CORINNE

Corinne stared at the creature. The creature stared at her. With a smirk so pretentious that it made Corinne feel like a fool. If only she could wipe that smug look off that woman's face.

"You said there was a cure." Corinne squeezed the words out, her throat closing as the coldness cut deep again.

The blue-skinned, black-eyed woman slithered to the dry land and Corinne finally got a good look at her. Her lower body was covered in glimmering, silver-blue scales, making it seem like she was wearing a body suit. Except the scales were real and sharp and rough. Her toes and toenails were elongated and webbed. She stood upright. The sight evoked a visceral fight or flight reaction, but Corinne stood her ground. There was no way this fucked up, fish woman would make her cower.

Then, she began shifting and changing before Corinne's eyes.

The black disappeared from her eyes, leaving clear, silver eyes in its stead. The pigmentation of her skin changed from blue to white to beige, finally resembling human skin. The scales stayed, but her toenails disappeared under her skin and the claws on her hands retracted.

"Very well, I shall heal you as promised." The woman said and spread out her hand. Corinne flinched and her heart raced as those cold, clammy hands touched her forehead.

She was in awe and disgusted at the same time as the woman hummed a sickening, eerie tune. Corinne gulped down her fear and stared ahead, wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into. But the pain disappeared from her throat and her vision cleared.

Yet, all she could feel was disappointment. A part of her had hoped there was an herb, or a potion that she could steal and smuggle back into the city.

"You're the cure." Corinne murmured, trying to hide the disappointment, but it felt like poison on her tongue.

"I inflicted the disease, I can take it away." The woman removed her hand off Corinne's forehead. "The symptoms will be gone soon. Walk with me."

She walked ahead, leaving Corinne lying on the ground. The pain ceased and she could feel her limbs becoming hers again. But she was tired, exhausted. She hadn't eaten anything in a while and she hoped she could snatch some moss in these caves.

There was a pond nearby that made Corinne wonder how there was a pond underneath a lake. The light blue water evaporated in the air, creating a foggy atmosphere. Corinne could see creatures peeking through the surface, strange, creepy giggles spreading from their throats. Every time she thought she could get a good look at someone, heads disappeared under the water. With nothing left to do, Corinne followed.

Each step was hard, but she managed to keep up with the strange woman. Once they moved away from the pond, they entered a caved path that led to the darkness. It was big enough for Corinne to walk through without crouching. But it was wet and muddy and it smelled of moist.

"Where are we going?" Corinne asked, stifling the fear that clawed at her. It wasn't just the weird creatures; it was the fact she was deep under water and didn't know how to climb up. She was stuck here for all intents and purposes.

"To our lair." The woman answered without turning around. Well, that sounded like a lot of fun, Corinne thought.

She was still weak, but she managed to follow the woman through the tunnels, mentally trying to remember all the right and left turns. Corinne was lost very soon.

"Where are you taking me?" Corinne examined the huge open cave with a high ceiling and an azure pond in the middle.

This pond was bigger, more elaborate, with levels in depth. There was a bridge that led across it made of stone and mud.  Creatures sat on the edges, giggling and talking and splashing the water around. The moment Corinne entered, they all stopped.

She briefly took in the colourful faces. Blue-skinned, purple-skinned, pink-skinned creatures stared at her; their eyes either pitch-black or silver or crystal-clear blue. They weren't all female; Corinne noticed a few blue-skinned men staring at her curiously. She stared at the shimmering and glimmering scales and she wondered where the light came from. The cave was so light it looked like sunshine was coming through somewhere. And she realised it was the pond; it illuminated the entire cave.

"Shoo!" The main siren waved with her hand and the creatures scattered, most of them diving straight in the pond, others hopping away through the tunnels. "Let us talk." She sat down on the edge of the pond and crossed her scaly legs. The moment her toes touched water; they became webbed again. Corinne had to swallow the sudden burst of disgust.

But she accepted the invitation and sat down next to the strange woman, stifling her fear. Fear would get her nowhere at this point, she had to find out everything she could about this place.

Corinne just now realised she wore flip-flops all this time and wondered how she managed to swim with them still on. She dipped her feet in the azure, glimmering water. It was calm and gentle and just the right temperature.

