Awakening

Gasps filled the air. The moonlight reflected off my newly revealed tail, black and shimmering like obsidian. The water around me pulsed in reaction, sensing the shift in power, in emotion. A deep silence followed as my friends—my mother, William, and Daniel—stared at me, their expressions caught between shock and fear.

The head mermaid's sneer cut through the silence like a blade. "She's no different from us," she said, her voice laced with something venomous. "But stronger. That's why she must be... dealt with."

Hands gripped my arms, pinning me down. My body struggled, but my strength was still drained from the device that had shackled me moments before. Their grips were relentless, pressing me deeper into the cold ground, the rough terrain scraping against my skin. I gritted my teeth, fury bubbling inside me like a storm ready to break.

"No!" My mother's voice rang through the chaos. "Sarah… You are not a monster."

Something deep inside me ignited. A spark, a pulse, a sensation unlike anything I had ever felt before. It started as a tingle, a current that rippled through my veins, growing stronger, rising like a tide. The restraints that had held me moments ago seemed to weaken, the pressure on my limbs fading as if the very air around me had shifted.

A surge of energy erupted from my core.

The device on my wrist—meant to keep me powerless—began to crack. Fine fractures spread across its surface, glowing with an eerie blue light before shattering completely. A wave of raw, untamed energy exploded outward, a shockwave rippling through the field like a tidal force. The mermaids holding me were thrown back, their screams lost in the rush of power. The water, once still, rose in response, swirling in unnatural patterns, mirroring my anger, my awakening.

The head mermaid stumbled, her confident sneer faltering as she steadied herself. "Don't! You… You can't even control it!" she screeched, eyes widening in alarm.

I stood, feeling the energy crackling around me, the river answering my unspoken command. For the first time in my life, I felt whole—no longer a being split between two worlds, but something more, something limitless.

I smirked, my voice steady, filled with certainty. "I don't need to control it. I need to embrace it."

The water obeyed me without hesitation. Waves surged forward, twisting and rising like sentient beings, surrounding the mermaids, trapping them in a vortex of churning currents. They thrashed, panic flickering in their eyes as they realized they were at my mercy.

"Leave," I commanded, my voice calm but absolute. "And never come back."

They hesitated for only a moment before the water surged again, dragging them down into the river's depths. The last thing I saw was the head mermaid's glare, filled with fury and something else—fear. Then, they were gone.

The silence that followed was deafening. My breath came fast and shallow, my heart still pounding in my chest. I turned back to my mother, to William and Daniel. Their expressions were unreadable, caught somewhere between awe and uncertainty.

I swallowed hard. "I—"

Before I could finish, my mother rushed forward, wrapping her arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. "You are my daughter," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "No matter what."

A lump formed in my throat. I had spent so long believing I was an outcast, a mistake. But here, in this moment, I felt something different. I felt accepted.

William and Daniel exchanged a glance before stepping closer. William exhaled, shaking his head slightly. "That… was insane. But you saved us."

Daniel still looked shaken, his eyes searching mine. "You're not just like them," he said slowly. "You're something else."

I didn't know what I was yet. But I knew one thing.

This was only the beginning.