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The fishermen found her tangled in their nets, with her dark teal tresses, angry brows, pouting lips, and unnaturally bright blue eyes. Her tail thrashed, the dangerous looking spines slicing the air like knives, her sharp nails digging at the ropes that ensnared her.

As her bosom heaved, the men could only find one thing to say, and they whispered it, lest she hear them.

"Beautiful."

Unfortunately, the mermaid did hear them. She stared at her capturers with hateful eyes, baring her teeth and hissing. Since they were common fishermen and did not know what to do with her, they dragged the net further inland and had one of their sons fetch a guard. He would know what to do with the magical creature!

The guard came, saw the mermaid, and crossed himself. He suggested keeping her on land, but to not let her dry out, for they didn't know what would happen. Legends said many things, but the most popular was that her fins changed to feet and her tail to legs. Alas, no one was positive this would happen.

The captain of the guard was called down next. He studied the trapped creature for a while and then turned to the gathered men that were gawping. He offered them an enormous sum each to keep them quiet about their discovery. Once each man had taken their bribe, the captain picked up the struggling creature, wrapped her in a thick, wet blanket, and draped her over the back of his horse. He rode off at a leisurely jaunt with his prize, a smirk upon his face. He lived in a large house near the castle, and he had been searching for a prize such as the sea dwelling woman for as long as he could remember. He made a salt water bath for her, laid her in it, and then began to prepare. He called the King's wizard to help him, and within a few days, he had what he needed for the mythical creature locked in his washing room.

Beauty was the name he gave her, and he kept her in a large room that was completely filled with water, glass acting like wallpaper and a whole wall. The captain had a very nice viewing area, for one of the glass walls had nothing to press against. Everything a woman could ever want was in that room, from a bed made of rock and moss to a vanity dresser and a brush. A few windows let in light from above and the sides, all showing beautiful scenes outside of the woods that no one else could see, and assured that none could look inside to see the scaled woman darting past a window.

For two years Beauty watched, waited, and stayed quiet. The captain of the guard became obsessed with her. He wanted to touch her, feel his prize, kiss her... He loved her eyes, but he was being driven mad by the silent creature. One night, after a lot of drinking, he couldn't take it anymore. He got out of the chair that faced her room, picked up a large hammer, and smashed the glass to pieces. Water poured out, washed over the man, and when it all flooded out the door and ground floor windows, he was half dead on the floor, a large piece of glass sticking out from between his lungs.

The mermaid patiently waited, wringing her hair out. As the last drop of water dried from her body, magic ripped her tail into two legs and thrust bones into her fins to make feet. She stood naked, standing over the captain of the guard, and stared down at him.

"Fool. One as pathetic as yourself could never hope to keep your sanity around me."

Beauty rammed the piece of glass so far into the captain of the guard that her fingers sank into his flesh. She left him there and started to walk through the dark town, picking up a piece of clothing here, a gold coin there... Discarded for whatever reasons, but they were now hers.

With her land legs and a bit of money, the mermaid has decided to explore the human side of herself. She can turn back into a mermaid when she's doused in sea water, but she avoids it for now, choosing instead to learn about the weak and inferior humans. Beauty is also trying to make friends, although it is no easy task for a lonesome creature who knows only the silence of the deep sea and the greed she has encountered so far from men.

Personality wise, Beauty's a bit shy. She comes off as mean and a bit gruff, but once she's made a friend she smiles and is kind of childishly innocent and gentle, like she doesn't want to break whatever fragile thing she's picked up. She can't blush, but her face tingles and her eyes sting when she's embarrassed, so she looks mildly uncomfortable when she's feeling particularly pink in the cheeks. "