The Initiate (Re-Edited)

The blue waves of ocean crashed over me. 

I felt my broken heart sinking into a bubbling pit. My body floated pale, somewhat like a white plank upon the sea. I could no longer feel my legs; the legs that used to be in the form of a beautiful tail.

I’m dissolving...melting away...maybe a release from pain...

 My dark and green hair twirled against my fair cheeks, similar to seaweed curling over coral. 

I do not care...what hope is there? This is my punishment...this is the curse the witch prophesied...

I clenched my teeth as pain seared through my body. 

I could feel my flesh compressing, expanding, and pulling apart. My sight began to be filled with popping black holes. All I could see were glimpses of flat, rising sea foam and the warm sun...

“Sirenetta.” The voice was melodic yet masculine, nowhere to be seen.

The darkness fully consumed my sight. Only the sun shone brilliantly in front of me. 

No nerves of mine electrified in sensation. No oxygen circulated in my lungs. I was completely dead.

“Sirenetta. Come. You still have much to do.”

A rosy pink mist streamed forth from the sun, almost like fog over an eerie sea.

Where am I?

My vision rocked towards the bright light, similar to a bird’s feather drifting on the sea breeze. Rays of sunlight speared the pink mist like a noble’s golden arrows.

What is that sound? Bells?

Out of the sun rays, many transparent forms emerged, both female and male creatures. They were all beautiful and human-like, yet individually unique in their own shapes and colors. 

My vision lowered to the invisible ground and I could feel the crawling of skin again, along with the prickly sensations.

“Welcome, everyone. You all have been chosen amongst many soulless creatures to have a chance at salvation, to receive the reward of an immortal soul, because of your kindness to humanity..."

It was the masculine voice again.

"...The Daughters of the Air, my faithful servants of the sky, have brought you all to this sacred place for your initiation. All the memories and works of your previous life shall be washed away for a clean start with a clean conscience. New names, new bodies, and new places to live shall be assigned.”

I could stand now, despite the awkward movements of getting used to legs again. My body was different and new. My skin was a sun-kissed tan and my long hair was stained with the brightest red I had ever seen (even brighter than the flowers I planted in my previous sea-garden). 

The masculine voice continued, “With your new life comes a blessing and a curse, each specific to the greatest good and wickedest deed of your old life. Depending upon your circumstance, in order to receive a soul, you must either make a human being fall in love with you genuinely or, you must purely exercise only good deeds for three hundred years. A Daughter of the Air shall prepare you. Let time be ever fast yet enlightening for those who serve the long years and may the cupids of love help those who follow the path of deep affections. I give you the blessing that your first journey may be sweet.”

My new body began to be pulled by unseen forces, similar to heavy pressure and strong winds.

Wait!

The ‘sun world’ swept away from my sight into the aquamarine skies and fluffy clouds of my ‘previous world.’ 

Eventually, I began to see a large piece of land, covered with thick forest and wildflowers. However, the land’s wildflowers were unknown to me, spewing out some sort of radiant dust. Each wildflower had their own unique color, including their dust.

The unseen force gently lowered me down onto one of the wildflower fields. 

I began to see another transparent form, yet this one was different. 

The form glowed with rays of yellow and purple in a female shape. Her elegant clothes were light, simple, and airy like the ‘wind’ (or ‘force’) that emanated from her. Her bare head was crowned with silver leaves, reflecting the skies above. Her eyes were like small twins of the earthly sun.

The form spoke, “Do not be afraid, my child. I am a Daughter of the Air, here to prepare you. Your work shall begin in the Forest of the Tiny Angels. The future has already been planned.”

Her hands began to reach for my head, but I retracted.

“I rather keep my memories, thank you.”

She smiled, “A guilty conscience will affect your new start.  The memories will hinder you. It is best to remove them.”

I hesitated and said, “Still, I rather remember. I don’t deserve to forget what I had almost done with my hands. And though it hurts, I still want to remember the faces...especially of the one I loved, Prince Eric.”

“If you do this, your curse will be increased to a higher level.”

“That is fine.”

“Then, it shall be. However, as you can see, you will have a new name and a new body. And such a rule cannot be changed. Your new name is Ariel.”

