by Jill D'Entremont
This short fiction is suitable for young adults and up and leans heavily on the themes of healing, learning to trust, and discovering healthy relationships. There is no language/swearing or adult content. Mild violence is brief and includes mention of blood.
What quite literally started out as a dream where I became a mermaid has exploded into my beloved character named Sapphyre. She showed up like a muse and inspired me to write, create, and draw as much as I could. She even inspired my latest hobby of "mermaiding" (as Sapphyre, of course). Sitting down to write Sapphyre: Gem of the Sea took almost 8 years, 2 false-starts, and 3 drafts to create, but it's been worth it every step of the way. I hope you enjoy reading about her as much as I enjoyed creating it all!
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. Isaiah 43:2
Formal Name: Sapphyre'enclei
(saf-FIER ahn-CLAY)
Residence: Enclei
Rank: Lyra
Background
Sapphyre was not born a mermaid, but all memory of her life as a human has been lost due to the trauma she experienced in the laboratory that created her. She struggles to find her place among the rest of merkind, trying to find some purpose to her "new" existence.
Personality
Sapphyre is relaxed, kind, and playful in familiar company. She wants nothing more than to feel like she belongs, but she tends to withdraw when faced with opposition.
Appearance
Sapphyre has turquoise eyes, dark brown hair, and has a blue tail that fades to a light lilac. Her "split" tail fluke is unique among any other in merkind, and her lack of hip fins is pretty rare among mermaids.
Formal Name: Luis Dent
(loo-EES DENT)
Residence: Crestway
Occupation: Office Assistant
Background
Luis is an average human being who lives small seaside town of Crestway. His friendship with his next-door neighbor grows into romance, but she turns up missing before he is able to admit his feelings to her. He is filled with regret and is drawn to obsession when he happens across a mermaid who looks remarkably like her.
Personality
Luis is friendly, outgoing and logical. He cares very deeply when he finds someone to care for, but he is prone to focusing so intently on something he can lose the bigger picture.
Appearance
Luis has blue-green eyes, tan hair, and is around 6' tall. He likes to wear cotton shirts and shorts, but he doesn't like to wear shoes on the beach.
Formal Name: Nathaneal'enclei
(na-THAN-yell ahn-CLAY)
Residence: Enclei
Rank: Lyren
Background
Nathaneal is the son of Neva, the Matriarch of the Enclei village, and he has inherited her ability to wield magic. His title and role have not blinded him from having a normal life, and he always enjoys hanging out with his friends (and avoiding all potential contact with anyone from the surface).
Personality
Nathaneal isn't the most adventurous merman around and often speaks before he thinks, but he has a big heart and a very friendly demeanor that allows him to never meet a stranger.
Appearance
Nathaneal has blue eyes, blond hair, and has a green tail with dark green markings. He has ribbed pectoral fins and another pair of fins near his fluke.
Formal Name: Khallista'enclei
(kah-LEE-stah ahn-CLAY)
Residence: Enclei
Rank: Lyra
Background
Khallista is the daughter of Neva, the Matriarch of the Enclei village. She loves exploring, finding trinkets in shipwrecks, and swooning at merboys with her mermaid friends. The untimely death of her father, Derrick, furthered her rebellious phase, and she clashes with her mother, brother, and sister often.
Personality
Khallista is incredibly curious and has no subtle emotions. Despite being taught to avoid the surface, her curiosity outweighs her fear.
Appearance
Khallista has blue eyes, long blond hair, and has an orange tail that fades to a pastel hue near the fluke. Her two pairs of hip fins are also pastel orange.
Formal Name: Neva'enclei
(NEE-vah ahn-CLAY)
Residence: Enclei
Rank: Avera
Background
Neva is the matriarch of the Enclei village, a role she assumed at death of her husband, Derrick. She has inherited her family's ability to wield magic and is considered the most powerful of her generation. She cares deeply for her children, including her adopted daughter, Sapphyre. She was once an avid collector of human trinkets, which is undoubtedly where her daughter got her curiosity.
Personality
She is a benevolent leader who is incredibly caring and generous, willing to sacrifice all she can for her family and her village.
Appearance
Neva has blue eyes, graying blond hair, and has a coral tail that fades to a pastel hue near the fluke. Her two pairs of hip fins are also pastel coral. She always wears a sand dollar necklace given to her by her husband.
Formal Name: Jared Moreno
(JEH-red more-EH-no)
Residence: Enclei
Occupation: Police Officer
Background
Jared is an officer for the Crestway Police Department, and he would always choose to stay in with a good videogame than to have a night on the town. Due to their shared interests, he becomes fast friends with Luis. He keeps a close eye on him when he notices shifts in his behavior.
Personality
Jared is lighthearted and jovial, but he knows when to be serious and focused. He is protective of his friends and is not afraid to use his role for their advantage.
Appearance
Jared has dark brown eyes, black hair, and a muscular build. He is around 5'10" tall. He wears a standard Crestway PD uniform when on duty (and jeans and a t-shirt when casual).
Crestway is a city of approximately 3,000 human residents on the edge of the ocean, known for its beaches, mild weather, and calm waters.
Daily Life
Crestway's economy is driven by tourism. During the spring and summer months, the influx of travellers spikes the population exponentially—filling hotel rooms and any rentable space to the brim. These tourism dollars more than make up for the slump during the winter months. Residents and visitors alike enjoy the beach and all it offers. Fishing is a popular hobby, and some fishermen take it up as a career to catch and sell fresh seafood. Crestway has its share of bars and "party hot spots" that still get some use when the beach is out of season, but even the locals know to avoid these areas when the waves of "spring breakers" arrive.
