A Sirena Tail
Written By: Raychel for Chrissy
"Be honest," Elena asked, twisting in her constraints so she could try and face Mateo as much as she could. Which wasn't a lot since they were bound back-to-back. "On a scale from 1 to 10, how bad of a situation are we in?"
"Compared to the other stuff, I would say around a 6," Mateo replied back, tilting his head back so that it rested on top of hers.
Elena lifted up an eyebrow in disbelief. "Really? Even though we're currently Sirenas and only have a certain amount of time before we turn into them permanently?"
"There's usually a pretty good time limit. It all just comes down to numerology," Mateo said optimistically. "So, what are we looking at? Till Sunset or till midnight?"
"Try two hours." Elena looked down at her red tail fin and the now faint glow it had around it. "Actually, maybe an hour now."
"Okay, so maybe that makes this a 7 then."
Despite the situation, Elena laughed lightly before she blew an annoyingly piece of hair out of her face. It had become so much longer and fuller after her transformation into a Sirena.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go at all. Granted, rarely any of their plans worked out the way they hoped, but still.
Nico and the other Guardians-in-training had spotted the Island of Soledo some several miles off the coast of Avalor, and more southbound towards the direction of Nueva Vista and Coranado. Mateo said that it was a magical phenomenon for it to appear so close after a short amount of time, but that it was possible because of the strong magical pull of Takahina being reopened. Whatever the reason, Elena thought this was the best news she had heard in a long time for one simple fact. The magical Nautical map. The one that Mateo had lost on their last voyage there almost 3 years ago. With Esteban.
And it was this golden opportunity, a map that could see farther and better than even her magical scepter could, that Elena would have felt foolish to pass up on it.
So, Mateo and Elena had been dropped off with instructions to the Jaquins to come back just before sunset. It was cutting it close, but she needed them to fly to Nueva Vista and drop off the updated Wanted posters asap.
However, after a few hours of searching, they had come up empty handed even though they swore they retraced their steps perfectly.
As the cold disappointment began to set in though, the pair spotted some creatures lounging in a nearby lagoon. From a distance, Elena could make out that the creatures clearly had a human top half and tail bottom half.
Elena had thought at the time that they were Sirenas and quickly rushed over, hoping that maybe they could be of some kind of help. Any kind of help would've been welcomed. However, as they got close these creatures actually had the tails of Sea lions and before they could back track and get out of sight, Mateo and Elena were ambushed and overpowered by these creatures and disarmed.
The most heavily decorated one of them than came forward. There was something about his blue eyes, blue eyes that only he had, that seemed so familiar, but Elena couldn't quite put her finger on it right at that moment.
"Why don't you tell us who you are and what you're doing here?"
So, they could speak the same language as humans. And as Elena looked closer at the uniforms they were wearing, they looked similar to the Sirena's Royal Guard. If these creatures were from some kind of functioning Kingdom, then she would try handling this diplomatically.
"I am the Crown Princess Elena from the Kingdom of Avalor, and this is my Royal Wizard Mateo. We are here in search of a magical Nautical map of our Kingdom." Elena squared back her shoulders. "We are also an ally to the Kingdom of Coranado. So I demand that you release us-"
"Coranado, you say? So, you're the human we've heard about." The sinister smile that spread over the creature's face made a chill run down Elena's spine.
"Looks like it's our lucky day." He said, turning back to his comrades. "Go get some milagras immediately! Let's see how much the high and mighty King Pescoro would sacrifice for an ally!"
Elena and Mateo did everything they could to fight back: thrashing around, throwing back their heads, and kicking their legs. But all of it was useless in the water, their enemies natural habitat. So there was nothing they could do as their arms were twisted painfully behind their backs and their faces were pushed into the ground as the magic milagras were wrapped around their legs.
Now, as they sat on the bottom of the ocean, with their weapons out of reach and the glow fading with each passing moment, Elena would have given anything to be wearing her Crystal dress in this moment because she was certainly feeling every type of emotion right now: anger, panic, hopelessness. And any emotion would certainly help them get out of this predicament.
"I'm so sorry we're in this situation." Elena said. "Seems I still have a little more about diplomacy that I need to learn."
Mateo shrugged. "Well, when it comes to us, I've gotten used to it."
"Do you know what these creatures are?"
"No. I thought they would be selkies, but they're located more North and shed their skins when they transform. So, we could be looking at some forgotten kind of creature. Which is really fascinating."
"Well, I would be more excited if they hadn't transformed us against our will and tied us up." Elena said flatly.
She felt his hand grab her's. "Hey, we'll get out of this some way, like we always do."
He was right.
