A white haired boy sighed at his place in the window of the lighthouse. He was not afraid of falling. No, he was more terrified of himself and the people who look at him meanly. They accused him of being cursed because of his different appearance. This place was his only solace. It is peaceful in here without any noises save for the occasional crashing of waves in the cliff. When he looked down, he saw someone in the coastline. He was momentarily blinded once the light passed in his direction. After rubbing his eyes, he saw that the lower half of their body was submerged in the water while the upper was lying in one of the rocks. They are so still that he thought they might be passed out.
'Or they might be a survivor from a shipwreck! It makes sense because there was a storm yesterday! I need to help them!'
He ran towards the stairs, grabbing a lamp in the process, then threw the door open to rescue the person. "Young Master, where are you going? It is already dark." His butler asked after seeing him passed by.
"I'm going to save someone!" He replied, still sprinting.
At the time, he reached the rocky shore, they were nowhere to be seen. He panted to catch his breath, all the while thinking if he was too late and the surf had dragged the person back to the ocean. "Hello? Is anyone here?"
The boy looked around to search for anybody with no luck. There was a sudden wave in his right that hit him. It nearly knocked him off on the ocean. Luckily, he had clutched a solid high stone for balance. He tried to call out again, "Hello?"
When heard a splash in front of him, he turned and lighted it. He was shocked by what he saw. Two sea-green eyes were staring back at him curiously. It was a girl with an ash blonde hair styled in pigtails. She was bare save for the long seaweed covering in her chest.
"Why are you here? Don't you know that it is dangerous?" She questioned him.
"I saw someone lying in one of these rocks. Why are you in here?" He responded.
"You mean; you saw me? But I was careful not to be seen." She furrowed her brows.
"You're the one I saw? But why are you lying here half plunged in the ocean?"
"Because the rock was warm and I need the saltwater to live."
"What?" He was getting confused by the answers of the weird girl.
She looked back behind her and he followed her line of sight. Instead of legs, what was attached in her waist was a tail. It was pink in the end with a silver fins which was reflecting an orange glow in the lamp he carried. He looked her with awe, "Are you real?"
"Of course, I am real. Are you?"
"I am. So, you are a Mermaid and you are not a dream?" He asked excitedly.
"Yes. Are you what they called a human being?"
"Yep! Do you sing? They say people like you always sing to lure us men to our deaths. Is this true?" He sat down uncaring about the water soaking his pants.
Her face scrunched up in disgust, "We do sing sometimes but we don't lure men. They are the ones who chase us in our Place Below even if we don't want them to. Besides, it is the Sirens that uses their songs to kill, not us. We are practically harmless."
"We can follow you on the ocean? Cool! But how do we breathe?"
"Not all of you can. The Ancestor, the first of our kind, built a shield in order to protect us from the harm caused by the World Above. I think, it looks like a bubble because it is translucent. It feels like one, too! The shield always tickles me when I pass it. But only those who have good intentions can enter it. If you are deemed as pure, you can get in the Place Below. Though if you are bad, you will bounce right back after hitting it."
She tried to drag her body to the surface but failed miserably. He stood up, placed the lamp on the other boulder, and wrapped his right hand on her waist while his left was holding on the rock for support. He felt a shock in his arms but dismissed it as his imagination. His mother always say that he had a very wide one.
"What are you doing?" She looked at him alarmed. "Helping you, of course." He grunted then hoisted her up. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." They sat down and was silent for a few minutes before she broke it. "What is that thing? My tutor said that you like to invent new things. Is that one of it?" She pointed at the lamp.
"Oh, this? It is called a lamp and, yeah, we invent things to help us from our work. Like this. It provides light for us when it is dark. It helps us see more clearly in the darkness."
Nobody spoke after that. They just watch the waves crash beside them. "By the way, my name is Soul Evans. I'm thirteen years old. How about you?"
"Maka. I'm Maka Albarn and I am twelve years old."
"You have a last name? I thought Mermaids doesn't have any." He said incredulously.
"I am a Grigori. A hybrid. You know, half mermaid, half human. That is why I have one. My father insisted that I should use it despite my mother's complaints." She shrugged her bare shoulders.
