Chapter 4

Well before the dawn of man, unicorns were prevalent. They were created in the same was Mila was and could either roam the land or seas. When in water, they appeared as sharks or porpoises.

Centuries ago, Mila had helped raise enter herds of the majestic beasts. Now, they were entirely too rare. On land, humans had sought them for their beauty and ivory and because of their somewhat vicious nature, were sometimes killed on sight for human safety. In water, their fins were a delicacy or they were being fished out.

Mila had given up on raising them when she was ordered by her god to accompany them onto the land. She would still see them for many years after gaining legs, but it was never the same. Like her, they didn’t really belong on the surface world.

If it hadn’t been ordered, none of the mermaids would have really wanted to leave the ocean. It was the whim of their god who had become curious with the new forms of life above. Mila and her people had watched the dinosaurs come and go. They watched the varieties of megafauna and megaflora changing and becoming smaller. They had watched the first primates straighten their backs and begin to invent.

They had watched all these things and kept their distance. The surface world changed, but those in the sea were long-lived while above they broke down and died too easily. It wasn’t until mankind began to gather into groups and built lasting settlements that the ocean god took interest.

Or, more accurately, the god’s first-born took an interest.

While Mila and her kin could call be considered children of their god, a primordial being, they might well have been the aquatic version of angels. As in the human religion of Christianity, their god had a clear favorite, first-born child – so close to the god to be considered an extension of it.

So loved was the first born that their god gave them an entire kingdom, the oceans of planet Earth. Mila and her kin were created in order to become members of the first-born's court. With the will of the child being the same as the god’s, the people worshipped and obeyed. Mila and her kin cultivated the oceans, making a paradise that lasted for centuries.

Mermaids were not made to be bored of their work. They had been built with purpose, protectors of their kingdom. They did not feel the passage of time under the water where there was no setting sun to mark a day. They had no concept of a year, as they had no constellations to show them their rotation around the sun.

The first-born did notice though. They had been born as an extension and companion to god, not being born with a firm job to fulfill. They noticed the passing of the ages. They became bored. Boredom, giving birth to curiosity.

The changing of the surface world was fascinating to the first-born. Entire cultures were forming, none of them under the control of the ocean god. There was a novelty to witnessing it.

When the first-born announced their intention to step onto land and investigate the growing populations, it was expected that some of Mila’s people would escort. To accompany the first-born was an honor worth fighting for.

Mila had done her part. The seas were a harsh, tumultuous place. She had used every bit of her cunning and viciousness to earn the right to step out onto land. Never once had she considered that it might be a rather long visit.

By nature, mermaids were sexless. They had been created to work without a set limit to their existences. They were not designed to procreate. But, as the main interest on land was humanity, they had a need to blend in. The first-born had shown a preference for the fairer sex which was why mermaids were predominately female in appearance.

On the outside, Mila was entirely human in appearance. She had soft flesh that was warm to the touch. She grew hair and was able to shed tears through ducts. She’d adjusted her vocals to learn the human tongues and was able to digest their foods. Even pseudo-sexual organs were created to preserve the appearance and function of humanity, though there was no monthly cycle.

Human bodies have a habit of changing quite a lot over time. In order to properly integrate into societies, Mila had to force her human figure to wither and age. While it was impossible to die, every few decades, it became necessary to shed the human skin and make a new one.

Sometimes, she had made her faces to look the people of the age. When she was in the Northern hemisphere, she’d made herself acceptably pale. In Southern regions, she’d worn a darker pallor.

As the humans began to reach out to every region of the world, the rules on her appearance become more lax. She hadn’t put a lot of effort into the face she wore this time which might be a pity if it was to be her last.

With no humans around, she wouldn’t need to artificially age this skin. Without the presence of the firstborn to aid her, she wouldn’t be able to shed as easily again. The face she wore now, could very well be the one she was stuck with forever.

Fortunately, the unicorn didn’t care what she looked like. As long as she still had her extra defenses, she wasn’t worried about survival either. In the ocean, she’d been an apex predator. It had been impossible to completely convert into human and it would have made her kind too vulnerable to be able to protect their charge.

Humanity was only skin deep for her. When she felt threatened, she could unleash her second set of teeth which were far sharper. Her jaw strength was far superior and when she hunted, she could close her second lids to see the warmth prey gave off.

In recent years, the firstborn had been known as ‘Ariel’. Possibly as a sort of joke. For a long time, in between travels, they had still been able to enter the oceans easily. It was faster for them to swim than it was to take a boat when seas were unpredictable.

However, as technology developed, air travel became even faster. Humans were exploring the oceans with vessels capable of going deeper and deeper. Satellites even took regular pictures of their oceans. In order to hide the existence of mermaids, for the comfort and ease of Ariel, Mila and her kin had not been allowed to swim in the ocean for years.

When the apocalypse came, Ariel had seen that the human era was ended. The cities were becoming overwhelmed with corpses and the smell of rot. They’d previously been stationed fairly far inland, in the Rocky Mountains. Ariel had needed to get an emergency charter.

With the panic of being overcome by the arisen dead, the only flight she could get was on a small bush plane. Only three others were able to squeeze into the cramped space while the others were set to guard and clear the tarmac of the swarming creatures.

Mila had been ordered to stay.

Sometime later, the order that had compelled them to stay in the mountains faded. With the distance being put between them and Ariel, the internal dialogue they’d previously used with each to obey her commands stopped working between them. They became listless and even fragile.

The unicorn, a creature from her birthplace, was a comfort to her and she greatly feared its leaving her too.