Melody swam backwards as soon as she heard Hydra’s claws. She hunched down into a defensive position, eyeing Hydra warily. Her own claws stayed retracted, her mind racing as she decided how to approach the situation. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Hydra, I-“ Melody’s words were cut off as Hydra’s claws raked over the flesh of her face. Melody doubled over, holding her hands against her fresh wound. She felt a surge of energy, adrenaline, coursing through her. The water boiled around her as she drew energy from the ocean, healing her face and her arm wound at once. She felt grateful for the nap that Ripper had allowed for her to take, since the rest had restored some of her vitality. Now, she looked up at Hydra, her own eyes glowing. However, as she took in the face of her comrade, her fellow Siren, her eyes softened and the will to fight left her.
“Hydra, let’s talk about what happened- I’m regretful that I had to attack you.”
“Regretful?! You committed treason against the Goddess by attacking one of your own. You’re supposed to lead us into the fight, not stop us from taking victims. You’re deplorable.” Hydra spat, claws still at the ready.
Melody searched Hydra’s eyes. “Don’t you ever think about the humans that we’re murdering? They’re a lot like us. How can you kill without remorse? They have feelings. They have family and friends just like we do.” Melody was clutching at her heart now. Hydra laughed.
“You really are pathetic. Like us? I don’t think so. They’re hollow, trifling creatures. They bring death and destruction among their own kind. They care not what happens to one another, so why should we care? We who were created by Her to do Her bidding.”
“Don’t you ever wonder why we do it? Why does She call for us to kill, and if we don’t she threatens our existence? Why did She change our bodies to make us thirst for their blood?” Melody was shaking now, from a mixture of guilt and cognitive dissonance. “Besides, we’ve fought against other tribes in the past, so we’ve also slaughtered our own, just like them. We’re not so different.”
“She is listening, all the time. She is the ocean, she hears everything that happens or is spoken in the water. She knows that you’ve been questioning Her motives, and She will soon strip you of your role. You will lose everything. Your family, your tribe. You will be spat out like a decayed fish.” Hydra retracted her claws and looked at her nails. They were glittering like a rainbow in the electric neon lights of the village. “Just you wait. It will all come to pass. Anyway, I grow tired of you. I need to retire to my hammock.” She yawned, turned, and swam away, leaving Melody gaping after her.
“What a lunatic. She acts as if she’s a seer.” Melody muttered under her breath, trying to ignore the gnawing thoughts that Hydra had planted in her mind like a mackerel’s eggs waiting to hatch.
Melody made her way to the Realm of the Chieftess, desperate to find her own hammock and get some real rest. She prayed that she wouldn’t swim into anyone she knew on her way there. She looked at the Realm shining in the distance. Luckily, most of the trading shops along the path to the Realm were closed at this time in the evening. She saw the shopkeepers inside of their sturdy sea-glass bubbles of various colors, rearranging their handmade wares that were suspended in glass balls of varying shapes, bobbing to-and-fro, tied by strands of kelp to the rings lining the bottom of the stores. Marisol was swimming to the top of her shop, chasing a rogue glass ball that held a piece of bioluminescence-imbedded jewelry.
She passed the smithy, Coral, whose workspace was arranged around a hydrothermal vent that was an offshoot from the hot springs. She could see her inside, tirelessly working on some new project- probably the enhanced lightweight armor that her mother had commissioned for the warriors. Brine, who was lovingly tending some red algae in his marine nursery, spotted Melody and fanned his free hand at her. Melody returned the gesture. She was glad to see that his seagrass had bounced back after having a difficult time adjusting to the move north.
She continued to swim up and around, following the winding, tunnel-like covered pathway that led home. She looked up, viewing a school of fish traveling through the glass tube that formed an archway. The ambience of the elegant lighting surrounding the tube glittered off of their pearlescent scales as they passed. She tried to avoid eye contact with villagers as she swam, but occasionally she found herself absently staring into shops and residences of mer-folk that were familiar to her. She kept swimming, trying to speed up her progress home. She could tell from the way that eyes lingered on her for just a few seconds longer than normal that she had been the object of heavy gossip at the hot springs today after the Sirens returned home. She passed by said hot springs- the communal central hub of activity in the tribe. She saw one of her closest friends, Lotus, digging through the pile of edibles and other goods amassed by today’s gatherers. The hydrothermal vent nearby was spewing its alabaster-colored water as a couple held their feast of crustaceans, spiked on spear tips, over the scorching geyser. Melody’s mouth watered as she realized how long it had been since she’d had a good meal. As she rounded the bend circling the hot springs, she got ever closer to home, and thus she started to feel anxiety welling up inside of her. Mother…she pictured the chieftess welcoming her home, harsh words lined with judgement and sprinkled with a healthy dose of guilt.
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She looked up at the glittering entranceway to the Realm of the Chieftess, and swam through it, nodding to the warriors that were floating at attention on either side of the archway. They nodded back at her. She continued into the first hallway, wondering whether she should take a nap first or find her mother, who would undoubtedly be in her chambers.
“Melody! You’re back!” Melody suddenly felt arms around her shoulders, hugging her tightly from the side. Her anxiety lessened slightly at her sister’s embrace. She turned to Trieste, who was looking back at her imploringly.
“Is it true? Did you really attack Hydra and take her prey? The first thing that she did was come to mother and rant her ear off, dropping words like ‘treason’ and ‘betrayal,’ well, mother listened very patiently throughout the whole thing and barely said a word. I really think that she couldn’t believe it! To be honest, I still don’t believe it either. Hydra has always been such a… well… you know.” Trieste trailed off, and now she was chewing on her lip.