Elena took a deep breath and cleared her mind with thoughts of baby Jaquins. With her focus back, she began looking around, trying to figure out what they could use. And then she saw it, a sharp and jagged looking shell in the ocean floor. Sharp enough to cut these kelp binds.
"Ok, on my count, we're going to tilt off this rock so I can grab that shell."
She felt his head nod. "Alright."
"Ok, one...two...three!"
The two of them threw their weight and fell less than gracefully onto the ground. Luckily, Elena's fall was broken by landing on top of Mateo.
"Sorry," She whispered out to him.
"I'm okay," Mateo mumbled back. At least, that's what she thinks he said. It came out more as "E'mm oady."
With a fair bit of squirming, Elena's hand was able to wrap around the shell and quickly began to cut at the binds as fast as she could. She didn't know how long they would have before they were noticed.
"Yes!" Elena whispered triumphantly as she felt the binds snap and the two of them quickly untangled themselves.
The two of them peaked over the top of the rock, they hadn't been noticed yet luckily. But her scepter and his tamborita were sitting on another rock that was right behind the group of Sea Lion Creatures. Too close for comfort to simply just try and sneak up.
"If we can cause a distraction, we can swim over and grab our weapons," Elena said, though, she wasn't sure how they could do it successfully underwater.
"Wait, watch this," Mateo said with a smirk.
Elena's eyebrows furrowed together as she watched Mateo stretch out his hand and his eyes narrowed into intense concentration. Her mouth dropped as their magical weapons began to shake slightly before they flew over to them. Luckily, Mateo had fast enough reflexes to catch them before they crashed into his face, but Elena did have to catch him before he fell flat on his back from the impact.
"Whoa! When did you learn wandless magic?"
"Very recently," Mateo said, passing her scepter to her. "I can teach you. You know, when we get out of here."
"Deal."
"The Prisoners have escaped!"
"Swim! Swim! Swim!" Elena shouted.
This was easier said than done of course as neither of them were used to swimming with a tail, even with their history of shapeshifting and transforming. The sea lions were quickly descending upon them and in a last ditch effort, both of them raised their weapons.
"Blaze!"
"Vetzi!"
The powerful blasts from their combined attack knocked the two of them back and completely missed the creatures, but it did cause them to scatter.
Elena barely pushed herself onto her elbows, slightly disorientated from the impact before something yanked her arm back and she was enveloped into a thick kelp forest.
It was only Mateo though as he quickly put a finger to his lips. Elena nodded in immediate understanding.
They kept their hands clasped tightly together as they began to glide just above the forest sandy floor with Elena in the lead. It had taken her a second, but she actually recognized this part of the ocean they were in, and it was close to Coranado. So, all they would have to do is get close enough to the border to be recognized by some Sirenas or even sound off the Security coral.
Just as they reached the end of the kelp forest though, they stopped in their tracks at the sound of some nearby voices. Elena raised her scepter and Mateo followed suit. They gave each other a quick nod and both burst out of the Kelp, spells at the ready.
The pair froze though as they happily greeted by some friendly faces.
"Marisa, Marzel!"
"Elena! Mateo! What are you doing here?" Marisa's eyes immediately looked down and she gasped.
"And why are you both Sirenas!?"
"No time to explain! We're being chased by these sea lion like creatures. They said that they want to use us as a bargaining chip against your father."
"Head to the Isle of Bodiwa and get some red avari blossoms! We replanted some right near the south side of the shore after the last incident, so you should be able to reach them. Hurry!" Marzel said in a commanding tone to the two Sirena Guards that were with them. They quickly saluted to their Prince before swimming off. It seems Elena wasn't the only one growing greatly as a future monarch.
"Sir, we found the prisoners'!"
The rest of the Sea Lion creatures were on the scene with the blue-eye one up front and sorely outnumbered them, even with the addition of Marisa and Marzel.
"One more stroke of the fin, and you're in our territory," Marisa said warningly.
"You will give us back our prisoners then!"
"Not a chance!" Marzel said, putting himself up front. "We don't know who you are, but we suggest you turn around and leave."
"What is going on here!?"
King Pescoro was swimming up to the scene with reinforcements. However, rather than launching into an attack, he stopped at the sight of the sea lion creatures. His face twisted into such unimaginable fury that is actually frightened Elena slightly.
"Millalbo!"
As soon as that mysterious name left Pescoro's lips, a large rumbling earthquake shook through the entire ocean that took everyone right off their tails and had them floating and bouncing around helplessly. A golden flurry of bubbles then appeared and when they settled, a huge imposing creature was now in it's place. He was like the rest of them, with a smooth sea lion bottom half, but he had gold eyes that matched the gold shine all over him that would have been absolutely blinding if he had been under direct sunlight. He was decorated with the same Royal garbs that the young blue eyed one had on, but even more fantastical and had an almost ancient feel to them, similar to when she met Amaláy's ghost.
