Mer Made, page 2
What did the witch value if not gold? Erika had nothing but her mother's dress and even here, at the bottom of the ocean, she could not bring herself to give it up. It was the only thing she had left.
Water, cold salty water, trickled into the bottom of her bubble. Erika sprang to her feet and pressed her hands against the sides of the bubble. She glanced down at the rising water, then back up to the witch, her eyes wide. Without an offer of value, she would drown again.
Erika leaned toward the witch. "What do you want from me? What do I have that you value? I'll give you anything."
"Anything?" The witch leaned in, her wide smile full of teeth, her black eyes glinting.
Erika doubted anything the witch could take would matter if she were a woman. "Anything at all. Make me a mermaid."
The witch's low chuckle sent another shiver through Erika, but the water was rising, up to her knees, now. The electric purple deals circled the bubble and the witch's laughter surrounded Erika just the same. The water gurgled as it filled the bubble up to her waist. Fear took a hold of her, and she slapped the side of the bubble. "Take what you want!" She would give anything, yes, even the dress, if that's what the witch demanded.
Water sloshed up to her breast. Erika gasped in the tiny sliver of air at the top as it grew up to her neck, up to her chin. Was there nothing of value in her? Would the witch drown her just for pleasure?
No. Erika took her final breath just as the water filled to the top. Her bubble popped. She floated in the witch's circle of tentacles and she scowled. Erika kicked forward, the dress tangling. She refused to let it hold her back. She clawed forward in the water, gangly, not meant for this but determined anyway. Pressure encircled her, but she couldn't think about the immense water above. There was only the witch in front of her, her pale skin, her laughing black eyes, the witch who teased her about mermaids but held no power at all.
Erika reached for the witch but the damn woman drifted just out of her fingertips.
She needed air. The bubble was gone, the witch was just a demon to taunt her. Erika glanced upward and saw the silver light of the moon playing on the top of the water. If she was going to drown, she would do it in the moon's light.
Her lungs forced her to inhale, but there was only water. The burning, tingling feeling spread from her chest to her arms, to her legs and feet and hands. Her throat flexed, her ribs spasmed, the dress swirled and Erika lost sight of the glittering silver moon as she fell to the floor of the seat.
She resisted, but her body tried to breathe. She gulped another lungful of water and felt it pass through her chest and out under her ribs. Her tunnel vision faded. She saw the purple electric eels circling just out of reach and all around her the witch's laughter.
Another breath of water passed through her chest and out of her body. She was breathing. How was she breathing? Erika looked down at her own chest and was distracted at first by glittering pearl scales that dotted her ribs and stomach like the bodice of her dress. She passed her hands down her hips where the satin had become something new. She had a tail! It swirled in the water just like frills of her dress, swaying in the current and glittering green like the lily.
Erika gasped. The water passed through her lungs and out under her ribs. Her fingers tripped over the spot where new gills had opened, allowing her to breathe the water. Everything tasted like salt. But she could breathe.
She kicked her tail and floated up through the water as effortlessly as a bird through the sky. The eels circled with her and Erika found herself face to face with the witch.
Erika covered her mouth, delighted with this transformation, and suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude. How could she thank this woman?
She tried to speak, to express her heart, and found nothing but water in her mouth. No voice at all. She struggled to form even the smallest sound.
The witch's grinning teeth seemed to consume her face. The black, beady eyes shrank even further to make room. Her small nose disappeared. Her entire head hinged open with jawing, coarse laughter. Her teeth glittered in the moonlight.
And when she spoke, it was with Erika's stolen voice. "Everyone has something of value, little mermaid."
Erika touched her throat, mouth gaping as she tried and failed to speak, to croak, to even moan. How could she live like this? What could she do without a voice?
As if the witch could read her thoughts, the woman winked at her. "I'm sure you'll find a way to communicate. There's so much you can say… with body language."
Erika stared at the witch with wide eyes as her stomach and heart sank. The eels circled closer, jawing at her like they were laughing too.
