Monster: A Young Cecaelia's History

This is a tale that expands upon the history of the character Finn Witch. It is not yet complete.

Part One: Memory, or Lack Thereof
He doesn't remember that time anymore, at the moment of his birth. He doesn't remember how he fizzled out of his dead mother’s navy blue blood and bright, white sea foam as it brushed the bottom of the cold sea floor. He was only a newborn, but he was alone, uncertain of anything that either world- that of his underwater abode, nor the world of land that settled above the ocean- or what those worlds had to offer. At the mouth of a cave, he found his small appendages working to pull him inward, into the absolute safety of dead, chill darkness.

He doesn't remember what it felt like to be so utterly alone. The wisps of the current passed by him like breathy voices in winter, creating a rocking sensation that, while comforting, could not replicate a mother’s gently moving arms. Nowadays, he can’t tell you how he survived for however long he spent waiting in isolation, but even though he doesn't remember how he felt in those moments, he can tell you that he wishes that he was still just as isolated.

He doesn't remember quite how good it felt to have the company of two small eels rushing by him once in a while, unable to see them as he was. He also doesn't remember what it was like to take in his first glimpse of light since joining the former nothingness of the cave, as a shadowy form approached in the company of a mysterious glow. A deep-dwelling fish, a yellow orb stemming from its forehead, showed its menacing teeth. Somehow, he did not show fear, only a bit of curiosity. What frightened him more was the figure that trailed behind it, a mass of movement in silhouette.

He doesn't remember that she scooped him into his arms more silently than a ghost, the eels surrounding her. One ran gently through her chestnut brown hair, which she didn't seem to mind. With the beast beside her, she left the cave, natural light bringing a cringe to the infant’s previously sightless vision and a glow forming in his swamp-green eyes as he shut them tightly. It was upon coming into the light of day that the young woman said the first words that the child had ever heard.

He doesn't remember that it was the first time he was ever called a monster. He is all too aware, however, that it will never be the last.

Part Two: Pearls Among Witches
“So you’re a monster, then?”

Finn blinked, staring at the all-too-bold mermaid that stood before him. It was only his first day of school- at a public school for mermaids, no less- and he had already noticed that he wasn't quite like anyone else. Whether the difference was fundamentally ingrained in his mind and personality, he couldn’t tell, yet he could see it in the eyes of the others. He saw it in the way that their pupils contracted at the sight of him, pulling their vision toward just about anything else.

Half of the school day was already through, and this was the first words that any fellow student had chosen to greet him with. In fact, this was the first student who hadn't shied away from the sea witch. She was probably no older than Finn himself appeared to be and had clear blue eyes full of inquisitivity. Unable to hide his confusion at her question, he raised an eyebrow.

“Um...I guess-”

“Because you’re a cecae- a cece- a...sea witch,” the mergirl continued, having given up on the pronunciation of “cecaelia”. “My mom told me all about sea witches. She told me her sister almost got eaten by one.”

Finn crossed his arms uncomfortably, shifting the tentacles on his back to match. “Well, I don’t like to eat mermaids.”

“That’s good,” said the mergirl. “If you did, I’d have to tell the principal.”

Finn simply nodded, beginning to turn away.

“I’m Pearl Triton,” the girl added quickly, pushing water-swept brown hair from her face. “Who are you?”

“Finn,” Finn replied tersely, looking off to the side.

Pearl grinned. “Nice to meet you. Hey, could you tell my cousins that you don’t eat mermaids? I think they’re scared that you really do.”

“I...can’t,” the sea witch murmured, looking down at the seashells glued sloppily to the waterproof paper beneath him. “I need to finish my art project.”

Pearl sighed. “Aw, alright…”

Finn turned his head a few moments later, only to see that the girl had crossed to the other side of the room. Little did he know, that was the only time that Pearl would speak to him- or any of the students, for that matter- for a few good months.

Part Three: Diona's Transition
Slowly, the other students came to realize that Finn wasn't such a powerful and fearsome creature, after all. As soon as they realized this, they began speaking to him. Such a victory was bittersweet, however, as their acknowledgements came in the form of taunts about how totally gross and deformed sea witches seemed to them.

At home, Finn’s world would change. He would be welcomed somewhat distantly by his adoptive mother, Anemone, and given a simply nod of greeting by her brother, Weed. It wasn't the closest family environment, but it was a sort of sanctuary from his life at school. The few times that Finn brought the attitudes of his schoolmates to the attention of Anemone, she would give him a lecture on holding his head high and keeping in mind that it’s natural for mermaids to hate cecaelias because the former know that the latter are superior. With this in mind, Finn persevered, slowly growing a hatred of his own toward the merpeople that he was made to interact with on a daily basis.

The most wretched mermaid of all, in Finn’s mind, was Pearl Triton. Finn went on to discover that she was a young duchess of the royal Triton family, and it certainly began to reflect in her behavior. She was regal, poised, and held the strongest, most bitter rivalry against the sea witch who would later attempt to kill her cousin and take hold of the family’s trident.

