could be together without fear. It was destroyed now. Regina had probably done it after she didn't come back that year. Zelena silently handed her a cloth to wipe her eyes. Raya wiped her face with sigh. Sooner or later she would have to properly mourn her broken relationship, but that time was not now. She looked up at Zelena to thank her again when the witch's face suddenly twisted in horror. Raya looked behind her at the sight of the three shark fins in the water. Except these weren't sharks. Their upper bodies were human and their tails were those of striped shark. Two made a dive for Salacia and Raya threw herself in front of them, pushing all three into the water. The third tried to leap out of the water for the baby, but Zelena lit her up with a fireball. She sprayed it with flames until it stopped thrashing and then conjured a spear to stab it and make sure it was dead. Raya had managed to snap the necks of the other two and the tired mother collapsed against the side of the pool, covered from head to tail in claw marks and bite marks. Zelena waved her hand towards her, healing her injuries.
"What are they?" The witch asked.
"I don't know the name, but I know why you haven't seen any mermaids like me. These things eat us, and humans, anything they can get their hands on. I have to destroy their nests." Raya pushed the bodies onto dry land. "You can cut off their tails, make some money off of them." She looked at Salacia.
"I'll watch her." Zelena said. "I'll take her upstairs. She won't be in danger."
Raya nodded and approached her baby, placing a spell on her to protect her, as well as a tracking spell. She turned and dove, following the short tunnel into the ocean near the shore. It wasn't hard to detect where the shark tailed mermaids had come from. The sea princess closed her eyes and called to an old ally. She found the nest easily, several miles out to sea with a small island as a base. It was crawling with the bastards. Raya climbed onto a rock and changed her tail into legs and stood up. She raised her hands, drawing upon every ounce of her strength to summon a powerful wave to hit the island, forcing the shark creatures into the water. Her ally arrived just in time. A hydra. A massive sea creature with 6 heads that quickly went to work, devouring and slaughtering the man eating sharktails. Raya leaped into the water, shifting again. Swerving through the swinging claws of the hydra, she killed off any sharktails she managed to catch. All of them needed to die. She couldn't allow them to reproduce and threaten her life or her daughter's in the future. The hydra laid waste to them all and Raya went through afterwards to clean up the blood so as not to attract predators.
"Thanks big fella." She smirked, stroking the hydra's nose. It purred and licked her hand. She turned and swam back to the sea cave. Stepping onto dry land, she changed her tail into her legs and raced up the stairs. The wizard's tower where Zelena made her home was sparsely decorated and still covered in dust despite her obvious attempts to clean it up and make it into a home. There were herbs and magical equipment and books lying everywhere. A staircase wound up the entire tower, branching off to different rooms and more bookshelves. Raya found Zelena near her garden. A group of people were lined up in front of the witch as she used her powers to heal their afflictions.
"Bless you, Witch." said one as Zelena finished. Behind her sat Salacia's shell behind a protective barrier.
A tall impressive looking man walked up to the redhead, demanding to know the prize of Raya's baby. "500,000 gold pieces up front." Zelena replied without skipping a beat. This man, this wealthy fool who wanted to take her child, actually smiled and agreed. He returned to his carriage and brought back a massive sack.
"I only have 300,000 with me. You must know who I am. Guisness Torrell, advisor to our wonderful wizard."
Zelena took the gold and teleported it away. She turned to the other people and magically healed them all with a single wave of her hand. "Thank you all, especially you, Mr. Torrell. Now get the hell off my porch." She picked up Salacia and made for the door where Raya was.
"Hey! I gave you my money!"
"It's mine now, you fool." Zelena called over her shoulder. Raya took back her baby as Zelena closed and locked the door. "Now I can use that gold to refurbish this place."
"Won't he be angry with you for stealing his money?"
Zelena shrugged. "I'll just get the Wicked Witch to pay him a visit."
"The Wicked Witch?" Raya frowned. Zelena didn't reply. She gathered up the coin into several pouches.
"I'll go get us some food and stuff. You should go get some rest. I'm sure you're exhausted."
Raya was inclined to agree. She went back down to the cave and carved out a sleeping place in the rock wall. She pulled Salacia under with her. Her little babe started to whine and Raya fed her to help her sleep. With that done, the young mother eventually cried herself to sleep.
The next morning her first action was to contact her mother who as predicted, came running. She was overjoyed at seeing her daughter alive and well and at meeting her granddaughter. "I'm not sure what to do, Mother." Raya admitted, watching her hold the mermaid babe in her arms.
"Is this place safe for you?" Amphitrite asked.
Raya nodded. "The witch that lives here saved my life. And she's kind."
"Do you trust her?"
"Yes and no. She's done anything to warrant me not to though. She is a bit mischievous."
Her mother smiled. "You and your trusting heart. You could come home-"
"No." Raya said immediately. "I don't want to see her. I don't want to think about her. I want to forget her."
"No, you don't. Would you like me to-"
"No, there's no need to drown her. I just wish...That she had given me more time. I-I really did love her."
"Do." Her mother corrected. "A few days apart is not going to change your feelings about her. You are not going to wake up tomorrow and feel better. Mourn, cry, get angry, destroy something. But do not, my angelfish, do not bottle up these feelings. It will only hurt more."
Raya looked down, wringing her fingers until a thud from the staircase made both her mother and her look up. It was just Zelena, bringing the timber that Raya had asked for. She was dragging a chest that was thumping on the stairs and the wood was floating in front of her.
"Thank you." Raya said. Zelena dipped her head respectfully to her mother. "Mother, this is Zelena. Zelena, this is my mother, Amphitrite, Queen of the Ocean."
"Thank you for helping my family." Amphitrite smiled.
Zelena quickly nodded. "It was my pleasure."
Amphitrite looked around. "If you truly wish to stay here then you're going to have to turn this into a place fit for a mermaid princess. I shall assist."
"You don't have to-"
"I also did not ask." Her mother replied with a smirk. "Shall we begin?"
Raya smiled. "I suppose we shall."
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"This is taking too long!" Regina roared, letting out a growl of frustration. Rumpelstiltskin sighed from his place at his spinning wheel. She was supposed to be looking for Raya, not casting fireballs. She didn't care about any of this.
"I've told you, dearie, the only way to find your little mermaid is to forget her. It's the only way to save her and get revenge on Snow White. Think about that and try again."
Regina sighed. She imagined Raya standing before her, smiling and looking at her with love in her eyes. Their little one in her arms. Their baby. She wondered if it was a boy or girl. Probably a girl. Regina had always a girl. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her love for Daniel. Her stableboy. He was so innocent, a life lost for no reason. Because of her mother. Her hatred for Cora fueled her next fireball and she easily destroyed the target that the Dark One had set up.
"Excellent." Rumpelstiltskin said without turning around. "You have a lot to learn before you're ready to cast the Dark Curse. Then you will have your happy ending...Evil Queen."
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