Hello, lovely readers!

This story is an attempted subversion of typical Mermaid AUs by adding a lot of dramatic stakes, tragedy, and themes into the mix! It also explores a more realistic take on what would happen if a mermaid were discovered, even by other people who know of magic.

This story was originally posted on AO3, where there are more chapters at the time of me first uploading this chapter. After this, I'll upload a new chapter every day until I catch up to how many I've already posted on AO3, and then I'll publish at the same time for both websites.

For those of you who don't know, I'm Mythic! This particular story was brainstormed by Pyrrhic and I, and I wrote the thing itself. It's part of an AU called the Hidden Magic AU, set in a world where pretty much every mythology exists and it basically explores the more slow stories in the world, about separate groups of people without exactly the world at stake.
I've only written one other story in this AU so far, The Late Train to Barcelona, following the Italian twins and Antonio. Yes, it is a 'Human AU', where they're not nations - but they aren't exactly fully human either (mermaids, bunyips, fairies, yokai, etc.)

I hope you guys enjoy!


Mathias had no doubt that summer was his favourite season. Winter was too cold, and autumn and spring were too unpredictable. Then there was summer, which was warm, even hot, and was absolutely wonderful considering where he lived. The way the water shined in the sunlight was something immediately pleasing to him, and felt wonderful on his scales and fins. There wasn't much else to do in the lake.
Even though his parents told him leaving the lake was a choice, he knew they didn't mean it. They'd clearly much prefer him to stay with them, hidden from sight. And so he did.
It wasn't just that his parents didn't want him to go. It was dangerous in the land-walking world, especially for someone like him. People would find out what he was, and the stories he had been told made him terrified of that outcome. And, if a human, of all things, discovered what he was… Then he would've doomed his whole race, and they'd all live in fear of scientists and poachers.

But, this didn't mean he didn't dream of leaving. It didn't mean there were no endless narratives of being among the land-walkers, told to himself during long days. It didn't mean there was no walking with his land form, growing accustomed to legs and a finless body.
And, of course, it didn't stop him from watching land-walkers from afar.
There was a little cottage built on the side of the lake. It had been empty since before he was born, but sometimes people visited for whatever reason. His parents told him it was because they were seeing if they'd like to live there. Though Mathias wouldn't admit to it, he held a slight hope that someone would stay. He knew it was a stupid wish, since if they were humans, they'd probably report him, and if they weren't, they'd probably steal him from his home. Yet, it lingered.

He had a mix of emotions when four people moved in.
His parents were in absolute panic. This was their only place, this was their only home. If they were found out, they had nowhere to go, and they would probably find themselves in some terrible situation. And Mathias knew this, but he also felt the thrill of change. The thrill of something new, and he was scared because it wasn't a good thing to feel that way.
If they stayed far away, maybe they wouldn't be noticed until they figured out a way to escape. Their magic couldn't be felt if they were on the other side of the lake.
But, it also meant they couldn't sense the new people.

Were they magical creatures or humans? And, if they were humans, were they magic-users? Of course, he wouldn't be able to tell the latter immediately, but if he watched them close enough…
What was he thinking? If he did anything like that, his entire species would be put under risk. He had to learn some self control.
But he still held a wanting for more.

One morning, he found himself swimming idly in the lake. He wasn't sure what happened, whether he had accidentally drifted too far without thinking, or whether that person had wandered too far… But, he saw them. It was a human.
Their hair was so blonde it was practically white. This, in addition with their pale skin, made them seem almost pallid, but they still held the warm glow of health. Definitely, the most striking thing about them was their eyes, which were so deeply blue they were almost purple. Were they…? Mathias couldn't tell.
Wearing warm-looking clothing, the human sat down on the edge of the lake and hugged their legs.

Mathias hadn't been seen. Now, he was hiding behind an outcropping of land in still silence. He couldn't move, he'd be seen, he'd be seen by the human who couldn't use magic… Well, that was his assumption. Otherwise, they'd have noticed him, and they'd have taken him far away, to place were he could be killed and scaled and -
Never mind, that wasn't important. What was important now was getting away, so he wouldn't doom his whole race. Well, further than it was already ruined.
But then, the human began to talk to themself.
Mathias had never heard human speech before. Sometimes, he'd make noises as if he were using it, but he knew that it wasn't what it was really like. And, the sensation was strange. That human did it quietly, and seemingly thoughtlessly. There was something, maybe in the way they said it, or maybe in the sayings themselves, that was just so beautiful. Mathias had never wanted to understand another person more than in that moment.

And he forgot. He forgot that his very existence should stay hidden. He forgot that this was a human, and that he lived in the water while this person was on the land.
All too quickly, he was seen.
The human was right in the middle of saying something, but then stopped suddenly. At first, Mathias didn't know why, but then he realised. That human was staring at him, and they saw him, they knew he existed, they knew he was in that lake, he knew that his whole species existed, and… And…
He wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

With a flip of his tail, he swam away, and felt guilt and dread and regret form in his gut.
Then, he stayed far, far away from the land-walkers. He didn't tell his parents what had happened, hoping that maybe, somehow, the human would ignore what they had seen.
As the days passed, there no sudden attacks on him. Nobody in big white uniforms came for him, and no sleep-things were shot into his skin. Mathias began to think he had gotten off lucky, and that the human had thought it was just their mind that made them see him.

Despite the first encounter, he got curious again. He wanted to see the white-haired human, and hear their strange speaking. Sometimes, he dreamt of the beautiful sayings, the language he desperately wanted to understand. Instead, he was stuck with speaking with his hands.
Though he knew that it was a terrible idea, he found himself getting closer and closer again. Since that human had not known magic, he decided to assume that the rest were the same. After all, his parents had told him how magic-less humans don't know of such things, though they try to speculate. Real facts often found their way into it, but were often replaced by the opposite. And, apparently, they didn't even think of it as real, calling it 'myth' or 'folklore'.
Mathias enjoyed the concept of being a 'mythical creature'.