With her posse, she would be the scourge of Finn’s existence, making brief taunts here and there while the male members of her friendship ring would occasionally take a more physical route. Finn had his bitter retorts, but without a group of allies to call his own, he was too easy of a target. In his efforts to keep his dignity and his sanity, he developed a sarcastic and cruel tongue over the course of his elementary years, to the point that every word he spoke would come to leave a bitter taste in his own mouth.

Everything changed when Diona came into Finn’s adoptive family. Diona was not a born cecaelia, but rather a mermaid cursed into her current form, much like Finn’s deceased mother, and her skin was tattooed blue because of it. Weed, it seemed, didn't care what Diona was born as and pursued a close relationship with her, though most natural sea witches would find cursed members of their society to be a lower caste. Being the black sheep of his school system, he felt like he could relate to Diona in their differences.

Diona was just as interested in talking with Finn as he was in talking with her. Slowly, she changed the subjects of their conversations, taking the topic away from the ten-year-old’s schooling mishaps and toward something that resembled a solution: magic. Though Diona encouraged Finn to practice his magic, he did not believe in her claims that he was actually a very powerful member of his species.

Part Four: The Enemy Falls
“What do you want, Pearl?” Finn muttered under his breath as the royal mermaid approached, light green tail swaying behind her.

“It’s time I teach you once and for all,” Pearl began, “who’s really the better group.”

Finn glanced about, eyes narrowing as he noticed members of her posse begin to surround him. There was Gil, with his natural bulk; Hudson, the fastest fifth-grade swimmer on the northern side of the Atlantic; Wade, a strategic brute of a merboy...the list went on. There really weren't too many of them, but to the young Finn, their numbers seemed unbeatable and almost endless.

Usually, Finn would have subsided to upcoming fight, floating helplessly as his body was made into an artful wreck. That day, however, was when something clicked inside of Finn. Something within him found the strong need to fight back, to rebel, to just not sit back and let this happen. And while he figured that his attempt would fail, as it had went he first tried it, he still felt it was worth a shot.

Gil and Hudson both came at him at once, Gil’s fist prepared to swing while Hudson grabbed at Finn’s arm before the cecaelia could even react. The first punch hit him square in the jaw, though at that moment, Finn could hardly feel it under the adrenaline growing beneath his skin. Hudson was quick but not all that strong, so Finn was able to shake him off, pushing him away. Wade was already right behind him, ready to give Finn a good tail-smack.

...Only for Finn to rush back, propelling a hard jet of water forward. Two of the other merboys' eyes widened as they began to back off, but Gil and Hudson were blinded by their goal. As they rushed at him again, they found themselves held back by a pair of long ice shards that Finn was wielding, pointed right at both of the boys. The two boys stopped, looked at each other, and rushed off.

Finn glared at Pearl, only to find that her attention was elsewhere. Following her gaze, he looked down at Wade, who was floating limply. The force of the jet-stream had pummeled him against the stone wall behind him, knocking him out. When Pearl turned her head to look at Finn, he couldn’t meet her gaze. All he could do was rush off as quickly as he could, dropping the icy weaponry on the stiffly packed sand.

Part Five: Shout Without a Care
Finn was in his room. Looking up at the stone ceiling, then down at the sandy ocean floor teeming with dull and twisted coral, he gave out a subtly distraught sigh. After his guardians had been told of the incident by the school’s principal, Finn was made to stay in his room. As Finn had been informed, the merboy he had hurt hadn't been injured “too badly”, in Anemone’s own words. Despite knowing he should have felt some amount of relief at that reassurance, he simply felt numb, the mossy bed of stone beneath him creating no sensation as he rubbed his palms forcefully along its rough edge.

In another room, Anemone was yelling. Finn couldn't hear the slightest voice from Weed, which was expected, as he always spoke in a mumbling tone that was barely audible to the most well-trained ears. He imagined that Diona was down there, too, trying to calm Finn’s hysterical adoptive mother- or, perhaps, getting her even more riled up.

Wanting to hear just what the others were saying, Finn pressed his back against the wall nearest to his room’s opening and tried to listen as closely as he could. There was only one line which he could make out, shouted much more loudly than any of the others:

“Well, what do you expect from a monster like him?!”

At those words, Finn drew away, eyes wide. A monster? Though he had heard those words plenty of times, this instance struck a chord. When the mermaids used to word “monster”, they always meant “sea witch”, which Finn couldn't help; however, when Anemone used the word, she meant something evil and vile and absolutely wicked.

As he backed up, Finn accidentally caught his own gaze in the small mirror that hung on his wall. Unable to look away from a moment, he furrowed his brows in frustration, grimacing at himself. Then he released the expression, letting go of a deep and defeated breath. It was okay if he was a monster; after all, it was in his destiny.

With this in mind, he flopped onto the mossy green top of his bedrock and stared up at a small crevice in the ceiling as concepts cracked apart around him, not letting himself care enough to give a flying fish.