The sky was clear, with not a cloud in sight, and the sun gently poured its light over the tranquil sea.
Seagulls, chirping merrily, swooped up and down, dancing in the air near the lush green island.
On the beach, a group of blue-footed boobies played around. These birds, with a shape somewhat like penguins, have large beaks, and their most distinctive feature is their bright blue toes, resembling elegant boots. The male birds would dance, showing off their blue feet to attract the females, hoping to win their hearts.
The lazy waves crept up the beach, bringing with them a graceful shadow that appeared beside the blue-footed booby flock. The birds flapped their wings, startled, and scattered. A familiar figure had arrived on this peaceful island. Being a frequent visitor, other nearby birds continued foraging, seemingly unfazed.
A girl with long, dark blue-black hair and a pink dress ran excitedly. A smile curved her lips, hiding the sadness that was always concealed within her arched brows. Her delicate features glowed with beauty, framed by her fair face.
She trotted along a serene mountain path, her light steps heading towards the island's center. After passing a white sandy beach, she entered a dense forest. There was an inexplicable sense of familiarity with this island, as if she had been here before, though everything also seemed so unfamiliar. It was as though a voice echoed in her mind, guiding her forward. Unafraid, she followed the call of this mysterious, gentle voice, running eagerly.
The seemingly thorny forest parted magically as she approached, as if it had a will of its own. The girl's pink dress fluttered behind her, like a wisp of smoke floating through the woods. Following a crystal-clear stream, she arrived at a valley that left her in awe.
The valley was a masterpiece of nature, like a mountain split down the middle. At the bottom of the valley, a clean spring gently flowed, its soft gurgles echoing. Towering trees lined both sides, their branches thick with leaves. Through the gaps, the sunlight poured in like countless golden beams. The slightly damp air at the valley's base formed a thin, misty veil, drifting in the breeze. The calls of unknown insects and the occasional startled bird's cry mixed with the scent of wildflowers, creating an atmosphere of peace, beauty, and mystery.
The girl bent down to scoop some spring water with both hands, allowing the delicate light above to shine upon it. The slight ripples reflected a brilliant, lively glow on her face, filled with joy. This place felt like a paradise, a rare and priceless treasure.
Though she was alone, the tranquility of the valley did not feel oddly silent or lonely. Sitting on the roots of a massive tree, she admired the mist floating through the air, swirling like white gauze, drifting in all directions. Bathed in the sunlight's rays, the mist seemed to tell a story of serene beauty, far removed from the world's troubles.
If a person could immerse themselves in such a peaceful environment when overwhelmed by rage, sorrow, or despair, it would surely calm their heart and purify their soul. If all troubled souls could be soothed, how peaceful and beautiful the world would be.
But this radiant valley was small, unable to hold many restless souls. It remained only a small, beautiful wish in her heart.
As the girl marveled at the moss-covered ground and strange plants around her, she suddenly snapped out of her reverie. Her brief rest was over. The soft voice from deep within her heart spoke again. She did not know or care who it was, but she was willing to follow its guidance. The voice sounded so much like her own, so she simply followed the feeling.
"Let's go. Keep going, through the valley. Ahead is a gentle hill covered with green grass. Climb over that hill..."
The girl smiled, her beautiful, pure face lighting up, and her large, sparkling eyes reflected a grassy hillside ahead.
Passing through the glowing valley, her pace quickened, and she felt no hint of fatigue. The wind softly swept over the long grass, making the scattered flowers sway like gemstones on a green velvet cloth, captivating her.
To wander through this gorgeous island, this magical valley, this lush meadow, truly made one forget the worldly troubles and struggles. What other wondrous discoveries lay ahead?
Gradually, the girl emerged from the peaceful grassland. At the end of the meadow, a golden expanse appeared before her eyes. A fragrant breeze swept through, lifting the hem of her pink dress and her long hair as she stood, astonished.
She gazed at the sunflower field before her, her heart filled with excitement. She raised her hands to the sky, leaping joyfully. Like a jubilant magpie, she ran toward the vibrant golden sea, singing and calling. This was the world the voice in her mind had led her to. Perhaps she was destined to have some unbreakable connection with this sunflower field. Perhaps she had always been a spirit born from these flowers. Perhaps she was the princess of this flower kingdom. Perhaps there were even more possibilities.
Running freely through the sunflower field, the girl forgot the worldly matters, her laughter ringing through the blooming flowers. The golden sun shone brightly above, while the flowers stood like soldiers, facing the sun, welcoming her playful march. The buzzing bees seemed to play a joyful fanfare, composing a fresh and enchanting melody.
