The difference between the merfolk and the humans is vastly different. Merfolk have double the life span of a human, merfolk have magical abilities that humans could only dream about. The most powerful of all the merfolk is the Merking. The Merking's power comes from his scepter and crown. The scepter has been passed down to every new king, as per the tradition. Hundreds of years ago, merfolk decided to show themselves to their land equivalents. At first, things went well. An alliance was formed and the Merking and the Human King became friends. However, as per all alliances, this could only last so long. The Human King passed away, leaving his son in power. However, his son was power hungry, and especially greedy. He immediately attacked the merfolk when he got the chance, forcing the alliance to be dissolved. This angered the Merking, and he took the remaining merfolk that had survived the attack, taking them deeper into the ocean to rebuild their home. They created a new kingdom, called Oceana, and lived in spite of the humans that had killed many of their brethren. The Merking outlawed all contact and talk about the surface and its dwellers. Of course, as per all civilizations, there were the few that broke the law, however there was no punishment for doing so. That was because all that did, never returned. The Merking passed on his rule to his son with the most magical power, and he ruled over the Merfolk in peace. He had six children. Four boys and two girls. The eldest was called Akihiko, the second eldest was called Hideaki, the third child was called Kasumi, the fourth child was called Daiki, the fifth was Nanami and the youngest was called Haruka.
Haruka had always been babied in his family, and by the community, and he resented that. He hated being pitied, he hated being helped, and he hated those that thought he couldn't do anything. His sister's especially babied him, they loved putting sea flowers in his hair and dressing him up, and all he could do was sit there and pout at them. His siblings and he shared different mothers, so they all looked different, except for Nanami. Nanami and Haruka were birthed by the same mermaid, so they shared the same hair and eye colour. Every mermaid had been raised with the folk tales of the humans, it had been drilled into their heads since they were little, and Haruka was no exception. And he cared nothing for the surface either. He could care less if something were to make all the land and land creatures disappear in an instant.
At this current point in time, he was laying against a rock, staring out into the ocean from his window. He sighed to himself, wondering if anything interesting was going to happen. Life was rather boring under the sea, but he wouldn't dare trade it for anything though. The water was all he knew, and he was too insecure to trade it for anything. A sudden weight rested on his arm and he looked out the corner of his eye to see long black hair on a feminine face that looked just like his. Matching blue eyes looked at him, a pout on the delicate face.
"Haru, I'm bored" Nanami whined, snuggling closer to her little brother. Haruka could only look back to where he was looking earlier, sighing again. He never let his siblings rest on him like this unless it was Nanami. Nanami was the only exception, he didn't really know why. Maybe because they shared the same mother? Or maybe because of her childish antics and charm? The pout on Nanami's face only grew from his quiet response. She flicked her blue tail in one strike and was suddenly in front of him, rolling on her back and slowly floating into his view.
"Boo, Haru, you're no fun! The palace is so boring this time of day!" Nanami complained, before her eyes widened and she shot forward, mere inches from Haruka's face.
"I know! Why don't we go explore the ocean depths? We might find some cool treasure!" Nanami exclaimed, noticing that Haruka barely moved. He was used to this a lot, but she was right. Her idea was ten times better than just sitting here, wasting such a good day. He sat up, seeing her eyes sparkle in anticipation.
"Sure, I'll go with you. I know you like collecting stuff" Haruka replied, sounding bored, but Nanami squealed in excitement, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.
"Thank you Haru! You're the best! I'll meet you out front in a few minutes!" Nanami exclaimed, giving her tail a quick flick and practically darting out the room and into another area of the palace. Haruka sighed, gliding down to his mirror and adjusted the hair that had been messed up by Nanami, then began flicking his tail in a repetitive motion as he swam out the castle and waited out the front. It only took a few more seconds, but Nanami quickly darted out to meet him, swimming around him happily, giggling madly. Haruka gave her an unamused look, sighing as he snatched the bag off her shoulder and began swimming away. Nanami gasped, pouting at him, before swimming after him.
"Haru!" she called out, catching up to him. He glanced down at her, seeing the bright smile on her face. She was really happy to get to spend some time with him, that much was clear.
"So, you excited for today?" Nanami asked suddenly, twirling around Haruka and giggling.
