From: NVRPARRIS@aol.com Rourounin Kenshin isn't mine... Neither is The Little Mermaid... Please don't sue me! --------------------------------------------------------------- The Mermaid Chronicles (2a/3) Always honest and driven by emotions, she became more so now than ever. Her sisters often asked her what she had seen on her first visit to the surface. Buckling under the relentless pressure, she told them of the beautiful prince and the harlot of a maiden that swept him away, taking all the credit and recognition for her efforts. Okon and Omasu were glad to hear that their sister had come to know love, but they were stricken with grief upon hearing that her love was for a human. Misao no longer trained with her sisters. She became driven by the urge to find out about the prince. Many an evening and morning she would rise to the place where she had left the prince. She saw the fruit in the garden ripen, and the snow on the mountain melt before returning again. At home, her only consolation was raoming about the ruins. Swimming through the wreck of ill-fated ships, she swam with thoughts of only one person clouding her mind. One day, she happened upon a marble statue in the midst of the neglected wilderness. It reminded her so greatly of the prince. She twined her arms around the handsome marble statue until her heart felt like breaking. She immediately let go before tears flowed from her eyes. Misao hopefully approached her father. There was so much she wanted to know. She asked her father who knew of the upper world so well. "Jiya." (the term she used when adressing her father) "If a human never drowns, will he live forever or eventually die." The king was startled yet he answered. "Well, yes. They have to die too, and their lifetime is even shorter than ours. We may live here for 300 years, but when we cease to exist we become mere foam on the water and do not have so much as a grave among our dear ones. We have no immortal souls, no future life. Men on the other hand have a soul which lives forever after the body becomes dust; It rises through the clean air, up to the shining stars! Just as we rise from the water to see the land of the mortals, so they rise to the beautiful unknown regions which we never will see." Misao knitted her brow in frustration. "I'd rather give up all 300 of my years to become a human for one day." "You better not be thinking about that!" warned her father. Misao quickly responded. "Then i'll rather die and float as foam than never being able to hear the music of the waves and seeing the beatiful red sun! Is there anything I can do to gain an immortal life?" "No," said the king. "Only if a human being so loved you that you were everything to him, if all his thoughts and all his love was centered around you that he would let priests join your hands in marriage; then your body would become infused with his soul. Thus and only thus will you gain a share in the felicity of mankind. But that can never happen!" Her father drew nearer. "You fish tail which is of greatest beauty in the sea is thought hideous up on the earth. So little do they understand about it, that to be considered pretty up there you must have two clumsy supports which they call legs!" Misao sighed then looked sadly at her fish tail. "Come now child. Let us be happy. We will hop and skip and drink during our three hundred years. After that we can rest peacefully in the sea foam. Now get ready, the festivities will begin soon." He shooed the girl to her chamber while he prepared for the court ball. Through the thick transparent walls of the great ball room, you could see countless fish , great and small swimming towards the glass walls. The sea outside was brilliantly lit with a blue phosphorescent tint. Everything was bathed in blue light. In the middle of the room, the mermen and mermaids danced to their own beautiful singing. The little mermaid sang more sweetly than any other; for this they applauded her. For a moment she felt glad at heart, for she knew she had the finest voice in both the sea and land. But as a laughing couple passed her, she was reminded of the prince and the upper world. She stole away from crowds. She could not withstand any longer. With firm resolve, she clenched her fists silently. "He's probably sailing up there right now. I love him more than anything in this world. I will do anything to win him and to gain an immortal soul... I have to see the sea witch!" Thereupon the little mermaid left the gardens and went towards the raoring whirlpools, at the back of which the witch lived. She had never been there before. No flowers grew there... only bare gray sand and bubbling mud. Her heart beat faster as she came to the wriggling worms with tentacles. She clenched her long braid as she passed between the hideous polyps. She could see that each one was holdong something or other in one of their hundred arms; sea-chests, skeletons, rudders, even a poor little mermaid whom they had caught and suffocated. That angered Misao more than frightened her, yet she kept a safe distance, well-aware that her ke-cho punch was useless against vile creatures such as these. Then she came to a large opening in the wood where the ground was all slimy, and some huge fat snakes were gambolling about. There sat the witch, letting a toad eat out of her mouth. She called the snakes her little chickens and allowed them to crawl about her unsightly bosom. "I know very well what you came here for." sounded the voice. "It is very foolish of you! You want to get rid of your fish's tail and instead to have two stumps to walk about upon like human beings so that you can win him and an immortal soul." Saying this she gave such a hideous laugh that the toads and snakes fell to the ground and wriggled about there. "I will make you a potion. Before sunrise, you must sit on the beach and drink it. Your tail will divide and shrivel into what men call beautiful legs, but it hurts, as much as if a sharp sword was running through you. You will have a gliding gait, no dancer will rival you, but every step you take will be as if you are treading upon sharp knives, so sharp as to draw blood. If you are willing to suffer this, I am ready to help you." "Yes!" Said the little princess her mind focused on the prince and winning an undying soul. "But remember," said the witch. "Once you recive a human form, you can never be a mermaid again. You cannot return to your father's palace. And if you do not succeed in winning the prince's love, you will gain no immortal soul. The first morning after his marriage with another, your heart will break and you will turn into foam of the sea." "I will do it." said Misao as pale as death. "But you will have to pay me too. And it is no triffle I demand. You have the most beatiful voice in the sea... I daresay you think you will fascinate him with it, but you must give me your voice; I will take the best you posses in return for my precious potion!" "But if you take my voice what will I have left?" squealed a annoyed memaid. "Your beatiful form, your gliding gait, your speaking eyes. With those you ought to be able to bewitch a human heart. I hope you haven't lost courage! Now put out your little tounge and let me collect my payment." "Let it be done." said the little mermaid. "The witch put on her cauldron to brew the magic potion. She punctured her breasts and let the black blood drop into the pot. The steam took wierd shapes. She threw in ingredients until the pot boiled and bubbled like a crocidile that was weeping. At last the potion was ready, and it looked like the clearest water. "There it is." Thereupon she cut off the tounge of the little mermaid who was dumb now, and could neither sing nor speak. As she made her way to the shore, she saw her father's palace; the lights were all out in the great ballroom. Misao wafted with her hand countless kisses towards the palace, and then rose out of the dark blue water. The sun had not risen when she came to the the prince's palace. The moon was shining bright and clear. Sitting on the quiet beach, Misao pulled out the clear potion. She carefully swallowed the burning, stinging draught, and it was like a sharp two-edged sword running through her tender frame; she remembered the words of the witch, as she fainted away. She lay on the grey sands as if she were dead. To Be Continued... -------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: 1. This part was a wee bit longer than expected... There will be a second part to this chapter... 2. A big Domo goes out to those that like the idea of Misao being a mermaid... Thanks be to Hans! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Looking to expand your world? http://www.onelist.com ONElist has over 145,000 email communities from which to chose!