Far out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower,
and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep;
so deep indeed-
- Hans Christian Anderson, The Little Mermaid
Hardship
noun
1. a condition that is difficult to endure; suffering; deprivation; oppression:
2. an instance or cause of this; something hard to bear, as a deprivation, lack of comfort, or constant toil or danger:
Winter, XX77, Fiore Ocean
Jude Heartfillia, Ruler of Fiore's waters and son of Poseidon himself, was a kind man if not wary. He felt from the top of his head to the bottom of his fins that something terrible would happen, unfortunately for the inhabitants of Fiore Ocean, it seemed his keen instinct was correct as a great storm had been brewing over head for hours, the strong winds rattling the ocean and shaking homes. Seven year old Lucy, with her golden hair that wasn't darkened even in water and a curious soul that promised the young mer an adventurous life, was one of the few unafraid by the reckless abandon happening above her and her seven sisters' home.
She swam between her parents' fins, playing with a coral ball and one of the family's seahorse's, Plue. Lucy kicked the ball around the house, snickering under her breath whenever it came close to breaking anything.
"Lucky Lucy Heartfillia, I swear to Davy Jones' Heart, if you so much as even touch anything of value in this house you will be eating seaweed all week. Don't test me." Jude bellowed, seeming annoyed but Lucy could see the amusement in her dad's eyes. She wasn't stupid.
"Play nice sweetie, she's only having fun." Layla said, giving her husband a playful tap on the arm, "You should be glad she's not crying over the storm like the others, it has been bad enough trying to calm six of them, imagine throwing Lucy into the mix."
Lucy felt that she should have been insulted by her father's fearful shudder, but she was too happy over the lack of berating she would have received otherwise.
"Why don't you play outside for a while, just don't go too far..." there was a dangerous glint in her mother's eye that betrayed her kind demeanour, "and if you break any of the neighbours windows, don't think I won't follow up on your father's threat."
Lucy wasn't sure if it were her advanced knowledge for a seven year old or just natural intuition that told Lucy she was a smart for fearing her mother more than her father.
Lucy gave a quick nod, before flashing her biggest (also fakest) smile at them, "I promise on grandmer's grave I won't do anything bad, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a sea urchin in my eye."
Turning around, she picked up the coral ball in one hand, and Plue in the other, then hastily swam out of the house to find somewhere suitable to play. Lucy loved Acalypha, it was shiny and glittery, the citizens were always kind, and because her father was dedicated to his work and maintaining a working trade system, nobody ever attacked Acalypha. Unfortunately, it wasn't that amusing for Lucy, she'd seen everything there was to see (including the castle's secret tunnels) and she'd talked to everyone about every small talk topic there was to have at least twice.
Glancing up at the surface, Lucy found herself lost in the beauty of the Above. In the mornings it shone a light pink and orange, similar to the pearls of her mother's necklace, and during the days it was so bright and happy. Even on days like this, when storms gathered and the Above seemed grey and dark, she still wanted to break the surface, see what was really up there.
Lucy had always been warned by her father: warned about the Two Fins, warned about those who were due to their obsession with the Above, warned about how monsters were out there on lands not surrounded by water.
But Lucy had already made up her mind, whether it was because of the storm or the pent up curiosity, she was going to go explore the Above. Glancing around, Lucy realised now would probably be the best and only time she had, everyone was bundled inside and her parents were caring for her sisters.
With a quick apology and a kiss to the cheek, she set Plue and the ball on the bottom of the ocean and took off. Lucy crept closer to the surface of the ocean, towards the eye of the storm. Happiness over took her fear as her head broke the surface, the wind hitting her face in an exhilarating fashion that startled a laugh from her small body.
Never before had the girl felt this kind of sensation, this kind of physical touch on her body, always surrounded by water. Lucy felt a small part of guilt gnawing at her, knowing that it was usually the rebellious Changlings that travelled to the Above to see the Two Fins, their tails hitting each other in a dare to see the forbidden views.
