Ursula remained silent, watching as her mother beat her sister, Morgana. It was her turn to take the punishment, but Mother had come early. They had been feeding a little sea horse they had found, hurt on the ocean floor. Mother had told them that it was forbidden to have contact with creatures from the high waters. But being 10 and 5 years old, Ursula and Morgana knew no better. They watched with horror and sickening awe as their mother folded the baby sea horse inside out with her fingers and scraped off all the bones. Orluiowa then ordered Morgana to tie it by the tail and hang it on her bedroom wall, a reminder to listen to their mother. With a final slap to the face, Orluiowa swam out of the room. They heard the lock click into place. Morgana's pale grey and lilac hair was drenched in an unknown substance, which was burning her scalp and making her hair fall out in clumps. Sniffling, Morgana picked out some fish rib combs to clean it off.

Ursula felt only slightly guilty about Morgana taking her punishment. After all, it had been Morgana's idea to take care of the sea horse. Ursula had only been curious to see how long it would survive, and decided not to tell Mother. The little thing had survived not even 3 days. Morgana has always been the weak one, Ursula thought, recalling what Mother had said. Mother often argued with Father that Morgana had inherited such weak traits from him, and that they were lucky that Ursula was more like her. Her black and purple tentacles. Her gray, lilac, and black hair. The striking violet eyes and light purple skin.  The potential of a devious smile. Morgana looked somewhat like Mother, with pale gray, lilac, and black hair, but with pink streaks. And light green pale skin. Murky green eyes with a peculiar glow to them in the dark. Black and green tentacles. Morgana had great potential, but she was too soft and hadn't inherited her mother's power, the ability to manipulate the waters magic, to harness simple ingredients to divine spells, like Ursula had. And ultimately, she had the weakness of love, which she couldn't admit to, no matter how many beatings she got. Only 4 beings in her life were worth her love. Her aunt, her mother, and her sister and father.

But Ursula was different. Ursula had a heart very similar to to her mother's. But not quite. She had patience, which her mother lacked greatly. So Ursula took every beating she got to her heart, telling herself that this would harden her, and make her a great ruler, as her mother and her mother before her.

After Morgana finished scraping the gunk off, she hung the horse and then settled down onto her bed, made of corals and seaweed. Ursula studied her spells until she fell asleep on her desk. And then the two cecaelias slept, dreaming of nightmares, hopes, wishes and blood.