It all really began on my eighteenth birthday celebration that my father hosted for me in our capital sea-city. Yes, I suppose we were once air-breathers, too, but someone—my father refuses to speak the name—sank the city and banned us to what he or she considered to be a hell.

They cursed us to be part-fish, which supposedly was an insult, but as far as I can tell, it's better down here as a mermaid (or merman.)

 

Anyway, the celebration was huge and everyone was invited. All of my father's subjects, friends and allies came, and, of course, so did my father's only family, his brother and my uncle, Lay.

 

The celebration was just like any other party to me, even though it was supposed to be some big event. My father had been planning my coming-of-age party since I was three, when my mother was accidentally killed in a freak harpoon accident by humans. Before then, my mother had been planning it, ever since she found out that she was pregnant with me.

 

I sat in the throne right next to my father's, trying not to look as bored as I was feeling. To me, there wasn't a whole lot of fun to be had at a party like this. You danced with random strangers, pretending to have a good time, then you grab a plate or two of food and sit with random strangers and continue to pretend you're having a good time, and then you stand and talk with same said random strangers, pretending this is the party of a lifetime, and then, you repeat the process all over again.

 

So, I sat on my throne, listening to my father talk to one of the seven kings of the ocean, of which my father was one, of course. If I remembered—and I wasn't exactly inclined to—the man was the King of the Indian Ocean, but I could just be wrong.

 

If you're curious, my father is King of the Atlantic Ocean. (Atlantic Ocean was derived from the greatest city, if you didn't know.)

 

Suddenly, a really ugly woman appeared in the center of the massive ballroom. She wasn't she-has-a-nice-personality-but ugly, she was drop-dead-keep-that-freak-away-in-case-it's-contagious-and-cover-your-eyes ugly. I'm not trying to be mean, but it's well-known that there aren't any ugly mermaids or merman. It's just not heard of.

 

But somehow, here standing before me, was a hideous mermaid.

 

She pointed a long, gnarly finger at my father and shouted, "I told you, o great King Suho, that I'd return!" She glared angrily at my father.

 

I turned to my father, who was wearing a rather bemused expression. "I do not know you, woman," he said calmly, looking stunned by what he said. I mean, my father knew almost all of his subjects by name, if not by face.

 

The woman cackled evilly. "I am not surprised. It has been awhile, and I've heard things have changed. I heard you took a wife, Dio, and she wasn't me! I warned you what the consequences would be if you did so, but you did not heed my warnings!"

 

My father continued to look baffled, struggling to place the creepy, ugly woman's wrinkled face. Finally, I guess recognition dawned, because his face grew darker, with what appeared to be angry. "I banished you decades ago, Chen!" he told her furiously.

 

"And yet, here I am," she replied. "Here to extract my revenge!"

 

My father ignored these words. "What happened to you, Chen?" Did you threaten the wrong family and pay dearly for it?"

 

The woman gave a maniacal smirk. "Nothing so dramatic, Suho my King. O, what an imagination you did have. No, I sold my beauty to gain magical powers so I could have my revenge against you, Suho. And I'll have it!"

 

"Guards, remove this woman from my sight!" my father commanded.

 

My uncle began trying to remove me from the room, and his actions brought me into the crazy woman's sight.

 

"Is this your offspring?" the woman asked, her eyes lighting up with malicious intent. "I change my mind. It will be much more worth it to enact revenge against your only child of your precious little wife instead of you. Instead of enduring your suffering, you must watch hers and endure her pain, knowing it was your fault!"

 

And with that, the ballroom faded from my room.