CHAPTER 1- FATEFUL NIGHT

Larxene rested her elbow on the arm rest upon the armrest of her throne, chin in hand. She groaned loudly, flicking her yellow tail sharply in annoyance. She waited another moment or so, drumming her fingertips along the limestone throne built in the center of the Atlantic Cathedral, and she saw her younger cousin swimming through the opening in the underwater volcano. She waited for his approach, running a hand over the bright yellow scales of her tail. Her sea shell bra was pinching her back.

Roxas ran a hand through unruly blond spikes, swimming up to present himself before his cousin who currently held the throne until her younger brother came of age.

"You called?" Roxas drolled, the apparent lack of respect clearly absent form his voice.

Larxene rolled her eyes, not bothering with the chastising of her cousin. "Where's my brother?"

Roxas thought for a moment. By the time the answer came to him, he was already lying through his teeth. "I assume he is somewhere around the castle?"

Larxene frowned. "Are you lying to me Roxas?" Pushing off against the throne, Larxene moved dangerously close to her cousin, taking his chin in her hand to tilt his eyes up to meet hers. "If he's collecting more landlubber junk again and you're covering for him, I swear I'll chop you up, boil you, and feed you to the sharks." She whispered through a dark smile.

Roxas squirmed uncomfortably. He was a brave, spitfire filled little merman for his size, but he was not ashamed to admit that his cousin Larxene scared him shitless. She was even scarier when it came to the legged ones upon the grass.

Though it was tight knit secret that had never once passed Larxene's lips before (Roxas somehow knew, as he knew everything), the mermaid princess had at one point fallen in love with a legged one she had met a few times when she stepped on land once, disguised as a legged one. Though mermaids did have fish tails, they could disguise themselves as humans for a single day every twenty years. Larxene had indulged her curiosity of the world opposite theirs, and had fallen in love with a legged one in the span of a day. When she revealed to him her tail, she was cruelly abandoned by him shortly after. Since then, it would be an understatement to say that the crown princess was quite bitter.

"No ma'am, he's somewhere here in the castle no doubt." Roxas lied again, backing up ever so slightly."

Larxene frowned. "Fine, I believe you. Now go find him." She deadpanned, waving Roxas away.

"Demyx?"

A flicker of a tail, bright yellow scales sparkling in what little sunlight was able to reach through the black waters to the bed of the ocean. Leaves of seaweed parted aside under the force of the waters as the scales sparkled again.

"Demyx?"

Demyx strummed away at his sitar, long delicate fingers playing with the thing strings. He hummed gently along with his tune, large blue eyes closed, ears ignorant against the calling of his cousin.

"DEMYX!" Roxas screamed this time, wrestling against the seaweed that tugged at his wrists. Demyx jolted upwards, looking over at his cousin trying to struggle through the seaweed patch that surrounded his bed of bare rock and sand. It was a comical sight, seeing the little flustered blond pulling against the seaweed wrapped around his wrists.

Demyx set down his sitar, flicking his tail to send him cutting through the water over to his cousin. His smirk wide, he watched Roxas struggle against green vegetation for a moment.

Roxas looked up from his predicament to the smirk on Demyx's face. "HELP?"

Demyx bit his lip to keep from laughing as he pulled Roxas free. "Smooth Roxas."

"Shut up." The smaller merman mumbled, crossing his arms.

"Aw, don't be sad Rox. Be glad!" Demyx threw his arms wide in his comical way, earning him nothing more than a raised eyebrow from his cousin. Reaching out, he plucked a piece of seaweed from Roxas' sunshine locks, flicking it to the side. "Come here, I want to show you something!" Taking his cousin's hand, Demyx flicked his tail, pulling Roxas along with him with enough force to pull his arm out of his socket. As he dragged Roxas past the rock, he scooped up his sitar in one swift motion, ducking through the rock gardens and the seaweed.

Twelve years ago, when Demyx was four, he had discovered a small undersea volcano. No longer active, the inside was hollow, making it a perfect secret hideout for the curious merpup. A perfect place to store his precious treasures.

"Demyx- ow! Let go of my arm!" Roxas yelled, ripping his arm away from his cousin's grip. "Demyx, you got even more landlubber junk than you had before." Roxas placed his hands on his hips, looking around the inside shelves of the volcano with disapproval.

