Our Fated Tail

Anilena

Arkeanus took me to another room and sat me down on a stool in the middle. I sat nervously as he circled me. His eyes were like a hawk’s and I didn’t like the way he smiled. Like he knew something important that I didn’t. The room was small. As the king turned his head, it barely brushed the ceiling. Why was I in here again? What did he want to talk about with me? Did I do something wrong?

“Ray?”

My head snapped up and I blushed. Was he saying something? “Sorry, did you say something?”

He chuckled. “How is your relationship with your family?”

“Um, really good. Why?”

“Well, Georgia talked to me last night and said you missed them. What if I told you that I would let you visit them?”

I was out of the stool and staring at him like he was crazy. “Are you joking with me? Because it isn’t funny.”

He scoffed. “No I am not, child. You are aloud to visit your family if it would please you.”

I let out a loud scream and hugged him. He caught me in his arms, laughing as he hugged me back. The door burst open and I let out a startled scream as Eren burst in with Cobius. Arkeanus held me defensively but let go when he saw who was there. He looked furious. I bit back a laugh as Eren and his friend looked like they wanted to crawl into a hole. Eren opened his mouth to explain but he just sputtered like a fool. Finally, I cracked. I fell onto the floor laughing like a freak. I would’ve started choking on my guffaws if Eren hadn’t shaken me into sanity. His eyes were wide and he looked ready to strangle me.

“You...your faces… oh my…” I went in to another round of giggles as he gave me a frustrated look.

“Anilena! We thought something happened to you! Why are you laughing?”

“Be...because I was fine,” I said as I calmed down. “Your father had just said something that excited me so I screamed. Sorry Eren,” I whispered as I wiped locks of hair from his face. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Promise.”

Cobius coughed and ruined the moment. Arkeanus elbowed his side as we glared at him. Eren picked me up from the sand and held my waist. The king grinned and Cobius pouted at it. I let the prince lead me from the throne room back to his room and he set me down. He said he would be right back and gave Cobius a warning look. The dummy just grinned and winked at me. I didn’t like him. He was cocky and arrogant. If he thought he was going to get anything from me he should’ve thought twice. I wasn’t interested in him at all. His friend on the other hand…

Yes, I know that it was bad. I had known him for like three days and I was already falling for him. How could you not though? He was handsome and sweet. I mean, he saved me from dying. How could you forget something like that. i mean, yeah, he’s a prince and should marry a royal person. But can’t I try? They didn’t make all of those Disney princess movies for nothing. I felt like I was in some twisted version of The Little Mermaid. Eren’s eyes were so beautiful. I mean, the black hair and gorgeous eyes. He could be Eric and I could be a messed up Ariel. I wonder how he would take that. Did he ever think about us? Would he give us a shot? I mean, I wanted to know more about him before I even tested the dating waters. But still, what would he think about this?

I felt a cold finger under my chin, freezing my veins. Cobius lifted my face up to look at me. Before I could blink, his lips were on mine. This was gross on so many levels. I ripped my face from his. Blinded by my anger, I drove my fist into his gut, then gave him a nice and hard uppercut. When I looked at him, his lip was bleeding and his eye looked like it would swell for a while. His stomach was already starting to bruise. I looked down at him in disgust and wiped my lips. He wasn’t even a good kisser. I looked at the door and saw Eren with a slack jaw. His fingers were clenched around a silver tray with food. They were paper white and I immediately went to take it from him.

“Eren,” I said softly. “Let the tray go. It’s not what it looks like.”

“It looks like my best friend just kissed you when I told him not to touch you,” he growled.

I blushed. “Well then. I guess it’s exactly what it looks like.” I pulled the tray away from him and set it on the floor. I put my hands on his face and he looked at me. Those beautiful sea green eyes looked like a hurricane of emotion. Anger, pain, insecurity, and betrayal. I shook my head at him when he tried to pull away. Because I had a good guess what he would do next. I don’t think his father would like his son killing subjects. I wrapped my arms around him and whispered soft things in his ear. I heard Cobius get up and held Eren tighter so he couldn’t go after him. He still tried so I went limp in his arms. He knew I was still conscience but I knew he wouldn’t let go. I heard an angry growl and the door was slammed shut. I pulled away.

