Siren

II.monsteress

"Boo."

His torch went out as a figure appeared in front of him, blowing at the fire to extinguish it. He flinched with a shout as he immediately fell to his knees, grabbing matches from the pocket of his pants. Keep the fire, keep the fire, keep the fire, he kept chanting to himself. He lit his torch, sighing in relief. He lifted it up to search for the figure, still kneeling on the ground, only for the same person to appear and blow it out again.

"No!" Eric shouted as he grabbed the matches, again.

"Honestly, I can do this all day." The person replied in an amused tone.

As Eric went to light it out, the figure put it out, again. He did it again and again and again, not giving up as he decided his lit torch represented his lifeline.

"This is becoming annoying. Stop it."

Eric refused to listen, his shaking hands going to grab the matches, again. The small box fell from his hands, the matches spilling everywhere.

"No, no, no..." Eric panted. He grabbed one of the matches, traying to light it uselessly, as it was dampened by the wet rocky ground.

"Stop it! Look and wait!" The figure yelled at the prince, causing him to flinch. That time, he obeyed. He waited and looked. No sooner had the last hues of reds and purples of the remaining daylight, than the moonlight entered reflecting off the crystals, which were shielded by the shadows in the day, lighting the entire cave. Now, he could see why the sharp hissy voice demanded him to await what would happen as the once gateway to hell became a piece of heaven's beauty.

Eric breathed out as he admired the beauty around him. The crystals above him resembled the stars in the nightsky. This must have been a part of a volcano, Eric thought.

"It was a volcanic island..." Eric concluded under his breath. He stared in wonder at the glowing colourful drawings on the wall. Now, he could see the green hue, which surrounded the drawing of the pirate ship, he had previously seen. Wow, he thought. The previously haunting cave looked so enchanting to him. He had never seen anything like it before-

"I must say, Sailor; your reaction is a little disappointing." The same figure appeared with a cloud of shadow as it floated behind a rock, leaning with its elbows on top of it. Eric scrambled to his feet, snapping around.

"I don't do darkness, like you, Monster." Eric hissed.

"Oh, humans... So shallow. You wound me with your words." It placed its two hands on its heart as it feigned hurt. It floated up from its place behind the rock to sit on it. Eric's attention snapped to an exit of the cave behind the monster. He could see over seventy ships and mountains upon mountains of gold outside.

"This is where the ships have been going all along..." His shoulders slumped as his voice held an accusing tone.

"Don't start pointing fingers. I am no thief. You, sailors, just seem to like trespassing. I only took the passing taxes." The voice chuckled, playfully. Eric turned to look at the monster, only to see that it was no 'it' at all, for it was a she. And she was no ordinary she, as she was as enchanting as her home. Her shadowy figure had deathly pale skin, which had an almost emerald tint to it. The ends of her hair were the darkest shade of black, he had ever seen - darker than his familial trait, going red as it neared the tips. She had glowing blue orbs for eyes - eyes, which were beautiful in their own haunting way.

She wore a dress, which only had one shoulder and no sleeves. The dress had a slit that ran up her right leg ending at her knee, its purple colour suiting her dull skin, perfectly. His eyes travelled to her hands. Her haunting hands had pointy joints as the nails on her fingers resembled claws. His eyes travelled up to her face, seeing her pale greeny lips and her sharp pointy cheek bones.

In a way, she looked beautiful - in the way that would haunt your dreams as you would spend the night thinking of how a beautiful nightmare would look.

"I do hope you know that staring is rude." She smirked at him.

Nothing about her haunted him more than her scratchy voice.

"What do they call you?" He asked, firmly.

"They call me many names, indeed..." She drawled, disappearing with a gust of shadow, only to appear on another rock behind him. She faked a thinking face as she started counting on her fingers, "Nymph, water spirit, Sea Queen, siren, monster..." She paused, a real disgusted look appearing on her face. "And the most revolting one, mermaid. Blah! Pathetic." She turned around, floating as she shivered, making disgusted noises before turning to the prince,"Do I look like a 'mermaid' to you?"

The prince stayed silent.

"Then what should I call you?" He frowned.

"You have a list. Pick one. I sure hope you don't choose the last one, though." She shrugged, admiring her nails as she sat back on the rock.

"What is your name?" He asked after thinking about it. Her face blanked as her eyes showed a hint of sadness.

She had a name, once. One known by many, but also one only few called her by those days.

"Ariel." She replied weakly before disappearing again.

"Yes. Nice to make your aquaintance. I'm Eric." He cringed as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

●●●

Eric did not know where to find her as he waited and waited for her to come back. Only she didn't come back, and that was when he started thinking about where she could have gone.

Then he remembered something that pirates always said; a monster never left its den. That immediately brought him hope as he started walking around the cave. Aproaching the exit that led to the missing ships, he saw a figure sitting on the railing of one of the ships - the one closest to the sea, to be exact.

He took a deep breath as he started making his way towards her.

"Oi!" He called.

The monsteress only rolled her eyes in irritation, not turning around.

"What do you want, Sailor?!" She shouted over her shoulder.

"You left me back in there!" Eric exclaimed in exasperation.

"Left you?! I hope you remember which one of us is the trespasser." She glanced at him, disbelief filling her eyes.

"It's not my fault that you might not know how to treat a guest properly." He grunted as he finally reached the ship, climbing on board. He approached where the siren was and leaned against the railing beside her.

"What are you doing?" She asked him blankly as he struggled to sit beside her without falling over.

"What are you doing? You've been sitting here for hours."

"What do you wish to gain out of this nonsense?" She groaned, rolling her eyes again.

"Answers." He answered. She paused for a few seconds before leaning closer towards him.

"Then, go look for them elsewhere." She hissed.

He had not wanted to force her in any way, as he did not like playing the authority card. However, he felt as if that was his only choice.

"I am Prince Eric of Denmark." The prince straightened his back, lifting his chin as he said proudly. However, he was met with a blank look before-

SCREAM

SPLASH.

The prince was pushed into the sea below.

Edited: 18/4/2018
Final edition: 4/10/2019