LEGS.

"So, that's what they call them." Arielle blurted out, staring at the ceiling, deep in numerous thoughts. She had heard of different legends concerning humans, but never of their weird fins being called legs. 'Is it that humans' fins were once laid eggs? Some type of special eggs called legs, I guess. Hmm, then they kept growing and growing until they developed into long creepy crabby webbed fins.' Another of her ridiculous theory popped into her mind.

And apparently, Arielle had snuck her way past the snoring royal guards to her godmother's hideout when they weren't looking. Her father should've known better when choosing Taurus and Mishra, the two most easily distracted guards in the kingdom, as her bodyguards.

Although, she didn't come there to play the hide-and-cage game with the guards, she came for something else different.

Something fishless, more of...human.

"But I swore I saw one of the humans have a third leg, er...it looked like it was snapped though cause it seems to be pointing erect, like someone had actually snapped it to a horizontal 'I' shape. I remember seeing an eye at the ends of the leg though, which is kind of creepy and—"

"Arielle..." Her godmother interrupts, her face threatening to burst into an embarrassing laughter. She didn't know if it was her goddaughter's innocence she found quite funny, or the speed and excitement she's using to speak about them.

"Wait, why's the tip of these two weird bouncy balls on my chest pinker and harder than before? Was there a defect in the - oh wow, I didn't know that humans had a hole over here either!" Arielle exclaimed, parting the opening in between her thighs with her fingers. She has never come across such weird parts in her life before, ever. "Makes me wonder what goes through here. What do they use—"

"Focus Arielle, this is not the time to explore your cunt!" The middle-aged woman besides her slapped her hands away from the spot before she would eventually do something more worse. Shaking her head, she started to have gut feelings that she was really going to regret crossing the line. "Are you really this eager to do more than popping of your head out of the water?"

"Scaling yes, Godmother! Anything to feel the world out there, please." Arielle sounded serious and desperate, her eyes twinkling with innocence and determination. "I...I couldn't tell anyone yet, except for you. You're my only hope, Godmother." She bit her lips when she remembered Sebastian. He was never going to forgive her, if he ever heard of her plans. Maybe a last heartfelt moment could draw them closer one last time.

Arielle let out a deep, annoyed sigh.

"Arielle, you—"

"I'm fine Godmother, really." Arielle waved her off with a forced smile. "You were saying something about the moon hour?"

Her Godmother nodded. "All you have to do is do that of what we discussed; return before the lunar month—your 18th birthday. And when returning to the sea..." She paused and stared into the girl's eyes, searching for any sign of uncertainty in her eyes, but when she found none, she continued, "you must not look back, not for any reason, my child."

When Arielle didn't answer, the middle aged woman turned to her worriedly, only to see her trying to lick the surface of her face. This was certainly the very first time for Arielle to have another surface on her body other than scales.

The woman's face softened at her childishness. She couldn't really blame Arielle for wanting this. Once fate decides to explore you, you can't escape at all. What nobody knew was that... Arielle's life, her fate, everything was written in a long, old, prophecy—which of course had been stolen by none other than the pirates themselves.

Those old, smelly fools.

"Those things all over your body are called skins, Arielle. If you notice, you're breathing through your nose and not your skin. The skin acts like a covering to the body for the humans just like our scales do to us. The only difference is that, hairs are found at some spots hidden at their skin pores."

Arielle blinked twice, signifying that whatever scale her godmother was saying was out of her world.

"Forget what I said and listen to me." The woman held Arielle's hands gently. Her silver slimy webbed fingers curling around the human's fingers slowly. "Are you sure you want this, Arielle? If your father finds out that I helped you in this..." The woman mused, thinking over her decisions again.

"Don't worry Godmother! He won't know a thing, promise!" Arielle chirped in, crossing her fingers with a huge grin. If there was anybody that wasn't going to let her down, it was her.

Her Godmother wore a smile and nodded. "Good, just remember never to take off this bracelet." Her webbed fingers tapped the glowing bracelet on her goddaughter's wrist.

