#the merfolk so she can have friends that can help her out with things

[hauntingmiser]

MERMAY DAY X

TIGER SHARK WOLF LET'S GOOOOOO-

( warning : disturbing stuff view discretion is advised and tw : mentions of sewer slide? ( Idk????) cuz I went hard on the lore so I'm very sorry. )

sad fact : ever since he was born his family has been hunted down by humans due to misinformation, gaslighting and discrimination so his mother raised him and she told him to stay strong and bold for her sake and she died because of her wounds being mad lethal many years later after that incident he met his wife and 8 months later they had akane

Some years later while him and his wife were basically swimming around his wife got impaled in the head by a harpoon and zenkichi saw her corpse getting dragged into a boat he was heartbroken and traumatized at the same time not knowing the hunters were coming for him so he grabbed his daughter and swam fast as he could

until he found a naval mine area and the hunters got scared and retreated because they do not want to get blown up

after that zenkichi felt sad and afraid and he fears that all of this hunting will repeat again with akane when she gets older and she'll be captured by humans and be killed just like his wife

so he was now in a vegetative state went up to those naval mines and tried to touch them but something stopped him

It wasn't somebody's voice....

it was his mind speaking to him about his memories and everything if he wasted away his own life then his mother and his wife won't be avenged and there killer won't be put to justice

Zenkichi after his mind spoke to him after realizing his decision he says angrily

"what am I doing!?.....I have a daughter on the line!...I-I can't do this!"

So he backed up away from those sea mines and went to the cave and hugged his daughter and he promised himself that he will protect akane and teach her how to hunt and gather

so she can be strong just like her ancestors and her mother

and find the killer that killed his wife.

[elaratyrell]

Poor Unfortunate Souls {Part 2/3 -> Kiss The Girl}

*All images found on Pinterest. Moodboard made by yours truly*

Dark ! Ursula! Aemond x Fem! Eric! Reader x Ariel! Jacaerys

Warnings: Aemond mind controls the reader, sexual dreams, including Aemond touching the reader without clear consent *Divider from Firefly Graphics*

Synopsis: Jacaerys Velaryon, the reluctant heir to Atlantica. The moment he saw you, he knew he would never see someone who could capture him with their beauty again. You would haunt him eternally. In a desperate attempt to meet you, he turns to Aemond Targaryen, an outcast from the merfolk, to help him walk amongst the land dwellers. But when Aemond lays his eyes on you, he knows he has to have you. By any means necessary.

Chapter Synopsis: Jacaerys goes to Aemond for help in becoming human. The banished prince grants him his wish for legs in return for his voice, but has other, darker intentions. For Jacaerys, for Rhaenyra, and for you.

Part One Jace's Ending Aemond's Ending

“Don’t look at me like that. How was I supposed to know they would do that?” Lucerys crossed his arms as Vermax and Syrax glared at him, the former slapping him on the arm with his tail and making the younger prince flinch back from him.

“I didn’t mean to tell!” He exclaimed. “It was an acciden-“

Once again, Syrax clamped his mouth shut between her claw as Vhagar slithered out of Jacaerys’ grotto. Luke felt goosebumps prickle on his skin at the sight of the best, a shudder running down his spine.

The memories were murky at best, but Lucerys still had the odd night terror of the night of Aemond’s banishment. He remembered seeing the knife on the sea floor, Aemond swimming towards him with a sharp, jagged rock in hand. He remembered grabbing the knife as the older prince grabbed him to feed him to Vhagar, and he remembered Aemond’s screams as he blindly slashed the knife wherever he could reach.

He only heard whispers after that. Of the trial, and how the dowager queen Alicent, Aemond’s mother, was the only one to plead her son’s case, and how Rhaenyra didn’t listen.

And how she died several weeks after her favourite son was exiled.

Even Aemond’s siblings knew he’d gone too far. And his grandfather, Otto, had watched with a stony expression as the prince was cast out with nothing and no one except Vhagar.

Lucerys made no effort to follow the beast, that is until Jacaerys also emerged from his destroyed cavern, hot on the eel’s trail.

Not wanting to alert Vhagar to his presence, Luke silently swam up behind Jace, hissing in his ear.

“Where in the seven hells are you going with that… that thing?”

“I’m going to see Aemond.” Jace replied firmly, brushing his brother away.

Luke gasped. “What? Are you crazy, Jace? He… he’s a demon- he’s the devil.” He protested as Vermax swam circles around his friend in protest.

“Well why don’t you go and tell mother and Daemon about it then? You seem to be rather good at that.” Jace retorted, shooting a glare at his brother.

“Jace… I-“

“You should go Luke. I don’t want Vhagar seeing you. Aemond can see and communicate through her.” He interrupted.

Before Luke could make any more protests, Syrax put herself between the two brothers, gesturing for him to leave. She then gestured for Vermax to follow the older prince to where Vhagar was taking him. Despite his hesitation, Luke understood that his life was at risk by being there, which could jeopardise Jace’s even more. Reluctantly, he turned and swam away back to Atlantica. Once he had swam out of sight and Syrax was sure he was obeying her order, she also began chasing after Jace and Vhagar with Vermax.

Jace knew he was taking a risk, and quite possibly risking his life by going to his uncle, but he was desperate. He knew he didn’t belong in this world, and that he was a disgrace of an heir, of a son, to his mother, and so he needed to see if he could find where he belonged.

And he was certain you were the key to that.

Even so, there was a small nagging sensation in the back of his mind as he and Vhagar approached Aemond’s lair. It was the skeleton of an ancient sea monster, an ancestor of creatures like Vhagar, with sapphire blue light seeping out through the gaps in the skeleton like smoke from a chimney.

“This way,” Vhagar rumbled, slithering in through the mouth of the monster. The fact that such a mighty beast as Vhagar looked rather small compared to the skeleton only made Jace that much more uneasy.

And that uneasiness grew as he entered the skeleton. There, on the floor, ceiling and crawling up the sides, were hundreds of grotesque creatures. They were a swamp green, dull yellow eyes watching Jace as he tried to avoid contact them, a look of disgust on his features. They were a garden of all the souls that Aemond had claimed over time, and maybe even others that Alys had done so before him.

There was no doubt the former sea witch was also among them.

Jace let out a yelp of horror as one of the souls lurched forward, wrapping itself around him, frantically trying to stop him from going any further. Unlike the other souls, this one had vibrant green eyes. Another soul that was slightly taller, and older than the first, grabbed ahold of Jace’s tail in a slightly more painful hold than the other soul, also trying to hold him back.

Jace managed to wrestle himself free from the poor souls’ grips, rubbing his wrist from where one of the creatures had grabbed him. He hesitated as Vhagar slithered into the shadows behind a large conch shell, coiling up like a python, her blue eye focused on the prince, watching him as he lingered in the doorway to what seemed to be Aemond’s… work room? He supposed.

There was a large basin- or cauldron, he supposed, in the centre of the room. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with jars and bottles of the most likely vile ingredients for whatever potions or spell Aemond cast to entrap another soul. A desk rested in one corner, a mirror hanging on the wall. The large conch shell that was connected to both the ceiling and the floor seemed to be Aemond’s bed chambers, with Vhagar coiled around it like a guard dog.

And there, stood over the desk, was Aemond.

He had certainly grown since the last time Jace saw him; his silver hair was longer, his face more defined with matured, sharper features. One eye, lilac like his siblings as Jace remembered. But the other had been replaced by a sapphire, glowing brilliantly in the light. There was a scar running through his brow, down to midway down his cheek.

A souvenir of what Lucerys did to him that fateful day.

Nevertheless he resembled the distinctive features of the ancient royal bloodlines, just as his siblings did.

But it was at the waist where they truly differed.

Where his siblings had inherited their father’s genes of having a fish tail, with his older brother Aegon’s glittering gold and black, his sister Helaena’s pale blue and and silver, and his younger brother Daeron’s cobalt and green, Aemond had taken after his mother, and the house of Hightower.

Rather than a fishtail, Aemond had six ebony tentacles, the underside of which were a vibrant blue to match his eye. From his neck hung a shard of what appeared to be dragon glass, an ancient relic from royal ancestors. It glimmered a faint blue against the pale porcelain of his skin.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to linger in doorway, nephew?” Aemond finally spoke, turning to look at Jacaerys, who simply gaped back at him, his mind completely blank and his mouth hung slightly open.

“It is also rude to stare. Hm, one might question your upbringing as a prince of the realm.” Aemond added, moving from the desk to stand in front of the basin, his good eye piercing right through Jace like a knife.

”I- uncle… I am here because-“

“I know why you’re here, nephew,” Aemond interrupted. “I have been watching- well, Vhagar has been watching. You want me to help you with this little infatuation for you have with a human, is that correct.”

There was a small smirk of his features as he spoke, almost in a taunting manner to the younger prince.

“Y-yes. She’s a-“

“Princess. I know.” He rolled his good eye at his nephew, waving his hand over the basin. In a cloud of blue smoke your face appeared above the basin, and Jace stared at it longingly. Perhaps he was a little too entranced by the mere image of your face, that he didn’t see the way his uncle’s eye darkened slightly as he also studied your face, or the way the corner of his lip tugged upwards into a smirk, or the way he gripped the side of the basin that little bit tighter.

“I truly don’t blame you. She is a rather… exquisite… creature…” Aemond murmured. The smirk on his face widened as he felt Jace’s glare burning into him, watching as the younger prince clenched his fists out of the corner of his working eye. He merely chuckled in mild amusement.

“Now, now, nephew. I was merely complimenting your tastes.” He chided. “As for your problem, the solution seems simple enough.”

“I-it does?” Jace asked hopefully, moving forward, closer towards the basin.

“Indeed,” Aemond hummed, waving his hand through your image and making it disappear in a puff of blue smoke. “To get what you want, two options lie in front of you. You could become a human yourself…” he watched the way Jace’s eyes lit up at the first suggestion before continuing. “…Or… I could turn her… into a mermaid-“

“No! I mean… I would prefer to become human, uncle.” Jace interrupted hastily. He hesitated slightly. “Can… can you really do that?” He asked, making Aemond shoot him a small glare. Jace shrank back slightly from him in response.

“Dear, naïve, nephew,” Aemond sighed. “It’s what I do, is it not? I help poor unfortunate merfolk, such as yourself. Those who have no one else to turn to. I admit, in the past I have made a few… errors, shall we say?” Almost subconsciously, one of his hands rose to his face, fingertips brushing against his scar before immediately returning to his side again. “But I can assure you in my exile I have mended my ways. Found my calling. The sea witch, Alys… she taught me.”

“And… and where is she now?” Jace asked shakily.

“She… was needed elsewhere.” He brushed off the question. When a loud screeching wail echoed from the garden of the polyp creatures, a fist slammed down on the rim of the cauldron. “Lyka!” He yelled. [Quiet!]

He cleared his throat, letting out a small breath through his nose before continuing to his nephew in a calmer manner. “Nowadays I have repented. Found my faith, like my mother always wanted me to…”

There was a small glimmer in that lilac eye of his at the thought of Alicent, the only person who ever had faith in him. He had heard of her death of course, and how his grandfather, Otto, had just stood by and done nothing to help.

And for that sin, the former hand of the king was now just another soul in his garden.

“Fortunately in my exile, Alys took me in and taught me her sorcery. And I decided to use it on behalf of those miserable, lonely, depressed… pathetic…” He muttered that last part under his breath, making Vhagar snort in amusement. “Poor, unfortunate souls. Those in pain, or need. They came to me with their troubles, whether it were changing their appearance, or becoming stronger, or helping them find their true love…”

“And… you helped them?”

“Why, of course, dear nephew,” Aemond replied. “Indeed I helped them… although there were those few occasions- they only happened once or twice, no need to look so terrified, nephew, who failed to pay their price to me. You see I need a small token in payment for my services, and I had to… well…”

Jace followed Aemond’s gaze to the hallway of those trapped souls and shuddered.

“I may have had the odd complaint nephew, but I can assure you, I’m certain you can pay your owed debt to me.”

The way Aemond was staring at Jacaerys unnerved him. There was something lingering behind that lilac gaze and that rather tight lipped smile.

“S-so what would my deal be?” Jace asked.

“I will give you three days, nephew. Before the sun sets on the third day, if you get the princess to fall in love with you and seal it with a true love’s kiss, and that's a proper kiss on the lips, mind you, can't make it too easy, you will remain a human permanently. But if you fail to do so, you turn back into a mermaid… and belong… to me.”

Syrax suddenly surged forward to clamp her claws down on Jace’s tail in a feeble attempt to drag him away from the exiled former prince of the realm, but Vhagar’s tail grabbed the crustacean, pulling her away.

”So, nephew,” Aemond drew closer to the prince, extending his hand. “Do we have a deal?”

Jace also went to extend his hand, but faltered. “If I become human I… I’ll never see my mother again. Or… or Vermax or Luke or Joffrey. Rhaena, Baela, little Viserys-“

”But you’ll have your princess,” Aemond smirked. “And besides, you certainly don’t belong in this world, hm?”

Jace winced at Aemond’s use of Daemon’s words, yet still hesitated.

“Life is full of tough choices,” Aemond continued with an almost solemn expression, but that small smirk remained, as though taunting Jace. Mocking him.

“I… I guess so I… I should at least try…”

“Oh, and one more thing,” Aemond added, pulling his hand away just as Jace was about to shake it. “We still have to discuss your payment to me, nephew.”

“I-I don’t have any money on me-“

“I rarely require money. It’s often something a little more valuable and substantial than that.”

“But I don’t know if I-“

“I don’t ask for much, just a token.” Aemond’s voice was slightly strained from his nephew’s hesitation, his patience was thinning.

Jace’s gaze trailed to that gleaming sapphire, a sickening thought intruding his mind. Almost as though he could read Jace’s mind, Aemond chuckled.

“No, nephew. I do not require your eye. That debt… is owed by someone else…” He murmured. “No, no, no, nephew. What I require of you… is your voice.” He said it so simply, as though it were like paying the smallest of fees. Jace’s hand instinctively went to his throat.

“My... my voice?“

“Yes. Meaning no more talking, singing, zip.” His lip curled into a smile, but it held no warmth. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. If she likes short, curly haired brunettes then she’ll think you’re a real catch. And besides, there are other ways to attract someone than talking, nephew…”

“W-what do you mean…?” Jace asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Physically.”

“I… oh…” Jace mumbled, staring at the ground as Aemond’s implication dawned on him. The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“Many human women don’t appreciate men who drone on and on anyway, nephew. They’ll think you boring. If anything, I’m doing you a favour. They’ll dote and swoon on you if you listen, but don’t talk. So…”

Jace was still simply staring at his uncle, his hand still resting on his neck.

“GIVE ME YOUR VOICE-“ Aemond suddenly exclaimed, surging forward but stopping himself before he could reach Jace. He let out a breath. “Hurry now nephew… make your choice. I’m a very busy man who hasn’t got all day to wait for you to make your decision… it won’t cost much. Just your little voice.” His words were still sharp, but were spoken in a more softer tone after his outburst.

“I… uh…”

“If you want to cross that bridge and find your lady love, you’re going to have to pay the toll… if not… you know where to leave.” He turned away from Jacaerys to pet Vhagar.

Jacaerys weighed his options in his mind. He could leave the very home he always had to try and find a place of belonging… to find you… or he could stay, and although he would be able to speak and be with his family, was that really where his heart truly lied?

“Alright!” Jace exclaimed, making Aemond turn back to face him. “Alright I… I’ll do it…”

Another tug at his tail made him glance behind him to see Vermax frantically trying to pull him away from Aemond, but he ignored it, flapping his tail and forcing the fish to let go of him. He swam from forward towards Aemond before Vermax or Syrax, could try to grab him again.

“Wonderful…” Aemond smirked, his teeth glinting in the dim light. With a snap of his fingers numerous bottles, jars and other various containers lifted themselves from their place on the shelves hung on the walls of the skeleton and floated down to the cauldron, which by this point was billowing blue smoke.

”Now, nephew,” Aemond said, conjuring a glowing, golden scroll in front of Jace. “You must sign the contract. Merely outlining the terms of our deal as a way so I keep my payments up to date. You know how cunning some merfolk can be… not that I would ever believe that of you but…” He pressed a fish bone quill into his nephew’s hand. “You can never be too careful.”

Jace tried to steady his trembling hand as he raised the quill to the scroll. Aemond retreated back, smirking down at Vhagar as Jace sighed his name. No sooner than he did so, the scroll rolled up by itself and vanished along with the quill.

Aemond closed his eyes, his hands cast over the cauldron, the blue smoke concealing him from Jace’s view as he murmured in high Valyrian under his breath. Jace felt himself retreating as the plumes of smoke began reaching out to him. It surrounded him, and two further tendrils in the shape of spindly blue hands burst upwards from the cauldron, illuminating Aemond in a sapphire light that only made his eye glow brighter. Jace wanted to flee in that moment, swim as fast as his tail could move him back home to Rhaenyra, to the safety of the palace walls, but Aemond had him trapped now.

“Sing, nephew.” Aemond ordered. “Sing!”

And so Jacaerys complied with the sea sorcerer’s command, singing the first song that came into his mind, the song he’d known off by heart from a young age.

The song he’d sung to you.

He resisted every urge not the falter in his song as those ghostly hands advanced towards him. One hand wrapped around his middle to stop him moving, and the other reached down into his throat. It felt at though he were being choked, and then as something was being ripped out from within him as the hand drew back, holding his voice.

Immediately, Jace reached up to his throat, he couldn’t feel anything. It felt like he were frozen in fear and couldn’t even make out a whisper. The smoke circling him at this point was spinning around him like a glowing whirlpool, whipping faster and closer around him as Aemond grabbed the glowing golden orb from those hands, entrapping it in the pendant hanging from his neck.

The smile he gave Jace sent a chill down his spine.

“It’s done.”

The whirlpool surrounding Jace had completely entrapped him within its clutches, holding him in place as a searing pain shot through his tail, like someone was cutting it in half. He writhed in pain as his tail split into two, his scales shedding to reveal human flesh beneath. It felt like ripping a scab off and exposing the raw skin beneath to the air. He ground his teeth together in a suppressed groan as another shudder of pain shot through him, this time his tail fins being changed into feet.

It didn’t help that all he could hear through the pain was Aemond laughing at his suffering in an almost maniacal way.

The burning pain subsided as Jace stared down at his newly formed legs, the whirlpool dissipating in an instant. Jace’s hand immediately flew to his neck as water filled his lungs.

He couldn’t breathe.

He found himself looking desperately to Aemond for help, but his uncle merely smiled.

Rather frantically, he kicked his new legs and flailed his arms to try and propel himself up to the surface.

He looked down to see Vermax holding one of his arms, Syrax on the other, helping him kick upwards. His eyes drooped slightly, his mind foggy and vision blurry as continued to kick, the surface lit in the early morning glow of sunrise acting like a beacon.

Jace let out a choked gasp as he finally broke through the ocean’s surface, feeling the sun’s warmth on his skin for the first time.

As he caught his breath, Syrax and Vermax keeping him afloat as they swam him inshore, he looked up at the sky, painted in gold and orange as the dawn rose with the morning.

Gripping ahold of a rock jagging outwards to the sky, Jace couldn’t help but smile as he felt the warmth of the sun on his skin, the sea breeze ruffling his damp chestnut curls. Leaning back against the rock in the shallows, he glanced upwards to see your castle in the distance.

You were so close.

All he needed was to learn how to walk… and to find some clothes.

He brushed his curls out of his eyes, raising an eyebrow at the glares Syrax and Vermax were both sending his way. Ignoring them, he raised one of his legs out of the water, gazing in pure wonder as he wiggled his toes, letting out a silent laugh.

Syrax and Vermax didn’t return his amusement.

A loud squawk sounded from the sky as Cannibal landed on Jace’s extended leg. The bird tilted his head, as though trying to figure out what had changed about the young prince. He raised a wing, gesturing towards Jace’s hair, getting an amused shake in response. Cannibal then mimed using what had been dubbed “the dinglehopper”- which was, in fact, just a fork- on his feathered, which received the same response of no.

Syrax hopped from the rock beside Jace and onto his leg alongside Cannibal, pointing down at his leg. Cannibal glanced once again at Jace’s leg, letting out a squawk of realisation, jumping into the air to hover above Jace’s head, flying around in circles and letting out screech after screech of disbelief. Jace shook with a silent laugh at the bird’s clueless antics, highly amused by his stupidity and Syrax’s annoyance.

Three days…

He needed a kiss from you in three days…

He could do that… hopefully.

No, he could do that. He will. He knows you, he knows you yearn for the same things as he does. He’s certain you’re the one for him.

A steely determination was set in those chocolate eyes of his as he braced a hand on the rock, slowly rising to his feet on wobbling legs. He drew his hand away from the rock behind him, only to immediately fall over into the water.

Sitting back up and letting out a spluttering cough, he was greeted with Syrax shaking her head at him, earning a roll of his eyes in response. Jumping back in outrage, she extended a claw out at him before pointing it out to the ocean. When he shook his head adamantly, she immediately leaped off the rock and into the sea, no doubt to go and immediately alert Rhaenyra of the situation.

Jace surged forward in alarm, picking the crab up and holding her in his hands, continuing to shake his head rather frantically as Syrax continued jabbing her claw out into the sea. He sent her a pleading look, his warm eyes only saying one thing to her.

Please. Please don’t tell her.

Dropping her claw, she shook her head again, scuttling up his arm to get back to the rock, where she promptly turned her back on him as though she were sulking.

Jacaerys had always told his mother that she spoiled Syrax too much. Smiling, he leaned down press a kiss to the top of her head, making her cross her claws over one another. She was still glaring at him, but it was softer.

A loud caw made Syrax jump back slightly as Cannibal suddenly landed beside her, clutching a torn sail in his beak.

Meanwhile, you had decided to take an early morning walk with Max. You hadn’t been sleeping well since your near drowning incident. For one, you hadn’t been able to get that beautiful melody and voice out of your head, and two, you’d been having dreams since then. You wouldn’t remember them when you awoke, except for a piercing blue jewel that haunted your thoughts. You didn’t know it’s significance, but you couldn’t quite shake it from your mind.

