Summary : In the eighteenth century, a pirate contemplates dreamily the merfolk that he captured. AkuRoku. One-shot.
Language : Reviewed English
Characters: Roxas & Axel
Kind of text: Tragedy & Romance
Rating : T
Disclaimer : Square Enix and Disney. Inspired by the wonderful drawing of xRandiHansen (check out it there: http : // xrandihansen . deviantart . com / art / AkuRoku-as-pirate-and-mermaid-139296699 (without spaces). She helped me with the story too. Thanks to Loony30 too. Also this fan fiction belongs solely to DuncanHeart, who I am correcting this great Fanfic for.
October 1798. Leaning on the railing, boots on the pontoon, the pirate thoughtfully sought the gaze of the creature which was locked in the cage below. Despite the regular wash of waves sent in from the sea, he didn't seem really aware and he nodded in a hesitant manner. Then, his eyes, as blue as the environment from which he came, settled on the young man. The visual exchange couldn't have been shorter, however, the red-haired man saw all the distress in this being.
"Well Axel, daydreaming?" said a voice from behind the questioned. It was followed with a pat on Axel's back, which made his dinner go in the opposite direction.
T he man with the greying hair that was drawn into a ponytail, looked with his single yellow eye at the creature. "Actually, I never thought that such things existed. What name have they got already? It's crazy, I can never remember what that boring little man tells me, that Zexion."
"A merfolk, Xigbar." Axel breathed, a glimmer in his eyes betraying his desire to capture the attention of the boy-fish.
His prayers were heard briefly when the poorly merfolk turned his eyes to Axel, almost soothed by the rocking of the water. It lapped at his fish-like tail which was covered with scales of a light translucent blue, which colour also covered his whole body. His gills, hidden by wild blonde wisps, stirred in an instant on contact with the water. He lay flat on the bottom of his cage to be closer to his element. The sun was burning his skin. The too fleeting caress of water made the boy gasp in pain, and his body which was so comfortable in the sea, seemed too clumsy here. Like a cat immersed. He closed his eyes on the image of one of his captors.
"If you say so." Xigbar said. "It's a good catch anyway… well, the chores aren't missing. You know that here, Axel…men who spend time thinking too much end up on the ocean floor with a bullet in their skull."
With this somewhat gentle hint that Axel should get to work, the old pirate left him. The red-haired pirate raised a last lingering look at this merfolk. Hands supported the head which was placed on its side, like the rest of his body, illuminated with a gentle blue, and his nostalgic eyes looked at Axel, in an obvious attitude of supplication.
Axel gave a "Poor guy" aloud, before leaving the dock to deploy the sails of the ship.
Axel was daydreaming in the noisy room, his long pale fingers tapping on the roughly hewn wooden table, his eyes fixed on an invisible point. In his mind he could see a blue figure.
One of his companions, encouraged by the others, gave him a nudge in the ribs. He blinked for a moment and then smiled.
"Well, Axel? You still thinking about your fiancé?"
Axel had an amused grin on his face, and after a hesitation, gave:
"Uh-huh… I can assure you that I am not married yet, and if a charming creature came to meet me, it's certain that my loyalty will be sorely tested. Anyway, I'd have to survive this century to hope to see her again."
"It's always the same with these rich kids. They always say such large, complicated sentences." A man laughed in front of him.
"Be happy, my friends!" Exclaimed another hilariously. "He comes to bring us his knowledge and his light to us, scoundrels!"
"Facing the sea and the storms, every man is a man." A drunkard declared with the utmost seriousness, before collapsing on the table to sleep the booze off.
"Unless it's a mermaid, like the one we captured. In which case, any man would eat his neighbour." Said Xigbar.
Axel shivered and his neighbours threw him a startled look.
"Man, you look a little weird today…"
"You want a little of rum, "the light"?" Another pirate suggested.
"I think I want to vomit." Said Axel, who really didn't feel good.