"I've been meaning to ask this, what happens if I remove it?" Arielle asked, circling her fingers around the strange bracelet. A neon blue light shone brightly in three bars, blinking twice as another light scanned her upperwrist before displaying pictures of her mermaid form. Something about this bracelet gave her the chills but nevertheless, she found it dashingly beautiful.

"This thing on your arm, Arielle..." Her Godmother started, fixing Arielle's messy hair from behind. "is like a seapuss. Those three bars are like your life bars as a human, if it blinks at a low percent, there's every tendency for you to change back forcefully or get hurt. This bracelet regulates the balance of your powers especially when you're being a human. One wrong switch and you're stuck in the form you chose. The risk involved in this is high, so you've to be incredibly careful."

Arielle crouched on the plantal stool and stared at her. "So...if I mess up with this thing's function, I can be stuck as a human for...life?"

The woman nodded.

Arielle sighed, blowing away the strands of hair that carelessly made their way to her face. "Whatever, I'm old enough to fix things my own way. Surely, hiding beautiful treasures would be no match for me."

"Mhm," The woman hummed, "Anyways, the only way to fully summon your hidden powers is to mate with your supposed human on the eleventh hour of your birthday. Since you're one of the heirs to the Queen and have some special gifts inside of you, it won't be really difficult in doing that." The woman smirked sheepishly at the imagination of Arielle trying to woo a male, a human man.

"Mate?" Arielle's cheeks went red even though she didn't fully know what that word meant. All she knew was that her friends experienced it with their lovers and said that it was the most pleasurable thing in the world. She wanted to feel that pleasure too but just not with a merman.

"Yup." The woman answered, popping the word 'p'. "That's all it takes, but bewarned..." Her voice went dangerously cold and unfriendly. "Humans are very selfish and terrible. They'd stop at nothing to butcher you if they happen to find out your identity. Never trust anyone enough to tell them your background, you hear me? I can tell you're up to something terrible with the way you keep smirking at me, Arielle—believe me when I say they're worse than sirens...in a way. I've been there and I've gone through it." The woman paused and turned her waist to Arielle's view, showcasing a deep scar across her tummy. "You see this scar? I had this when I was twenty three, and guess what? It was a hunter that did this. Oh, if I had known what terrible creatures they were! I would've killed them with my very scaled hands before they'd have the chance to!"

Arielle frowned and shuddered when she felt the damage caused by the marks. Everyone kept saying humans were terrible two-legged monsters that kills aqua-creatures and displays their bodies to their own greed, specifically the mermaids. Ariel somehow disagreed with that myth and was trying to prove them wrong. There had to be more than hunters, pirates, humans, drunkards, bastards, laid eggs and all that—she could feel something out there.

Ironically, something keeps calling her name, whispering it from above the waters. Surely, it can't be the sirens—their spells don't work on her for some unknown reasons.

She had to do this once and for all, find that voice and if possible merge with it.

Arielle sighed and stood up at once, suddenly forgetting her Godmother's presence.

"I'm not done yet." The woman gritted through her teeth.

Arielle snapped out of her thoughts and groaned. "Really?"

Her Godmother turned around, scrambling through the seaweeds beside the shelves. Arielle watched as she picked up a scroll and mused over it.

"You've to sign this." The woman said. "Even though you already have a spell locating insurance seal. It's very important you-"

Arielle didn't even have time to glance through the lines as she couldn't read. She picked up the stony pen and pricked her fingers, letting the pen soak the blood, enough to write few words. Then, she went down to the end of the paper and signed her agreement, writing her name underneath it.

Princess Arielle.

"Did you even read what was in there?" The woman's silver eyes swirled with anger and shock. To her, Ariel had just signed a death contract.

"I don't need to. It's done already, isn't it?" Arielle mumbled, extending the paper to her front. 'What has been done has been done.' She kept chanting at the back of her mind.

The woman wore a strained smile and placed it amongst some other dark deals in a bubbling bottle.

"Can we...continue?" Arielle asked.

"Of course."

"First and foremost, you must avoid the three letters...'H2O' at all costs, especially when you're not wearing your bracelet. You've got two legs now, use them when you have to."

Arielle swings her leg back and forth. "Let me guess, whoosh, whoosh, I'm a pretty fish lady again."

