The Spectrum of the Sea

Viola was an unusual type of mermaid for two reasons: the first reason being her choice to only tease her appearance to humans so the theories and myths would keep spinning on land, rather than swimming after the collective dream to fall in love with a human. All other mermaids she had ever known and met had a longing to live among the humans, a story she grew tired of quickly upon hearing it over and over. She loved lingering close to ships, boats, and even humans on surfboards drifting out further than they should to talk about catching a glimpse of a mythical creature. Their conversations were fun, but she never felt anything for any of them beyond amusement.

The second reason was due to being created by the cult that worshiped Cthulhu.

When her parents moved her to that little town by the sea in the early 1900's, they intended to open their daughter (who had, as they said back then, "an ill mind") to bigger potential and possibilities by putting her closer to their God's greatest creation: the ocean. Her mother would wrap her in a soft, white blanket and walk her small frame to the sand where Viola would gasp in fear as the water crawled closer and closer with each wave. She feared the power of the water with everything she had, but her mother insisted that growing a bond with this fear would cure her of her health oddities.

Those oddities weren't harmful, though. Viola was sensitive to her surroundings from the moment she was born. She had been a colicky baby who grew into a nervous toddler who avoided accidents most carefully. She advanced through milestones at a rate that the family called, in a haughty voice, "Genuinely alarming." She never felt like she was falling behind, but she had qualities that humans seemed afraid to approach. Her general fear of everything was coupled with an intense need to avoid loud, confusing sounds lest she fall into emotional despair. She would kick and scream, sobbing at the feeling her brain sending off what felt like bright, rapid lighting strikes as the disruption of the noise would rock her to her very core. She preferred to be alone, where other children wanted to play together. She had specific tastes for food, falling into another "ill girl fit" (coined by her father) if forced to deviate from what she knew to be comfortable. Viola was never out to harm anyone, but the world saw her as harmful to them, and so she followed her mother to the sand every day.

As a teenager, she had grown to learn that the ocean was a greater comfort than expected. The water was fairly predictable, having been visiting it like an old friend for years, and it never shocked her with frightening noise. It just lapped up to her ankles and sometimes left seaweed strands wrapped around an ankle, making her giggle from the tickling sensation as she'd pluck it off and toss it back.

"Go back in, you belong in the water!"

She began collecting seashells and naming them, leaving them in the sand so they could be at home (where life should be most comfortable) but forming a bond by lining them up beautifully so they could be together as well. Viola's seashells were family in a way she was not with her own. Her mother, weary of "these damned weird habits," discovered her project and threw the shells bitterly back into the water.

As an adult, Viola still had not changed much, at the frustration of her parents and every doctor and specialist who traveled to their home to evaluate her. It was endless appointments and home observations, her parents never giving up their crusade to find the medical cure for her. Viola resisted many of the specialists, fearing them, seeing them all as an army coming against her for being herself. It was the overwhelming assault on her character that finally pushed her to return to an old habit she'd had before moving: she decided to sneak out of the house when her parents fell asleep, and she headed for the ocean at once.

Warnings had come for the entire duration of living in the little home close to a mysterious form of nature: never stray at night, never go into the water too far, you could be swept away forever, and so on. Viola had decided these warnings were not meant to keep her safe, but to limit her. She desired freedom, and there was technically nothing to stop her. So she fled, wrapped in her soft, white blanket.

She walked barefoot to the edge of the water and headed away from town, remaining parallel with the ever changing tides. Mother always insisted on shoes although Viola hated the feeling of wet shoes, and she was happy to see that being without them was as beautiful of a sensation as she'd hoped it would be. The wet, squishy sand was a satisfying texture as the cold water kissed her toes gently, sending that infamous giggle out of her throat as she continued walking. She just wanted to walk under that moonlight forever.

Viola’s feet were icy cold after a good hour, but she barely noticed the differences between warm and cold anymore, so it took a while before she realized she needed to sit somewhere and place her feet inside her blanket to warm up a bit before continuing her new journey. Nearby was a boulder that looked perfect, smooth and flat on the surface but only slightly angled. She strolled over and sat, pulling her chilly toes under the blanket and shivering slightly, and turned her gaze on the full moon over the ocean.

She smiled, seeing a ship sailing in the distance, and felt lulled by its view on the horizon as her feet slowly regained feeling and warmth in them. Viola expected to see the ship grow smaller but instead, it grew larger, which started to concern her.