With a powerful kick of her new tail, Erika darted between the eels and swam headlong away from the witch. Any direction was better than staying there, even as the woman's gritty laughter followed her. A wall of seaweed blocked her path—dark and tall, swaying in the current, thick with green leaves and bulbs of air that lifted them higher toward the sun—but Erika plowed through the forest with angry tears at the edges of her eyes. They melted into the water, but she still felt her cheeks heat and she gasped at the seawater to keep from sobbing. The leaves were slimy, the tall stalks threatened to tangle her tail. Something dark slithered just beyond her reach as she rushed through the forest, too distraught to identify it.
Her directionless dash led her to a cliff face, barren of life, only a jut of red and gray rock pockmarked with eel holes. Erika darted upward, over the crest, blind with sorrow, and the light she found on the other side made her freeze.
Chapter Three
An entire city lay sprawling and colorful across the ocean floor, dotted with lights, garland with corals, circled by schools of flashing fish. White pearl buildings lined streets that wound and twisted their way between mounds of rock and coral up a billowing seamount where a glittering, colorful palace overlooked everything. Banners of seaweed flew from pearl parapets, a raft of rays dipped past the palace entrance and threaded under a bridge of rock afrond with seagrass. The entire city flowed, its principal streets a river of color, the smaller paths like streams, and everywhere Erika looked there were mermaids.
Tails, fins, and hair seemed to come in every color. Red, green, orange, blue. There were stripes, and spots, and everyone wore shells around necks, waists, and wrists. A mermaid swam up and over the top of the building. She had to be three yards long, with dark skin that shined blue like Erika's, and a tail black as night with a shark fin. White dots speckled her skin like stars to the tip of her tail.
Another merman swam across the top of the city with a fat bag slung over one shoulder. His light skin blended at the waist into blue fronds and fins that pumped like a jellyfish. He trailed white tentacles behind him for yards, but when he descended into the city, they contracted tight under his bell.
Every mer she saw was different. Some like fish, some sharks, some colorful, poisonous sea slugs.
And she heard music. The deep rhythm of drums, the lighter whistle of flutes. What did a mer make an instrument out of? She heard whistles and clicks. Singing that rose over the city and the rocks and flowed on the current like birdsong. Delicate, angelic singing.
The current shifted and Erika smelled something that wasn't salt. She leaned forward and sniffed at the water, surprised to find flowers and perfume. An entire bloom greeted her, tempting her closer to the city. She smelled lilac, and mint, and roses, but most of all, she smelled lilies.
Erika swam down the hill, intoxicated by the sights, sounds, and smells. The bare rock sprouted seagrass in yellow and green, and patches of short seaweed had been groomed on one side. They had cleared a bit of a path up this hill, with small rocks and soft corals to either side, but when she reached the outer edges of the city, she saw that they had laid the roads with shells.
It was overwhelming. Lanterns wrapped in seaweed, in coral, and tucked into every corner lit the entire city for a festival. She saw smiles on every face. The mass of mermaids resolved itself into pairs and trios, family groups, individuals swimming from place to place carrying bags and baskets woven from sea grass as they managed their day. Erika found that her dark skin with her green and white tail blended seamlessly with the people. Her heart swelled as she realized she was finally home.
The current pushed and pulled her at the edge of the city, as undecided as Erika. She wanted to swim among the people, but she knew nothing about who they were or how they might welcome her. She hesitated long enough to hear something new.
Off to Erika's left, somewhere beyond the well-trimmed seaweed, someone was crying. Not gentle sniffles, but full-body torn sobs, the kind Erika knew too well. They clenched the chest and shook the whole body.
She swam around the seaweed garden and circled the back of a pearl white house, only to find a mermaid draped against a rock as she wept. Her dark shoulders shook under her hair and her green tail lashed in the water. Erika reached out at once, wrapping the woman in her arms so she knew she wasn't alone. Her skin was olive, darker at the waist where her bright green scales bloomed into a long tail that frilled in every direction like a dress. The woman's hair, coral red, and tied loosely with the stalk of a seaweed, flagged in the current.
