Hello again my dears. This time I have a special treat for you. A classic fairytale some may never have heard…
Disclaimer: I neither own Kingdom Hearts, any KH characters, nor the beautiful original version of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen adapted by Freya Littledale.
Warning: This is not the happy, fluffy fairytale many grew up with that was created by Disney. This is the original story, a sad and ultimately astonishingly beautiful tale which I grew up with.
Characters
The Little Merman: Axel
The Prince: Roxas
The Princess: Namine
Once upon a time, in a palace beneath the sea, there lived six beautiful princes. The youngest was the most beautiful of all. He had skin as soft as rose petals and eyes as green as the deepest sea. But like all mermen, he had no feet – only a fish's tail.
Now, each merman had his own small garden. The older brothers filled their gardens with many things they found when ships were wrecked at sea.
The youngest had nothing in his but a marble statue of a handsome boy. It was the only thing he wanted. He loved to look at that statue and think about the world it came from – the world above the water.
"What is it like up there?" He asked his grandmother.
"When you are sixteen you will see it all. Then you will swim to the top of the water and sit on the rocks in the moonlight. You will see the ships and the people, and you may sing to them just like your brothers."
"It is lovely up there," his brothers told him. "But there is no place more wonderful than the bottom of the sea."
"I want to see it for myself," said the little merman.
"You must wait," said his grandmother.
So the little merman waited. Often he went to his own little garden and stared at the statue of the handsome boy.
At last it was his sixteenth birthday.
"Come," said his grandmother, "I will dress you like your brothers."
And she put a belt of pearls around his waist. Then the little merman rose up through the water as light as a bubble.
When he came to the top he saw a big ship. On the deck were many people, but one stood out from all the rest. He was a handsome prince who looked like his statue come to life. The little merman could not take his eyes off the prince.
Now, it was the prince's fifteenth birthday and there was a grand party. Everyone was singing and dancing. The hours passed. Fireworks turned night into day. Still the little merman did not move. He kept on staring at the handsome prince.
Suddenly, there was a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning. Wind blew. The waves grew higher and higher. And rain fell like stones on the water.
The big ship cracked in two and began to sink. People were thrown into the water.
"The prince!" thought the little merman. "The prince must not drown!"
He dove into the sea and swam to the prince. His eyes were closed but he was still breathing. Holding his head above the water the little merman let the waves carry them all through the night.
At dawn the storm was over. The merman saw a great white building near the shore. It was a hold temple. Around the temple was a garden. The little merman swam towards the garden and laid the prince on the sand near a palm tree. Then he kissed his lips and swam out behind some rocks.
"I'll wait until someone comes to help him," he thought.
Soon a lovely girl came out of the building. She ran to the prince. Slowly he opened his eyes and smiled at her. But he did not smile at the merman for he did not know he had saved his life.
Sadly, the little merman dove down to the palace beneath the sea. He went to his garden and flung his arms around the statue of the handsome boy. He looked so much like the prince.
"What did you see above the water?" asked his brothers. But the little merman would tell them nothing.
Many nights he swam up to the place were he had left the prince. Yet he always returned sadder than before because he never saw him. His only comfort was to sit in his garden with his arms around the statue.
The little merman felt very unhappy. At last he had to tell his brothers about the prince.
"Oh, little brother," one of them said, "we know of this prince. We can show you where he lives."
So the six brothers swam to the prince's palace.
The palace was built of shining stone with marble steps leading down to the sea.
From then on, the little merman swam near the palace every night. Sometimes he saw the prince standing alone on the balcony. Sometimes he saw him on a ship. Often he heard the sailors praise him and he was glad he had saved him from drowning.
One day the little merman asked his grandmother, "If human beings aren't drowned can they live forever? Don't they die as we do?"
"Yes," said his grandmother, "they must die, too. And their lives are shorter than ours. We live three hundred years. Then we turn into foam on the water. But human beings have a soul that lives forever. And the soul rises up through the air…up…up…to the shining stars."
"Can I have a soul?" asked the little merman.
"If a human being married you, you could have a soul. But that is impossible," said his grandmother.
"Why?" asked the little merman.
"Because no human being would ever marry you. People think that your fish's tail is ugly. Only legs are beautiful to them. They don't know any better."
"Oh, I would give anything to be a human being! I want to marry the prince, and I want to have a soul that lives forever."
"You must forget that, my dear," said his grandmother. "We have a much happier life down here."
But the little merman could not forget.
One day the little merman left the palace and swam out through a strange forest. He was going to find the old witch of the sea. The witch was the only one who might help him.
The trees and bushes of the forest were half plant and half animal. Their slimy branches clung like giant worms to everything they touched. The little merman's heart beat fast with fear. He was so frightened he almost turned back. Then he thought of the prince and a human soul and on he went.
Soon he came to a clearing where he saw the house of the sea witch. It was built from the bones of shipwrecked men.
There sat the sea witch with water snakes crawling in her lap.
"I know what you want," said the sea witch. "You want legs so the prince will love you. And you want a soul that lives forever."
"How do you know?" asked the little merman.
"I know everything," said the sea witch. "You are not wise, my pretty one, but you shall have your way. It will only bring you trouble."
The witch laughed a horrible laugh.