“How did you hear all of that, Trieste? You know that anyone outside of the Chorus is forbidden from listening in on Chorus-related matters.” She tried to hide a small smile, knowing full well that her sister never played by the rules. Trieste tucked a thick coral pink curl behind her ear, giggling as she did so.
“Come on, sis, it’s not fair! I’m almost old enough to take part in my own Tiamata’pala. It’s only a matter of weeks until I become one of you! I’m turning sixteen in two full moons, remember?” She twirled in the water, smiling up at the glass ceiling in ecstasy. Melody, however, did not share in her glee.
“We’ve talked about this, Trieste.” Her playful tone had now turned serious. “There’s already seven of us now, since Luna was selected for the Chorus four moons ago, so unless Our Lady decides to go against tradition and add an eighth Siren… I’m sorry, Trieste.” Melody looked down at the floor, unable to handle watching the happiness ebb from her sister’s face. Trieste was quiet for a moment, and the tension hung in the air like the pressure felt in the deepest of oceans. She spoke again, but her voice was much quieter now.
“You’re right, I know you’re right,” her voice caught in her throat, “I just can’t help but feel hopeful for the future. We’ve been talking about it since you got picked, y’know, how someday I’d be old enough to go on hunts with you.” She shook her head, smiling sadly. “I thought for sure that She would choose me, since my sister is the leader.” She stared off into the distance for a moment, then looked intently into Melody’s eyes. “Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Crack the shell already! I want to hear about what happened today.” She said as she started shaking Melody by her shoulders.
“Okay, okay!” Melody laughed, peeling Trieste’s hands away. “The truth is, I didn’t plan to cause any issues within the Chorus. If it wasn’t for him it would have just been any other day, where I would show up and lead us into the hunt, ignoring the awful thoughts in my head.”
“Him? You can’t be serious, that you threw away your sense for some man! I thought Hydra was lying, I never imagined- They’re just prey animals that happen to have similar faces to us!”
“I’m trying to tell you what happened, Trieste! Calm down.” Melody cleared her throat. “He was the largest human I’ve ever seen, broad in shoulder and of a towering height, so you would think he was built to be a war machine. However, I could feel his compassionate soul underneath that facade. He had a kindness that he was trying to hide, a yearning for more than just the warfare that we know is characteristic of humans. He was surrounded by other warriors, with their armor and shields, ready to go into a raid or a battle. But he was different from the other humans on board. He was different. I saw myself in him. I couldn’t let him become a victim of our bloodlust.”
“Yes, you could, because as a Siren that is your duty.” Melody’s heart missed a beat as she heard the stern voice of her mother. She whipped around and was face-to-face with Chieftess Laguna, the Tiamata’ka’shiva in all her glory. Her robes made from thousands of the finest pearls in the sea, strung together to hang almost all the way to her decorated fin, were shining in the lights of the entranceway, creating a sheen on her opalescent tail. Her golden headpiece, resting atop her flowing, white curls accented her regal look. Her arms were clasped in front of her, and her mouth was held in a tight line.
Melody straightened her tail and greeted her mother by fanning her hands in a circular motion from the sides of her hips to her front. “Tiamata’na, Chieftess Laguna.” Melody said. The chieftess just shook her head.
“Trieste, leave us.” Laguna commanded. Trieste squeezed Melody’s hand and swam out of sight.
“Melody, your behavior is inconceivable. As the leader of the Sirens, your weakness towards the humans could threaten to put our entire tribe in an even more precarious position with Our Lady. The last time we displeased her, we had to leave our home waters behind- you remember, yes? That was only a few moons ago, and already you are taking action to place us even further behind in Her favor. You have sewn threads of distrust amongst your fellow Sirens after your incident today, but I won’t allow any more discord to flourish whatsoever. The Goddess imbued you with your powers and chose you as the leader, but she put me in charge of making sure that you perform your duty of sacrifice flawlessly. If you put Tiamata’ka at risk of further punishment, as the chieftess I will be left with no choice but to place you in exile or worse, even though you are my daughter. Do you understand?”
Melody looked up at her mother, whose reddened face was betraying her seething anger even if her calm disposition was trying to mask it. For the first time, Melody was realizing what a horrible position she’d placed her mother in. Torn between her duty to her tribe and her need to protect her own children. Melody lowered her head and raised her fin to meet her forehead in a show of deference. “Tiamata’ka’shiva, I will not disappoint you.”
Her mother nodded, unsmiling. “Now that you understand the gravity of your actions, we have to discuss your penance. Our Lady feels that it would be best decided by your own Sirens. Tomorrow, the Chorus will meet and come to an agreement on the measures you will be required to take to regain their trust. I expect for you to be in attendance. We will meet at high tide in the Cavern of Eternity.” Melody could swear that her mother appeared to have aged ten years in the past few minutes. “Now, leave me. I need to rest.”
Melody gave her the sign of deference once again before swimming down the hallway towards her own quarters. She reached her hammock, and immediately threw herself into it, face down. Her tears joined the saltwater as she thought of everything that had happened. She flipped over and unclasped the shell on her side purse, pulling out the man’s amulet, which she had covertly tucked away once she got close to her village. The bronze was starting to take on a green patina, but it was still a beautiful item. In the light of her room, she could now make out the markings, which she did not recognize. The symbols were expertly carved into it with very fine precision. She wondered if he had carved it himself. She stared at it as she thought of him, wishing she could see him again. She fell asleep while clutching his amulet, and slipped away into a dream that took place above the water. She felt at peace there, in a land where she didn’t have to worry about proving herself or killing anyone.