"It's Hideaki's crowning ceremony, of course I'm excited for him" Haruka replied, giving Nanami a small smile back. Nanami's eyes widened, before she exclaimed happily, tackling him in a tight hug.
"You're so cute when you smile Haru! You should smile more often!" she babbled, rubbing her cheek against his as her grip tightened, but Haruka didn't mind. He still wore a bored expression though.
"I thought we were exploring?" Haruka asked, seeing Nanami pull away, looking shocked.
"Oh my gosh… You're right! Come on Haru! This way!" Nanami exclaimed, darting off quickly to lead them where they were going to search. She finally reached an old, broken ship that had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Haruka's eyes widened at the sight, and as Nanami darted inside the ship to search, he couldn't help but slowly swim around the ship. He took in the sight of it, marveling at its size and grandeur. It was an impressive sight that was certain. He'd never seen a ship before. He knew what it was called, but heaven forbid, he'd never seen one. When he reached the front, his eyes widened at the size of the long, sharp plank of wood that stuck out the front of the ship. It looked similar to a sword, something his father had shown him. They had a sword hanging against the wall of the palace. His father explained that it was something humans used to fight each other. Humans used such weird and strange things, what was wrong with claws, teeth and magic? Oh wait, humans didn't have the stuff merfolk did. He forgot that humans couldn't use magic, and their teeth and nails were blunt. Such strange creatures, how did they eat and defend themselves from predators then? Perishing the thought, Haruka shook his head to clear it of all things human.
A sudden scream made his eyes widen as he quickly darted to the hole he'd seen Nanami enter. He scanned the area madly for her. All he could see was the inside of the ship. It was dark, cramped and had an unpleasant odor coming from it. He looked around, gripping the wood tightly in his hand.
"Nanami!" he shouted, worried about her. What had caused her to scream suddenly? Merfolk only had two enemies. One was jellyfish, the second was… sharks! Haruka frowned, quickly kicking off with his tail as he took off in a quick spurt, dashing into a room and gasping. Nanami was backed into a corner as what looked like a great white shark was closing in on her.
"Nanami!" he called out, kicking off again and turned, slapping his tail down on the shark. The shark snapped its teeth, turning to look at him as his eyes widened. He quickly turned, taking off again in a quick spurt as the shark did so too. It smacked into the wall of the ship, before turning and chasing after Haruka.
"Haru!" Nanami shouted in worry, swimming after the two of them slowly. She didn't want to attract the shark's attention, but she was really scared for her little brother. Haruka swam out the hole in the ship, seeing the shark follow, and began swimming as quickly as his tail could carry him through the open ocean. Nanami watched from the hole, looking at her brother with terrified, trembling eyes. Haruka could feel the shark on his trail, turning to glance behind him and had to refrain from freezing in terror. The shark's mouth was open, displaying rows and rows of razor sharp teeth. Haruka frowned, giving his tail another swift kick and changed directions, heading down. The shark couldn't stop in time, and swam forward more, giving Haruka time to do what he needed to.
Raising his hands forward, he closed his eyes as symbols appeared around his hands. His hair began moving around more as the water began to spin more violently around him. When he opened his eyes, the chain of letters and symbols was complete. He inhaled deeply.
"Unda Flatus!" he exclaimed and a beam of air and water shot out, flying through the water and hit the shark, batting it around. The shark was hit by several mini explosions and once the waters had calmed down, it zoomed off in a different direction. Haruka let out a sigh of relief, before he was suddenly tackled by Nanami in a death grip.
"Haru! That was amazing!" she exclaimed, giggling happily with tears in her eyes as she hugged him tightly, bawling into his shoulder. Haruka froze in shock, before he placed one hand on her shoulder, the other gently resting on the top of her head. This was the most affection he displayed, and it was only to Nanami. Nanami pulled away from the hug, making a quick recovery and tilted her head in a giggle.
"Lookie, lookie! I found some cool stuff we can add to the castle!" Nanami stated cheerfully, holding up several strange looking human objects. Haruka raised a brow silently in his confusion. They battled a shark and explored this dangerous area for those? One looked like a tiny trident, the other looked like a tiny scooper, and the third one looked like a mini sword.
"These are so weird, aren't they? I heard from Akihiko that they're called cutlery, humans use them to eat their food cause they don't use their fingers!" Nanami explained, making Haruka's eye brow rise even more. Humans refused to use their fingers to eat food? How lazy could they get? What a strange culture of beings.