"Pescoro." He said calmly. "You are the first Sirena to say my name in over a hundred years."
The Golden one's eyes then moved to look at Marisa and Marzel.
"And do I finally have the pleasure of seeing the rest of my familia as well?"
The twins exchanged confused looks before moving to their father's side.
"Papa?" Marisa asked gently.
King Pescoro sighed. "Marzel, Marisa. This is you're great, great Grandfather, King Millalobo. The God of the East Sea."
Elena reached for Mateo's arm to steady herself. They had just entered a family feud. And those could possibly be the deadliest type of feuds.
"What is the meaning of this?" Pescoro demanded, his tone holding no trace of warmth or familiarity, despite apparently being in the presence of family. "Turning our allies into Sirenas? And the Crown Princess and her Royal Wizard no less!"
"Forgive me, it seems your cousin Nereus were too ambitious," Millalobo said, motioning towards the leader of the kidnapping group. So he was a Prince. "Then again, it seems you've hidden the truth from your children."
"Don't turn this on us!" Pescoro said. "Only the Rulers of Coronado have known the truth of how you falsely accused our founder, Queen Chilota, of loosing her sacred crystal when it was in fact stolen from her."
"I was not wrong, and my daughter decided on her own accord to leave and start shedding unnecessary human blood," Millalobo said coolly. "And I'm also not above using a situation to our advantage. Sending some rough waves to the island to prevent your guards from getting those blossoms should suffice."
"Don't move an inch!" Pescoro shouted, his trident raised. Which in turn caused his warriors to raise their weapons and then the Sea Lion creatures to do the same. The situation was escalating quickly.
"Wait!" Mateo then shouted, waving his arms wildly so he would be noticed. "Princess Elena can use her scepter and find out the truth!"
That seemed to work as everyone immediately stopped moving and every eye turned on them.
"My Royal Wizard is correct. I have acquired the ability recently to look into the past with 100% accuracy." Elena said, swimming between the two groups and taking charge. "But, I will only use it though if both sides agree to a temporary truce."
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air before everyone slowly lowered their weapons simultaneously. Sensing that some of the tension had eased, Elena raised her scepter up confidently.
"What happened the day that Queen Chilota lost her magical crystal?"
A powerful beam of magical light shot out and formed into a mirror like shape. Within the mirror, came the image of a familiar lively ship. Elena felt herself stiffen as she recognized what ship it was when the boisterous face of Captain Chiloya came into view. It was The Caleuche!
The focus then shifted to a young Sirena sitting on the ships railing. She had golden hair, golden scales, and bright blue eyes. The same blue eyes that Marzel and Nereus had.
"And how are you doing on this fine evening my ravishing beauty!" A handsome young man said as he strode up to her and passed her a pint of ale.
"As well as can be Edward Gold, but I don't think I can say the same for you."
"Alas, your clever eyes saw through me," Edward said as he shook his head. "I must confess, I long for the land."
"But, you were meant to die when I found you tied up and floating at the bottom of the sea. This is your second chance to live." Chilota motioned to the deck. "You have to be the only human I've guided to this ship that did not want this kind of life."
"But that is why you like me so," He placed a hand on her cheek before moving to play with a shining crystal that was tied in her hair. And then, it happened so suddenly. A small knife that he kept hidden by his wrist popped out and cut the piece of hair that contained the crystal in one flick.
"Please, I beg of you. And I will be forever grateful." Edward said calmly as he pocketed the crystal.
Chilota gave him a sweet smile. "Alright then."
The scene then transformed and changed to reveal a grand underwater throne room.
"You shirked your responsibility in letting a human cheat death and escape The Caleuche and you've lost one of our sacred crystals!" The memory of Millalobo shouted at Chilota from his throne.
"I didn't lose it! It was stolen from me by that greedy human!" She yelled back defiantly, the earlier happiness and shine completely gone from her now.
"Don't be absurd my child, humans worship us, they would never try something so underhanded."
"Perhaps it is you that thinks to little of them!" The Sirena shrieked. "We should demand that we either get the crystal back from them, or we declare war on them!"
"Chilota, I am the God of the Sea and you are demigods. We would obliterate the entire human race, just like that," Millalobo snapped his fingers to emphasize his point.
"Your brother Pincoy and your sister Pincoya did not see this act of thievery and have no qualms with humans."
The God gestured over to wear a man with a Sea Lion bottom half and a woman that looked human except for her pointed ears and green skin floated in silent obedience.
"Perhaps they are not worthy of their crystals then!"