The woman's body rattled against Erika's as she sobbed and sniffed and tried to calm herself. She buried her face into Erika's neck and her green tail curled close against Erika's. It was darker and lacked the white patterns Erika had. Erika rubbed her back and waited, knowing she could only share this grief in silence. She couldn't imagine what a mermaid had to grieve about, but surely it broke this woman's heart.
When the weeping subsided and the woman in Erika's arms took her first clear breath, she heaved a great sigh and blinked her great green eyes up at the moon that danced on the surface of the water.
"Thank you," she said at last, her voice thick with her tears, but as light as the singing Erika had heard earlier. "I'm such a mess." She wiped at her peaked, glowing cheeks and Erika saw her eyeliner had run in the corners.
Even mermaids had makeup!
Erika reached with her thumb and carefully swiped the ink away.
The woman laughed and grabbed a handful of sea grass. "There's probably no saving it," she said. And she scrubbed her face clean with the grass. Erika thought she heard sniffling.
When the strands fell away, she entranced Erika. This woman's bright, enormous eyes, her opal skin, her fire-red hair—she was stunningly gorgeous and Erika found her own chest tight with awe.
The woman sighed heavily, as if the stress had finally left her, and she smiled at Erika—a small, shy smile that shined more brightly than the moon. "I'm Ariel," she said. She sank back down to the rock, this time to take a seat on it.
Erika tried to speak, forgetting in the excitement that she no longer had a voice. Her lips moved, but no sound came out and with wide, embarrassed eyes she covered her mouth and looked away. It was her turn to feel the burning threat of tears.
Ariel's hands grabbed her shoulders and turned her back firmly. Her curious eyes were warm, not hard. "You can't speak?"
Erika shook her head, fighting the urge to look away.
"That's fine, one of my sisters is mute. It's common. I can read hand signs."
Hand signs… was that a form of language? How curious! But Erika didn't know the signs either, and she shook her head again, unable to explain.
Ariel gasped. "You don't know how to sign? Were your parents eels? How horrid, keeping you from talking like you don't have your own mind." She unwound from her seating rock and cleared her throat. "Here, take my hands. My father has most of the magic in the seven seas, but I have a bit, myself. I can show you…"
Ariel's hands glowed as she closed her eyes. She lifted her voice in something resembling a song. Or maybe a prayer. Erika watched, fascinated, as the current shifted to circle around them, the scent of lilies became overwhelming, light flared too brightly to watch and Erika flinched.
There was a sudden pulse of pressure and both the current and the lilies were drawn away. Erika blinked spots from her eyes.
But in Erika's mind, new knowledge unfolded: a blooming flower. The details of hand signing with fingers and wrists and motion, a full, and complete language that never needed her voice at all. Words, letters, entire sentences lay before her, waiting for shape.
With delighted tears in her eyes, Erika signed her name, pointing eagerly at herself. "Erika. I'm Erika."
"Erika," Ariel said. They grinned at each other, bonding as friends do when they make it through trouble.
Erika gathered Ariel's hands again, her expression serious, and signed, "Are you ok?"
Ariel heaved another sigh and she curled her emerald green tail around the rock to take a seat. "I'm the seventh daughter of King Triton," she said, gesturing one hand up dismissively to the palace on the hill. If she heard Erika's gasp, she didn't react. "All of my older sisters have married and rule kingdoms in the other six seas of the world. I'm supposed to take the throne here, but I need to find a husband."
Ariel's shoulder slouched and she looked away, her voice dropping. "But if I don't get married in three days, my evil aunt Ursula will take the throne. She hates my father, she hates me." She looked up at Erika and the color came up in her cheeks as she fought fresh tears. "She'll probably kill everyone as soon as she's queen and I don't know what to do!"