"Anyway, it's getting close to the ceremony time! We have to hurry!" Nanami exclaimed, grabbing Haruka's wrist and pulling him along behind her as they hurried back to the castle. Haruka let himself be pulled along, sighing to himself as they entered the palace, seeing merfolk trying to set up the castle for the ceremony.
"There you two are! Come on! We have to get ready!" Kasumi scolded, stopping in front of Haruka and Nanami, hands on her hips as her long, golden blonde hair danced around in the water. Her green eyes filled with nothing but kindness though. Nanami darted behind Haruka, peering out behind him shyly.
"Boo, you're a meanie Kasumi!" Nanami pouted, sticking the tip of her tongue out at her. Kasumi frowned, puffing out her chest as she folded her arms over her chest.
"You were exploring the ocean floor again, weren't you? What would you do if a shark attacked you, or you couldn't make it to the ceremony?!" Kasumi exclaimed, watching as Nanami flinched at the mention of sharks. Kasumi raised a brow, before she gasped.
"You ran into a shark!? Are you both alright!? You're not harmed, are you!?" Kasumi exclaimed, grabbing Haruka and pulling him forward, examining him. When she was satisfied, she let him go and began examining Nanami. Haruka sighed, swimming off when he got the chance. He entered the ceremony hall, looking around with a bored expression at the room. His father hovered in the middle of the path, barking out orders to the merfolk who were swimming around and setting up the room. Hideaki was right next to their father, watching and learning as he would take over from their father one day. Haruka could care less about a position of power, or responsibility. All he wanted was to be free and live life as he pleased.
"Haruka!" called out a voice and Haruka turned, seeing Akihiko and Daiki swimming up to him. They placed a hand on either of his shoulders, resulting in a glare from Haruka, but they ignored it and continued blabbering on to him. He just sighed, tuning them out.
(Meanwhile)
"Have the preparations been made?" asked a middle aged man, turning to look at his companion in the room. This companion was a young woman, with long, waist length, dark purple hair, narrow lavender eyes, pale skin and a figure that was round in all the right places. The middle aged man was tall, very buff for his age, with a head of dark brown hair and turquoise coloured eyes.
"Yes Your Majesty. The spell is ready. Which should we choose? The eldest or the youngest?" the woman replied, hearing the King chuckle to himself.
"Let's choose the youngest. The youngest tends to get doted on a lot, so I think we'll get the best response from capturing him" the King responded, making the woman giggle manically.
"Very well, the youngest it is" she replied, stepping away and walking towards the huge cauldron that rested in the room. She waved her hands around, closing her eyes, as letters and symbols formed, warping around as the insides of the cauldron began to glow.
"Once Avalon curses the youngest, the Merking will fall into my hands at last" the King said to himself, chuckling as he clenched his hand into a fist, grinning in satisfaction.
"Veneficus ut servo sursum , quod veneficus ut restituo nos. Tribuo mihi vestri vox ut EGO dico super a negotium. Natu minimus Procer mos cado victor , tribuo him legs quod termino him applico. Locus a vomica ut EGO dico sicco meus nomen ut signum pactum. Avalon D'elair!" Avalon chanted, the symbols forming and joining as lines connected them, before shattering into a thousand sparkling particles. Avalon gasped, falling to her knees as she panted, sweat covering her forehead.
"Avalon? Did it work?" the King asked, walking up to her and grabbing under her arm, pulling her up to her feet. She panted a little, looking up at him with a weak smile.
"Yes, the curse is now in place. Now we wait for him to come to us" Avalon informed him, smirking as she saw the grin form on the King's face, before chuckling and laughter filled the room.
(Meanwhile)
"And with this crown, I now crown you, Prince Hideaki, the crowned Prince, who will take over after me. May you preserve and sustain us in the future to come" declared the Merking as he gently and slowly began placing the crown on Hideaki's head. Hideaki closed his eyes, leaning his head forward in a bow and just as the crown touched Hideaki's head, Haruka gasped suddenly. Something felt wrong, very wrong. No one seemed to notice his gasp though over the sound of all the merfolk screaming and cheering for Hideaki. Haruka grasped at his chest, looking down at his hands and gasped again, seeing the webbing between his hands beginning to recede in. Haruka's eyes trembled in terror as he felt an unbearable pain beginning to form in his tail. He turned to look at the exit of the palace, and darted out as quickly as he could. Nanami saw him leave quickly, and followed after him.