The handmade shelves that lined the walls of the volcano was cluttered with landlubber treasures. Mostly junk that Demxy had collected from around sunken ships, or treasure floating at sea that had been washed overboard in a storm. Demyx gently placed his sitar down on a separate shelf, the foreign blue instrument was by far his most favorite treasure of his growing collection.

"Isn't this great? I found it last week!" Demyx grabbed a shining object off the nearest shelf. He swam over to Roxas, dropping it in his outstretched hands.

"It's the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life." Roxas deadpanned, exactly what he said about every trophy that Demyx deposited in his cousin's hands to show off. Taking it in both hands, Roxas gave it a scrutinizing look. Seeing Demyx's pout, Roxas sighed, divulging the information his cousin craved. "It's called a cup." Roxas griped it in one hand. "They drink from it."

Holding it a bit too tightly, the delicate white object shattered in Roxas' hands, cutting through his palm.

"Ow! Shit!" Roxas hissed. He glared at his hand and the long cut right through the middle, blood oozing from the pale skin to mix into the water. Tongue darting out, Roxas ran the tip of his tongue along the slice in his hand, the bleeding ceasing near immediately.

"You have to be delicate Roxas! Delicate!" Demyx poked his cousin to emphasize his point, leaning down to pick up the shattered pieces of his treasure. "Man. That's the fourth one you've broken this month."

"Demyx, this is stupid and dangerous." Roxas folded his arms, flicking his tail at the treasures that sparkled around the walls. "If your sister found you collecting this stuff, he'd completely flip on you."

"I'm the crown prince, Larxene can't do shit." Demyx shrugged, depositing the shattered treasure on the shelf where it was once whole. "I'm the future of his whole kingdom." Demyx rolled his eyes, swimming up to his cousin to rest his chin on Roxas' shoulder.

"There's always your other cousins."

"Like you?"

"I'm not inheriting the goddamn kingdom." Roxas rolled his eyes. "And I stand by my prior statement." He folded his arms across his chest, ducking out from Demyx's chin to lean against a nearby wall. "If Larxene finds out. she'll feed you to the sharks." Roxs nodded in agreement with himself.

"Well, yes." Demyx purred. Gliding closer to his cousin through the water, he pressed his hands against the sea wall on either side of his cousin's head, pressing closer to Roxas, who backed up against the wall, his cheeks red. "And YOU won't tell her about it, right?" He pressed his lips against the outside of Roxas' ear, whispering darkly.

Roxas blushed, averting his eyes. "Ugh, yeah, right..."

"You swore not to tell anyone." Demyx whispered, pressing up against Roxas. "And you remember the penalty for breaking your promise, right?"

"Yes, yes, I know!" Roxas yelled, pressing his hands against Demyx's bare chest to try and push him away. "Back off, okay? I swear not to tell anyone!"

Roxas and Demyx had been best friends since they were merpups. Roxas was Demyx's cousin, the same age. His parents had been killed by sharks when he was five, barely escaping with his own life. The two royal bloods had been good friends since they were small.

Demyx chuckled, licking Roxas' cheek just to tease his cousin. He immediately swam away with a loud laugh, Roxas hot on his tail, when a loud thunderclap rang through the air. Both mermen's gaze immediately snapped up to the sky, quickly darkened by black storm clouds. Imediately, Demyx cut through the water to the opening in the top of the volcano opening, staring up at the sky. On such a fateful night, Demyx saw another bolt of lightening illuminate the sky far above, and the bottom hull of a large ship.

The promise of new landlubber treasures never failed to tempt the merprince as he propelled himself upwards towards the surface of the water.

"Demyx!" Roxas screamed after his cousin. "Get back here!" Clenching his fist he propelled himself through the same opening where Demyx had gone with a stream of swears spewing from his mouth as he chased after his cousin.

Zexion leaned his back up against the railing of the ship, his face tilted upwards towards the darkening sky. He sighed, tossing his silver goblet of rum over the edge of the ship.

"Zexion, babe, have some fun!" Axel yelled. His cheeks were tinted a bright red from the influence of alcohol. Leaning up against the railing next to his cousin, a cup of god only knows what kind of mixture of alcohol in his hand. Leaning back, he took a large swig, breaking out into unprecedented laughter.