Many permanent residents of Crestway are drawn to the town less for the tourism aspect, but for the anonymity. It is a popular place to begin a new life, especially for younger people looking for a calmer place to set down new roots. But many others choose to retire to the seaside town, balancing the average age of the population.
The Lighthouse
One of Crestway's popular locations is the Crestway Lighthouse, a functioning lighthouse maintained by a family of keepers. A small park with a pavilion was built at the top of the cliff near the keepers' quarters, and winding path down the rocks leads to the beach. The lighthouse is popular for events and tours for both visitors and residents alike.
Ligthhouse Lofts
An apartment complex that's seen its better days, Lighthouse Lofts is within walking distance (and view) of the lighthouse, and offers modest, yet affordable rooms for permanent residents.
Red Tail Laboratories
Once a marine laboratory for rehabilitation and research, Red Tail Laboratories was shut down due to allegations that they had been kidnapping women and attempting to create living mermaids. As no mermaid was ever found, the news quietly swept the story under the rug.
Leadership
Crestway is led by a Mayor who works closely with a City Council and city staff.
(AHN-clay)
Enclei is a small village of approximately 150 merfolk and is surrounded by a kelp forest. It is about a 30-minute swim from the surface and the human town of Crestway, but ever since its founding, not a single human has ever discovered it.
Aura
Like almost every village of merkind, a magic aura encases the village to ensure the village's safety from any outsiders, human or marine. This aura is maintained by a magic-born mermaid or merman—in this case, Enclei's matriarch, Neva—and it provides protection as well as augmenting the light of the sun so that it reaches the village.
Daily Life
Merfolk of Enclei live simple, peaceful lives. No currency is used, as its residents live in a communal sense. Food and goods are shared or traded, and despite not being required to share, it is impossible to find a single member of Enclei who won't. Merfolk learn trades or pass down skills to the younger generation. Skills include hunting, scavenging, food preparation, house building, fashioning clothing, and even childcare. Homes are built using found materials, wood, and rock. There are some existing caves used for homes as well. Clothing is also created from found objects; mostly sail cloth, netting, ocean plants, and other fabrics that are lost by humans. Shells are a common adornment.
Hunters train with nets and spears (found or handmade) and catch fish and shellfish for food. Sharks and other larger marine animals are generally left alone, although carcasses can sometimes be scavenged for their skin. They hunt in a vast expanse beside the village that are safer waters, but are not under Neva's protection (thus allowing sea creatures to enter to be caught).
Leadership
Enclei is led by a Patriarch and his family who works closely with a group of elders.
Among the rocky parts of Crestway's beaches, a small, domed cavern open to the sky and the sea rests on the shoreline. Due to a cave-in near the beach-side entrance, police have since roped off the area to prevent injury. This creates an excellent hideway for a mermaid to sun herself in peace.
Only one human in particular stumbles across the cove despite the warnings, and he soon learns secrecy is of utmost importance.
Biology
Merfolk are aquatic mammals that can trace their heritage back to the sirens of ancient history. Their tails are flexible and are covered in smooth, yet dense, skin. Most merfolk, from head to tail, average around 7'-8' feet in length. Their average lifespan is around 120 years.
In general, mermen have more vibrant coloration and more intricate patterns in their tails and markings. Mermaid coloration is more pastel in hue. All merfolk may have pectoral fins and additional fins along their sides or near their fluke. Color, fluke shape, and fin position are hereditary.
Merfolk have the ability to breathe above the water with a human-like respiratory system, and under the water with gills on the sides of their neck.
Community
Merfolk live in small villages, sometimes called pods. These villages are very close-knit communities overseen by a leading family. Both the husband and wife of each pair of merfolk have roles within their family and within their village. Resources are shared communally, and most merfolk specialize in a trade to support themselves and their village.
Diet
Merfolk are omnivores and eat a variety of fish, crustaceans, and sea plants. A team of hunters from a village will go out to catch fish with found netting and hand-made spears.
Magic
Merfolk posess an aura that shields them from human sight while underwater. Beyond this simple magic, some merfolk are considered "magic-born" and develop much stronger skills, including healing and water manipulation. Magic runs through family lines, though not every child of a magic-born couple will be magic-born themselves. The leading family of a village usually includes a magic-born, and their skills are used to protect their village and to amplify sunlight from the surface.
Courting
Merfolk reach maturity around 20 years of age. Courting is very formal among merfolk, and a merman must ask a mermaid's parents for permission before a relationship can begin. Merfolk look for potential mates within their village or by traveling to nearby villages. Once a couple is ready to wed, the patriarch of the village will join the couple in marriage. The mermaid will join her husband's village upon marriage unless she is the only child of the ruling family.
Reproduction
Merfolk are mammals and give birth to live young after a 9-month gestation period. A mermaid usually gives birth to a single child, and twins are very uncommon. Reproductive organs, similar to dolphins, are inside their bodies with slits below their abdomens. Merfolk bond for life and raise their childen as a family unit along with assistance from the rest of their village.
Threat
Merfolk have few aquatic enemies, and only larger breeds of sharks are considered a potential threat. Sharks rarely hunt down or eat merfolk and will only attack if threatened.
Human Influence
Merfolk have not interacted with humans in hundreds of years. Humans' attitudes for merfolk changed to one of dangerous curiosity and even exploitation, and merfolk avoid all potential human contact by living far beneath the surface. They do, however, scour the ocean for human goods, such as nets, tools, and cloth. Children are taught a fearful respect of the surface world, and, in turn, most do not see a need to leave the safety of their village.