From the Sea -Sea Serpent TF-

From the Sea

^{(c) drekian2011 || drekian.deviantart.com}


I lay back on the cool sand and shivered as water washed over my legs. The ocean felt warm compared to the sand as it had been a cold summer so far. But that didn't matter. It felt like nothing mattered anymore.

See, a few days ago, my parents had broken to me that we were moving. Like many families with a moderately low income, they could no longer afford to live in the nice part of the suburbs and opportunity for work had struck up elsewhere. So naturally, like any good parents wanting to provide for their kids, they leaped on the positions which paid better but required moving farther inland. They would be starting work in two days.

Tonight was my last day here and it really made me sad. Being summer, most of my friends were out of town so I would not even get to say goodbye before leaving forever; or, as my parents put it, "leaving temporarily". Both my sister and I knew that was not true, and we were going forever. Or, at least, until we were old enough to make our own ways in the world.

I wiggled my toes as the water washed over them again.

I was going to miss the beach. My parents always joked about how I was born half fish, and quite frankly, it was true. I loved swimming; I loved water. There was just something so calming about it. The sounds of waves crashing on the beach was so relaxing. The light breeze coming from the waves was cool, but not uncomfortable. The sand was so nice, even as cold as it was now ...

I awoke with a start as water crashed over my body, soaking me through my clothing.

I must've drifted off ... I thought, standing up and attempting to brush the sticky sand off of my clothing and frowning. A cool wind had began to blow, threatening a storm.

How late is it? I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and wiped it off on my shirt. It wasn't damaged much from the water, thankfully. I pressed a button on it and it lit up, temporarily blinding me.

2:17 AM, I thought, grimacing. I should probably get home.

I turned and faced the endless abyss of darkness and closed my eyes for a second, a simple, solemn goodbye to the ocean I loved. Then, I spun and walked away, with my back to the waves. I retreated within myself, cherishing the last time that I would feel the sand beneath my toes.

I started shivering. The icy wind had picked up again, threatening to blow me off of my feet. I crouched over and continued to stomp my way across the grainy sand, determined to reach the concrete in the distance.

Where'd this wind come from? I thought, shielding my face from the sand that was swirling around me.

I looked around, unable to see anything around me and continued to stumble through the darkness. Then I noticed the sand sloping down and water at my feet; waves.

Somehow, while walking I had gotten turned around and was back at the ocean again.

I turned and forced myself to walk in a straight line.

Somehow, I ended up back at the water's edge again.

I groaned, frustrated, and began to run away from the ocean and through the vile wind.

Again, water appeared in front of me.

I fell to the sand and curled up into a ball.

That's when I noticed the conch.

I hadn't seen one of these shells before on our beach. Usually they were found in the tropics, not here. I picked it up, examining it closely, feeling along it's ridged edges with one hand while shielding myself from the sand blowing around me with the other.

Then, suddenly, I felt water crash over top of me.

Instantly I was swept into the ocean. I tumbled through the surf and paddled like my life depended on it.

Finally, I blasted through the surface of the water and into the air. I treaded water for a few seconds, holding myself above the waves that were rising and falling violently. I tried swimming for shore, but the waves kept pulling me farther and farther out into the dark abyss.

I tried screaming, tried yelling for help, but I was already too far out to be heard. The lights from shore were fading into darkness.

Suddenly, the water was calm. I floated, spinning around in a circle trying to see the shore. But I was surrounded by darkness.

I thought I could hear something, so I stopped paddling, staying as silent as I could. I heard a voice floating through the night, smooth as the calm ocean, slowly increasing in volume. I could not understand the words, but she was singing some sort of song. It was as beautiful as the stars in the night sky, as light as a calm breeze. It was slowly getting closer, slowly getting louder.

Then I felt a presence behind me. I spun around and that's when I saw her. She was probably the most beautiful women I've ever seen in my life. I don't even know how to describe her. All I saw was her brown locks falling freely over her shoulders, her silky smooth cheeks, cherry red lips and her brilliant blue eyes that were glowing like two full moons.  

