Stars were twinkling brightly in the sky that night, it was like another sea above the great body of water that expanded to the distant horizons. Calm were the waters, making the seafaring pleasant for those traversing to the faraway lands beyond the sea. And that night, in this one corner where the land meets the water, a beautiful singing resonated along the peaceful waves and everybody on the shore and those few sailing around those parts could hear it. The song brought a serene feeling to the souls of those who heard it and gave a sensation that everything was well in the world. The one singing was none other than the Queen of the Sea herself, for she had emerged from the depths of the sea and had appeared on one of the rocks near the shore where she would stay and soothe the souls of the people. And as a merchant ship passed by, gliding leisurely on the waves, the sailors joined in her singing, honoring the Queen and showing appreciation that she was letting them sail peacefully that night. Because she was the sea and how the sea acted was determined by her will.
After a while, the Queen was joined by a few mermaids that lived in the same underwater palace as she did. Although they all were stunningly beautiful and their singing voices sounded delightful, they were nothing like the Queen herself. Her beauty had been captured by artists all around the world, immortalized in the paintings and sailors had made countless songs praising her magnificence. She had long gorgeous white hair and blue horns that were like a crown. Her skin was pretty pale, but not too much. And just like her mermaid servants, her lower body was a fish tail, her scales glimmering in the different hues of blue and green like the most gorgeous jewels. Her fins were long and resembled a veil, they would billow beautifully in the water when she was swimming. And her eyes, they had the striking color of the blue ocean. There didn't exist many creatures in the world that were more beautiful than the Queen of the Sea.
She and her mermaids continued to sing throughout the whole night and didn't stop until the golden morning sun had appeared on the horizon. Silent became the shore and the sea when all those gorgeous maidens disappeared below the surface of the water and headed to their underwater palace that was made of corals and gold and white stone. From there the Queen would be able to watch over the entire sea and spend peaceful days with her mermaids. Sometimes young men that had drowned during seafaring would end up in this palace and the Queen would give them two options in order to decide their fate: either they would serve her in the palace or they would be transformed into a sea creature and be able to live as such for an eternity. Most of these men would decide to serve her and live in the palace until the end of time.
The Queen ruled over the sea with benevolence, as long as she was respected. While she favored peacefulness, insulting her would have serious consequences. She could whip up a fierce storm out of nowhere to crush a ship that had carried individuals who had dared to offend her. But not many would do that, because sailors around the world knew that she was the sea and would always be. She had existed since the beginning of the world itself and had watched over the sea since ancient times. It was also believed that she was the mother of all sea creatures.
For a long time the Queen had enjoyed the admiration from the people that thrived on land, no matter which corner of the world they were from. Sometimes sailors would drop treasures into the sea, as an offering for the beloved Queen. It was rumored that all these precious objects were hidden away in a vast chamber in the palace, guarded by a sea dragon. Most of those people whose hearts were tainted by greed could only dream of the chamber and its priceless contents, but there had been a few individuals in history that had dared to travel to the bottom of the sea, looking for the treasure chamber. These people wielded power that was denied from common mortals, but still, even with that power they were no match for the guardian dragon. It devoured these greedy ones, their souls forever trapped inside its belly. No one can steal from the Queen.
Everything remained the same for over a thousand years, both the sea and the land. On clear nights the Queen would come to the surface to sing her beautiful song and she continued to receive the respect of people. There was a fine balance between the world below the waves and the world on the ground and they coexisted in harmony. But things tend to change, no matter if it takes thousands of years, and sometimes they will change for the worse. Permanently.
Humans are defective by nature, that's how gods made them. No one is sure when they put the destruction in motion since their memory doesn't last long and because it all happened so gradually, not all at once. But the damage was irreversible and not even the gods could do anything about it. It's so strange how feeble and weak humans can be and yet, they are able to ruin everything around them.
Perhaps it was the curiosity towards dark forces that started it all. It alienated people from the gods over the span of centuries and without the devotion the deities would turn weak and useless, being nothing more than immortal watchers that can only observe how everything they had created would turn tainted. The darkness came from another dimension, but was so well disguised that no one was aware what kind of evil it would bring to the world. Humans invited it and it decided to stay. It contaminated the hearts of people, bit by bit, and they would spread the malice unknowingly, carrying it to every corner of the world. They were the seeds of evil and they would take root everywhere. The dark forces clouded the minds of people, turning them sort of undead that barely had will of their own and they just wanted to get rid of everything that they had deemed as something that shouldn't exist anymore. It was the final chapter of many wonderful creatures on the land, but of course, the sea was affected as well.