"That is enough little one!" Millalobo slammed his trident down and the world inside the image began to shake. "You will drop this matter and for now will be confined to the Reef until you have reflected on this behavior!"
"Then I choose to no longer be a part of this family!"
The Sirena quickly swam away without so much as a glance back.
"Chilota!"
Elena's arm dropped and the scene ended. No one made any noises or said anything for a good couple of moments. It made Elena feel incredibly uneasy that she firmed up her grip on her scepter. Just in case. Finally, King Pescodo spoke first.
"There. Now you know the truth, that she was right. However, we were wrong as well. All humans shouldn't have been punished because the actions of one rotten one." Pescodo then put an arm around his children. "I have learned recently to let go of the past, and fully embrace moving towards the future."
Millalobo was so still that he almost looked like a golden statue. Elena could understand though, it was hard enough to be wrong about a misunderstanding with family as a person, let alone as a ruler. So for a God, it must have been an indescribable weight on his conscience.
Finally, he took a deep breath.
"I never got to make amends with my daughter during her lifetime." His face seemed to age a thousand years and his gold eyes turned sad. "But I will no longer waste my immortality on this pettiness. Not when I have so many memories that I have missed out on with my famila."
The two rulers swam towards each other and clutched each other's forearms in solidarity. There was no cheering or celebration that followed this act, but Elena felt as if the sea seemed to be warmer and calmer. The start of a new tale.
"Your majesty!" The guard from earlier exclaimed as he swam back to the scene. "We've got them blossoms!"
Elena gasped. She had almost forgotten during all the excitement. She looked down and thankfully there was still a glow, but not a lot, they would only have a few minutes now!
"Hold on!" Marisa exclaimed, a large clump of maligras now in her arms. "Get these wrapped around your chests so you can still breathe!"
With the quick work of the twins securing the maligra, Elena and Mateo then plucked and began chewing the magic blossoms as the glow began to pulsate. But just in the nick of time a magic glow swirled around and POOF!
"We have our legs back!" Elena exclaimed, kicking her legs out to test them again.
"That was cutting close to a 9 though!" Mateo said as he used his legs to kick himself into a back flip.
Millalobo then swam up to Elena and Mateo. "I must apologize to you, your Majesty, and your Consort for dragging you into this mess. It seems that humans are capable of a lot more than I thought."
The pair felt their cheeks burn in embarrassment.
"Oh we're not-!"
"He's not my-!"
"Oh," Millalobo said, looking slightly embarrassed, if that was even capable for a God. "I apologize again. I mistook your familiarity."
Nereus then swam up and joined his grandfather's side. The Sea Lion creature didn't look extremely enthusiastic, but not everyone was during the first tides of change. Without a word, he reached into his armor and pulled out a rolled out piece of paper and handed it to Elena.
It was the map!
"Thank you! You have no idea how much this will help my Kingdom" Elena said gratefully, looking between the two Sea Lion creatures. "And I swear I will do what I can to help your Kingdom in finding this crystal as well."
"Well, we have much to do between our two underwater Kingdoms first, but we appreciate the sentiment. Good fortune to you two, Princess Elena and Royal Wizard Mateo."
Millalobo raised up his arm and with one sweeping motion, the currents changed course and swooped up Mateo and Elena in it's grasp and started to quickly raise them up. The pair waved and called out their goodbyes to the shrinking figures now below them as they got higher and higher up before finally breaking through the ocean's glittering surface.
The God had been nice enough to guide them right near the shore of Soledo and the two of them wasted no time as they clambered onto the beach.
After they took a moment to catch their breath and they adjusted back to the heaviness of their human bodies on land, Mateo took the map from her and unrolled it.
"We did it. We really did it!" Mateo said with an adorable bounce of excitement in his step.
"Yes, we did it!"
Elena couldn't help as she launched herself into his arms. Mateo stumbled at the force of her impact and they crashed onto the sand. They laughed and giggled like little kids as they laid for a moment looking up at the clear sky.
"Hey Princessa!" Sklar's voice then called out. The couple looked to see the Jaquins flying towards the island, far ahead of schedule and plenty of time to spare before the Island would disappear. Their mission was accomplished.
"So, now tell me, on a scale from 1 to 10, how was today?" Elena asked, moving to lay on her side.
"Hmmm, that might require some additional thinking before I give a proper response." Mateo then turned his head to face her. "But I can say that every day since the day I've met you has been a 10."
Elena felt a small flutter in her belly. He always knew the right thing to say it seemed. But then again, so did she. So, Elena gave him a bright smile as she grabbed his hand and pulled him up to his feet.
"Funny," She said, lacing his finger through his. "And here I was going to say that every day with you is an 11."