Chapter 3: History
The man smiled warmly at the mermaid, kissing her lips while pulling her close to his perfectly built body. His legs wrapped over her shimmering tail as she moaned happily, her emerald eyes staring into his sky-blue eyes as he continued to kiss her. Soon, the water around them faded away as she pouted, knowing the dream would quickly end. The human gave her one last glorious kiss as she opened her eyes and sighed at seeing her grotto. The mermaid slowly sat up, yawning but still holding her smile, as the dream was a pleasant one.
"I wonder what he looks like now. Perhaps he doesn't look like I imagine, but even so...my heart belongs to him," she thought and sighed as she stretched, kicking a little sand up as she swam up. The mermaid's long blonde hair twirled in the sea, its natural silkiness improving since she was a guppy. Her skin had become more of a dark bronze, while her breasts had fully grown to a large size of four inches but still stayed nice and firm. Her tail was still bright and full of warm colors, from yellow to dark maroon, making her look like a tropical fish goddess. As she swam out of her cavern and into the city, she would get some longing stares from her fellow merfolk.
The mermaid ignored the stares and swam to the council chambers, the guards and working merfolk used to her daily trip to the council. As she waited patiently for her usual meeting, she fiddled with her necklace gently and smiled. "Enter," a melodic female voice called, making her slowly enter the room. As she bowed, a few members smiled and welcomed the mermaid, all knowing why she was there. "Welcome, young one! We all know why you are here, but before that, we need to discuss it with you," the lead female said calmly and smiled. "Don't worry, you aren't in any trouble, but we have a few... inquiries to discuss with you."
The mermaid looked up puzzled but nodded as she floated silently, wondering what the council wanted to know. "You have been coming to our chambers since your first day as a young mermaid. Now, you are a proper mermaid, an adult, if you will. Yet you still use your legs? This is rather...unusual for a grown mermaid. Is there a reason why," the head merman asked calmly, even offering her a small smile. The mermaid bit her lips and nodded before meeting the council's questioning gaze.
"Yes, there is," she began and sighed before clearing her throat nervously. "When I was a guppy, my mother had to assist the teachers, so she left me alone. Despite her warning me not to, I decided to explore outside our hidden city. Before I knew what was happening, I followed a ship full of humans. Soon after following, a human child saw me beneath the waves, and I saw him."
As she paused, she couldn't help but smile at the memory. "I can only describe what I saw simply as love. The boy made my heart flutter, and everything felt right when he fell into the sea. I approached him and held his hands...but before I could kiss him, an adult human took him back to his world. Ever since then, my heart has belonged to him; that's why I use my legs; in case I ever see him again, I wish to be with him." As she finished her tale, the mermaid looked up at the council shyly, their eyes looking at one another with surprising gazes at each other but remaining silent.
The head of the female side nodded and cleared her throat before studying the young mermaid. "We appreciate your honesty as this does clear up several of our suspicions. As we said, you are not in any trouble, but before we allow you any permission to use your legs, we must warn you of the dangers of humans. We rarely have to tell this story as very few merfolk use their legs, let alone confess that they love a human. But for your safety, we shall tell you of The Banished One, and if you still wish to use your legs, then so be it." The young mermaid gave a slight head tilt as she had never heard of the Banished One but remained silent.
"Many years ago, when most of us on the council were but young merfolk, there was a young mermaid similar to you. She was what most of us would call the beauty of our generation: long, gorgeous brown hair and an elegant green tail, a rare color for a mermaid. Back then, the rules of using our other form were much more relaxed; simply don't get caught by a human, and you could do whatever you like. But most of us were content just living beneath the waves, living a normal life, except for The Banished One," the elder began and sighed as pain crept across her face.
"The Banished One was a rarity among our people, using her legs daily, fooling herself into believing she could live like a human and still be a mermaid. She would stay days at a time in the human world before coming back with fantastic tales of her life on land. Then, one day, she confessed to our council at the time she was in love with a human, declaring that he would love her even after showing her true form to him. The elders tried to warn her that a human would most likely reject her once they knew of her true form, as they see us as fish more than their equals."
"But she ignored their warnings and left the sea once more. Months passed, and the council considered revealing themselves to the local human elders; maybe they had changed. But their predictions were right in the most horrific way possible. The human she thought would love her instead began to beat her violently, treating her as a freak, selling her off to men for horrid pleasures, and never letting her use her legs or return to the sea. The man then thought that if he let her go, he could follow her and find the hidden city."
"The man released her, but she was so injured she could barely swim, thus making it easy for him to follow her. When she came back, she confessed that the man didn't love her and everything she had been through," the elder continued to explain, then paused, clearing her throat and sighing. "At first, the council was sympathetic, figuring she had learned her lesson. But then the human and several others of his kind began to attack our home with their gadgets and devices, trying to take as many of our kind up to the surface to be their slaves."
"Naturally, we fought back, killing them all, including the man The Banished One loved. She wept for the man, angering the council, all blaming her for the deaths of our people. So they chained her to a sunken ship, a reminder of the cruelty of humanity, and forced her to drink a broth. The broth altered her body drastically, making it so that her tail would be in agonizing pain if she swam too much, and her natural beauty would fade away slowly, making her look like a hag of the ocean. That is why young one, if you ever go to their world, there are strict rules; humans are nothing more than mindless beasts. We can't force you to stay beneath the sea, but we can implore you to," the elder finished, then swam over to the young mermaid.
The elder stroked her cheek and offered her a warm smile. "Stay in the sea with us; you belong here. There surely must be a charming merfolk that will make you happy," she said gently and studied the mermaid's emerald eyes. The mermaid offered a kind smile back and shook her head before meeting the elder's eyes, "I'm sorry. But if I ever see him again, I must go...My heart, my body, even my fins, belong to him." The elder sighed and nodded before swimming back to the rest of the council, eying each member as they nodded in agreement.
"Very well, young one. You have been warned, and your fate is in your own hands from now on. From this day forward, you can use your legs as much as you please and explore any island that isn't full of humans. However, if you sneak into their world without permission, you will no longer be welcomed in our home; you will be exiled. But should you inform us of your intention of going to their world, we will have another meeting, agreed," the elder asked gently while each member stared at the mermaid.
The mermaid nodded and bowed gently, "Yes, great council, I understand." "Very well, meeting adjourned; you may leave now," the head of the male council confirmed before the young blonde mermaid swam out of the chamber. The story of the Banished One played in her head as she swam, but soon, the thought of the human overpowered it, and she smiled. "If we ever meet again, I just want him, even a kiss," she thought as she swam in the warm light of the sunken city.