Ripples of light shone down through the surface of the water, glittering and flashing on iridescent scales. These scales formed a large tail, which connected to the torso of a woman that laid resting on the ledge of a colorful coral reef. 

The woman’s hair floated and billowed with the currents of the ocean, framing a delicate, doll like face. The shattered light of the sun danced over a sharp nose, closed eyes, and long lashes. She laid there sleeping peacefully, while small fish of a multitude of colors darted between her limbs and the tiny cracks and crevices of the reef. 

A sudden current that was more forceful than the rest flowed past the reef, gently jostling the sleeping mermaid awake. She opened her eyes, two brilliant blue orbs scanning her peaceful surroundings. Raising her arms above her head, she stretched out the kinks in her back that resulted from her prolonged position. 

The ocean offered her little cover; the only thing offering her modesty was her long locks that hung to her lower back and over her bosom. Her body seemed to be hewn from marble; shades of milk white and textures smooth as alabaster. Faint lines of muscle could be seen beneath the soft skin of her stomach and her sculpted arms. It was a body purely made to appeal and attract. The mermaid was a finely tuned predator, with instincts to hunt and kill hidden beneath a soft face of gentle beauty and lips of sweet desire.

The mermaid, only known as Wendy, averted her eyes to the surface of the ocean, gauging the position of the sun. It appeared to hang in the middle of the blue sky, which meant it was nearly midday. Wendy pushed off the ledge excitedly, shaking out her beautiful tail as she looked towards the distance. She gave one strong push of her tail, which propelled her quickly through the water to the direction she desired. The ocean water flowed cleanly around her body, caressing her smooth skin. Small pearl like bubbles rushed up and popped around her as she shot through the depths. The mermaid’s tail seemed to almost glow blue in the diffracted light of the ocean. 

As she had suddenly started to swim, the mermaid suddenly stopped. Instead, she swam upwards. Her head broke the surface of the ocean, as water flowed down her neck in rivulets and droplets fell from her hair like crystals. Wendy looked towards the shore that was now visible with those sky blue eyes, taking in the scene of a grand castle that stood unmoving in the distance. She checked back towards the sun; it was not midday yet. She had time to wait.

The mermaid dove down beneath the surface of the ocean once more, hissing as the water made contact with the sun kissed skin. She tenderly touched the places where the sun had directly shone on her, fingers coming away with blood that quickly dissolved with the current. She silently cursed mermaids’ skin, which was extremely sensitive to direct sunlight. Mermaids could never stay too long away from the protection of the water, or else their skin would quite literally dissolve down to the white of their bones. 

Wendy slowly started to swim a bit closer to the shore, hoping her trip paid off. She never got too close to land, afraid of being spotted by humans. The mermaid quickly peeked her head above the surface of the water once more, squinting as she tried to block out the harsh glare of the sun. She looked along the strip of sand that curved around the large outcroppings of rock, leading into a small cove tucked away from view. Her eyes searched for any movement, heart praying that she would spot the object of her desire. 

A flash of dark red caught her attention, causing blue eyes to flick and zone in on the subject in question. A woman with dark hair appeared behind a wall of rock, dressed in a lavish dress of velvet. She stepped barefoot in the sand, steps light and fleeting. A pair of matching heels were clutched in the hand that hung beside her. Wendy watched in silence as the woman slowly made her way towards the hidden cove, leaving small footprints in the golden sand. She dove beneath the surface again, this time swimming quickly towards the cove. She wanted to arrive before the woman so she could prolong the time spent with her. 

The mermaid surfaced fully behind a sharp outcropping of rock, fully able to stay out of the ocean because of the shade that the cove offered. The woman stepped into the shadows a brief moment later, breathing lightly from the distance she had to walk. Her other hand held a book, which Wendy had not been able to see from her angle. The woman placed her shoes down on the sand before settling on a large rock to rest. Dark, raven hair fell down in gently waves around a pale face, decorated with features that seemed to be carefully molded and crafted by the Creator himself. Dark, captivating eyes offered a piercing gaze, while a sharp nose sat above full, pink lips.

