Chapter Text
Queenie was late for dinner again. Tina sighed. She had a feeling she knew exactly where her sister was. She swam out of the tiny alcove the pair called home, and made straight for that stupid shipwreck her sister considered a playground.
"What am I going to do with you, Queenie?" she muttered to herself, angrily slicing her shimmering green tail through the water as she propelled herself onward.
The ship loomed eerily out of the darkening waters. Tina shivered unpleasantly. She'd never liked going near here, all the more so these days, ever since Queenie had taken a fancy to everything human.
At least her sister was always easy to find. She had a radiant pink tail, unusual even among mermaids, that lit up everything within a several foot radius.
Queenie glided in and out of the wreckage, picking up various objects and examining them. Sometimes she dropped it back down, other times, she tucked it into her bag to bring home and study further, or maybe just look at, because it was pretty. This ship had been here for as long as she could remember, but she'd never been particularly interested until recently.
A few months ago, the neighboring realm of Oceana had celebrated the marriage and coronation of King Theseus to Queen Leta. The reigning monarch of their home realm of Seadonia, Queen Sera, had attended, and of course all the details of the grand occasion were discussed ad nauseum throughout all the realms. Tina hadn't cared much for such things, but Queenie savored every piece of information she could get relating to the event.
Among other things, she'd learned that in their neighboring realm, laws were a little different. Visiting the surface was allowed, as was observing humans, so long as you did not let them see you. Collecting human artifacts from shipwrecks was also allowed. And so, Queenie's interest in the surface, and those creatures that ruled on land, was sparked. And she couldn't get enough.
"Queenie!" an irritated voice called out, "I know you're in there!"
Damn! I didn't keep track of the time. Queenie quickly dropped her bag, hiding it under a broken plank of wood. She'd get it later. Her sister, ever the stickler for the rules, was already on edge, and they'd been arguing about Queenie's recent hobby daily now.
As there was no hiding now, Queenie slid out from behind a broken beam, head down, refusing to look her sister in the eye. "I didn't visit the surface today, honest to Poseidon!" she insisted.
"Wow, what a sacrifice," Tina rolled her eyes as she grabbed her sister's arm, "merely poking about a graveyard of human artifacts, which will still land you with a fine we can't afford if you're caught!"
Queenie hung her head. "I'm sorry," she muttered contritely.
"You're always sorry, and yet it keeps happening!" Tina huffed in frustration, "you know the law, Queenie! You know what the consequences could be!"
"Other realms don't have such strict laws, you know," Queenie countered, "why, over in Oceana, King Theseus allows visiting the surface! There's even a rumor that his younger brother-"
"I don't care what King Theseus or his younger brother have to say in the matter!" Tina interjected, "we live in Seadonia, and Queen Sera's law is quite clear."
Queenie sighed sadly, and it squeezed at Tina's heart. "I'm sorry," Tina squeezed her sister's hand, "it's just, you know I worry. Things could get real bad if you're not careful. It's not worth it."
Queenie squeezed her hand back as a tear slid down her face. As soon as they arrived home, she curled up into her corner of the alcove.
"Don't you want some dinner?" Tina asked, concernedly.
"No!" Queenie said thickly, "I just want to be alone right now."
Tina sighed heavily. Her sister had really changed these last few months, and it scared her. Of course, they were both of age. Her sister could go move to another realm or get married or whatever at any time. Tina didn't like change. She wanted everything to stay the same, just as it had been since their parents had died when they were kids. Tina and Queenie, of the House of Goldstein, the scrappy orphan sisters against the world. But she couldn't slow the passage of time. And her sister was her own person. Well, Tina couldn't do much about it, but she didn't have to like it.
Queenie was gone when Tina woke up the next morning. Thankfully, she at least had the decency to leave a note.
Teenie,
I thought about what you said last night. You're right, it's unfair of me to put you in that position. I can't stop though. It's like the human world is calling to me! I cannot ignore the call. But I'm going to be more careful. Lucky we live so close to Oceana! From now on, I'll be doing my exploring there, so there won't be any trouble if I'm caught. I'll be home for dinner. Love you, sis!
