Maid of the Wave

Every Mermaid is born with a special gift, a special love- soulmate to an idea. Some are born to love music, and they devote their lives to melodies, and often take hobby in singing on the stones that rise above the crashing ocean waves. Musical ones are often found to the delight of many imaginative and farfetched sailor. Other Mermaids are devoted to beauty, some to vanity, some even to the opposite sex-, which makes for an interesting pubescent age indeed. They may go their entire lives, yearning in unrequited love for something or someone they will never have, but some flourish in their loves from the day of birth.
Every gift is brought down from above and showers the love and affection onto every merchild. Be their love for land or sea, mermaids are born with a special love.
All except one.

Sixteen years ago ended the reign of the King Atargatis, who at the time lay very ill in his bed. His purple tail had long faded into an ugly white and his skin was hanging off his bones. With every breath he took came a gasping cough and a weakened hand clutching at his body.
"Vertillo! Vertillo!" He croaked; trying his best to yell in a permanently lost voice. Vertillo protruded from the waterhole in the ice cavern and made a show of pouring the much-needed medicine into a cup.
"Your Majesty must rest." Came the smooth and content voice of the dark robed servant.
"I- I can not…not rest." He spoke as firmly as he could muster, meriting a coughing fit and a wheezing session. He lifted his shaking finger and pointed to Vertillo, " N-not until, I make my last wishes."

Vertillo's jaw dropped and his brows lifted, "Surely your majesty isn't giving up, already! Come now, your medicine." He handed the coral cup to the King, and waited eagerly for every last drop of poison to be swallowed. Then offered a kind and humble grin when the cup was returned.
"I don't know why you give me that awful stuff", the King complained, "it doesn't seem to- seem to-" Another coughing fit interrupted his criticism, this time seemingly never-ending.
Vertillo raised his King into a sitting position. "You- you have always been too kind to me, Vertillo. My dear, dear, protector." The King took the smooth young hand into his pale white and wrinkled one, then he kissed it affectionately and gratefully, "You have ruled well in my absence."
Vertillo smiled, "You flatter me, your majesty, too much…speaking of ruling…a contract…."
Vertillo offered the scroll to the King, whose eyes weren't as good as they used to be, but who still took his pen and scrawled his name.

Vertillo turned to leave and tucked the paper into his cloak pocket, but the King beckoned him once more. "Wait, Vertillo, please…I must tell you to—" it seemed like the King's eyes couldn't make up their mind on whether or not they wanted to pop out or sink into his skull. He clutched at his body until his fingernails dug into his skin drawing blood, with one finger he pointed desperately to the medicine tray and made pathetic whimpering noises in the back of his throat.
"Oh, this old thing?" Vertillo looked at it, then laughed a cold heartless laugh, "I won't need this anymore, and neither will you…" he chucked the liquid aside and it clattered to the floor, then he kneeled on his red fin and grinned at the King. "Oh, your most trusted Vertillo, your beloved Vertillo, your loving and caring Vertillo. Your servant Vertillo! No more! I will no longer kneel, I will no longer feed you, you worthless old man! Die well, as you lived, Atargatis."
Vertillo pulled the hood back from his head and watched with delight as the King looked fearfully to the portrait of his baby in the last sight he'd ever see.
A baby who disappeared in a tragic accident long before the gifts could be bestowed, and long before she understood what she was meant to love.

All mermaids are given a gift, a love, except for Claire the only purple tailed mermaid in all of Methone. She wasn't nearly as glamorous as her peers, but she never tried to be either. Her blonde ponytail was tied with seaweed and so tightly wound from her head it pulled on her face ever so slightly. It wasn't any secret to her that she wasn't beautiful, ever since she was a child she'd been avoided; even a small innocent toddler can tell when the other merfolk swim wide circles around her. When other children who may have ever been her friends were always pulled away by concerned parents who didn't want their family tainted by scandal and a humiliation they'd never live down.
The only two mermaids who ever talked to her (aside from her guardians) were two other little girls who decided then and there that being outcasts wasn't as bad as being cruel. Naomi and Heidi were their names, and after exchanging many compliments on an elementary level of logic the three were friends.

Over the sixteen years the kingdom changed in ways three girls could never understand, but what they did understand was the growing hostility towards Claire every day. It didn't take long for Naomi and Heidi to also fall victim to the cold shoulders and the hostile stares. Occasionally from the corner of their eyes they would catch a disgusted sneer. After all, purple tails- like Claire- weren't quite so worthy to be in the presence of a Blue tail or a Yellow tail- or any other color tail for that matter. Yet, everyday that's what they saw in the trio and it was humiliating to say the least.
Lurking in the shadows were other merfolk not even remotely as kind as the ones who just shunned the offendors, the ones that wanted to take physical action to make sure it ended on it's own. As a child one day, Naomi and Heidi left Claire alone- and the tragedy began. A tragedy that made her own parents wary of her presence and to start questioning the goodness of their own hearts.