"Haru!" she yelled out once they were out the castle, and Haruka twirled around to face her. She raised a brow in confusion as she approached him, grabbing his shoulders gently.
"What's wrong Haru? Why'd you dart out like that?" Nanami asked, seeing the terror and panic on Haruka's face. A pain filled her stomach as she began to worry about Haruka.
"I don't know… but my tail hurts… there's an ache in my chest, and the webbing in his hands is getting smaller!" Haruka exclaimed, showing Nanami his hands. Nanami gasped, her face filled with horror. She gasped again as she noticed what was happening to the gills on Haruka's neck and ribcage.
"Your gills!" she exclaimed, pointing at his neck. Haruka looked down at the ones on his ribcage, freezing in horror as he realized they were closing over. Before he had time to react, Nanami grabbed him and began swimming up to the surface as quickly as she could. Haruka tried to inhale through his mouth, only to have his eyes open wide in pain as nothing but water entered his lungs. Pain shot through his body. His chest felt like it was being stabbed, his tail was hurting so badly it felt like it was being split into two.
After a minute, both Nanami's and Haruka's heads appeared over the surface. Haruka coughed and spluttered, clinging to Nanami tightly as a support. Nanami glanced over at him, brows raised in concern.
"Haru?" she asked, seeing him glance up at her. Haruka's gills had completely sealed up as if they'd never existed to begin with. A mark had formed on his chest. It looked like a red, spiral shaped tattoo. Nanami's eyes widened as she recognized the marking.
"You've been cursed Haru… Another mer has cursed you… I'm so sorry Haru… I can't undo the curse… I just can't… I'm not strong enough" Nanami apologized, hugging Haruka tightly to herself. Tears began streaming down her face. Haruka was just as terrified as she was, and when he attempted to kick his tail to help support them, his eyes widened as he felt his tail brush against his other tail. Wait, that wasn't right. He looked down, gasping to see he had two legs now. His tail was completely gone, as were the scales, and he had these weird shaped limbs now.
"You've been turned into a human… Haru… You can't stay with us anymore, you'll die if you try to go back into the water for too long" Nanami explained, seeing Haruka's eyes widen and shake in disbelief as her words settled in his brain. Her face was flooded with tears as she placed her webbed hands on his cheeks, making him look at her.
"I'm going to take you to the shore. Try and survive, please. I'm begging of you. I'll tell Father what's happened, and we'll come get you. I promise!" Nanami stated, seeing Haruka begin to calm down a little, before nodding. He gripped onto Nanami tightly as she began kicking her tail in swift motions and took them towards the giant thing in the distance, resting against the edge of the water.
When they finally reached the shore, Haruka used his hands to crawl onto the soft brown earth. The waves helped push him away from the water and to shallow water. He couldn't use his new limbs yet though, so he pulled himself up with a painful grunt.
"I'll be back soon Haru!" Nanami called out from where she was in the deeper water. She ducked under the water and swam away. Haruka panted as he crawled onto the sand further, before collapsing onto his chest, panting heavily. His eyes closed in exhaustion, his body shivering and covered in goose bumps as the air rushed over him, sending cold chills down his body.
"Eh? What in the…?" called out a voice, catching Haruka's attention as he opened an eye slowly, looking as the figure approaching him. The person knelt beside him, looking terrified and worried.
"Hey! Are you alright?" called out the male, but Haruka couldn't understand a word he was saying. Instead, he looked at the man weakly before his eyes closed and he slumped to the ground.
"Hey! Stay with me!" the man yelled, but Haruka's consciousness completely blacked out, leaving him in a limp, naked mess of blood and water on the shores of the beach. But the last thing he saw were worried, kind green eyes that reminded him of Kasumi.
Translation notes.
The first thing Haruka says in Latin is 'Water Blast'
The second thing that Avalon says in Latin is 'Magic that keeps up, and magic that restores us. Grant me your power as I call upon a task. The youngest Prince will fall victim, give him legs and restrict him to land. Place a curse as I call out my name to seal the contract. Avalon D'elair.'
I apologise if the translation is not correct, I used an English to Latin translator, so that was the best I could do. But other than that, enjoy the first chapter.