Chapter 4: The Sea Witch
The woman named Emma Swan was long gone.
She herself didn't know who Emma Swan was, and probably not a lot of people would recognize Emma as Emma.
Three days had passed much like Belle had expected it too. More time than that, really, for Emma at least. Emma who had spent months and then years almost a century realm hoping, searching for her family. When in reality, barely any time had passed in the world without magic and in the Enchanted Forest. A realm Emma had never been able to reach. Despite how hard she tried. Never the less, time did pass for her, and like Belle had expected, she slowly forgot who she was. Emma slowly forgot that she was human. She adapted being a mermaid and soon those years felt like nothing. Human customs became foreign to her, and the mermaid way of life was all she knew. She didn't even have known how much time passed since Rumple's spell on her and the child stopped her from aging.
Eventually, she found others like her, a colony of mermaids, of sisters that were like her. She took a new name (well, the first name she remembered): Syrena. Her name had a great connection to the sea. The sea was her home. She really had no desire concerning the surface world of its inhabitants, the humans.
She heard the stories how they'd hurt and enslaved her kind, she wanted really nothing to do with them. And when she had to deal with them, she made sure her interactions were minimum at best. She never understood her sisters' love for human sailors. Sure, they were more attractive than mermen Then again, mermaids in general had no use for mermen except during the mating season.
Instead, Syrena made her life learning about her abilities from the coven and helping them maintain the colony when need be. The humans were always looking for items from other realms, and mermaids could travel realms. That was something Syrena had known well. She had been lost into the realms for so long before her sisters found her, so lost that now she knew her way around them quite well. So, she took the work.
She didn't know why the humans wanted what she pursued for them, and she didn't want to know why. She knew some of the items that they wanted could cause harm, but they were just humans.
Of course, it was easier said than done. Although, she could easily travel realms some of the items were land based. And unless it was the night that Ursula granted them the power to leave the sea, she usually had to rely on her other abilities to be able to obtain the item
Of one those abilities was her beauty. Syrena was well aware that she was considered highly attractive in the mermaid world. She looked perpetually like she was in the mating season, when she knew she wasn't. Hell, she had never been able to release eggs. As far as she knew she was infertile, inept. Yet, try telling certain mermen that.
That and she needed to hone in her abilities. She had came a long way since they had found her there almost dead in the Neverland lagoon.
Now she was back procuring some dreamshade.
She hated Neverland, and not because she had almost died here before. The inhabitants were wild, most of the merpeople that lived there hardly ever went to the surface and with good reason Pan and his boys were heathens. Neverland merfolk wanted nothing to do with their kind, and killing each other was more or less a blood spot.
Yet, dreamshade grew abundant there and lots of people wanted dremshade. And Syrena was always one for adventure. Or at the very least helping her coven, they had done so much for her.
Although, whenever Syrena had to get the stuff she felt chills run down her spine for some reason. She didn't exactly know why, but she hated the stuff. Resented it, yet it was easy to obtained. You didn't even have to worry about flirting with someone to help you since the weed grew near the water.
She frowned as she felt the rush of the portal that took her to Pan's little hellhole. Each time she went into this world she felt dread creep up and down her, and Syrena didn't get scared easy. She knew the council said she didn't come here, but her sisters they weren't as strong as her
Besides the job kept her busy enough not to concentrate on the past, and she did feel she had to earn her keep. Her sisters had done so much for her; they had showed her so much. Civilized her.
She had been in the wild for so long, swimming the seas to the point she had no idea why she kept swimming. She had no idea about her past, which wasn't unusual for a mermaid who wasn't born in a colony or a mermaid who had experienced what she experienced in this lagoon.
Lone hatchlings had to find their own way in the world. Especially lone hatchlings with her abilities. She was lucky she survived if she had been one. She knew that a lot of mermaids in her position were killed before they became fully grown. And she would've probably had died too had the colony not saved her that day.
World traveling was a mer specialty, and at the time she had no idea she was in Neverland.
She didn't identify the places she went. Neither did her sisters really. It was the surface dwellers that came up with names for them. She had just known Neverland as the twisted world, Pan's world—the world she almost died.
It was the first encounter with one of her kind. Or at least that she could remember. Her sisters had told her that she might've known more about her old life before the accident, that perhaps she had a family at one point. Though, it seemed unlikely to Syrena.
She just remembered swimming that day. Swimming until something grabbed her and tried to drag her towards the ocean floor. She later would find out his name was Kai.
He wanted her as his mate.
And he wouldn't take no for an answer. And when she fought back, things got violent. When he tried to kill her. She remembered him grabbing her hair dragging her towards the ocean floor when suddenly the water became dark as he cursed and let go of her as she found herself sinking to the ocean floor. Her head coming into contact with a nice piece of coral.
