" Queen Ariel held the nautilus and considered thoughtfully.
But the little mermaid didn't think. She acted.
Before she realized fully what she was doing Ariel had smashed the nautilus on a sharply faceted rock.
It didn't break like a normal shell. It shattered like a human vessel. Shards flew in all directions equally, unhampered by gravity or luck.
Ariel pitched forward.
She choked, no longer breathing the air of the Dry World. Her arms flailed up like a puppet's. Her torso whipped back and forth, pummeled by unseen forces. Something flew into her mouth, up her nose, and suffused her entire body with a heat that threatened to burn. It rushed into her lungs and expanded, expelling whatever breath she had left, pushing blood to her extremities, pushing everything out that wasn't it, leaving room for nothing else.
Ariel collapsed.
It was over.
It was like the thing, whatever it was, had been absorbed by her body and had now dissipated into her blood and flesh.
She took a breath. Her heart started beating again.
She hadn't been aware it had stopped.
She coughed. A few grains of sand came out.
And then she sang. "

― Liz Braswell , Part of Your World (Twisted Tales)