The girl reveled in the sunflower sea, letting herself be consumed by the golden expanse, blending her humble existence into this majestic world.
She grew tired and lay down among the flowers, gazing up at the blue sky framed by the flower petals. A flock of birds flew overhead, darkening the sky, while a few butterflies fluttered by, their graceful dance mesmerizing.
Perhaps due to her drowsiness, the girl noticed the scene around her dimming. Rubbing her eyes, she blinked, but when she opened them again, the butterflies she had seen earlier had changed. They were no longer butterflies, but shrimp swimming in the flowers, and the birds in the sky had become fish.
The girl widened her eyes in shock, her gaze trembling. The sunflowers around her slowly turned their "faces" toward her, their petals and stems darkening, their once vibrant colors fading, accompanied by a withering scent.
As the flowers' faces transformed, revealing ghastly twisted expressions with blood-red eyes and gaping mouths, the girl was frozen with fear.
The sky darkened further, and the light no longer shone clearly. It seemed distorted by some unseen force. More and more of the flowers turned into horrific faces, staring and laughing at the girl.
Suddenly, all the faces, like dust, transformed into seaweed and coral.
The world around her seemed to become an underwater realm.
In the moment of her return through the dark, chaotic tunnel, time seemed to revert, and the girl sprang up from her bed like a spring. She was startled to realize it had all been a dream. Sweat poured down her face as she gasped for air.
"Ahhh—" the girl screamed, and the sound of shattering filled the room, along with the rattling of the wooden furniture.
The woman outside rushed in, her chubby figure and a rarely seen terrified expression appeared beside the girl's bed.
"Oh, my poor little darling," the woman exclaimed, wide-eyed. "What happened?"
The girl, still trembling, could not speak.
"Sera, my dear child, have you had that dream again?"
"Mom." The young girl, Seraphina Waverly, clutched the bedspread with floral patterns. "Why do I have that dream so often? I can never remember the beautiful parts of the dream, but I'm always vulnerable to the terrifying parts."
"Oh, darling, it's nothing to worry about. One day, you'll become numb to that dream," Isolde Marlowe said, smiling her usual kind and gentle smile, full of happiness. She turned to the other corners of the room. "Oh, what's this? Everything fragile in the room is shattered. You never break things—tell me, Sera, will you stop throwing things around from now on?"
Seraphina looked at Isolde, her brows briefly furrowing before relaxing. Her little mouth parted slightly, her innocent eyes blinking with an expression of confusion. She couldn't explain how all the bottles and jars in the room had shattered.
"Okay, mom," Seraphina nodded foolishly.
"Do you know what I loves most?" Isolde chuckled with a lighthearted "gurgling" sound. "You're already eighteen, but you look like you're only eight, so cute! It makes it hard for me to stay angry with you." She chuckled again.
Watching Isolde laugh so blissfully about her own small face, Seraphina playfully stuck out her tongue, fake-smiling, which made her mother laugh even more.
Seraphina's room looked almost like any other child's room, with white-painted walls adorned with playful fish doodles, some of which looked just like her. There were scattered, broken bottles on the bedside table, with sand spilling out from the broken pieces. The hourglass, a delicate object used to time things, had a cracked transparent wall. It could be glued back together, but it would no longer look the same. There was also a clay model of a wooden ship, now broken in half. Seraphina didn't even know why she had chosen to make such a thing out of clay.
At some point, Isolde entered holding a tray with delicious food and placed it on the table. She tilted her head slightly. "My sleeping beauty, it's time for breakfast. A new day has begun."
"Ah, thank you, God, for giving us such abundant food," Seraphina prayed.
"You still need to grow more, eat more," Isolde said with a smile, but there was a subtle sadness hidden in her deep, meaningful eyes.
There was a knock at the door. A familiar voice called out, "Is Sera awake?"
"Oh, darling, Caly is here. I'll go open the door," Isolde said.
She went to open the door, and in rushed a girl with silver-gray short hair, moving quickly like a gust of wind. She was Seraphina's childhood friend and jellyfish, Calypso Larkspur.
"Alright, Sera, you go spend some time with Caly. Mom has some things to take care of. Have fun!" Isolde said as she left.
"Goodbye, mom," Seraphina replied, eating as she spoke.
Calypso eyed Seraphina's food and clicked her tongue.
"Let me see what you're eating. Fish soup, seaweed, and some potato slices?" Calypso said disdainfully. "Seraphina, do you know why you're always so thin? You should eat more meat."
"Okay, let's talk about something serious," Seraphina said while still eating.
"Oh, the dream interpretation book you asked me to find—I've searched through the whole village. Almost everything I could find, you've already read. You might have to go outside the village to find it," Calypso said, shaking her body, which began to turn transparent. "Look, my invisibility trick is improving since yesterday."
