ffrom gryph and me, ren'es abyss

I... stared at the fish as it lept up out of the water at me, flailing around, flopping helplessly on the ground, and then it made another attempt at leaping at me. It was pathetic, really.
Rene gazed at it dispassionately.
Life is so fragile. So fleeting, like a candle flame. This fish was killing itself in a mad attempt to get to me.
So, with part pity and part self destructive urges, she held out a delicate hand to the fish and let it rake its needle teeth along her skin and then grab hold, plunging in its fangs. Beeds of red welled up around the ivory teeth. She stared at it with detatched facination.
And then something happened...the fish glowed, the water rose, and consumed her, and the fish became a merman..
"You have freed me from my spell...and for that, saddly, you must pay..."
slowly, rene shrank, and changed into a fish,,,
"it's a shame really...you were kinda cute..But, i guys got be a merman..."

Rene-fish watched the merman depart. Suddenly, she was dominated by survival instincts and flipped herself back into the water. She made a very elegant fish, and she could also admit it because, with the transformation, all of her emo-ness had vanished. Fish must not be angsty creatures.
Beautiful fish with flowing fins like a gauzy material drifted up to her.
"What a pity, poor creature..." they were murmuring to each other. Then they left.
Hours went by, and Rene-fish was absorbed with her new, fishy concerns. Such as finding food and avoid large, scary potential predators.
Then days, and weeks, and months. She was beginning to forget that there ever was a human named Rene. Just another nameless fish. But one day, she was scavengering for food when she pit into a chunk of edible material and something snagged her by the throat and hauled her out of the water. She flopped around uselessly, a hook still lodged in her. There was a pale face and dark eyes. Some sense of recognition sparked in her brain. It wasn't that she new this face, but she knew that it was a face. Human-like, too, which had some mysterious significance to her, even though she couldn't recall why.
Voices. The hook was gently removed and set aside. Then she began to feel a tingling all along her scales, and then she felt too big for her skin, and the ground was sinking below her. She was struggling to breathe. Air... air... water.... gasping. Suddenly, she was inhaling into lungs, and the breaths were so rapid that she was almost hyperventilating. She had skin instead of scales, and she was acutely aware of the texture of the surface she was lying on. Her face was pressed against damp wood. Damp wood. Her mind could even attach words to the idea. Rene was recollecting some of her previous life as a human, but it wasn't coming back easy. Only in bits and peices.
Then she realized a voice was speaking to her, and it was a man. And there was another man too, but with a gruffer, deeper voice which scared her.
"...girl." She missed most of what the first man said. Her mind wasn't working fact enough to keep up with the pace at which he was talking. But as the man tried to talk to her and get her to speak, and the older man conversed with him, the better her grasp of the human language was becoming.
"It's a demon child. Kill it and throw it back into the ocean where it belongs. I won't have any bad luck on my boat!" The older man.
"No... I think we've caught a mermaid, and it is a blessing of the ocean."
Rene sat up and stared into his eyes with a pleading expression on her face. "Help me," it said, but she wasn't entirely sure what she wanted, and even if she did, she wouldn't be able to communicate it.
"Let's get her clothes and some food," said the younger man.
The older one was disatisfied, but apparently he wasn't in a position to argue.
