AN: Wrote this about a year ago for the VB Month event on tumblr. Hope you guys enjoy the fic! Also don't be afraid to to crituque or correct andy grammar, formating, awkward wording/sentence structure.
It was almost too easy, Alfred mused as he paced up and down the shore line almost directly outside his palace. All Alfred had to do was sneak through the servants quarters, and out the back exit of the castle and onto the beach it resided on. It was laughable really, because what made it so easy wasn't that the security around the palace was particularly bad or anything, but rather no one bothered to ask where Alfred was going or what he was doing. Well, more like they didn't have the nerve to ask their young prince what he was up to, Alfred let out a melancholy sigh at the thought.
Then again, it'd always been like this right? Everyone keeping their distance from him, even though they weren't exactly afraid of Alfred himself (finding him to be a kind, if not an inexperienced and brash prince), more so they kept their distance out of "respect" for his title and only kept to formalities (which Alfred himself found annoying and too much of a hassle). And while this distance between himself and others was a constant throughout his childhood as well, he felt it less back then because he had found companionship in his younger brother Matthew, their caretaker Francis, the King and Queen's closest friend and highest ranking general, Arthur, and even his parent's the King and Queen themselves.
That all changed though after the King and Queen were lost at sea upon returning from another kingdom just the summer before. Soon after Alfred was named heir to the throne, but since he wasn't able to become king until the age of 20 and him only being 18 at the time, Arthur was named acting regent until Alfred's coronation. Since then Arthur's been busy running the kingdom (though slowly integrating Alfred into job so he'd be ready by his coronation to actually run the kingdom himself), Francis got back the original job he had had before as the royal chef before the twins were born, and Matthew had thrown himself into his studies so as to become a worthy adviser to his brother and future king.
With another heavy sigh Alfred finally stopped pacing and flopped down on the sand, having decided to stare out into the ocean as he moped around. It wasn't that he didn't understand why everyone was suddenly more absent, or that he resented the fact he was born into the position he was in. It was just…he was lonely. Though Arthur was still doing the brunt of the work of running the kingdom and was gradually giving Alfred more responsibilities, the work he was doing was still stressful and he had no one to vent to or even just talk to anymore. He just needed a break from all the busy work he'd been given, thus why he was throwing a pity party for himself out here and not doing work in the palace. Really, what was the point of coming out here? All he was doing was making himself more depressed. Maybe he should just head back, Arthur will chew him out if he doesn't get the paperwork he'd given him done and besides, someone was bound to notice Alfred wasn't anywhere to be found soon.
With these thought's Alfred heaved himself of the ground and brushed off sand from his coat tails and pants. Just as he was about to turn and head back to the palace, the prince saw from the corner of his eye what looked like a human body bobbing in the waves. Quickly turning his head to where he saw the body, all Alfred could catch a glimpse of was what looked like a giant fish tail disappearing into water below.
"What the hell?" Alfred breathed out in bewilderment, fish that big never came this close to shore, and they most certainly could never be confused for a human body. Going against every rational bone in his body saying to just head back to the palace and get his work done, the young prince gave into his curiosity and quickly stripped himself of all his clothes except for his long underwear and under shirt. Racing into the water and diving in Alfred swam out to where he saw the mysterious creature disappear. Alfred felt adrenaline and excitement pump through his veins as he treaded water and scanned the waves for any sign of where the creature went. It wasn't until his excitement began to die down after several moments of searching and not seeing anything that Alfred caught another glimpse of the same tail diving back into the water again several feet away from where Alfred was. With a grin and his eyes shining in determination he swam after the creature, he'd get to the bottom of what that thing was if it was the last thing he did.
Their little game of chase went on like that for a few minutes, Alfred swimming a bit of ways toward where he saw the creature heading before stopping to look for a sign of it again, when he'd catch another glimpse of it's tail he'd begin the cycle again. It wasn't until the creature lead Alfred into the shallower and rockier part of the beach that Alfred decided to try swimming under water to search for the creature. After all it could have been hiding behind some of the rocks poking out of the water. Taking a deep breath Alfred dove under the water himself, and despite his eyes stinging in protest he opened his them to try and see any sign of the creature. Weaving his way through the water and in between the rocks he continued his search even though he couldn't find where the creature went off too.
