Silver and Blue, Part I

In the beginning, the ocean was wild. Currents were ruthless. Waves towered and fell, white foam splashing; streams of the sea shaped the underwater world, creating landscapes of blue and green.

Here, mermaids roamed the infinite spaces of the sea. Their fins were strong. They had to be. Every stroke of their fin decided the fate of every mermaid. They had to withstand the unforgivable currents.  

Mermaids had to outswim predators of the deep. For they had not yet become friends with the sun and other celestial lights. They could not yet wield heavenly fire and protect themselves against nameless creatures of the dark.

But they were friends with corals. They had been since they can remember. The corals strengthened the mermaids. They filled the inner oceans of mermaids, their mermaid souls, with colours, giving them shape and light in a world of darkness. In return, the mermaids taught the corals how to listen to the ocean, how to speak with the words of the waves, and weave them into melodies so they could calm down and soothe the ruthless seas.

In this long-forgotten and ancient sea, a lot of mermaids lived in the northern seas. Here, they were attracted by starlight, shining brighter than anything else. The mermaids marvelled at their beauty. They wondered what fires made them sparkle so bright at night. They imagined sapphire fires dancing on silver and blue stars and ruby flames raging on red orbs, far away.

After a while, the mermaids did not want to imagine the fires of the stars anymore. They wanted to find out more about them. So, they began to sing to them. First, mermaids with the most enchanting voices flattered the stars to gain their attention. Then, the mermaids sang about their dreams. They wished to be closer to the stars, wanting to learn their secrets of light and fire, hoping that their scales could glitter in the darkness of the ocean just as beautifully as the stars glowed in the blackness of the sky so far away.

The mermaids continued their songs of flattery and weaved questions within their melodies, hoping to receive answers. During their first attempts, the stars remained silent. Perhaps, the mermaids wondered, the stars could not hear them, for they were simply too far away?

But one night, a silver star, shining brighter than the others, the mermaids called it the jewel of the night sky, began to respond to the mermaids’ melodies. The silver star began to flicker. The mermaids feared that the star might go out and join the darkness all around. But they were mistaken. After the flickering, a chiming reached the mermaids’ ears. It was the voice of the star.

Soon, all other stars began to flicker, as if excited whenever the mermaids began to sing. The stars did not answer them individually but in a choir. The stars’ songs were about the past, images of long-forgotten times, unfolding inside the mermaids’ inner oceans. Inside them, new currents of understanding formed, learning things about the past and the ocean they have never thought possible. For instance, the stars explained to them that not only the currents shift but the seas and the dry lands beyond the beaches too. But they are not moving fast like the currents but very slowly. And it takes them millions of years to change.

And through these images, the mermaids learned the language of the stars, which was so much slower than their own, yet elegant and simple. The mermaids deciphered the images of the past with melodies responding to songs and tunes they translated into words. And from these words they gained wisdom and knowledge.

In this way, the stars shared their celestial magic with the mermaids. The distant starlight appeared to rain on them, covering the mermaids’ bodies with light and colours of faraway places. It was old light. A light that had travelled eons through time and space, tickling the mermaids’ fins and scales as if they were happy to finally reach them.

The wisdom of the stars enabled the mermaids to better understand the ocean. The stars taught them more songs, and the mermaids taught these songs to the corals, and together they grew stronger. For example, the stars taught them how to calm down storms with magic words and outwit the creatures of the dark. And the stars taught them to wield starlight when they were absent, during daytime, or when they were covered by clouds.

It was the greatest gift the mermaids of the north received. Starlight danced in their hands and along the tips of the mermaids’ fins, shimmering silver, glowing ruby red, gleaming sapphire blue, and sparkling emerald. The mermaids learned how to weave the starlight like an element. Just like how they used to swim through the ocean’s waters and learn her way, they learned how to navigate the magic of the stars.

And there was another gift the stars gave to the mermaids. The more time they spent untangling the strange melodies of the stars and the more they understood them, their scales began to glitter silver, the essence of every star. And every mermaid noticed a deep silver glow inside the waters of their inner oceans. They were now forever bonded with the stars.

The mermaids rejoiced when they realised what had happened. Their fins and flukes shimmered in the dark waters just like the stars sparkled in the night sky. It almost seemed as if the mermaids had transformed into stars themselves, moving through a dark space, lighting up the waters around them while flipping their fins. They lived in harmony with nature. The ocean was their home, and the stars were their protectors.