“Better?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “A little bit. I still think I should beat him.”

“I think I hit him hard enough. He’s your best friend Eren. Don’t be dumb and let this get in between you two. He knows he won’t be getting anything from me now. Okay?”

He nodded and picked up the tray of food and carried it to his bed. We spent the next hour or so fooling around until we finished our lunch. I never thought I would like eating seafood. I was always squeamish around it. When we finished lunch, Eren got up and swam across the room to a shelf full of books. He pulled out a thick, old, heavy looking book. I wanted to run screaming. There is no way that I was going to be able to remember everything in that book. It was hard enough to remember the curriculum in college. Eren sat down next to me and I tucked my tail under me like I would with my legs. This book was weird. It was a pretty cursive script made in black ink on old papyrus pages. It’s strange for this to have made it so long in the salt water.

“Anilena? Are you paying attention to anything I am saying to you?”

I looked at Eren. “Sorry. I zoned out. What are we talking about again?”

“Well,” he said frustrated, “we were going to discuss the Royals.” I sat up straighter and nodded my head. “The Royals are the most powerful Mer in the seas. There are three kingdoms. The Poseidon Kingdom, Triton Kingdom, and the Neptune Kingdom. We are the Neptune Kingdom. The Royals in each kingdom are separated by their tail colors. For us, the Royals are black or grey. Our people are either green or blue. For the Triton Kingdom, the Royals are orange or gold. Their people are either purple or red. The Poseidon Kingdom Royals have an odd situation. There are two types of powers in that kingdom.”

He paused and I could tell it was a touchy subject. But I still really wanted to know. I put a hand on his tail and said, “Tell me, Eren.”He sighed and looked at my hand. I took it off and set it in my lap. “Please?”

“They have Mer who are powerful with their authority. They are like the rest of the Royals in the other kingdoms. The only difference is they have one mermaid who is different. Each generation, one mermaid is given the power of the moon. It is a very complex and unstudied gift. No one has been able to have it long enough to study it. The person always dies at a young age. They don’t have to be a Royal but it is only in the Poseidon Kingdom that it occurs.”

There was a shine in his eyes. They were too glassy, even being under water. I closed the book and swam to the shelf, setting it on the shelf silently. He needed time and space. “I’ll be in the throne room with your father,Eren.” With that, I left his room and went to see his father. When the guards saw me there alone, they smirked. I was so not in the mood for this. My head went haywire and I felt dizzy. My body got hot all over and I wanted to pass out. When I looked at the guards, they were both passed out. I bent over and touched their shoulders and lifted their helmets.

I let out a blood chilling scream. They were burnt to a crisp. Their skin was blackened and flaking away as the king and several bystanders rushed over to me. I was curled up on the sand floor and rocking back in forth, my arms were wrapped around my tail and my skin was still warm. Eren and Cobius came swimming at me like torpedoes. Eren went to touch me and I bolted to a corner. He couldn’t touch me. No one could touch me now. Arkeanus looked at me knowingly and Shelby was looking at me like I was a blood thirsty animal. I didn’t look at anyone but the guards in front of the doors.

The flakes of their flesh floated around and everyone avoided it. They were whispering, shouting, screaming, and pointing. I saw group of girls crying. One was wearing a silver band on her ring finger and shaking her head at a guard. Like she  couldn’t believe he was dead. I wanted to cry. I had killed her significant other. And I knew exactly how it felt, if not worse. She didn’t do it. I did. As the realization picked up, I got off the floor. Eren was examining the bodies with his father and Cobius was next to him. Now or never, I guess.