You played the small melody you remembered on your flute, your brows furrowed as you desperately searched every corner of your mind for a face that might match the voice.

Yet all you saw was that blue sapphire.

You let out a rather frustrated sigh, looking down at Max. “That voice. I can’t get it out of my head, Max,” You muttered. “I’ve looked everywhere. Sent word across the kingdom, and yet I’ve found… absolutely nothing.” You groaned, putting your flute in your pocket as you walked along the cove.

Max sniffed the air, letting out a small bark.

“What is it? Max- Max!” You cried out as your dog suddenly bolted down the beach. Letting out a small sigh, you ran after him.

Even though Max had disappeared from sight, you were able to track him down by the excited barking your can hear. He’d clearly found something- or someone.

Upon seeing you turn the corner, Max ran back over to your excitedly, jumping up and licking your face, letting out another excited bark.

“Quiet, Max. Gods, what has gotten into you- down, boy.”

Whilst obeying your orders, your pet had still not lost his excited nature, now eagerly tugging at your trouser leg to drag you over to wherever he had found what was so interesting.

“Max, stop. Why are you so- oh.” You stopped, slightly startled as you looked up to see you were being watched. “Oh, I see… it’s alright, boy.” You patted his head, taking a step towards where Jace was hidden slightly behind a rock. “Hi there. Are you okay? I know he may seem kind of intimidating but he’s quite the opposite. I’m sorry if he scared you.”

All Jace did was stare at you in return, a small, almost shy smile on his face. You were dressed in a similar outfit to the one he first saw you in- a white linen shirt, black trousers and black boots. You hair was loose, and was ruffling slightly in the early morning sea breeze.

As you looked at him, your brows furrowed. There was something almost familiar about those deep brown eyes and that charming smile.

“You… seem kind of… familiar… have we… have we met before?” You asked almost hesitantly.

Jace’s face lit up, enthusiastically nodding in response as he grabbed your hand. You looked down, feeling the soft warmth of his skin. It felt… familiar. He looked familiar…

“I knew it. I knew you looked familiar. I- I’ve been looking for you,” you smiled at him, giving his hand a small squeeze as Max excitedly barked. “What’s your name?”

Jace opened his mouth, but when he tried to speak, it felt like his throat was on fire. His smile fell slightly, his free hand moving to his throat.

“W-what’s wrong? Can’t… can’t you speak?” You asked, earning a shake in response.

Frowning, you took your hand away from his, ignoring the snort Max let out. It had felt like you might have found your mystery saviour… but you were mistaken. All the same, it was unclear why this mysterious man had seemed so excited to see you. Maybe he just knew you were the princess?

“Well, I guess you weren’t who I thought-” You suddenly stopped, seemingly only just realising that Jace was wearing nothing, save for a torn sail wrapped around his waist, held in place by a rope that was tied rather precariously.

You flushed slightly, giving him a sweeping glance. Although he may not be who you had hoped, the young man was surely handsome. A strong jaw, long brown curls and warm chestnut eyes. He had a well defined torso and strong arms, although his legs seemed to be shaking slightly from where he was leaning against the rock.

“Are you hurt?” You asked, and Jace shook his head in response. He waved his arm around in an almost pantomiming way, clearly try to explain something to you and failing miserably.

“You need help?” You asked, only making his movements become more erratic as he desperately tried to communicate with you. It looked almost comedic.

“I-I’m sorry I don’t- woah!” You exclaimed as he went to step forward, only to have his legs buckle beneath him, causing him to fall on top of you and sending you both falling to the floor. You stood up and helped him do the same, wrapping one of your arms around his middle and placing one of his over your shoulders to support him. Jace felt his cheeks heat up at the close contact with you.

“Careful. You must be shaken from whatever you’ve been through, huh?” You asked, and Jace felt himself nod along. In a way, he had, but not in the way you believed. You probably thought him some shipwreck survivor lost far from home.

“It’s okay, I’ll help you. I’ll get you some fresh clothes and food and… and you can stay at the castle for as long as you need.” You offered.

Jace felt his heart warm at your kindness, using you for support as you led him up the beach and towards the castle, with Syrax unbeknownst to the both of you gripping her claws tightly onto the sheet.

As Vermax watched you lead Jace up to the castle, although sad he could follow his friend no further, shared a small smile with Cannibal, who squawked enthusiastically at Jace’s plan officially beginning to be put into action.

Hopefully three days would be enough time.

After taking Jace up to the castle, you left him with the maids while you made sure lunch was being ready. Grimsby certainly raised an eyebrow when you told him you would have company for lunch, but you brushed off his questions, telling him that Jace was the sole survivor of a shipwreck, and he was welcome to stay until he could go home before leaving to get ready yourself.

You sat there at your vanity, pondering the events of that morning while your nurse Johanna brushed out your hair.

“You know… if you’re looking for a man, I know some decent ones. Ones that talk and that don’t appear out of nowhere, dressed in rags and washed up from a shipwreck.”

“I’ve met your brothers, Johanna,” You replied coolly in response. “And I would personally prefer if they didn’t speak either.”

Johanna closed her mouth, pinning back your hair. “Yes malady. Of course. I misspoke. Now… which gown would you prefer?”

Jace tugged uncomfortably at the collar of his shirt as he waited for you to enter for lunch. So far he’d bathed and put on a shirt for the first time… the latter he wasn’t particularly enjoying. It felt constricting, somehow. His newly washed hair was brushed, his curls combed back slightly out of his face. He was dressed in a crisp white button up and a burgundy dinner jacket and matching trousers, a pair of black boots on his feet.

The only other person in the room, Grimsby, was stood by the window, looking out at the view of the sea. He occasionally glanced back at the guest, making sure he wasn’t stealing the silverware perhaps.

Jace looked up as the double doors to the dining room opened, his jaw dropping as he took the sight of you in.

You were dressed in a dress of the finest silks in a shade of rosy pink, the sweetheart neckline showing the barest hint of cleavage. The dress came in at the waist before flowing out into a fuller skirt, accentuating your figure. You wore a pair of diamond teardrop earrings and the slightest pink colouring to your lips.

Jace didn’t think you could look more stunning.

And yet there you were.

Jace hastily stood to his feet, as such was royal protocol in his realm whenever someone of royal lineage entered the room, but you simply smiled at him, telling him it wasn’t necessary and that he could sit down.

He wanted to tell you how beautiful you were, what a wonderful vision you looked in that gown, but he couldn’t.

All he could do was smile warmly at you, gesturing to you and nodding. You raised an eyebrow at him, slightly confused, looking down as though you thought you may have a stain on your gown or something, but Grimsby came to your rescue, taking his seat opposite Jace.

“I think he means to compliment you, Y/N.”

“Oh… are you?” You asked, and Jace immediately nodded. You gave him a warm smile, placing your hand over his. “Thank you. You look… very handsome.”

It was as those words left your mouth that you realised how nicely Jace scrubbed up. His hair was devoid of seaweed and sand, now freshly washed and hanging in soft curls down to just above his shoulder. His clothes fit him well, the red complimenting the warmness of his eyes.

You moved to sit down at your place at the head of the table, and Jace immediately stepped forward to push your chair in.

“My, my, perhaps I was mistaken,” Grimsby mused. “It is not often we have such a polite dinner guest.”

Jace was practically beaming as he took his seat. One of your maids, Carlotta, stepped forward to pour them all a goblet of wine, saying that lunch should be ready soon.

“You seem more content today, my dear,” Grimsby said.

“That’s because I haven’t been alone with my thoughts, Grim,” You replied.

“Mmm… more likely because you haven’t yet thought about galavanting off searching for strange undersea singing saviours.” He quipped in response, making your shoot him a small glare…

…And making Jace stare down at his empty plate to conceal the wide grin on his face.

It seemed as though you were thinking of him as much as he were thinking of you. As he looked down, he spotted one of his treasures that Rhaenyra had destroyed.

The dinglehopper.

He excitedly picked it up, inspecting the intricate carvings into the silver. It was more delicate than the one he had found in that shipwreck, but most likely still had the same purpose.

He held out the dinglehopper to you and you raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah it’s… a fork.” You said slowly. “Um… do you like it?”

Although his brows furrowed at you seemingly branding the object a fork, he nodded at your question, lifting the dinglehopper to his curls and dragging the fork through them, all the while looking at you with a wide smile. You simply stared back at him, wine goblet brought halfway to your lips. Grimsby looked downright flabbergasted.

Jace hastily put the fork down, staring down, cheeks flushed red in embarrassment.

Grimsby sent a rather perplexed look your way as you simply shrugged, taking a sip of your wine. He reached into his pocket and brought out his trusty pipe- a snarfblat- and a match, sending a weary glance to Jace as he watched it with interest.

He hesitated, glancing at the encouraging nod you gave him.

“Uh, do you like it?” He asked, receiving a very enthusiastic nod in response. He held the pipe out to Jace, who snatched it from his hold, inspecting it thoroughly.

“I’m glad you like it. It was passed down in my family for several genera-“

He was interrupted however, as Jace blew a large puff of smoke into his face, stopping him in his tracks. He sent a small glare your way as you bit back a small laugh by disguising it as a cough. That only seemed to make Jace happier, he was practically grinning from ear to ear at this point. He held the pipe back out to Grimsby, who placed it back in his pocket with a rather unenthusiastic thank you, dabbing his face with a white lace handkerchief.

“Why, Y/N, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you smile like this in, well, months.” Carlotta beamed at you.

“Yes… it’s amusing for some,” Grimsby muttered, continuing to dab at his ash ridden face.

Jace shot you a small smile, a pink dust powdering his cheeks as you returned the gesture.

“Carlotta, my dear, what’s for lunch?” Grimsby asked, wiping the majority of ash from his face.

“Oh, you’ll love it. Chef’s been fixing his speciality… stuffed crab!”

That made the smile vanish completely from Jace’s face, replaced by one of mild horror, which you immediately noticed.

“Do you not like stuffed crab? We can fix you up something else, I’m sure-“ You began, but Jace simply shook his head, giving you a rather tight lipped smile as he attempted to ignore the sick feeling welling up in his stomach.

”Don’t pester him, Y/N, the boy’s fine.” Grimsby chided, folding his blackened handkerchief and placing it back into his breast pocket.

The next several minutes were spent in a somewhat comfortable silence. Grimsby had lit his pipe and Jace was watching him smoke it with great interest, while you watched with a small smile on your face, sipping your wine. You didn’t know where Jace had come from, and he didn’t even know how to use a fork, but you found him strangely endearing.

The silence was short lived, as a serious of crashes were heard from the kitchen. You rose to your feet, but Carlotta stopped you.

“No need to stand, your majesty, I’ll just see what Louis is up to.”

“If you’re sure…” You murmured, sitting back down and watching as she hurried out of the dining hall, the crashes ceasing as Louis was no doubt being lectured by Carlotta, gods know what he was up to.

Carlotta soon came in carrying a tray with three dishes, each of which was covered by a silver dome covering.

“You know, Y/N, perhaps our guest here might enjoy seeing some of the sights of our kingdom. A tour, maybe?” Grimsby said, thanking Carlotta as she placed the dishes in front of them. “Y/N? Y/N?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry Grimsby, what did you say?” You asked, tearing your gaze away from Jace and looking at the older man.

“I was just saying, that you can’t spend all of your time moping around. You should go out, socialise, get some colour to your cheeks. You know… have a life.”

As Grimsby spoke, he placed his pipe down to lift the dome, revealing two crabs. One, clearly dead, was a deep shade of red. The other however, seemed very much alive, and was a rather striking shade of gold.

Jace looked on in horror as Syrax opened one eye, bringing one of her claws up in a shushing motion to not draw attention to her.

“…You need to stop dawdling around and get your mind off…”

Jace made a beckoning motion to Syrax, lifting his plate cover enough so she could hurry onto his plate.

“I mean it’s not a bad idea,” You agreed, turning to look at Jace just as Syrax scuttled onto his plate, the dome promptly covering the crustacean. “If you’re interested, that is.”

Jace looked at you, not entirely sure what you were talking about. His mother would surely berate him for the lack of manners, but he was to focused on trying to save Syrax.

“So, would you like to join me on a tour of the kingdom tomorrow?” You prompted, making Jace vigorously nod in response, and arm leaning down on the plate covering, which had began to move.

“Wonderful,” Grimsby smiled. “It should do the world of good for the both of you. Now, let’s eat before this crab wanders off my plate.”

After lunch, which had consisted of Jace only eating his vegetables and Grimsby every single crab, you decided to give Jace a tour of your castle. He had listened with great interest as you explained the history of the castle, about how your family had inhabited it for generations after settling in the town.

You showed him the portrait hall, where every king and queen had been painted after their wedding. Jace couldn’t help but silently remark at the resemblance you had to both of your parents. You shared your mother’s kind eyes and full lips, but you had your father’s hair colour, and there was a similar trait you seemed to share with your father- the way you stood, and held yourself was identical. Like your father, you looked like a ruler.

A true heir to a kingdom.

You let out a small sigh as you reached the next spot on the wall where a blank canvas was hung up, encased in a golden frame encrusted in rubies and pearls.

“That’ll be me someday, I suppose,” You sighed. “Whenever I marry… no doubt when my parents return from their travels in a fortnight, they will have another proposal, or worse, a betrothal to announce. They won’t believe my story about my saviour.”

Jace’s eyes were welled up with sympathy for the way you almost seemed to wilt at the thought of marrying someone for a mere convenience. His throat burned as he yearned to say something, to scream at you that he was the one, that he could help you escape that horrible ordeal, but alas, all he could do was rest a hand on your shoulder, giving you a small, sorrowful smile.

You let out a deep breath, closing your eyes for a moment as you composed yourself. “Anyway, there’s no point telling you my sorrows. What good could it do?”

Jace frowned as you brushed off his hand, changing the subject away from your evident displeasure of royal duties to take him to your study.

It was a relatively smaller room compared to the others in your palace, but still more than spacious enough. There was a large window overlooking the sea, a wooden desk placed in front of it. Either side of the desk, two wooden shelves were hung up, with scrolls, a compass and a globe placed on them. Wooden book cases lined the wood panelled walls, stacked full of leather bound books on history, philosophy, ocean species and plants. An oil painting of a ship on the sea hung over the window. A lamp was resting on the desk, no doubt for when you were staying up late reading, or studying, or writing yet another speech for the kingdom.

Jace’s fingers traced over the gilded gold letters on the books, some faded with age while other gleamed in the afternoon sun.

“Yeah, quite the collection I suppose,” You observed, leaning back against the desk. “This study used to be my father’s when he was prince. Like him, I’ve spent years studying ancient histories and philosophers, practiced training with a sword and riding horses. I know practically everything about this kingdom, and the others that surround it.”

Jace failed to hide the grimace that twisted his features. He remembered his uncle expressing a similar sentiment when challenging Rhaenyra becoming queen and Jace being announced as her heir. It was an echo of his words that for some reason stirred an uneasiness with in him. Yet when you saw his expression, you laughed.

“I know, right? It’s dull. Centuries of knowledge drilled into my mind and it’s taught me nothing about how to rule. The sword training helped should any conflict arise with another kingdom, although that hasn’t happened for centuries. The philosophy is just theory and the history… let’s just say when you’ve heard those stories time after time it gets incredibly tedious.”

Jace’s expression cleared at your response, although that sense of unrest lingered slightly. You were so different to what he knew, and yet so similar to what he’d always yearned for. With you, he felt a sense of freedom. He wasn’t restricted by rules or a fear of judgement.

His hand stopped as he read the title of a book titled ‘Legends Of The Seas’, looking at you.

You walked towards him and reached up to grab the book, reading the cover and raising an eyebrow at him. Jace swallowed thickly as he caught a whiff of your scent. It was intoxicating.

He hesitantly reached for the book, nodding at you as though asking for permission. You handed it over to him, and he flicked through the pages until it landed on what he was after. He showed you the pages and you took a step closer to him, crossing your arms.

“Mermaids? Really?” You sighed. “You don’t think they’re real, do you?”

Jace pointed to himself, and then pointed at the illustration of a merman on the second page.

I’m a merman.

I’M. A. MERMAN.

He wanted to scream those words at you, but you just stared up at him.

“Oh, you’ve seen them, have you?” You challenged, implying something else from his frantic pointing. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to get his point across, he nodded. “I’m afraid I don’t believe you. They’re myths for a reason, you know.” You snorted. “Next you’ll be telling me that…” You flicked forward several pages. “…cecaelia are real too.”

YES he wanted to scream. YES AND HE’S MY UNCLE AND HE’S GOING TO CLAIM MY SOUL IN TWO DAYS AND HE’S A COMPLETE PSYCHO!

But instead, he simply nodded again, albeit with a little less ardour.

“Hmm… if you say so.” You shrugged, but it was obvious you still didn’t believe him.

He held onto the book as you returned to leaning against the desk, glancing down to your right as the blank sheet of parchment.

“You know, I’d really to know your name. Could you write it down for me?” You asked him, gesturing to where the roll of parchment rested on your desk behind you. There was a blue ink bottle and a red feather quill resting beside it.

Jace gave you a nod, and you smiled at him, moving aside to he could sit down on the wooden chair in front of the desk, the wood creaking slightly and the red leather seat cracked with age.

He opened the ink bottle, dipping the feather quill into the pot. As he lifted the quill, a few drops of ink dripped onto the table, but you assured him there wasn’t any trouble. He sheepishly smiled in an apology, gliding the pen down on the parchment to write J, but no sooner than he did, the ink disappeared, leaving the parchment bare.

“That’s strange,” You murmured as he tried again, but to no avail. “Let me try.” You took the quill from him and tried writing your own name, and the ink came out perfectly.

”Hmm… try again, maybe?” You suggest, making sure enough ink was on the quill before giving it back to him. Again, nothing came out, and Jace pushed the parchment away frustratedly.

He knew what was happening.

Aemond was up to his tricks, trying to get him to fail.

He knew his uncle was rather cunning, and would make this task as difficult as he possibly could, simply to claim his soul as revenge for Rhaenyra no doubt, or maybe even just for his own amusement.

“Maybe the ink is drying up. I’ll have to make sure to get some more when we go to the village tomorrow. Why don’t you just trace the letters on the parchment with your finger?” You suggested, your brows furrowed.

Jace’s chest heaved in a deep sigh. Not being able to talk was proving difficult enough, let alone when Aemond was putting even more obstacles in his path. Rather than tracing the parchment with his own finger, he instead grabbed your hand in his, your index finger resting on the paper as he traced a J and an a.

“J-a-“ You began, making Jace nod and continue.

“Um, e? No, c- yes, okay… a- e- r- g- no? Y then? Then s? Jacaerys- Jacaerys!”

You smiled widely as Jace nodded enthyusiastically.

“Jacaerys,” You pondered, looking down at the parchment. “That’s a pretty name.” You murmured.

Jace immediately flushed scarlet, promptly letting go of your hand as he felt his grow clammy. You thought he had a pretty name? He wanted to open his mouth and tell you how beautiful he found yours as well, but all he could do was point to your name on the parchment and then at you.

“You… like my name too?” You asked, receiving a nod in response. “Well thank you, Jacaerys- no?” Your brows furrowed as he held his thumb and index finger a distance apart, slowly bringing them together.

“You like your name shortened? Okay…” You thought to yourself for a moment. “Jacey?” You asked, making him immediately shake his head. You let out a small chuckle. “No? Uh… Jace? Jace. Well, thank you, Jace. You’re very sweet.” You gave him a warm smile and his hand a small squeeze, and Jace’s cheeks darkened even more.

He felt as though he could die happily right there and then.

That night, Jace leaned against his balcony, watching you play with Max in the gardens. You were dressed in a red linen shirt and black trousers, your laugh like a sweet melody in Jace’s ears as Max jumped up excitedly at you, tackling you to the ground.

Jace rested his chin on his palm, a rather love struck expression and a gentle smile on his face as he watched you. He suddenly stood up straight as you noticed his presence, returning your smile with a rather timid wave as he retreated into his bedroom and shut the door behind him.

He sat down at the dressed beside his bed, dragging a fork he’d stolen from dinner through his chocolate curls. He ignored Syrax as she glared at him from his bedside table, her claws crossed over one another, one leg tapping against the wood in the same way his mother would tap a finger while waiting for an explanation for whatever he’d done wrong.

Upon hearing a knock, Jace put his fork down and stood up and patted her head as he walked to the bedroom door, opening it to reveal you on the other side, leaning against the doorway with your hands resting in your pockets.

“I just… came to say goodnight,” You said with a small smile. Jace flushed slightly, a hand reaching to scratch the back of his neck as he nodded.

“So, goodnight. I hope you get a good night’s sleep, we’ve got a long day tomorrow,” You said, and he nodded, gesturing to you, as though he were trying to bid you the same wish.

You nodded. “Alright, I’ll leave you to it-“ You stopped, looking over his shoulder at where the fork was on his dresser. He quickly stepped to the side, blocking it from your line of vision.

“Okay, well goodnight.” You said, pushing yourself off the wall and turning away. “Oh, and by the way,” You said. “That brush okay your dresser beside the vase will detangle your curls much better than the fork.”

And with that you walked down the corridor, your figure illuminated by the dim lamplight. All Jace could do was watch after you in awe as your turned the corner, and disappeared from his sight. Part of him wanted to chase after you, but he knew he didn’t want to rush things and potentially scare you off.

Jace closed his door and sank down into the ruby red silk sheets. His new bed was even more comfortable than his own back in Atlantica. He smiled over at Syrax as she continued to glare at him. When she saw him meet her gaze, the turned her back on him, sulking like a spoilt child.

Jace rolled his eyes, pulling the covers over him and closing his eyes. In a way he was surprised at how quickly his fatigue had overcome him, but he’d only been human for a day, and his new legs ached and burned from use. Slumber soon took over him.

When she saw he was deep in sleep, Syrax blew out the lamp on the bedside table. Slowly, she edged closer to the pillow, dropping down onto it just by Jace’s head. She paused, and, seeing him stir but remain asleep, crept around his head to rest on the pillow behind him, falling asleep herself with a claw resting on his shoulder.

