"Capture a mermaid?" Riku Valentine asked his father in disbelief as they waited outside the mansion for their comrades to show up. "Please tell me you're not serious. Why does this guy need a mermaid? They're not even real."
"I don't ask questions about that stuff," Sephiroth said. "He's paying us to go look and capture one if we see it. That's all we need to know."
Riku sighed. "You can't be serious about taking this job, dad. I thought all the mermaids were extinct? There hasn't been a sighting of one in decades. How do we know this old man isn't insane?"
"Riku, silence," Sephiroth ordered. "I asked Axel and Cloud to help us. We might require their assistance for this job." He walked up the steps to the mansion of their client. He didn't know if he should believe the old man that had come up to him a few days ago with a job. The old man was willing to pay them to go on this chase, and he wasn't going to argue if it meant getting paid for nothing.
He heard two motorcycles pull up to the mansion, seeing his comrades, Cloud Strife and Axel Lea. "So, mermaid hunting huh?" Axel said, getting off his motorcycle and pulling off his helmet. "There hasn't been any sightings of them in decades, y'know."
"That's what I said," Riku grumbled.
"Maybe this old man is going crazy," Cloud said calmly. "Either way, we're getting paid to go look and catch one if we see one, which we probably won't." All of them walked to the door of the mansion, Sephiroth knocked on the door and waited.
A young boy with spiky blonde hair and blue eyes opened the door. "Master Xehanort has been waiting for you," he said quietly, almost like he was holding back his anger. He didn't look at any of them and lead them to the living room.
An old man with no hair and yellow eyes was sitting on the sofa, smirking."Welcome, guests," he said, sending a small shiver down Riku's spine. He didn't like this man. Something about him didn't seem right. If the looks that the blonde boy was giving him was anything to go by, this old man was evil.
"We're not here for chit chat," Sephiroth said, getting right down to business.
The old man merely grinned, shaking his head. "I see," he mused. "Go to Destiny Islands, there is a hidden cave there with a door that'll lead to a bigger cave. The mermaids reside there. Catch one for me and bring it here by any means necessary. Stay quiet about this and don't let anyone know about your mission."
"How do we even know these mermaids exist?" Cloud demanded. "For as long as I can remember, there hasn't been any sightings of them. Demons don't even believe in them anymore. They're probably extinct and you're paying us to go on a wild goose chase?"
Xehanort smirked, standing up and signaling them to follow him. "Come see for yourselves," he said, leading them underground. "Do any of you know about mermaids?"
"Not much," Sephiroth admitted.
Axel wasn't listening much as Xehanort started talking about mermaids; too busy looking at the cute blonde boy that was walking with them. He'd always had a thing for blondes, but he loved looking at the boy's blue eyes. They reminded him of the deep blue ocean water. "Hey, blondie, me and you, this Friday?" he asked flirtatiously.
The blonde boy looked at him, clearly confused by what he meant. "What…?"
"Wanna go out on Friday, if you're available. And if you're grandpa here doesn't mind," he said.
The blonde growled, furious. "He's not my grandpa," he snapped. "He's a bastard that's holding me here against my will. The moment I get the chance to kill him, I'm taking it."
Axel was shocked at that. He figured since the boy was living here with the old man that he must've been related to him or something along that line. Now that he noticed it, the blonde boy had been glaring at the old man when he and Sephiroth were talking in the living room. "What's your name, blondie?"
"…Roxas," he answered quietly, looking away.
"Name's Axel," he introduced himself. "Got it memorized?"
Roxas looked at him coolly. "No," he replied, walking ahead of him.
The redhead grinned, looking at Roxas as they walked to a room at the very end of the hall. Xehanort opened the door, revealing a room with a large pool full of salt water from what he was guessing. But all he could look at was the poor being that was tied to a rock with a sack over his head. The being had pale skin on its torso and arms, it obviously a male, and a dull golden fin where his legs should be. "No fucking way…," he whispered. He almost didn't wanna believe it, but it was right there before his eyes. He saw Roxas kneel down at the edge of the pool next to it, asking it if it was okay.
"So you see," Xehanort told them. "They do exist. And I need you four to catch me another one. I would do it myself, but this mermaid…has tendency to attract unwanted attention and many try to take him away. Last time I tried to go, someone broke into the house and almost succeeded in taking him away. That's why I hired you."
