A melody carried the men to their deaths. Abandoning the steer of the ship, the captain threw himself overboard. Another crew member dropped his mop before leaning over the side. He fell face-first into a cluster of sharp rocks. Cries were heard as men were left to bleed out, their sounds muffled by Ariel's song. Her voice was smooth as seagulls aided her with a series of squawks.

"Let the world hear me now, let you rise up from the ground, and come to meee." Ariel sang. Her hair was beginning to crust with saltwater. A battered man, possibly in his late twenties, looked at her. His eyes were being flooded with blood as a gash on his forehead rained down in him. His leg had snapped. The man's skin was pale as the bone split through. A crooked angle and blood loss made the man weak.

"Rise from your broken bodies and let me have yours." Ariel continued with a just grace. One man had made it down quickly by sliding down ropes. Besides the rope burn stinging away at his hands, he seemed relatively fine. Ariel grinned. A devious, sugary sweet grin that would make serial killers scream in terror and naive children giggle and dance.

"You are who I desire. Your body, mine to keep." Ariel raised her index finger to him, beckoning him to the rock she sat on. She purred out more lyrics and watched from her rock as the man stubbled to her. His pants were soggy with saltwater and his forehead shined with sweat. Ariel giggled as he got closer.

Yes, he'd do perfectly.

"What's your name, sir?" She questioned as she lowered her hand. With her tail, she caressed his cheek. Men were still coming, dropping off the ship, and to their deaths. A scream echoed through the air, and a harsh snap sounded as a man broke his neck. His spinal cord snapping as his eyes remained forever open.

"Adam."

Ariel hummed and wrapped her tail around his waist.

"Tell me, Adam, would you mind helping me?" Ariel tried to make her tone as sweet as she could. She leaned forward, showing the man a shot of her cleavage. She put her hands in her lap, pressing her arms together to exaggerate her breasts.

Adam nodded. His eyes were clouded over, his expression deliciously happy. He was in a daze.

Ariel shimmied over and patted the side next to her.

"Sit, sit."

When Adam sat down, Ariel kissed his cheek. His beard scratched her face. She kissed him again, higher up, toward his sideburns. Her left hand ran past the rock's surface. A medium-sized rock, just about as big as her fist, was taken from the sea. She kissed down Adam's chin, adding the tip of her tongue. She licked the sweat that oozed out of his pores. Then, in a swift motion, she hit him over the head with a rock.

Adam's glazed-over eyes were clear. A shout rang in Ariel's ear.

Again she hit him. Breaking his skin and letting blood run down his nose. Another shout escaped Adam's lips as Ariel wove his legs tightly in her tail. He tried to escape, waving his arms and hitting her chest.

Her skin hardened into scales. It fit like a suit of armor over every inch of her skin. She hit him with the rock a third time. To her disappointment, she missed Adam's head entirely. Instead, she crashed the rock down in his chest.

He wheezed. 

Ariel managed to knock him out before she cracked open his skull. The bone cracked slowly, making a hollow thud with each hit of the rock. Blood changed the blue rock to black as the skull fragments chipped away. Bit by bit, Ariel destroyed his brain. The brain matter looked like a half-blended smoothie in his skull. Small chunks stuck to the sides.

The last of the men from the ship had died by the time she had found a rock sharp enough to cut Adam's flesh. It was easier now that he was dead, to start removing his skin.

Ariel remained careful as she made an incision at his hairline. His battered skin shredded like butter. Each layer of skin she cut through, and each stream of blood that ran down on her resting place made her gleeful.

She would finally get legs, finally be able to see Prince Eric, finally be human.

His face came off relatively easy. His skin was being peeled back torturously slow, for Ariel feared it would tear. Blood stuck to the skin like glue, and stained Ariel's fingers. His eyeballs faced the sky once Ariel had stripped his face of its skin.

She did the rest of the body with more carelessness. She had seen how much the skin could take.

After, Ariel set the mask of skin on her face. She opened her eyes and looked up. The mask was warm and felt wet. She loved it already.

Pulling her sleeves through where Adam's arms used to lay, she flexed her fingers. They were a little bit, but they would have to make due if she was to find the Prince. She started to hum as she put her tail through one leg sleeve. The other slot was limp. Ariel saw red.

She'd never have true legs.