While things seemed to be looking up since then, with the three inseparable, there was one thing neither of them counted on. The day of Destiny that was fast approaching, and just three days after the sixteenth anniversary of King Atargatis, the King Vertillo was going to make a speech. A speech designed to rile the crowds of Methone until they were coaxed deeper into his twisted ways of thinking.
Everyone in the Kingdom was to attend, and thankfully while everyone was busy trying to prepare themselves for the King's watchful eyes Claire finally had some alone time. On the outskirts of the city with her fin curled up to her chest she concentrated on the checklist in her hand.

"So far, Red String…check—" she hit the sharp end of a rock against the tablet in her hands, until it made a noticeable mark next to her 'writing'. Heidi peeked over her shoulder with wide curious eyes and read off the next bit of writing. "Ste—stee-…Star—Stair…Those handheld things from folklore that are used to move those gigantic wooden things that float on the surface between the two words, commonly referred to as Boats in folklore about Humans?"
"Congratulations, Heidi. You're a cheater." Claire snapped, hugging the checklist to her chest before any other items could be snooped. Heidi shrugged and flopped down on the bottom of her bright blue fin, "I just don't understand why you get to come up with the hunt. It's supposed to be your celebration and we're the ones hunting."

"You're very observant." Claire muttered, gazing intently at her purple scales. Heidi twirled some of Claire's blonde hair around her fingers before yanking hard on the ponytail meriting a great 'Ow!' from the hapless victim, "Wake up! We're trying to celebrate for you and you're busy making things fun for us. Now you can't play the game because you know where everything is."
"That's part of the fun for me," Claire tried to explain, "Watching the two of you look around for—"
"For a handheld device from folklore that are used to move those gigantic wooden things that—"

Claire's hand slapped across Heidi's mouth, "Steering Wheel. And yes. It's a part of my fun."
Heidi tugged on her brown curls in anticipation, while watching intently as Claire chopped away at the block in her hands. The water between them intensified until finally Claire put the tablet down and met Heidi's staring gaze with her own annoyed one. For the next few minutes the two continued on in their staring contest, and it was only interrupted by Naomi jumping out from behind a tree, and hissing out, "It's about to start."

The three of them left the checklist behind and darted as fast as their fins would let them swim back into the dark caves from whence they came.
"Who thought it was a good idea to build a city in a deeper part of the ocean that can only be found through a crevice on a dark cavern floor?" Heidi complained as the girls patted the ground to feel see their way around. "I found it!" Naomi called out, and the girls followed her voice down past the long patches of seaweed and bubble busters. The darkness that got smaller as it got deeper, a defense meant to ward off predators who didn't want to be stuck. Luckily no Merperson had ever gained enough weight to be caught in the double-edged trap.
The lights of Methone were the guiding beacon through the underground cove and the trumpets were already blaring to announce the presence of the King.
"This ought to be good." Heidi muttered in response to the cheering of the crowds, "What is he creating a new holiday to celebrate the beauty of his smile?"
Silence met Heidi's joke, but in her mind the response was that of roaring laughter not only from her two friends but from everyone in the crowd they'd just met the back of.

"My people of Methone, I have a few announcements. First, the most important, my son…Prince Christopher is now the heir of my throne!-"
Cheers roared through the crowd, and Heidi muttered into Naomi's ear, "Half the people here didn't even know his name before now. The other half want to marry him."
"Why?" Claire leaned in to join the whisperfest, so Heidi indulged her interest, "Because he's the Prince and there's not a girl around here that doesn't want to rule the Kingdom and wear fancy jewelry. Except, of course, us three."
Naomi cleared her throat and swished her tail around a bit. The two looked at her while she gazed off and feigned disinterest.
"Us two, you meant." Claire corrected.

"If he can complete three tasks!" The King boasted further over the mass crowd, bringing back the golden silence.
"He just made that part up! He was clearly done speaking until he got such a great response." Heidi accused.
"To his retirement." Naomi smoothly added.
"Whoosh!" Heidi laughed and the two friends performed their secret tail shake.

"I think it's pretty smart." Claire murmured in commendation, much to the horror and shock of her two friends.
"Claire, of all people, you shouldn't be agreeing with him." Naomi hissed over Heidi's head.
Claire shrugged, "All I mean is, it's a good way to prove that someone is worthy of the crown- if before they get it they can prove that they want the best interest of the kingdom and aren't afraid to go out of their own way to get it."

The logic floated in the air like a shrinking bubble, until it popped and left no real change to the thoughts and ideas of the girls. Naomi shrugged, "Or in the best interest of himself."
"Clearly he wants his son out of the picture so that he has a little more time to find out the secret to eternal life." Heidi offered the preposterous theory.

Claire sighed and pointed at Heidi, "No more Stage Performances." Then to Naomi, "You---may be right."
"Why is she right, and not me?" Heidi pouted.
During this disrupting conversation in inconspicuous whispers the two of them had complete ignored the rest of the speech, but one thing mentioned caught the ears of all three of them.
One moment of twisted fate and Claire wished she was someone else, somewhere completely different, or perhaps not a mermaid to begin with.
"—A new law for the protection of the kingdom. A new law that will keep us safe at night, we will no longer need to lock up our children in fear of bloodthirsty monsters--" before the girls could come up with a snarky response the dreaded words were hanging in the air. In the same way the shrinking bubble did before, only, this bubble was growing and the fear was set that very shortly it would consume them all. "Any purple Methonians will be banished, and those who stay will be killed."