Aurora came back to her room and let herself fall in the water, producing a loud splashing noise. As soon as the water touched her body she let out a sigh of relief. Beneath the water, silver scales could be seen starting to grow all over her legs until they spread till her lower belly and the legs joined, transforming into a fascinating tail. As she wobbled the tail in the water, a sheath of rainbow colors could be seen above the silver scales of her tail.
When she was hatched, she possessed colorless, semi-solid scales but once reaching her proper age, almost everyone anticipated the reveal of the color of her scales. However, to their dismay, when the ritual of her first bath was performed under the full moon, her scales turned to a dull silver unlike all the others who usually had bright duo chromatic scales. It was strange and disappointing but since she had hatched from Queen Xobaria's egg, no one dared to say anything about it.
It was until Aurora appeared under sunlight after completing her seven weeks in the dark practice. Her scales gave off one of the most beautiful sheaths to ever exist. Her scales shone in seven colors under the sunlight and the light that reflected from her scales also divided in seven colors, creating countless rainbows all around her as she swam in the water. Everyone scattered at the sides to watch her and this practice always continued ever since whenever Aurora came to swim with the other Sirens.
She was removing the tight corset that was woven out of the dried vines and fresh flowers when a Siren swan up to her window, startling her with a "Boo!"
"Ahhh! You scared me Kiara!" she scolded the girl who was handing down the edge of her window. She instantly covered her front with her loose hair as she searched for her comfortable seashell top, padded with dried flowers and moss within to prevent friction against skin. All of her tops were laid in a small wooden box just by her water tank. She specifically made them for herself because she liked them and felt uncomfortable swimming around bare-torsoed otherwise no one really bothered covering themselves up here.
"And come up properly, don't hang or you will get scolded again." She warned the girl.
"You courted the big man to his room?" Kiara blinked at her excitedly, her tail moving back and forth like a pendulum, down from the window.
"Yes and he was exactly as Matilda had explained in her classes. Pervert, rude, ugly," The man's chiseled face flashed through her eyes as she used the word 'ugly' for him but she continued, "Dull-eyed, evil smile and pride steaming off him."
As if knowing what Kiara would ask next, Aurora opened her mouth again. "And don't even ask, yes he smelled like rotten fishes."
In her head, the nerve of smell smacked her lies as the memory of his strong scent revived to her brain. He smelled…maybe like earth, or atleast what she assumed the real land of humans to smell like. It wasn't bad.
"Oh," Kiara's face fell down but then she looked up at her again. "But you can't say he is ugly. I mean have you seen his pointed nose, that sharp jaw and those full lips? I wonder how it would feel to-"
"Alright stop! We don't need to go there." Aurora stopped her with the gesture of her hand. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Ever since her encounter with the man and his bold statements, she was having weird thoughts in her head and Kiara wasn't helping them at all. Her stomach felt jiggly for some reason and she didn't like the feeling.
He was a monster.
Hidden beneath those good looks were ugly, evil intentions.
Nothing else.
"You are saying as if you haven't thought about it already?" Kiara threw a wink at her as she pulled herself up in the water along with Aurora. The water reservoir didn't appear too big from afar but it was deep enough for both of their tails to settle in comfortably.
"Jokes aside, I am worried for you, Rory. Are you sure you can do this?" Kiara looked at her face, who was silent, taking out the flowers from her hair, loosening the braids above her crown.
Kiara noticed that her hair had grown quite long again in the last few weeks. She was the one who gave all of them haircuts but Aurora was the only one amongst them whose hair was a peculiar shade of silver that made her stand out and they also grew unnaturally fast. There is definitely something special about her that none of the other Sirens on this island had. That could be the reason why mother Xobaria chose her for the task.
"Do I have a choice?" Aurora glanced up, sadness dripping down her dulling features. She swam around and turned her back towards Kiara, throwing her hair back towards her.
"I don't understand what mother is thinking. Marrying you off to a filthy human man, it is like pushing you to destruction." Gently Kiara started braiding her little sister's hair.
Kiara along with a few other ones had also hatched from Queen Xobaria's eggs but weren't officially given the title of princess because although they had hatched from her eggs, the eggs had been warmed by other Sirens who also brought them up later on, supposedly their mothers. From Queen Xobaria herself, there were three princesses including Aurora whose eggs had been warmed and hatched by Xobaria herself. Others were given to the mermaids that have been turned into Sirens after being bitten by Xobaria.
Xobaria Abacus was once the youngest daughter of the sea King. She was the liveliest, mischievous and rebellious of all of her sisters and that always caused her to fall victim to trouble. As they were daughters of the sea King, they were supposedly protectors of the sea and its secrets. There were rules that they had to follow, especially the most stringent one; never show yourselves to humans or any other creatures above the sea.
But Xobaria being Xobaria not only showed herself to a human man but also fell in love with him. Behind her father's back she was meeting him every night and had also thought about running with him to his world but one day that happened what had been dreaded. The man turned out to be everything her father had warned them about. He even tried to cut off her tail but little did he know, he had welcomed his ultimate demise. Both the man and Xobaria had been punished for their betrayals, one to his love and one to her duty.
Furious, the King abandoned her and exiled her from his territory when he got to know that she was pregnant by a human man's semen. He also punished her by taking away her light magic that was bestowed upon the royal family but what he didn't know was that when light is taken, the only thing left behind is darkness. The darkness that pierced its claws through her heart, filling it with evil and selfishness.
In her cursed state and agitation, Xobaria bit many women, poisoning them with her own wrath and thirst for vengeance. They turned into dark creatures like her so she brought them along with her to the darker depths of the Blue Ocean.
Every kind of connection was strictly prohibited between the dark and light side of the ocean ever since. Xobaria laid her eggs and brought her daughters into the world that carried forward her legacy, walking on her footsteps and preying upon men.
The dark magic didn't let them get old so they never felt the need to multiply themselves until one day when it was declared that Queen Xobaria had laid another egg. It was strange because no male has ever been allowed on their Island and the egg, it was unordinary and silver in color. Their questions have only been answered by an explanation that this was a bestowal of God upon them, to end their misery. This child was going to change their lives.
Little did they know, this child wasn't going to change just their lives…
Aurora and Kiara were so occupied with their chat that they didn't notice mother Xobaria entering the room until she cleared her throat to get their attention.
"Leave us alone, Kiara."