Queenie
Tina didn't know what to think. If Queenie really was visiting Oceana for the day in order to visit the surface, well, that was completely legal. Still, she worried about what indulging this fancy could mean. Surely this fixation on the human world wasn't healthy! She decided to go after her sister.
Finding her wasn't hard. It never was with that glittering pink tail of hers. And when Tina found her, that was all she saw, for the rest of her sister was above the water. Although she was now in territory where it would be legal, Tina couldn't bring herself to breach the surface.
Queenie watched the ship, enthralled. She'd never been this close to humans, nor seen so many in one place! They seemed to be having some sort of celebration. There was music, dancing, food, and alcoholic beverages.
She was fascinated by how much clothing the people wore. It looked a bit uncomfortable, but also so beautiful, especially the gowns the women wore.
One human in particular caught her eye. He wasn't the most handsome man aboard the ship, but he was clearly the most popular, and it was easy to see why. He had a warm smile, and seemed to always know the right thing to say to everyone. He had a way of making every person he interacted with feel important. Queenie wondered, if she were to meet him, if he'd listen to her too. She was tired of her opinion never counting for anything…
The sky above began to darken, with thick, gray, swirling clouds, and the water began to churn violently. The ship's crew was now frantically running to and fro, turning the ship back towards shore.
The shore was visible, as they weren't that far out to sea, but it wasn't that close. As the storm blew in, and the waves grew larger and more dangerous, Queenie was tossed about. She knew she should get back down, below where the wind could affect the water, but she was worried about the humans. How could they get safely back to shore? What would happen if the ship was damaged while they were still too far out for them to swim?
A wave pulled Queenie under, but she fought her way back to the surface. She knew she couldn't help everyone, if it came to that, but she couldn't bring herself to abandon a shipful of humans to the mercy of the sea. And so, she continued to fight, to stay above the surface...
Tina swam in tight circles, like a shark, below her sister, waiting for her to come back under. She couldn't help but notice the way Queenie's tail twitched with excitement. She noted the dark shape hovering above them. A ship. Queenie was clearly watching humans on a ship.
Suddenly, the sunlight streaming below the waves was blocked, and not by the ship. That meant a storm was coming. Tina felt the water whipping around her and looked up to see the frothing of the water above. She'd never been this close to an actual storm!
"Queenie!" she screamed, though she was unsure if her sister could hear her, "Queenie, come back here, we gotta dive down! It's a storm! It's dangerous up there!"
Tina wasn't about to swim to safety without her sister, so she attempted to get close enough to grab onto her, but the water was churning too fiercely, hurling her in every direction but the one she meant to go in. She continued calling out to her sister, but the constant whooshing of the water swallowed her calls.
Meanwhile, above the surface, Queenie watched in horror as the ship that had seemed so mighty a few minutes ago was tossed about like a child's plaything. The men on board were all running around and shouting, though she couldn't make out what they were saying over the roar of the wind. She could see they were in what looked like a losing fight against the wind, as they scrambled to hold the ship's wheel. Lightning flashed, casting a momentary eerie glow on the water, and thunder boomed ominously in the distance.
The waves grew larger and soon began to wash upon the deck. Suddenly, she felt a heavy plunk beside her, and was able to make out the call of "Man overboard!"
Just below the surface, Tina had finally fought her way over, and was just about to grab Queenie by the tail and drag her down when she felt something heavy plunk into the water, and slowly begin to sink. It took Tina a split second to realize that it was a human.
"So those are legs," she cocked her head curiously as he sank towards her. He was a heavy-set man, and looked quite young. He had a small mustache. Bubbles trailed from his mouth and his head lolled to the side.
Then, Queenie burst frantically beside her and wrapped her arms around the human.
"Queenie, what are you doing?!" Tina shrieked, "you know that's not allowed, not even under King Theseus' laws!"
"I won't let him die!" Queenie screamed, "I won't!" And with that, she swished her tail as powerfully as she could, bringing the human back up to the surface.
"Queenie, wait!" Tina screamed again, but Queenie, and the human, were gone, and she wasn't sure which way they'd gone. Tina went back and forth with herself, wondering whether she should wait here or go home. She soon decided to swim home. There was no way to know if Queenie would come back this way, and she had to come home eventually.