"I found you when I reached the seventh sea, just as I had stopped looking."
- Lang Leav, The Seventh Sea
The Seventh Sea
She had forgotten how to smile–to be happy. It had been so long since the last time she actually laughed and smiled to people genuinely, and as the days went passing by, she got lonelier. And yet, nobody had noticed that. Like right now, as she lie quietly on the shore to sleep under the stars.
The saddest thing about this island was the fact that it is so small. It is filled with enough population, with enough businesses to give people a living–and that is mainly through the island's beaches. Tourism. It was such a small island, people would often say that a lost person could always be found somewhere, sometimes. But C.C. proved such adage untrue, because it had been so long since she lost her happiness, and it never came back. Happiness wasn't even a person, so maybe the maxim had a point: somewhere, sometimes.
C.C. was staying with her nana for some years now, hence she grew up under her care. Her grandmother owned a small grocery store, perhaps one of the few stores around the island, and C.C. helped her all the time. Usually she was in-charge of the register in the evening, but today was her eighteenth birthday so she was given a day off.
The night was ghost-quiet, she could clearly hear the crashing of the waves on the shore and how it would pull back the grains of sands back under the water. They sounded like maracas softly played against the cold, strong sea breeze. She could feel the icy wind against her bare skin as she lie there in nothing but a short summer dress, fluttering in the wind like a flag tied on a bamboo stick. Though she was hardly dressed for the cold sea breeze, C.C. didn't mind the nippy wind caressing her bare legs and arms and face. The temperature was nothing for her so long as she could watch the stars alongside the bay.
That was Orion, the hunter. She could also see the Scorpio climbing down the horizon, those dots forming a distorted J were always noticeable. A smile tilted up the corner of her lips as she stared at these two constellations. She continued to smile while the cold breeze blew again, so now the smile felt like it was cemented on her face. The waves crashed on the shore, again and again, seconds after seconds; and soon she didn't notice these things and the wind. Her mind was focused on the warm liquid streaming down from her eyes. Her shoulders were shaking as though it was kettle holding a boiling water. Soon, C.C. sobbed, her hands reaching up to wipe the tears–and yet they wouldn't stop; the one wiped the ceaseless tears away, the other held tightly on her aquamarine necklace.
It was so lonely. The past ten years she spent in this island was an unbearable grief. Not her nana, not her few school friends, not the good neighbors who would buy from their store – nobody helped her to be happy again. It wasn't like she asked for help, anyway. Perhaps they all wanted her to be happy, but maybe to be happy again was not really for her.
Her body shook as tears fell like the rain. It had been a decade and yet the wound remained fresh, her tears continued to stream, and her heart was still grieving. The waves came back crashing, and so we're the memories when she first came into this island.
It was all because of that accident ten years ago. Quickly, she rose and pulled herself together. Perhaps her heart was beating too loud to hear what her mind was saying, because she kept on running until the grainy sand was replaced by the cold seawater. There was no point in pretending that she liked how her life was going now; ten years of pretense was enough.
The water splashed against her dress, but she continued walking….
She was so done with life now.
He stretched his arms forward and swam through the waters. It was cool against his bare skin and amethyst scales; and though the moonlight was scattered in the water, barely lighting up his surroundings, he managed to ascend from the dark seabed. The burbling water against his ears created a smooth rhythm as he swam, his fish tail enabling him to move around the water. The shark teeth connected by a strong string, serving as his customized necklace, hit his chest gently again and again, the broken aquamarine stone engraved at the largest shark tooth glimmered when struck by the moonlight. His long, pearl black hair swished as he glided through the waves, its tip touching the tip of his amethystine tail.
Under the sea, there was no sky to look up to and no air to breathe. There were no magnificent things that could only be found in the land–people called them cars, malls, schools, or whatsoever, according to the humans he heard talking some years ago. The life under the sea was quite lonely, thought he, for there was nothing way too interesting here. It was all about survival–being a prey and a predator. The beasts lurking in the further depths of the sea threatened not only the community of marine animals, but also the endangered lives of the merfolk. However, thanks to his father, safety from the beasts that preyed on them had been guaranteed for as long as the merfolk could remember.