A large part of Lucy felt guilt and fear over the worry she was causing her father, knowing of the punishment she would receive when she returned home, but for now she believed she had come too far to turn back now.
Seeing a large brown beast with a large belly and unchanging face in the distance, Lucy picked up her courage and swam forward, careful to stay out of sight, her head only breaking surface here and there to marvel at the beauty of the large brown creature in front of her. The dark grey waves slapped against the side of the monster, breaking and showering her with cool droplets, happiness contorting her face into a wide smile at the new feeling.
Curiosity over flowed from Lucy's young imagination waiting to be satisfied, the only way was to get closer, to feel the mysterious subject in front of her. Lucy reached out to place a shaking hand on the hard hide before her, waiting for its giant jaw to turn around and in case itself around her small wrist, but to the relief and disappointment of the young Heartfillia there was no reaction. The creature stayed still, the only movement coming from the beating waves and jagged wind.
Feeling brave, Lucy reached her other hand out, with more force behind it this time. Her strong, curved claws extended from her fingers and sunk into the dark hardness in front of her. Lucy knew she was in dangerous waters now, literally as well as figuratively, but she only wanted a reaction from the beast in front of her. But still there was no change from the beast.
As quickly as she surfaced, Lucy retreated back into the sea as noises from above reached her ears. She was confused, believing a beast this size would have a deep, more timbre voice, rather than the gruff but still relatively high pitched sounds she heard.
While Lucy was only seven years of age, she prided herself on her smarts and wits, and approached the surface again. She knew the sounds were not from the lumbering Beast in front of her, and that as of yet it proved no danger to her, the thing that worried her was that the Two Fins were not as kind nor safe as the large Beast they stood on.
In the distance, she heard a large rumble, akin to thunder rolling in the skies, but Lucy knew that was not the case. That was roar of her furious father, a roar she had been on the receiving end of for years. Lucy figured she had less than ten Counts before her father would find her and drag her little tail home for a right lecture. It's now or never. Sinking her other set of claws into the back of the beast, she pulled herself up, repeating the process again and again until she had pulled herself up enough to peek over the top of the beast, her face squished against two rungs.
From Lucy's vantage point she could see Two Fins scuttling all over the beast, running from one side of the beast to the other, buckets in their hands, scooping up parts of the ocean that had collected on the beast's back. Lucy could see a Two Leg in a silly hat yelling, what she assumed were orders, to the other Two Legs, before a group of them untangled a few strand of the Beast's hair. All at once they pulled on the ends, causing the Beast's large, white gills unfold and expand in the sky from where they were attached to a main back dorsal.
What were the Two Fins doing to this poor, albeit strange, beast, and why wasn't it fighting back. Something of this size would be able to easily retaliate and knock them all down with a single blow. She had seen its multiple, thin limbs protruding from its side, all moving in synchrony, all only just touching the water; maybe it can't reach the Two Fins?
A horrifying thought struck Lucy, if they would do this to the Beast, what would they do to me.
Without a second to spare, Lucy released her grip on the beast and fell back into the water, a splash resounding as she hit the water. Too late did she realise this would alert the Two Fins of her presence. In less than half a Count, all of the Two Fins barrelled towards the end of the ship, leaning over the edge and peering into the depths below in search for Lucy.
Before Lucy could make her escape, one of the Two Fins shouted so loudly she could hear it under the surface. The Two Fins' exaggerated movement and aggressive pointing told Lucy that she had been found as all heads turned in her direction.
Fear petrified Lucy; unable to move from her spot just below the surface, only able to make out the faint shape of the Two Fins leering down at her from the edge of the Beast.
"Lucy!"
The young mer's head searched around to face the only voice that could calm the restless waves of her panic. In the distance to her right Lucy could see her mother, the anxiety on her face, and the way she was racing towards Lucy like the Sea Witch herself was snapping at her fins.
From the cheering and ruckus of the Two Fins above, it seemed like Lucy wasn't the only one to notice her mother.
"Mama, get out of here. They're scary." Lucy screamed at her mother, her own fins beginning to beat at the water as she felt adrenaline kick in. She made it to the halfway point between her mother and the ship before she heard the awful sound.