The ship was drawing close enough that Viola was feeling threatened, thinking it might stop and let off strangers. She had no interest in strangers, no interest whatsoever. Solitude was her greatest experience. Why was this ship disrupting that? She could feel her emotions start to build and stood up, ready to continue her walk despite not finishing warming her feet up in the blanket. It was then that she heard the unusual language being chanted in the darkness around her, and blackness consumed her…

When Viola awoke, she was in a cave of sorts, one near the ocean as she could hear her familiar lullabies crashing gently nearby. It soothed her, but she had no memory of how she got to the cave.

She sat up and witnessed a large group of individuals in solid black robes with twine tied around the waists, their faces shrouded by the length of the hoods, and Viola felt terrified.

“No!” She shook her head violently, placing her hands against the sides of her head and wanting to escape immediately. “I don’t like this! Please, let me leave!”

One of the robed humans approached her still, causing Viola to start kicking, but they continued until they sat beside her and wrapped their arms around her, squeezing gently. Viola unexpectedly felt relief flood her body, and her emotions started to wind down as she felt embraced in a way she wasn’t used to. The squeezing and the seemingly sincere affection felt good, and she pulled her hands down to timidly look at the human who had done this for her.

Beneath the hood, she could just barely make out the large, brown eyes of a woman. Her nose was wide and her lips were full and curved, her round face giving a gentle look as she studied Viola’s expression.

“I’m not going to hurt you, little love. I’m here to help you.”

Viola liked the sound of her voice and felt her body ease up as she drifted slightly toward the woman, leaning into her lightly to test how much she felt safe.

“How?” Viola’s bottom lip quivered. “Doctors? Specialists?”

“No, my love, He has something better planned than that. He’s seen you, you know. Many times.”

“Who is he?”

“Cthulhu.” She spoke simply, as if this should be common knowledge.

“Who is Cthulhu?”

“He’s our Master, little love. He’s been watching you from the ocean. He is a God amongst ocean creatures and humans alike, he is in charge and he brings power and wisdom. He is offering you a gift, my little chosen love! It is a gift beyond what any of us could ever have.”

Viola dropped her head, knowing where this was going.

“He knows how to make me normal?”

The woman smiled, her straight teeth flashing reassuringly.

“You don’t need to be normal, you need to be free.”

From that point, Viola was encouraged and taken to meet with the Leader of these people who seemed to truly believe in this creature named Cthulhu. From what she had been told on the journey to meet the Leader, Cthulhu was originally believed to be a fictional creation by an American writer named H.P. Lovecraft. However, many took the story seriously and researched more in-depth, and the people who found Viola were just a small number of those who knew the truth of Cthulhu’s existence.

Upon meeting the Leader and being promised eternal life, safety, comfort, and freedom, Viola was swayed easily by the gentle approaches and smiles. He was a tall, lanky man, with a calming voice and what felt like predictable reactions and words. He almost didn’t feel like a stranger at all. Viola found comfort in the way he made his case, and so, she accepted the offer that had been sent by Cthulhu himself: to become His creation.

It was then that she went through a bitterly painful but successful process that changed her into what humans called a “mermaid.” However, unlike other mermaids, she was granted abilities to twist the minds of humans she came across. The Leader referred to it as her gift for having had to endure the torment of her own mind forcibly twisting to what her family called “normal.”

Viola looked at her reflection in the water when her transformation completed and she gasped, her long, black, curly hair looking full around her sweet, round face. Her fins were of brilliant, varying pink shades, which carried up in unpredictable patterns through the flashing glamour of her rainbow scales. Her body liked this change, and she dove into the water with enthusiasm to begin her first swim as a newborn mythical being.

As she swam, she heard Cthulhu speak to her directly.

“Use your gift wisely, Little One, and remember that you are my most precious creation.” His voice came through in a wavy manner that Viola found charming, and she responded back in her own mind.

“Why me?”

“You’re pure. I will not corrupt you, but I will empower you. What you do with it is up to you. Be free, Little One.”

The first thing Viola did was swim back to where her family lived, lingering below the murky waters to catch one last glimpse of her old life before moving on forever. It was night time, so risk of being seen was minimal (plus she would just make them forget her with her gift anyway) and she poked her head out of the water to look at her old bedroom window.

She could see her painting of a rainbow still hanging on her wall, one of her fondest creations, and smiled as she turned away with the comfort that she was leaving that life having seen something beautiful as her final act. She saw the ship full of Cthulhu followers on the horizon and giggled, diving beneath the surface to chase them.