Fair Maiden

Since man sailed the seas, there were tales of a siren whose call was irresistible and her clutches fatal. She sang notes that harmonized with the roar of the ocean and her appearance was that of a goddess. Strong and weak men alike fell to her gaze, throwing themselves overboard to get near to the one they knew as ‘Fiona’. Swords clashed over her hand, coastal kingdoms succumbing to an unimaginable attraction to join her in the depths. Few knew the truth of this beautiful woman of the sea. Those who stumbled upon such knowledge were laughed out of rooms, where arrogance would draw those within towards the beaches to be swept away by an unnatural tide and brought to the mouth unwarned of.

Deeper than any man had or could ever dive, Fiona’s full body could be seen. For she was not only human - however deceiving she was. Her true form was below, a spiny sea creature, with a hunger not solely for flesh, for there was plenty of food to be eaten, but for manipulation. To hold the mind of a human so strongly that they carry themselves to an ocean sogged feast, tasting fearless even as their bodies are mercilessly chewed upon.

The beast was born an anglerfish, with a lure like any other. It was exceedingly large due to a mutation, and endlessly growing. Its body was misshapen from the constant growth, its mouth able to devour warships with a single bite. Its brain grew as well, allowing it to think through much more complex ideas. Seeing the time when humans began to capture life from the ocean, it became displeased with their presence.

Through darkness above, the beast watched a fleet of vessels advancing and then retreating. A single ship sank beside her and a body floated out of it to dwell in front of her for a long while. Strange power filled the water nearby. The beast’s lure tapped the human body and it stuck, fusing with the skin. Decay and rot on the corpse reversed, and the body had been restored to its prior condition. The beast could see through both pairs of eyes, operate both bodies simultaneously, and as she realized this great change, she adopted a hatred for men from the corpse as her own. Then, she noticed above that another body was floating. This one was covered in blood. With the body attached to her lure, she embraced what seemed to be a child. Deep underwater, the lifeless boy coughed up a pillar of bubbles. She released him, and he swam back to the surface.

Whoever he was, Fiona was compelled to follow him as he swam towards where the fleet went. She used her new appendage to spy on the boy as he massacred a ship’s hold full of sailors. A ship came from the depths up through the ship and split it, so Fiona retracted her body. As the boy sailed away, the beast found that there were many other sailors at the port that he hadn’t killed. She stepped onto the port and leaned against a post, waiting for someone to pass by. Eventually, a trio of ill-mannered men crossed her path and had the misfortune of behaving how they wanted. She stood straight and smiled, both above and below, as the men grabbed her arms forcefully.

“What’s a Fair Maiden like you doin all the way out here?”