UNFORT𝖀NATELY, 𝕴 A𝕸 A𝕷IVE

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After seeing my friends drown, watching the sea pull me closer, I am still alive. Yay! In my current state, I would have preferred to drown. At least then I would have met a pirate's fate.

My eyes flutter and I regain consciousness. For the first few seconds, my mind is blank, then the dam breaks- jumping overboard, struggling in the current, the siren's webbed claw leaving red marks down my shoulder.

I try to sit up, but my head is too heavy, so I turn it right and left. Beds surround me, identical to each other. There are two rows of beds parallel to each other with identical ochre blankets and pillows. The steel bedframe has one thin grey mattress. Empty. This must be something similar to a hospital. I recall infirmaries similar to this in the ports when I was training to be a sailor. The ceiling is the length of the room.

The room has one door made at the very end. I can't tell what this building is made of, but it is sturdy. Maybe it's sandstone.

Corals growing on rocks and the schools of fish swimming in and out of view in a perfect pattern. Despite only two windows in the entire room, my eyes have no trouble making out shapes in around me. One is moving closer.

"Oh good, you are awake!" a soothing voice says, standing over me. She informs me her name is Momo, and she is a healer. "You were unconscious for nearly a week. It is common. You don't need to worry about it. Your body is still getting used to the transition." As she gives me her little speech, I notice she is floating mid-air- no, she has a tail. She is one of them.

My heart crawls up to my throat. If she has a tail- I look down. I have a tail too. It is a pretty teal.

No. no, no, no!

Yes, they have turned me into one of them. I'm a siren now. And I can't stress how much I would have liked to die in the shipwreck.

I am in a bed, underwater. These monsters didn't even bother to cover me with a blanket as I lay unconscious, going through a transition which I hadn't consented to.

"You were claimed from the shipwreck, weren't you?" she asks, cleaning my wound. I don't have many wounds. A gash on my shoulder and scratches from the wreck. Nothing which can't be healed with a few stitches.

I nod. "Are there any others who have turned?"

The image of Yujin being dragged underwater flashes before my eyes. Changbin and I had jumped into the water together, but the current had separated us.

I swam away from the wreck and searched for Changbin. One of the siren's grubby hands holds my shoe and pulls me down. She was surprisingly strong. With one swift motion, she pulls me underwater.

I tried to punch her to loosen her grip. She could stop it easily. She sinks her claws into my shoulder and pulls me so close I could count her eyelashes. Her lips are curved into a cruel smile.

She titles her head and shows her fangs. I remember her head move closer. The closer she was, the more sluggish were my thoughts. It came closer until her lips were on top of mine. Her fangs pierce my bottom lip. My world went black. I run my tongue over the spot, no scar.

"No one else," she says.

Momo finishes cleaning my wound and places her hand on mine and mutters something in an ancient language. The skin on my body burns for a second, then returns to its normal temperature. All the soreness of my muscles disappears. It feels like I have woken up from a good night's sleep.

"But you don't need to worry, sweet boy," she continues. "I've heard that the queen is very pleased with the gold and jewels recovered from the wreck. I'm sure she will let be a high-ranking soldier."

My treasure. I nearly forgot about it. I need to get my treasure back and escape this nightmarish place.

"Soldier?" I mutter.

"You are lucky. Most of you who have been turned are usually given menial tasks."

I sit up. "I don't want to be a soldier. I don't want to be a siren."

She looks at me with pitiful eyes. "It's too late for that. You have to contribute. As a soldier, you will train for a few hours and the rest of the time you can do whatever you please."

"What do soldiers do?" I need as much information as I can get about this eerie place.

"They guard borders, palaces, and other important buildings. If you are good at your job, they will make you a guard for the royals and the other aristocrats."

As a guard, I will know the intimate knowledge of the kingdom. I will know the ins and outs of the treasury, if they have one, the border everything. There must be other pirates trapped here, or sailors in the least. Maybe I can convince them to help me in exchange for some part of the treasure.

It would take me months to form a plan and gather allies. I have no choice. I certainly will not rot in here in this kingdom of fish people until I die. Are sirens immortal? I am going to live forever with a tail?

I have to get out of here before this place drives me insane.

I lean my head against the headframe and try to look relaxed. My muscles are stiffer than iron. "If I am going to become a soldier, as you say, what will my living arrangements be like?"

"I don't know. Your guide will inform you about it. He should be here soon."

"Guide?"

"Every human who is turned is assigned a guide to help them assimilate better in our life. Ask him all the questions you have. He surely knows more as to how the system works than me."

On cue, the door opens and a buff siren enters with a scowl. Like everyone in the room, he, too, is shirtless. It feels as if someone is twisting a knife in my heart. He reminds me of Changbin. He stands at the edge of my bed, unamused.

"Good, you woke up," he drawls.

"Nice to meet you, too."

"Hurry," he says. If he had feet, he would tap them on the floor. "There is a lot to show you."

I get off the bed and fix myself up in the bathroom.

Nothing in my face has changed. My eyes, nose, lips, everything is the same. My hair is unaffected by the water. At least there is one perk. Strangely, even though I was unconscious for a week, I have no bad breath. However, I still have the decency to gargle.

My upper incisors are replaced with fangs. I run my tongue over the sharped edge.

My fingers touch the peculiar protrusion on my neck. Gills. They grace both sides of my neck, under my jaw. I want to scream and scream until the fire in my stomach burns out. I clench my fingers into a fist to even my breathing.

I don't know the time I spent in the bathroom. When I step out, my guide's eyes are shooting daggers at me.

"Finally! Follow me."

︶꒦꒷. . . ★⺀

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