Despite this part of the water being shallower than where he was swimming before, it was still deep enough that Alfred couldn't stand and so would have to swim up for air every so often. It was during one of these trips going back up for air that he felt a sharp tug on his ankle, almost causing him to gasp from surprise and possibly get a lung full of sea water.
Looking down in confusion and slight alarm the blond noticed he'd somehow gotten his foot tangled in what looked like a fishnet caught between two of the rocks Alfred just swam through. With slightly panicked movements and adrenaline once again coursing through him, Alfred scrambled to disentangle himself. It only took a few moments of struggling with the net around his foot for Alfred too realize he wouldn't get out of it on his own anytime soon, and while his lungs burned for air his heart dropped as a sense of dread filled him. Not wanting to give into the feeling Alfred frantically tried to swim toward the surface and forcefully pull his foot out from it's woven restraint. Alfred kept tugging with all his might up until his vision grew fuzzy and his lungs gave out. Gasping for air that wasn't there Alfred felt the salty water around him fill his mouth and lungs as he slowly ceased his struggling and began to sink. Right before his vision completely clouded in darkness though he was barely able to see a blurred figure heading towards him.
When Alfred awoke it was with a start, blue eyes opening suddenly as he surged forward and coughed up the remaining water in his lungs. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath Alfred tried to calm himself down from his coughing fit. Running a hand through his soaked hair he also tried to get a grip on the situation. He remembered that he'd been chasing after some mysterious creature he saw and ended up getting caught in a fishing net, and then remembered he'd been drowning. But…if he'd been drowning, why was he alive? And was sitting on what appeared to be one of the larger and wider rocks he'd been navigating through?
"You ok there starfish?" Suddenly came a voice from in front of Alfred. Jumping a bit in surprise Alfred jerked his head up and with wide startled eyes and a shaky smile looked for the source of the voice (whom he suspected was his possible savior).
"Y-yeah, just a bit shaken. Thank you- YOU YOU YOU!" Alfred yelped out the last part and pointed at his savior when he got a good look at the thing. There on the ledge of the rock with his head propped by up his hands was what at first looked like an average looking man (ok above average looking if Alfred's being honest) with darkly tanned skin, red colored eyes, and dark brown hair. However upon closer inspection, even with it half submerged in the water, it was hard to miss the giant crimson fish tail that made up the other half of the man- or rather creature's body. Also the fact that he had fin like ears, and what appeared to be gills on the side of his neck gave Alfred an idea of what the mysterious creature he'd been chasing and who seemed to save him was.
"Me?" Prompted the amused looking thing, with a playfully raised brow and teasing smirk.
"SIREN!" Alfred finally accused as he backed away as much as he could from what he thought was a previously fabled creature. Patting around the surface of the rock he was sitting on, Alfred tried to find some sort of weapon he could use to protect himself from the monster in front of him. Finally finding something that felt like a loose rock about the size of his palm, he grabbed hold of it and raised it over his head in a defensive manner.
The creature stared at him blankly for all of five seconds before bursting out laughing at Alfred's conclusion of what he was and reaction to said conclusion. The force of his laughter made it so the brunette had to hold on to the ledge with one hand so he wouldn't fall back into the water as his other hand went up to cover his mouth in a poor attempt to stop his laughter. Looking back at the man he rescued, the "siren" noticed how the blonde's cheeks lit up in indignation as he tensed more, looking like he really wanted to use that rock on him. After settling down from his laughing fit the brunette felt his smirk grow into an amused grin as his eyes hooded into a lazy and easy going look.
"Easy there tiger shark, I'm not a siren and I'm not gonna hurt you." As the crimson eyed being said this he slipped back into the water and took up a pose that seemed to say "I surrender" with how he was now floating on his back, and had his arms raised with his palms facing Alfred.
However, despite the creature's best attempt to pacify the guarded looking prince it didn't seem to affect the look of suspicion in his eyes. Alfred took one look at the sharp teeth that were grinning up at him and eyed the aquatic being in front of him skeptically.
