10th Wave - A Stolen Song, A Lost Treasure [1]

Before meeting the Witch of the Undisonus Sea again, Eirin went to see her cousin at the Corals Garden. Since, as far she was concerned, her excursion could take more than a few days.

To Eirin, the conversation went better than she expected.

In reality, Eirin was being far too optimistic in her way of thinking.

“Would you mind saying that again?”

When she first heard the news, Princess Kei laughed for three minutes straight. Not a laugh that was loud and full, beaming with joy, excitement, or amusement, but rather one drenched in despair. A trepidation that echoed in every note, spiraling deeper and deeper into a maddening chaos the longer it resonated throughout the door.

Princess Eirin could sense the death threat coming from Kei’s gaze even when her cousin had both eyes closed, yet she pretended it was merely a cold current passing through.

“I need to meet the human in their dry land. If uncle or anyone asks for me, just say I’ll be back in a few days.”

Kei started laughing again, swimming closer to Eirin in what would look like a friendly gesture at first.

Then she placed her hand on Eirin’s shoulder. Her grip getting stronger. Tighter.

“Dear me, cousin, you say the strangest things.”

Princess Eirin started laughing too. Yet that was one of pain.

“Why strange? I’m quite serious here.”

When Kei’s laughter finally died, their eyes met. The Princess of Corals saw no trickery or hesitation in her cousin’s gaze. Instead, she saw the absence of the cold and dark shadows that had been hiding behind Princess of Pearls’ eyes for years. Shadows her cousin always tried to pretend weren’t there, yet never managed to conceal.

Kei recalled what her younger siblings had said—about the true nature of her cousin and the mysterious human.

Oh, Eirin…this is not it, right?

…do you even realize it, yourself?

Knowing Eirin, the older princess was certain she did not. That, to Eirin, there was little to no actual explanation of her feelings and actions apart from wanting a new item for her collection [she was precisely right].

Princess Kei let out a long sigh, dropping her body on top of an anemone. Though their tentacles stung, it was a pain the mermaid welcomed at that moment. Something sharp to clear out her thoughts.

“…I’m assuming you already reached out to the Witch.”

The younger princess chuckled, crossing her arms. “But of course! I was just on my way to meet her.”

Ah…this will certainly give me a headache…, Kei thought as she massaged her temples.

“Will Risei accompany you? To the mainland.”

Eirin chuckled, the sound dry and brazen. “I see no reason why he should.” Then she glanced around, seeing how brighter the ocean was—more sunlight pouring into their waters. “I need to go now. As I said, I only came to let you know.”

Her cousin stood up again, the concern palpable both in her eyes and voice.

“Eirin, you can’t simply—”

Yet the younger mermaid rushed to her cousin again, taking both Kei’s hands in hers.

“You will help me, right?” Eirin’s question made the older princess stutter, her muscles tense up. And when Eirin grasped Kei’s hands tighter, her voice carried not only a sincere request but a desperate plea. “Please, Kei. I need this.”

And when Princess Kei saw her cousin’s gaze, her heart got torn and the arguments vanished from her mind. All she had enough strength to do in order to not shatter Eirin’s fragile hope was nod in agreement, receiving her cousin’s embrace with heavy arms.

Eirin…I can only hope you’ll realize what you are doing this time.

Yet Kei knew her family well.

“She cannot go to the mainland alone.”

So as she watched Eirin swim away, she never turned back as she spoke. Never batted an eye. Never doubted if they were listening or not.

“You only state the obvious, sister,” the twins replied without missing a beat.

When their big sister finally turned to face them, they saw the urgency in her words. The weight of her request.

“Can you do this?”

Princess Hin and Prince Tsun exchanged glances.

This could not only prove to be a great opportunity to study humans and their primitive ways—

But it could also be a well-earned vacation.

Agreed. The likelihood of cousin Eirin making a fool out of herself is also incredibly high.

Agreed. This should be fun, brother.

Agreed, sister.

The twins smiled. “Without a doubt, sister.”

                                                                  𓇼 ⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚ 𓇼

Princess Eirin had heard her fair share about the Witch. Yet most of those things leaned more toward ‘friendly warnings’ and ‘biased comments’. Since, after all, the Witch hardly ever left her lair, and the few people who did consult with her to hire her services wouldn’t usually brag about it.

It was the reason why the mermaid had been so hesitant and nervous during their first meeting.

And why she was quite surprised, in that moment.

“Need a signature here. Here. Here, too. On the third line as well. And your initials on every crystal.”

The contract itself was far too complex for her to understand [she was lazy and lacked the patience to read], yet Risei had done the favor to evaluate its terms before Eirin signed.

He concluded it was pretty legit.