Queen of the Sea could see the subtle changes over the centuries. The sailors stopped singing with her and didn't offer treasures to her anymore. And little by little it seemed like they had started to forget that she even existed, it was like she had turned into a mere legend – even though she did appear to people. It was like people didn't want to believe their eyes anymore, they couldn't accept that something that beautiful was real. Less and less works of art were made of her and all the praise she had enjoyed diminished to non-existent. But the worst part was when the humans started to hunt the sea creatures excessively. Little by little many of her beautiful children were driven to the point of extinction and that was something she couldn't accept. The Queen tried to avenge the deaths of her children by conjuring the fiercest storms she had ever created, but although she unleashed her whole wrath, it wasn't enough. The new ships which the humans had built defied the strength of the sea and they were able to travel through most of the storms and continue slaughtering the sea creatures. This, of course, angered the Queen even more and the storms lingered on the sea for weeks.
But maintaining such an enormous amount of power was exhausting and eventually, the waters calmed down as the Queen grew too tired. She could do nothing else but to retreat to her palace and observe the state of her beloved sea. She could only watch how the humans ruined everything that was dear to her. A horrible corruption had spread around the land, tormenting all living creatures, and it was only a matter of time before it would extend to the sea as well. And when it did start to reach the souls of marine creatures, there was nothing she could do to stop it from spreading; she was too weak, for she had lost a great amount of her power since people didn't believe in her existence anymore. The only place of haven was her palace which she kept protected. Only the beings that resided there were safe from the corruption.
Except the Queen of the Sea herself.
It was an inevitable fate for her since she was the sea. The corruption took a hold of her and it began to change her, both physically and mentally. It ruined her beauty, transforming her into a monster. Her hair turned into something a deceased could have, having a sickly white color. The blue horns she had worn with pride almost completely crumbled off of her head and the pathetic stubs that were left behind had taken the color grey. Her fair skin turned pale like the one of a ghost, her nails grew long. The captivating blue eyes got glazed and became almost completely white. Her whole body seemed to wither away and wasted away like she was just skin and bones. The gorgeous scales on her tail lost their shine and took the color of rust. Patches of her scales fell off and parts of her tail became rotten, making holes in her previously so magnificent fins. Such a drastic change in her appearance had horrified her deeply and in her shocked state, she had clawed her own face and ripped tufts of her hair. Then she had just wailed, because losing her beauty meant that she had lost everything in this life.
Cursed with eternal life, she could only mourn, the corruption eating her feeble mind. But the hatred for humans kept burning in her twisted soul and occasionally her desire for revenge surfaced, causing her to attack against the sailing ships. But they were made of metal instead of wood and she was weak and toothless in front of them. Every failed attempt just angered her more and the flames of hatred burned even more vigorously. Hate took over her mind, filling every corner of it until there was nothing else left. It was like poison and she had turned into an embodiment of hatred. She even started to hate those who were innocent: her children that were still free from the corruption that had consumed the entire world. The beings that still lived with her in the underwater palace were safe from the corruption, but not from the Queen's growing jealousy. She targeted mermaids especially, envious of their beauty that still remained. Sometimes she would attack them and scratch their faces with her nails, wanting to ruin them too. But then she would calm down and hate herself for doing such actions. The sea creatures in the palace had to learn when to stay away from their formerly so beloved Queen, or more like avoiding the unstable wrath which she carried. But there was nowhere else to go, so they were trapped inside the palace, and thus even their existence became rather miserable.
Heavy was the heart of the Queen. Everything she had cherished, everything she had created were now completely ruined. There was no better future in sight, everything would most likely turn worse over time. There was nothing else left for her except weep. So during some nights, she would emerge from the dark waters and lay on a rock, then start her song that would be carried by the waves to the ears of many of the people on the shore and on the sea. It no longer sounded beautiful, it was more like shrieking, and it didn't soothe the souls anymore, it just stirred fear and let everyone know how much hatred she had burning inside her. No one knew what was the source of this horrendous sound and those who dared to investigate it would find nothing since the Queen would dive back into the sea once approached. She was just a myth now and would stay as one.
There was no one who could understand her eternal plight.
