(Don't worry, this hasn't been taking away from my time working on OGC. Most of this was written, like, last June. Ohyeah. I just never got around to finishing it. AND YET.
Anyways, yes, for the record; this mixes the original tale of the Little Mermaid, the Disney movie, and some of my own stuff, (mainly the gayness) in a blender. So it won't be a miserycutting angstfuckfest. I know how those work, and this isn't one of those stories.
SCENERY PORN IS SCENERY PORNERIFFIC. Man I bet someone's got a fetish for that. Scenery Porn=faunophilia?
Shit. I think I just made the internet cry. Ohwell.
Ugh, sorry for not updating anything yesterday; I planned to do this yesterday, but I got four hours of sleep, so I basically got my shiny Entei from gamestop and went to bed. At like six. Look, I don't judge your sleeping habits FELIX.
Seriously, what the fuck, gamestop? I've had to go to that place twice in like two weeks just to get those fucking Pokemon! There had to have been a more efficient way to do that! Jerks.
Ugh, I am such a corporate whore. God dammit Pokeymans. You kill me.
Annnyyyways, I hope you enjoy this! Scenery Porn ends in the next chapter, I swear. ^^;
Don't own KH.
Dedicated to the 3DS OMFG IT LOOKS AWESOME.)
"You must find true love's kiss before the sun sets in three days, or you will die."
Xigbar jumped out of his chair, turning around to see his friend smirking at him.
"...Are you serious, Xaldin?" He asked in a hushed voice. The other man burst out laughing.
"Hell no! Good god, you should have seen your face!" He shook his head in amazement, still laughing as he sat across from Xigbar at the table. "So, best of wishes upon the day of your birth, darling." He purred. Xigbar rolled his eyes.
"Christ, don't you start." He muttered. "It's damn annoying when you get so verbose." Xaldin sighed, tugging on Xigbar's ponytail gently.
"Are you doing okay?" He asked. "Seriously, Xig. I know you hate all these lavish birthday celebrations, but at least this year you're going to be out on the ocean rather than cooped up in a ballroom." He reminded him. Xigbar's eyes brightened slightly.
"Oh yeah...I guess. It's just..." He sighed, taking the tumbler of whiskey he'd set beside him and lifting it to his lips, draining it in one swallow before shoving the bottle and tumbler away. "Christ, nevermind. I couldn't drink this problem away if I tried." Xaldin raised an eyebrow.
"Is it something more significant than last year's fiasco with the princess?" He said, smiling slightly. Xigbar groaned, clapping his palm over his face.
"Oh god, that was the worst. Thanks for pretending to make out with me, by the way. You fake-kiss like a girl." He teased. Xaldin glared at him, but Xigbar just laughed, shrugging it off. "Nah, it's just...my parents are starting to get desperate. I feel bad for them...they know I'm bisexual, right? But they're just convinced that the 'bi' means I will set myself up with a woman." Xigbar muttered. Xaldin sighed.
"And you're certain you won't, Xigbar? After all, you can hardly hold them at fault for wanting an heir to the kingdom. Democracies are too complicated." He said wryly. "And they don't have the lavish parties, either." Xigbar laughed.
"Honestly, Xal? I dunno. But the real heart of the matter is that I don't love anyone right now, and call me a sappy romantic, but I don't feel like getting hitched to a woman I don't love." He replied. Xaldin smirked.
"It's just marriage, Xigbar. There's always extramarital options." He teased. Xigbar rolled his eyes.
"Illegitimate children tend to start wars." He replied. Xaldin grinned.
"And that's terrible." He deadpanned, clinking glasses with Xigbar and filling them with wine. Xigbar snorted, downing his glass.
"Indeed." He muttered.
The castle that the High Prince Xigbar lived in was a beautiful architectural wonder. Its' high, sloping walls were reminiscient of the swoop of a conch shell, and resembled the insides as well-a creamy pale white with soft shades of pink. Delicate spires of gold rose high in the air, staying perfectly still, frozen in a graceful pirouette above the towers of the castle.
A large, ornate glass wall, fit with shards of sea glass in all the colors of the rainbow spread around the front wall of the castle, with a seemingly endless expanse of color shining from it whenever the sun set.
The beach it loomed over was just as beautiful, if not more so. It had sand that was as fine as silk and white as porcelain. It shifted with small soughing sounds as the bold shades of emerald-azure waves rushed over it, sapphires spilling out from the vast ocean and onto the shores.
The rocks that rose up out of the ocean were like stalwart guards, all of them rigid and massive, providing the perfect perches for seabirds with plumage in all shades of the earth, sea, and sky. The plants that entwined themselves around their forms were healthy and green, their flowers bursting into vibrant bloom as the sun shone down upon them.
Small shells staked their claim upon the sands, constantly competing with glittering, smooth rocks, worn down by the ocean, for attention. The shells were all varied, each with its' own unique pattern, enough so that they could be compared to snowflakes. To watch the ocean endlessly present them as gifts to the beach was a sight to behold; the glimmering waves sending small clusters of shells, stones, and beachwood up to enthrone themselves upon the shores in front of the castle.
Yet, for all the beauty above the land, the sea could match it, stone for stone.