The boat was more or less like a floating home. In the open ocean, it would be very much at the mercy of the fickle storms, but it was anchored off a peaceful coast with sandy beaches and forests. Rene was given a spare room and a bowl of warm soup, which she ate greedily. She was also given clothes, but she didn't comprehend their purpose and confused and frustrated her. Instead, she curled up on a bed and slid under the covers. It didn't feel like the familiar ocean, but at least she was covered, like the water which used to completely envelop her.
It was evening. The young man had come back to check on her. He stood in the doorway, just gazing at the face which was peeking out of the covers. Her expression was so vacant that it gave her an aura of innocence.
"My name is Greg. I..." He was at a loss of what to say to this strange creature. He couldn't even tell if she understood him or not. So he just talked to her, told her about his family, his life, his job, and how he was out here to explore the island. His parents were business people, and they wanted to know if it had any valuable resources to see if it were worth buying. They were rich, which explained his power over someone who was older than him. And then, when he was done, Rene gave a smile. It was so precious on her delicate features that he leaned over and kissed it, and then he, too, was smiling. "My mysteriously little mermaid," he murmured.
and then she dreamed...and there was a girl...the most beautiful girl she had ever seen...she had gorgeous brown hair, with a hint of curl at the end, and soft brown eyes...and she was a mermaid...she felt weird and ungainly, but the girl smiled, and she felt strenght returned to her limbs...a phraze came to her mind..."My mysterious little mermaid..." she was beautiful too...she wasn't sure htat it was to that extent, but the beauty was there...she stood her ground...
she tried to say "who are you?" but the words wouldn't come, and the girl smiled...
"Hello rene...i've been looking EVERYWHERE FOR YOU!" And she hiugged rene against herself....And rene was surrounded in warmth, and a felling of familiarness....a name came to her...angela...
"We need you...we're in trouble...HELP!" and then she was gone, and she was in bed once more...
When Rene woke up the next day, her thoughts were plagued by the dream. She couldn't stop thinking about it, and she didn't understand all of it either. But when Greg came in to check up on her in the morning, she could say, "Rene... My name is Rene." Her voice quivered. It pleased her to see a flash of emotion -- all positive -- in the man's face, even though she couldn't read expressions. Somehow, she also knew that he wasn't much older than her. Maybe two years.
Greg helped her get dressed (the scarlet shade of his face facinated her!) and led her outside of her room. She had to lean on him because walking was difficult. He also showed her how to fish so that she would be useful, which got the approval of the terrifying older man.
And weeks went by, living this life, and becoming more and more adjusted to life as a human. She was shown how to use utensils too, so that she could eat at the dinner table with the two men, but she didn't speak much more than that one line on the morning of the dream. And so maybe months would go by before she would meet up with and help Angelina. But in the meantime, life was nice and a good reward for the trials she had endured during her life as a protector.
When Rene woke up the next day, her thoughts were plagued by the dream. She couldn't stop thinking about it, and she didn't understand all of it either. But when Greg came in to check up on her in the morning, she could say, "Rene... My name is Rene." Her voice quivered. It pleased her to see a flash of emotion -- all positive -- in the man's face, even though she couldn't read expressions. Somehow, she also knew that he wasn't much older than her. Maybe two years.
Greg helped her get dressed (the scarlet shade of his face facinated her!) and led her outside of her room. She had to lean on him because walking was difficult. He also showed her how to fish so that she would be useful, which got the approval of the terrifying older man.
