Cari was waiting for Nala when she swam out of the throne room in a daze and didn't seem at all surprised at Nala's state. Apparently her mother threatening people was an everyday occurrence.
"I won't bother asking you how it went but don't get lazy on me now because we have things to do." With that Cari turned and swam away down the long hallway.
"Where are we going now?" Nala cried out after her retreating figure and didn't bother hiding the annoyance in her voice. Cari didn't answer and Nala grumbled something unpleasant under her breathe before following, whether she admitted it or not Cari was ten times better than her mother not that Nala would ever admit it. The other girl slowed down allowing Nala to catch up before speaking.
"We are going on a more extensive tour because I am not going to baby you until you figure out how everything works here. We'll start with the housing and I'll show you were your room is again so you won't get lost."
They left the castle behind and swam towards the low buildings nestled into the sand where other girls swam in and out of.
"This is the boarding for the younger sirens who still have training to do. It's close to the training ground which works well. There are buildings on both sides but yours is on the other side. Come on." Again Cari led the way and Nala struggled to catch up and ask some questions.
"You said they are called sirens. Is that what you are? What I am?" Nala asked between panting breaths.
Cari nodded, "Sirens are sea creatures that to must people above are just myths and legends. For the most part we let them believe but there are cities who did not forget the stories." A wicked little smirk spread across Cari's face and Nala wondered what it meant but waited to see if she would say more.
"Sirens have long ruled the sea. It was said the first siren was created out of sea foam from the sea god himself as hunters and beasts —" Nala snorted interrupting the story and causing the other girl to glare.
"Hunters and Beasts? Yes I can see how making men and woman alike drool over you would be so dangerous." Nala scoffed but Cari wasn't upset, she stopped and turned to face her.
"We are hunters, we don't have training grounds to practice being devastatingly beautiful," she turned back around but paused to say over her shoulder, "although if we did you could benefit from a few lessons." Nala gritted her teeth but continued to follow Cari.
They swam farther away from the housing where more elaborate buildings replaced the basic stone buildings. These rose up in spires, some even looked like shells Nala and Ula used to collect on the beaches.
"These are the housing for the older members of our clan. There's also libraries, shops such as weaponry and clothing, and music halls." Libraries, they had libraries here. Nala wondered how they would have books underwater and she knew she would find out soon, she couldn't resist a good story even after all this time, Grandfather would be beside himself. A quick short pang hit in her right in the chest but she pushed it away and swam after Cari who had already moved on. Cari showed her not just the city the sirens had built for themselves but also the natural wonders of the sea, pointing out coral reefs, trenches so dark your eyes would hurt just looking at them, huge gardens of seaweed and kept that floated all the way up to the surface. As they continued Cari began again the history of sirens, created by a very old sea god and treated as minors for a long time. When the gods disappeared they evolved until they became intelligent creatures able to govern themselves and elect a leader to follow. They created this city as a safe haven but never forget the men above who had hunted their kind for sport and now they did the same.
It was at this part of the story that Nala could not take it anymore. Sirens hunting men? Bringing down entire ships and drowning cities with what power? Nala was as useless down here as she was in the surface unable to protect herself when the villagers had thrown her in jail, unable to find her sister or her father, unable to help her mother.
"Where is this power?" Nala snapped.
Cari paused to look at the girl, trembling in anger, "What do you mean?"
"All this talk of bloodthirsty sirens killing men left and right, how exactly do you do that? Flip your hair, bat your eyelashes and ask them nicely to jump from their ships? I don't see any power here besides your mother and her only strength is being able to glare people half to death." The last words were a growl and Nala barely blinked before she found herself pinned to a boulder behind her with Cari's clawed hand wrapped around her throat.
Cari stared at the girl with an almost expressionless look. "You want power? You already have it and yet are too stupid and stubborn to realize it. Come." With that the girl grabbed Nala by the arm and pulled her away much faster than usual. Nala struggled to keep up. Every instance in her life when she had been weak or shut down seemed to flash before Nala eyes and she hoped the sea water would wash away her tears before they rolled down her face. They seemed to be going in a different direction now, away from the city the sirens had built for themselves here.
"You are so focused on your new found looks that it seems you've ignored the rest of what I've said, as well as your basic urges. The hunt sings to us, to the violence in our blood and makes us give into the bloodlust. If you remember I said some cities know of us, they know us as murderers, witches, monsters. So why deny it?"