The sea around the castle was commonly regarded as the most beautiful expanse of the ocean around the islands as could be. The waters shone brightest there, the stones and shells were the most beautiful, the pieces of beachwood more gnarled and unique than any other. Many people had often wondered why; simple currents, perhaps? The way the ocean moved among itself?
But no current could produce this much beauty. No, it was something else entirely. To one of those who tended the water, guarded it and made it beautiful, this castle was his pride and joy.
For as kingdoms reign above the sea, so too do they below.
If a human was to somehow find their way so deep below the sea that the human world became nothing more than a distant memory, they might happen upon the kingdom of the Sea Nymphs-more commonly known as 'mermaids.'
They were the creatures that tended to the ocean, those that guarded the waters from prying human eyes, watched over even the smallest of the creatures that inhabited their seas, and occasionally, those who chose a beach to take as their own, making it more beautiful than any architecture a human might design to match.
It just so happened that the castle of the prince, and the beach that stretched out in front of it, was one of those few chosen beaches. Thus, the beauty of the castle flourished, and even the monarchs couldn't understand why.
Perhaps, however, Xigbar knew. It certainly seemed that the prince was attracted to the ocean and its' treasures. He often went and sat on one of the rocks, letting the ocean crash around him as waves lapped up the sides of the rocks to pool within small valleys on the surface of the stone. His friends knew to let him be when he was on the beach. They too seemed to understand that Xigbar was looking for something.
However, no matter how feverently he waited, no matter how keenly his eye observed the seas that lay before him, he never saw a thing. Sometimes he saw a shimmering flash across the water...but that was all...
...
The castle that housed those that reigned below the sea almost outshone the one of the royals above. Every treasure the ocean had to gift upon them was inlaid within the walls; mother-of-pearl, shining albalone shells, ribbed oysters that shone silver, swaying strands of emerald kelp that would get caught in a current and dance along an invisible ballroom floor before settling down upon the castle's courtyard.
The sand that was on the bottom of the ocean was just as pure and fine as the sand on the beach. It sparkled when tossed into the water, dancing about and wavering under the caresses of both the currents and the sun that shone from above.
Small flowers had adapted to the seawater and flowered beautifully. They grew as wild and free as they pleased, spilling over onto the paths that lead in and out of the castle. The paths themselves were inlaid with the finest stones, shells, and sea-glass that the mermaids could find, and the flowers only served to heighten their beauty.
The castle itself was carved out of a massive obsidian stone that had been formed millions of years ago by a volcano that had once erupted under the ocean. It had been brought to this sea by a massive sea serpent, as the story went. Wherever it had come from, it was a glittering monument to the natural beauty of the ocean.
Sea creatures of all sizes and species darted to and fro from within its' walls. It was an open castle where the denizens of the sea could come and go as they pleased. The brilliant coral branches that spread themselves out in front of the castle were the closest thing to a defense; the castle needed no protection; it had no enemies. All the creatures of the ocean would sooner die than harm the castle-or the family that ruled within its' walls.
The great Sea King, Sephiroth, his wife, Cloud, and their four children were the ruling family that the whole ocean bowed to and respected. Sephiroth himself was rumored to be the son of the sea god himself, and Cloud was said to be the result of a union between an air spirit and one of their own. No matter their sires, the two were both regal and grand; the steadfastly devoted rulers of the sea.
Their eldest son was often mistaken for the eldest daughter. This was a sore point with Marluxia, who had often come close to strangling a potential suitor when the question was, (inevitably), brought up. However, whether or not those who looked at him were sure whether he was male or female, his beauty could not be denied. His hair was more vivid than the brightest rose-colored coral, and his eyes were the same eerie shade of blue that he shared with his mother and siblings. It was he who had coaxed the flowers into settling in amongst the kelp and stones, and they were his pride and joy.
(No one had the heart to tell him he was merely making the situation of his gender worse.)
Their two daughters were both as beautiful as their older brother. Namine had the same blonde hair as her mother, only paler and finer, resembling the sand upon the seafloor. Her eyes stood out among her pale face and hair, expressive and wide with childish naivety.
Kairi was vivid, bright as a sunset. She had auburn hair, a fact that Sephiroth often teased Cloud for, accusing him of not being a natural blonde, (much to their children's amusement.) However, regardless of what genetic quirk had given both her and Marluxia their strange haircolor, she shared the same blue eyes that all four children did, and they glittered with the same shine as her hair as it caught the sunlight.
And then there was Demyx. The youngest son, and the (curious and annoying) light of his family's lives. He wore his hair short and spiky, with only a few strands hanging free to dance with the currents. His eyes glimmered with curiousity and intelligence, and he had already had almost as many suitors as his sisters and brother. Yet he rejected them all, preferring to keep company with his sitar and compose his music.
Both his parents had tried to convince him to at least socialize more with the other merfolk his age, but Demyx simply shook his head. "They can't tell me any new stories," he'd reply, "and I'm tired of hearing how beautiful I am."
Marluxia would inevitably reply that he never got tired of it, and Demyx would glare at him, thus starting an argument between the two in which Sephiroth refused to intervene, meaning that Namine would usually have to threaten to feed Marluxia's flowers to her pet whale shark, Bessie. Then the two would go off and sulk, and eventually, the whole cycle would start up again.
However, this didn't stop both Cloud and Sephiroth from trying, and finally, they found the one thing that would make him attend a ball.