As Jace slept soundly in his bed, dreaming of you in bliss, the same could not be said for you.

Upon returning to your room, you had changed into a black silk nightgown and cleaned your teeth before settling down into bed. Usually you would read at least a chapter of whatever book you were reading before going to sleep, but you felt your eyelids droop before your head even touched the pillow. Blowing out the lamp, you soon fell fast asleep… and dreamt of a silver haired man.

You couldn’t see him from the waist down. If you looked down, all you saw was a shroud of inky shadow before something forced you to raise your head, a sort of invisible pull.

The man was strikingly handsome. His long silver hair was loose, cascading over his shoulders like a waterfall. One eye, a gentle lilac, the other… also hidden by the shadows.

He was bare chested, his pale skin glowing in the moonlight. He had a toned, strong body, a defined bone structure and a pendant hung from his neck. It looked like a shard of blue molten metal. Something you had never seen before.

He was, in a word, beautiful.

He simply stared at you, hands clasped behind his back, that lilac eye darkening slightly as it raked along your figure. His lips were twisted into a small smirk.

“Who are you?” You demanded, failing to suppress the waver in your voice. There was something that both intimidated and intrigued you about this mystery man. The way his eye pierced through you made you feel exposed, transparent, as though he could see straight through you, but there was such an allure to him.

The way he looked.

The way he looked at you.

The way he moved, no, glided towards you.

And the way you didn’t back away, or fight back as he reached out to you, slender fingers tracing down your cheek.

“You’ll find out soon enough, ñuha dārilaros.” He murmured, his hand moving to rest at the base of your neck. You stiffened under his touch, yet still found yourself unable to move. It was like you were hypnotised, entranced by him. [my princess]

“Soon... you will be mine…”

Meanwhile, Queen Rhaenyra sat on her throne, troubled. She had sent out her best soldiers and the other members of the royal family in search of her eldest son, who hadn’t been seen since she’d destroyed his collection. She’d spent the last several hours pacing back and forth around the throne room, waiting for any news.

“Any sign of them?” She asked as Daemon and Lucerys approached her.

”No. We’ve searched everywhere. There’s been no sight of Jacaerys, or Vermax. Or Syrax. Not a trace. Lord Corlys still has his fleet out searching the open waters, and Lord Cregan is patrolling the polar oceans.”

“Well keep looking. Leave no stone or shell unturned, no corner of the ocean unexplored. No one will rest until Jace is home and safe.” She leaned back on her throne, resting her hand against her forehead. “What have I done?” She whispered.

“You did what you thought was right, Rhaenyra,” Daemon replied. “Jacaerys will return. He’s probably hiding with Lord Cregan, sulking at you discovering his secret.”

“He can act impulsively, Daemon. If he’s done something reckless-“

“We will find him before it gets out of hand.” He interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Luke swallowed harshly, his hands clenched by his sides. “Maybe… maybe you shouldn’t have destroyed his collection.” He spluttered out, making both Daemon and Rhaenyra turn to him, guilt swimming in the latter’s teary eyes, and mild annoyance in the former’s.

“Lucerys-

“O-or maybe you shouldn’t do everything Daemon tells you. Maybe you should do what you feel is right. B-because I know you wouldn’t have thought of destroying it if he wasn’t there.”

“Luke!”

“You should learn to respect those above you, taoba.” Daemon replied, shooting a rather intimidating glare to the young prince. Despite being mildly nervous, Luke held his ground.

“It’s true! Everyone can see, they’re just too afraid of Daemon to speak up!”

“And with good reason-“

“Enough!” Rhaenyra held up a hand, silencing the two mermen. She let out a small sigh. “Daemon, leave. Continue searching for Jacaerys.”

“Of course, my Queen.” Daemon bowed before her before swimming out of the throne room, but not before shooting Luke a nasty glare.

“Luke-“

“I need to tell you something, mother.” Luke blurted out. He knew Jace didn’t want Rhaenyra to know what he’d decided to do, but as the hours passed and no one had found any sight of him, he had grown increasingly weary of Aemond granting him his wish.

“Luke, I’m trying to look for your brother so unless it’s important-“

“What if he’s not in the ocean.”

“W-what? What are you talking about-“

“What if…” Luke ran a hand through his dark curls. “What if he’s… up there…” He suggested, pointing to the surface.

“Luke,” Rhaenyra sighed, taking his hand in hers. “I understand that Jace has this bizarre fascination with the surface world but- why do you look so concerned, dearest?”

Concern had suddenly brewed the the Queen’s eyes at the way Lucerys was trembling slightly, his brows furrowed as though he were holding back tears.

“Luke, do you know something?” She asked.

He nodded, staring at the ground. “I-I promised that I wouldn’t tell…”

“Is your brother in danger, Luke?” She prompted, a gentler tone to her voice. Again, the prince nodded.

Rhaenyra looked up at the water’s surface, the moon casting a silvery glow.

“Did he try to become a human?” She asked, a pang of dread striking her heart.

“I… I think so he… he told me to leave him before I could find out. But why else would he go with… with that thing…?”

Rhaenyra hadn’t seen her second borne son look this shaken since he was a child, on the night of Aemond’s banishment.

“What thing?”

“V…” Luke swallowed harshly. “Vha…” he squeezed his eyes shut. The memories from that night were often blurry in his mind, but seeing the beast yesterday had brought then all flooding back.

“Vhagar?” Rhaenyra asked, and Luke nodded.

“Luke,” Rhaenyra cupped the boy’s face, meeting his gaze with hers. “You need to tell me everything. Now.”

Jace rose with the dawn the following morning, throwing the covers off of him with the excitement of seeing and spending the day with you bubbling in his chest. He would get the chance to see the kingdom today, and to see the day to day lives of the people.

His sudden awakening had startled Syrax, who jumped slightly as she was startled awake. She shot him a glare as he opened the doors to his wardrobe to choose a what to wear.

He’d never had to wear clothes before after all, and so held up a variety of outfits for Syrax to choose, each being greeted by a rather dismissive shake of her head. In the end, he chose one that she hadn’t chosen but he had liked- a rust coloured shirt and black trousers, as well as the boots he’d worn yesterday. His legs still wobbled slightly as he walked downstairs for breakfast, occasionally struggling to gain balance.

You weren’t awake yet, so he took his seat at the dining table from yesterday and patiently waited, simply enjoying seeing the newly risen sun casting a golden glow across the sea, which was a little more restless today than yesterday, the tide further in than it should have been and the waves crashing into the rocks dotted along the coastline rather aggressively.

Jace’s brows furrowed. What if it was his mother- no, no. He shook his head to himself, mentally reminding himself of how harsh her glare was the last time they spoke. The way she looked at him with such disappointment, she should be glad he was finally gone.

Jace instead focused on the sky, the few wisps of cloud that had formed illuminated in the golden glow, enhancing the streaks of coral and pink that painted the sky. It was a beautiful sight to see, one that he hadn’t been able to appreciate under the waves.

He rose to his feet as the double doors opened, slightly deflating at the sight of Grimsby, Carlotta and several maids entering, the former taking his seat and drawing out his pipe and the others setting various covered dishes in front of him. Jace, however, kept his gaze on the door. Carlotta sent him a knowing smile.

“Don’t you worry, she’ll be down in a minute or two.” She murmured to him, making him flush slightly in embarrassment.

Was it really that obvious he was looking for you?

He opened his mouth to protest his innocence, but shut it again when no sound came out. He simply shook his head at her, making her chuckle slightly.

“You can’t fool me. You were gazing at her all throughout dinner last night. I saw.” She smiled. “And if it helps, I saw her look at you too.” She added, shooting him a small wink as she and the maids left the dining hall, Jace gaping after her.

Was that true? Were you looking? Or did Carlotta say that to make him feel better? If you did, could he fulfil his end of the deal and get a kiss?

He didn’t have too much time to dwell on that, as a minute later the doors to the dining hall opened, and you walked inside.

You had elected to wear purple that day. A lilac blouse with a darker corset detailing that came in at the waist and an amethyst skirt that reached just below your knees. A pair of black pumps were on your feet. Your hair was tied back with a black ribbon to keep it out of your face. Jace noticed you looked beautiful as ever, but you had applied some powder to your cheeks in an attempt to conceal the slight darkness under your eyes, to hide your tiredness.

You looked tired, yet when your gaze locked onto Jace, you gave him your most dazzling smile, which he tried to return.

“Good morning,” You greeted, taking your seat at the head of the table. Jace nodded in response.

“Did you sleep well?” You asked, pouring yourself some coffee into a dainty china cup and Grimsby a cup of tea. Jace nodded again rather vigorously, gesturing to you to ask you the same.

“Oh, I slept fine.” You muttered rather dismissively, taking a sip of your coffee, your mind drifting to that mysterious silver haired man from your dream. You had been dreaming of him the past few nights, but last night was the first time that you had seen him relatively clearly and heard him speak. Before then, he had been completely shrouded in shadow, save for the small hint of silver hair, or flash of lilac from his eye.

You had pondered that he could be your mystery man, but then your mind wandered to Jace. You felt safe with him, and he made you feel warm inside, like a sense of home. With the silver haired man, you’d felt intimidated, yet intrigued. Bewitched, even. But there was a dangerous allure to him that sent a chill down your spine.

You forced the image of the man from your thoughts, deciding on instead spending the day showing Jace your kingdom, and seeing your people. They were your responsibility while your parents were away, and they would be your responsibility when the crown was passed to you.

After finishing breakfast, you led Jace outside where a black and gold carriage pulled by a beautiful bay horse was waiting. Jace had never seen a horse up close before, and rather nervously let you grab his hand and rest it on the horse’s nose, just as he’d rather admirably watched you do so a moment ago. He was soon put at ease as the horse nuzzled against his touch, a slight pink dusting to his cheeks at you standing right beside him, your hand still resting over his.

After you convinced Jace to stop feeding the horse handfuls of grass he’d torn up from your lawn, he opened the carriage door for you, his hand still interlocked with yours as he helped you into the carriage before following suite. You both waved to Carlotta and Grimsby, the former of whom sent Jace a nod and cheeky grin, before you grabbed the reins and started you on the nearby journey into the town.

As the horse led you down the lane into town, Jace excitedly pointed at every little thing he saw, whether that be a butterfly fluttering past, a rather interesting tree or a nearby field overgrown with wildflowers. You gave him that same, warm smile each time, finding his innocent joy rather beguiling. You did, however, panic slightly when you glanced over in his direction to be greeted with the sight of Jace leaning over the side of the carriage, watching the horses hooves trot down and kick up dust into his face from the road, causing him to cough and you to grab the back of his shirt and drag him back into the carriage properly.

As you led the carriage into town, you crossed a bridge built over a canal. Syrax, who had been hidden at the back of the carriage, peered over the side to see Vermax following them. His gaze flicked between you and Jace, but Syrax simply shook her head. Cannibal, flying overhead, softly squawked in disappointment.

You slowed the carriage to a stop, many of the townspeople stopping to greet and bow and wave to their princess and her companion. Jace watched softly as you greeted each and every one of them, shaking their hand and listening to whatever query or compliment they gave to you. How you graciously accepted the daisy a little girl shyly gave to you and how you helped load an elderly man’s shopping into his carriage. You would be a kind and gracious queen, Jace knew it.

Once the gathering had dispersed and the townspeople had gone back to their day to day lives, you tucked the daisy behind Jace’s ear and took him by the hand, surprising him by not even acknowledging how clammy they were, and led him past the rows of sweet little cottages and into the town centre.

It was bustling with crowds of people going about their business, whether that was going to the market, or spending a day out with their children.

When you reached the square, you immediately felt yourself being pulled over to where a man was gathering up chickens, and then over to where a crowd of children were watching a puppet show (although you rather hastily had to steer Jace away when he reached forward and pulled one of the puppets the puppeteers’ hand). No sooner than you did, he was dragging you over to where a band was playing in the centre of the square, where several couples both young, old and everything in between were dancing.

It was like he were experiencing everything for the very first time.

“Do you like dancing?” You asked, watching the way those warm brown eyes watched every spin, every step. He shyly shrugged in response, making you raise your eyebrows in surprise.

“You’ve never danced before?”

He shook his head, his shoulders heaving in a silent sigh as he watched the dancers longingly.

You bit your lip, taking his other hand so both of yours were in his, before leading him over. Initially he tried to resist, frantically shaking his head at you. He didn’t want to mess things up by dropping you, or accidentally stepping on your toes (he still wasn’t completely used to his new legs after all), but you persisted, moving one of his hands so it was placed on your back, your now free hand resting on his rather tense bicep, the other still clasped in his.

“Just follow my lead, okay Jace?” You smiled reassuringly at him, and Jace felt a warmth spread through him at how easily his name spilled from your tongue.

You stepped to the side slowly, and Jace kept his gaze fixed on your footsteps, how you would step back and to the side before bringing your feet together, twirling in a circle as you did so. He tried his best to copy those steps, eventually feeling comfortable enough to let his gaze to meet yours.

“See? You’re a natural.” You smiled, your hand moving from his bicep to rest against the back of his shoulder and neck, your fingertips brushing against his hair. “I can’t believe you’ve never danced before. It’s like you’ve been hidden from everyone your whole life.”

Because that’s exactly how it is, Jace thought as he span you around, his hand now resting on your waist to pull you closer. It was a bold move, but you let him do so, not shying away from his touch. Perhaps it was Jace’s imagination, but he could have sworn he’d felt you lean into it.

In another daring move, he broke his hand from yours to join his other on your waist, lifting you up and spinning you around, your fingers tangling in his chestnut curls as they wrapped around the back of his neck to hold onto him. Jace had always dreamed of how dancing with someone would feel, but he loved it even more when he was there, on land, dancing with you.

Jace would have happily spent the entire day dancing with you, but after an hour or so, he felt his legs start to ache, and he accidentally stumbled and stood on your foot, which he was profoundly apologetic about, but you assured him it wasn’t painful. And so you led him back towards the marketplace. He felt rather guilty about you spending your money on him, but you had insisted, and so he let you buy him a new pair of red leather boots. In return, he chose you a bouquet of flowers- red roses, he’d been told. You’d also bought some things for the palace, including yourself a new ink pot and a loaf of bread for the kitchens. You had been rather intrigued by a visiting jewellery merchant, Jace noticed, also admiring the jewels. He pointed at a rather beautiful pair of ruby earrings before gesturing to your own ears, which had a small pair of pearl earrings dangling from them today.

They would look stunning on you

“They are beautiful,” You agreed. “But I always found myself more partial to a sapphire.” You then added, pointing at a silver necklace set with the blue jewel. Jace grimaced in response, the sight of his uncle’s mutilated eye flashing to the forefront of his mind, only adding to the uneasiness in his stomach over the passing time.

Why did it have to be sapphires?

“What is it?” You asked as you noticed Jace’s expression. “Would it not suit me?”

Jace mentally cursed. If he could talk, it would be so easy to tell you that it would, of course it would look absolutely beautiful on you, but he personally thought the rubies would compliment your eyes more… and they were his favourite colour… and they wouldn’t remind him of his psychopath of an uncle.

So instead he nodded in agreement, before pointing at the earrings and nodding again.

“You… think the rubies would suit me more?” You asked, and he nodded again. “Okay, maybe you’re right… I was having a scarlet gown commissioned before the ball when my parents returned.”

A ball? Oh, how Jace would love to experience a ball.

He only hoped he could stay with you to see it one day.

His beaming smile as you purchased the earrings didn’t last as you also bought the sapphire necklace before leading him back to the carriage.

“You looked tired so I thought we could take a ride through the countryside.” You offered. “If you’re done here, that is. Although we can always come back here next week when the market returns.”

Jace nodded, opening the carriage door for you, trying to forget he only had one more day after this to get that kiss.

The horse drew away from the town in a gentle trot, the late afternoon breeze fluttering through Jace’s hair. He watched intently as you steered the horse down the lane, the road decked with trees either side, forests and meadows sprawling for miles, and yet the slight saltiness from the sea still lingered in the air.

“Do you want to try?” You asked, gesturing to the reins in your hands. He hesitated for a moment before nodding, letting you place the reins in his outstretched hands and position them correctly.

“There you go. You’re doing great.” You smiled at him, a hand resting on his shoulder in encouragement. His tense muscles relaxed slightly under your warm touch and praising words, and rather enthusiastically, he snapped at the reins as he’d seen you do so when you left the castle that morning.

“Wait, hang on- Jace!” You let out a small shriek as the horse reared in the air before bolting into a canter, surging down the lane. It suddenly surged to the left down a small pathway leading into the trees.

“Jace, you might want to ease up a bit- no, slow down! Slow down!” You exclaimed, bracing a hand on the carriage as the horse galloped in the direction of a large ditch. Jace, on the other hand, was showing no sign of doing so, a wide grin on his face as he instead encouraged the horse to speed up.

“Jace, what are you- oh shit!” You braised yourself as the horse leaped over the wide ditch, preparing yourself for the crash.

But it didn’t come.

Jace had slowed the horse down to a steady trot, and had a managed to find the main lane again, turning to look at you with a rather cheeky, yet charming, smile. You flushed slightly.

“Oh. Um… well done. Do you… want me to take the reins back?” You asked, but Jace shook his head, turning back to the road. He seemed to have gotten the hang of it, so you leaned back comfortably with a small shrug, your arms supporting the back of your head as you rode through the trees, the sun beginning to set in the sky.

After taking him for a little tour around the countryside you had steered him to a charming little restaurant for dinner. It was near a small lagoon, and was lit with lanterns set with different coloured glass, some were alight with an amethyst purple that matched your dress, others a deep wine red, or an ocean blue.

Jace watched you with admiration as you greeted the staff one by one, declining the offer of using a private dining room to instead favour a small table outside by the water beneath the lanterns, the hum of the crickets and gentle lapping of the lagoon waves against the shore creating a comfortable setting as the sun dipped below the trees, the sky streaked with gold, violet and pink.

You were approached throughout the dinner by multiple townspeople, who greeted you apologetically for the interruption to greet you, or gifted you with wildflowers. Jace simply watched with a soft smile on his face, flushing slightly whenever anybody turned their attention to him, shrinking back in his seat slightly as you recycled the same story you had told those in the castle.

The meal was far better than anything Jace had eaten in Atlantica, and as a surprise, you led him over to where a small wooden rowing boat for two was nestled in the reeds. Resting one foot on the boat to steady it, you helped Jace take his seat before following him, your hand holding his to maintain your balance.

You took ahold of the oars, not quite ready to hand the control to Jace in fear of your dinner being brought back up.

You rode a little way out into the lagoon, concealed by the reeds and the tall willow tree drooping over the bank, but making sure the water was shallow enough that Jace at least could stand up (you weren’t sure he could swim and didn’t want to concern him with being in deep water after the shipwreck ordeal).

Jace exhaled, spotting Vermax watching them from the water, Syrax resting on the reeds and Cannibal on a tree branch nearby. All three were watching the pair intently, and Jace shook his head once at them.

No kiss yet.

But everything was going so well, surely he could receive that true love’s kiss by the end of tonight. He had felt something when you were dancing. The way your eyes locked with his, the way you didn’t resist him holding you closer, and seemed to lean into his touch, or the way your hand seemed to grow slightly clammy as well when held in his.

Surely he couldn’t have imagined that?

You shot him a small smile as you placed the oars down, flexing your stiffened fingers slightly. You glanced around, not sure what the say. Do you ask him if he was okay? If he liked the spot you’d chosen? You weren’t sure, but Jace seemed very preoccupied by the willow tree at the edge of the lagoon. Or was he just lost in thought?

Before you could ask what had caught his attention, a dreadful sound pierced your ears. It was like someone dragging their nails down a blackboard. It was a shrill screeching sound, like some poor bird was in pain.

“Gods, it sounds like some poor creature needs to be put out of its misery.” You murmured.

Jace grimaced in response, his gaze locked on where Cannibal was squawking in the tree above, raising a wing as a gesture of you’re welcome, seemingly believing he was helping create a romantic atmosphere and that he was doing Jace a favour.

He let out a small sigh of relief as he saw Syrax climb up to the branch, a claw snapping around Cannibal’s beak. Her beady eyes glared him down, her other claw making swiping across her in a zip it motion before she jumped back down into the reeds.

“Seems like somebody was listening.” You mused, using one of the oars to steer you both into the centre of the lagoon. Jace gave a slight smile in response, simply glad that you’re back was facing his unhelpful feathered companion.

He was even more glad that Syrax, perched on a drooping reed leaf, dropped down into the water, and moments later as a small group of turtles appeared. Syrax tapped the shells of the turtles, creating a percussion sound that a small flock of ducks continued for her. She then jumped o back onto a reed, pointing at a group crickets that began to him a little louder.

She was creating music for them.

You seemed to have noticed, glancing around.

“It sounds so peaceful,” You mused. “Nature really is an incredible thing.”

Jace could only nod in agreement, his gaze now focused entirely on you, and how ethereal you looked in the silver glow of the moon and the golden hum of the fireflies circling the lagoon.

All Jace could think about was how much he wanted to succeed in his task, and how he wanted to be with you. As he admired you, it was at the forefront of his mind. How the clock was ticking. He was running out of time, but he had no idea how he would go about it. His mother had always taught him to ask permission first when courting a lady, but, of course, he was unable to. He felt too awkward, so shy around you, to approach the subject. But then again, if he didn’t kiss you, he would lose you forever.

Now was the perfect opportunity, he doubted he’d get a better one. The atmosphere was perfect, the setting was stunning, and you looked beautiful of course but… he didn’t quite know how to go about it. He didn’t even know what was going through your mind as you kept your gaze focused on him. He didn’t even know you were going through a similar mental dilemma.

You didn’t know why, usually you would never rush into such things, he hadn’t even spoken a single damn word to you, but there was something about Jace. You knew there was something familiar about him. Hell, you had even thought he could have been who you had been searching for, but since he couldn’t talk, that was impossible. But there was still something about him that drew you in. A silent charm to him.

You didn’t know why you were particularly focusing on the warmth of his eyes as they gazed at you, or the way his hair framed his face, or the shape of his lips…

You didn’t know why your mind went back to the day you’d spent together, the dancing, the rather intimate dinner.