Far away to the south, where other streams and currents reigned and the waters of the ocean tasted different, there also lived mermaids. They experienced similar struggles like the northern mermaids did, but they did not sing to the stars. They were enchanted by a different celestial light, one that was closer to earth.

Whenever the sun disappeared on the horizon, they eagerly awaited the coming of another orb that lit up the night sky. It was the moon’s glow and her magical pull the southern mermaids could neither understand nor explain.

But whenever the moon rose, they noticed her power, one unlike any other. The ocean herself seemed to be in love with her. And when this dangerous ocean, this brutal yet beautiful space the mermaids called home, could be in love and be tamed by the moon, then, the mermaids wondered, what kind of powers did the moon possess?

Like the mermaids in the north, they began to sing to their favourite celestial light. Whenever she rose, the mermaids surfaced and began to sing in a choir. The first few times, the moon was ever silent, keeping her secrets. But she illuminated their skin, shining pearlescent, and lit up the waters beneath them, shimmering silver. With every fibre of their beings, the mermaids felt the pull of the moon and noticed the waves breaking towards the moon. She was in command.

The mermaids decided to sing louder and clearer. Perhaps the moon had not heard them. They also wondered if the ocean and the moon might be conversing in a secret language of sound and light. Some clever mermaids had the idea to weave the sound of the breaking waves and the strength of the ocean into their melodies. They listened closely and imitated the waves. They captured their essence and transformed them into chiming melodies.

But once again, nothing happened. But the mermaids did not give up hope. They continued. After a while, they noticed that when they were singing, the moon’s light shone brighter upon the mermaids who had changed their melody.

So, the other mermaids followed their example, and soon, the moon’s white light seemed to shine with favour upon all mermaids of the south. But the moon’s rays seemed to change. It wasn’t mere light but shimmers of streams, spherical waves, building up and breaking in the vast space between the moon and the mermaids. When this light reached the mermaids, they were flooded with wisdom and knowledge. Secrets of magic and nature were revealed to them.

During the day, the mermaids studied and learned what the moon’s light had gifted them. Soon, they realised that, just like the moon, they were now able to command the waters. They could pull waves towards them but also push them away. Some of the more creative mermaids weaved shapes of water, blue sculptures that were under their command. They acted like protective spirits, guiding the mermaids through dangerous waters and even fighting for them when creatures of the deep attacked.

When they had mastered their new gifts, they continued singing to the moon, noticing that their voices had changed. Their melodies were more complex, their tunes more defined, and their voices more elegant. With their music changed, they realised that their ears had changed too. They could make out a very special voice. Someone they had admired for a long time. It was the moon’s voice, high and gentle. She began to sing to them, revealing secret after secret.

One night, the moon had performed an especially beautiful song. She told the mermaids about a long-lost other moon that used to orbit earth, one that had loved earth so much, she had kissed her, and from their love came destruction followed by rebirth, creating a new earth and a new moon. It was then that the mermaids realised they had changed again.

For it was not only the moon who had looked upon the mermaids with favour but also the ocean herself. When the mermaids had learned how to listen to the moon and weave her magic, commanding the waters, the ocean was impressed and gifted them with colours. The once pale scales of the mermaids began to shine in all shades of blue and green. Their fins glittered turquoise like the shallow waters in the sun. Others were of a deep kelp green or a sapphire blue, like the deeper waters of the sea. The mermaids danced through the waters with joy. They had become one with the moon and ocean.

The mermaids of starlight and the mermaids of the moon lived far away from each other. But thanks to the gifts of the celestial lights, their kingdoms began to grow and prosper.

The mermaids of the north built great libraries, filling palaces of knowledge with kelp books of magic and scrolls of wisdom. They became warriors fighting with elegance and fierceness just the way the stars banished the dark at night.

In the south, the mermaids became great artists, weaving and shaping the ocean into landscapes of beauty. They too became great warriors. The magic of moonlight enabled them to be swift and strong.

As their kingdoms expanded, their borders grew closer. And one day, the mermaids of the north met the mermaids of the south. They looked at each other with wonder, knowing that they were kin, yet completely different. They could tell by the colours of their scales.

