Little Mermaid

Thrashing in the cold waters, Red persisted – desperately kicking and pushing herself towards the surface in a series of frenzied movements. In her grieve attempt of fighting for her life, a stray memory of what she believed were once her childhood fantasy ironically made her wish she was Prince Eric being scooped by Ariel up and on to the safety nets of the seashore. That was funny – quite juvenile to her taste. Wish she could snort right now, really.

Come to think of it, Ari did mention Little Mermaid was actually a Faey who dwelled in the sea.

Red's consciousness was slowly slipping away.

Now isn't the time for untimely Disney flashbacks, 'cause damn was this a whole new world. Literally.

If only Ari was here instead of his stupid brother… he'd know what to do best.

Red's peripheral vision caught a swift blur of movement in the water. Was that a fish? She was gradually sinking towards the bottom of the sea and she welcomed the lively swirl of painted corals in all shapes and sizes – some she can't begin to describe; old and new, both alien and familiar as far as her judgements could carry her. She adored the seascape--- cherished it rather. All that life underwater, the creatures of sea kind, curiously flapping their tails and about moving momentarily to her waiting fingertips, only to kick away when they came too close.

It was beautiful.

There was a long pregnant pause before her peace subsided with a sudden flash of panic. She was going to die right here right now, the arms of corals and weeds oddly opening up to her as she sinks closer. Ready to grow another altar to the collection of forgotten horrors of the sea.

The seafloor started to look like such a welcoming dreamy deathbed now. Her depressing strawberry locks of hair in contrast to the thick blankets of blue.

She lost hope as her oxygen levels began to dwindle.

Suddenly, she felt something tug at her back, pulling her thin frame cautiously away from Death's grip.

Red's fading vision changed from the seascape to an expanding space of white. Up and up she rose; the light deliberately became excruciating and painful and she had to shut her eyes tight from the relentless sun. When she came to, she coughed as hard as her lungs could manage and gasped for air. She blinked rapidly with much effort to clean her stinging eyes; but all she saw were white spots…

And a blur of massive twinkling scales that splashed waves in the open sea.

Perhaps Red's cries were not totally unheard.

Archer's calls were muffled by water stuck in Red's ears. As soon as he saw Red surfaced, he swam in quick strokes, grabbed and pulled her weak body ashore. Red barely registered the things Archer was spouting. Something about how amazing her magic had been or what.

'Fuck you, Archer!', she wanted to scream at him – or tried, actually, if she's honest – but breathing in air at the moment was her top priority. Gotta save up compliments for later.

Arriving at the sandy beach, Red threw up seawater and whatever imaginable things that came up with it, while Archer collapsed – shielding his eyes from the merciless sun. Red looked back towards the open sea and she couldn't dismiss a tugging feeling of restlessness towards whatever creature it was that saved her.

'Thank you.' She spoke her gratitude in silence.

She turned her head to take a look at the chaos of their fall. A big crater with remnants of fire was formed from the explosion, creating an ugly mark on the spotless white beach of the crescent-shaped shoreline. Their supplies were all scattered around, camping gears sticking out from the sand, bags left opened with spoiled goods and some even buried beneath the sands. Another bullet point to the uncanny list of disappointments.

Turning on the less distressing event of the day, she swiftly examined the extent of the damages on her body – a slight bruise on her right arm, a sore waist, jelly legs, and a loud, head-banging headache. She heard Archer move around from where he laid and saw him leaned sideways, casually propping his right palm to support his head, the other hand to his waist. He looked as if he was actually enjoying a nice tan in a holiday trip, his playful eyes observing her every move – like the creep he already was.

She warily reached out and combed his wet hair with her fingers. Gently grabbing a handful of his locks with both hands, she pulled with all the strength and anger she had gathered throughout the day and shrieked,

"YOU --- FUCKING --- BASTAAAAARD!"

Archer howled – like really howled – shocked at Red's sudden outburst of anger and fumbled to get her hands off of his hair.

"OUCH! Ow! That hurts Red stop it, AAAAAAAH!"

"You idiot! You almost had us killed! Why can't you be as reasonable and mature as Ari?!" Red cried. "I was fucking scared, you asshole!"

Red continued a string of curses and names at Archer, determined to pound into his thick skull how angry she was with him and his sick jokes.

Just as she finished pulling at his scalp, she moved on to beating her sharp knuckles against his broad shoulders and hard chest. He bowed his head and felt a little bit of remorse at the horrible gag he played during their descent from the skies.

Maybe he'd gone too far with his attempts to force shock the innate magic out which he firmly believed Red possessed.

Truly he was amazed at how she had used her affinity to decrease the speed of their fall, but it cost him more than just trust and the end results wasn't as he expected.

He allowed Red to release all her pent-up anger on him. She slapped his face – both cheeks at that, pounded on every body part she could reach, kicked his legs (thankfully not his precious jewels), and cried her lungs out. He waited until her small fists slowly lost strength and right then caught her last blow of body slam, her tiny frame shivering from exhaustion.

Now sitting upright, Archer reached out to touch the top of her head and gently untangling the messy strawberry curls from her face. He pulled her close to him and hugged her, hoping it would sooth her trembles. The sea breeze blew at them and the scent of Red's hair entered his senses – jasmine and salt water mixed together. When her cries turned to soft sobs, he broke his embrace and spoke to her as gently as he could.

"I thought the adrenaline would push you to your limits. I guess I was wrong with my judgement." He said cupping her tiny face. "I am so sorry Red."

Red craned her head to meet his steady gaze, he looked as if he was really trying to be sincere.

"Please forgive me."

Red was unsure how she should respond to his apology. One thing is for sure:

Instead of a thank you for a new skill learned, Red loathed him to the bones.