Cursed in the Sea

 

It was Sunday, yet the beach was empty; a sight I had never seen in my town. It appeared that no one was taking the rumours lightly, regardless of how far-fetched they were. I turned back and resumed my journey to the bookshop when the wind carried a faint voice towards me. I looked around, but saw no one. The voice was there again; it was faint, but I could’ve sworn it was a cry for help.

Right then, I saw a hand break through the surface of the water in the distance, but it sunk seconds later. I rushed to the beach and waded into the water. There was no one to be seen, so I dived into the darker depths, moving further away from the shore; yet I still found nothing. I was turning back when, suddenly, something started tugging at my leg. I put my hands together and prepared to cast a spell when a voice came from down below.

“Please stay. We mean no harm.”

I sent a shockwave downwards to free my leg and swam back to the shore. I turned back to the sea only to find a man’s face emerging from it. I asked him what he was and he sprung up from the water for a second before falling back into it. I was stunned, for what I witnessed was a strange sight even for a witch like me. He was a merman, a species that I thought was extinct.

He introduced himself as Vincent and said he was originally human. Vincent said he was turned into a merman six months ago after he and his crew accidentally captured the king of the merpeople. He told me that officials from the government had arrived and took him away, and that the queen of the merpeople, upon hearing the news, cursed them to be her slaves the next time they set out to sea. Ever since then, they had been luring the townspeople into the sea and taking them to her to be her slaves. Vincent asked for my help, saying he could get me an audience with the queen.

Imagining how they all must have missed their loved ones, I agreed to help them. The next day, I had an audience with the queen. She and I came to an agreement that if I returned the king, she would release the slaves I asked for one of the king’s belongings to use as an anchor for a location spell and the queen gave me one of his pendants. I returned home and pulled out my grimoire. Fifteen minutes later, I found out where they were keeping him: it was an underground laboratory.

I brewed a transformation potion and changed my appearance to look like the Minister of Defence. I tricked the officials at the laboratory and said the king needed to be transferred to another location for reasons I could not disclose. I transported the king to the beach in my pickup truck and reunited him with the queen at their abode. The queen then released the slaves. She said they would return to normal when they set foot on land. Within moments of coming ashore, those who had been cursed were human again. I bid them all farewell as they left for their homes.