Another drabble for the collection, this one is kind of angsty.
Prompt #61: Fairy Tale
Series: X/1999
Characters/Pairings: Yuzuriha, Kamui. Implied Fuuma/Kamui, if you squint.
Summary: Yuzuriha called it a fairy tale, like the little mermaid. Kamui knows how the real story ends.
"Have you read the story of the Little Mermaid?" Yuzuriha asked one day, absently stroking Inuki as her bright eyes stared intently into the face of the boy sitting across from her.
"Ah." Kamui nodded his assent, wondering where this was going. The fourteen year old beamed at him, rubbing Inuki's ears.
"You remind me of that story. You and Fuuma. You're chasing after him, right? To save him! But you don't have the sword or all of your powers yet. Like how the mermaid lost her voice!" Kamui wasn't sure how they related but Yuzuriha was insistent. "The mermaid gave up her voice to become human, so that she could make the prince fall in love with her! You gave up the sword so that Fuuma couldn't become more powerful and you could save him! Just like the mermaid, your perseverance will see you through!"
"I don't think that this is quite the same." Kamui told her gently, careful not to offend her. He disliked seeing her upset, as she was the only one besides Sorata that could remain so cheerful in the face of the apocalypse. As annoying as they could be, he would be more disturbed to see them unhappy. Yuzuriha's cheeks puffed up indignantly, feeling like she was being treated as a child again.
"No, it is! You'll see! You'll rescue Fuuma, your precious person, and save the world! It will all work out if we work hard!" Arashi came in at that moment, telling the younger girl that she needed her help for dinner. Yuzuriha cheerfully agreed to follow her, and with an enthusiastic promise to Kamui that dinner would spectacular she dashed off after the miko, who had already left.
They were nothing like a fairytale, Kamui thought as he watched Yuzuriha leave, Inuki on her heels. It was nice that she was so idealistic, and her faith in him was reassuring. But if she knew the way that the Little Mermaid really ended, she would not have compared them so eagerly. The teenager quietly stood up, stretching carefully so he would not agitate his most recent wounds (given by Fuuma himself, though Kamui forced those memories from his mind). With a soft sigh he head towards his room, head bowed down I thought.
In the original story of the Little Mermaid, the prince did not realize that the mermaid was the one who saved him, and he married a princess from another land. The mermaid was heartbroken. And since he did not love her back, she would soon become seafoam. She had given him everything. Her voice was sacrificed for legs, and every step she took would send the pain of a thousand needles through her body. She did everything for him. The night of the prince's wedding, the mermaid had been given a dagger by her sisters, who told her to kill the man she loved and douse her legs in his blood. Only then could she become a mermaid again and be saved. But her love for him made it impossible for her to hurt him, and she threw herself into the sea.
There was a parallel there. Kamui would be given the Divine Sword. They would expect him to defeat Fuuma, the 'Kamui' of the Dragons of Earth. Only then would the Earth be saved. He viciously wondered if the other Dragons of Heaven expected him to soak in Fuuma's blood as well. But he could not kill his precious friend, the boy he had looked up to as a child and cherished enough to distance himself once he had finally returned to Tokyo. He would not kill Fuuma, even if it would save himself from damnation.
He wondered if he would turn to dust, just as the mermaid became sea foam.