The Syfire's Seduction: An Anthology | Prequel of The Mer Chronicles

Chapter 1: In the Beginning

RMS Titanic; Mortal Realm

All she remembered was the crash of her body hitting the waves, the icy water slicing across her skin, and the sound of the ship splintering into a thousand pieces.

Then darkness.

Mary Sophia woke up with a gasp, keeling over and retching to dispose of the gross taste of saltwater from her mouth. Her fingers grasped at the ground beneath her, but she came up holding grains of sand.

"Where am I?" she rasped. Her head pounded to the beat of a thousand drums. Sophia groaned and blinked to take in her surroundings. Her vision blurred. Nothing about this place made sense. She had to still be dreaming.

A sparkling pool of water shimmered next to her.

"Somewhere safe," an unfamiliar voice replied, echoing through what Sophia assumed must've been a cave. The girl came into Sophia's view and stuck a coconut in her direction.

She regarded it carefully until the girl rolled her eyes and shoved it to her lips. "Drink. It'll help heal your injuries."

Reluctantly, Sophia swallowed the mixture. She wrinkled her nose at the taste, surprised to find the spiced earthy flavor pleasantly tasty.

"What is this? Where am I?" Her voice started to come back to normal with every sip.

"You are in Ship's Haven," another voice said. This one belonged to an older woman with light brown hair who stepped forward, her long white dress billowing behind her. "My name is Louise. I am part of the Silver Coven of Mer."

Sophia scrambled away from her. "Mer? As in mermaids?" This had to be a joke. She had to be dreaming or dead. There was no way...

The first girl snapped her fingers and the sparkling blue pool to Sophia's right began to bubble.

"Believe it, it's real," she said. "And soon you'll be one of us."

"Lillian," the woman who called herself Louise warned. "Go get Cassandra. We need her for this next part."

Sophia's eyes widened. "N-next part? Next part of what? And what do you mean 'one of us'? I'm dead, aren't I?"

Lillian dove into the pool without answering her questions and swam out of view, leaving Mary Sophia alone with Louise.

"Can you please tell me what's going on?" she asked, close to tears.

Louise took her hand. "You sacrificed yourself to save others aboard the Titanic. We, the Silver Coven, look for brave warriors such as yourself who give their lives to the waves for the greater good. Under normal circumstances, you would have died, but the Aquarids have the power to restore life."

"Aquarids?" Sophia frowned. This was too many new terms to wrap her mind around.

"Yes. We are descendants of the nature nymphs, which means we also control the elements. Each of us has a different power."

"D-did you see a man?" she asked. "His name was Thomas. He...I think he died when the ship exploded. Or at least, I think that's what happened. Does he get saved too? And what about everyone else? There were over two thousand passengers on board."

Louise shook her head. "No, I am sorry. It is unfortunate, but we cannot save everyone."

"So then, wh-why me?"

Before the woman could answer, the girl called Lillian returned with a redhead who looked just around Sophia's age. Sophia's eyes widened as she watched gills pulse on the side of their necks before disappearing entirely when they emerged fully from the water.

"You must be our newest catch," the redhead said, beaming. "I'm Cassandra, but you can call me Cassie."

"Nice to meet you," Mary Sophia replied. Was it, though? She didn't know what to think.

"Mary Sophia, daughter of Patricia," she said, "we welcome you as the newest Aquarid to the Silver Coven of Mer."

Sophia blinked. "Um. Thank you?"

"Do you accept our invitation into the Silver Coven as the newest Aquarid, promising to abide by our rules while living out a full, new life?" Louise continued.

"Um." Mary Sophia looked around at the three women in the cave. They had saved her life and she figured it was either join them or die, so she picked the former. "Yes, I accept."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Lillian and Cassandra each grasped one of her hands before holding onto Louise's hands. The three began to mutter in a foreign language Sophia didn't recognize. Latin, maybe?

The wind began to swirl around them and water rose up from the pool, dousing Sophia in a silvery cocoon.

Her body burned, yet she somehow felt safe surrounded by these women who called themselves Mer. Suddenly, the cocoon shattered like glass around her. Cold air wisped from Sophia's lips but her body wasn't cold.

"Welcome to the Silver Coven of the Aquarids," Louise said. "From now on, you shall be referred to as Sophia Marie Martin."