"If your father is a human, then why did you ask me if I am one, earlier?" He cocked his head. "I haven't met him in person. My mother said that he came back here, in the World Above when I was still a baby." She replied.
"Is that how you call the area we live in? World Above?"
"Yes. Ours was Place Below. Why do have other terms for it?"
He nodded, "This dry area where we humans reside, are called Land. While the one where you dwell in are Underwater." He gestured at the seaweed. "Aren't you cold? You are unclothed except for that.".
"What? This is how we dress. I am not nude." She shivered. "Although, I am cold."
"Wear this," he took off his too big jacket, revealing a brown sweatshirt inside. "How do I wear this?" She poked the zipper.
"Here, let me help you." He put it in her shoulders. "You see that hole? You need to pull your hand out of it. The same thing with the other." After she successfully wore it, he zipped the clothing. It was so large that it covered the half of her tail "There. How do you feel?"
"A lot warmer." He smiled. "I told you."
"I was thinking… How amazing is it that our world was different yet alike at the same time?"
"Yeah. It's amazing, all right."
A voice echoed in the beach. "I think; someone is looking for you. Young Master? What does that even mean?" She looked at him.
"Oh no. It must be Sid. He is our butler."
"Butt… ler?"
"He is… What do you call that? Servant? Right. He is my sort of servant."
"You have a servant? Are you rich or something?"
"Young Master, Soul? Where are you? You need to go home immediately!" He heard the distant shout of the said man. "I'm coming! Just stay there and wait for me!" He yelled.
"I need to go." He hesitated. "Will you still be here tomorrow?"
"I think so, why?" She asked.
"Do you want to be my friend?"
"Don't you have any human one?"
"They hate me." In her inquisitive look he sighed then added, "My appearance is different from them. They said that I am a spawn of a daemon for I have red eyes and sharp teeth."
"What? Just because you are unique you are hated by your people? How mean! In our place, we don't judge them by forms! Though we give value to those who are rare ones. If you are living with us, you will be treated as special because your eyes look like a gem. A ruby to be exact. Now that you mentioned it, you look like the Prince in Aria's story! With all the pale hair and cool eyes."
"Wait, you think my eyes are cool? And who's Aria?"
"Yeah. Aria, my too-many-greats-to-count- grandmother, was the mermaid who fell in love with a human prince. I thought Mom said that her story was popular in here?"
"Hold on, the story 'Little Mermaid' was actually the life story of your very, very great grandmother?" Disbelief was obvious in his tone.
"Uh, yeah. Unfortunately, though, she died because the Prince didn't like her back. Her siblings had tried to trade their beautiful hair to the witch in exchange to gain back her life and tail. She gave them a knife. In order to seal off the deal, Aria have to stab her beloved prince using it. A life for a life. But she loved him so much that she chose to die instead of killing him. So, she threw the cursed knife back to the ocean."
"Wow. I haven't heard this kind version. The real story was depressing. In the book, the prince and her had lived happily ever after."
"What? They altered it? Why would they do that?"
"To entertain us probably… I have a question. Does the prince have teeth like mine?"
"The weavings didn't show it although it is a possibility. He has a bit of Merblood after all. The Merfolks have naturally serrated teeth. Well, all except for me. I have ones similar to my father." She grinned to show him.
"So, does this mean, we're friends?" He extended his hand towards her.
"Friends." She shook it.
Something unexpected happened when their hands touched. A shockwave of electricity burst out from the both them. The energy crackled as it surrounded them. It created a powerful explosion to the environment. The whole area was covered in blue light, the winds became stronger and the rock where they sat had all but disintegrated along with the others. They were lifted up in the air.
"What is happening?" She asked terrified.
"I don't know!" He pulled her close then embraced her. Soul was trying to cover her body so that he could protect her if ever they fell down. He was not about to let his only friend to be hurt. "Don't let go!" He shouted to be heard in the roaring of winds.
There was something rising from ocean. "At last! I'm free once again!" It cackled, "That stupid Arachne deserved to be trapped in the abyss for giving the knife to the desperate Mers."
They clutched each other tightly as if their life depended on it. The figure saw them suspended on the air. "What do we have here? Some children that held the key to our prison?" It came nearer to reveal an outraged expression of a sea witch. It slowly melted then turned into a sinister grin, "Perhaps, I should kill you so that will permanently have my freedom."