"I envy you for being able to learn such advanced techniques like light refraction, diffraction, radiation, reflection, skin color change, and shapeshifting," Seraphina said.
"Actually, Sylphar has been a big help too. You should go outside to bigger places and search for your pet. It will help you evolve again," Calypso said, appearing in another corner of the room, looking up with an air of self-satisfaction.
"I know you're the top student in the village, but I'm not like you. I don't understand why the gods created me but didn't let me find my Sylphar," Seraphina sighed.
"Don't worry. Sylphar, well, it's a pet you meet when fate brings you together. It's part of our mermaid wisdom. One day, every mermaid will make something of themselves," Calypso said with a proud smile.
"To be honest, if you look closely, you can still see a slight shadow when you go invisible. But this level of progress is already pretty good," Seraphina observed.
"Really? Looks like I still have to work harder. After all, jellyfish don't naturally have invisibility abilities."
"Oh, by the way, jellyfish are so graceful when they dance in the water. You must be able to do it too, right?"
Calypso shrunk her head, stared with wide eyes, and patted her rebellious short hair. "Someone like me, who's so carefree, would learn to dance? I don't think so!"
Seraphina stifled a giggle, her shoulders shaking. Despite knowing it was impolite to mock her friend, it was too tempting not to.
Calypso's round face flushed and cooled alternately as she waved her little fist in the air. "Careful!" she said with a sly glance, charging at Seraphina.
"Ah! Spare me, wah!" The two girls broke into playful laughter.
...
After dinner, Seraphina finished tidying up the scattered books and lit the ice lamp. It was a kind of lamp that used combustible ice as fuel for light, commonly used by mermaids. The soft glow filled the room, and an idea suddenly struck Seraphina. She wrote a few lines on the parchment:
The flowing stream,
Winding and curving,
Stretching towards the mountains beyond,
In the lively golden sea,
In this dreamlike, flowing sunflower ocean,
A gentle breeze carries a fragrant happiness,
Caressing the vibrant yellow flowers,
A faint sadness brushes against my heart.
In a daze,
I see a golden hue brighter than sunflowers,
A warm and nourishing color,
Without the purple's enchantment,
Or the blue's sorrow,
Like a delicious, nutritious soup,
Warming and soothing my confused soul.
You are the warmth in my life,
Radiating a powerful light of love,
Giving me the courage and strength
When I am sad and lost...
"Bang, bang, bang!" Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door.
Seraphina walked over to open the door. Isolde stood there with a serious expression, and an unsettling emotion enveloped Seraphina's whole body.
"My poor darling, there is something I need to discuss with you," Isolde said.
She sat down next to Seraphina, her face full of sorrow.
"Child, you know that today I was called to a meeting by the village chief. Mrs. Winthrop, Calypso's mother, was also there. The meeting was about the mermaid tribe's traditional laws.
For thousands of years, the mermaid tribe has survived and thrived in the sea, surrounded by many fierce marine creatures, thanks to the mermaids' active and adaptive evolution. The Creator, in an effort to prevent laziness from creeping into the tribe, ensured that every mermaid undergoes fair evolution, and each must work hard to develop their abilities. Therefore, the abilities gained through evolution cannot be inherited.
My child, you know that a mermaid's body can undergo two stages of evolution in a lifetime. The first stage is the transformation from a fish-like form to a humanoid shape. When a mermaid baby is born in its fish form, as it grows, under the guidance of its parents' experience, it undergoes strengthening and transformation of the skin, bones, nerves, and body structure. The skin calcifies into scales, the scales reverse-calcify into skin, the skin subtly changes into a fabric-like organization, the flesh and bones heal quickly when injured, and the coordination between the lungs and gills improves, among other changes.
The second stage of evolution requires the mermaid to find a pet with whom they can communicate mentally. Once they find this pet, it becomes a lifelong companion, sharing its wisdom, strength, and information with the mermaid. This grants the mermaid the special abilities of the pet, which they will then use to serve the mermaid tribe. If a mermaid cannot undergo the second stage of evolution, they will not be accepted or respected by the tribe and will likely be cast out. This outcome is very unfortunate.
Child, look at you. You are already eighteen, but still so weak. It breaks my heart to think of you going out to train, but for your future survival, you must follow the tribal laws: once you reach eighteen, you must go out and train."
Isolde began to cry softly, wiping her tears with her hand.
"My dear, I love you so much, and I will always love you. Your father passed away early, and I'm already over three hundred years old. I can't take care of you forever. You must grow strong and live independently."
Seraphina hugged her mother, comforting her.
