Seas of Affliction

It was a great inconvenience where Florence found herself this day, much too close to the mainland than she should be and directly in the path of chaos. The original and still operating plan was to be spying on the humankind, seeing if she could detect any disturbances in their treaty, which she had been long suspicious of lately. The silvery gleam of her eyes hovering just above the water's surface did not see what crushed her back under into the circling undertow.

She was momentarily frazzled, shaking the sudden weight from her head, looking around furiously to spot the cause. A body hit the surface of the water, then another and another, then blazing spars of charred wood and various strange belongings, a muted hum of red and orange glowing above the surface, sailing overhead. Florence looked below her, seeing a man sinking sinking sinking, it was only until a tug of intuition caused her to flick her tail into a momentous movement, easily snatching the unconscious man by his shirt. Swimming back up to the surface, she worked his dead weight up onto a sea soaked wooden plank. Florence was stronger than any average man by many measures, but the flop of limp limbs would be difficult for anyone to control into stillness.

Some men she noticed were still alive, abandoning ship plunged into the sea. She saw some of them like scorching balls of flames, never returning for air after their final arrival into the water. No part of her was tempted to help them, sympathy lacking considerably for the panicked onlookers scrambling to organize rescue rowers into order to save those who were trying to remain afloat.

A flat groan reminded Florence of the man she did save though, having her hover back down slowly behind the floating board as he shifted about confusedly, eyes wide to the brim with a look of despair and whether it was for the ship or himself she did not know. The man was disheveled, with hair rolling down to the nap of his neck in a blackened nest of knots and filth. He rolled onto his stomach and Florence dipped under from sight, but she was not being as quick as she normally would be. She was in no real danger from this man, who was injured and weak.

She circled around the board, taking in her surroundings but giving the impression of more a predatory role than the prey she felt like. A hand ran across her tail and she flipped it hard against the source reflexively, whipping her head around. The man was cradling his hand when she rose to the surface once more. There was a cast of doubt and prejudice on his face when he saw the siren eyeing him accusingly.

“Witch.” He whispered through his narrowed cerulean eyes, more as a question than insult.

“Don’t say we’ve never helped you,” Florence hissed as she disappeared back under the sea waves, leaving the man to fend for himself.