I don't know if I'll actually continue this - I just really needed to get the idea out of my head. Yes, the story is based on The Little Mermaid, though not completely. It's probably a mess, but I'm way too tired... Just enjoy :)

ariel.

stasis in darkness.

then the substanceless blue

pour of tor and distances.

god's lioness,

how one we grow.

Closer to the land, the ocean seemed almost empty. The water was still pleasant and blue, blue like the sky on a warm summer day, yet nothing but coral reef and stones filled the space on the yellow, smooth sand. She could barely see any fish; sometimes one or two would glide by through the little plants blooming at the bottom, glistening and bright as colored pearls. Most of them, however, resided far, far away in the rest of the ocean, where they could find more peace; for the world on the land and the one underneath were separated by a barrier too deep for human eyes to reach.

She kept her distance from the shore as well, simply rising to the surface on the spot she had stopped on. The gentle heat of sunlight hit her skin, caressing her shoulders and face silkily. It was getting late; the clouds were slowly turning pink and gold, gleaming smugly. Her eyes fell upon her sister, who was lying on her stomach, on a wet rock by the humming waves. Her black hair was almost dry, covering her arms and back like a cloth. Beside her was another girl. Talking. Instead of a tail, she had a pair of long, tanned legs, revealed by the lavender skirt she was wearing. Her hair was shorter than Kira's, and lighter too; almost blonde. She noticed Lydia first.

When she did, she nudged Kira's shoulder lightly, trying to take her attention away from whatever subject they were on. The mermaid's head turned, a small smile formed on her face, and then she reached to kiss Malia on the cheek, as she always did. Lydia didn't hear what they said to each other as they parted. She didn't really want to know, either, because she didn't understand.

It wasn't as though she had some kind of aversion to humans; she simply felt no desire to connect with them or explore their ways. There was too many differences between them and people of the ocean. Life on the surface looked messy and complicated, not beautiful, and humans had a tendency to be cruel in a way she had never experienced or even seen at home. Still, despite her distrust of Malia, Lydia didn't comment on it much. Kira knew her opinion very well, from the beginning.

A gentle, swooshing sound filled the air, and the younger girl was back in the water, swimming towards her sister lazily, cherishing the different air. Lydia crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at her.

'' Sorry... '' Kira said, suddenly pausing. '' I know I'm late, I just... lost track of time. ''

Lydia rolled her eyes, although that didn't stop the corners of her mouth from stretching upwards. '' Come up with a new excuse, I'm tired of hearing this one. ''

Kira laughed, throwing her head back. Then she sank underneath, and Lydia followed smoothly. Together, they dived into the depths of the ocean, disappearing from the view like they never existed.

Lydia hardly visited the surface. Often mother sent her looking for Kira, because she was the youngest of them all, yet she spent the majority of her time on that abandoned beach. Somehow it didn't seem to worry anyone that she was up there with a human; Malia was different, mother said, because Malia knew Kira ever since she was a little girl and she had kept the secret safe. Therefore, Kira was free to see her whenever she wished, as long as she didn't stay out after dark.

But when Lydia wasn't looking for her, sometimes she rose out of the water just to watch the sun set. That was one of her favorite things about the human world, though she'd never tell - and there wasn't many. To watch a celestial body dip down and put the everyone to sleep. It was magic.

She usually watched it happen by herself, so she didn't stop to ponder on it; didn't even look back as they went off. Naturally, along the way the ocean came to life. More fish, more coral reefs, each one bigger and prettier than the other. Darkness almost fell completely when they reached the castle. Tall and wide and glorious, it illuminated everything around. Erica welcomed them at the door, with her golden hair flowing around her, her eyes wide and clear.

'' Where have you two been for so long? ''

'' I'd consider you worried, '' said Kira, '' ready to go out and look for us. But I know better. ''

The last sentence almost came out of her throat in a teasing song. Erica grinned, showing off all her white teeth. There was a flower tucked behind her ear, no wonder from the surface. White petals, yellow center. No wonder from another suitor trying to impress her.

'' So, what's his name? ''

'' I don't know what you're talking about, '' Erica responded. '' At all... But it's Vernon. ''

'' Vernon? '' Lydia echoed, cocking her head to the side. She exchanged a glance with Kira, whose smile suddenly fell.

'' He's a nice guy. Try not to break his heart? '' The black haired mermaid suggested mildly.

Erica shrugged. '' We're not human. We don't have hearts, remember? ''

The words pounded in Lydia's head for a while. Erica, the oldest of them all, could be quite bitter, although nobody blamed her. She had a rather awful experience with the world outside the ocean. It was like she wanted to prove humans that they were right, and anything that was different from them should be feared greatly, because it was monstrous.

That she should be feared greatly.

Perhaps it was even true... sometimes it seemed so.

The night floated by just like any other. Lydia fell asleep in the warmth of her bed, dreaming of everything and nothing. Sometimes she wondered if mermaids could dream at all. When she was a child, she had asked her mother. The woman kissed her forehead and said that as long as mermaids could sleep, they'll dream, but never the way that humans do. She seemed saddened by the fact. Lydia didn't mind.

But somewhere deep inside, there was a longing that she felt. A yearning for something more than the life she knew. But it was a distant, hollow feeling, one that she tried to repress. It echoed in her from time to time when she watched the sun set, and she ignored it, ignored it with skill and practise, didn't bother tying it to anything particular. She ignored it until it went away.

Usually, it did.