It made Corinne wish she could dive in.

"What are you?" Corinne asked, ignoring the pull of the water. There was something creepy about the way it called to her, the lake, the water, these creatures. Perhaps it was all a ruse to get wandering mortals in their grips.

"What do you think we are?" The woman asked. Corinne felt strangely small next to her, her heartbeat was racing, her palms were sweating and one look in the woman's eyes made her shiver.

"I'd go with sirens." Corinne shrugged, trying to appear as calm as possible.

"How strange." The woman hummed. "There is little to no fear in your heart. Such a fascinating specimen of the species."

In one stupid moment of foolish bravery, Corinne smirked.

"When I said so myself, everyone thought I was pretentious."

"Hmm." The woman let out a satisfied chuckle. "We can take the form of sirens, but we are not merely sirens. We're called guardians."

"Of what?" Corinne asked.

"Nature." The woman smiled. "Universe. Everything around you."

"And why do you take the form of sirens?" Corinne hoped the questions weren't too impolite. She didn't want to anger her.

"Well, believe it or not, we took the sea because we decided to leave the land to humans. Their poor lungs cannot process water and we took pity on them. We retracted to the seas and let them have their dirt and mud and ground." The woman said.

"Don't you hate humans?" Corinne continued. She wanted to keep her talking. Talking was better than dying and Corinne wasn't sure if dying was the next thing on her schedule.

"We hate them now." The woman's face slightly twisted, barely noticeably. "They weren't always so greedy and selfish. They didn't always wish both the land and the sea and the air for themselves."

It seemed for a moment like she was talking about all the humans in the world, not just those stuck on this remote island. Wherever the fuck that was.

"What's your name?" Corinne asked boldly.

"Sierra." The woman answered. "And you're Corinne. Corinne the Betrayer, Corinne who wishes to go home. I understand your desires."

Corinne's veins froze at those words.

"I do not know you, Corinne, I have no hate towards you in my heart." Sierra spoke. "Your desires are clear and I will give you what you wish. But," she stopped for a moment, "if you want to leave, you will have to do something for me. Breaking those runes for me was the first step, just a small test to see how devoted you are. Congratulations, you passed."

Corinne couldn't help the growing regret that made its presence known in the pit of her stomach. But the opportunity at the horizon was grander and more alluring. She wanted to leave this place and she wasn't sure whether there was anything that might stop her.

"What would I have to do?" Corinne asked.

"Patience, dear." Sierra answered. "There are many things you have to learn before you get to leave. You will be given a room where you can rest and regain your strength."

"Can I ask..." Corinne stopped, searching for words, "what is this place, this island?"

"A chessboard." Sierra answered. "Where we play an infinite game of power. Perhaps it was created by the gods that have given us life. Perhaps it came to existence as a side-effect of gods' wicked games. It sure is lovely, isn't it?"

"But I want to go home." Corinne pushed and somewhere along the way she lost all the reasons why she wanted to go home. But she did, desperately.

"Before you do that, you will have to do something else for me." Sierra's gaze was firmly set on Corinne's eyes. "Breaking the runes that protected the city from the disease was the first step, just to test the rulers. Now that I know they had no idea the place was even warded in the first place, I have another assignment for you."

"And what's that?" Corinne asked, hoping the siren couldn't hear the reluctance in her voice.

"There are more runes that need to be broken." Sierra answered. "Runes that forbid us from entering the city physically. I want them gone, too."

Corinne's breathing slowed. Sirens wanted in and Corinne didn't dare to think about their reasons. She had already allowed the sickness in, would she really allow the cause of the sickness in, too?

"I want to go home." Corinne swallowed her heartbeat, ignoring its quiet warning. Was this the point of no return? Was this the final betrayal?

"And I want to enter the city." Sierra arched her eyebrow and somehow, that was the most human gesture she's done.

"I won't do it unless you tell me how to go home." Corinne said firmly. She knew she was in no position to bargain, but she tried anyway. The answer, though, wasn't as secretive as Corinne thought it would be.

"It will require a sacrifice, a big one."

"Tell me." Corinne requested.

"Very well." The strange woman didn't smile. "In order to leave this place, you will have to become one of us."