"You're…holding him prisoner?" Riku asked, completely in shock at how the mermaid was tied to a rock near the pool. He saw Roxas trying to comfort it.
The old man smiled, but it seemed menacing. "No. This mermaid and I have business. Roxas will accompany you to the cave and he'll be able to bring the mermaids to you. Isn't that right, Roxas?"
Roxas stiffened, glaring daggers at the man. "Go to hell," he growled. "I won't go with them."
"Oh, but you will," Xehanort told him. "Because I can always…kill him if you don't go. You wouldn't want that, would you?"
Roxas looked at the mermaid; panic and fear clear in his blue eyes. He sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. "Fine…," he mumbled.
"Then it's settled. Be here tomorrow morning at ten and Roxas will go with you to Destiny Islands," Xehanort told the four hunters.
All they could was nod and walk out. "This isn't right," Cloud whispered to Sephiroth. "It's not our business to know why he's holding a mermaid hostage or why he wants another one, but it's not right. He must've kidnapped the mermaid and Roxas."
"As you said before, it's not our business," Sephiroth said back, seeing that the old man and blonde boy were still in the room where the mermaid was. He didn't like this at all, but he knew it was risky at the moment to try and help. "He's paying us to just capture a mermaid and bring it back. Let's not get our feelings into this matter."
"But, dad, you can't tell me that you're okay with this crazy old man holding a mermaid captive," Riku snapped. "How is that honorable in any way? We always agreed to capture people who've done wrong and that mermaid hasn't done anything wrong except live. Roxas probably hasn't done anything to deserve this either."
"Enough!" Sephiroth said firmly, looking at his youngest son. "This is one mission we can't question anything on. Clearly the man has his own reasons for wanting a mermaid. They must've done him wrong and he wants justice."
"But he would've told us to catch a specific mermaid," Cloud pointed out. "You have to tell Xemnas about this old man. It's obvious he's holding Roxas captive and most likely that mermaid. Why else would he have its head covered?"
"If we try to tell anyone about this the old man will probably kill the mermaid and Roxas, and escape before anyone can stop him," Sephiroth stated. "We have no choice but to do the mission he paid us to do."
Axel hadn't been listening at all as they walked out of the mansion. All he could think about was that haunting look in Roxas' eyes. The blonde boy probably hadn't realized the look in his eyes, but all Axel saw in his beautiful blue eyes was fear, worry, and anger. The way the boy looked at the mermaid said it all.
Rescue me…save me from this hell…a voice called out to him. He looked back at the mansion, seeing blonde hair and blue eyes at the window.
"Roxas…," he whispered.
"Axel, let's go," Cloud said. "What's wrong with you?"
He shook his head, looking back at the window and seeing no one there. "Nothing," he said, getting on his motorcycle. "Just my imagination."
A dark figure walked passed them along the sidewalk, the hood covered the person's face. "Don't trust him," a male's voice warned.
"What?" Axel asked the hooded man. "What do you mean? Don't trust who?"
"Don't trust the old man," the hooded man said, stopping to look at them. "If you go, you'll die. Mermaids are not beings to be taken lightly. All those stories you heard about them being gentle and loving creatures, they're lies. A mermaid will seduce anyone that is going after them and drag them to a watery grave. If you four know what's best for you, you won't take this job."
"Do you know who you're talking to?" Sephiroth growled quietly.
If the man's face had been visible, Axel swore he was smirking. "I know exactly who I'm talking to," the hooded man replied. "Four dead men that will drown if they take this mission. Even if you are the One-Winged Angel, Sephiroth. The Dark Prince, Riku. The Great Wolf demon, Cloud. And the Flurry of Dancing Flames, Axel Lea. Even if your four are known to be the best hunters among demons, you won't win against the mermaids."
"What do you know about mermaids?" Riku snapped. "You act like you know everything about them when you probably don't know any more than we do."
The hooded man smirked, letting the four demons see his lower face. "I do know more. Call it personal experience," he said. "A mermaid's kiss will give the receiving person the ability to breathe and speak underwater. They can use their looks alone to seduce anyone. And their singing voices are absolutely haunting. Make sure not to fall for that trick." He walked off before any of them could say anything.
Axel sighed, scratching his head. "You know, with all these warnings and seeing how the old man is in person…I'm thinking I shouldn't have taken this job."