And then she woke up, to the faces of her sisters.
Her sisters who offered her a home, who told her she didn't have to come back here where she was attacked. But Syrena came back. Kai was dead, she told herself even she knew this wasn't true. Or at the very least, she knew where to swim in Neverland now to avoid the merman groups that lived there.
The dreamshade didn't grow near there, Syrena thought as she begin to harvest the crop that she was to take back to the colony.
She groaned. Procuring the stuff was hard work. You didn't want to cut yourself. The plant could kill.
Could kill.
She found herself putting her hand on her belly as she thought this, and frowned. She never knew why she always got the heebie-jeebies when it came to harvesting time like it somehow affected her when she knew it didn't.
She was almost done procuring her stash when she felt it. As if someone was stabbing her tail.
She tried to splash away, but she couldn't somehow she found she couldn't move. It was if she was paralyzed or something. And then she heard a laugh. "So, you didn't die, witch."
It was Kai.
She recognized that voice from long ago.
"Let me go," She hissed she could barely move now just saying those words took effort. Her mind try to rationalize what he did to her, he must've some other sea witch's ink on her.
"I don't think so, witch." He said, "You should know by now I don't take no for an answer. And we didn't finish what we started. And you are still as delectable as ever. Even if that tail is fake."
Syrena rolled her eyes. Her tail wasn't fake; she hadn't developed fully into her powers yet. She could only barely produce her own ink. Hence, why she didn't appear to be a sea witch, why she still appeared to be a delicate beautiful mermaid. Though, he slightly elongated tales would eventually become tentacles at least that's what her sisters told her. One day she would shed being a mermaid all together. Well, at least being the sort of mermaid that sailors lusted over. Instead, most people would view her as some sort of monster. Quite frankly she couldn't wait the day those tentacles sprung out and mermen would never look in her direction again. Regardless, she to figure out a way out of his grasp. Kai was strong. Most mermen were.
"My colony won't stand for this," She hissed. "You will pay."
Kai laughed. "Colonies don't have any power here. Surely, you know that by now. And they wouldn't want a sea witch like you."
"I'm not a sea witch." She said even though she was.
She had found out when her colony had rescued her. When she found that her truth about her always slightly larger scales when she woke up. That one-day they would burst into tentacles, and she would be as powerful as those who rescued her. She knew that magic wasn't exactly something that the mer community found acceptable. Especially mermen. And the first lesson she had learned when finding out she was a witch was deny, deny, deny. Deny that her scales were slowly turning into tentacles. Pretend to be a plain old mermaid.
"Oh, trust me, when I say you are." He snapped as he turned her body around to face him.
Unlike mermaids, merman weren't an envy to look at. Most mermaids only dealt with them when it was time to lay eggs. Kai was no exception to the rule. Although, powerfully built, the man's face was not beautiful by any means. Ugly was a better descriptor. His nose looked to have been broken several times and his teeth weren't exactly in pristine condition either the ones that weren't broken were crooked and were the same color as the muck at the bottom of the sea. He was also a particularly hairy merman. Which made the fact his body was insanely pressed against her even more unappealing.
"Get away from me," She snapped. "I'm not mating with you."
"I get what I want," He said as he pulled her closer towards him, her bare breasts now touching his chest. "And I want you even more than I did before now that I know you're a sea witch."
"I am not a sea witch." Syrena lied again hoping the slight growth on her tail wasn't that noticeable. It hadn't change much since that night when they had become slightly raised. Even though she had grown in power.
"But you are darling," I remember how you forced me away from you with your ink. "Your magic as unnatural as it is would be quite useful to me.
Unnatural. Of course, he had to call her weird. But the fact he wanted her because of her magic that was something she had never heard before. She wanted to get away. Controlling her powers was still difficult, and it wasn't like she could even really use them anymore. She could barely move though. She could barely think. Still though, she was about to throw a spell only she couldn't throw out an incantation since Kai at that point managed to wrap something around her neck.
To be specific it was a conch shell necklace, which Syrena knew to be a betrothal necklace. Such things had been outlawed long ago. They were enslavement devices. It was one of many reasons why mermaids wanted really nothing to deal with mermen, besides the fact that most of them seemed to go in the route of disgusting like Kai.
She gasped only to find she couldn't make a noise.
"Yes," He said, "You can't use your magic now, regardless of whether or not the ink wears off. Not as long as the necklace is around your neck. You're helpless. You're mine, witch."
Physically, he overpowered her. She knew that from his last encounter with her. He had pulled her down to almost to the bottom of the sea and he could do it again.