Wendy could only watch in rapture as she took in each and every detail of the bewitching woman. No, not just any woman. Irene. The mermaid knew this was her name from the shouts of the countless search parties that had come to find Irene, for she often lost track of time while reading. She wasn’t just an ordinary woman either. She was the only princess of the kingdom that ruled over these lands. The mermaid rested her head upon her arms as she looked at Irene with loving eyes. Wendy was a creature of the sea, a predator built to lure and kill humans with a voice made of honey. She also was madly and irreversibly in love with a human she could never approach. She had first laid on Irene three moon cycles ago, when she had come during sunset to hunt. Letting her voice pour unbridled from , a sweet song had flowed over her tongue and into the ears of an unsuspecting Irene. The melody dulled her senses and her state of mind, luring her to the mermaid who waited with a quick death. 

Wendy had first been shocked at the beauty of Irene as she walked mindlessly towards her. Her voice had faltered for a short moment, but a short moment was enough for Irene to fall out from her daze. The hypnotic effect wore off, and the haze was lifted from her eyes. Irene was clearly able to see Wendy in her glory, with her eyes an unnatural blue and a tail where her legs should have been. Wendy had reacted in surprise at Irene’s consciousness, flailing backwards into a sharp ledge of rock which pierced her skin and made the water run red with her blood. Irene, instead of running away from the creature that had tried to lure her in as prey, had rushed forward to submerge Wendy’s bleeding body into the water so she would be able to heal. 

The mermaid had jolted awake many hours later laying on the ocean floor in the darkness, with faint moonlight barely illuminating the murky depths of the water. The only thing she remembered prior to the loss of her consciousness was the beautiful face of a woman who had saved her from certain demise.

The gash on her back had healed completely by then, without even a scar to mar the smooth expanse of milk white skin. Wendy had swam back to the surface, hoping the unnamed woman was somehow still there. However, the only thing that greeted her was the pale bulbous face of the moon and the tiny pinpricks of stars that hung high above the ocean. She had decided to keep the emotions of gratitude in her heart, but the woman’s face was carved and branded into her mind. 

The mermaid returned to the exact same spot the next day, hoping the woman would be at the cove, but her hopes would be dashed as the woman never appeared. The cycle repeated itself, until one cloudy day Wendy saw the woman tentatively step into the cove with a book in her hand. The mermaid had wanted to swim forth and finally give thanks to her savior, but remained where she was for she was a mermaid, an unnatural being compared to the simplicity of a human.

Days turned into weeks as Wendy repeated this journey to meet the woman in silence. Before, this silence was just a mere shackle that she had implemented due to fear of Irene’s reaction. But after Wendy learned the woman’s name was Irene, the princess of the kingdom that ruled the land the ocean surrounded, the chains turned into a prison that bound her to a mute punishment.

As weeks turned into months, Wendy’s urge to speak to Irene grew and expanded, filling up her heart with want and her mind with images of Irene’s demure expressions. She thought about the gentle curve in Irene’s neck, the delicate hands that bore precious rings, and how her plump lips would feel against her own. A mere curiosity turned into infatuation, which eventually blossomed into love.

The quiet shuffle of a page being turned brought Wendy back to the present. She focused her eyes back onto Irene, the urge to speak growing stronger in her heart. Although Irene did help Wendy even though she was a mermaid, the impulsive action might’ve been due to the lasting effects of her song. No, there was no way to approach Irene while she still had a tail. Irene sat unaware of the sapphire colored eyes that observed her as she delved deep into the story in her hands. 

Time seemed to fly as Wendy tried to grasp onto every minute and every second with Irene. The sun dipped towards the horizon as the two sat in silence, belonging to different worlds that threatened to never cross paths.

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