"Axel." Zexion glared down at the deck of the ship, rubbing his eyes and trying to ignore the dancing, screaming, and drinking of the party held in honor of the crown prince's sixteenth birthday. "You are royalty. Act like it." He ground out the last part between gritted teeth.

"It's your birthday party." Axel swooned, his balance faltering ever so slightly as he stood perfectly still. Even with the anchor down, the boat rocked uneasily. "Would it kill you to act a bit happier?"

"Yes, it just might." Zexion shrugged. "In the event that I'm happier, I may get drunk. In that event, I leave myself open to an assassination. In such case that I'm killed, you stand to inherit the kingdom as my closest cousin." Zexion shook his head, giving his cousin a sideways look. "For the good of mankind, there is no way in hell I could let that happen.""

Axel rolled his eyes, eying a sexy young duke across the deck. He licked his lips. When Zexion gave him a confused look he shrugged. "I'd tap that."

Zexion gave his cousin a disgusted look. "Is there anyone you WOULDN'T "tap"?"

Axel thought for a moment. "You."

"Hallelujah to that..." Zexion muttered. His comment seemed to go unnoticed by his intoxicated cousin.

"But, you know, I'd like, like a..." Axel hiccuped. "A really sweet kid... not some...whore after the royal life... but like, ya know..." Axel frowned, taking another swig. "A shy, sweet kid who'd abandon anything for me, and vice versa. Someone with big blue eyes and a nice little ass. Someone with a sweet personality. A shy, sweet kid. Someone with big clue eyes and a nice little ass." Axel drolled, mind drifting off into space.

"Axel! Axel, focus!" Zexion yelled, snapping his fingers impatiently in Axel's face in an attempt to keep his attention. It was quite a pity. His closest cousin, Axel Flynn, was one of the most desired dukes of the royal family. He was twenty one, tall, handsome, thin, strong, pushy, but a nice personality. Rumored to be good in bed... Such a pity he was gay.

"Ahhhhh..." Axel sighed, dropping onto the deck with a thump. The boy he'd been eying across the deck had walked off with some chick that Axel had seen around his cousin's castle every now and then. "I wanna pound someone into a mattress."

Zexion pretended to silently gag, dropping down onto the ground next to his cousin. Though he was supposedly the star of the party, he easily went ignored with his silent and anti social demeanor. The only person who he could always count on to be around him was Axel, whether he liked it or not. His parents were gone, he had no siblings, and no way in hell could he possibly have a significant other. Zexion was simply different. The near opposite of his redheaded cousin, he didn't have many friends, nor had he ever had a lover. He'd just never met anyone his "type".

"So." Axel hiccuped, running a hand through gravity defying spikes of hair. "You're the big sixteen!" Another hiccup. "S'bout time you get married ain't it?"

Zexion groaned loudly, his head falling back to the sky. The blue was completely covered by the dark gray of storm clouds. An ominous thunderclap rang through the sky but the party went undisturbed aboard the deck of the ship. Minstrels played on their lutes and guitars, drunken party goers of the royal court swinging and dancing, screaming and drinking. Exactly the kind of party Zexion hated.

"Hey, Ax, you wanna hear something funny? The crown prince asked, pulling his cloak tighter about him as the wind picked up. Standing, he turned to face the ocean, resting his elbows on the railing, his chin in his hands.

"Maybe." The redhead slurred, moving to mirror his cousin's position beside him. Around them, raindrops began to patter onto the wood of the deck.

Zexion sighed. "I want a husband. Not a wife."

Axel seemed rather nonchalant about his cousin's sudden exit from the closet of homosexuality. "Dude, how long do you think I've been waiting for you to tell me that you're gay?"

"From the reaction, I'm assuming you've waited a while." Zexion shrugged.

"Dude, we've gotta go out into town and find you a hot piece of ass!" Axel turned, tossing his arms out wide. In his serious intoxication, he didn't seem to notice how he had smacked his cousin square in the back, vaulting him overboard.

With a yelp, Zexion fell forward into the water, immediately being swallowed by the churning waves of the sea as another thunderclap rang out loudly.

"Zexion?" Axel looked around with an eyebrow raised. "Zexion?" Looking over the railing, he saw a shadow sinking into the depths of the storm churned waves and a ripple spreading outwards across the blue waves turning black in the night.