I was struck speechless.

She swam around me once, laughing slightly. I followed her motion, unable to break my stare.

Then she stopped swimming, facing me expectantly.

"You're going to die," she said.
"Am I?" I stuttered back.
"Yes," she replied softly, swimming over to me and laying a hand on my shoulder. "Unless you let me help you. Do you want me to save you?"
"Yes. Help me." I don't even remember my mouth forming the words, but my mind was already made up.

Suddenly, there was a flash of white light and a blast of cold air and she was gone.

I began to shiver in the cold water. My arms were tingling from the cold, beginning to numb. Then I couldn't move my fingers. I tried flexing them but both my arms were tingling fiercely. I started sinking, screaming for help. All I got was a mouth full of salt water.

I tried moving my arms but they seemed stuck to the side of my body. The muscles pulled, tensed, but I could not get them away. It was as if a layer of skin had grown over them, encasing my torso. I looked down, staring through the dark water but couldn't see beyond my shoulders. I struggled and felt the muscles going numb from effort. Then it didn't feel like I had arms at all anymore. I couldn't even flex the muscles. I yelled and flailed, taking in more salt water and trying to kick for the surface, but my legs wouldn't bend like I wanted them to. Instead I was forced to kick with both legs at the same time to stay on the surface.

I screamed and drifted under the water, opening my eyes and staring down at an impossible sight. My legs seemed to have stretched out and melded together. The skin looked cracked and shiny, like reptilian scales had formed, covering the entire lower half of my body. And I had no arms. Small triangular fins had replaced them, floating in the sea and very much attached to my body.

I gasped, not even realizing I had just breathed in a lot of water.

I felt a sharp pain on the top of my head, as if something was pulling it backwards. I struggled forward and flipped over, turning in the water. I watched as horror as my body thinned, becoming longer and longer, then longer again. I watched, suspended in the ocean as spines shot out of my back, all along what had become a long tail. I stared as small fins grew in various places down my long tail. My mouth opened on it's own accord and I gasped, licking the sharp fangs that had painfully replaced my teeth. My internal organs felt like someone was tearing them out and stapling them back in. I screamed, a feral roar, withering with pain. My shoulders became indistinguishable from my head and the same cracked scale-pattern flowed up and over my now formed snout. I screamed again as my head was twisted this way and that, growing all sorts of fins and spikes.

Then, all was silent. I sat in the water, hovering, looking around in shock. I tried to move my arms, then remembered they didn't exist any more. I tried to kick, but only wiggled my tail.

I twisted and kicked, sliding smoothly through the water. After a few minutes, I had a steady motion going. It was almost fun.

But my mind was set on one thought: I need to find her.

I kicked for the surface and suddenly, I was in the air! Flying! Then I landed, a huge torrent of water splashing around me.

I kicked for the surface again, flying out into the air, this time, screeching for her to come to me, a feral roar no human could reproduce. Then, I glided smoothly back into the water.

And there she was. Floating in the gloom in front of me, shining with all her beauty.

"You don't like my gift?" She looked like she was going to cry and it broke my heart.
"N-no!" I found that somehow I could talk, even being underwater. "I mean, it's amazing! But I'm a human, and I- I have a family and friends and I need to go live my life as a human."
"Why would you want to do that? The water is your domain now. You are master, king of the ocean. This world is yours!"
"No! I love this, but I'm human."

She closed her eyes, then opened them again and she began to smile.
"Well, I have a task for you then. You must travel back into the air, back onto the land and you must be my representative so to speak. You must go through life respecting my domain and teaching others to do the same."
"I will do that."
"I know you will. I know you've always loved the ocean and I know this is the right choice for you."
"Yes."
"The time away will be hard, but you will survive. Close your eyes my little land dwelling friend and one day we shall meet again."

I awoke on the beach, the cool light of dawn streaming down on me. I got up and shook the sand off, smiling. If I had to move to the flat lands so be it; this was only another chapter in my life, another time to do new things and meet new people. And when my end came, I knew the ocean was waiting for me to be her guardian until the end of time.