Technically, Syrena knew that save for the betrothal necklace, there was nothing obscene about Kai's behavior. Of course, being a member of a colony offered her some protection. But, during mating season, anything went. Even though Kai's behavior was extreme. She knew she was supposed to want to go down there with him too—to release her eggs. But at the same time, she knew there was no eggs. There never had been, every time she had tried to mate in the past she had failed. To the point, she didn't even want or feel a need to participate in the mating rituals anymore.
She remembered being disappointed all the times she failed. It was weird feeling so inept, when none of the members of the colony were even mothers to their own children. Or even knew her their own children were. Instead, they focused on the craft while the novices did the bare minimum to raise the young fry.
Eventually, those who showed no signs of magic were kicked out of the colony once they could survive. So making attachments until the colony was sure that one of its members was one of them was not wise.
Still, not being able to release her eggs. The inability to add to the colony made Syrena disappointed. It was one of the various reasons she wanted to complete her training, since once she fully grew into her powers and gained her tentacles, it would be expected that she couldn't have children.
He smiled at her, "Are you thinking about how to get away from me, witch? Surely you know with the necklace on, you have no choice."
"Let me go Kai," She snapped. "I don't want to mate with you."
He laughed, "Who says I want to mate with you? You as well as I know that sea witches are infertile"
"You said you needed me."
"Yes, but what does that have to deal with mating with you." He snapped. "No, witch, I have other plans for you. Until then shut up. You have to obey me because you have to."
He ended up taking her to a pirate's ship of all things. Yes, there were still ships in Neverland which actually surprised Syrena. She had thought no one wanted to be here, not with how psychotic Pan was—but apparently, one lone pirate ship was still there.
"I have the witch, pirate." Kai said throwing Syrena onto the deck of the boat. She felt totally helpless. She couldn't even move her tail and if she stayed on land for too long, Syrena could die. While she could breathe without water, her fins still needed hydration Things were worse when she heard someone come up behind her and a voice say, "Well, she is an attractive package. Though, since she's a sea witch it could very well be all glamour. You did good, Kai."
The nerve of him, Syrena could attest that her looks were still very real. She longed for the day she could be grotesque, yet she couldn't turn around to look and tell off the owner of the boat.
"I want to get paid." The merman said. "You said if I could procure you a witch, you'd pay for me. "
"I know, I know." The man said. "I need to make sure she's an actual witch though."
"Witch," Kai snapped. "Do some magic?"
Syrena grimaced. Only to find she couldn't talk or move. Magic required incantations, songs. Unless, it involved potions, releasing her ink, or realm traveling, and considering she couldn't move it really wasn't an option.
Of course, Kai didn't know this.
"Do some magic, witch." He hissed again.
She felt her body fight it. It wanted to behave, but Kai had told her not to speak. Finally though, she was able to mutter an incantation. One that she wanted to do since Kai had captured her. She screamed for the ocean to take him to destroy him much like it would do a wicked sailor, and a moment later he was under the water.
And he didn't surface. Mainly, because the spell Syrena had screamed wasn't one just to pull him over, but to send him to a realm far, far away.
Honestly, she wanted him dead. And his death should've released the spell she thought, but she found she couldn't move still. She could speak though. But even though she could speak, and perform spells it didn't help matters when she was stranded on a deck or when the man on the boat.
She should've sent him to another realm too, she thought. But the wave would've killed him since he was not mer. And Syrena had never been on one kill—not even with her voice, which was what it was made for. Perhaps, that was one of the reasons she hadn't been able to grow fully in her powers yet. Why she still had these stupid mermaid looks.
"I can't move." She said to herself more than anyone else.
Although, the man on the boat sighed as he turned to look at her for the first time. "I suspect that Kai paralyzed you."
"Get away from me," She snapped as she took in his appearance. The man was wearing head to toe black leather. By all accounts, he was quite attractive with dark hair and the beginning of a five o'clock shadow emerging on his face. She knew that some of her sister's would've said his eyes were the same color as the lagoon in Neverland. But Syrena thought they were just blue. Still though, he was attractive by human standards and it had made her a bit giddy looking at him.
Quasi sea witch or not, she was still mermaid by all intents and purposes, and her species did like pretty things.
"Lass, I'm not going to hurt you." He said, "I just need your help."
"You had Kai kidnap me," She hissed. "You had him put a betrothal necklace on me. You forced me to use magic."
He sighed heavily, "I didn't know he was going to do that. I just—I just needed help."
Syrena shook her head. "You didn't have to hire someone to kidnap me, you could've asked."
"Will you just try to trust me," He said. "Listen to me."