To the mermaids of the south, the starlight mermaids appeared cold but beautiful. With their silver fins, shimmering, shifting in colour every time they moved through the water, they thought them to be very mysterious. Yet, their wise eyes convinced them that they could trust them.

To the mermaids of the north, the moonlight mermaids seemed strange but elegant. With their fins, shining in the colours they knew well, they moved gracefully through the water. They understood them to be equals.

The mermaids of the south invited the starlight mermaids to their underwater palaces. The northern mermaids have never seen such wonderfully shaped corals before. The moonlight mermaids showed them how they weave the waters, singing to the corals and making them grow into the forms they desired. The mermaids of the north were very impressed!

In the beginning, it was difficult for both parties to understand each other. Their languages were similar but varied greatly, and it took them a while to understand each other when they spoke. However, the moonlight and starlight magic helped them to untangle the differences of their words and phrases. And soon, they got all the nuances right, every sound and every tone. Slowly but steadily, they learned to speak in each other’s languages, realising they created a third language, a new one, while doing so.

The southern mermaids also showed the starlight mermaids their temples, dedicated to the moon. They told them about the greatest light, the moon, and her magic. Politely, the northern mermaids smiled and remained silent. They did not disagree with them, as they were their honoured guests, but neither did they agree.

The starlight mermaids understood that they were in strange waters, possibly hostile if they weren’t careful. Inside their inner oceans, the northern mermaids knew that the moonlight mermaids were wrong. Starlight was, of course, the greatest of all celestial lights in the night sky. After all, they had created the most beautiful kingdom in the north. A kingdom of knowledge and wisdom.

The starlight mermaids decided to show the southern mermaids their kingdom. They wanted to show them that starlight was by far superior to moonlight. So, the moonlight mermaids followed the starlight mermaids to the north.

Now, the roles were reversed. The mermaids of the south were the guests of the mermaids of the north. The moonlight mermaids were enchanted by the libraries and all the wisdom the northern mermaids have collected over the years. They looked at the magic of starlight with wonder, appearing fierce and strong.

Then, the starlight mermaids showed them their temples, dedicated to what they called the purest of all light: starlight. When the southern mermaids saw their temples, they went quiet. Haven’t they shown them, just days ago, that moonlight was the greatest force mermaids could wield?

The northern mermaids noticed that the southern mermaids were not convinced. So, they let them see that they disagreed with them too.

‘Starlight is far superior to moonlight,’ one of the northern mermaids spoke. ‘Our lights appear in billions of forms, shining in brilliant colours, whereas your moon and her moonlight don’t even appear with constant strength in the night sky. Is she weak? Why does she not shine all the time?’

‘Moonlight is not weak,’ a southern mermaid countered. ‘The moon and her light are the strongest force there is. You can feel it every day and every night. She pushes and pulls the ocean at her will. She and the ocean are one. The very essence of our existence. Moonlight is the light that is most natural to mermaids. Your way of life seems unnatural to us. Starlight is so far away. It is mysterious. Perhaps even dangerous. You are wrong to wield the magic of starlight!’

The mermaids of the north gasped in shock. One of them said: ‘While your moon and moonlight come and go, our starlight is resilient. The stars never falter. The stars never diminish. There are even specks of grey on your moon when you take a closer look. Her light is not pure. But our starlight is pure. You are devoted to filthy light. Leave! Do not come again! Who knows, maybe your dirty light could darken our stars. Leave now!’

‘We shall leave with gladness!’ a southern mermaid said. ‘Your halls of knowledge mean nothing to us. The moon defines all lives in the ocean. This is the only knowledge we need. But make no mistake! If you ever speak ill of our moonlight again, we will come and destroy your kingdom with the powers the moon granted to us. Never again speak to us of dirty light, or we will vanquish you. Your blood shall be spilled, and your bodies will be devoured by the dark. Your kingdom will crumble and return to filth.’

‘We shall see whose blood will be spilled,’ a northern mermaid said. ‘Shall we ever meet again, we shall meet on the battlefield. Then we shall determine the real worth of the celestial lights. And we know, with the knowledge of the purest lights, that starlight will prevail!’

‘So be it!’ the southern mermaid said.

The southern mermaids left the kingdom of starlight, not as guests but as enemies, war on their minds. And the northern mermaids waited until the moonlight mermaids had left their realm and began plotting for battle.

To be continued…