And weeks went by, living this life, and becoming more and more adjusted to life as a human. She was shown how to use utensils too, so that she could eat at the dinner table with the two men, but she didn't speak much more than that one line on the morning of the dream. And so maybe months would go by before she would meet up with and help Angelina. But in the meantime, life was nice and a good reward for the trials she had endured during her life as a protector.
and then it was all shattered/...the boat roced, and i figure stepped on board...a figure witha tail. water dripped of ehr, and formed into a nother girl, but they exchanged words and the girl went off again...the gils rtail turned into legs, and, sas she donned some clothes, she snuck into rene's cabnit...drew her sword, bathed the crystal around her neck towadw it, drew her knife, and went towardsrene to do the same with hers...
Rene was alarmed. She seemed to remember these people, but her eyes were locked onto the weapons, which were approaching her. She shivered, vividly imagining the cold steel and metals biting into her flesh. She was destressed, and even opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Greg came into the room and stood between the two girls and Rene. "Get back, you demons! We don't want you here." He was shaking with rage. The door was flung open again, this time so violently that the hinges creaked and protested. It was the older man, who was livid with rage. "This is because of that demon child mermaind. Someone said they saw a sea monster slide onto the board, and it must be one of these two girls. Come to fetch their own, I see. He gripped Rene by the upper arm and stomped out of the room with her. "Wait, what are you doing?" said Greg. But before he could do anything, the older man threw Rene overboard, and was going to do the same to the others.
Rene was sinking. The water rushed in over her head, submerging her, and started to gasp, but then gagged as water rushed into her lungs. Her skin rippled, and suddenly she was a fish again. No... a mermaid this time. The pain in her lungs went away.
She bobbed up to the surface, and when she saw the old man, she turned around and dove back under the cover of the water and fled.
Thye two girls faced them...
For the first time, the old man saw the crowns on their heads
"YOU IDIOT! demon child...YOU DO NOT COME TO AN ISLAND WHERE I AM A QUEEN, SHE THE HEIR, AND CALL US FREAKING DEMON CHILDREN! YOU GET THAT! if SHE DIES, WE ARE PERSONALLY GOING TO STRING YOU UP IN THE VAULTS! AND YOU SHOULD JUST CONSIDER YOURSELVES LUCKY THAT THE TWINS HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO YOU BEFORE WE COULD DO IT! DO YOU HERE ME!"
"katrina..."
"I DID NOT GO through...through..." she began to cry...'
"I know...believe me..." we'll be leaving now...
but greg was in the way. he had a knfie.
Greg was fingering the edge of the knife. So sharp. He was shocked by the murderous thoughts going through his mind and the intensity of his rage. He invisioned himself plunging the knife into the old man's back. But the moment passed; he was overwhelmed with concerns about Rene. The faye girl.
Suddenly, he was on the edge of the boat, leaning over the railing. He didn't even recall walking there. But neck thing he knew, he was plummetting over the edge, into the biting cold water. His only thoughts were of Rene, who he wanted to save. But he couldn't see her or hear her. He called out her name, but there was no response. The icy cold of the water was getting to his muscles, but he started swimming anyway, with powerful strokes.
Eventually, he passed out.
Later, he opened his eyes and found himself on a sandy surface. But the sight of the blue sky only lasted for seconds. He fell back into a feverish sleep.
A week later, the fever passed. Now, his eyes focused on the delicate features of Rene. This time, with more female modesty. Somehow, she had lost her clothes again, but they ahd been replaced with makeshift clothes of other materials.