She gave him a weird look. "At the very least, let me get you a drink. You're a sea witch, right. You can be on a land for awhile more than the others, right?"
She shook her head. "No. Not me. I'm only am a fledgling still. Not fully into my powers. Still pretty much a mermaid."
Truth be known, she could perform a spell that could give her legs for up three days, but it could cause disastrous side effects. One being, she wouldn't be able to perform magic while in human form and could risk damaging their magic permanently. The other being that if she didn't turn back right in time she could die.
Of course, it was different for full-grown witches. It was said that the sea goddess herself had been able to go in and out of the water performing full complicated spells when need be. Of course, that wasn't exactly how it was for a normal sea witch who at best could survive in the water for periods of time for those three days without dying. They'd still lose their magic though for those days.
And Syrena didn't know if she could lose her magic. Even temporary. It was what she had lived for the past few years. It was what gave her a sense of purpose.
The man frowned, "Why do I think there's more to the story?"
"Really," Syrena said. "Do you think if I could transform my fins into legs I'd be doing that right now? I can't even move. I'm going to die if I'm stuck on this deck for too long."
The man frowned, "Well, you are kind of caught in an imposition right now. Are you?"
Syrena rolled her eyes. She didn't like this man. She didn't like how he was treating her.
"Lass, I really don't need harm." He said, "I just need your help."
Needed her help! Nice way of asking by having her kidnapped by the merman who had tried to hurt her so many times just made her want to unleash her siren' s voice. She couldn't though, and she wouldn't.
Another reason why she was still only a fledgling.
"You're going to help me." He said. "You have too."
"Have to." Syrena said. "You mean, you're going to force me to."
"No, no." He said, "I would never."
"You had Kai kidnap me and drug me with what I'm guess is witch's ink."
"Witch's ink?" He said, "I just paid Kai to help me, lass. You see, I, this isn't my home realm, lass."
"I figured as much," She said. "Most people aren't from around this wretched place."
He smiled. God, he had such beautiful teeth. The mermaid part of Syrena was enchanted with him. But there was always a part of her that wanted to that wanted to slap herself silly. For being so vain and shallow.
"No," He said with a sad smile. "Most don't. That's why I thought I'd ask for one of your kind's help."
"Don't tell me you didn't come here with a way out." She said rolling her eyes. She had seen this before. A stupid human thinking they had some get rich scheme in another realm, only to find that they had no way to get back home.
He sighed, "It's not like that, lass."
"Is it?" She said, "I believe we're on a pirate ship right now."
He sighed, "I made some terrible choices."
Syrena rolled her eyes, "It's not my fault you didn't think things out when you decided to go to this realm without an exit strategy."
Yeah, probably not exactly the best thing to say, but Syrena had a feeling at this point it didn't matter. If she died then so be it. She didn't want it to be as a coward. Also, she figured that talking would buy her some time and maybe, maybe she gain access to her powers again.
He sighed heavily, "It's not. I…I got involved with a woman. A bad woman."
"And she took your exit strategy."
"Yes," The man said, "And she took my child."
"Child?"
"Yes," The man said. "I need to find her. But I can't not as long as I'm in Neverland. God knows, what Cora is going to do to my babe."
There was something about that got to Syrena. She couldn't pinpoint it. But being kept from your child…
She looked at him, "I'll help you."
He smiled, "You mean that lass, you're not saying that just to keep from dying on the deck. Because I'll let you go if that's what you want."
She shook her head. She didn't mention to him that had her thrown her overboard it was likely that some other Neverland sea creature would finish her off. Instead, she said. "A parent should never be kept from their child."
Something about that felt so true to her. Almost as if she could emphasize when she knew she couldn't. Because there had never been any fry, there never would be any.
The pirate nodded, "The wench thought she got the best of me. Took my stash of magic beans, and made my daughter stay with her. She's all I have, I have to get home. I don't feel right calling you sea witch."
"My name's Syrena." She said.
"Syrena," He said, "That's a beautiful name for a beautiful mermaid."
She found herself blushing. Somehow it seemed ridiculous Maybe it was the squid's ink maybe that was it.
"Please." She said.
"I'm just telling the truth," He said as he eyed her. "God, you really are gorgeous. I'm sorry, that probably freaked you out. You can't move and are pretty much helpless. I do have a bath downstairs. Perhaps, I could fill it with water till you get your senses back."
"That would be nice." She said.
He nodded, "Name's Killian by the way. Killian Jones."
"Killian," She said. "I like that."
He smiled at her and then picked her up and carried her to the ship below. Maybe she was being unwise trusting him, but at that moment she had no choice. And besides, he had such nice arms. A mermaid could find herself very used being carried by the handsome pirate.