I bolted. With a strong flick of my tail and Cobius shouting my name, I was swimming through halls and jetted out of the castle. I could feel people coming after me. I could also feel something in my head. It was like someone was whispering in my ear. Her voice was smooth and gentle. There were people shouting and a large bone spear zipped past me. Instantly, fight-or-flight kicked in and I swam towards a little cropping in the rocks on the ocean floor. The area was dark and the people behind me had stopped pursuing me. Yet, they were all gathered up at the entrance. The voice in my head was now shouting.

‘HELLO!’

I covered my ears. “What the heck?”

They laughed. ‘I’m in your head. I’m you genius.’

“What do you mean?” My voice shook.

‘I mean, that you have a split personality.’

“Liar!” I did not have a split personality. What did I need one for anyways? There was no way. Wouldn’t I have known sooner?

‘No. Because you didn’t have your powers until you were a mermaid,’ they said with artificial patience. ‘I am the one that knows your powers. I help you with them. It’s been this way since Mer people existed.’

“Can you help me now? I didn’t mean to kill anyone. They didn’t even do anything to me? Why did they have to die?” My voice was thick with tears.

‘First of all,’ they started. ‘My name is Venenifer. But you can call me Vene. Those Mer died because they were too close when your powers fully developed. I can help you but I have to take over. Before you freak out, I won’t control you forever. You will be fully able to gain it back. I won’t hurt anyone either.’

I thought about it for a while. I needed to get out of here and explain myself. Those people up there weren’t going to be leaving until I do. So I might as well do it now. But I might need Vene’s help to get out without being stabbed. “Fine. But if I get stabbed, you are so not doing this again.”

‘Wimp. You won’t look the same. Your entire appearance will change,’ she warned.

Before I could say anything I felt her take over. It was like lava in my veins. It was a horribly comfortable sensation. My hair was longer and completely white. I could see black and red streaks in it as it floated in the dark. I could see clearly too. My eyes itched for a minute as they changed. Then came the tail. It was the oddest part. I looked down and gasped. My tail was a blinding white light as it morphed into tentacles. They were black and slim. I was like a skinny Ursula.

I went to say something but my voice wasn’t coming out. Then I felt her control my words. I obviously wouldn’t be speaking. “Do you feel okay?” she asked. It wasn’t even my voice.

I nodded and she straightened my body. I shot through the dark tunnels of the cavern and I could feel the people waiting for me. As I approached the light, Vene chanted a couple odd words and my body was surrounded by a dull glow. Once I got to the opening, I stopped. The weird part was wanting to swim back down but knowing that I didn’t even have control of myself. I slowly exited the cave, my tentacles pulling me up by grappling the rocks beside me. When I got out, everyone was silent.

“Anilena?”

Vene allowed me to turn my head to the voice. Eren was still next to his father, who looked completely fascinated and a little bit happy. “Venenifer?”

I smiled. “Hello Arkeanus. I’m so terribly sorry about Clarissa and Medeis.”

He smiled sadly and nodded. He called off the people who surrounded me with spears. Then he looked at me again. “Did you hurt Ray?”

Vene scoffed. “Of course not. I didn’t hurt her and her name is Anilena.”

The glow around me began to pulse and everyone stared. But I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Eren. He looked horrified by me. I didn’t even know what my eyes looked like. I wanted to go to him. I wanted to touch him. He needed to know I was still in here. My body moved forward and I figured Vene was giving me some control back.

As I moved right in front of Eren, the guards tensed up and gripped their weapons. Would he let them stab me? I recoiled from him in fear. He didn’t know what was wrong with me. Or if I had complete control of my body. Of course he would let me get speared by his guards. Eren grabbed my hand and I tried to pull back. Vene growled but I told her to shut up. Eren refused to let go.

“Anilena? Are you still in there?” His eyes searched me.

My voice mixed with Vene’s, like two people talking at once. “Yes. I’m still here Seren.”

He let me go and continued to stare at me. “What’s going on?”

Vene and I laughed, “Can’t you tell? I’m a witch, sorceress, whatever you want to call me.” I placed my hand on his cheek. “And you need to let me leave.”