"If you're not a siren than what the hell are you? And give me one good reason why I should believe you about not hurting me when you have chompers like those?" Alfred asked as he warily watched as the self proclaimed not-a-siren began slowly circling around the blond's rock as he swam in his back. As he circled around Alfred's rock he began his explanation as to why the human had nothing to fear of him.
"Well for starters, just because my teeth are sharp doesn't mean I eat human. Sharks typically use theirs for eating different kinds of fish right? Well those are what mine are for, eating fish." When it looked like the blond was going to try and refute his argument, the brunette held up his hand to signal for Alfred to hold off on his comment. He saw the human huff in a rather adorable manner and sarcastically gesture for him to continue. "Now for arguments sake, even if I did eat humans. Why would I save you from drowning only to kill you?"
While Alfred could admit that saving him only to kill him later seemed to add rather unnecessary work and ran the risk of Alfred getting away, he still didn't want to give into the persuasive being right so soon though. And for that reason Alfred vehemently shot back.
"W-well, maybe you're some sadistic asshole who enjoys the struggle of subduing your prey yourself before eating them." Alfred gave a smug smirk of his own as the creature looked genuinely surprised by his retort. Unfortunately Alfred's victory was short lived as the brunette quickly recovered from the blond's point. Suddenly the creature stopped circling the rock Alfred was on only to dive back under the water.
Despite his better judgment Alfred tried to peer over the ledge around where the crimson tailed being disappeared, only to yelp once more in fright as said being suddenly shot out of the water and hoisted himself onto the rock so he was sitting next to Alfred. Smirking once more at the blond's frightened expression and how he immediately tensed up into a defensive position again, the brunette shrugged and argued back against Alfred's previous point.
"Ok, I'll give you that. But then, why didn't I kill you just then when your guard was down? Or before you got your 'weapon'? Besides…what would you be able to do with that little rock of yours anyways if I really did want to hurt you?" Softening his expression a bit to appear less threatening, the sea creature slowly lifted up his hand and placed it on the hand Alfred still had raised with the rock in it. Alfred's expression wavered at the brunettes actions and words, however he kept his guard up as he bit his lip and asked.
"…So you really aren't going to like, try and eat me or something?"
"Wouldn't dream of it angel fish." Was the response Alfred got as the creature gave him an easy smirk. Alfred felt his cheeks heat up a bit as the brunette used another of what seemed to be pet names.
With a defeated huff the prince dropped his guard completely and lowered his arm, letting the rock go and watching as the crimson eyed being casually dropped his own hand before lightly smacking the rock into the water.
"Alfred." Was all Alfred could muster to mumble out as he watched his only weapon sink into the water. Gathering the nerve to look at the creature across from him again, he saw the brunette giving him a questioning look. With another huff Alfred then went on to elaborate on his introduction.
"My name's Alfred, Prince Alfred F. Jones of Ameris. Not star fish, or tiger shark, or angel fish, or whatever ok?" Alfred saw the creatures eyes light up in understanding and what appeared to be his default smirk make it's way back onto his face.
"Ah, another royal huh? Well, Alfred I'm Prince Al- of the southern seas." Everything past the sound "al" wasn't something Alfred could even fathom being sounds a person could actually make. And at Alfred's blank expression the apparently fellow prince snickered.
"Ok, what part of my name were you able to catch?" He asked with a teasing smile.
"Al, that's all." Alfred deadpanned in return.
"Then lets go with Al then yeah?" the newly dubbed Al suggested with a shrug.
"Ok Al, if you're not a siren than what are you?" Alfred asked, realizing Al never answered his other question.
"A merman of course." He stated with a grin as if that was the obvious answer. Alfred was not amused.
"And there's a difference?" Alfred asked as he eyed the "merman" skeptically. Al in turn gave him a mock gasp and scandalized look.
"I'd say so! I'm truly insulted by that comparison." Came the merman's sarcastic reply. Seeing Alfred roll his eyes and scowl at being teased for his ignorance on the matter, Al backed off a bit on the joking around and proceeded to explain to the blonde prince that there was indeed a difference between merfolk and sirens.