"Exactly."

"But c'mon, that's like depriving me of water. That's my source of living, our source of living, there's no way I can stay off water for that long. Right now, I feel ridiculously dry even!" Arielle shrugged.

"Rules are rules, Arielle. I can only say you can stay away from it in public places."

"Fine. I guess I'd do anything to keep these babies." Arielle made her point by spreading her legs apart, making her godmother turn her face away quickly.

"If you keep on doing that thing, you'd not like what the humans would do next to you, Arielle." She scolded. "Your eyes would not only roll to the back of your head but you'd die early!"

"Oh, trust me - I know what's coming for me." Arielle pressed her legs together with a naughty giggle and stood up. "I'm off to the shore now, Godmother."

"Oh, no no no, you can't go now."

"Huh? Why not?" Arielle cocked an eyebrow.

"You have to go in two days time. By then, someone would accompany you through the life up there. You can't make it on your own, trust me."

"I'm not a baby anymore." Arielle stomped her feet, slightly offended that everyone had to follow her everywhere she had to go, either because of her royalty or because she was never trusted.

"I would prove that to you, everyone, that I'm fine on my own. And guess what? I can mate with him just as wished, whatever that word means, and then I'd be not only an explorer but the FIRST MERMAID TO BE ON SHORE!"

"Mhm, those first words that'd always come out of every youthful mermaid." Her Godmother shook her head with a mocking chuckle. A lot of mer-men and mermaids eventually said the same thing and never accomplished it; never made it back, alive and sound. That's why...she was scared of doing this to Arielle, why she had been postponing their talks to weeks and trying as much as possible for her father to keep her locked from leaving the castle grounds.

"So, when I'm I meeting my babysitter?" Arielle crossed her arms, still not happy about being accompanied by a stranger—possibly, a merman.

"Soon. In fact, sooner than you ever think. He isn't far from you, you know." Her godmother smiles and leans her forehead against Arielle's, savoring the warmth from her body. "But... promise me, it's only for some days, or a week in full—you can't abandon this world for their cunning looks or desires. You can't sell your voice all in the name of...love."

Arielle's sudden burst of laughter caught her off guard. What was funny, the woman didn't know. 'Maybe this spell messed up with this girl's personality.' The woman grumbled and glared at the laughing girl.

"Me? Sell my voice for some stupid desire?" Arielle shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Who does that anyways? I can promise you that I can't feel a thing for them, well, except for that voice—but anything outside of that is just...bleh, scaling no! I was born not to feel anything called 'love', but here I am...simping over a voice or rather a whisper I don't even know. At some point, I began to question where I'm standing. I feel like I don't belong anywhere—not a mermaid, not a human, not a siren—does this even make any sense?!"

"Only one person can answer this." The woman answered, her puffy lips straining into a serious thin line. "And that's the only reason I'm giving you a go ahead."

Arielle gasped and stared at her, her face as serious as ever. "Really? Who?"

"The sirens."

_____________________

-What do you think about Arielle's godmother? xD I know, I know, she doesn't have a name and she's not that bad like the 'Ursula' we all know, is she? 😁

-Any thoughts on this mysterious voice? Time to debate, mwahaha 🌚

-If Arielle isn't fully a mermaid, isn't a human, isn't a siren...what could she be? 🤔

-Do you think Arielle could be lying about being born with a stony heart and if so, why? I'd really love to hear your thoughts on this one!

-I feel so stupid and bad for indirectly insulting our kind, please forgive me for this one lol.

-What's your favorite line(s)? Mine's: Those old, smelly fools, and laid eggs xD.

-So....no ball then? 😅 Well, we just have to wait and see how everything goes.

-I wonder how Sebastian's gonna take this to heart especially as they've a lot to make up in their friendship 🙁

Thank you for reaching this far! Don't forget to press that golden star, share your thoughts and tell your friends about how awesome Arielle is xD. Although this story was written out of instant inspiration (early mornings - 11 -1am), I feel like it'd be edited later. I can't promise to update faster, but I hope this chapter could be a makeup for the months I didn't update. Thanks once again for skimming through this boring book lol, ilysm ❤️