Yet as Eirin carved her signatures and initials on each tower-cut crystal [there were eight total, with twelve sides each], she grew more and more impatient.

Damned oceans, this is endless!

She rushed on the final three, her signatures no better than ugly scribbles, pushing the crystals back to the Witch.

“There. Can we get this over with now?”

The Witch removed her glasses, dropping the eight crystals into a hollow abalone shell. She took a few more smokes before putting the thing away.

“Let me make a few things clear first. You are a sea creature that cannot survive outside of water for more than half an hour. I have no idea what you want to do up there [not quite true]—and I couldn’t care less [this was very true]."

I doubt even this tuna-brained knows what she will do there…

Risei could hardly understand what Eirin was doing—especially the why. Yet in order to preserve his sanity and peace of mind, he decided not to think much about it.

The Witch went back to stir the cauldron, the bubbles less and less frequent.

“But what this potion will do is give you legs and take away your fins. It won’t change how your physiology works. This means you must absorb a lot of seawater on an hourly basis. Doesn’t matter if you drink, bathe in it, or wrap yourself with wet cloths—just do it if you want to stay in one piece. Got it?”

Eirin slowly nodded.

“Great. Next thing: this transformation will last exactly five days, thirteen hours, forty-five minutes, and two seconds. Can’t transform back before this, either.”

As Risei listened attentively, Eirin frowned, hr voice showing a small hint of frustration.

“Why make it temporary?” After all, it would be a lot easier if she could simply take a potion to revert back once she was done with her business there.

The Witch met the princess’ gaze, something flashing in all four eyes.

“Because I’m assuming you want your tail back once this is over. To make it permanent, you have to become human yourself, and once this is done, there is no way back.”

Somehow, the water around them got more gelid, more menacing. Only for a split second. Then the Witch’s eyes were focused on the cauldron again, as she removed the big ladle and grabbed a large glass vial, sinking it into the brew until it was full.

“It can take up to five minutes for the potion to take effect, but not much more than that. So drink this only once you are close enough to the shore.”

Eirin grabbed the vial with trembling hands, watching the bright, glowing liquid move inside the glass as if it were alive, its color changing between shades of purple and blue.

“Wait. Before we go, can you do something about her song?”

Both Eirin and the Witch turned to the squid.

“My song? What do you mean?”

Risei meant that, though he was happily going along with the princess’ plans, there was no way in all the seas that he would let a mermaid with Eirin’s tendencies with full control of their song. Their chant. Her singing to receive “free gifts” was the least of his worries.

His cousin understood his intentions quite quickly, however.

“Aah, look at this. How cunning, Rii-chan. You strike right where it hurts. I like that.” There was no excitement or real intonation in her voice, the words coming out flat and lifeless from her voice.

She whistled, reaching out with one of her tentacles. Waiting. In only a few seconds, one of the catsharks dropped a nautilus shell. One with a beautiful pearl white glow, its blue patterns intrinsic and mesmerizing as they went along the coiled shell.

Her tentacles closed around the object with care—delicacy. When the Witch closed all four eyes, low murmurs escaped her lips, words Eirin could not recognize, yet that made every single scale in her body shiver and recoil. 

The moment the Witch opened her eyes again, their greenish glow was enough to brighten the entire lair, even startling the mermaid for a second.

The creature extended a hand in her direction, her voice distorted. Eerie, majestic.

S I N G

It was a command. One the princess did not dare to disobey, not even when she still didn’t know what it meant, or what it was for. So she sang. With her heart, her soul.

Princess Eirin felt the exact moment the song left her—a part of herself being disattached from her core, the event something arduous and painful. Eirin watched the song, her song, leave her body and float toward the Witch, not being able to stop her singing.

Tears fell from her eyes, blending with the cold and dark waters.

As she opened her tentacles, the shell was glowing brighter than her four eyes, the glow intensifying more and more until it snatched the princess’ song with so much voracity, it made the mermaid flinch. When the song stopped—when the shell stopped glowing and the Witch ceased her chanting—Eirin fell to the floor. Muted.

The mermaid could still speak, yes. Yet her voice, it was not the same. Not without her song.

The Witch threw the shell toward the squid, who grabbed it in one go.

“You take care of it. Make it your cozy home for the next few days.”

Risei was not pleased with the arrangement. And he let his cousin know as he settled inside the shell.

“Was this act your excuse for a joke? One so…demeaning.”

She waved her hand, unbothered. “It’s comfy, and you know it. Now, begone you two. And remember, I don’t do refunds.”

Risei dragged a dazed Eirin out of the cave, the princess’ eyes unfocused. Hollow.

After the Witch was alone, it didn’t take long for the water currents to move. And just like she had predicted, she took two more vials and began filling them with the brew.

Without leaving a single drop behind.