"Be kind. Go vomit on the pontoon, or better yet, in the sea. You'll feed all the little fishes and the mermaid will be grateful."
"And maybe he can give you a reward." One pirate said suggestively, but was berated by another.
"Idiot! He's a man!"
"Well he has to leave his cage, and, except if he uses his powe-"
The pirates were petrified with fear, and they threw salt over their shoulder*. By the time he left, Axel was covered with it.
He closed the door of the room and faced the night. The warm temperature encouraged him to remove his black headband that held his wild array of spikes back. He clutched it in his palm loosely. His free had slipped to the buttons on his white shirt, yellowed by the journey, and freed those which were closest to his throat, exposing a little of his chest.
Around him, smothering all colours, was the black as the evening completed its domination over the world. Only the surface of the water, discovered by the brilliance of the moon, enabled him to see a shape, moving at the mercy of the waves entering the cage. Axel saw hands moving slowly to grip the bars, and the slightly splashed shape of the merfolk's angelic face. Even at this distance, his golden hair and translucent skin appeared like a beacon to Axel's eyes.
The man sank to rest his elbows on the railing, resting his head on slender hands, emerald eyes half closed.
The being suddenly looked towards him. A sly and brutal assault. From the languid wave position had adopted a few seconds before, he succeeded a whole movement of protection against the unknown enemy. He straightened up, put his hands over his tail and stood motionless despite to shock the cage suffered.
Axel wrote a sweet smile across his face, and the being, recognizing him, took his original position, but kept an eye on him. His nostrils dilated slightly and regularly, showing that merfolk used both their gills and his nose. Although, it seemed more difficult to use the latter. Another glance from the mermaid made Axel bend a little more over the railing, as if his heart had already left his body to join the boy-fish and Axel was unconsciously trying to retrieve it. What was this strange attraction acting on this pirate? It seemed that his mind was fuzzy and losing control. It was if he'd lost any desire to prevent himself bending. But he tried, again and again, but only getting closer and closer.
But suddenly the ship hit a rock. Axel took his head in his hands to fight off the attraction, his grip loosening on his black headband.
The blond boy received the cloth against his chest, before which he closed his delicate, webbed hand. He cast a last gaze at his observer before the cage suddenly broke.
The cave seemed particularly sinister. It remained dark and terribly silent. Despite the debris that lined the huge cavern, it didn't produce any noise. Not a groan, not a whisper. The cave remained impassive, indifferent to that carnage that had taken place. All those past lives, crushed under the steamroller of death. The remains of this operation were wrung around this den. Axel seemed to wonder if it was luck that had led them there. The mast, guillotined in the sudden encounter of ship and rock, fell onto his leg. In the water, floating with difficulty, he struggled to reach a small bay nestled between two large, pointed rocks, which he managed to tough with the tip of his fingers. When he finally got there, Axel let his head rest against the hard brown stone.
A soft groan was heard. Axel immediately raised his head across to a blue light, stranded on a shoreline a few yards away. He too had survived the sinking of the ship. His little blond head turned towards him, whilst his body moved convulsively for the return to sea.
And he kept his grip firmly on the black headband.
Axel dragged himself with difficult onto the shore. When he came close to the merfolk, a cold hand grabbed onto his arm, light blue, pulling him forwards. Inspiring for a breath of air, the red-haired man tried to stand, only to find himself sitting once again. Again those blue hands, grasped the collar of his shirt in pure desperation. Axel let them go to his neck. Once there, the boy pulled himself forward painfully, his tail wagging with the effort.
Axel, calmly took him in his arms. With the left hand, he supported the back of the merfolk. With the other, he took the headband from the webbed hand to look at it with surprise.
The merfolk snuggled against his chest, avidly looking for the touch of soaked tissue and cloth. His fish-like tail grazed Axel's right leg. Axel closed his arms on that skin. It was surprisingly rubbery to touch. Like those dolphins he had the luck to see on his journey. But when the mermaid began to bring his lips to his face, he recoiled with a flash of lucidity.