“Ariel...”

The Daughter of Air slapped her hands together, making a large booming sound.

“Ariel, you are condemned for attempt of murder and dealing with witchcraft. Your curse will be a deadly kiss. Any man you kiss will instantly die. Because you also chose to keep your memories, you will have another part of your curse. If a man speaks of genuine love for and to you, verbally, he will die within three days’ time. This is your sentence.”

A rightful one...and I do not plan on loving again...

The Daughter of Air gently kissed my forehead and stroked the side of my face.

“Ariel, you are praised for your selflessness and your grace. Your blessing will be the forming of a great friendship, an increase in intelligence, an increase in physical strength, and the power over water.”

I could feel my mind race with thoughts and observations I did not really have before. My muscles bunched to a certain level and I could feel the gravity of their weight across my body. Even my stomach had a wave of small ripples.

Asha...

I looked around me. No other female creature was near me, but I swore another female creature had spoken. The unknown voice sounded soft, melodic, but deep. 

The Daughter of Air smiled again, “I will keep in touch and speak to you when needed. My name is Moria. Blessed be on your journey, Ariel.”

The Daughter of Air disappeared into the wind, along with the silence. Grasshoppers began to play. 

A patch of orange flowers surrounded me. Dust from these flowers sprawled all around, covering me with a glittery layer. I coughed some of their dust out of my mouth and smacked my arms.

“The heavenly beings are quite business-like. Nothing like I fancied them to be.”

I covered my mouth. My voice was not the same. It was dark, alluring, and deep. It was not quite like a toad, but it was not a tweeting bird either.

Quite...fancied...never used those words before.

“Fancied.”

The word fitted naturally in my mouth, yet with my memories intact, the word was still odd to me.

“What am I supposed to search for? She had spoken of Tiny Angels...must I find them?”

I did not notice at first, but there was a flutter of wings around me. 

The wings belonged to a group of small, human-like creatures, who were looking at me curiously. I moved my hand to wave, a trick I had learned from Prince Eric when I was Sirenetta.

“Greetings.”

Some of the mini creatures ran away in fret; some stayed. A few of them began to glow, expanding into a form of normal, average human-size. 

The large ones' wings looked soft, as well as intricate and glossy. They had eyes focused in determination and caution. Their spears pointed in the direction of my face.

One of the spear-holders commanded, “Tell me your name." 

“Ariel.”

“Why are you here?”

“I do not know. A Daughter of the Air dropped me here.”

I noticed I had only a simple linen dress on, wrapped around me like a towel. I covered myself with my arms and knees. The dress was pretty thin.

One of the mini creatures landed on the back of my neck.

Another spear-holder commented, “A Daughter of the Air, eh? She must be insane.”

The creature on the back of my neck squeaked, “She has a Triskelion on her back.”

Another of the spear-holders looked at the mini creature, “Triskelion?”

The mini-creature squeaked again, “See the pink swirls going in a circular motion from a central point? That is definitely a Triskelion.”

Another spear-holder placed his spear at his side, “If the Triskelion is a true marking, then she is not lying. We must bring her back.”

A mini creature fluttered onto my head, saying: “We should not! The secrecy of our kingdom must stay hidden! And her? An initiate? This red-head who cannot even walk on two legs? Do not make me laugh. There is no such thing! The tale of the initiate that came to this land thousands of years ago is just some made up nonsense.”

The mini creature on the back of my neck stomped, “But the Triskelion is real! See? No powder or paint has come onto my hands when I touch it!”

A new voice gently spoke, “You would be correct, dear one. It is real. She has come to work for our kingdom.”

All the creatures gasped, some shocked and some warm-cheeked. The rest of the five spear-holders placed their spears at their sides. All of the creatures bowed and I turned my head to observe the new voice.

A tiny, elegant woman sat on a chair carried by two small, male, and winged creatures. Her hair was whitish blonde with brownish-black eyes. Her dress was made from a tulip and a lily with shavings of gold. Her wings looked similar to a white fly’s, but with more gloss and glitter. On her head laid a simple, but radiant, crown of gold. 