"Alright, merpeople are for the most part harmless to you humans. Yeah sure there's a crazy one here and there that drowns people for fun, but over all we don't gain anything really from hurting you. And past the allure of anyone hearing a spectacular singing voice, we cannot in fact actually enchant you with our singing." Al then cleared his throat and sang what sounded like a couple lines of a song in whatever language he was speaking. And true to the brunettes words, though mesmerizing as his voice was, it didn't seem to hold some sort of power over him like the legends said sirens voices had.
Seeing the blond's amazed and almost dazed expression at hearing him singing in his native tongue, Al felt a self satisfied smirk light up his face as he continued on with his explanation.
"Now sirens are nasty bastards, they're the ones who lure your ships and sailors to their deaths. Their also ugly as anything, we look almost nothing like them. Trust me you'd know one if you saw one, lots of teeth and very scary. Luckily not a lot of them are around anymore, so the chances of you running into one are slim." Al finished with a shrug.
Ok, all that kinda made sense to Alfred. Though, the last thing Al said about there not being a lot of them around anymore got him curious…
"Why are there not a lot of them anymore? Did something happen?" Alfred asked, interest shining in his eyes as he curled his legs up and rested his chin on them. His question received a snort from the other prince.
"What happened to them? Humans obviously. You guys got a nasty habit of trying to eliminate any and all possible threats to yourselves. Not that I blame you, us merfolk weren't terribly friendly with sirens either but still. That's why we usually try not to get involved with humans, there's been more than one occasion where you've guys killed our kind thinking we were sirens."
Well while not really that surprising, Alfred certainly hadn't been expecting that to be the answer. He actually felt a bit guilty for how he first reacted to Al. Not enough to apologize because, well, how was HE supposed to know Al wasn't a siren? And it's not like he was going to attack Al unless he made the first move. Though Alfred's reaction did also sorta prove Al's point about why merpeople avoided humans. Wait…if merpeople generally avoided people than why…?
Turning his attention back on Al, Alfred asked him with a perplexed expression.
"Wait, if merpeople try not to get involved with us…why did you save me?" Al looked taken aback by the question, like he hadn't thought Alfred would of realized something like that. However, he once again recovered quickly and rolled his eyes in a playful manner.
"Now what kind of monster would I be if I just watched as someone else drowned huh? I'm hurt you'd think so little of me." the merman replied once again with sarcasm. However Alfred was quick to fire back against Al.
"But you could of just left me here after I woke up! I mean, I didn't notice you at first so you could have just gone." Alfred smiled in triumph when he saw that he once again made Al falter with his argument. But was soon disappointed when he once again quickly recovered. Holding his hands up in surrender Al stated.
"Ok, you caught me. I was bored and it was interesting and funny watching you chase after me like a kid chasing a guppy after seeing you sulk about on shore. Besides, who wouldn't stay around to talk to a cutie like you?" Al gave the blonde a flirtatious wink that immediately made Alfred's cheek burn.
"I-I'm not cute!" Alfred retorted feeling more than a bit flustered by Al's wink and comment. The merman's next comment made Alfred bristle up even more though.
"Whatever you say cuddle fish." Al teased and watched in amusement as Alfred's cheeks puffed up a bit in a pout as he shot back.
"I already told you my name so stop using those weird nick names! And don't you mean cuttle fish?" Alfred asked indignantly.
"Nah I meant cuddle fish, puffer fish." Al sniggered as he poked Alfred's inflated cheek.
Feeling a bit at wits end and like his head was going to explode from all the blood rushing to his cheeks, the blonde prince let out another huff and turned his head away to look at anywhere other than than the merman next to him. By doing so though he noticed he wasn't as far from the palace as he'd assumed he'd been. When he was swimming after Al it had definitely felt like he swam much farther away than it appears he actually did.
"It's getting late and I gotta go." Alfred grumbled out before slipping back into the water and making his way to shore. As he was swimming though he heard Al call back to him,
"Hey! You're interesting, lets talk again tomorrow, yeah? Same time and place!"
"Don't count on it!" Alfred called back, though if he was completely honest, he was seriously considering Al's offer. As he made his way to the palace with his cheeks still glowing from Al's comments, he couldn't stop a small smile from making its way onto his face. While the merman could be a bit aggravating, he wasn't SUCH bad company. And besides, despite not noticing it while he was with Al, he didn't feel quite as lonely as he did earlier