Aliénor's Song

A Choice

"Aliénor..."

I struggled to open my eyes, but I couldn't seem to remember how. My eyelids felt so heavy.

"Aliénor. I'm here to offer you something."

I opened my mouth to answer and my lungs felt they would burst as they took in more of the briny water. That was definitely not the best idea.

"Don't try to speak Aliénor. If you wish to avenge yourself and your husband. Simply nod."

I saw a beautiful blue green light under the water with me. This had to be the source of the voice I was hearing. Was I going crazy? Does dying make you go crazy?

I thought of my amazing husband, the life that we had planned together. I could see his smile in my mind. I could almost hear him laugh. God but I would miss that laugh. I realized that all of that was gone, forever. I would never hear him laugh again. We would never have children or a home like we planned. These men in their ignorance had stolen everything I ever dreamed of. Then I remembered the captain. I saw the captain's face as clearly as I saw Cayne's. His cold eyes. His voice ordering me below deck. The certainty with which he had condemned us. If I lived through this, I would make certain he remembered mine. Rage replaced my grief as I thought of what had been taken from me. For my husband, for my family, and even for myself, I wanted to make these men pay. I nodded.

"Sailors are superstitious Aliénor. They thought you were their doom. I will make you everything they fear. From this point forward you will be the end they dread."

I was enveloped in the beautiful blue-green light. The pressure on my chest eased. I no longer struggled to breathe. I was certain I was hallucinating. This had to be the light you hear of when you die. That was fine with me. It was certainly much warmer than the icy black water had been. Aside from my feet still being bound together, I was almost comfortable here under the ocean.

"Find the men who did this to you Aliénor. Make them pay. For your life and the lives of all the women before you who have been cast into the sea. Now, swim!"

I had never been taught to swim. I wasn't really sure how. I tried to kick my feet, but they were still bound together. The light faded, but I could see perfectly well. As I looked around me I saw the remnants of a ship. The sails were shredded, the mast had been broken in two. Barnacles clung to the hull. As I looked out I noticed large chunks of the hull missing. Bits of seaweed had begun growing from the ocean floor through the broken parts of the hull that rested on the sand.

I had finally reached the bottom of the ocean! Why was I not having a hard time breathing?

I looked at my hands, a translucent webbing had appeared between my fingers. My nails were long, black, and pointed as if I had claws. I reached down to unbind my ankles.

What!

My legs were gone! In their place was a beautiful black tail. I marveled at the change, how did I have a tail? I flipped my tail up to inspect it. It was not unlike the tails of the other creatures around me. There was a delicate webbed causal fin, punctuated at the center by a dip. Protruding from the dip was a long, deadly looking purple spike. I touched the spike, mesmerized. It felt like the tip of a sharp dagger.

I began to examine myself more closely. My petticoats and corset were gone. I was shocked to discover I was nude! Where had my clothes gone? It wasn't proper! I looked around me. There were no clothes in the water nearby. It was as if they had never existed in the first place. Weird.

I looked down at my n***d torso. I discovered there were small slits over my ribs. I covered one with my hand, it was like breathing through smoke. Those slits had to be how I was breathing down here. I had gills! My hair, which had been restrained and pinned in a hat as befitting any proper lady, hung loose in dark undulating waves to my hips. At my hips, a few inches below my navel, my body transitioned to opalescent black scales. They caught the little bit of light down here and shimmered dully.

I wasn't sure what I was now, but whatever I was, I was beautiful.