"ZEXION! MAN OVERBOARD!"

Demyx ignored Roxas' screams for him to stop, zooming through the black water, intent upon finding more treasures. He was examining a silver something that he'd found sinking into his depths when a certain heavy something came floating down to knock against the merman's back.

He was beautiful. A gentle, delicate legged one. He wore fine, black silk clothing and a black cloak that swirled around the both of them. He had fine silk lilac hair. Demyx barely had a chance to look into those bright, beautiful eyes before they closed, the final stream of bubbles escaping from the legged one's mouth ceasing as he stopped flailing, losing consciousness.

Demyx immediately dropped the silver treasure. Eyes wide, he reached out hesitantly, taking the legged one his arms. What was he doing so far down into the ocean?

"Demyx, we're too close to land-" Roxas finally caught up with Demyx. Taking a deep breath,
he finally took notice of what Demyx was carrying. "DEMYX!" He pointed to the lilac haired one. "Where the hell did you get that?"

"He fell on me!" Demyx yelled, holding up his hands in innocence, letting Zexion slip from his grasp down farther. Yelping, Demyx quickly grabbed the legged one again, holding him close. He looked down at the legged one's closed eyes and perfect skin, then back up at Roxas. "His heart is beating, but he's not breathing!" Demyx put his ear close to the legged one's mouth, blushing ever so lightly.

Roxas reached out, placing a hand over the legged one's heart and one just above his mouth. "Come on, take him to the surface!"

Demyx wrapped his arms around the legged one, dragging the unconscious heap behind him as Roxas lead them both towards the closest land, which was not that far away. Moving quickly, both boys allowed the current to drag them up onto the beach. Demyx laid the legged one down, flicking his tail uselessly against the sand as he realized the legged one was still not breathing.

"Rox, he's not breathing! What do we do? Please help him! Rox!"

"Uh, okay, think Rox, think... I read about this in a book somewhere..." Roxas flicked his tail in annoyance, sending sand flying with every thump. Fisting his hand, he brought to repeatedly hit against his forehead, literally trying to beat out the answer that he knew was there. "AHA!" He yelled.

"What?"

Roxas leaned forward, placing both hands over the legged one's heart. He pressed down once, twice, thrice. "Damnit, this is stupid! This is so stupid!" He hissed, repeating the process. "I can't believe I'm doing this, your sister would kill me!" Roxas looked up to his cousin. "If Larxene kills me because of this-!"

"Roxas, just, please, help him! Please, please, please!" Demyx's tail slapped against the ground.

"I'm working on it!" Roxas snapped. Reaching out, he grabbed one of Demyx's hands, placing it over the legged one's nose. "Pinch his nose!" As soon as Demyx did so, Roxas reached out. Grabbing the back of Demyx's head, he forced the merman's face down, his lips crashing with the legged one's. "Blow!"

"MMMMMMPPPHHHHH?"

"BLOW, DAMN YOU!" Roxas yelled again. If he didn't love his cousin so much he wouldn't be doing this. He had no interest in helping a legged person, but damn, he loved his cousin! But damn, he was not gonna do the mouth-to-mouth part, no matter how gay or how much he loved his cousin.

Demyx turned a bright red, but blew as hard as he could into the the legged one's mouth. The sensation of what he considered his first kiss slowly subsided, just before the lilac haired boy threw up seawater in his mouth.

"Ah! Sick! EW EW EW EW EW!" Demyx spat the water from his own mouth onto the sand around choked coughs. Roxas chuckled a few times, and flipped the legged one onto his stomach for him to vomit the sea water out onto the sand.

Roxas sighed in relief. "He's fine." He looked up at his cousin. "Come on, our job is done, let's go." With a bit of effort, Roxas was able to pull himself back into the currents of the ocean.

Demyx looked to the spot where his cousin had jumped into the ocean. He was about to follow, when the legged one rolled over onto his back, with a groan, his eyes still closed. "Ugh..." He winced uncomfortably. "Axel.. I'm going to murder you..."

Demyx pulled himself over to the legged one's side, one two fingers pressed to his lips.

"Nnnn..." The legged one opened his eyes, staring straight up at Demyx.

Face red, the merman threw himself back into the crashing waters.