"Mom, don't be sad. I've been thinking about going out to train too. I need to find my sylphar, and I want to find the answer to the dream that has been haunting me for years. You've seen my friend Caly. She found her sylphar, a lantern jellyfish. Though her second evolution is only halfway through, she has started the process. But I haven't achieved anything. I've only been acting like a spoiled child in front of you," Seraphina said, her heart heavier than ever before.
She had always struggled with an unresolved question. Calypso's sylphar was a jellyfish, and she was the master of the lantern jellyfish. Calypso's mother, Thalassa Winthrop, had a bioluminescent water creature as her sylphar, and she was the keeper of the village's lighting. Her mother, Isolde, was the master of the blue phosphorous shrimp, responsible for filtering the village's water. Yet Seraphina still hadn't found her sylphar. It seemed that without leaving for training, she would never find it.
"Another reassuring thing is that Caly is also leaving with you this time. Though her second evolution hasn't fully developed, she hasn't yet grown the jellyfish's protective stingers, so she hasn't completed her evolution. But the most reassuring thing is that the one leading you on this journey is Captain Kenny, the master of the anglerfish. He'll come tomorrow to take you away from the village. The first stop is the nearest invisible island."
"Invisible Island!" Seraphina relaxed. That was an island she visited often as a child. Returning there would be a happy occasion.
"Yes, Invisible Island. Captain Kenny will guide you through your training. You must respect his instructions at all times. He is someone you can trust," Isolde said, holding Seraphina's hand and unwilling to let go.
The next day, the sunlight hit the surface of some special rocks at the ocean floor, activating mysterious crystal light-absorbing stones. The light guide fibers connected to these stones stretched to the rock ceiling of the village, lighting up the village with the glow.
The fifty or so households of the village, and over two hundred mermaids, walked out from their homes, following paths lined with oxygen-producing blue algae ponds, heading toward the entrance of the village in the rocks— the filtration tunnel.
The village chief, a thin, elderly man with a white head of hair, leaned on a cane. Behind him was a dark-skinned, muscular mermaid, with a square face that carried an imposing authority. He wore a gray cloth band wrapped around his head, and his eyes were perpetually squinted.
"Villagers, I've gathered you all here before the filtration tunnel to announce something. With everyone's help over the years, we have two mermaid children who have reached the age of eighteen. One is Seraphina, the daughter of Marlowe, the manager of the filtration tunnel, and the other is Calypso, the daughter of Mrs. Winthrop, the one who manages the village's lighting. According to mermaid tribal laws and the need for the second stage of evolution, these two children must go out for training to secure brighter futures and earn the respect of others through their own efforts. Today, we will have a simple farewell ceremony for these two girls. Let the ceremony begin!"
The village chief raised his staff and began directing the ceremony.
The villagers gathered around Seraphina and Calypso, singing and dancing. Cheers rang out, as the girls had always watched others being sent off in this way, and now it was their turn. Both felt uneasy, unsure whether they should be happy or sad, perhaps feeling both at once. The same mixed emotions were visible on the faces of Isolde and Thalassa in the crowd.
After the dizzying ceremony, the stone doors of the filtration tunnel opened with a rumbling sound. The village of U was located in a gap between ocean rocks, and the space was filled with air. The entrance and exit were a "U"-shaped water passage, which prevented the village's air from leaking and kept outsiders from easily discovering it. This passage also provided water for the villagers, so it needed to be regularly cleaned and maintained. It served as a clean and safe entry and exit for mermaids.
The muscular man behind the village chief approached the two girls. Before he could speak, Calypso tilted her head and asked, "Are you Captain Kenny?"
"Yes, are you ready?" the man asked, showing a set of white, sharp teeth.
"Ugh! I've heard your story. You're a detective, aren't you?" Calypso asked.
"Indeed," the man replied, lowering his head and opening his eyes.
Both girls were startled. Captain Kenny had slightly messy tusks, which were a bit scary, but when he opened his eyes, they were large and comically squinty, which made him surprisingly endearing.
At first, Calypso suppressed a smile, but then all three of them laughed.
Isolde crouched by the edge of the filtration tunnel, staring at the water. Her eyes gradually grew brighter and brighter. This was the process by which mermaids called their sylphars. The filtration tunnel was able to function thanks to a type of transparent blue phosphorous shrimp that cleaned the water. The master of this shrimp was Isolde.
The blue phosphorous shrimp swarmed, sensing the summons, and formed a path with their blue scales, creating a shrimp-wall tunnel.
Captain Kenny and the two girls waved their farewells. They transformed into their half-fish form and leaped into the tunnel, looking back one last time as they swam away reluctantly.