And then you realised through all of that, every time you spent time together, his eyes were always intently focused on you, just as they were now, as though you were the only thing there. Perhaps you were only imagining that…

Or was he thinking the same thing as you?

You were to caught up in your own thoughts that you didn’t even notice the boat start to drift further into the lagoon. You didn’t notice the glare Jace sent down to where Vermax and those turtles were pushing the boat, or the way two pelicans swooped down to part the leaves of a willow tree to let the boat pass through. Or how the fireflies were circling the both of you now. You didn’t notice Syrax climbing onto Jace’s shoulder, goading him on to kiss you before returning to the water.

You weren’t snapped from your thoughts until Jace rested his hand over yours. You turned your hand and allowed him to hold it properly. He looked nervous, from the way his eyes darted from your hand to your lips and then up to yours eyes and back again, to the way he seemed to be biting his lip or the fact his hand was growing more clammy.

Was he feeling the same thing as you?

Almost like a magnetic pull, you leaned forward slightly, not quite realising you had done so until Jace did the same, and you realised how close you were, mere inches apart. Your eyes locked, and you could feel yourself drowning in them, noticing for the first time that there was a darker rim around his iris, and that in the glow of the fireflies that had began to hum louder, they had a honeyed colour to them, becoming lighter towards the centre.

Jace had a swarm of butterflies within him, feeling the apprehension bubbling up inside. Were you actually going to kiss him? You leaned in first after all… could he actually succeed and finally get his wish? Instinctively, he eyelids fluttered shut. He felt you draw back slightly, perhaps surprised at the possibly bold move, but your hand never left his.

And then he felt you lean forward again, the boat creaking slightly as you shifted closer to him. You closed your eyes as well as you leaned closer still, your lips mere inches apart from brushing against his. You could quite believe you were doing this, but something just felt right.

Jace’s heart was hammering within his chest, he couldn’t believe he was about to kiss you. He was so close…

Until the boat flipped over and sent the both of you tumbling into the lagoon.

The animals had scattered, both not wanting for you to see them, and also in fear of where Vhagar had slithered underneath the boat to flip it over before disappearing within the reeds, her teeth bared in a sickening grin and that blue eye glowing brighter than the moon, watching as you grabbed Jace’s hand, the both of you rising to your feet. He looked you over, those chestnut eyes brimmed with worry.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” You sighed, catching your breath. Fortunately the water was shallow enough that you could stand above the water level, you steadying the boat to let Jace clamber back on board. He then extended his hand to you to help you as well, you taking the oars and rowing the both of you back to shore.

Jace sat there silently, his shoulders slumped in defeat as he stared down at the water. He knew that wasn’t an accident, and his jaw clenched slightly in annoyance at his uncle’s interference.

Aemond had been watching Jace ever since he’d reached the surface, his amusement at Jace’s schoolboy like crush changing to irritation as it seemed like it was rubbing off on you.

He had been tracking Jace for months, knowing he was the perfect pawn to use against Rhaenyra. To take her throne and rule the seas in revenge of his banishment. The first thing he would do is take Lucerys’ eye.

For his mother.

He had heard of her passing shortly after his banishment, and the anguish he had felt had twisted his mind and blackened his heart. He had descended into madness in his exile, and although he had added his grandfather’s soul to his collection, he knew that was only the beginning.

And then he watched as Jace had become infatuated with you, and initially, he saw you as the perfect stepping stone to Rhaenyra’s downfall.

But then he found himself intrigued by you.

He had always carried some disdain for humans, viewing them as an inferior species. But your free spirit, and your good heart, such a contrast to him, had drawn him in. It didn’t help that you were such a stunning creature, more gorgeous than any mermaid he’d seen. And although that could be seen as weakness, he saw it as an opportunity.

After claiming Rhaenyra’s soul in return for Jace’s “freedom”, he would take control of the the oceans and dispose of those who ever opposed him, and then he would go to you, and claim you as his. He could imagine how soft your skin would feel against his, how you would feel trapped beneath him as he made you his, those sweet noises that would spill from your lips as you’d moan his name.

And then, he’d marry you, and become ruler on land and sea, his power unopposed, finally getting that vengeance on behalf of himself and his mother.

There was a small spanner in the works as you grew closer to Jace, but he had been sowing the seeds in his plan for some time, visions of him plaguing your dreams and observing you through Vhagar.

He gently rested a hand on Vhagar’s head as she swam into the cavern, giving a small hum of approval.

“Nice work, Vhagar,” He praised. “That was a little close. A little too close.” He glared at the cauldron, glaring at the image of you and Jace arriving back at castle, the both of you still damp from the lagoon debacle. Jace got out of the carriage, taking your hand and helping you step out, leading you into the castle where the maids would no doubt hurry to prepare you a nice warm bath.

“That little brat is doing better than I thought,” He mused. “At this rate, he’ll be kissing her by tomorrow’s sunset. No matter…” his lips twisted into a grin. “I suppose I’ll just have to take matters into my own hands…”

He reached up towards a cupboard, grabbing several bottles and throwing them to the basin, causing a cloud of blue smoke to explode from it. He waved his hand, and the image above the basin changed to where you were preparing yourself for bed, dressed in a pink silk nightgown that reached midway down your thighs. However, instead of going to bed for an early night as Aemond assumed you would, you left your room and walked down the hallway, knocking on Jace’s door.

“Hi… I just… wanted to say goodnight.” You muttered, you gaze focused on the floor. Jace frowned slightly. Did you regret the moment the two of you had shared? Did this mean he’d lost his chance?

He nodded, reaching for your hand, only for you to pull it away. You finally raised your gaze to look at him, but the smile you sent him didn’t reach your eyes.

“Sleep well,” You whispered, before leaning up and pressing a small kiss to his cheek. It was feather light, a simple brush of your lips, but it set Jace’s skin on fire, his cheeks flushing bright red as stared at you as you turned and hurried back down the hallway without looking back.

His hand raised to brush against his cheek where you’d kissed him, a small smile creeping onto him face.

Perhaps there was still a chance for him after all.

Aemond on the other hand, was glaring at the image, his knuckles white from where he was gripping the side of the basin so tightly.

“She will be mine,” He spat. “And his soul will be mine. And Rhaenyra?” He chuckled, the shard of dragonglass glowing a vivid blue. “I’ll have her trapped. She’ll be wriggling like a worm on a hook.”

You felt your mind swimming with conflicting thoughts, on whether you should pursue these feelings for Jace, or whether you should continue your search for your saviour.

You felt exhausted, both from the long day and the lack of sleep for last night, and so decided to get some rest, and hopefully sort out the conflict between your heart and your head tomorrow.

Just like last night, sleep overtook you as soon as your head touched the pillow.

And just like last night, you dreamed of the silver haired man.

It was almost as though he was waiting for you, standing right where you left him, that intense stare of his from the one visible eye making you instinctively shrink back. He was intimidatingly beautiful.

Even when he turned to fully face you, there was still something concealing the other side of his face from. A sort of barrier in your mind.

It only intrigued you more.

You took a step back as he advanced towards you. He almost seemed to glide, as though he were floating in the air. You took another step back, only to be greeted with an invisible wall, trapping you completely.

The man’s lip twisted into a smug smirk, a glint in that amethyst eye of his that only meant trouble, no doubt.

The man was soon enough right in front of you, looking down at you, his eye darkening as a his fingertips left feather light touches across your jaw, down your neck and across your collarbone before tracing down to your chest, a hint of cleavage showing. His hand then moved down to your breast, concealed beneath the thin silk of your nightgown. He let out a small hum of content at the gasp that left your lips as he gave it a small pinch, the peak hardening beneath his touch.

You felt yourself shiver beneath his touch, feeling as though you should push the man away and reject his advances, but you found yourself being unable to. You knew it was a dream, that you would wake up at any moment, but it still felt real.

“W-who… w-what are you…? You stuttered out, but the man raised his other hand and pressed his index finger to your lips.

“Hush now, ñuha dārilaros,” He murmured, his head leaning down to the crook of your neck, inhaling your scent. His hand that was on your breast was now creeping along your thigh, beneath the skirt of your rather flimsy nightdress.

Your breath hitched in your throat as his fingers grazed lightly over your core, his lips pressing against the base of your throat before tracing up your neck. He pressed another kiss to your jaw this time, before they ultimately reached your ear, tugging the lobe between his teeth.

“Soon, ñuha dārilaros,” He whispered, lips brushing against the shell of your ear. His hand pulled away from between your legs. “We will see each other very soon.”

You jolted awake with a start, your chest heaving and a thin sheen of sweat glistening on your skin. You threw the covers off you, glancing at the small clock hanging above the mantelpiece.

You had only been asleep for half an hour.

And you doubted you would be welcome to any more, not wanting to be greeted with the sight of the silver haired man again. Why he haunted your dreams, you didn’t have a clue. But you were certain it was hardly a coincidence.

Deciding that the nightly sea air may do you some good, you changed from that nightgown into a white cotton shirt and navy trousers, pulling your boots onto your feet.

You lit the lamp beside your bed and carried it out of your room, creeping downstairs and out the back door in the kitchens. You blew out the lamp and left it on the kitchen table, walking down through the small courtyard and sitting on the terrace, your legs crossed beneath you.

You let out a deep sigh, glancing back at the castle. Jace’s curtains were drawn, the lamps blown out. Most would have either taken the opportunity of a longer night’s sleep, and would either be in bed already or preparing to do so.

Except for one other, that is.

Your gaze looked out towards the sea. The waves were a lot more aggressive today, and the tide came in far quicker than usual.

You jumped slightly as you felt a hand rest gently on your shoulder.

”Y/N,” Grimsby sighed. “You seem unlike your usual self.”

“I’m just… lost in thought,” You muttered in response, your gazed fixed on how the moon cast a glow on the ocean’s surface, the light being cast taking on a more indicolite colour.

“Y/N, if I may say, far better than a dream man, is one made of flesh and blood. One that is warm, gentlemanly and friendly. One that is right in front of your eyes…”

Your gaze moved to Jace’s bedroom window for a fleeting moment before then focusing on Grimsby. You glanced back out at the sea, your shoulders heaving in a silent sigh. You reached into your pocket a drew out your flute, raising it to your lips and playing that same small tune that had been replaying in your mind ever since your rescue.

Knowing that he wasn’t going to get a response, Grimsby let out another sigh and left your side, walking back up to the castle.

You continued playing the sweet melody, but soon enough found it growing out of tune, your breaths becoming uneven. You let out a groan of frustration, rising to your feet on the wall and throwing your arm back, launching the flute into the sea out of sheer frustration at your internal conflict.

You let out a defeated sigh, collapsing back down and burying your head on your hands. You had certainly grown fond of Jace, but there had been such a short amount of time. You didn’t want to rush into things. And then there was that mystery man, the one who had saved you. You were certain he was out there somewhere. And your mind still drifted to the man you’d seen in your dreams, the one who you hadn’t heard speak above a murmur. Could he be the man who saved you? Why else would he inhabit your thoughts?

You shook your head, not wanting to plague your thoughts further, deciding instead to return to the castle to go to the library or your study and read until the sun rose. Rising to your feet, you turned to walk back, but something stopped you.

It started out as a whisper in the breeze, but soon grew louder. It was a very familiar voice singing a very familiar tune.

It was the tune that was sung to you the day you were rescued from drowning.

Like in the trance of a siren song, you returned to your place on the terrace, leaning forward to try and find where the song was coming from, a growing mist surrounding the shore making you squint slightly.

And then you saw a silhouette, tall and slender, emerging from the fog, the voice growing louder and louder until you finally got a clear sight of the source of the song.

It was a man clad in black leather trousers and a black leather overcoat with a white shirt underneath, the top few undone buttons exposing the top half of his chest. A pendant hung from his neck, glowing a faint blue in the moonlight, and he had an eyepatch covering his left eye. His silver hair was tied half up, fluttering in the night breeze.

It was the man from your dreams.

All you did was stare as the man walked down the beach, your eyes wide and your heart hammering in your chest.

He came to a stop directly in front of you, and even from a distance you could see how his lilac eye glittered in the moonlight, how the moon’s glow made his hair look even more silver.

”Good evening, princess,” He greeted. His voice was smooth and held a sort of allure to it. Like a siren’s song.

“Good… good evening,” You replied, your mouth void of saliva and your thoughts swimming. You knew it wasn’t a coincidence that you’d been seeing this man in your dreams, and the thought of him being your mystery saviour had crossed your mind, but you never imagined he’d be standing here right in front you.

“A lovely evening, is it not?”

“I- the sea is a little choppy tonight.”

“Hm, is suppose you are right,” The man replied. “The waves could destroy the greatest of ships indeed.” He mused, his visible eye glittering. “Speaking of, I hope you have since recovered from that ordeal.”

”Yes… I’m fine…” You murmured, clearing your throat. “What is your name?”

“Aemond Targaryen,” He paused. “Prince Aemond Targaryen. And what is your name?”

He couldn’t help the small smirk that tugged at the corner of his lip. He knew your name already. Of course he knew your name.

“Y/N. Princess Y/N L/N.” You replied, mimicking his tone as you stepped down from the terrace and took a step towards the beach.

“Hm,” Aemond let it a small hum of amusement. “You have a lovely kingdom, my princess.”

“Thank you. What kingdom do you reside over.” You asked, taking another step towards Aemond, him doing the same.

“It is one that is far away. Out there, beyond these waters.” Was his response, extending his hand to help you down the steep slope leading down to the beach. His touch was cold, his larger hand holding yours in a tight grip. He did not possess the same warmth as Jace, despite being just as handsome.

“Well perhaps one day I will see it.” You said, making his smirk widen.

“Perhaps.”

You pulled your hand from his, resting it in your pocket. “Well what brings you to these parts?”

Aemond let out a deep exhale. “To escape from everything, I suppose. I have struggled with the concept of me taking the throne. The current ruler of my kingdom… she has grown rather weak. A new ruler is needed and my elder brother is not fit for it, and so that responsibility has befallen me. ‘Twas I who studied history, philosophy, the skills with a sword, all in preparation for that moment, and yet now the moment has come…” He turned away form you, his lilac gaze focusing on the ocean behind him. If you stood in front of him, you would see the smile on the hidden side of his face.

"I understand," You replied, your voice barely a murmur, smothered by the whipping sea winds. "I feel that way too." You hesitated for a moment. "Why did you rescue me that night? How... how did you find me? We were quite a distance from the shore."

"I have always been a rather strong swimmer," He brushed off your enquiries. "I was merely in the area and I saw the ship in flames so I decided to see if there were any survivors. I reached where the ship was by climbing over the rocks lining the shore and then saw you slip beneath the waves unconscious. I couldn't let you die, that much I was certain of, and so I swam out and dragged you to shore."

"Why didn't you take me to Grimsby and the remainder of the crew on the lifeboats?"

"They were gone by the time I had found you."

You nodded. Did you entirely believe the story? You weren't sure. There was something about this stranger that caused a sense of unease within you. He didn't make you feel comfortable like Jace did, instead he was rather unnerving.

All the same, there was something pulling you towards Aemond, like a sailor entranced by a siren. He was a very handsome man, from a royal upbringing. He seemed intelligent and well spoken. A perfect prince, one would say. But that didn't stop the glint in that lilac eye of his. A darkness, or danger, something that set you on edge.

"Well... thank you for saving me. The song you sang to me... it was quite beautiful. Although, I am not familiar with the dialect I heard."

"An ancient language from my homeland. One that is practically extinct. Only those in the royal family use it. A sort of tradition, I suppose."

"Well it sounded very beautiful," You replied, your gaze travelling to the patch of black leather covering his eye.

"You are curious?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I... I did not mean to stare or offend you-"

"You haven't. I wear it around others, as to not frighten them."

"What happened?" You hesitated as he shot you a small smirk.

"Inquisitive, aren't you?" He murmured, letting out a sigh. "When I was a child, I was attacked by someone in my family. It left me disfigured, unable to see out of my eye. And so I wear this to spare others of my wound."

"If they are truly frightened of it, then they are not worthy of looking upon it. It just shows how shallow and self centred people are, when they could instead be looking upon what really matters."

"And what would that be?" He raised an eyebrow, his head tilted to the side. He found your kindness, and the goodness within your heart both amusing and endearing. You saw such hope in the world where he only saw darkness, a darkness that dwelled and festered in his heart.

You may even see good in him.

A shame that was lost the moment his eye was stolen from him.

"You seem intelligent, an attribute that seems to be rarer and rarer to find these days," You replied. "You are well read, you have manners, you seem polite, observant. All admirable qualities to possess."

"I thank you for your kind words, princess," He nodded at you, bowing his head slightly and his hands resting behind his back.

"No. I should be thanking you. I have been trying to search for whoever saved me that day... so I could thank them. I am glad that I can finally do so. I would have died had you not have been there. So I do thank you, I am forever in gratitude to you. If there is anything I could do for you in return... I would be happy to do it..."

You regretted those words as soon as they left your mouth from the way Aemond's lip curved into a smile, one that sent a shudder down your spine. His eye darkened as you spoke, stepping closer to you. Instinctively, you took a step back, only to feel hard rock preventing you from moving further. Your heart was thumping in your chest, your legs feeling as though they could give out from beneath you as he was soon standing so close you could smell him, the scent of the sea lingering on his skin.

And he had you trapped.

Just like in the dream you'd experienced mere hours ago.

"There is something you could do," He murmured, slender fingers tracing up your arm. "A simple favour, if you will."

"And... and what is that?" You whispered. Was he going to touch you as he had done so in your dream? Take advantage of you?

"A kiss," He replied. "Just a simple kiss from you will suffice perfectly." As he spoke he ran his thumb over your lower lip, his other hand resting on your waist. Although cold and firm, his grip was not painful, but you were sure it could be if you rejected his wish.

"I... very well. If that is what you desire." You agreed, your words only making his eye darken. "But in return, I want to see you without your eyepatch."

Aemond tutted. "I didn't realise we were making such demands... but who am I to deny you, ñuha dārilaros. As you wish."

You nodded, meeting his gaze as he leaned forward and captured your lips with his. The kiss was hungry, consuming your every breath, swallowing your every whimper that slipped through your lips as he caught your bottom lip between his teeth, his hands clamped down on your waist, pulling your hips flush against his. Your hands moved to his biceps, gripping the leather, feeling how his muscle tensed beneath your touch.

Aemond pulled away but kept you pressed against him. One hand left your waist to reach up and pull the eyepatch off of him.

Your lips parted slightly as you gazed up at the sapphire glinting in the moonlight. Without realising it, your hand reached up to touch the scar running through his skin above and below his eye, but you faltered, moving to pull it away as you realised what you were doing. Aemond's hand grabbed your own, moving it back to his face, your fingertip tracing over the scar. There was a slight twitch under his eye at the contact, clearly not used to this sort of affectionate attention to his scar.

"I do not see anything frightening." You said, a gentle smile gracing your features.

"You are truly something else, ñuha dārilaros." He murmured, his hold on your waist tightening.

"No. I merely possess kindness that others do not have the privilege of having." You replied, trying to pull away, only for him to keep his hold on you.

"It is late, I should be getting back to the castle to get some rest." You attempted to excuse yourself from your new aquaintance.

"Just a moment," He replied. "I've technically granted you two things. I saved your life, and I showed you my eye. You granted me the courtesy of your kiss, but..." His lip twisted upwards. "You owe me one more thing."

You tried to ignore the pang of dread that struck your heart. "That depends... what did you have in mind?"

Aemond's smirk widened, leaning forward so his lips brushed against your ear, sending a small shudder through you as those two words left his lips.

"Marry me."

Jace awoke the next morning in the brightest of spirits, grabbing his shirt and throwing it over his head as he hurried out of his room and downstairs to greet you for breakfast, momentarily returning to his room to "brush" out a few of the knots in his curls.

Before he had the chance to leave for a second time, Cannibal suddenly came soaring through the open window, letting out a loud squawk as he crash landed on the rather hastily made bed. Scrambling to his feet, he made a series of shrill squawks, frantically waving his wings around and gesturing to a feather on his left wing.

Jace's brows furrowed in visible confusion as the bird continued his erratic gestures, a wing extending to where Jace's left hand hung by his side. He followed Cannibal's gesture to his ring finger, his expression clearing as he understood.

Engagement.

You were announcing an engagement...

...To him?

Had he succeeded?

Jace bolted out of his bedroom door, his heart swelling. He couldn't believe he was going to achieve what he'd always dreamed of- a life in the sun... with you.

The woman that he had found himself falling for ever since he had laid eyes on you.

He heard Grimsby's voice echo down the corridor as he approached the staircase.

"Well, Y/N, it seems I was, er... rather mistaken..."

Jace ducked behind a pillar close to the staircase, not wanting to intrude on the conversation. He peered round and caught sight of you, just about visible from where he was standing. He didn't want to move closer in case he was spotted by you or Grimsby.

"...This mystery man of yours does exist... and he seems very... respectable. Your name, sir?"

That made Jace's blood run cold, but want sent his heart sinking like a wrecked ship was the flash of silver hair as Aemond stepped forward, his voice loud and clear as he told Grimsby his name.

Prince Aemond Targaryen.

"A pleasure. And congratulations to you both." Grimsby politely replied, shaking Aemond's hand. "Now, I'm sure that you will want an announcement to both of your kingdoms in the next few days. And a party of course-"

"We wish to be married as soon as possible," You interrupted Grimsby, your harsh tone making both he and Jace flinch slightly. He had never heard you speak that way to anyone before.

"Oh, yes... of course, Y/N, but, er, but these things do take time, you know..."

"This afternoon," You replied, your voice still retaining that unusual coldness. Jace leaned forward slightly to see better, his jaw clenching slightly as he saw you, clad in a simple dress of sapphire blue, your hair naturally down. In your eyes, there was a slight vacancy, as though you weren't quite in the room. "The wedding ship departs at sunset."

Sunset?

No...

Jace couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. He had you within a fingertips' reach, so close to triumphing over Aemond, but now here his depraved uncle was, wrenching you from him with ease.

"A-as you wish, Y/N..." Grimsby sighed.