Soon, he was practically watching from right near the cottage. They wouldn't know he was there, so it was okay. He did his best hiding, and he was thoroughly enjoying watching this culture. Watching this piece of the walking world, spread out before him for him to assess. And soon, he found himself wanting to inspect one of those strange little devices that they spent lots of time on, or eat that delicious-looking human food. Well, anything would be better than more fish.
He could only watch the outside of the cottage, where they didn't spend too much time. Sometimes, they'd walk, or eat outside, or just sit and look at strange little things he didn't really understand.
On occasion, some of them would take out these strange stick-like contraptions. At the end, there was something that looked like water had been compressed into something very very thin, something clear and that reflected things. They'd toss it into the lake and sometimes pull out fish on the end of the water-thing.
Mathias was confused.

He wanted to get a closer look, and also see if could somehow stop them from stealing his fish. Well, they weren't his fish exactly, but he ate them! Water creatures were his main diet, and they had all that fancy nice-smelling human food he'd kill for a taste of.
Maybe he could secretly take their stick things from them, or get all the fish away from it. He'd save them! ...Before eating them himself.
Luckily, the big piece of wood that they sat on to toss in the water-things was easy to hide under if he got there without them seeing. Once he did, he'd wait for them to try to get the fish, and would take them off the water-things.
The first time he grabbed a fish that it had been attached to, he got to see what it actually was. It wasn't water like how it looked, but it still remained a mystery. But what struck him was that, on the end, there was a sharp, curved object. That's what the fish had been attached to.

Mathias took it out, and let the fish go. He continued this process, and it became clear that the land-walkers were frustrated. The curved objects got bigger and bigger, and soon he made a mistake. As he was idly swimming to keep himself occupied while waiting for the next fish, he felt something painful on his tail. Before he was able to consider what it was, his tail was starting to be tugged on. It started hurting more and more, and he desperately tried to get away, but it only made it hurt further.
Then he realised. The curved thing had gotten his tail.
He pulled as hard as he could, and the clear-thing snapped, and the pulling was gone. But, it still hurt, and as he went over to see his tail.
It was torn, badly. The curved thing was wedged completely in it, and he tried to pull it out, but it just gave him more pain, and he had to stop because now it had touched his hands and his hands were bleeding and now they hurt, too.

Oh no, Mathias shouldn't have left the other side of the lake, he should've listened to his parents, he should've done something that would've stopped this from happening. But he hadn't, because he was too curious for his own liking.
He heard the humans using their language, but he wasn't charmed by it anymore. Now, it all sounded cruel and sick, and he wasn't the biggest fan of humans now. He should get away before they could hurt him again.
He got to the edge of the wooden thing, and looked out. There was nothing he could use to hide for a long way. Maybe he should just wait until they weren't looking.
But, he felt the stinging in his fingers and the pain in his tail, and he just wanted to get away.

Mathias tried to swim out as fast as he could, but now his tail was different and he couldn't do it right and now he was right out in the open for all the humans to see. He felt a sense of panic grip him, and then it took him a moment to realise that someone actually had.
On his shoulder. Someone was gripping his shoulder. In that moment, he forgot all rational thinking, and he felt like he was going to throw up and his heart was beating way too fast and chills went right up him. And he turned around, because he had to face whatever terrible thing had grabbed him.

He realised how illogical his sudden terror had been, because it was a human.
Just a…
Human.
Mathias felt his stomach drop.
They certainly didn't look that friendly, different from the one he had seen before, with a practically unreadable neutral expression, except for the piercing blue eyes. They seemed to be looking into his very soul to judge his worth, and he didn't like it one bit. He felt light-headed, because now, he had been discovered. He was scared.

They opened their mouth to speak in that human language. They sounded different than the other one, more like they were bored, more like they didn't care what was happening around them.
Mathias heard more voices from behind them, and when he looked, he saw more humans. There was the one he had seen that day by the lakeside, along with the other two. One looked quite friendly, but the other looked absolutely terrifying, like they were going to -
And then the friendly-looking one went up to him, and used their hands to speak in his language.
They spoke in his language.

'We're not going to hurt you,' they said.
It wasn't that Mathias didn't trust them. If anything, they were the only person he could trust, especially since they knew his language. But, he was so disoriented and scared that he couldn't comprehend what was happening, that he had been caught, that someone knew his language.
He wanted to swim away, swim far, far, away, where nobody could see him and he could pretend he hadn't made such a terrible mistake. But, he just floated there, not doing a thing.

The human seemed troubled by his lack of response, and spoke to the one touching Mathias's shoulder. They, slightly hesitantly, removed their hand, and now he could swim away if he wanted. The friendly human looked at him firmly, seemingly trying to establish trust.
'Can I see your wound?' they asked.
After a moment of hesitation, he signed back, 'Okay.'
And he displayed the wound to them.

It was really sickening to see, considering he had never really been injured this way before. He had always been warned to look after his fins, and he was sure his parents would be horrified when he showed them his now-damaged tail. As he thought about his troubles, he heard more human speak but wasn't paying attention. He didn't notice the human with the neutral expression reach out.
That was, until they yanked out the curved-thing.
Pain exploded up his tail, and his heart started beating far too quickly, throat choked, and arms trembling. They had just hurt him, beyond all measure, they had said that they wouldn't but they did.
And Mathias didn't know how to handle that.

So, despite his newly mutilated tail, despite the fact he had been revealed to the humans for sure, he swam. It hurt, and was difficult, but he did it and soon he was on the other side of the lake.
Only then, as deep regret pooled in his stomach, did he look back.


Critique is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for reading!