Riku looked at his father, seeing no emotions on his face and sighed irritably. "I fear you're right for once, Axel…"
Roxas walked back to the pool in the underground level. As much as he didn't want to, he couldn't help but think about Axel. The redhead kept looking at him when Xehanort showed him the truth about mermaids existing. How he wished he had enough strength to get himself free so he could go get help.
"Are you going to tell me who cries the Dark Crystals?" Xehanort asked, bringing him back from his thoughts.
The Dark Crystals…anyone would be more than happy to get their hands on that. It would boost their powers tremendously. That's what Xehanort was after. Unfortunately for him, the mermaid he'd captured didn't cry the Dark Crystals. No…the one who could would never cry. But unknown to Xehanort, there was one other mermaid who could cry something more powerful than a Dark Crystal. "No way," Roxas replied, reaching out to pull the sack off the captive mermaid's head.
A keyblade was suddenly in the way of his hand and he glared at the old man. "Leave it on," Xehanort ordered.
"He's not a thing, he's a living creature!" Roxas shouted. "Keeping him like won't give you any tears. And why keep us here at all? We don't cry the Dark Crystals. Just let us go."
"I can't do that now," Xehanort stated. "If I let you and this beautiful mermaid go, then you will go warn them about me. Then you and the other mermaids will swim far away to the point where I can't find you. I can't let that happen."
Roxas watched him walk away; blinking back his tears at the thought of never being able to return home ever again. "Hold on a little longer," he whispered to the mermaid. He knew the mermaid was missing its mate that had tried to rescue him when he got captured, but it failed. "Just a little longer…"
"Sora, come on!" Kairi shouted to her friend. They'd been resting on nearby rocks next to the mainland of Destiny Island. She felt sorry for her friend. He'd been searching for his older twin brother and their two friends ever since they went missing. But sadly, none of them were allowed on dry land unless Sora's cousin, Leon, or their friend, Zack was with them. She wasn't really good at walking on two legs unlike them and neither was Sora. All they could do was wait and hope that one day their friends would return.
Sora frowned, swimming back into the ocean with her to their home. "I wish I could go on dry land and look for them," he said. "How come we can't practice walking with our human legs? Leon and Zack do it all the time. It's not fair."
"Sora, you know we can't after what happened," Kairi said gently. "We lost your brother and our friends. We can't risk losing any more people to the outside world."
"But my brother could barely walk with his human legs!" Sora shouted. "For all I know, he's dead or being held prisoner for his tears!"
"Sheesh, could you be any louder, Sora?" Xion said, swimming up to them. "People a mile away could probably hear you."
The brown-haired mermaid sighed. "Sorry, I'm just worried," he said. "It's been months since they went missing. I miss my brother and our friends."
"We do too, Sora," Kairi said. "But all we can do right now is hope they make it back safely. Zack and Leon can only patrol around the area. I'm sure one day, Lord Angeal will allow us to go out there and find them. We just have to be patient until then."
"I hope so…," Sora mumbled. "I hate not being able to do anything to help."
"We all do," Xion agreed. "But we can't do anything just yet."
All of them swam to their kingdom, seeing other mermaids swimming around the area. They had been living in the Destiny Island area for a long time due to the tropical climate and that it was rarely very cold. However, unlike their aquatic friends, they needed sleep much like humans and other demons that didn't live underwater.
"Angeal, you can't be serious!" They heard shouting coming from the outside of the kingdom. Zack Fair was floating alongside their lord, Angeal Hewley. Angeal had straight black hair that went to his shoulders, a very muscular torso, and a long thick black fin whereas Zack has spiky black, a well-defined torso, and long black fin. A lot of people thought they were brothers, but they were cousins. Angeal had been chosen for the leader of the mermaids due to his experiences in fighting wars alongside the humans and demons, and being very wise. Xion was Zack's younger sister and she had the same black fin as her older brother. "Leon and I can go save them. Just give us a chance. They've been missing for months and they could be dead, or dying, for all we know."
"We can't risk sending our two best warriors out," Angeal said calmly. "You and Leon are our best warriors on both land and water. Sora's brother was our third best fighter on both terrains, but he's gone now. If more of those demons come after us, we'll be defenseless on land. Sora and the others can only defend us underwater."
"He's getting better," Zack told him. "If you would let me or Leon train him and the others on land, they could quickly become great warriors."
"Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of time," Angeal replied. "That man is going to come after us again and this time, he'll most likely be bringing help. We can't afford to lose the one that cries the Tears of Orichalcum. We've already lost the one that cries the Tears of Dark Crystals. All of the young ones are to remain here and be ready for any underwater attacks."
Zack frowned. "Sora is going to go look for his brother, with or without your permission. Leon will go with him because he's his cousin. Kairi and Xion will go him because Sora is their friend. You can't hold them back forever."
"I may not be able to control them, but I can try," Angeal said wearily. "Our people's numbers are already so little, Zack. We're on the border of extinction. Our tears are what make us targets for a person's greed. If they find the one that cries the Tears of Orichalcum…I don't even want to think about it."
"And that's why we're trained and raised from our birth not to cry," Zack pointed out. "Even when one of us dies or goes missing, we don't cry. Please Angeal, you have to let us try to find them. None of us could live if something happened to any of them."
"I'm sorry, Zack. But I can't allow any of you to go to the mainland," Angeal apologized. "Please understand…"
Sora and the others were hiding behind some coral, listening to them. He couldn't believe that even Zack wasn't able to change Angeal's mind. Usually he was able to talk the bigger merman into anything, but it seemed Angeal was not going to relent this time. "But I need to find my brother," Sora said quietly, mostly to himself.
"Sorry, Sora," Xion said, patting his shoulder. "We'll find a way."
"Yeah, we'll find a way to get out and go look for your brother and our friends," Kairi agreed. "Let's go home and rest for now. We'll figure all of this out tomorrow."
Sora nodded, watching his two friends swim off and swam to his home. He saw his cousin, Leon already there. His cousin had layered dark brown hair that went down a little passed his shoulders and had steel gray eyes and a fin that was the same color. He had a scar in between his eyes that he'd gotten from an outsider that lived on the mainland of Destiny Island. "Hey," Leon greeted.
"Hey," Sora said back. "What were you up to today?"
Leon sighed. "…Four demons are going to be after us tomorrow."
"What? What do you mean?" Sora asked.
"I was walking around the town on the mainland today and heard that the man who was here last time has hired four men to capture one of us," Leon explained. "We have to be prepared in case this is more than just a regular attack on us."
"So what are we going to do?" Sora asked. "It's not like Angeal will allow you and Zack to go to the mainland and try to stop this. You two are our best warriors."
Leon sighed, rubbing in between his eyes. "I don't know," he admitted. "We have no other choice than to…"
"No!" Sora shouted. "You can't kill them! Maybe if you try to talk to them about-"
"If they're coming after us then they must be getting paid big money," Leon interrupted. "We can't afford to try and question them on why they're after us or convince not to do this mission that they've been paid to do."
"But we can't just kill them…," Sora whispered. That was one thing that most people said made him weak. He didn't like hurting others and hated the idea of using violence to solve problems. Everyone said that is what would stop him from becoming a great warrior like Leon and his brother.
"We might not have a choice," Leon told him. "If they back off, then they live. But if they continue with their mission to capture one of us, then we'll have to kill them. Everyone on the outside world think we're extinct, but I'm sure there those few that have seen us and know about us."
Sora didn't say anything after that, swimming to his room. He hated that Leon would have to actually kill somebody just to keep them safe. That's what their lives had become. Their people had been hunted for their tears by humans and demons alike. A mermaid's tears would turn into a gem or some kind of precious stone that made them targets. His parents had been taken away from him by humans and they were now dead. Sora remembered following Leon and the others that day when they reached another island and he saw his parents for himself…
He shook his head at the memory. "Now is not the time to think about that," he told himself. "Rest now, think later." With that said he made himself comfortable on his clamshell bed and closed the top half of it. "We'll find you, brother and my friends. I'm not going to let anyone stop me…"
Okay, another KH story from me! How do you like it so far? Good? Bad? Let me know please.:)
I was actually trying to write the next chapter of my other KH story, but this came in mind instead so yeah. Hope it's a good start and hopefully I can get the next chapter done soon. I got inspiration to write this from watching Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I LOVE the mermaids on there! They're not the fantasy that most people have gotten from the Little Mermaid. Those mermaids lived up to the real legends of them bringing sailors to their doom.
No beta for this story. But if you need a beta, I definitely recommend Ultima Phoenix! S/he is a good beta!
Anyways! I think I'm actually gonna have fun writing this. So yeah! Like it? Hate it? Let me know please so I know what to improve on! Thank ye and hopefully next chapter comes out soon!