As a member of the royal family, he found himself standing on a useless position. Being a prince hardly mattered now, and the realm where his father reigned was doing good. His eldest siblings, Odysseus, Guinevere, Schneizel and Cornelia, were doing their best in keeping the kingdom safe and sound. They, the younger siblings, had no roles besides loitering around the kingdom. So, he thought it was about time to go back and visit his favorite place. Ten years had passed since the last time he visited the most beautiful place his eyes had seen. But before going there, he must ask someone's help to make his visit permanent, so just to avoid his father's death in case he caught him sneaking out to the land.
"Lelouch!"
He felt a pair of hands wrapping on both of his arms, and upon the contact he knew there were two different mermaids holding onto him. The movements of their tails could be heard on the water.
"What is it, Nunnally? Euphy?" he turned, sighing. His long black hair floated around him. His purple eyes met two pairs of the same amethyst orbs, hence his sisters.
"Brother, where are you going?" asked the mermaid with long curly brown hair. The pearls around her neck glistened – he remembered how many days he had spent collecting them with his merman attendant, Rivalz. It took them a whole week and a bunch of false flattery, roughly. After all, pearls were hard to find though there was a bounty of them near the reef, and oysters sometimes wouldn't just hand them over.
"We heard from our brother, Clovis, that you are meeting Cécile? Is she not the...apprentice of that sea urchin?" said the older mermaid whose pink hair fluttered behind her. "We know that once our eighteenth birthday comes, we are given a chance to see what lies above the sea. However, is it really necessary to meet that sea urchin?"
"Whoever taught you that the magician is a sea urchin? Miss Cécile is a personal attendant of our Uncle V.V. – and our uncle is no sea urchin, girls." Lelouch smiled and turned around to check if Rivalz was waiting for him behind the old ship wreck. When saw a flash of light, he knew it was about time to go. "Shouldn't you be staying in your quarters now, princesses? The sea had been colder this season. Better take refuge within the warm castle walls. I must be going–"
"Hold on, brother," Nunnally reached out and pulled him back. "Sister Euphy and I made a present for you. You were so eager to visit the land on your birthday, so we thought we should give it to you before you leave."
"We want it to be a reminder that you shan't follow our fellow merfolk, Gino Weinberg, when he decided to live in the land...as a human," added Euphemia as Nunnally brought out a golden ornament meant to be worn on his arm. The younger mermaid unlocked the bracelet and wrapped it on her brother's left arm.
"Thank you, my dear sisters," he said and stooped his head to place a peck on the girls' foreheads. "I will enjoy this opportunity father had given me on my birthday. Of course, sea will remain as my home."
Lelouch quickly swam away from his sisters, but stopped when he noticed that the two weren't swimming back to the palace. He shot them a glare, and the princesses saw the brief shine from his purple eyes. The girls yelped, waving him a good bye, and then swam back through the seaweeds where a secret passage to the palace was kept.
In a jiffy he reached the old shipwreck where he found Rivalz settled on a rusty anchor. The blue-haired merman threw the piece of broken mirror he used to signal Lelouch, a sigh parting his lips.
"I bet you recite the incorrect good-bye?" Rivalz crossed his arms against his chest, his blue tail slapped the seabed, making their surroundings a bit foggy. "You should stop lying to your sisters, Prince. They will find it out sooner or later...once Prince V.V. make you a human."
Lelouch ran his fingers through his hair, a gesture he would usually do when he was worried. "I know. However, if I do so, I won't be able to live my dream–which is to live like a human."
"I believe I asked this for countless times already, but please answer me this time. Isn't it a selfish desire, Prince Lelouch? Being in the royal family, aren't you supposed to look after your merfolk's welfare rather than fulfilling a dream–a forbidden dream at that?"