The girls stopped behind big rock formations and Cari bid Nala to be quiet before pointing up. The surface was closer here and Nala was surprised at how far they had swam in such a short time, she couldn't even see the siren city any more. She looked up to see a group of siren swimming above them heading towards the surface. Suddenly, a beautiful sound overtook Nala's senses. It called to something within and vaguely she wondered if this is what Ula meant when she said the sea sent a call, who could resist it? The song swept through the young siren and then a rumbling sound hit her ears and then shouting, Nala looked to the side and a little far away there was a boat heading straight towards the group of sirens. Nala watched entranced as they inhaled deeply and a change swept over them. They're nails elongated to claws, the fins of their tails grew sharper and little needle like spikes shot out of the back of their tails in a straight line, black scales erupted all over their skin like armor, and their teeth sharpened to a point. The group let out unearthly wails before they shot towards the boat in a speed so great Nala was thrown back.
Before either girl could see what would happened Cari grabbed Nala and shot away from the scene as fast as the sirens. She dropped Nala on the sand and just watched as the disbelief and awe spread over the girls face. She looked up and breathed out one word, "How"
"That is the transformation that hits us when we go on a hunt. Like the sea, sirens can adapt to anything and come in very different moods and forms. We are not pretty decorations for the oceans. That is what we are, what we do. We hunt pathetic human men who think they stand a chance against us and tear them to shreds." Cari, in this instance, looked more like her mother than ever, an unforgiving queen to rule over the seven seas.
Nala was slow to say anything but needed to ask one question that had bothered her,
"Why did you choose me?"
"The sea chose you. Any girl who dies a violent death at sea has the possibility of becoming a siren though not all do. You were brought to our doors by the sea." Nala debated with herself wondering what she would reveal if she asked her next question. She opened her mouth and then shut it.
"What about your death?" Nala blurted the question out, which wasn't what she wanted to ask but she couldn't bring herself to mention Ula again. Cari gave her a hard look and Nala thought she wouldn't answer.
"I never died. I was born."
"Sirens can be born?" Nala felt a headache coming along.
Cari sighed, "Yes, of course. Didn't you notice when you met my mother? She has two tails, that is what happens when a siren is born naturally. It a sign of great strength for it is very rare for a siren to be birthed and the woman who do this are praised, their babies treasured."
Nala puzzled this out in her head, she had assumed when Aphrodite mentioned Cari was her daughter that maybe Cari had been adopted by the empress but she suppose they did look too much alike so this explanation made more sense except...
"I did not see any men anywhere so how exactly did your mother become pregnant with you?" Nala asked, confused.
"Sirens are able to reproduce by themselves, that is why I look so much like my mother. There are no males, we have no use for them."
"That explains why you have relations with another girl." The statement was out before Nala could even notice and she wondered if now Cari was going to finally kill her.
Cari gave her an unreadable look before answering back. "That is enough questions. I need to head back and since we didn't finish our tour before you felt the need to insult the people who took you in forcing me to show you the truth you shall have to figure out the rest yourself." She didn't look back as she swam away and left Nala alone. She did not watch as the other girl swam away instead focusing on the tail in front of her floating slightly off the ground. Nala ran her hand up and down the scaly thing marveling at the beauty of it and then wanted to laugh, now she didn't mind the change in her appearance so much and she daydreamed about the transformation the other sirens went through. Imagined what they did to that ship and dreamed that it was Samuel on the ship and Nala who was racing along the water to tear him apart. She wondered if she might be able to move at the same speed the other sirens did. Nala flicked her tail to stand straight and groaned at the pain and stiffness it caused in her muscles, she still was not used to this tail and needed to work out how to use it, the training made much more sense now.
With another flick of the tail she tried shooting through the water but it didn't work. For an hour or longer Nala cursed and cried out in pain as she forced her tail to keep moving not even aware in what direction she was going until she saw the seaweed garden Cari had showed her. One last time Nala tried to move her tail correctly and this time it worked! She swept past the seaweed only to bump into a tall stalk and go tumbling down a small hill landing with a grunt in the middle of a small clearing. Her bruised body ached and Nala pulled herself into a sitting position before resting her head on her curled up tail and wrapping her arms around herself.
Everything was quiet for a moment, tears started to spill out of Nala's eyes even as they were washed away by the waves Nala could still feel them and then she was sobbing and struggling to breathe. She gasped needing air or water, anything to make this feeling go away. It had only been one day and already Nala was overwhelmed and for perhaps the first time in her life she was utterly alone.
She wanted her sister.
It was a simple fact and the girl wept for the one thing she had always taken for granted. The figure hiding in the stalks of seaweed watched silently at the crying girl wondering why she cried. The figure stayed silent until the girl finally lifted her head to rub at her eyes and then gasped. They emerged from their hiding place and the red eyed girl looked up and whispered one word.
"Ula?"