The next day, she left the castle before anyone else even stirred in their sleep. Sunrises were equally as beautiful as sunsets, and there was something special about the shore at dawn. The air was so fresh and salty, the sand so untouched, the footprints in it long forgotten... the rocks were lonely and silent. Everything looked simply innocent. So she sneaked past her mother's bedroom, past her sisters and past all the others. It was easy.

She swam through the ocean with no hurry, watching life die out around her as she did, again. It was always the same, always. The higher up she was, the closer to the land, the more nothingness surrounded her. It was saddening, in a way she didn't really understand. But she took her time, let it sink in. She would have moved even slower, let the water lead her, because mermaids had no clocks and time was limitless; but she was going to the surface, so she had to play by the rules. The sun served creatures of the dry land only.

It became obvious that she was close to the beach when she reached that blunt, big rock standing at the ocean floor, about three or four hundred meters away from it. That was how she always knew when to stop swimming. But this time, it was different.

She felt her bones freeze; her body stilled, though her mind uselessly pushed her to move.

There was a boy in the water.

Lydia had seen people go for a swim before. Usually they wore little clothing or none at all. He was wearing dark jeans and a plaid shirt, and frankly, his movements were unusual, spastic, eyes tightly shut.

Moving past the surprise, Lydia hid behind the rock and watched him. He reached the surface, then was pulled down again, by some invisible force that he pointlessly tried to fight off.

A boat floated right next to him. She could see the bottom of it, could see his hands grasping, long fingers barely scraping the wood, trying to reach it.

He was drowning.

Her heart began pounding against her ribcage, her stomach dropped. The water splashed loudly above her, the boy gasped hungrily, then sank back down. For a moment she considered leaving.

He didn't need her help, right? He could make it. There was no way she was going to go near him, or the shore.

But as she watched him struggle, every second stretched into eternity and her fear turned into frustration. Stupid, stupid human boy. What was he doing here in the first place?

She moved towards him hastily, wasting no time in grabbing him by the arms and yanking him upwards, because he looked like he was about to pass out. His skin was unnaturally pale, the fabric of his shirt strange beneath her fingertips. He coughed and coughed, spitting water, seeming too tired or maybe shocked to try to understand what happened and who she was. In fact, he didn't seem to know what was going on at all. He did pass out, right there in her arms, forehead falling onto her shoulder, nose bumping against her collarbone. Lydia almost winced at the unfamiliar feeling. Her stomach twisted.

She didn't bother trying to get him back on his boat; there was too much risk, and all the hard work she put into saving him would go to hell. Instead, she swam towards the shore, this forbidden place she was never supposed to touch - making sure that he had space to breathe, caught between wanting to check his pulse and knowing she should get him on the dry land, into the warmth of the rising sun, as fast as possible.

It was so weird; the feeling of his legs against her tail, the feeling of his back against her chest, the feeling of him overall. She never had such close, intimate contact with a human being, not even with Malia. And he, he looked fragile - no tail, just pale skin and a bunch of bones - but he was heavy. She had put herself in between the force of nature and gravity and carried him in her arms to the safety of his world. Impossible.

When they reached the shore, things got more difficult. But she managed to drag him out, however clumsily, as far from the water as possible. His feet rested where the waves where still kissing the sand.

The foreign sensation of being out there left her eyes wandering around in strange curiosity, as well as caution, as though she expected another human to pop out of nowhere... though no one ever came to this beach, except Malia.

And him, apparently.

She reached for his wrist and placed her thumb on a vein, waiting. It pulsed steadily beneath her skin.

Letting out a small sigh of relief, she allowed her lids to fall down for a second.

What a beginning of the day. What a boy. Not only did he almost get himself killed, but also he made her leave the ocean, and God, that made her angry. The new feelings overwhelmed her.

She tucked a strand of fiery hair behind her ear and for the first time, looked at his face. His mouth wasn't trying to suck in air anymore. It was closed peacefully, and she focused on the gentle curves. His eyelashes were long, almost as long as hers, she thought. His cheekbones were sharp. His eyes were-

'' What just... ''

Opened.

His eyes popped opened, without a warning, revealing golden brown irises twinkling underneath them, along with foggy confusion.

Lydia jumped back. She didn't like being taken by surprise, and he seemed to be a whole box of little surprises just waiting to be discovered.

He blinked rapidly, looking at her, squinting lightly in the sun.

'' Am I dead? '' He mumbled. His voice was hoarse, a bit rough, like dry sand. Probably from the amount of salty water he had swallowed. His lungs must have been burning. '' Did I get into heaven? Wait, don't tell me. I don't mind what it is as long as it's like this. You are... ''

He trailed off, swallowing visibly, and Lydia decided that she liked him better when he was unconscious.

It was when he leaned his hand on the sand and tried to sit up that she panicked. She saved his life, yes, but that didn't mean she was going to stay with him and happily show off her tail.

He was human.

She grabbed the first smaller rock that she could find and hit him on the head before she could even think it through. It wasn't a hard blow, yet the boy's eyes rolled back into his head and then shut down, and he fell back onto the ground with the softest thud.

Lydia breathed quietly and put the rock away, pursing her lips. That probably wasn't the best idea, but she didn't see any other options. He would wake up and forget all about her, probably think she was a hallucination or something of that kind, if he would remember at all. Almost drowning and a blow to the head should do the trick.

With that thought firmly set in her mind, she slid back into the water, towards the sun and gulls flying over the horizon. It was the first and the only time she had ever touched dry land - first and last. Of that she was sure more than anything.