Ursula's Beginning

12. The importance of body language

When Ursula passed beyond the border of Atlantica and plunged into the Uncivilized Waters, a giddy laugh escaped her throat. She had always imagined these forbidden waters would feel different—perhaps colder, more oily, or full of unfamiliar currents. In truth, it felt no different from home.

Not that the peril of the place was lost on her. It was filled with violent criminals, dangerous animals, and hybridized monstrosities of every variety. Some individuals ticked all three boxes. All merfolk in exile or in hiding were somewhere in these waters between kingdoms, and when normal merfolk traveled between kingdoms, they used royal or private hired guards as escorts. These groups were rarely bothered: outlaws could legally be killed on the spot, and most denizens of the Uncivilized Waters were already preoccupied by a vicious fight for dominance or survival amongst themselves. Harassing a group simply wasn't worth the risk.

A solo traveler was a different matter altogether. 

It was here that you could encounter a merman that had traded his benign fins for a shark's tail and his normal mouth for two rows of murderous teeth. Or a mermaid with the head of an angler fish, complete with the luring alien light of that animal—bioluminescence from the bowels of hell. Or a cecaelia with extra tentacles sprouting from the crown that proved to be a multitude of angry snakes upon closer inspection.

None of these modifications were undertaken for aesthetic reasons, to be sure. And they all involved dark magic.

Transformations were by definition part of the dark arts. And Siddikah the Squid Witch, rumored to live just outside of Atlantica, was renowned for her transformational magic. No other practitioner was so feared, so notorious. Growing up, Ursula had caught snippets of conversation between adults regarding the sorceress. And sometimes, her name was whispered in a manner approaching reverence.

As children tend to do with most frightful things, young Ursula and her peers developed a sense of awe around the legendary Siddikah. They entertained one another with thrilling stories about the Squid Witch snatching up bratty kids and turning them into something hilariously awful. Ursula's favorite tale to tell was about a sneaky cuttlemaid receiving the tiny, feeble head of a sea slug. It guaranteed howls of laughter. But the youngsters' yarns would always give way to a serious conversation in which they pieced together, in hushed tones, everything they earnestly thought they knew about the witch.

"She runs the Uncivilized Waters outside Atlantica. Her lair is the skeleton of a dragon...it's called the Leviathan. Sometimes she enters the kingdoms under disguise—how else could she snatch up merfolk? She keeps humans in a magical prison inside the Leviathan. And she can do anything...for a price."

Ursula had no doubt some of these things were true, but it was a question of which ones, and to what degree.

She was about ten minutes into her illicit travels when she started noticing different sets of eyes following her. In this hollow here, behind a rock there, in that clump of kelp over yonder, various kinds of eyes were studying her. Ursula decided to request directions from the least menacing pair of eyes she encountered in the next few minutes. There was no use wasting time traveling in the wrong direction.

She was gliding past some coral when she noticed the beady, harmless-looking eyes of a sapient lobster peering at her through a jagged opening.

"Excuse me," she began.

The eyes bobbed upward and Ursula saw they were set into the face of a merman. Besides the lobster eyes, he had antenna, claws in place of hands, and a little lobster tail at the end of his body instead of the large, bifurcated terminus of a typical merman. Everything else about him was normal. I don't even want to know, Ursula thought. She smothered an urge to laugh.

Lobster man blinked at her questioningly.

"I'm looking for the Leviathan," said Ursula.

"What's that?" Blink, blink.

"I'm searching for Siddikah."

"Oh." Hard blink. "Why should I help you? What's in it for me?" came the leaden reply.

"How about you tell me, and you won't have to find out what's under this cloak?" she snarled.

His antenna rioted briefly. "Fine, just head that way for another twenty minutes," he mumbled, extending an arm and snapping his claw twice in the direction of Ursula's destination.

"Thank you," Ursula smiled sweetly. He spotted her rear fangs and his quivering antenna betrayed him again. He hurriedly resumed his position behind the coral.

Poor wretch. That was way too easy, Ursula mused as she slid away. She wished she could apologize to him--comfort him, even--but reputation was everything in these waters.

He had steered her right. She spied the red aura surrounding the lair before she could see the dwelling itself. As the enormous skeleton came into view, Ursula slowed her pace. She continued to approach, but more cautiously now. Here the water did feel different; she simply couldn't pinpoint in what way.

The jaws of the skull, stretched wide and fearsome even in death, served as an entrance to Siddikah's quarters. Red light streamed from the empty eye sockets and through the spaces between ribs. It created a sinister halo around the long-dead beast, as if a spray of blood were permanently suspended in the water. A curious blend of materials filled the gaps between bones, creating a semi-solid structure that offered some privacy from outside onlookers. Tattered sails and tarps had been suspended in places. Human skulls formed columns and lines of caulking. There was wood, and gold, and ropes, and...

"Well, come in, Squidling! Don't be shy!" a sing-song voice beckoned from somewhere inside the makeshift walls.