Jace couldn't take it anymore, tears welling up in his eyes as he ran back to his room, the door's slam echoing down the corridor. He slid down the door to the floor, bringing his knees up to his chest, letting the tears spill from his eyes.

If only he had stayed a little longer. He may have seen the vice like grip Aemond had on your waist, the way his other hand reached up to touch his dragon glass pendant, which glowed a deep blue beneath his touch, or the way that then made a blue glow cast in your eyes as you rested your head against his chest, the hand that was resting on his pendant moving to hold your hand in his.

But instead he cried, sobs racking through his body.

For himself

For his family.

And for you.

Masterlist

Have your say on who you want the reader to end up with, I'm curious

Poll

Tag list:

@thekittyxo-blog @iamavailablesstuff @eggofpower @thatbitchanna27 @aleemendoza2425-blog @ekavamonfort @rhaenattargaryen @ewwwitsel @marytargaryen @snowprincesa1 @bes2005 @audigay @whodis-26 @sweethoneyblossom1 @smayhem @yeahright0h @itlover8000 @hiraethrhapsody @bellstwd @xxvelvetxxxx

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[mmkin]

Shark Bait - Arlong x Reader

Arlong x Fish/Human Hybrid AFAB Reader

Content Warning – This is a darker story than my other Arlong Pirates related work (and has no connection to said works, consider this my dark Arlong AU) and was inspired from a prompt/headcanons from @sheisabitchbicth here on Tumblr and contains elements of yandere, dubcon, and noncon. (and yes, this work is 18+/NSFW!)

If no likey, there’s the Back button. I have other OP stories or other works that may be more your taste.

If you like this kind of thing though, then read on. I’ve been wanting to do something dark for a bit, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so, so have fun with this guilty pleasure project of mine :) All feedback is very much appreciated. (Update - the story is now available to read on my AO3. The story will be updated here and there, follow where you wish. Enjoy!)

Shark Bait - Part 1

You had never met another fishperson in your life until Arlong’s crew came across you. Your parents were slaves who had escaped together, using their combined skills to make their way out. From what your mother told you, they became friends while they were slaves, and after their escape they were lovers for a while. Eventually, they parted, though on amicable terms. Your mother never told your father that she was pregnant, though.

She did not want to return to her family or native land, though. So she found an island that seemed out of the way, and settled there. People felt bad for her for being a former slave, so when you were born, they looked in the other direction, so you for the most part led a quiet life. Your father’s heritage gave you the ability to breathe underwater, so you would go fishing, or search for various items that would augment your mother’s meager income. Sometimes you might help out neighbors in a similar manner, so even though you were half fishwoman, you found some acceptance in your community.

By the time you were in your late teens, you were used to most people not noticing your gills, or the color of your skin. You stayed out of trouble and often out of sight. If you dressed appropriately and wore a large hat or hood, you could escape the notice of Marines who touched upon your island during their trips. It was a quiet life. Were you happy? Sometimes you were not sure. As you’d gotten older, you wanted to know more about your father’s people, and there was only so much your mother could tell you.

So one day, you’re out swimming, and looking for treasures that you can bring home. Since you’ve pretty much picked clean the areas closest to the island, you’ve had to venture out further, which hey, it’s great swimming practice. You feel at peace in the sea, feeling it move through your lungs as you move through the water. You know there are fish- and merfolk and Sea Kings and beasts out there, but at the moment it’s easy to imagine that you are alone in this world. You drift past the coral, admiring it.

Suddenly, you see movement out of the corner of your eye and turn around to see what you are almost certain is another person darting off in the murky distance, if it’s not a large fish. A few of the people on the island dive, but you know that none can dive this far or deep. So maybe it’s a big fish that would probably be a welcome meal for your mother. You’re debating whether you should go after it before a shadow passes overhead, and you look up, wondering if it’s another fish, when in shock you realize it’s a ship. You were so absorbed in your work that you’d failed to notice the coming of a ship, nor did you expect one as the Marines did not come by often. You drift towards the hulking dark shape before something much, much closer swoops down in front of you, close enough that you feel the water displacement against your body as he fills the space.

You see clear blue eyes and the longest nose you’ve ever seen, and there is a grin full of the sharpest teeth you’ve ever seen or even imagined. A short shriek bursts from your throat before a wave of lightheadedness overcomes you.

The next moments are a haze as you try to fight passing out. You are pulled to a strong chest before you are dragged to the surface, a red sun filling much of your vision as you stare dumbly at the chest of the person who’s taken you. You gasp softly as the two of you break the surface of the water, and your limbs hang limp as you’re hauled onto a ship that is most decidedly not a Marine ship. Or even a merchant ship, from the looks of it.

As your head lolls back, you get another look at the face of your captor. No, you didn’t imagine that serrated nose, or the mouth full of sharp teeth, and you start to panic, finding your strength and starting to push against him.

“Oh, we have a feisty one here,” Sawnose chortles, letting you go for but a moment before he grabs your wrists in his large hand, hoisting your hands above your head, leaving you helpless under his scrutiny, and he is not the only one staring.

“Let me go!” you cry, trying to kick him as other men surround you, with a variety of skin colors, some of them having fins, or other fishlike features, in a wide assortment. One thing they all have in common – and you do with them – are their gills. If you were not so frightened and anxious, you might be reveling in the fact that you’re finally meeting other fishmen for the first time in your life.

You are lifted off your feet, and can not help but feel like a hooked fish that is being held up by a fisherman for inspection or display. You try a few more kicks, but Sawnose is incredibly tall and his arm is long enough to keep you at just enough distance to keep you from any effective kick. He laughs as your feet graze his upper legs and stomach.

Your next instinct is to curl up as you see the hungry gazes that are fixed on your damp and near-nude form. You’ve found that diving is more comfortable the less clothes you wear, so you’re in a tank top and briefs, which both cling to you, your net bag hanging empty at your side. The way you’re being handled makes you wonder if these fishmen might try to sell you into slavery. You know your mother will worry about that if you do not come home.

“So, what’s a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?” Sawnose asks with an amused tone. You try to be silent, but he snarls at you, and it’s obvious he could cause serious injury, so you have no choice but to answer his question, and any other that he wants to ask you. You confirm that you are indeed the child of a fishperson. When asked what that parent’s name was, you utter it, and his eyes widen.

You are dropped to the deck, wincing as you land on the bare wood. It is then that you learn that your father was once a crewmate of the man who’d just kidnapped you. For a moment you feel your heart leap up in your throat. Will you have the chance to meet him? But your heart plummets to the pit of your stomach when you learn he’s been dead for years. You start crying, and surprisingly, Sawnose kneels next to you, stroking your hair.

“I want to go home,” you plead.

“Silly girl. You are home,” he asserts as you give him a confused stare. He informs you that since you are the offspring of someone from his crew, it means you belong to the crew, and to its captain above all else. So… this means you’re not going to be sold into slavery? You’re just going to be conscripted into a pirate crew?

Fuck. Your mind races as you wonder how you can find your way out of this predicament. Because this can not fucking happen to you. Just because your father was a pirate… a father you’ve never met, who’d never even held you in his arms after you were born. What cruel fate has wrought this?

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” you manage to inquire as you rise to your feet, crossing your arms to maintain as much modesty as you can. It’s one thing to dive near-naked, when there is no one else around to impede on your enjoyment of the sea, and another to be ogled at by so many eyes. When’s the last time these men saw a woman?

Sawnose laughs, and introduces himself and his crew. He is the mighty captain Arlong the Saw, leader of the Arlong Pirates, and Lord of the East Blue. Your island is his next target in the expansion of his territory, and his men have been scouting around it for a couple of days, staying out of sight. You are an unexpected – but not unwelcome, Arlong assures you – find. Since you’re now part of the crew, you will be spared the tribute that Arlong and his crew are going to extract from the island.

Your thoughts fly to your mother. As a single mother, your mother never had much money. Usually there was food in your belly, and always a roof over your head. Your mother occasionally managed to scrape together enough money for a treat, for what was life without small enjoyments, she would say. You knew she had a bit of money squirreled away for medicine or doctors, and to your dismay, you remember how she has needed more of these in the last couple of years. How will she be able to afford all that on top of Arlong’s tribute, especially if you’re not there to help her?

As Arlong’s words sink in, and the reality of what your mother and the rest of the village faces, you feel light-headed again. Since you were a child, you would get an attack like this rarely, usually after being dealt with an emotional blow.

And this isn’t just an emotional blow. It’s a fucking emotional sucker-punch, and you actually pass out.

Someone is stroking your forehead and hair, and for a moment, you think it’s your mother tending to you. But you’re not in a bed, you’re… on someone’s lap, and your head and neck is on top of what you’re pretty sure is an arm. You hear conversation going on around you, footsteps bustling about, commands being given as the island comes into sight. A quiet whine escapes your throat as you struggle to gain consciousness.

“Looks like the little clownfish is coming awake,” you hear someone chuckle. You would come to hate being called that, for your captor uses it when he thinks you are being silly or stupid.

Who is calling you that, you wonder, and it all comes crashing upon you. Arlong. Arlong the Saw. Who just claimed you for himself and his crew. Who just told you the ultimate fate of your father. And who will terrorize your island and collect tribute from villagers who only want to live a quiet life. You try to bat away the hand that’s touching you, and suddenly find your wrist ensconced in the iron grip of the hand you just tried to defend yourself from.

“Now, now, there will be none of that,” you hear him chide, and you open your eyes, seeing these bright blue eyes and that impressive nose hovering over your face. Your first instinct is to scoot back but the arm that had been supporting you now holds you in his lap in an iron grip. It’s hard to not feel vulnerable pressed up against this impressive specimen of a fishman. And as your gaze darts around, you realize that the other fishmen are pretty tall too. Taller than even the tallest man in your village.

Now you really do feel like a little clownfish, surrounded by all sorts of predatory sea creatures.

[whorety-k]

Ebony Coasts [Part 2]

I couldn't resist the allure of part two with our favorite raven man so please accept my continued rambles.

Pairing: Merfolk!Corvus Corax x fem!Marine Conservationist!Reader (second person POV)

Song recommendation: Cosmic Love - Florence + The Machine

“No dawn, no day / I’m always in this twilight /In the shadow of your heart.”

Warnings: Ocean mentions / potential thalassophobia, the dull horrors of an average day at the workplace

Word Count: 2k

[Part 1] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

Submitting your report had been a frustrating endeavor with what felt like a million following questions. How many perpetrators? “What age were they?” “Why were you out alone?” “Why were there no tracks?” If you weren’t someone who so fiercely kept their word, you would have wondered if the paperwork of telling the world about the existence of mermaids was better than the droning interrogation by your supervisors. Thankfully, the excuse of nightfall and the surprising lack of CCTV around the marine protected area allowed you to actually get away with the lies you were feeding into your statements. Your submission to make that area of the beach quarantined off from the surrounding sands was approved, which you celebrated eagerly. Your reputation and knowledge definitely helped the push.

Your patience, however, could be better. You tried to return to Corvus’s beach the very next night, determined to let him know that he wasn’t going to be bothered by your agency any longer (and perhaps fully convince yourself that he was, in fact, real). You nearly missed the cave during your search; Corvus must have put more effort into concealing his newest home, as the entrance was thoroughly hidden amongst new coastal vegetation that wasn’t present the night before. 

It shouldn’t have been surprising that he was nowhere to be seen, his den left empty aside from the sloshing of water as you searched for him. Still, you were determined to gain the merman’s favor. The items you had taken from him as ‘evidence’ had unfortunately already been disposed of, so you had to resort to doing the next best thing. You left a proud silver pearl from your own trinket stash on one of the shelf-like rock formations deeper within the cavern. Seeing no other reason to stick around or snoop any longer, you headed home.

When your supervisor slaps down a manila folder detailing Corvus’s beach under the watch of you and your team, you could have hollered. You instead thank her politely before she returns to her own tasks, figuring an outburst wouldn’t have a great place in the quiet office. A quick read through the included documents and permits informs you that your team is now directly responsible for observation and maintenance of the shoreline, detailing the duties specific to you and each other member. Nothing appears to be too invasive toward your mysterious new friend– if you can call him that. 

The first week out is spent surveying. It’s a task you’re intimately familiar with at this point in your career: taking notes on the flora and fauna of the area and their current condition, measuring certain formations’ levels of erosion and wear. It’s easy to fall into a flow state and forget yourself, not finding much of note as you converse with your coworkers and strategically leave out the depth of a certain familiar structure.

On the third day of the survey, you find that you’re the only one of your team to show up. A frustrated huff leaves your lips as you withdraw your phone in haste, tapping away inquiring messages and finding out that everyone but you has a convenient case of the common cold. You roll your eyes as you pocket the device. Surveying can be incredibly boring work– you really, truly know– but it’s important for record keeping. With your hands tucked into your jacket, a pack full of equipment, and your trusty waders to keep you dry, you set off along a safe path down the cliffside. 

You reach the coastline without a hitch and set off to get started on today’s work. Time flies by as you check off each necessary task. The sun is nearly setting by the time you get around to making a routine documentation of the native succulents, when a piercing sensation of unease stops you cold. A look left or right reveals nothing of note, nothing out of place. You suppress the shiver down your spine as you kneel down and withdraw a metal pen from your backpack. Halfway through noting the species name of the invasive aizoaceae, the distinct prickle at the back of your neck becomes too much. You groan as you stand, brushing off your knees and turning around. 

A mixture of a gasp and shriek leaves your throat when you come face to face with a familiar figure standing directly at your back, startling him almost as much as he startled you. 

“Corvus–,” you choke out, placing a hand on your chest as you catch your breath. 

The merman gives you an apologetic look. His baritone voice clears the tension in the air. “My apologies; I did not intend to alarm you."

You take a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh to calm yourself, looking up at the giant before you. You offer a pacifistic hand his way as you speak, “Apology accepted, but please stop doing that. I don’t want to die of a heart attack anytime soon.”

Corvus looks at your hand with marked confusion, much the same way he did the previous week. Mirroring his previous action, he tentatively places his much larger hand over your own. “It would be unpleasant to have to dispose of your body,” the merman utters.

You give Corvus an incredulous look before it clicks that he’s making a joke. You chuckle at his words, squeezing one of the digits of his hand before placing your hands in your pockets. 

The peaceful staring contests between the two of you are starting to feel strangely comfortable as he observes you. In the waning sunlight, you get a far better look at his form than you could have in his cavern. Although still so starkly black and white, you’re able to see the muted grays and silvers speckled within his fins and scales. Looking at his fins, you notice that there’s actually quite a few more of them than you had originally observed. The dorsal fin at his back separates into a second caudal fin that wraps around the base of his tail. Two fins that would be pectoral fins on a regular fish lay at his sides just above the transition from skin to scale. Ventral fins trail below his hips at his front, obfuscating any anatomy you would have rudely just stared at. Corvus Corax has more similarities to a black betta fish than any other marine animal you could think of. 

“You gifted me a pearl.”

The sound of the merman’s voice causes you to look back up at him.

“Was there a purpose for it?” he asks, leaning down to be closer to your level. The movement only serves to reinforce just how large he is compared to you, at least twice your size.

You momentarily gather your words. “I wanted to make up for the things I took from you earlier,” you reply, “I know it doesn’t make up for the entire thing but–”

“Thank you,” Corvus interrupts, the ghost of a grin on his face. The expression is so subtle in the abyss of his almond eyes that it’s nearly invisible, but the upturn of his normally ever-frowning lips is hard to miss.

You feel your cheeks warm at the genuine show of gratitude from the giant, excitement palpitating in your chest. You reflect that smile back at him. “I’m in charge of conservation at your beach now,” you shift topics with ease, enjoying the merman’s presence as he seems to slowly open up to you, “You’ll be seeing me around a lot more often.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ll be able to leave you a few more presents from time to time.”

The way the large mer faintly perks up like an excited dog at your promise melts your heart in an instant, and you hide your disappointment when Corvus tempers himself, taking on the more solemn posture characteristic of him. “I will be grateful for each of them,” the merman responds with grace, “but perhaps refrain from using pearls in the future.”

A sinking feeling fills you. It had taken you two entire hours to decide on what you were going to give Corvus for your official ‘sorry for stealing your hoard’ offering, and it distressed you to think that he didn’t like it as much as you had thought he would. You decide to apologize. “Shit, I’m sorry. Are pearls not your thing?”

Corvus emanates a low chuckle, the first of that specific sound you had heard come from the man. It reminded you of a low drum. His answer comes warmly, “The pearl was lovely. I am rather fond of them.”

You quirk your head at him, perplexed. “Oh… okay?” Your voice raises with confusion, a silent question laced within your remark.

Corvus’s face twists with brief intensity as he struggles to determine what to say. He exhales as he looks down at his tail fin. The look on his face can only be described as bashful, and for once it isn’t you struggling to respond. He keeps his face angled away from you when he eventually explains, “I find it difficult to deny a marriage proposal from someone so well-meaning.”

If your cheeks had only been warm before, they could make the sun itself shy away now. You gawk at him like a fish (a surprising twist of events, as the human in the situation), stammering as embarrassment quickly floods through your nervous system. 

Both of you share the awkward moment unable to figure out a suitable response, Corvus cringing at his words and you hastily trying to apologize. 

“I am grateful for your interest,” Corvus finally says in an attempt to ease the tension, “but I am not one to make such decisions hastily, so please allow me to ponder it.”

Words finally claw their way out of your throat. “I wasn’t trying to propose!” you accidentally bellow, making Corvus jump. You wrangle your emotions in, exerting visible force, before you continue. Your voice levels out, “...I just wanted to give you something back. They threw everything I took from you away already, so I couldn’t retrieve anything.”

Corvus’s expression is unreadable as he turns his head to fully look at you, mouth slightly agape. His lips seal and he nods, seeming relieved and… something else? “That greatly simplifies things,” is his short response.

You place your hands at the side of your head, grumbling, “Is there anything else I need to know about gifting you so I don’t accidentally, I don’t know, curse your family and insult your bloodline?”

The attempt at humor eases the giant in front of you and earns another soft chuckle. When he makes to lay upon his chest, the pink of the setting sun reflects off of the scant silver scales along his body. He settles upon his elbows, one clawed hand resting upon the other. A Corvus-sized trail in the wet sand behind him comes into view before you decide to sit down beside him, crossing your legs and resting your elbows on your knees. Corvus examines how your legs move with curiosity, shifting his tail into a more comfortable loose curl. It protects you from any of the more ambitious waves that travel up the beach. 

“Any genuine token from you will be received positively,” the merman states.

You nod appreciatively to him, then turn your attention back to your previous task. As the sun dips below the horizon, you take the tranquil moment to finish up your survey notes, jotting down the remaining information about the invasive flora. Corvus’s eyes focus on your work, and he shifts closer to observe it. You complete your statement and shut your notebook with a dull thump, placing it at your side and clicking your writing utensil shut. When you shift to grab your backpack from behind you, your gaze lands on the jet merman. Even with his stony exterior, you can see how plainly his ebony eyes transfix upon the silver pen.

“...No.”

“Pardon?”

“You can’t have my pen.”

Corvus pouts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm absolutely whipped for this man and already thinking about making this a slow burn series for the month of May.

Also if anyone has any feedback, please to tell!! I enjoy everything from constructive criticism to incoherent keyboard mashing and your tags keep me inspired.

Until next time, my loves <3

[Part 3]

[raggydraws]

This Reminds me of College

Surya and Tabatha attempting to teach themselves Merikih to varying degrees of success Tags: Surya & Farmer, Potentially OOC, Tabatha has ADHD and is HYPERFOCUSED on Merfolk, Surya and Tabby are best friends, Author doesn't write often please be nice, HC: Surya knows about the Merfolk because that lab is small and there's no way he doesn't, an attempt at Indonesian words, Gen Fic, Surya and Tabby are both smart individuals but hanging out with your friends can and will kill brain cells for the lols, No Beta we die like Pufferfish, Merikih is italicized

If Dr. Jiang had tried to keep the existence of merfolk from Surya; she hadn’t tried very hard. Given the fact he’d been standing right behind her, also looking through the monitor eyes of Kibble, when Tabatha had stumbled upon two of them didn’t help.

Of course he immediately swore himself to secrecy about them, Dr. Jiang, er, Ling as she insisted, hadn’t even gotten the chance to argue why they shouldn’t go blathering about it to the whole island. It just made sense not to. Her entire research basis, the solar pillars and the super corals, hells, the oil spill itself and the presence of the monstrous company that caused it in his new home alone kept his mouth shut.

Talk and innocent people would probably die. Morbid.

Plus it would’ve really put a dent into the bet about Dr. Ling he had going with Tabatha.

The farmer in question had also resurfaced and crossed town in record time to come yell their own arguments about keeping a closed lid on the existence of merfolk. How they had done so when Surya had seen them get winded walking upstairs would forever be a mystery to him.

But they’d all gotten through it, swore themselves to never speak of it again, especially if this were a one off thing, although Dr. Ling took Tabatha’s diving suit in for an upgrade in the off chance this wasn't a fluke. 

Which eventually led to Surya standing on his friend’s porch with a pot of lodeh and his old college textbook on dead languages. He let himself look over their garden plots as he waited for the brunet to answer the door, marveling at how much automation they’d managed to set up in such little time. Six plots with small, albeit makeshift, sprinklers with two much larger plots that Tabatha likely had to water by hand themselves, all with little budding plants just waiting to grow and be harvested. Surya was impressed, remembering his Paman Joko mentioning that their neighbor had either already had a hand in farming or at the least had gardened quite a bit before moving here. He mentally took note of the plot with young melon vines just beginning to sprout, wondering if he could convince Tabatha to part with one or two once they were fully ripe, before the door to the cabin swung open.

“Surya! Welcome, welcome, come in watch your step-” Tabatha ushered him inside with a bright smile, quickly shutting the door behind him. “Sorry, don’t want all the cold air getting out.”

“Oh, did your walls not get re-insulated when Bibi and Paman gutted the place?” Surya asked, setting his pot of lodeh onto the rickety fold out table set up in their small living space.

“Oh no I’m sure they did, it’s just a habit from living in shitty Pokyo apartments.” 

“Ah.”

