Dive into the enchanting depths of Ocean's Temptation, where Princess Nereida, shackled to her royal duties in the mystical kingdom of Triteria, seeks to solve the crisis of mysterious vanishings and deaths. But when rebels shatter her world, she fi...
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The storm began to calm. The once raging and aggressive waters now merely rocked the ship. Although water still fell from the sky, it was no longer hitting me in the face like pellets. My eyes scanned my surroundings, searching for an escape route, but I was still entangled in the net, and paralyzed by fear. The man, whom I assumed to be the leader, continued to gaze at me. Until this moment, I had never seen a human being. His hair, soaked by the water from the sky, featured brown curls that partially fell into his face. His blue eyes, filled with intrigue, were overshadowed by his thick brows. His tanned skin darkened around his lips and extended along his jawline, which was shadowed by dark hair. He smiled again, but it failed to put me at ease.
"Knife," he commanded, and one of the men behind him swiftly handed him one. With it in hand, he lowered it to my tail. As he brought it down, I flinched and instinctively moved away from him.
"Shushhh, easy does it. I'm not going to hurt you," he tried to assure me, but I knew better than to trust anything that he said. He lifted the net with the knife and sliced it in half, repeating the process until I was completely freed. I attempted to scoot back, but he moved too swiftly, hovering over me and grasping my arms, bringing his face closer to mine.
"Now, now, little mermaid, is that any way to say thank you?" he taunted, while I struggled against his grip. I eventually ceased my struggle, and he released me, towering over me as he stood. I directed my gaze toward the sky, turning my palms to face upward. The ocean grew more turbulent, causing the men to stumble into one another as the ship's rocking intensified. The ability to manipulate waves was a gift inherent to all mermaids, though controlling it required years of practice. If the people of Triteria could witness my current display of power, they would surely gasp in astonishment.
My determination to escape fueled me.
"It's 'er, Cap'n! She's the one causing this! She's a demon! We need to let 'ergo! Oh, praise the gods in heaven, spare my soul," a man with a funny accent shouted as he collided with another. In fact, all the men had funny thick accents that made it more difficult for me to understand. The waves grew larger, crashing into the ship. I just needed enough of a distraction to slip off the ship's side and return to the ocean. Yet, with each passing moment, my exhaustion intensified draining almost every ounce of my strength. My captor averted his gaze from my face, fixating on my necklace, and swiftly snatched it from my neck.
"No!" I shouted, but it was too late. The necklace had been taken, and I felt... strange. The waves immediately calmed, the winds ceased, and the blue, silver, and green tail beneath me started to tingle. Sharp tingles. Painful tingles. I wanted to scream out; the pain was unbearable. But suddenly, it was over. As I looked down, my tail transformed into a watery, gelatinous, foam-like substance. It stayed only a moment then slipped to the sides to reveal two long, slender legs concealed beneath my lower body. My eyes widened, and I gasped, briefly touching my wet legs. I was no longer a mermaid.
I was human.
"She's a woman!" one of the men exclaimed.
"Of course, she's a woman. Mermaids are still women, ye bloody idiot," another corrected.