and she was there...
she was talking tooi
"we have to go...they'll find me...they have a knife...they'llf ind me...we have to go..."
"who are they?"
"who knows.,..But they have a knife...we have to go..."
"where>"
"we have to go..."
"We'll go teh castle! my family has connectons,..he'll have tou house us!"
'"No.,..we have to go...run...stay hidden..." a head broke the sureface...then another. it was the girls...

Rene and Greg were currently living the classic island survival story life style. Building make shift shelters. Struggling to find enough food to survive. Learning to hate storms.
One day, they were strolling down the beach. Rene was in the lead, and Greg was admiring her from behind, which she was oblvious too. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe she knew that he liked her. What if she reciprocated... Now that he was getting to know her better, ironically, it became harder and harder for him to admit his feelings to her. Because what would he do if she became disgusted with him?
Greg dragged a stick along the water and stooped down to pick up some shellfish. I'll tell her. If I don't soon, I might never. And if things go wrong, maybe we'll forget about it after a while. But...
But... when he looked up, Rene was gone.


a hand shot out of the water, gripped him by the ankle, and yanked him into teh sea...he tried to scream, but water flooeded into his lungs...he wad drownin, chocking, he was-perfectly fine.. there was a girl tehre, two, actuaolly...the same ones from before, but now one of them had a mermaid tial...Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized how beautiful they both were, especially the mermaid, but it was drowned out by his feelings for rene...They tied him up wkth seeaweed, and left, the girl whispering that she was sorry, but they really couldn't have anyone distracting rene when they talked to her...
and then they swam to the shore, the second girl taking on the form of greg
Rene opened her eyes. She was staring into a cloud of her own hair, which was floating all around her face. It took her a moment to comprehend this, but when she did, she started to panic. I'm under water...!
"The little prescious is awake."
Rene pulled her hair back so that she could see. In front of her, there was a heavily muscled torso which connected to something not unlike a dolphin. It was a merman. In his hand, he held a silvery chain. He shook it, which made it sparkle. He coaxed her to follow him wth the mezmerizing light which danced around the chain.
They came to a place which was like a classic underwater city, mostly made of dead sea matter which spiraled upwards like a twisting coral reef. Mermaids -- and these looked more like gorgons than the beautiful creatures she had always imagined mermaids to be -- slithered around her, making her skin crawl.
"Are you going to become a part of our family?" one spoke. Her voice was an awful screech like a banshee. Rene felt the panic coming back, surrounded as she was by all of these alien creatures.
"Now, let me see this gem up close." The merman put a finger under her chin and lifted her face, staring into her eyes. His were a solid jet-black color. "What a strange twist of fate," he murmered. "You were that same girl who broke my enchantment. Why are you not a fish?"
"You know.... when we netted you and dragged you underwater, you were going to be a tender feast. We had no idea you'd turn into a mermaid," screeched a gorgon. Those words made Rene shudder.
"Can you imagine our surprise?"
"But what a lovely creature you are. We're excited that we'll have you around now."
The merman seized her by the waist and kissed her, drawing her close. The gorgons clustered around tighter, enclosing the two in a knot of eel-like mermaids. They made screeching noises which could've been laughs, but they were like nails being dragged down a chalkboard.
Help... She found herself desperately wanting to be anywhere but here, but it wasn't going to happen. Would anyone ever be able to find and rescue her, so deep under the sea...?
and then something happened...the water swirled, and a form took place...it was greg. and then it wasn't, as he melted away into one of the girls from the ship...and the other one was behind her, but as a mermaid...Only she wan't one of those ugly mermaids, but a beautiful one, like she'd imagined...
"get away from her kiana."|
"why should i angela? just because i'm a dark merman doesn't mean i can't-"
"Oh, come off it...You can't touch her, because you passed off the punishment we gave you on her, so you're still under arrest...for trying to destroy atlantis, we could've given you a lot worse..."
"the idiots deserved it...they wouldn't let dark merpeople in..."
"They're allowed their rules, just as you're allowed your own...I don't know who had the bright idea of conneting the two dimensions..."
"It was your shield the formed the bridge!"
"look...let her go, and we don't change you back into a fish."
"Like you'er going to hurt me when you're surrounded by my people..."
the other merpeople had surrounded them...
"take them in...but leave in the first girl...I think she's kinda cute."
"leave her alone!"
"why should i!"
"because...I'll let you have me."
"what?"
"You heard me!"
"if i recall, you rejected me..."
"Stings, doesn't it?"
"so why the change of heart..."
"She's a protecter. And this is my mission...Dad put me in charge of this, and she's coming back one way or the other..."
kiana visably considered...
"Leave her, and let the others go..."
"thank you."
"Don't thank me...You'll pay me back soon enough."

before the others even got a few miles, they were taken again, and thorown in jail...with colors around their necks. to "insure angela's cooperation" they were thrown in jail...