The high pitched noise resonated throughout the whole Ocean and Lucy had no doubt that even Poseidon heard it. It rattled her brain and made her want to curl in upon herself, the sound sending shudders through her body.
"Lucy, it's going to be alright sweetie."
It wasn't until her mother's words broke her out of her trance that she realised the high pitched noise was coming from her own mouth. The coma like trance she was in broke at this point, and it was only at that point she could feel the searing pain in her tail that threatened to make her see stars. Scared to look down, she kept her eyes focused on her mother. The kindness in her eyes were enough to keep Lucy's nearly full blown panic attack at bay as Layla swam closer and closer.
Once her mother was in reach, Lucy grabbed and clasped herself to her mother. Layla gripped Lucy's wrists and pulled them from her body, keeping her eyes locked on her daughter's the whole time. "Lucy, sweetie, this is going to hurt but I need you to stay strong. As soon as I'm finished, swim for it, I'll be right behind you. I love you."
Lucy watched her mother swim behind her to her now fearful black tail, a contrast of her mother's enchanting coral pink. She always wished that when her tail finally settles on a colour, it'll be the same as her mother's; the same colour that comforts her every night and the physical representation of everything good. So distracted by the beauty of her mother's tail, she hadn't seen the metal spear embedded in the end of her tail, rope coiled around the end of the spear and pulled taut.
Lucy let out a sob of horror realising that it had broken one of her smaller dorsal fins and ripped part of her left tail webbing. The knowledge of what caused her pain seemed to make it ten times worse, but nothing could be compared to the pain Lucy experienced next. Lucy swore she left her body for a moment as her mother ripped the spear from her body, only to be brought back by her mother's bloody hand gripping her wrist and dragging her from the ship.
The further the pair got from the boat, the harder it seemed for Lucy to keep her eyes open and to keep her tail beating the water behind her.
"C'mon sweetie, we're so close. When we get home I'll make you a dish of coral dessert and well get you all bandaged up. We're so close. We're so close."
Lucy heard her mother repeat that mantra over and over until Lucy could faintly make out the bright lights of Acalypha behind her blackening sight.
Lucy awoke to a familiar bed of soft sand and a blanket of threaded blanket. Blinking a few times to gain her bearings, she looked down at her sleeping mother and father wrapped in each other's arms, leaning against the edge of her bed.
Before she could help it, tears began to drift from her eyes into the expansive water in front, only visible for a few seconds as they reflected the low light of the glowing coral on her walls before they dissolved into the salty ocean.
"Honey?" Lucy's was startled to see her father sitting up straight, looking like he'd been through hell and back. It was like the floodgates opened and all Lucy's tears, horror, and pain came rushing out as she sobbed in her father's arms.
"I'm sorry..." she hiccupped and gasped between breaths, "I only wanted to see the Above, but it's so scary, and mama almost got hurt, and I am so sorry. Please don't banish me, I promise I'll never leave."
Her apology had woken her mother, who gave her a small smile and began to rub her back.
"It's alright, it's all over, everything is going to be okay.
Okay, so that's basically the prologue so I am so sorry it's short.
Beast = Boat, Two Fins = Humans, if there's anything else you're confused about, review it or send me a PM.
I'm just testing out this story and seeing if you guys like it. I'll probably post another chapter of present Lucy this week so you guys can get a feel before I'll set into my normal update times (the 1st and 15th of every month).
If you guys liked it, please give it a bit of support so I can see whether I should continue this or do a different story.
Natsu will most likely be in the next chapter, if not definitely the next one.
Sorry if any spelling confuses you, Australia is like the worst of British and American spelling combined with our own weird slang thrown in the mix.
I know it wasn't very humorous, but it'll get better when she's grown up and Natsu joins the story, I promise, sass and humour guaranteed.
Also chapter 469 has broken my heart into a million pieces, I just want my babies to be happy.
P.S. did you also see what I did with the chapter title, HARDSHIP *wink wink, pun pun*