Siren's Song

02.) Chapter Two

"No!" Gladys shrieked, grunting as the current pushed her back down the cliff. Her body hit some of the ledges, pain flaring throughout her body. She groaned and shook off the pain. Tightening up her bag, she flicked her tail and shook her arms, pushing herself to swim against the downward current. All she had to do was swim over the cliffs and the rest of her journey would be easier. But, the danger of the cliffs were the currents. Only the strongest or the most strategic were able to successfully make it out without a guide helping them. Alone, Gladys had to figure it out on her own.

 Looking up, Gladys tried to stay closer to the rocks. With powerful strokes and combined effort with using her arms and tail, she made it halfway, clinging to one of the ledges to catch her breath. Her arms burned with exertion. Rapid currents pushed her down, fingers starting to lose their grip on the ledge. She swore as her body went with the current. Sand clouded around her as she lay on the ocean floor, panting heavily, staring up at the cliffs. Tears of frustration welled up. However, she refused to give up. Gladys slammed her first against the sand and she got back up.

"Come on, you can do this!" she yelled to herself. "If I can get back up to the ledge, I can pull myself up and take a rest before going up higher. Yeah, that should work." Determined, the siren pushed herself once more. "Come on...come on...COME ON!" she chanted, swimming harder and harder. Yelling out, she pulled herself onto the ledge. She fell forward and leaned against the slippery rocks. She looked up, flickers of light visible. She could do this. She had to. "Ha, ha, ha, just a little further!" 

Using her sharp nails, she dug into the rocks. Between intervals of kicking her tail and climbing with her arms, slowly but surely she reached the top. Nearly passing out from overexertion, Gladys grinned as she gently rolled down a small sandy hill. The water atop the cliffs was considerably warmer, much to her delight and chagrin. She raised both her arms above her and happily cheered. "Yeah! Woo hoo!"

Body shaking with tiredness and laughter, Gladys searched for a small area to make camp. Time worked differently underwater. Sure, the water got warmer during the day and colder at night, but that didn't tell them when to sleep. Sirens slept whenever their bodies got tired enough. Meaning, some could stay awake for days before sleeping. Gladys was one of those Sirens. Yawning, she found a patch of seaweed she could make into a pillow and bed. The minute she closed her eyes, sleep whisked her away.

"Gladys!" An alluring voice cried out. "Gladys!" The voice echoed in the darkness. "You mustn't give up. Your journey will only get harder from here. Don't push them away. Accept their help. Without help, you are doomed to fail!" 

"What?" Gladys asked, searching the darkness for the source of the voice. "Who is supposed to help me?" Her voice grew louder with desperation. "What do you mean don't push them away?" Failure? Failure wasn't an option. "I can't fail. I won't fail. I refuse to!"

"Don't refuse help because you are different. Keeping hold of grudges will only tear you apart!" Gladys shivered at the warning. Suddenly a fleury of images surrounded her. To her horror, she saw humans. She saw herself with a human. Anger coursed through her body. NO! She would never work with a human.

"Divided, you will fail..." The voice mourned, fading away into the darkness. The images, just as quickly as they appeared, disappeared. Gladys was alone yet again. A crimson red glow appeared, a cruel laugh echoing out. "Once we find it, the Sirens will do anything for it. With them at our mercy, we will be able to kill them all, ridding the world of its monsters."

The Siren Princess froze. She knew that voice. Her heart pounded in her chest, blood roared in her ears. She wanted to scream, fight, and run, but her body wouldn't listen. Her lungs froze, her head getting fuzzy from lack of oxygen. Tears streamed down her face. She needed to run. Why wasn't she running!? Run...run...RUN! He turned to face her.

 "NO!" Gladys screamed, bolting up, holding her head in her hands. Her body shivered, heart pounding. Her eyes wildly looked around for any sign of him. No, he couldn't be there. She was too deep. But, his laugh still echoed in her ears. That laugh would forever haunt her. "Argah!" Gladys screamed, slashing the seaweed with her dagger. Sobs wracked her body as anger coursed through her veins. She hated how helpless she felt.

"Get it together, Gladys," she said through gritted teeth, her nails dug painfully into her palms, drawing blood. Not that she cared. She had been through worse pain. Besides, the pain helped to ground her. Taking deep breaths, Gladys's head cleared. Anger gave way to exhaustion. Though she felt mentally drained, she vowed to keep going. She wouldn't let him take yet another day from her.

Over the next few days, Gladys kept moving. She had a few skirmishes with other Sirens and had to lay low when news of a battle nearby. Swimming through post battle waters made Gladys's stomach flip. Seeing the bodies of both pirates and Sirens made her sick. Bloody waters attracted more dangers. Plus, blood in the water made it harder to breathe. The iron clogged her airways. Bloody water was the siren equivalent of a human breathing in smoke. Too much of it killed. The water had warmed up the closer she got to land. Looking up, the siren could now see the sun's rays hitting the surface.

With no one in sight, Gladys swam upward and poked her head above the surface. Cool air hit her face and she breathed in pure oxygen. The oxygen burned her lungs, but it felt good. Pure oxygen was different, almost better. She laughed and her eyes widened. In the far distance, she could see green. A wide smile grew on her face. Childlike awe and wonder took over and she swam as fast as she could.

The closer she got, the more she could see. Large wooden docks littered the shore, most of them full with large ships and small fishing boats. Happy chatter rang out as crowds of people walked up and down the docks. Behind the docks were buildings and cobblestone roads, carriages pulled by horses, and odd looking carts. Dogs barked and birds cawed. Gladys had forgotten not all humans were cruel. Her smile faltered. No, they were only cruel to sirens. She cautiously approached the docks, staying out of sight. Tilting her head, she tread the water to stay afloat. Maybe she could listen around for any information. Yes, this would be a good place to start.

"Woah! Is that what I think it is?" Gladys froze and made eye contact with a boy who looked to be in his twenties on the docks. He had dark skin, black fuzzy hair, a long coat with a white button up, brown pants, and boots. He had a sheathed sword attached to his belt. Gladys and the boy stared at each other, one with wide panicked eyes and the other with wide eyes full of wonder. 

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Hey guys! 

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I had so much fun writing it! I can't wait to reveal who "him" is. And the person at the end, I think you can guess who he is, haha. I love hearing from you all and comments help a lot! 

Have a wonderful day!

~Kat