"I will give you a magic potion," she said. "Before the sun rises, you must swim to the land and drink it. Then your tail will split apart and you shall have legs. No dancer will be as graceful as you. But with every step, you will feel as if you are walking on sharp knives. Can you bear such pain?"
"I can," said the little merman.
"But remember this," the sea witch said. "You can never become a merman again. And if the prince does not marry you, you will not win a soul. The morning after someone else becomes his wife, you will become foam on the sea. Do you still want to drink the magic potion?"
"I do," said the little merman.
"Very well," said the sea witch. "But you must pay me. No one has a sweeter voice than you. I will take your voice as payment for my potion."
"If you take my voice, what will I have left?" asked the little merman.
"You have beauty, grace, and eyes that speak for you," said the witch. "That is enough."
"So be it," whispered the little merman.
And from that moment on, he could no longer speak or sing.
At sunrise the little merman swam to the shore near the prince's palace. Quickly he drank the magic potion. Then he felt a stab of pain and he fainted on the sand.
When he opened his eyes the prince stood beside him.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The little merman could not answer. He could only look at him with his dark green eyes.
"Poor boy, can't you speak?" asked the prince.
The little merman lowered his eyes and shook his head.
"Do not worry," said the prince. "I will take care of you."
The prince took the little merman's hand and led him to the palace. And with every step he felt if sharp knives were beneath his feet.
That night there was a splendid ball. Dressed in golden robes, the little merman danced and danced. Everyone was enchanted by his grace and beauty – especially the prince.
Later, when the others were asleep, the little merman walked down the marble steps to cool his burning feet in the cold sea. He heard his brothers singing sadly, and he saw their bright, sparkling eyes shining in the moonlight. He waved to them and they swam close to shore.
"We miss you, little brother," they told him. "We will come to see you often while the prince is sleeping.
The little merman grew dearer to the prince with each passing day. He loved him as if he were his brother. But he never thought of making him his bride(1).
"You remind me of a lovely girl who found me after a storm and saved my life," the prince said. "I have never seen her since, yet she is the only one who could ever be my wife. But you and I will never part. I promise you."
"Oh, if only I could speak," thought the little merman." If only I could tell him that I am the one who saved his life. I was hiding behind the rocks. I saw the lovely girl whom he loves more than me."
The little merman wanted to cry but he could not. Mermen have no tears.
Now it happened that the prince's parents wished him to marry the daughter of a neighbouring king.
"I cannot love her," he told the little merman. "But I must go and see the princess and you will come with me. I hope you are not afraid of the sea."
The little merman smiled.
The next morning the prince's ship sailed into the harbour of the neighbouring kingdom Trumpets blew, church bells rang, and the prince was welcomed into the city.
Every day there were balls and parties in his honour. But he did not see the princess.
"Our daughter has been staying at a holy temple," said her father, the king. "She is on her way and will be here soon."
At last the princess arrived. The prince went to meet her. He could not believe his eyes.
"It is you," he said. "You are the one who found me after the storm. You, and only you, will be my wife."
On the day of the marriage the little merman held the bride's wedding train. He felt that his heart was breaking. Soon he would die and become foam of the sea.
That very night the prince and his bride went on board the ship. When it grew dark, lanterns were lit and everyone danced. The little merman danced, too. And this time the pain in his heart was even greater than the pain he felt with every step.
The party lasted until the full moon was high in the sky. Then everyone went to sleep.
The little merman looked out at sea. He saw his brothers rising to the top. Their bright, sparkling eyes no longer shining in the moonlight. They had been cut out.
"We had to give our eyes to the sea witch to save you from death," they told him. "You have one last chance. In exchange for our sight, the witch gave us this knife. Before the sun rises you must kill the prince whom you love the most. When his blood spills over your feet, you will become a merman again. Hurry! Either you or he must die before sunrise."
The little merman drew back the curtains of the tent where the prince and his bride were sleeping. He bent down and kissed the prince. He raised the sharp, shining knife, which seemed to quiver in his hand. But then…
He flung the knife far out to sea. The waves gleamed red where it fell. The little merman took one last look at the prince. Then he threw himself from the ship and felt his body turn to foam.
But the little merman was not dead. When the sun rose, he heard voices like music. He saw hundreds of beautiful beings floating through the air.
"I am floating, too," said the little merman in a voice like the others.
"Yes," they told him. "You have suffered enough. You are one of us now. We are spirits of the air. Like you, we have no soul, but we can win one."
"How?" asked the little merman.
"We fly to hot countries and bring cool breezes. We spread the fragrances of flowers. For three hundred years, wherever we go, we bring peace and happiness. Then we win a soul, and you will, too."
For the first time the little merman felt tears in his eyes.
He saw the prince and his bride. They were staring sadly at the bubbling foam as if they knew he had thrown himself into the waves.
Invisible now, the little merman kissed the bride and smiled at the prince. Then, with the spirits of the air, he floated away.
I hope that was not too sad for you my dears. It really is a depressing tale, the real story of The Little Mermaid, but I do love it so. I have taken the childhood book basically word for word and typed it out for all you Yaoi fans to enjoy.
As it says on the back cover –
A beautiful mermaid-
A handsome prince-
A story you will never forget