The new voice, the woman on the chair, nodded towards me, “Welcome, Ariel. My husband and I have been expecting you---

“Who are you? How do you know my name?”

I covered my blurting mouth with my hands.

She smiled with sparkling, ivory teeth, “The Daughter of the Air told us you were coming. I am Queen Maia. We are the Tiny Angels, or some like to call us, fairies. Though, in truth, we are not exactly fairies or pixies. Still, those of us who were born winged, share some ancestral blood with the fairies and pixies.”

I pushed back a strand of hair of mine, behind my ear.

"Oh, alright-ah-interesting."

What?!? Can I really work for a stranger and things be so calm?

The sitting woman chimed, "Are you ready to begin your work, Ariel?" 

“Yes...oh! My Queen.” I bowed.

The Queen waved her hand, “Thank you for the kind gesture, but you are not my citizen. You belong to Caelum and the high universal order, not me. You shall call me by my first name, Thumbelina.”

A burst of whispering traveled across the group of observing mini-creatures. 

“The Caelum!”

“Then, she really is an initiate!”

“Poppycock!”

“Queen Maia would know these things though because they talk to Caelum!”

“No one has really seen Caelum!”

“Of course not! Caelum is everything good and created! And Caelum barely ever flows and forms into a personal form!”

“Thumbelina? That is the Queen’s old name?”

“The lady must be special to be given permission to use the Queen’s personal name. I am slightly jealous."

The Que-ah-Thumbelina sighed and raised her hand, “Peace, my subjects, peace.”

The mini-oh-Tiny Angels stopped whispering.

Thumbelina placed her hand back onto the chair, “Thank you. If you wish to talk about these things, my dear people, come to me at my throne when it is my appointed time to do so. I will tell you what I have the permission to tell you. Remember: Caelum does and is.”

Most of the Tiny Angels nodded their heads in reverence and spoke together, “Caelum does and is.”

I pushed back another hair strand, “Who is Caelum?”

I know I have heard that name before...

Thumbelina responded, “Dear Ariel, all questions will be answered as best as possible, but first, we must make you small so that you can enter our city.”

“Small?!?”

“Yes. Do not worry. I can make you large again.”

“I guess that is agreeable.”

Thumbelina, took out a golden purse from a fold in her dress. After un-stringing it, she took out some purple dust and blew it onto me. I could feel my limbs and bones decreasing into sticks, restructuring to fit my new tiny self, surprisingly without pain. 

All the flowers and spear-holders became gigantic to my vision; Thumbelina and the previous mini-Tiny Angels became normally-sized to my sight.

So this is my first journey, eh? Living as an ant...on the ground...can I really trust them? I almost wish to be back in the sea...I wonder if they have any dingle-hoppers, well, I meant brushes at that time...I must remember that forks and brushes are different...I am really no longer Sirenetta anymore, am I?

Thumbelina gave a larger and wider smile, “Come, let us begin, dear one.”

 I mimicked her facial expression. 

My first smile...as Ariel.

Author's Note

Sorry about any spacing problems! It happens when pasting from a Word document!

Reviews

[Crimson Bayonet]

I really like the concept you concocted here. Mixture of other fairy tails? Already got me hooked! I would suggest to space out the sentences, as it was extremely difficult to read. I would also suggest to add the name of the character that is speaking or has just spoke; I was kind getting lost, but that's just me.

I would also, since you are mixing tales here, suggest to add a few more details to Sirenetta's past; since I feel like you're adding the Disney part of it too. Other than that, however, all is good and really interesting as what you can do and lead this to something awesome! Keep working, I wanna read more! :D

[Ravenwing]

Thank you. Ill keep what you suggested in mind:)

[Ravenwing]

I re-edited with a suggestion of yours in mind:)

[Crimson Bayonet]

Very well done! Although the spacing hurt my eyes, I still enjoyed the chapter! :D I can't wait to read more! :)

[Ravenwing]

Thanks:)))

[Nitesh Mahabal]

Fairy Tale Kindda Feeling It Has. Descriptions of situations n places are very good. Thanks for sharing n RR

[Ravenwing]

No problem and thanks for reading:)