Magic, Myths, and Me

I have been working on this story for more than seven years. This version of it has been simplified so many of the details are not here. To better fit the Once Upon a Mo’olelo collection I changed the character’s names except Sirena’s name, and overall I added more Oceania themes. I kept the protagonist’s name Sirena because in Guam they refer to mermaids as Sirenas. Fun fact: I used to dress up as a Sirena in Guam for the Japanese tourists for seven years on the Sunset Cruise in Tumon Bay. As for Oceania themes, the kingdom has always been undisturbed by outsiders and they relied upon prophesies and their god to protect them. Once Sirena learns that the outsiders will be able to find them her quest begins to put a stop to it. Just like the other stories I’ve blogged about I only posted a portion of the draft so this is just a teaser. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Once upon a tail, there lived a young goddess-mermaid named Sirena, daughter of King Kaleo and Queen Makalani. The King and Queen could not bear children, so they went to Kiloʻula, a kahuna for help. She gave instructions to the couple to make a sacrifice to the God Kanaloa. The King sacrificed his trident made of whale bone and the Queen sacrificed her beloved golden crown that was passed down for ten generations. The next day there was a pearl egg laid in their nest.

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            The pearl egg grew for over seven months until Sirena was born. The King and Queen were overjoyed and named her Sirena for her connection to the ocean and for the magic from which she was created.  She and her best friend Kalilinoe spent their days exploring the hidden kingdom of Kaiʻola, nestled deep within the Mariana Trench—so deep that no human could ever find them.

On the night of Sirena’s coronation, the kingdom was cloaked in a celebration of light and song.

But joy quickly turned to unease when Kiloʻula appeared with a grave prophecy: the humans above were creating a powerful new technology that would allow them to find Kaiʻola. Only one could journey to the surface to stop them—Sirena.

A month before her departure, Sirena fell in love with Nakoa, a brave and loyal guardian of the royal court. Their bond grew stronger each day, and parting from him would be her hardest trial. On the eve of her departure, Kiloʻula summoned the sacred mana from the heart of Kaiʻola and crafted a potion. Sirena drank it and entered the mouth of the koholā whale. As they ascended toward the human world, Sirena transformed into a human.

After days at sea, the koholā neared an island called Guam, but they were ambushed by fishermen. In the chaos, Sirena was flung from the whale’s mouth and struck her head on the side of the boat. The whale escaped while still carrying her two trunks of gold. Sirena was left floating unconscious in the surf.

She awoke in a hospital, voiceless, confused, and her memory was gone. The nurses taught her how to walk, eat, and speak. Eventually, she was placed with a kind foster parent and began attending school. Despite her mysterious past, she excelled quickly and enjoyed learning.

But in the quiet of the night, dreams crept in. Women cloaked in seafoam and stars appeared to her, chanting the name, Sirena and reaching out with hands made of light. They were not dreams. They were kahunas. They were trying to find her.

 One kahuna finally tracked her down and gained Sirena’s trust. Together they journeyed to the island of Maui where she brought Sirena to a cave in the mountains. Once Sirena regained her memories she continued her plan. She found the whale and gained the two trunks of gold. Sirena had enough riches to locate the humans who had the technology to find Kai ‘ola.

Sirena attended the university and got herself into the Pacific Discovery Team. A man named Keaka who was a part of the PDT surprised Sirena. When she first saw him, she gasped because he looked exactly like Nakoa. How could this be? She wondered. He turned out to be very helpful to her mission although he was pretending to not know who Sirena was. Together they traveled with the team aboard a submarine that was scheduled to arrive at Kai ‘ola’s coordinates within a few weeks.

Sirena’s plan was to compromise the ship before it got too deep so the humans would have a chance to save themselves. When the time came Sirena knew what she had to do. She was on her way to open the emergency hatch when Keaka stopped her. He locked her in a room.

“Help!” she yelled. She pulled on the door then started to kick it. “Let me out!”

“Be quiet!” a woman’s voice said.

Sirena started to panic because if she doesn’t stop the submarine now it will make its way to Kai ‘ola.

“Please, help!” she called out.

The door clicked open, and a woman was standing there with a fire in her eyes.

“I said be quiet.” the woman said. Then she stuck Sirena with a needle and this put her to sleep.

Immediately Sirena began to dream of the kahunas. Once they realized Sirena’s dilemma they began advising her.

“You already have the power Sirena,” one of them said. “Use the mana from within.”

Sirena opened her eyes, quickly stood up, and ran to the door. The door was locked. Use the mana from within, she told herself. She closed her eyes and focused. A power welled up inside her and burst forth blasting the door open. She ran to the hatch and blasted it open. The ocean poured in and the emergency alarms sounded throughout the ship. The team started rushing to put on their safety suits. The ship was filling with water fast. Using her mana, Sirena pushed her way out and started to swim away from the sinking ship. She saw the team inflating their safety suits making their way to the surface. Sirena forced herself to turn back into a mermaid but as soon as she turned, a sea monster grabbed a hold of her.