Seirra sat on a smooth stone near the ocean floor, her greyish-blue hair flowing lazily with the current. Small, colorful fishes swam around her, darting playfully as if urging her to join them. But she couldn't bring herself to do much today. Boredom had taken over. Her usual companions, Aria and Aurien, were nowhere to be seen. Both had tasks to attend to, leaving Seirra with nothing to do.
She sighed and glanced around the busy underwater world, watching the other mermaids flit about, gathering seaweed, coral, or working on various tasks . Her mind drifted to her friends.
Aria had been her companion for as long as she could remember. They had explored the depths of the ocean together ever since they were allowed to swim beyond the kingdom's boundaries. There wasn't a secret corner of the ocean they hadn't seen. Aurien had joined their little group later, and though he was quieter than the two of them, his presence was comforting. He had a mischievous side that only came out when they were all together, away from the prying eyes of their fellow mermaids.
Seirra let out another sigh, tapping her fingers on the stone. "Should I go to the shore?"The thought popped into her mind suddenly, and the idea excited her. She had been curious about the human world for as long as she could remember, and the shore had always been her gateway to understanding it.
Her emerald eyes sparkled as she made up her mind. She shot up from the stone, her tail propelling her through the water with ease. As she swam, her heart raced with excitement. Other mermaids nearby noticed her sudden energy and chuckled to themselves. Seirra had always been a mischievous, lively soul, exploring places and pushing boundaries. She had grown up in front of their eyes, and they were used to her curiosity by now.
She weaved through the ocean's beauty, passing by glowing coral reefs, schools of vibrant fish, and ancient rocks worn smooth by centuries of waves. The underwater world was a wonderland, but today, it couldn't hold her attention. Her thoughts were already on the surface, on the world of humans, where everything seemed so different, so strange.
When she finally reached the shore, she didn't go to the secluded beach by the large castle-like structure where she had saved the boy. Instead, she swam to a livelier part of the shore, where she could observe humans as she often did, hidden beneath the waves.
Peeking just above the waterline, Seirra watched as humans moved about on the sand. The beach was full of life—people splashing in the water, sunbathing, building strange structures out of sand. Her eyes widened in fascination. "How do they swim with their legs like that?"she wondered. The way they kicked their legs, flailing in the water, seemed so inefficient, yet they moved quickly, propelling themselves forward with strange, uncoordinated movements.
She couldn't help but smile. Everything about humans was so peculiar to her, yet so mesmerizing. Their laughter, their playfulness, even their strange habits—everything fascinated her. She had always felt this pull toward the human world, though she couldn't quite explain it. Perhaps it was something deep inside her, something passed down through her family, through her blood.
Her hand instinctively reached for the small pendant hanging around her neck—a mermaid necklace, finely crafted with delicate details. It had been given to her by her mother when she was just a child, and Seirra had never taken it off since.
"This necklace..."she thought, her fingers running over the cool surface of the pendant. It wasn't just any necklace. It carried with it a story, a history, a secret that had been passed down through generations of the royal family.
Seirra's thoughts wandered back to the day her mother had given it to her. She could still remember her mother's gentle voice, the way she had looked so serious yet loving as she spoke.
"This necklace is more than just an ornament, Seirra,"her mother had said, her voice soft yet full of meaning. "It carries the weight of our ancestors' legacy. There's something you should know about it, something only the royal family is aware of."
Her mother had then gone on to explain the secret that the mermaid kingdom had kept hidden for centuries.
Long ago, before humans and mermaids became enemies, the two species had lived in harmony. They had coexisted peacefully, protecting each other from the dangers of the ocean and the land. But as time passed, things had changed. Humans grew greedy, fearful of the unknown. They began to see mermaids as threats, as creatures to be hunted, captured, or exploited. The once harmonious relationship dissolved, and the two species had become enemies. Mermaids had retreated into the depths, hiding from the human world to protect themselves.
But the necklace around Seirra's neck, along with another two necklace and a stone that had been lost to history, held a magical power one that had been passed down from those ancient times. According to her grandfather, there had once been three such necklaces and a single stone. Together, they held the ability to transform a mermaid into a human and vice versa. With these items, a mermaid could walk on land, live among humans, and experience their world, just as a human could dive into the ocean and become one with the sea.
Unfortunately, as centuries passed and the world changed, the magical items were lost, forgotten by all but the royal family. Seirra's necklace was the only one that remained, and its magic had long since faded. Or at least, that's what her grandfather believed.
"Even though the magic is gone,"her grandfather had once told her, "this necklace is still a symbol of what once was a reminder that there was a time when our two worlds were not so divided."
Seirra's curiosity had only grown after hearing that story. She had always wondered what it would be like to live among humans, to walk on land, to experience their world firsthand. Her fascination had started when she was young, and it had only deepened with time.
"What would it be like to have legs?"she mused, watching the humans walk across the beach with ease. "To wear their clothes, to live in their strange homes, to talk the way they do?"
She watched as a group of children played near the water's edge, laughing as they chased each other across the sand. The sight made her smile. Humans were so lively, so full of energy. But there was something else too—something deeper. In the way they interacted, in their expressions, Seirra sensed a complexity she couldn't fully understand. They were so different from her kind, yet there was a strange familiarity in their emotions, in the way they cared for one another.
"Maybe we're not so different after all"she thought.
But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, a shadow of doubt crept in. Her grandfather's words echoed in her head: "Humans are greedy, unreasonable. They see anything they don't understand as a threat. That's why we stay hidden, Seirra. That's why we must always be careful."
Seirra frowned, her hand tightening around the necklace. Her grandfather was wise, and she respected him deeply. But part of her couldn't help but wonder if things were really as simple as he made them out to be. Yes, there were bad humans, just as there were bad mermaids. But did that mean all humans were to be feared? Couldn't there be good ones too?
Her thoughts wandered back to the boy she had saved, the one with the dark hair and ocean-blue eyes. There had been something about him something that had drawn her in, even though she knew she shouldn't have gotten involved. She had watched him for hours that night, sensing his despair, his pain. And in that moment, she hadn't seen a threat. She had seen someone in need, someone who had lost something precious.
But her grandfather's warnings rang in her ears. "We are from two different worlds. We are never meant to be friends."
Seirra sighed, torn between her curiosity and the fear that had been instilled in her since childhood. She glanced back at the humans on the shore, her heart aching with questions she didn't have the answers to.