𝕴 L𝕰ARN AB𝕺UT T𝕳E SI𝕽EN KIN𝕲DOM

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𝐌𝐘 guide swims out of the door and continues down to the corridor with little consideration of my inexperience as a siren. I do my best to wiggle after him. The hallway is endless. The right wall has doors leading to different rooms. Opposite to it, graceful arched windows are affixed into the wall.

The turquoise water moulds itself around the fish so they can do their intricate dance. The plants swaying along to the rhythm of the water. Small creatures sit on the rocks and watch the performance in front of them, tranquilised. I can also stay here, gazing out the window for hours, but my guide notices that I'm not sluggishly keeping up and comes back to find me.

"The view looks better on the outside." He says and continues swimming.

I stare at him for a moment before following, wondering the trouble I would get in for not accompanying him. Assessing his unwillingness to give me a tour of the kingdom of slimeballs, he might turn me in for insubordination. I could sense his irritation as soon as he entered the ward. And I'm sure if I ask him questions, he isn't going to give me a straight answer.

"Is this a hospital?" I ask, using my thumb to point to the building behind me.

I look around at the endless water around me. I don't have a plan, but I am leaving this place. The nurse had mentioned the army. If she is right, and the Queen is letting me join, I can get a lot of information about this place. Then I take my treasure and leave.

He looks at me, and after a long pause, says, "What do you think?"

"I think you are unhappy with your position and are acting callous with me because you want the rank I'm supposedly getting." It's bold, and I pray it doesn't backfire.

He doesn't answer and continues swimming.

A small smile stretches my lips. I've hit my mark perfectly.

"There are two types of sirens," he says when I catch up with him. "Pure bred sirens and turned sirens. Pure sirens are born to two siren parents. The other type is turned. From humans into sirens. These can be sailors, pirates, or any poor soul who has the misfortune of being lured into the ocean by a siren."

My brow furrows. "How are sirens born?"

"Sirens reproduce the same ways humans do."

I stop. "They have tails!"

I look down at my tail. It covers everything below my waist. There is no way I can engage in reproductive acts like I used to with this. Do they make babies by kissing?

My guide's mouth forms a half-smile. But he composes himself quickly. "When sirens are close to land, our tails are replaced with human limbs."

"If sirens can reproduce, why are they turning people?" Every pirate I met told me the sirens can't make kids because of their tails and so they would turn humans to sustain their society.

"It's not that easy. There are laws which don't allow sirens to go to land without the official permission. Which is always notoriously hard to get."

"Why not?"

"If you are allowed to go, will you come back?"

"Of course not," I reply immediately. "But I don't want to be a siren."

"There is more freedom up there. Once sirens experience that, why would they want to come and live here where they need to get permission to even get pregnant?"

I think back to my life in Sora. It's easier to get pregnant than to adopt. My parents adopted me when I was seven months old, after my birth mother had dropped me at the orphanage because she couldn't take care of me. Before they could adopt me, they had to prove that they could be good parents. There were a lot of legal papers they had to sign.

When I turned fifteen, my moms offered a chance to meet my birth mom. I decline. She may have given birth to me, but I didn't know her. I didn't love her like I love my moms.

"Life on land isn't that glamourous," I say.

"I know. But your opportunities aren't limited because you were turned against your will. At least on land, you aren't discriminated based on your background. All those movements against social bias have created near equal opportunities for everyone."

"You were turned too?"

"Yes," he replies with a sigh; his voice bitter. "I lived in a coastal town in Bgnoin. I met this woman and fell in love. We started dating. A week later, she invites me to swim in the ocean. I agree. She drags me into the water and turns me. When I wake up, I'm on a bed, in the same room you were. I never saw her again."

The siren snatched him away from his old life and forced him to be a siren. Because of her, he can never live the life he wanted. He has to serve a government which doesn't care about him.

"I'm Yeonjun," I say.

"Mingyu."

A school of fish swims past us and disappears behind a coral reef. The fishes are smaller than my palm and have vibrant splashes of red and white.

"Wait-" I stop. "Sirens have their own tongue. But I could understand the nurse in there. And I can understand you too, but I don't speak Bonian, only Zuri and Mahaki."

"Siren's language is called Cosina. Unlike humans, sirens don't learn how to speak a language, they just know how to, and when someone is turned, they too magically acquire the ability to speak the language." He continues to swim.

Their life makes no sense. I shake my head and follow him.

Mingyu and I haven't swum far from the hospital. I can still see it if I look back. I don't know where he is taking me, but I hope to see the treasury.

"You were a pirate?" he says. "How was that?"

"Amazing. I had a brilliant crew. We sailed many docks on different quests."

"I have met many turned sirens, but pirates are rare. What do you do?" he asks. "Come on, who am I going to tell?" he adds when I don't respond.

"Heard of witches?"

"They aren't real."

"They are. I have met them. Their enchantments and potions allow us to sail undetected by the sirens."

"That is amazing!"

I nod.

I am starting to understand this world. The more I learn about it, the more I want to leave.

"If you are a turned siren, what can you do?"

"Construction, run small restaurants, get low-level jobs in the navy or government like me. Some even work as servants for the royal and aristocrat families. It's nearly impossible for us to get any of the prestigious jobs. But you are one of the only two people who have got the chance at those prestigious jobs."

"Who is the other person?"

"A guy named Taehyun. The crown prince, Beomgyu, chose him as his personal guard. The queen wasn't too happy about it."

The social hierarchy in the Siren Kingdom reminds me of the discrimination I had read in my textbooks. After the Siren War, the Zuar empire crumbled and independent countries were formed- each with their own forms of governance. After their economies stabilised, people started protesting against the discrimination and for a more egalitarian society. It took them years, and some countries even descended into civil wars, but the citizens ensured discrimination and biases were curbed.

"The aristocrats-"

"All pure sirens. Since they are close to the queen, they are allowed to go to land."

"What difference does it make if one's a pure or a turned siren? You surely can't tell at first glance."

"Pure sirens can control sea water. They are the ones who have the ability to turn humans into sirens. We can't do anything of the sort. We just have tails."

Mingyu stops. I follow.

"Why are we stopping?" I ask.

"We are going to the capital, Sienera."

︶꒦꒷. . . ★⺀

hello! sorry for disappearing hehe
anyways, here is a new chapter. hope you 
enjoy. 

what is your favourite part? 
mine is yeonjun learn about siren reproduction 💀

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