Nerina's pov
the guard pushed me hard against the floor. I could feel my face scrape against the hard floor, scarring my face.
"Your highnesses, we have her" multiple voices filled the air. I couldn't see, I could only feel the stabbing of the guard's skin tagging shoe.
I'm currently 15 years old. These people only like me because I'm from near the equator. I'm considered rare just because of that. Everyone is from the east, north, or west. My only ability is crying out gold pearls. To them, I'm one in a million.
my body coiled as the guard's foot pierced into my body. the only thing I could see was my heart shaped necklace with a small lock placed in the middle.
I don't remember much of my childhood, only fragments, but my mother told me how special I am.
Although my mother and I aren't related by blood, she's the best parent a child can ask for. She's from the northern part of Aquaria. People from there often cry diamonds, not big, but not small.
Gems are worth diamonds; that means owning a Mer- folk guarantees success.
I've been forced to do things against my own right, cry, forced to bear children for weaponry for armies. Everything. No freedom.
People found out Mer-folk hybrids were the strongest breeds due to experiments. This means women are forced to bear children regardless of age, maturity or even mind
Because of this I also have a child, only one luckily. A boy I named Kian. He looks nothing like his father, he has more of my features, with a bubbly personality, despite his upbringings I try to be the best mother for him.
My mother helped me take care of him. I've always sworn that one day I'll take my revenge on him.
but for now... I'm being forced to cry, yet again, I haven't been able to cry, and it's been a couple of hours. Not because I don't want to, but I truly can't cry.
"Cry" a man screamed harshly as he held a long whip with rose like thorns each thorn screaming harshly on the pale floor. "Or no food. For a year."
Food... we barely had meals to last a month, usually it was mouldy foods. Expired milk and worm-filled breads or scraps from the royal family. They'd often threw foods on the floor and watch with excitement as we all tried to gather dirt into our mouths- we were nothing more than animals to them.
Today we have a guest, a very special guest, the royal family. They came every month just to collect my gold gems, they always bet on how much I could cry out, counting how many they could profit off from.
My head was still pinned down by the guards. Out from the prince and king's view. Why? Because I'll seduce them with my looks. Cowards. It's not like I want to see them anyway.
The hay- it's seen as a reward, if you follow the rules and cry a certain number of gems, you'll sleep in a tiny room filled with hay and three small but enjoyable meals for a night. It was better than nothing, the hay was soft and easy to sleep in when you get used to it, better than sleeping with 15 people in a cramped room on the hard cold floor.
"I vote for 15 gems today", a lady spoke from the throne
"Thirty is what I choose" he paused "because I have a plan" now it was a male's voice, an older male, cocky and confident.
Here currency is calculated in gems. The number of gems you have the richer you are. The type of gems you had also paid a significant role.
Silver tears were often 1000g to 2000g.
Diamond tears ranged from 3000g to 20000g
Lastly gold tears were often 45000g to 100000g
Sadly, we Mer-folks are their one-way ticket to success.
"If she doesn't cry, hurt someone she loves deeply with her heart, harm the person. Right in front of her" an authoritative tone commanded "do you know anyone she cherishes? Bring them here".
I watched as one of the guards sprinted. Sweat poured on my face like rain, drums beating in my heart. "they'll take Kian. Mother? My siblings? Is this what he meant by his plan?" my thoughts exploded like fireworks.
I watched as they pushed Kian harshly into my view, his little red, muddy feet were the view I had.
"Do whatever it takes" the king demanded coldly as the guards complied with his words.
I watched—frozen, breath shallow—lips cracking as the guards drove their blades into his delicate skin. Not swiftly. Slowly. Torturing. Their swords teased, testing the limits of pain. I watched anxiously, trembling, powerless.
Then came the final blow.
A gasp tore from his lips as the blade sank into his stomach. I watched as his frail body trembled, his breath hitched as the blade pierced through his stomach
Something in me snapped. My mind emptied. The world went dark.
I could feel a strong energy flow through me.
Waters from every fountain, every river, every lake travelled through the palace, clinging to me like magnets. Wrapping me in ball of water.
The water grew as ground quaked beneath me, buildings crashing, people screaming, and the air turned heavy. The world blurred as if submerged underwater. My eyes burned—glowed—. All around me. Water surged, flooding the throne room in roaring waves that spiralled upward and inward mixing with my broken heart.
I felt my body lose control of my profound power. It had a mind of its own, and it was powerful. The magic foreign. Yet- I felt connected to it
The waves danced with fury igniting with my furious heart, wrapping around me in a violent, whirling storm, exchanging my breath with its icy water. The waters created havoc with every step I took, every breath and every thought, it broke everything in their path, the throne room, the palace walls. Flooding everything.
Suddenly, a long split was formed. The waters split, waves gushing from the left and right, running towards me.
A bright light that could pierce through the Gods, a faint blue shaped gem, shaped like a diamond stood in my bubble.
I was, too immersed in my darkness, a cold world to understand what was going on outside. The water drowning my body, voices becoming muffled as I drowned deeper. Strange sounds emerged in my mind.
"I killed him" "I wasn't strong enough to protect him"
"I'm too weak" "how can I save everyone if I'm so weak. I could never be strong enough." the thoughts flooded my brain, the water surrounding me even more.
In a flash, I felt warmth surround me, I felt the warmth move my body and Aiden's unconscious-?
lifting us out of the wreckage, out of the castle, away. To a location I have never seen. A place I couldn't recall in my state.
within the chaos of everything, my eyes were sealed shut. Everything was muffled, my body felt numb. With all the thoughts, muffled words and swishing sounds, there was a noise I heard.
Two heartbeats.
Very faint, but loud enough to hear. It might've been mine and Kian's, who knows?
"The first gem!" a guard screamed. As the waters rose.
Each guard trying their hardest to save the royal family, wrapping their shields made of new materials around the family.
"not surprising. There's something, special, about her" the king smirked. "We will need her to revive our God. And become a powerful nation!"
The water slowly decreased, guards giving signals that it's safe, butlers, maids, drenched in waters, trying desperately to dry themselves.
" Go, men find this girl, make sure you bring her alive" his voice authoritative, commanding and almost aggressive. multiple men arose from their stations, running in sync to find the missing girl.