Tabatha locked the door, likely another habit from previously living in a crowded metropolitan area, and joined him at the table with an eager grin.

“Thanks for bringing food by the way, I would’ve made something but,” They gesture sheepishly and vaguely to their barebones cabin. “I still don’t have a lot to work with at the moment.”

“Of course, it’s no trouble. Hopefully Bibi can get a kitchen set up for you soon.”

“Fingers crossed.”

The two sat down to eat, exchanging pleasantries and talking about their days apart. Tabatha only volunteered part time at the lab, carving out time for cleaning sights around coral reefs between their farm and also getting used to their new community. Surya would go days without seeing the tall brunet, only for them to show up to the lab soaking wet and with enough kelp to power a small generator, and the two would easily slip back into jokes and banter before disappearing from sight again. It was safe to say that Tabatha was one of the two friends that he had, and he was honestly all the more glad to have them. Soon enough they finished their dinner and tucked away any leftovers in whatever tubberware Tabatha had laying around, finally moving onto the actual reason Surya had come over in the first place.

Teaching themselves a presumably dead language, because Dr. Ling refused to do so.

Because it would be useful! Because you never knew what could happen and what if Surya needed to dive with Tabatha one day and didn’t have a built-in translator? What if the merfolk came to them? It totally wasn't because this was the most unbelievable thing that's ever happened to anyone, ever. Or the fact that Dr. Ling knew way more than she was letting on but wouldn’t tell them.

And it definitely wasn’t because Surya was a man of science and Tabatha was riddled with ADHD and this was their new, shared hyperfixation. 

It wasn’t.

Neither of them knew what the language was actually called yet, and Surya hesitated to dub it “Atlantis” due to their location, which spurred Tabatha into giving a surprisingly informed rant about how Atlantis was actually more likely to be based on a mix of a volcanic event in the Mediterranean and Plato spouting bullshit than a real civilization that fell below the waves. It reminded him that Tabatha was a lot more smart than they let on, somewhat downplaying their intelligence for the sake of their self imposed title of ‘Lab Thembo’.

Tabatha retrieved the regulator mask of their diving suit, strapping it into place as Surya began flipping through his old textbook and getting out a fresh, blank notebook. They wouldn’t be able to write down any actual words or an alphabet, as all the pictures they did have of the language were on Kibble’s hard drive and the little robot was sitting in the lab at the moment. But they would write down similar vowels or repeating patterns and also have it for the excuse that this was for science and not shits n giggles, should Dr. Ling happen to stumble upon it.

“Alright, you ready Suri?” Tabatha asked, fitting the regulator over their mouth as Surya gave them the go ahead. The brunet breathed deeply, making sure the gear didn’t interrupt their airways while not attached to any tanks before speaking as clearly as they could.

“Can you hear me?” Their voice cycled through the speaker with a warm crackle, and Surya frowned in disappointment.

“Loud and clear…in English.”

Tabatha grimaced in confusion and removed the regulator, eyebrows lifting into their hairline once they realized that they had forgotten to turn the translator on. Flipping the slider to ‘ON’ the brunet put their gear back into place and Surya eagerly waited to hear the elusive language of real life merfolk.

“What about now?”

The words were strung together in a lilting, rhythmic pattern and it made Surya pause, blinking in surprise at how pretty it sounded. It also almost sounded familiar somehow, his first thought being something akin to Latin or even his own native language. It definitely was different enough for him not to pick it up right away but close enough that it pinged in his brain as something he should recognize.

“Oh wow.” 

“Is it working, Surya?” 

“No idea what you just said!” He cheered, practically beaming as he scribbled down their first new findings. Tabatha cheered as well, their voice coming out of the translator as a bright, elongated tone akin to a lofty held note in a song. 

They sat on Tabatha’s floor for what felt like hours, simply babbling sing-song like words back and forth between themselves. At some point the young man found himself sprawled across the wood floor to stretch out his legs, while Tabatha happily rambled on about something he couldn’t understand, only the occasional word standing out as it went untranslated. Surya recorded some of the basic sentences, sending them to Tabatha’s phone for the two to practice later when the mask started hurting for the brunet to continue wearing. They shook their head after peeling it off, huffing in annoyance as fluffy brown hair fell into their eyes. Surya snorted.

“I need a damn haircut.” Tabatha said, blowing a raspberry at Surya while simultaneously spitting hair out of their mouth. Their eyes then widened for a second, scrambling to their feet in haste and practically running over to their wardrobe. Surya lifted himself off the floor, leaning back on his hands with a laugh at his friend.

“Dude, what are you doing?”

“I got an idea!” They exclaimed, pulling the rest of the diving suit from the sparsely occupied dresser. “Did you bring a swimsuit or anything?”

“Uh, no?” Now sitting cross-legged and watching with a bit of worry as Tabatha ran into their tiny bathroom. “Why?” The plan had just been to see if they could glean anything from the translator and hang out while doing so. The thought of needing his swimming trunks or his own diving suit hadn’t crossed his mind once.

“You’ll see!” Came the muffled reply from the bathroom. A minute or two passed and Surya used the time to pick up the small mess of paper and pens they’d made on the floor. “Alright get in here! Bring the mask too!”

“Uh,” Surya lifted himself from the floor, scooping up the regulator as he did and reluctantly walked over to the bathroom door. “Are you decent?” He felt silly for asking and sillier for the probably obvious flush creeping up his neck.

This was probably why his Bibi Dinda and Paman Joko kept throwing him ‘looks’ every time he went to hang out with Tabatha. The farmer had no time or formality with social cues or implications. It was impulses and ‘I’ll deal with it later’ all the way down with this one.

The door opened and Tabatha’s head poked out from the threshold with a wry grin.

“No, I'm completely naked Suri.” They deadpanned as they spread out an obviously full covered arm from the doorway. Surya threw his hands up in mock surrender.

“Hey, I’m trying to be a gentleman here.” 

“Be a gentleman somewhere else we don’t have time for that,” Tabatha grabbed the mask from him and disappeared back into the bathroom. “Now. Get. In. Here.”

Surya rolled his eyes fondly and stepped into the bathroom.

He burst out laughing immediately.

Tabatha stood in their small, honestly kind of sad, shower in their full diving suit, sans air tanks, with their hand on the faucet. Surya immediately knew what they were going to do. He’d seen an old college roommate do the same thing to clean his diving suit after accidentally swimming into a cloud of algae.

Tabatha’s eyes crinkled with a tell-tell sign of them grinning, as well as they could, with the regulator covering their mouth and turned the faucet on.

Surya couldn’t fucking breathe.

“W-wha-what are you doing??” He managed to gasp out between bursts of laughter, wiping the tears forming in his eyes at the sight before him. Tabatha shrugged, answering in that sing-song language again that now sounded a little like they were gargling with the shower head on. Surya gasped for air, intermittently broken up by short fits of giggles as he tried to calm himself down. The brunet turned the faucet off and pulled the regulator away from their face, spitting out any stray water that had found its way past the haphazardly put-on mechanism.

“So,” They asked after giving Surya another moment to gasp down air. “Did that sound any different?”

“Is THAT what you were doing?”

“Duh!” The brunet gasped, absentmindedly tossing a hand out and covering Surya’s feet in water. “I remember it sounding different when I was fully submerged.”

“So you got into your shower to test that?”

“...I might’ve only just now remembered that I have a pond…”

“Oh my goddess Tabby,” Surya looked down forlornly at his now wet socks. “Is that why you asked if I brought my swim trunks?”

“...yes.”

“And you immediately got into your shower??”

“YES, SHUT UP!”

Surya was very lucky he was near the door when he started laughing again as Tabatha flung as much water at him as they could. After calming down again and much apologies, the two gathered up some gear and wandered outside to the closest pond on Tabatha's property. The summer evening was warm enough to be comfortable even without a proper wetsuit on, but Surya still lamented that his socks were now uncomfortably squishy. Tabatha offered to hang them out to dry and he declined, deciding that if he stepped on something hard then that was just how it had to be.

With towels, water-proof recording gear, an old pair of swim trunks Tabatha let him barrow and the brunet all put shoving their diver’s goggles over his head, the two sat on the small wooden platform that hung over the nearest pond. Even though it was attached to one of the many streams that ran through Coral Island, they determined that current wouldn’t be strong enough to pull himself or Tabatha in and therefore deemed it safe enough for a little free diving. 

Surya let Tabatha fall backwards into the pond first and followed suit when a thumbs up broke the surface. The water was cool against his skin and the pond, while small, was big enough and deep enough that the two of them could stand with only having to squat a little bit. He sat for a moment to enjoy it before Tabatha called over to him with the sing-song language.

“Hello! Fancy seeing you here~” Their eyes crinkled, smiling under the mask as Surya recognized the ‘Hello’ but not the rest.

“Hello!” He replied back clumsily, water filling his mouth briefly. The language carried through the water just as well, if not better, than it did in the air and still with the same pretty, melodic tone. They both resurfaced briefly, Surya to spit the water out of his mouth and Tabatha mostly to gather more air and ask if he was alright before they submerged again.

Once again they swapped words back and forth, practicing simple ‘hellos’ and ‘goodbyes’, ‘how are you’ ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re welcome’ until they could repeat the words without having to think about strange rising and falling of the vowels. Eventually they resurfaced for the last time, as the sun began to fully set and their muscles ached from keeping themselves in place under the water. But they continued without the translator, practicing their tone and pronunciation without the safety net of Dr. Ling’s mysterious handiwork. By the time the two saw fit to finally towel themselves dry and head back to Tabatha’s cabin, it was late and Surya felt fairly confident in his barebones basics of the merfolk language.

“Did you wanna take the rest of the lodeh home with you?”

“No, that's for you! I don’t want my friend starving before they get a kitchen.” 

Tabatha huffed a small laugh, wrapping their arms around his middle and squeezing him tightly, butting their head gently against his shoulder. Surya returned the hug, patting them on the back before stepping away and heading towards his Bibi’s and Paman’s home in the forest. He’d return home later than intended with still damp hair, wet socks and borrowed board shorts, staving off Archie’s questions for the next morning and rolling his eyes at another one of his Bibi’s ‘looks’ before heading to his room and collapsing into bed.

He dreams of song-like languages and fish-tailed people below the waves.

[mariaofdoranelle]

"Ah yes, betrayal. I'm familiar with that." but it is a mermaid AU

The Cheating Client

Written for my Drabblefest

I had so much fun with this!! I have almost zero experience with anything mermaid-related but I love doing fic research, so I thought, what do mermaids do in their free time? Do they work? Do they have an economic system? What’s the social function of every marine being?

So I asked my cousin (who does marine life research) for help. Yes, he did call me crazy, but he also told me about crabs and cleaner shrimps. 🤣 And only DAYS later I realized you were probably asking for a mermaid x human fic which would’ve been a lot easier to write lmaooo but here it is!!

650 words, no warnings

⨯ ⁺ ✦ ･ ｡ﾟ⨯ ﾟ♡ ✧* ･｡* ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Watching the dolphins play with water bubbles was one of Aelin's favorite weekend activities. Too bad the amount of merfolk it lured was so big it made her bump into some unwanted merpeople.

Rowan Whitethorn was close enough to fit a blue whale between them, trying to catch her eye. Aelin looked away. Just to look back at him again, watching him scan the crowd with his deep green tail and his electric eels, one at each side. His eyes found hers again, so she had to look away once more.

He chose this.

And when Rowan first came to her, wearing that cute grumpy look in his pine-green eyes as he complained his rock home was filled with seaweed, she should’ve known this is how their relationship would end.

The hotter the client, the bigger is the betrayal.

She totally forgot Rowan worked as a security merman in those kinds of events making sure the dolphins won’t be disturbed, looking very hot intimidating between his electric eels.

The crowd dispersed after the dolphins stopped this week’s show, and Aelin swam away from there to avoid awkward interactions. However, Rowan didn’t try to mask his intentions like she did, so he swam faster and gently grabbed her arm.

“Aelin, hi.” He gave her a shy, close-lipped smile. “I sent you a flounder, but you didn’t answer my message asking for the crabs.”

“I didn’t feel like I needed to.” She squinted her eyes at him. “I passed by your house recently. It looked awfully clean.”

Rowan’s face fell, his lips parting as he sensed the ugly truth being revealed between them.

Aelin worked organizing crabs’ schedules. Homes made of rocks tended to get dirty and filled with seaweed, so merpeople came to her to request some crabs to eat it off.

So imagine her surprise when Rowan, one of her regulars, disappeared for a while, and when she passed by his house, it was as clean as a cleaner shrimp’s anemone.

Rowan’s mouth opened and closed before he blurted, “I can explain.”

She crossed her arms, silently nudging him in.

He continued, “My friend told me about this hermit crab service—“

"Ah yes, betrayal. I'm familiar with that." Aelin’s voice was bitter, her stomach hardening with the knowledge that her favorite client was nothing more than a traitor.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, his eyes seeming truly apologetic at least. “If I knew Remelle—“

“Remelle?” Aelin shrieked. Her biggest rival of all people?

The end of her tail flailed, but Rowan stopped her from swimming away.

“It was a one-time thing, and I really regret it because she mistreats her crabs and…” he trailed, grimacing. “Her work ethic is a little fishy.” The ends of Rowan’s mouth twitched, but he was too smart to smile now. “Please don’t fire me from being your client.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Truth was, she couldn’t dismiss Rowan just because he looked for another crab service. He didn’t look happy about it either, but this doesn’t mean she wouldn’t give him a hard time.

“What if I make it up to you over dinner tomorrow?”

That piqued her interest. Aelin stood a little taller, eyeing him carefully. “Seaweed doesn’t fix shark bites, Whitethorn.”

Rowan crossed his arms, a playful gleam in his eyes as his posture stayed firm and strong, looking too confident for his own good. “What about Pirarucu?”

The air rushed out of Aelin’s lungs. Dear Mala, that fish was bigger than some whales. She snapped her parted lips shut, but still took a swift glance at his toned body. “That’s a hard one to hunt.”

Rowan sent her a poorly concealed smug look. “Anything for your forgiveness.”

“Good.” Aelin bit her lip in an attempt to hide her smile. “But you’re not forgiven yet.”

“Don’t worry, princess.” He cocked his head, an indecipherable look in his eyes. “I’ll work for it.”

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[coral-island-player]

Coral Island dlc idea - Pufferfish/evil route

I have an idea for a future update or dlc - one when you can join Pufferfish. Now, I know that what they're doing is evil, but I think if handled correctly, it would be a good addition. Long post, because apparently I can't make short posts like, ever. Also I think if it was a dlc, part of the benefits could go to charity? To show that while you can do evil things there, the devs don't think it's good.

Now, I think with the way the game currently is, you don't have a choice - your character has to be good. Which is great but I don't feel very satisfied with it. Of course my characters are doing good things, they don't have a choice. It'd feel better if I had the choice, you know?

So, in how I imagine it, after the initial cutscenes of Karen arriving at Coral Island and Mayor Connor explaining the situation to you, the next day you encounter Karen. She asks you to join Pufferfish and help them take over the island - I mean, help save it.

If you decline, the game progresses as usual. Only then you get the mysterious dream, the museum opens to you and Ling asks you for help. The only thing that changes is that when you talk to Karen, instead of (very poorly) trying to convince you to join them, she's a bit passive aggressive and upset with you for not joining her side. Maybe slight changes happen, like Karen and Raina having schedules and some more events. Possibly a bit more features, to make the dlc worth it for people who aren't interested in joining Pufferfish. That is, if it's a dlc and not an update.

If you do join her, that's when some things happen. You get some benefits - perhaps you get some funds from Pufferfish? Cheaper things, maybe some free sprinklers once in a while? I don't know what it might be, but basically it's technically easier for you, if you look at it from the benefit point of view. Much easier.

You pay to unlock higher town ranks and benefits you'd get for completing bundles, but as you pay, Karen's plans she tells to the townsfolk are more and more fulfilled. There are more and more oil rigs around the island. You never get the dream, Ling never asks you for help, you don't even get the chance to see the museum because it's immediately turned into the storage. The ocean only gets more polluted, though you get free kelp from the Pufferfish. Who knows what happens to the merfolk? You wouldn't know they exist, same with Giants. You can mine, but you can't free the Giants. The sacred trees get cut down. Maybe the temple gets cleaned and turned into a tourist spot. It's made very clear by the game that you made the morally wrong and selfish choice. And you miss out on so many parts of the gameplay! Maybe instead of enchantments, you get "tech upgrades" from Pufferfish (of course you pay money instead of gems and fossils).

And the townsfolk aren't thrilled by your actions, either. Word spreads fast that you're the one who sponsors Pufferfish and many hold it against you. It requires more points for you to make friends with the characters. The degree of the debuff might vary with some characters, Ling and Surya for example would resent you more than let's say, Mark or Chaem that were never that against Pufferfish to begin with. Some characters might even outright refuse to date you ("I'm sorry, *player name*. But I simply can't date someone who endorses Pufferfish. I hope you understand." Maybe that could be Scott, Surya, maybe Millie? I don't know how many, but some would). In some dialogue they mention how the changes affect them. Everyone's life is generally worse, except for yours which is actively better. Maybe some characters move out, like Ling, Surya, Scott...

Perhaps there are some slight changes on festivals, meaning Tree Planting and Beach Cleanup festivals ("I'm surprised YOU'RE here, *player name*. Last time I checked, you didn't care about the environment did you?").

You never get to meet and befriend the merfolk, obviously. Instead, you can befriend and romance Karen, Raina and Derek (yep, he's romanceable there. Sounds a bit more appealing now doesn't it?). You get heart events, and they're generally likeable characters, and in this path easiest to befriend. Even Karen has a soft side for you and genuinely cares about you, even if she is kinda evil. So are you in this path, though... While Raina and Derek are generally good people, just a bit misguided (possibly also romanceable after reaching town rank A in the good path? So really this path is only necessary if you wanna date Karen or want to speedrun it).

Maybe you do a little good though, like convincing Karen to make the work conditions at Pufferfish a bit better. Or pay to get the amount of trash in water reduced (you don't care about pollution. You just don't like it when you're trying to fish and there are flyers all over the water). But the bad you did still outweighs the good.

So, your life is better. Farming is easier, but everything that makes the island and the game what is is, is gone or destroyed. You feel guilty every time you pass by the place when the trees once were, the temple, or see the oil rigs, or when one of the townsfolk makes another passive aggressive comment to you, or just won't go up that one another heart. It's quite depressing, really. Was it really worth it? It makes the good path more satisfying in contrast, though. Knowing you could do the wrong thing, but didn't.

Maybe I made the consequences too severe, or too light. It is a bit depressing. Feel free to tell me what you think.

[rxttenfish]

In regards to your AU, what's Aaravi's relationship with Bellanda like? I feel like it's safe to assume she doesn't care for Laudanda and Amanda, so I'm curious as to how well she gets on with the sister Miranda's closest to.