Lelouch stared at Rivalz in the eyes. Mermaids and mermen possessed the ability to talk to their own kind without using their voices, and it was believed to be the highest form of communication for their kind.
"Then tell me, Rivalz, is it fine if I break a promise? I committed myself to something else before I took the oath as a prince. I have to do my duty,"Lelouch sighed, his eyes stopped gleaming. This time, he used his voice. "We have to go now. If we miss the old prince, it'll be all over for me." The prince yanked his friend away from the anchor and swam to the deeper depths of the ocean.
"So what is it really that pulls you back to the land, Your Highness? Watching you for over a decade, I never once missed an inquiry about the land and humans. 'Rivalz, what do you think of the land?' or 'Rivalz, do you think legs are fantastic? Have you ever desired to possess them?' I think it's about time you tell me why you fancy the human world so much," Rivalz was not supposed to end his tirade soon, but Lelouch's laughter cut him off.
"You're so funny, Rivalz. You should know by now that I have visited the land when I was young, by accident though," Lelouch sneered. "I was eight when Prince Schneizel snatched me from my quarters and took me with him on his eighteen birthday. We were separated by a gigantic wave upon reaching the surface, and the next thing I knew, I was swimming next to a huge ship. It carried hundreds of people, and they were having feast, much like ours in the palace."
"Eh, how troublesome. No wonder why they called you the 'Black Prince'. Apparently, it wasn't simply because of your hair. How naive of me," mumbled Rivalz to himself.
"The sea was in rage that time. I knew there would be a storm hundreds of miles from that spot, so I tried to call out and warn the people. But the music was too loud, everyone was busy to dance and laugh. Everyone in the ship was, but the girl sitting on the deck. She was staring at the far distance. I talked to her."
"And you talked to a human! How careless–"
"I told her that I'm a mermaid and I warned her about the catastrophe waiting ahead. She informed the captain while I hid underneath the water, but she came back scowling. The captain made a fool of her, she said. After that, we had a nice chitchat, she told me she never liked going away from home. Then she asked me to sign a pact,"
"Ah, so that's where you're going," Rivalz put his palm in his head as he swam next to the prince. He didn't know he was helping the prince to fulfill a childish dream.
" 'Let's play again once I reached the island where nanna lives.' I gave her a piece of my aquamarine as a proof, of course I threw it up to her. We talked more. She told me about her life. I told her about mine. I was so lost about the things humans do that I didn't realize the storm. The ship was tossed and set ablaze–many people cried and sunk down the sea, but I managed to save her. I'm eager to go to the land to find her, Rivalz. She must be suffering." Lelouch pushed away the seaweeds hiding the passage through a cave, and dove deeper when he found the hole.
"Aren't you being considerate to a mere stranger, Your Highness? She won't remember you anymore."
"I just want to make sure she lives well. I am fully aware that she lost something precious to her that fateful night, and once you lost something dear to you..." Lelouch glanced and met Rivalz eyes. "Your life will never be the same. It's like taking away a part of you, I believe." The prince was the first to break the eye contact, sighing. "The sea has no use of me, now that my siblings are taking care of it. Someone else needs my help, Rivalz."
"I really can't say she needs so."
Lelouch raised his hand, halting Rivalz from going anywhere. "We're here," he claimed.
It was pitch black in here, but thanks to the luminous jellyfish waiting at the fork passage, Lelouch and Rivalz managed to get inside the right passage in that cave. Rivalz tried to convince the prince to back away from this ridiculous plan, saying that he was fulfilling a rather trivial promise between two children. What were the chances that the girl was still staying in the island where Lelouch left her, ten years ago? Rivalz continued to argue, but Lelouch dismissed him every time. Before Rivalz could use force to drag the prince away from the wicked Prince V.V., he found himself in front the sea warlock's throne.
"Ah, as I expected. My dear nephew came back here. Are you ready to become a human?" asked the Prince, his long blond hair flaunted behind him. Rivalz looked away from his glimmering red tail, it looked vicious. Red as a blood.