The witch made a ball of black lightning then sent it flying at them. Maka gasped and closed her eyes bracing for the pain but none came. The ball was already diminishing when it was halfway and by the time it made in contact with the energy around them, it was already gone. She frowned, clearly annoyed at the shield around them that made her attack unsuccessful.
"Stop!" A familiar voice halted the next attack. "How did you get out of the abyss?" When Sid saw them, his eyes widen for a minute but immediately turned serious. "It is still not time."
A white light hit the witch in the shoulder. It didn't knock her out but instead, it was absorbed by her scaly skin. She hissed at them then retreated back to the water. He was about to chase her, "Don't! She won't be back after a few years. I've made sure of it." Someone said from the shore. He turned back to see a girl with bubblegum pink hair. She chanted something in an unknown language. Straightaway, the ball of energy faded from the two children. They were passed out from all the terror in the situation and was gently floating in her direction. After they were laid down on the sand, she glared at the man.
"What was happening, Kim? I thought it won't occur until five years after."
"I tried to tell you before but you won't listen to me. You all decided to trust that torn Prophecy Book instead of hearing me out about what I've seen."
"What did you see?" He asked.
"Great. Now that it is starting, you turn to me." She replied sarcastically. "What is it?" He demanded. Her expression turned blank and her eyes shone.
"Two innocent hands touched to form the keys
In an accident shall it open up the abyss
Five more years to reverse the old curse
To fulfill or lift it up, the choice will be theirs."
"The re-embodiment of the bearers of peace
Will be tested by the rising of The Hiss
Powers that was long have since forgotten
Inside them will slowly reawaken."
His expression turned grim. "That was the two Great Prophecy. It is impossible that it will happen on the same period of time with the same Heroes." He glanced at the two. "Kami will be mad if she found out that her daughter is one of the Chosen."
"Hold on... I could see something else but I don't think my power could sustain it." She rasped. Beads of sweat formed in her forehead. "You can do it, Kim. You have to foretell the last Prophecy so we can prepare for it, curse it!" He swore. "I am trying!"
Blood drips from her nose but she doesn't let it distract her from the deep concentration she is in. All noises have faded as if the earth itself was holding its' breath in anticipation. Finally, she found the vision.
"The land and sea would turn on each other
One enemy will start a war, greater than all they encounter
Together they fight shouting their battle cries
In the end, a hero will make the curse's sacrifice."
Soul woke up, breathing heavily. He tried to sat up though his tangled sheets prevent him from moving more than an inch in his bed. After wrestling with it for a few minutes, he was free. 'Strange. I always have this same dream in the same day for five years. And it's more vivid than ever, as if it really happened.'
He groaned, "I think, I'm losing my mind." The clock in the nightstand flashed 6:05 am.
Someone knocked on his door, "Soul, are you awake?"
"Yeah," He replied. "Your father and I will have a business meeting and will also visit a friend from across the country. We will go to the airport now. Do you want to come with us?" Her mother asked outside his door.
"No. I'll be staying. You go enjoy the world, I will be fine back here. Sid are always watching out for me so, you could relax and not feel guilty about leaving me."
He heard her mother's footsteps descending the stairs. The front door opened and he could her a muffled conversation. When he heard it shut, he sighed.
The boy grabbed his jacket and decided to have a long walk away from the palace to clear his mind from all the depressing thoughts that was invading it.
Maka gasped. Her dream felt more real now compared to the other times she had dreamed of it. A rush of relieved bubbles escaped from her mouth upon seeing that she was still in her soft makeshift coral bed. She slipped out of her seaweed blanket to swim in front of her vanity. They are now living in the deepest part of a swamp near the human castle. The girl doesn't really remember what happened, only that when she woke up in the beach, her mother insisted that they move in to some place away from the ocean. The reason why the whole Mer population have readily agreed to her proposition was still unclear to her. 'They are willing to leave the protection just for a change,' was the automatic reply of her mother to the question. Whenever she tried to recall the events of that day, she always ended up blank or have some very distorted images that doesn't make sense. It was as though, someone or something, had purposely blocked her memories.
"My head is going to explode if I think about this any longer. I need to get some fresh air." She said mostly to herself.
She swam out of their home. Up to the surface.