(feelf free to aquaint yourself with katrina again...and free greg before he gets eaten by sharks or something...He's still wrapped in seaweed. For all our sakes, i hope angela doens't get emotional and go powermode... Kiana was a last minute addition. if we ever finish my atlantis post, i've decided he's the one who was making trouble there...we banished him to fishiness...)
#@$%@!%. You'll see what that'll get you." A mermaid with a livid, clawed cheek had Rene in a grip like a vice over her upper arm. Rene was shoved into an inclosure and pulled down a wall of bars. She was locked in.
But it appeared she wasn't the only one in the jail cell. There was another girl -- a mermaid. It was Angelina.
"Rene, is that you? How'd you get into this mess too? But listen -- we need to find a way to get out of here quick. They intend to make us a part of their harem. That's gross!"
"I found that out already," said Rene, who put her hands on the bars and tried to shake them, but they wouldn't budge. "It's too hard."
"Can't you shapeshift or something? Turn into something big and muscled."
"I haven't shapeshifted in a while. I wonder if I still can."
Angelina looked thoughtful. "I don't know why you wouldn't be able to. Your gift stays with you forever, doesn't it?"
"If I break out of this cell, what then? We'll still have the merpeople around. We should come up with a strategy first."
"Yeah, I guess you're right..."
Rene gnawed at her lip. She didn't know why she was stalling, but she knew that she was. She had some hesitancy about using her gift. Maybe it was from being forced through some traumatic transformations, such as the fish, through no will of her own.
Wait -- what happened to Greg? Was he captured too? Angelina answered that question for her by saying, "Hey, I saw some guy all tangled in seaweed. And by guy, I mean a male. Like human."
"What! No, tell me what he looked like! Is he still living!?"
"Uhm... brown hair, maybe late teens. He was pretty cute, actually. And he looked peaceful, but defintiely still alive. I think it's some sort of an enchantment."
"I know that guy! We have to rescue him! They'll eat him or something...!"
Rene gripped the bars. She was going to use whatever strength it took to get out of here and save Greg.
Unfortunately, at that moment, the mess of gorgons appeared. They looked like a convoluted knot of eel tails and fangs. "They're trying to break out... which means we'll have to seperate you two." The bars were lifted, and the pair of the girls tried to bolt, but they were seized by the gorgons.
The mermen was there too. He locked eyes with Rene and said, "You're a desceptive little devil, trying to escape. But don't you see how wonderful life could be down here?" He had that alluring silver chain. "Just me and you... you could be my queen." Rene made a face. Just the two of us? That's a lie. He's always got those gorgons around him. No -- wait, I woudln't want him anyway at all, so I don't care about the gorgons. Rene shook her head; she was getting her priorities mixed up. It was because of that thin chain.
"My name is Adria," his face became a warm smile. "Here, follow me -- this way." And, with the silver chain in his hand, he lead the way, with Rene mindlessly trailing behind. SHe knew something wasn't right, but she couldn't figure out what. Maybe this Adria would help explain. He seemed like a nice guy. He was kind of cute, too. He must be pretty unhappy, always surrounded by those evil hags. They were bad, but her head was starting to hurt. Why were they bad? She couldn't remember. Maybe there were gold diggers or something.
Rene was a helpless wreck, with her confused mind losing touch with reality.
Meanwhile, Angelina was transfered to an underground cave. A mermaid said, "I heard taht you're dangerous... and we have to keep an eye on you, but we also need to check up on someone else. So we'll be locking you up down here."
"Don't have any hard feelings, okay?" spoke another. "We'd like you to become one of us, but until then, we don't want you to do anything rash like try to escape."
"Don't imprison me again! I want out!" Her temper was flaring, whcih meant bad news for the gorgons. Except, something mad solid contact with the back of her skull, and she passed out.
A gorgon tossed aside a stone, which had served its purpose. "Sorry honey. Had to."
Angelina didn't wake up until hours later. She rolled over and groaned, wondering why she had such a god awful headache. Then the events of earlier came flooding back. What a screwed up situation to get myself into, she thought.

...it's angela. and she and katirna are the ones who tied greg up, so he wouldn't intefre when thy made contact. but we'll say she didn't want to upset rene by telling her that before she got all her memory back.


when angela awoke, she was in a cage, with a mermaid next to her...slwoly, she disolved, realing katrina there, slipping thorugh the bracelet, and lashing out, knocing otu the gaurd.
"Idiot...Like angela wouldn't have corrected the misuse of her name...i mean, rene's still foggy, but angela would say soemthing! Of course, the real angela was in another cage...a water proof cage without anything magical to stop her. and she was getting angryl.