The boy looked at him in surprise, his face something sweet. Innocent, and nothing like the mermaids he had imagined. Their faces blacken by grime, polluted by the human flesh they had eaten. Terrifying eyes. He just seemed to want… in fact, it was rather unclear exactly what he wanted. His whole being and aura was impenetrable, a nice picture without relief. This charming person who had the power of attraction over Axel.
He remained completely motionless, to use it when the young pirate came back to him. Eyes half closed, they spent the night together. One against the other, forehead against forehead.
The sun was shining when in the cave when the merfolk kissed Axel's forehead and the pirate awoke with difficulty. The boy looked at him without looking nice or loving. Just neutral. He pointed, without speaking, to the sea. The look he gave to it, startled the young pirate.
The closed face. Axel, relying on his good leg, gently and carefully lifted the boy into is arms. Without apparent emotion, the merfolk placed his arm around his saviour's neck, without ceasing to look at the sea with passion. As they approached the sea, the boy moved into Axel's arms, until his adoration for water was reflected on his angel's face. The pirate shut his eyes for a moment, biting his lip.
Arriving at the few inches of foam left by the waves, Axel crouched quietly, painfully, to leave the boy-fish to dip his body towards the water. He was obviously going to rejoin his family without more words, but Axel grabbed him by the arm.
The red haired man couldn't say what he wanted. The merfolk looked at him with incomprehension and retried diving, thought still unsuccessful, retained by Axel. Again blue eyes looked at him, examined the face in front of them, and fingers felt along the contours of the eyes of the person who would not let him go. This was what perhaps drove the red-head pirate to pin his hands on the nape of the merfolk's neck and kiss his lips. The kiss deepened more and more. Then the mermaid pushed Axel back and plunged into the ocean.
The pirate stayed there, kneeling beside the shore, lips wet.
The day that followed, Axel remained lying on the shore. Contemplative. Was he thinking about his girlfriend who was waiting on the continent, hoping to marry her once he had proved to her parents his value? To the kiss exchanged with this creature which was not supposed to exist? Did he want to see him again?
Nobody came for him in this damp cave, the prison of water. The extent of his cage was an island of rock no bigger than a cabin. Just as the boy was trapped between four panels at the beginning of the journey. Axel was condemned to die alone of starvation on the island, enchanted by a mermaid.
…No. It'd be too stupid. But the red-haired man didn't move, as the hours passed with indifference.
Axel's green eyes were looking at the moon, only traces of light in this darkened world. Suddenly, a blue thing pulled itself half out of the water, and leaned towards him.
The pirate looked at him and said: "You came back…you weren't required to…"
The merfolk blinked and tilted his head to the side to fix him intently in his gaze. Axel touched the translucent cheek with his fingers and continued: "I have to admit… I missed you… a little. I'm so hungry…"
The boy must have thought he was asking a question because he frowned and seemed puzzled. Then his face brightened, and he took Axel by the shoulders. And put his head under the water.
Axle blinked but the merfolk didn't let him recover.
"Roxas… My name is Roxas." His mouth articulated. When the Red-head was nearly drowned, Roxas pushed him onto the bank. Axel rested his head on the ground before spitting out the water he'd swallowed painfully. The blond boy watched in amazement.
After a few minutes, the young pirate breathed more normally. He fixed his gaze on the merfolk.
"Roxas. Hey… weird. I didn't think you had a name…"
The mermaid listened without understanding a word. Axel abandoned any attempt at conversation and stopped, giving way to admire this strange young man mentally. When daylight appeared, Roxas touched the hand of the red-haired pirate, before diving underwater to avoid the bite of the cruel sun. The sailor tried to catch him and shouted:
"You expect to return? Ro… Roxas! Roxas!"
But only the echo of his solitude was heard.
Another day passed without the boy's return. Axel had been dead for three hours since. But his spirit wasn't extinguished when the dawn of the third day appeared. Without Roxas' return.
END
Thanks again for the help, ch4ppy-py0n! ^^