(Also, thank you for opening my eyes to Miravi. I was pretty neutral on it until I stumbled across your art and ramblings about them, and now I have three fanfic WIP's for them and am currently naming their fankids)

ironically i havent been writing very much about bellanda yet, despite her having a fairly large role in the story regardless. mostly this is just me not being happy with how i write her just yet - i know WHAT i want to do with her and how she acts, but getting her voice nailed down in my brain is a different matter (and one that i always struggle with anyways)

the important thing to understand first about bellanda is that her and miranda are heavily codependent.

like. heavily, heavily codependent. its not necessarily healthy, no, but given their circumstances it is VERY understandable. bellanda and miranda are unusually close in age for the inheriting children of a royal (being only five years difference between them, though i might fudge this number a little going forward just to make sure the timeline works out, regardless theyre still extremely close in age compared to any of the other sisters), and for that they mostly got raised together. royals tend to be raised by a group of nannies and caretakers, with very little interaction with other merfolk at their same age (beyond other heirs from other families they might interact with when their families are doing business together, but they're discouraged from keeping these as anything other than temporary, since theres a fear of unfair advantages later in life, as well as the other family using their younger heirs as weapons against their own), so they all kind of grow up disconnected from themselves and their own childhood and have a harder time forging connections outside of the setting of the courts and royal business as an adult. it also keeps their social connections pretty intensely tied to their family in comparison, which helps form the basic differences between the community system for everyone else and the family system for royals.

however, as i've mentioned before, merfolk are hypersocial and will readily form social bonds anytime they can, so being raised together meant that bellanda and miranda essentially became each others entire social lives. they were the one person the other knew they could trust with 100% certainty and often physically relied on each other in a way that they couldn't with anyone else. in bellanda's case, since the queen died only a few months after miranda was born, she became the default adult and "parent" in miranda's life, far moreso than their actual parent.

so, within the merkingdom, they ended up intensely relying on each other with no other avenues for close emotional connection, which was only enabled by their respective roles, being that bellanda being head of military meant that she was a defacto guard for miranda and literally protecting her, in a way that was intended because she was the crown princess, but ended up being because she was literally bellanda's only friend, her sister, and the child that she was going to have to take care of.

and all of this mistrust of other people and intense closeness did come out of a place of necessity within the merkingdom, when backstabbing and blackmail and doing anything to anyone before they can do anything to you first was the norm (and still is, this stint on land is very brief, all things considered) and something to be genuinely feared and guarded against, alongside their connection being looked down upon already as them giving unfair advantage to each other in their court dealings. when multiple suitors have tried playing the loverboy card to get close to both of them, there's a very good reason they would mistrust anyone trying to get close to them and fear anyone coming "between" them.

but it stops being so reasonable and necessary once miranda was sent up to the land to act as ambassador for the merkingdom.

which, miranda absolutely still acted the same as before when she first came up. she was suspicious of everyone and mistrustful of any attempts to get close to her, and this generally contributed a lot to her being deep in culture shock and freaking the fuck out over how deeply out of her element she was and how (reasonably) terrified she was of experiences that she had never had in her life. it was a very rough, very hard time for her, and while that doesnt excuse how much of a massive, raging asshole she was during that time, it DOES explain her behavior and why it was so severe.

however, as you can imagine, the present does not take place during miranda's first year or two on land, and in that time, miranda's... gotten used to the land, basically? she's figured out she can have friends! she's figured out she can bond with people! she has more people who she can trust and who will defend her! she has people who she wants to protect as well! she's much more relaxed than any other time prior in her life, and that means she comes off as much more affectionate and open.

of which, ALL of this is vital to understanding why bellanda is the way that she is.

because bellanda didn't get sent up to the land during those first few years. bellanda was still inside the merkingdom, still overseeing business there, still dealing with the same things that she's dealt with for her entire life. she doesn't know miranda's friends, she's never talked to them, she has no reason to trust them beyond miranda's word, and miranda HAS placed her trust in people that she shouldn't have before, they both have. she IS still dealing with a deeper culture shock, and DOES come across as overprotective and stifling and even possessive over miranda BECAUSE she's so scared of being alone, and of someone hurting miranda, and of someone betraying her trust again. her entire life shes been shoved into the role of the single person who has to take care of miranda and ensure that the newest heir to the throne doesn't die, been told that's her entire purpose in life, been put into this role when she herself was deeply vulnerable, and that's not just something she can stop doing overnight. it's fucked up, but its what they're both used to.

which is why bellanda can also come across as. a huge fucking bitch, sometimes. she can be aggressive, and rude, and judgemental, and takes shit WAY too hard against miranda's friends and any landfolk she gets used to. and, to be fair, miranda gets this. she knows what bellanda's going through and she's not using it against her sister, especially because she is still deeply dependent and close to bellanda in the first place, but like. she's been through this too. she knows what's going through bellanda's head. she wants her to open up and to have a little faith in her friends, and she knows bellanda can go over the line, but she knows that bellanda can get through this too. she's known bellanda for all of her life, she knows what she's like.

still, she can be... incredibly harsh on anyone who isn't miranda, and aaravi ABSOLUTELY got a lot of that at first.

mostly it was due to the whole... monster hunter thing. as you can imagine, bellanda being told that her little sister was getting close to and toying around with someone who's entire job and life has been figuring out how to kill people who are quite a fair bit like miranda, did not go over so well. bellanda has a lot of reason to not trust people, and she had a lot of reason to not trust aaravi too. anyone coming around with live weapons around miranda is automatically something of note and something that bellanda has to take care of, and she wasn't too excited by the thought of miranda going down into a dungeon, full of things both capable and willing to kill her, with someone else who was fully capable of killing her or leaving her for dead, and with previously stated intentions to WANT to do that.

meanwhile, from aaravi's side — by the time she started actually talking to bellanda, she just thought bellanda was dope as hell. i mean, she walks around with a cleaver half the size that she is (and she IS something like 12ft long), and she has a cool spiky pauldron that she never takes off, and an eyepatch with huge scars on her face, and, entirely unlike miranda, bellanda is a brick shithouse of muscle and terror. bellanda is not only head warlord but she's damn GOOD at her job and cuts a figure that's equally as imposing.

of course bellanda was like fucking catnip to aaravi. how could she not be. miranda already was constantly talking up bellanda every time she got brought up, and she mentioned sparring with bellanda and her being where she learned to fight (and miranda does ABSOLUTELY know how to fight, to an impressive degree), so aaravi was already coming in with a high opinion of bellanda. bellanda was cool as hell. bellanda was someone that aaravi was looking forward to meeting and sparring with herself.

which is likely the sense that they first got especially acquainted with each other. bellanda's visitations already meant that miranda would be getting touched up on her lessons, and pulling aaravi in was natural from there, especially since aaravi already wanted to at least watch, if nothing else. miranda's schooltime castle DOES have an armory and a built-in training area, so this was something that was expected and fully planned for long ahead of time, and bellanda declining just wasn't an option with that type of setup.

which... she wouldn't have declined either, because bellanda might have initially been using the sparring as an excuse to be, as i've mentioned already, a total hardass on aaravi. as in, perhaps using this less as a chance to train and to teach aaravi some new skills, and more as a chance to have an excuse to beat aaravi up and have it be socially acceptable. it was not an honorable thing to start with, but it did help bellanda vent some steam and use it as an excuse to try and scare aaravi off, if not actually injure her and terrify her away from miranda and away from talking to miranda.

though, again, aaravi actually took this in stride? she's a slayer. she's used to the things she fights trying to beat the absolute snot out of her, and her training already was fucked up enough on its own, and to aaravi this was FANTASTIC. it was like a roller coaster ride to her, providing a HELL of an adrenaline rush that she didn't otherwise get when she sparred with people. she liked bellanda already, she thought she was cool as hell, and bellanda putting up an ACTUAL fight???

oh, aaravi LOVED it. it was GREAT. it was everything she was imagining and even more, and if she seemed like a puppy following along behind the elder butch, then she didn't notice it nor the fact that bellanda didn't like her very much.

(or, rather, aaravi did notice the fact that bellanda didn't like her and even outright hated her at times, but... again, miranda had already warned her that she was an asshole, but who was sweet and lovely if she did manage to get on bellanda's good side. and at this point, she's already started to hear some things about the merkingdom, and how fucked up it is, and likewise came to the conclusion that. yeah, she sees WHY bellanda is like this. she can't really blame her for that.)

which was all very good, because. well, bellanda isn't immune to cute things either. she's close to miranda, after all. she likes cute little bastards who don't know what's good for them and keep trying to pick fights because they think its fun. she IS still a big sister, after all, and there's only so long she can tolerate having a baby butch follow her around with stars in her eyes before she gives in.

just look at aaravi. look at aaravi's "FIGHT ME" attitude and lack of fear regarding people who are way fucking bigger than her. tell me bellanda wouldn't fucking adore her.

all of which likewise ends up giving aaravi an edge over miranda's other friends - as aaravi oftentimes DOES end up understanding miranda and bellanda and understanding where they're coming from and why they have to be cautious. like, she knows what its like to have siblings end up turned against each other. she knows the entire complicated tangle that is family and loving someone and hating someone and dealing with their massive pile of flaws and how much its fucked over your own life and yet still desperately being close to them. she knows the way this dance goes. after all, despite all the frustration she feels towards salil, despite the fights and despite him deciding to go and side with their dad, she still can't bring herself to hate him. he is still her little brother. she still wants to protect him, despite, despite, despite.

so... yeah! aaravi and bellanda actually likewise end up fairly close, and with several things in common (which gives miranda relief, since she wants to introduce her ul'kiha into her existing social bond with bellanda, as is the norm in merfolk society, and they're actually getting along and getting close to each other, as opposed to the rest of her friends who she can't fit into the same relationship hierarchy). bellanda gives aaravi an outlet for her energy and is someone who can keep up with her, and aaravi is someone who bellanda feels safe trusting and relying on, hence helping her slowly open up as well. against literally all of her in-laws, aaravi actually has a pretty damn good relationship with bellanda.

(and it's funny you should mention fankids - i have one fankid for miranda and aaravi already! their name is Virina Mishra, named after aaravi's mom.)

[marzley]

condolences and death; a sunshipduo fan au

created by @kawabeloved @marzley and @gardentoms

s!guqqie is the eldest daughter of seven to the king and queen of merfolk. she loves all her sisters dearly and often lets herself be pushed into their shadow. on her 18th birthday guqqie, as the royal firstborn, must complete a historic tradition to prove she is worthy to inherit the throne. the oldest sibling must kill the youngest. but she refuses and is banished to a frozen ocean where time moves differently.

s!aimsey is the youngest child of a wealthy and successful family. each of their siblings names are known around the world for a variety of different accomplishments. aimsey isnt like them even if he wants to be. his parents and siblings didn’t think he had what it takes. she wants to sail the world and adventure alongside her best friend and first mate s!michela. so he does. one morning the two pack what he can, buy a boat, and set sail.

guqqie makes a home for herself in the ruins of an abandoned sea temple. she’s completely alone for 4 years.

aimsey and michela travel for 4 years. they make friends, faced enemies, camped on beaches beneath the stars, drank, and even placed bets on who would perish from the adventures first. or at least they did until a sudden storm in the middle of frozen waters crashed their ship.

after michela gained consciousness she searched for her friend day after day after day. it had been a month until michela and the mysteriously undamaged ship return home to ask aimseys family for assistance in finding xem.

guqqie didn’t know if it was curiosity, stupidity, or loneliness that caused her to investigate the crash. but after pulling a mysterious two tailed(?) creature ashore she realized it was a mix of all three.

when aimsey woke she immediately started searching for michela. she was no where to be found and their ship had lodged itself halfway into an iceberg.

guqqie hesitantly introduces themself to aimsey and asks him “what are you?”

“uh,” he stutters out, “a human? what the hell are you?!”

then it clicks for her. “a human. i-i’ve never seen a human before. merfolk prefer the deep ocean anyway but occasionally travelers would return with stories about the ones with nets. because of the whole war with the guardians we decided to just leave them alone, this is amazing!”

“wait, mermaids?“ he steps closer to the water and guqqie splashes her tail. it reflects a multitude of silver, purple, and blue hues.

“holy shit. you’re a mermaid.”

the two continue talking and their conversations flow in such a natural way. aimsey talks about michela and his shipwreck. he needs to rebuild his ship and find her but they don’t mind spending a little time with the pink haired mermaid. the pit stop would give him plenty to write about in their adventure log. guqqie doesn’t really understand why aimsey is so desperate to find their friend but she doesn’t question it at first.

on day two guqqie helps search for supplies to fix aimseys boat with. while at work aimsey takes the opportunity to learn more about merfolk.

“so the other day you mentioned a war.”

“mhm. merfolk and the guardians have been at war since I was a child. it’s been so long I think both sides don’t even remember what their fighting about anymore. the temple-“

“hold on, did you say guardians? man I haven’t heard that name in forever.”

“what do you mean?”

“those things are fucking ancient. went extinct like 30 thousand years ago.”

guqqie went silent. she had been here four years. it wasn’t possible for guardians to be extinct before she even arrived. unless time moved slower here…

she wasn’t a fool. over the next couple of days guqqie began asking aimsey just as many, if not more, questions about his home. specifically the past.

after a full week they share the first kiss. aimsey continues to write in her adventure log and work on the ship.

"what's your greatest wish?" s!guqqie asks one night as s!aimsey works on fixing his boat, s!guqqie keeping him company into the late hours.

s!aimsey laughs. "i'm a sailor, darling. i've told you this already."

"that's not what i meant," s!guqqie frowns, tail fluttering in the low tide. "i didn't ask what you Are, i asked what you wish. what's the one thing you've always wanted?"

s!aimsey's teasing grin falls away as he pauses, his brow furrowed in thought. "i guess what i want most of all-" he finally says. "- is to be remembered. to feel like my time here meant something, yknow?"

s!guqqie frowns. "i remember you. isn't that enough?"

s!aimsey laughs again and presses a kiss to s!guqqie's temple. "of course, darling. what else could i need?" (italics above written by kawa @kawabeloved)

—

“i bet michela’s lookin’ for me,” s!aimsey remarks, “i should find a way out of here so i can tell her i’m alright.”

it’s been a few weeks since he’d become stranded in s!guqqie’s temple - for the two of them, at least. but time passes differently here, and the siren knows it.

“i- i don’t know if that’s a good idea,” s!guqqie replies, warily.

s!aimsey’s brows furrow. “the ship seems to be in much better state, guq. people are probably wond’rin where i am.”

“i just…” the siren begins, “i don’t know if you’ll like what you find.”

“what?” the sailor asks, a pit growing in her stomach. “what do you mean?”

“time is strange here,” guqqie explains. “a short time in here, in my temple, is much longer out there.”

“what?!” aimsey splutters, “why didn’t you tell me that before?”

“i- i didn’t think it mattered!” guqqie exclaims

“things like that don’t matter to me, to my people. so i- i thought it would be okay, at first. sirens live forever. time isn’t of any concern to us. but you’ve told me so much about humans…” the girl trails off, unable to meet the sailor’s eyes.

silence weighs heavy on them.

aimsey grits his teeth, shaking with sadness and anger and grief and regret. “you thought it would be okay?” he all but snarls accusatorially, “you didn’t care to ask? didn’t care to tell me? did you do it on purpose, because you didn’t want me to leave?!”

“i-”

“no,” aimsey interrupts, tone dark and biting. “no, no. you did it on purpose. you couldn’t stand bein’ lonely in your little temple anymore with no one to care about you and nowhere to belong. you wanted me to be trapped here with you forever, didn’t you?”

guqqie trembles.

“no,” she breathes, “no, aimsey, i never meant to hurt you i promi—”

“well it’s a little late for that!” aimsey snaps. “what are you going to do now, force me to stay?”

a part of guqqie breaks when they hear those words.

“no,” she croaks. “i would never do that to you.”

all aimsey does is laugh, bitterly. “might as well,” he replies, “you’ve already done enough.”

“aimsey, i-” guqqie calls, but aimsey has already walked away. (italics above written by lua @gardentoms)

the sailor returns home. the first grave he finds is his mothers. next to her in the rest of his family including generations he would never know. he also found michela’s grave. deep down he knew she spent the remainder of her life looking for him.

the mermaid waits on the very iceberg her lover crashed. she was so terrified of aimsey leaving so she erased that option. and now he's left her forever. maybe her real punishment wasn’t being alone but rather being without him.

after learning everyone he loved, expect for guqqie, had died aimsey didn’t know what to do. he couldn’t stay but he couldn’t go back to guqqie. he wouldn’t be able to face her. he writes his final journal entry, grabs a bottle of whiskey, finds a cave, and waits as he withers away.

guqqie i’m still on the iceberg. she’d be there the rest of her immoral life staring west as the horizon. the direction she last saw his boat. west, where day after eternal day she watches their sun settle over the water.

sirens and sailors were a cautionary tale that everyone knew.

their song lures you in, so beautiful that you are unable to turn away. so beautiful it’s deadly. but if you listened close enough you’d realize the melancholy medley wasn’t actually singing…it was sobbing.

it’s not a song that lures you in, it’s the story behind each wail. the sound fills sailors ears with unbearable sadness that they all end up jumping overboard.

[aurelim]

K's Opinion

Sorry this has taken so long, I had trouble trying to decide what I was going to write about but I finally settled on K's POV on multiple things. I also have an idea for a snippet but that will likely take longer.

Thoughts on Nixie?

Scary. And nice. I have seen her in front of her family, but there is a sense of ruthlessness in her when it comes to humans. Don't tell Nixie but I'm kind of intimidated by her—

Thoughts on Marina?

Hilarious when she pushed Caspian into the ocean currents and subsequently into a school of fish, but scary as a goblin shark when she gets upset or angry. She also used to act weird around me and MC whenever we hung out, as if she knew something neither of us were aware about. Could she have...nah, never mind.

Thoughts on Caspian?

Caspian is really nice to me. He gave me tips and tricks on how to avoid attracting humans' attention and so far they have been working for me! Of course, this happened before the whole...incident.

Thoughts on Cordelia?

If MC was not my best friend, Cora would take that title. Of course, I don't think that would have ever happened unless our families did not know each other and we happened to meet—sorry, I'm getting distracted. Cora is basically my little sister and I love her so much. Sometimes I just want to protect her from everything but she's getting older and suddenly distant. I wonder what has changed with her? Maybe she found out I was the one who took that big conch of hers. I still have it, actually!

Thoughts on MC?

There's a lot you can say about them. I mean, obviously they are my best friend, and they have stuck with me for so long. We have been there for the other's ups and downs. Like, I cannot imagine a world where they don't become my best friend. I guess you can say that I really care for them. Honestly I have a lot to say about MC. They are my best friend, after all, so I guess I would feel really positive about them. And there are a couple of other things about how I truly feel about them but I'm going to move on before I say or do something I will definitely regret!

Thoughts on humans?

Humans are complex. There are so many things we as merfolks know and don't know about. I'm constantly told by my parents, any Merfolk, really, that humans are horrible and we are to keep them out of the ocean through some...extreme measures. We are meant to hate them, but...I can't deny that I also wonder about them. Is that really how all of them are? I really want to go to the surface, meet them, and ask if it is true or not. There's really so many unknown variables about humans that I can't help but feel there is more to them than what my parents, or anyone, says.

Thoughts on seafood?

Don't. No.

Thoughts on jellyfish?

Awesome, colorful, and my favorite animal! There is an elegance to them in the way they move around underwater. It is incredible to watch groups of them glowing in the middle of the night. And there are so many different species of jellyfish, with their own habits and characteristics and differences that make them special compared to others. I think, if I had to be any animal, that I would be a jellyfish.

[sensei-venus]

Mermaid tory would totally b possessive and protective of her partner and show it my leaving many marks all over them wherever she can

I like to think that Mer!Tory has sharp teeth. They aren’t razor sharp but slightly pointy and good for ripping things apart and bitting. She shows them off a lot to try and intimidate other merfolk.

I feel like bitting is also pretty common when it comes to merpeople.

Between fighting over territory and food, they also use their teeth and biting to mark things as theirs. This includes their mates.

Mer-people mate for life so they show off their mates by leaving marks and bites. Leaving huge hickeys and bite marks is extremely common if not completely normal. Having huge hickies on open skin or spotting new bites or even long-lasting scared teeth marks is seen as a way to tell if someone is mated or being courted.

Mer!Tory is extremely over protective of her mate even if they aren’t a mer-person like her but a human.

During mating season it’s even worse. She finds every reason to be over protective of her mate during that time period. Even her friends being around them can tick her off. Keeping Reader away from them is the only real option to not have her try and claw their eyes out for even looking at her mate. She snarls and grows if she thinks they have gotten too close for her liking.

Her kisses are hard and slow during those days. She spends more time sucking and biting along the other girls neck. Even all over their chest if she gets the opportunity. She grins the whole time as she marks them up as much as she can during the time they spend together. When she looks at the beautiful marks she made all over them she can’t help but grin.

To her it's just protecting and showing off her territory.

Everyone has to know Reader is hers and no one can change that.



[bridgyrose]

Weiss is a siren and she drags Yang down to turn her into a siren as well.

(This isnt normally in a siren's skill set, but.... I think I have something that can work.)

Weiss peeked out of the water, making sure not to pop too far out and keeping to the shadows as she watched a woman at the edge of the lake. A smile crossed her lips as she bit her lip and moved closer to the shore, webbed fingers slicing through the water to pull her closer with ease. Normally, this would be her chance for an easy meal. All she had to do was sing to the maiden and pull her under and no one would notice she was gone. But this woman was different. This blonde was one that she had been watching for months and had fallen in love with after a few attempts to sway her as a meal. The only woman who seemed to never be enticed by her siren song, yet still willing to sit so close to the shore and try to talk as if seeing an old friend. 

No, this time, Weiss wasnt in search of an easy meal, but for a lover that she could keep by her side. Someone who could resist the call of a siren, and here she had the perfect candidate waiting for her. Though, there was one little thing that was going to have to change, even if she needed a little outside help. 

“Weiss?” The blonde called. “Are you out here today?” 

Weiss slowly poked her head out of the water a little closer to the shore and pulled herself out onto one of the rocks, her hair draping down her back. “Until this lake runs out of food for me, I’ll always be here.” 

“R-right. I uh… I dont know, I thought you might’ve gotten run out by the fishers that came by yesterday.” 

“As if they’d ever drive me out,” Weiss said as she rolled her eyes and ran a clawed hand down the scales of her arm. Her eyes almost seemed to gleam in the sunlight as she laid out to bask in the rays of the sun, her voice starting to sound like a song as she spoke. “No matter how many men they use, I’ll never leave my home.”

“What about to get to your family.” 

Weiss sat up a bit. “You know I dont have any family, Yang. At least not in the sense that you mean.” 

“Oh… right…” Yang sighed and cast her fishing line into the water and sat her fishing pole down next to her. “Must be lonely.” 

“It can be. Though, I think my luck may change soon.” 

“How so?” 

Weiss slid back into the water and made her way to the shore, a smirk on her face as she stopped in front of Yang. “I think I’ve found the one I’ve been looking for all along.” 

Yang smiled a bit. “You should bring him around then. I’d love to meet another merfolk, though, I’m not sure I’ll be able to be around much longer.” 

“And why not? Things not going well at home?” 

“Sorta.” Yang sighed and tied a small bell to the end of her rod. “Dad’s been gone a lot longer than normal on his fishing trip and Ruby needs me to stay around closer to her. Not that she cant manage without me, but… she needs to focus on her studies and not have to worry about anything else. Which means I’ll need to take work closer to home.” 

Weiss paused for a moment as she looked the human woman over. Taking her away from family would probably only do more harm than good, but it wasnt like she was really doing much with her life to begin with. “Then maybe you should help her find someone she can be with.”

“Its not that simple. Humans take time to get to know the ones they want to spend time with and to love. We cant just find someone on a whim and go with it?” 

Weiss nodded and pulled herself onto the shore, lifting herself up a bit. “And what do you think of me?” 

“I… what?” 

“You heard my question: what exactly do you think of me? You keep coming back here, you look for me, you worry about me… what am I to you?” 

Yang blushed and adjusted her position at the edge of the beach. “I-I see you as a friend. And I do care about you in a way I care about my sister.” 

“Show me.” 

“What?” 

“Show me what I mean to you. The same way you would your sister.” 

“I… I dont know…” Yang sighed and leaned forward a bit. “Do you have homework you need help with-” 

Weiss reached up and put her hands against Yang’s cheeks, claws gently moving across her skin, being careful not to hurt her. “Dont you think you’ve deserved a chance to live your own life?” she asked in a hushed whisper. “One where you dont need to worry about your sister. One where you can be yourself without any worry. I can give that to you if you show me exactly what I mean to you.” 

“Weiss… I… I…” 

Weiss didnt wait and pulled Yang into a kiss, holding her tightly as her claws dug into her. With a grin, she pulled Yang back into the water and dragged her deep under the water, breathing air into her lungs. A small necklace floated out from a small pouch she wore on her side and she slipped it around Yang’s neck, breaking the kiss as she watched her lover try to swim to the surface. Her eyes stayed glued to Yang as she watched her skin glitter like scales, her smile widening. “You’ll understand this soon enough, Yang. You’re mine and I wont let you go.” 