"I am, Uncle."
"Surely, Charles will be disappointed to find his wise son live as a human," V.V. chuckled and ducked to grab something on the nearest table. "Cécile! Bring me the vial!" The blue-haired mermaid came out holding a tray where a small bottle with shimmering contents rested. "Here," said the blond prince, throwing the vial to Lelouch. "Drink this and your tail we be replaced with human legs. However, you have to splatter your legs with a maiden's blood within one week. If you aren't able to, you will disappear like the sea foam."
"A virgin's blood?" asked Rivalz.
"Yes, a virgin's blood. Lelouch had to get a maiden's blood on his human legs to make them permanent. Quite a barter, isn't it? In exchange of the vial, I will cut your hair and take away what the merfolk's admired from you, your confidence to talk, and your voice. You will lose your voice, Lelouch. Are you still willing to be a human?"
Rivalz wanted to object, knowing that a mermaid's hair was way too precious to be given away, especially from the royal family – hair was something to be treasured. It contained one's history. As of the confidence, Lelouch could not do anything without his air of arrogance–er, confidence. Though he would only show that once talking to strangers, it still helped him to get the public's approval. His eloquence, his wisdom, and his looks – none would be of any use without his confidence.
"Take it away, Uncle V.V."
"What!? Prince Lelouch, you can't-"
And with that, thousands of luminous sea creatures came out and encircled them. They seemed to be completing some sort of ritual which Lelouch and Rivalz had never seen before and before they knew it, they were blinded by the white light.
When Lelouch and Rivalz opened their eyes, they were no longer in Prince V.V.'s dark abode. The glowing sea creatures were gone too, and their heads were not submerged in the water. Rivalz knew this cool invisible thing caressing his face, it was air. He had been in the surface on his eighteenth birthday before, but it was a brief visit since he didn't really like the land.
They were in the surface. Lelouch was gripping on the vial, his face glowing with a smile. The prince could see the island where he left the girl he met before, and sure it changed a lot. Looking up, he saw the numerous glowing stars that he heard a lot from his elder siblings. Odysseus liked them the most; he even had a book about constellations. Now that Lelouch had seen it with his own eyes, he couldn't argue with his brother's liking. After all, he didn't see the starry sky when he was young because of the storm.
There was a loud splashing of water somewhere close to them. Though the breeze was incessant, ringing on the mermen's ears, they didn't miss the soft sobbing almost concealed by the splash of waters, too. Lelouch and Rivalz quickly hid themselves from a boulder nearby. Adjusting their eyes against the darkness of the evening, they kept an eye on the lady trying to make her way through the sea.
Long green hair standing out against the darkness; pale fair skin that was still visible despite the dimness of the surrounding; hushed wailing like the chimes; an aquamarine gem glittering as it hung from a silver chain...
Lelouch dove in the water in spite of Rivalz protests. He made his way to the girl, the water was already reaching her chin. He knew her; she was the same girl he saved that evening from the storm. He hastened his pace, and in no time he reached her. Without any precaution or warning, without resurfacing, he grabbed her waist, making the girl sunk in the water. She was dragged back to the shallow part of the sea. C.C. coughed the water out, her whole body drenched with seawater.
"What do you think are you doing?" Lelouch yelled as he crawled to her, his body felt so heavy when he was out of the water. "Are you trying to get yourself drowned?"
"You—" she turned around to yell at him. It was the only thing that she could think of to free herself from grief, and yet when it was almost near her grasp, she was saved. She was saved and yet she wasn't asking for it. Her rage subsided, nevertheless. When she looked at this person, who wasn't really a person per se, she was tongue-tied. It was dark, yes, but her eyes weren't deceiving her. He had a tail, a purple one. It was glimmering for some reason, its scales were like shinny gems. His hair was really long and dark as the night. Though she couldn't make out his face clearly, she could tell that he had a promising look.