Erika shook her head and hugged Ariel quickly. Then she signed, the shapes and motions coming to her as easily as breathing, "It's obvious, isn't it? We find you a husband."
Ariel huffed, half a laugh. "But how?"
"I'm good at this," Erika signed. "Up on the surface, my father tried to marry me off to a dozen women every week—"
"Wait, you were going to marry another woman?" Ariel didn't seem afraid of this idea, just curious. She tilted her head to the side.
Erika tried not to squirm under her curiosity. "Well, they considered me a man…"
Ariel grabbed her hands, her face serious. "I now have a hundred additional questions."
They both laughed and Erika found room on the rock to sit by her new friend. She started at the beginning and told her entire story, from her mother's illness, to being transgender and how her father wouldn't accept it, to being dumped in the ocean. How a witch with tentacles instead of fins caught her in a bubble and gave her a woman's body, but took her voice as payment. She spoke through moonset and into sunrise when the water turned pink with fresh light. She told the story as new fishes commuted into the nearby seaweed garden and others took shelter in the rocks.
Ariel listened to the entire tale, she gasped in all the right places, she even growled when the witch took Erika's voice and Erika couldn't help but throw her head back and laugh.
"You met my aunt Ursula," Ariel said, her nose scrunched up like she smelled something foul. "That's just like her to give you gills and a tail but take your voice without teaching you sign language. She's evil and she loves it." Ariel shook her head. "She probably thought you'd find the city, and we'd call you simple and stick you with the children." She squeezed Erika's shoulder. "It's not going to happen. My aunt won't win."
Erika smiled and signed, "We won't let her take the throne, either. So let's find you a husband."
Chapter Four
With the dawning light bringing rose blush to every pearl-encrusted building, Erika found herself dragged wide-eyed through the city as Ariel guided her to the local library and arts center. Buildings encrusted with clams, muscles, and fern-like corals in every color zipped by too quickly for Erika to see. She caught the fleeting scent of flowers as they passed a yard glittering with blooms and grasses of every color. An open-water building with table corals for shelves and rock-seats for guests suggested it was a meeting place, but it too was gone before Erika could make sense of it.
A small army of blue and white crabs crossed the shell road, snapping their claws at anyone who ventured too close. Ariel tugged Erika overhead without missing a beat.
At the end of the mad rush, Ariel brought them to the bottom of a shallow slope. A shell-encrusted walkway wound between blue grass clumps and red elkhorn coral artfully trimmed like bonsai. At the top of the rise, a glimmering pearl framework grew out of the rock and coral. On the surface, buildings were square with hard edges, but here under the sea most of the buildings lacked roofs or even walls. They weren't built to keep the weather out, but to define a space.
This pearl building expanded in all directions as it rose up out of the rock, and large, mostly circular holes dotted one side where mer swam in and out. There wasn't a roof, but one edge of the building arced higher than the others and twisted over top, like a basket handle. Erika spotted more than one mer tucked into the twisted overhang, lounging there as they read from the library.
She caught few glimpses of the building inside and found it dotted with holes and crevices where books had been stashed. But they weren't books exactly, Erika realized. They were more like scrolls, rolls and rolls of them stitched together from leaves of seaweed that unrolled sideways.
Mermaids of every color clustered in groups around the entrances, laughing and comparing scrolls.
The current here was light, pushing itself into Erika's coiled hair so it tangled in her eyes. She pulled it all back and frowned. Back on the surface she would have held it back with a band or a wrap. Perhaps she could make something out of sea grass?
"Here, let me." Ariel plucked several seaweed leaves and folded them together, her hands delicately glowing. In a moment she had a simple band that stretched a little when Erika tested it.
Erika grinned and fit the band into place, delighted. She'd probably never get used to such casual displays of magic, but she sure did love them!
With her hair organized for the moment, Erika took another look at the mers swimming about the library. She signed to Ariel, "You like reading fiction and you like art, so if we're going to find you someone you actually like, this is a suitable place to start."