[koolkat9]

Nyo CanLiet (Nyo Canada x Nyo Lithuania)

The Little Mermaid AU

Nyo Lithuania as Ariel

Nyo Canada as Prince Eric

Sorry this took so long. I got busy, then unmotivated, then busy again. But it’s finally here. I hope you enjoy!

Rating: T

Pairing: Nyo CanLiet

Word Count: 539

Read on AO3

The Adventure Beginnings

The salty breeze blew against her wet skin, making Daiva shiver. At least the sun rays pouring down on her provided some warmth as he rapidly blinked away the dark spots of her vision. She sat herself up and stretched. Something was…off…

She lifted up what she was expecting to be her tail to find two human feet instead. Right, she had made a deal with Katherine the sea witch to walk amongst the humans for a few days. It worked! Daiva wasn’t one to show her happiness easily, but at that moment, she was so happy she could shout. Except…she couldn’t. Not even as she desperately tried.

Her throat tightened, and it probably didn’t help how she grasped at it. But before she could go into a full-blown panic attack a wave of water splashed her.

“Come now,” a familiar voice called, “We don’t have time to mourn your lost voice. We’ve got a princess to woo.”

Feliks was perched on a nearby rock, the tip of his pink tail wading in the water. Her friend’s face was like a breath of fresh air. Calming almost immediately, Daiva tried to stand, only to get a face full of salt and seaweed. Feliks let out a not-so-subtle snicker behind her. Daiva threw him a glare.

Before Feliks could make some snarky quip, barking sounded off in the distance. Both merfolk froze. Feliks disappeared into the waves while Diana turned to the source.

Princess Madeleine was rushing towards her, brows tightly knit together, blond curls tied up in a messy ponytail, dressed in pants, matching coat, boots, and a loose blouse. It made Daiva’s heart skip.

Her dog--Kuma if Daiva reminded correctly-- followed close behind.

Daiva didn’t move a muscle. Her eyes shifted over to the ripples Feliks left behind–She was completely alone in this.

Madeleine approached, crouching down to her. Daiva had only seen her this close when she had saved her that one stormy night. Her pale eyelashes were still just as long as Daiva remembered, veiling her blue eyes. With those eyes now wide open and scanning over her with concern, Daiva caught a purplely hue amongst the pools of blue. It was beautiful.

She cowered away when Madeleine reached for her.

“Shh…Shhhh. It’s okay,” the princess murmured. As she looked over Daiva, noticing she was completely naked, a faint blush rushed across her cheeks. “Poor thing…It’s okay. I just want to help you. W-Will you let me?”

Daiva stared at her for a moment, before slowly nodding.

“Can you stand?”

Daiva bit her lip before shaking her head ‘no.’

Madeleine smiled gently and pulled her up, letting Daiva fall against her. Both blushed, looking to the side.

“Here, take my coat,” Madeleine offered, already draping the navy blue fabric over Daiva’s shivering shoulders.

Daiva stared up in awe at the woman she was slowly falling for. The fabric was warm from Madeleine’s skin, and it smelled of something sweet mixed with the salt of the sea. It relaxed Daiva further.

With the help of Madeleine, Daiva was guided up to the castle. She turned back for a moment and spot Felik’s eyes just above the water. He gave her a thumbs-up as she was whisked away.

- - -

Prompts Closed 

[sailor-aviator]

Hey there love, how have you been?

It's the annon from like a week ago? I cant remember actually I have an awful sense of time lol

Well I'm the one who said that came across MMATS! and now I'm finally here with thoughts.

So let's start with Jake. Oh darling you made me a wreck for this man since chapter 1. He's so sweet and protective and even delicate with Skipper but the second she stands her ground, especially in chapter 7 he's there to support her and tell her everything she wants and needs to know about merfolks.

OH OH AND THE GIFTS JAKE IS SUCH A SWEETHEART I CAN'T TAKE IT

And that "Mine." when he sees Skip is using one the pearls he gave her as a necklace well.... this man is going to be the death of me. I can't forget to talk about when he started calling her his good girl as well.... Ma'am I literally melted and melt everytime since. Praise kink don't really affect me much but there's something about this man that makes my brain just go brrrr

Now let's change the subject before I won't be able to shut up about him lol

How I love the daggers but at the same time want to slap every single one of then (except Nat and Bob they're my babies heheh) I know they meant well by hiding the truth from Skip and were even protecting themselves and their home with such a huge secret but the girl was literally questioning her sanity at point guys, like come on

OH I'M SO CURIOUS ABOUT A SCENE

Jake says to Skipper in chapter 8 that he has bitten Bradley because he was jealous, the way that I started laughing at this part I can't even explain KABDKWJSKD

Can we get a drabble of this scene? I'd love to see what made Jake resort to such form of violence lol

Before I go, I gotta say I have a few theories regarding some events that have been happening around town but I'll keep to myself for now, just want some characters to know that I'm watching them, they better be on their best behavior....

Last but not least I'd like to talk about Skipper. I just love her your honor. The way you write her makes me feel like she's a childhood friend, I can't explain because I just started to get to know her like a week ago but I really like reading her story.

Well I think that's it. Thank you for writing such an amazing story my love! I'll be sure to check your other stories while I wait for Chapter 9 (there's no rush to write it, take your time!) especially DHTN! that I saw that you just recently finished.

Oh sorry about the length of this thing, and since its an ask I couldn't figure out a way to put it under the cut. Sorry as well for any grammar mistakes, English is not my first language and see you soon darling!

Hi Nonny!! I’ve been okay, just tired haha But my last shift at my retail job was last night so I have my weekends back finally!! That should help a lot!

And Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!! I’m so glad you liked it!! MMATS is very special to me, and I’m always down to hear what people think!!

I do have plans to write a Drabble for that scene, so maybe sometime this next week I’ll get to it?

And I’m so glad you like Skipper! I think one of the biggest struggles of writing second person reader insert is making the reader unique enough that they aren’t like others, but still vague enough that people can lose themselves in the narrative.

And never apologize for long asks!! I love them!! And your English was great, so no worries there either! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the other stories!!!

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

Can you pls Share some Zianna HCs??

Of course!

Most of these are MyS but hush.

Also, tw for abuse.

She’s a v tall lady, being a merfolk and all. She’s around 7foot with legs, much taller when she has a tail.

Her and Zane look alike but her and Vylad are near identical. The only thing that makes them look different is their hair colour/texture, he’s got a slightly flatter nose and their skin colours. They have almost the exact same face, it’s spooky.

She was an actress pre-MyS, a really popular one as well, she’s a gorgeous lady and she’s just incredibly skilled. When her and Garte got married, he asked her to be in a whole bunch of his films and she did and her popularity boomed from there, but then she got pregnant with garroth and he wanted her to quite acting as a whole. She agreed to stop whilst Garroth was a baby, but once he was old enough to be left with a babysitter, she would go back to work. She ended up knocked up again and she fully quit once zane was born because he was Ill constantly and she felt like she needed to be home to look after him all the time.

Milf

She loves gardening, something she does with Sylvanna on the occasion. She mostly grows flowers and sends some gorgeous bouquets to her friends sometimes.

She adores Travis and Aphmau as if they were her own children. They’re over often enough for them to basically be her kids anyways.

She paints her nails red a lot. She just likes the colour. Same with her lipstick.

She’s quite forgetful at times, but because of her overall ditzy and quirky personality, people just laugh at it and have a whole ‘oh you know what she’s like’ moment.

She suffers from near-constant joint pains and sickness a lot because she’s a little merlady so being on land can be a bit harsh on her. She is usually able to push through but she has a cane anyways for days it gets really bad. Zane suffers from the same thing, though his is certainly a lot worse.

She smokes. Probably not great to do when she finds it hard enough to breathe air as it is, but it helps her de stress.

Red wine is her favourite drink. She let Zane have his first sip when he was nine because he was nagging her. He didn’t like it much, but he’s rather fond of it now.

She’s a pescatarian. No meat, just fish.

She’s very good at dealing with bruises and scrapes. Being in the marriage she was in and raising a child as fragil as Zane, she got a lot of practice. Not to mention the injuries garroth would get playing rugby and the falls Vylad would take when trying on her heels.

She’s very supportive of her sons, and she adores them with her whole heart, but she can be very strict on them, especially when it comes to relationships. She has made sure they’re respectful and considerate and that they never even think of being violent towards their partners. Because she will not raise a Garte. She refuses to.

In MCD, she has her own pool room. Just like a room the same size as the castles dining hall, but it just has a massive pool. She needs it to remain hydrated and all.

Vylad is the daughter she never had. I won’t elaborate.

She had some funky cravings when she was pregnant. Garte drew the line at her craving chalk, though, he would let her down bottles of hot sauce and munch on paper but chalk was too far.

She has Asian flush. So her glasses of wine are few and far between.

She doesn’t really talk to her parents often, she’s not fond of them. But she adores Garte’s parents, they’re so sweet to her and they love their grandsons. She doesn’t like them very much for how they treat Vylad but she doesn’t really say anything because she knows how they are and she doesn’t want to risk her other two kids no longer having their grandparents because she made them upset.

Zianna knows all of the drama happening O’Khasis all the time. She’s got her own little web of gossips and they tell eachother everything. It’s mostly great for her, it keeps her entertained, but that’s also how everyone found out about her affair… so…

Her and Vylad have movie nights together where they just watch final girl horrors and good for her movies. Or anything with Florence Pugh.

She occasionally goes down to Phoenix drop to make sure Zane is doing okay. She makes sure he’s taking his medications, and he’s staying out of trouble, because she trusts aphmau to tell the truth when she calls her and asks, but she doesn’t trust Zane to tell aphmau the truth. So she just needs to do her own check ups.

She’s quite fond of Aaron. She doesn’t know about him and Garroth dating just yet, nor him and Aphmau (despite aphmau’s daughter being identical to him) but she likes him. She just likes how quiet he is, and how he listens. It’s good to have company like that sometimes. Also he has nice arms. Zianna can appreciate nice arms.

[pwipwipwoo]

Mayburi AU dumping time; I don’t really have time to write this (trying to work on something else at the moment), so I’m gonna just dump some bits on here for....

The Little Mermaid AU

May is one of the 12 daughters of King Triton (a.k.a. Johnny, King Triton is more of a title than an actual name). Out of all of her siblings she is the most adventurous and the most curious; ever since she was a young, she would sneak out of the castle to play with her friends Chipp the seagull (he knows a lot about humans, but all of his info is hilariously wrong), Chimaki the clownfish, and Mister the dolphin, before being dragged back by her father’s trusty advisor Janis the catfish. But no matter how many times she brought May back, the little mermaid would still hunger to see the outside world; and the world of the humans.

One day, after her 20th birthday, a ship passed overhead while she was out exploring; curious as always, she went up to investigate. There she saw humans, real humans not the broken statues she’s found scattered on the sea floor, for the very first time. She enjoyed watching them dance and sing, but she was especially interested in two humans: the twins, Prince Sinclair (shortened to Sin) and Princess Bridget. She found both attractive, but was especially smitten by the prince. Suddenly a storm rolls up and batters the ship, sending Bridget overboard! May carries the unconscious princess to the shore and disappears before the rest of the party arrives, not before leaving the girl with the memory of a beautiful maiden with eyes like the morning sun and a heavenly voice.

When Johnny learns of May’s obsession with humans, and her blossoming love for Sin, he forbids May from ever interacting with humans again and confines her to the castle. Too bad for him, she is very good at escaping and knows all the secret passageways. Fed up with her father’s overbearing attitude, she packs up her things (including a coral comb she got from her mother) and runs (well, swims) away from home, determined to live her life as she wants and to see the prince again!

Unfortunately for her, she isn’t sure how to get his affections. Maybe swim up to the castle and sing at his window?

(Can’t, she doesn’t know which is his)

Maybe she can catch him while he is underwater and talk to him then?

(Humans and talk underwater. Also he would probably drown)

Jump onto a bridge as he tries to cross it and feign the need for help?

(Now we’re just getting dramatic)

Utterly dejected at all of her ideas crumbling to simple logic, she suddenly remembers a story one of her sisters told her when she was very young; a story about a sea witch who lives in the darkest depths of the oceans. This sea witch can perform a myriad of miracles with their various potions and incantations: make people fall in love, heal all wounds, increase your strength tremendously. They even have a way to give the merfolk legs.

Against the protests of Janis (who followed her in an vain effort to bring her back), May goes to the cave of the sea witch Testament. And despite it looking horribly scary outside, the sea witch is rather pleasant; even offers May a cup of kelp tea (how it works underwater I don’t know, I ain’t a ocean scientist). May tells them her predicament and they have a potion that can help her. The potion will turn the mermaid’s fins into legs and give her the ability to walk on land; if she can receive a kiss from her true love before the next moon (so 1 month) she will become a human forever. However this potion is made from a rare coral that only grows once every hundred years, and if she doesn’t kiss her love by the 1 month mark (or heaven forbid, she breaks it) she will never have another chance to walk on land. Also it comes with a host of other side effects, but those are less important to May.

Undeterred May takes the potion and swims off toward the castle. She takes the potion on the night of the full moon, falling unconscious before waking up on the shore with human legs! Unfortunately she can’t express her excitement to her friends, as she cannot speak except for one word (totsugeki). As she is trying to learn how to walk, she is found by Sin and his retinue before being taken back to the castle. There she meets the king and queen of the country (Ky and Dizzy) and sees the princess again. The royal family takes pity on the girl and takes her in; this works out for May, as she now has unlimited opportunities to woo the prince and get her kiss.

Unfortunately for her this is Sin, so you can guess how frustrating it is to get the golden boy to notice her. At least she has Bridget by her side, silently encouraging her with eyes that make her heart skip a beat. After 3 weeks of trying (and failing) to get the ever-growing wild boy to see her as anything other than a friend, May’s hopes for love are shattered when she finds out that the prince is betrothed to a someone he loves deeply. Defeated, she resigns to go back to the sea but is stopped by the princess, who assures her that she will find her true love one day and not to give up hope (she got the wrong idea when she saw May just walk into the ocean).

It was at this moment May knew, she fucked up; she should have been trying to woo the pretty blonde girl the entire time! Especially since Bridget would go on and on about her beautiful savior and how she wishes meet her again. May and her friends now have a new goal; it is time to capture the heart of the super pretty girl in the next week!

Oh boy, do these kids have their work cut out for them.

Especially since Johnny now knows what May is up to, thanks to Testament and Janis’ inability to lie convincingly to the king. Now May has to try and get a kiss from the princess while her father sabotages her efforts from behind the scenes (how this man could be so cruel as the tip their boat while they were in that romantic ass lagoon is beyond me). And it succeeds.

On the final day before the enchantment wears off a gorgeous stranger with long black hair that has a beautiful coral hairpin in it, has utterly bewitched the princess. Nothing May does can tear Bridget away from the mysterious beauty. On the verge of tears May keeps trying to call out to Bridget, stammering out frustrated totsugekis to no avail, until she finally cries out her name, “Bridget!”. They look at each other shocked; Bridget because she recognizes the voice, and May because she knows the spell is wearing off. Before Bridget can even speak May runs off to the shore, her body crying in agony as her legs start to change back to their original form, the clothes and accessories she wore from her human life falling from her. As May reaches the water she looks back to see a stunned Bridget, verdant emerald eyes wide with shock, and swims back into the depths of the ocean.

Bridget knows what she is now, she knows that May has been deceiving her this entire time. They can never be together now. It’s over.

Nahhhhhhh. Did you really think it would end there? Bridget, determined more than ever to see her love, fills her parents in on the situation and says she is going to get back her girl! The king and queen, while a little concerned about their daughter’s taste in lovers (not because May is a girl but more because of the merfolk bit), agree to help their daughter and gather all the brilliant minds around the kingdom. They gather to build a machine that can take Bridget under the waves to the palace of the sea king and built her a suit so she can walk on the ocean floor.

Months pass, and May has not left her room the entire time; the shards of her broken heart wearing her down in place. Johnny begins to rethink the whole ‘keep your daughter from being with the one she loves’ bit and starts to think if he was the asshole all along. But those thoughts go right out the window as he gets a call from one of the scouts that his castle is under attack! He goes to the battlements, his trident crackling with mystical energy, and awaits the coming ‘giant beast’. From the canyon beyond he sees the beast come into view, its burning eyes shooting beams of light that cut through the ocean’s darkness. He readies his trident and his soldier’s to fire upon the beast when something catches his eye; something tiny on top of the beast shining a small light in a pattern. He holds his men and allows it to approach, everyone staring in awe as the ‘beast’ draws closer, realization hitting them as it floats next to the castle.

This is no creature, but a ship! Like one of those that litter the ocean floor, but with more metal and no open bit on the top.

King Johnny approaches the vessel, trident still at the ready, before stopping in front of the person standing between the giant lights on the front of the vessel. He looks through the glass face plate of the diving suit; it is difficult to make out the exact details of the face behind the glass, he does note how beautiful the person’s green eyes are. This human doesn’t quiver before him, instead they put away the mirror they had and hold up something that makes his eyes go wide; a comb made of brilliant orange coral that was once a gift he gave to his late wife, later finding its way to May.

He towers above the little human as he takes the comb into his hand, holding it reverently in his palm; he turns to the human and waves them to follow behind him. They go to the throne room and Johnny creates a bubble around the human, telling them they can breathe so long as they stay in the bubble. The human takes off their helmet, shaking out golden hair that floats in the water around her. King Johnny asks the human what she wants and Bridget tells him flat out she is there for May; he scoffs at her, incredulous to the very notion that a human could love one of his kind. But Bridget doesn’t falter, she boldly claims that her love for his daughter is true and asks him if she could have just one moment to speak to May.

Before Johnny can say anything May shoots out from the hallway and barrels  into Bridget’s arms. May holds Bridget’s face in her hands, asking her if she is real or if she’s dreaming; Bridget pinches May’s arm and smiles, asking her if she woke up yet. May tears up and embraces Bridget again, the blonde wraps her arms around May and holds her tight to her chest.

Johnny’s voice booms in the throne room, commanding May to move away from the human, but she refuses! He asks her again, nicer this time, to swim away from the human but May refuses to budge, saying she loves Bridget and she will never leave her side. The water around Johnny’s trident boils as anger courses through him, but a gentle pale hand on his shoulder calms him immediately; he turns and is captured by Testament’s ruby red eyes as the sea witch swims to his side. He opens his mouth but Testament’s finger seals it, and they tell him to put aside his temper and talk with these youths, not bark orders at them as if they were one of his servants.

Johnny relents and composes himself. He apologizes to his daughter for how he has been acting and asks her how she could love this human. She tells him that it was easy, listing off everything good point about Bridget while gazing dreamily into her emerald eyes. Bridget does the same as she entwines their fingers, professing her undying love to May for the umpteenth time. Johnny is unsatisfied; how can May love Bridget if she has barely gotten to know her? They’ve only spent a month together, and in that time she only realized she loved her in the final week of it. He’s concerned that she is going to get into something she can’t back out of; he’s also scared of losing her forever, as he is terrified of his family drifting away from him.

May tells him that his fears are unfounded, as she will always be his daughter and nothing could ever change that. She also understands that her decision to become human would be permanent and that maybe he is right, maybe their love isn’t as unshakeable as they claim it to be; but she still wants to take that chance. She has felt love many times before but none as strong as the one she has for Bridget. Bridget tells her the same, and that she wants to learn more about her, not just the good. She even tells the king that, if there is a way to do it, she will become a mermaid forever and stay in his kingdom so he wouldn’t have to be separated from his daughter.

Testament, however, provides another solution. They take the comb from Johnny’s hand and swims over to May and begins to brush her hair with the comb. May begins to wince as magic swirls around her fin before it splits and transforms into a pair of human legs, they do it again and the legs become fins again. Bridget and May stare dumbfounded at Testament, asking the sea witch how this could be; Testament explains that the comb is made from the same coral as the potion, and she can use it as an instrument to change back and forth.

“How did you think I managed to become human all those months ago,” Testament says as they hold up a familiar coral hairpin. May points an accusatory finger at them as she realizes they were the bewitching stranger! Testament confirms this and says that it was not their idea, but a certain meddling king who will remain unnamed (the water practically boils around the bright blush that burns Johnny’s cheeks right now).

With this newfound discovery, the pair embrace again before turning to the king; Bridget asks him if he would give his blessing for them to continue seeing each other, and May asks the same. Johnny scoffs and tells them to do as they want, not like they would listen to him anyway; May is ecstatic and swims over to her father, peppering his face with a flurry of kisses. He can’t hide the giant smile that spreads across his face as he holds his daughter tight; he looks over her shoulder and tells Bridget that if she better take care of his precious daughter, or she will have to answer to him.

Bridget laughs and tells him that he has nothing to fear as May swims back into her arms. Their eyes lock before the two share their first kiss, that sends everyone in the throne room cheering for the lovers.

Johnny, Testament, Janis, and all of May’s sisters go to the ship to see her off, hugging her and telling her to come back to visit soon. She promises to do that and, before entering the submersible, combs her hair turning her fins back to legs. She boards the ship hand-in-hand with Bridget, the love her of life, and waves back at her family and friends through one of the portholes as they head back to the castle.

Many years later May sits next to a roaring fire with a five year old child in her lap as she tells them the story of how she met their mother. The child, Satsuki, excitedly exclaims they know how the story ends, with May and Bridget getting married then May gave birth to them. Before May can answer a voice cuts in saying Satsuki is half right. They both turn to see Bridget in the doorway, a giant smile on her face. Satsuki hops out of May’s lap and runs up to Bridget with open arms; Bridget catches the child and spins them high in the air, before holding them in her arms and padding up to May to give her a kiss.

Satsuki asks what Bridget meant by them being half right. Bridget explains that even though they fell in love and had a child their story isn’t over yet; they still have many years of adventures and love to share before their story truly ends. Satsuki requests another story with a tired yawn, but Bridget questions whether they can stay awake for another. The child pouts and claims they aren’t tired, despite another yawn escaping their little body. May chuckles and agrees to one final story. Satsuki cheers and hops back down into May’s lap, snuggling up against their mother as she picks up the book sitting on the table next to her. She opens to the first page as Bridget sits down on the chair’s armrest, wrapping her arm around her wife and child as May begins another story.