This was not the first time she saw a mermaid. She met one when she was young, but she thought it was just her imagination back then. It felt so peculiar seeing a mermaid now that she was a grownup, now that she was sure it wasn't just a child's vivid fantasy.
"Do you remember me?" he asked, snapping her out of her trance. "We met when we were young. I saved you."
Her expression darkened quickly. "You shouldn't have done that," replied she. Slowly standing up, her dress clinging to her skin, she looked down at him with an unreadable glint from her eyes. Was it anger? Remorse? Who knows. Water dripped down from her hair to the sand, some rolled down from her face. Lelouch mistook it as tears for a moment.
"I came here because I want to see you again. In fact, I want to be a human so I can help you." The mermaid tried smiling to lighten up the mood, perhaps she would remember their one-day friendship several years ago.
"Help me what? Do I look like I need your help, mermaid?" C.C. didn't mean to snap but it happened anyway.
Lelouch flinched. "We promised to play when we meet again, remember? I'm sacrificing a lot so I can be here."
"...enough," she crouched in front him, snatching the vial from his hand. "I don't want that." C.C. threw the vial away from him and she ran to crush it into pieces. "Go back to the sea and live. You're better off that way." She didn't know why exactly, but if that vial was a present he meant to give her, she didn't need it.
"We have a promise and I don't intend to break it—"
He was interrupted by her humorless laughter. Shoulders shaking, she buried her face in her palms, laughter still echoing. "'Let's play again', huh? Life is no longer a child's play. It's...no longer a child's play."
Lelouch felt betrayed as he watched her laughing—or crying. It dawned to him just how much she changed, just how much the sea incident gave birth to a different person standing in front him. She was broken, twisted and…devastated. The merman dragged himself back to the water, eyes lingering on the broken vial near her feet. Its content was now drained, and he knew he couldn't become a human without that. Without a good-bye he left, swimming back to the boulder where he left Rivalz.
"You have no idea how thankful I am that she broke the vial, Your Highness," Rivalz said, inspecting his nails. He just sharpened his nails on the rock as Lelouch did his tiny drama with the girl over the shore. "Now, shall we head back to the palace?"
"I will go back to Uncle," grumbled the prince under his breath. It was not yet over, he wouldn't let the girl live the way she does now. "Hurry up, Rivalz. I need to see Prince V.V. as soon as possible."
"Persistent, aren't we? Sadly, you can't do as you wish, Prince Lelouch. Prince Schneizel had come to escort you back." As Rivalz jumped back to the water, a blond merman surfaced, his beautiful face was instantly recognized by Lelouch.
"Big brother," called Lelouch.
"You talked to a human, my dear brother. Have you no mind? What you did is too dangerous, young merman. This is the least thing I expect you to pull off," the elder brother swam next to Lelouch, gripping the black prince's arm. "I'm glad I followed you to Prince V.V.'s den. Let us all go back. Thank you, Rivalz, for not tolerating Prince Lelouch's actions. You must have hard time dealing with him."
The other merman just smiled as the three of the dove back to the sea, Schneizel did not let go of Lelouch's arm. The younger prince asked if this would be reported to the king, but the elder brother assured that he wouldn't tell him anything. Not until Lelouch repeated the same mistake, of course. Nodding, Lelouch murmured a quiet 'thanks'.
They did not know that the prince planned something in his head: he would go back to his uncle tomorrow. He didn't know this but his plan was destined to succeed. Tomorrow he would go back to the surface, drink the vial and become a human…permanently. He didn't know that tomorrow evening C.C. would go back to the shore, this time she would sneak away from her nana's store. She was still depressed, and she wanted to take her life away. Drowning wouldn't be a choice for her, instead she would pick the broken vial she crushed on the sand last night. It would help her end her life by slitting her wrist and by the time Lelouch would find her she was limp like a doll and barely breathing, and her blood would stain his human legs.
The two didn't know it, but this was all meant to happen.
a/n. this doesn't make sense, lol. one-shot. btw, thanks much to AlliyahaTraveler.