A/N: Hey~! So this is going to be a two-shot story, which was requested on tumblr. :D Partial genderbend, because I have an intense love for fem!Lovi. Hmm, mentions of Spamano in second part, but this is mostly a gen!fic.

Scavengers of the Sea

Part 1

At this point, Ludwig should know better than to be surprised by anything his brother said or did. Gilbert operated on—what his younger brother considered to be—an entirely different plane of existence than the rest of the world, after all. He had an incredibly inflated view of his own self-worth, a tendency toward odd beliefs, an apparent inability to consider the consequences of his actions... Ludwig had long ago lost his ability to be surprised by anything Gilbert-related.

Or, so he'd thought.

"We've got to go!" His brother slammed his hands against the edge of Ludwig's kitchen table for the second time this morning, almost snarling the words. "What are you waiting for? I don't know how long Antonio can keep her there!"

Ludwig's eyes automatically moved to the plate that had jumped at Gilbert's slam. A plate that held the remnants of his half-finished breakfast; what anyone would consider to be an entirely average sort of breakfast. Two fried eggs on top of whole-wheat, buttered toast, three sausages, a cup of coffee, a glass of two percent milk.

He'd been expecting today to be rather dull, filled with nothing more exciting than chores and yardwork. But, then his older brother suddenly burst into his kitchen, screaming that Ludwig had to come with him right now. The exclamation, itself, wasn't entirely abnormal, but the panic and terror in Gilbert's voice definitely was...

His brother was staring at him from across the table, his eyes wild and his fingers clenched tightly around a handful of tablecloth. His chest was heaving, as if he'd run here.

"What happened?" Ludwig finally asked.

Gilbert shook his head, his lips drawing back from teeth in a snarl. "I don't have time to explain! You just need to come with me now!"

"But..." Gilbert, however, apparently wasn't in the mood to answer any questions. He released the tablecloth and then turned and sped out the door—which he hadn't bothered to close behind him after entering.

Ludwig knew that he didn't have any actual choice when it came to following him or not. He sighed and then rose from the table, allowing himself a few moments to scrape his uneaten breakfast into the garbage can and set his plate and cups in the sink. Normally, he would never leave the house without washing all of the dishes and cutlery, but he rather doubted that Gilbert could stand waiting that long. He would just do it when he returned home.

Perhaps Gilbert's issue would resolve itself quickly? Except that Ludwig knew that this was merely wishful thinking.

He followed his brother outside, turning to lock the door behind him. Gilbert made a sound of impatience and repeated, "Come on, we've got to hurry!"

"Why?" He was rather annoyed by this refusal to answer his questions. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Gilbert exclaimed, before he turned and began sprinting toward the gravel path that led to the nearby beach. That made warning bells immediately begin ringing in Ludwig's mind. If Gilbert was panicking and it involved the ocean... "Just hurry up!"

Ludwig reluctantly followed, easily catching up to his brother within a few moments. He ran down this path every morning, as part of his daily exercise routine. "Is somebody hurt?" he asked.

Gilbert turned his head slightly and panted out, "No, although someone's going to be if we don't get there in time."

Ludwig wasn't entirely sure if his brother was referring to him or someone else. The obvious irritation in his tone, however, was enough to make him decide that it would probably be best to just wait for an answer. He'd find out what was going on eventually.

It only took about ten minutes to reach the beach from Ludwig's home. Gilbert immediately put on an extra burst of speed when they reached the rocky shore, heading straight toward the pier. Ludwig could see two figures, one standing on the end nearest to the beach, the other seated at the opposite end of the dock with his legs dangling over the water. Beneath him was a dark shape that could have been another person, although it was difficult to tell.

The figure closest to the beach raised both arms and waved toward them. As they approached, Ludwig could hear, "She's still here, mon ami!"

Who was this 'she'?

Gilbert slowed significantly at those words, giving Ludwig the chance to catch up again. He could see instant relief pass over his brother's face, even as he panted, completely out of breath.

The figure on the pier stepped down onto the beach and approached them. One of Gilbert's two best friends, Francis Bonnefoy. Ludwig would assume that the other figure on the dock was Antonio, his other friend.

"You found him. That is good," Francis said to Gilbert, as they moved closer. He seemed oddly-nervous. He kept turning his head toward the end of the dock, where Ludwig could just make out the seated figure of their friend, as if checking to make sure he was still there.

"What's going on?" Ludwig asked.

He knew that if anyone was going to answer his questions, it'd be Francis. Out of the three of them, he was the most trustworthy. Although that wasn't saying much, since the trio were well-known throughout their sleepy village for being troublemakers, and Ludwig knew better than to trust any of them entirely.

"Gilbert dropped his cross in the ocean."

Oh... That explained Gilbert's panic. Ludwig knew what that pendant meant to his older brother. It was the Teutonic cross, given to him years ago by their beloved uncle Fritz. Gilbert had always worshiped the older man and, since his death, considered that pendant to be his most precious possession.

If it had fallen into the ocean, though, then...it was gone. It'd take a miracle to find it.

But, Francis and Gilbert were now moving back onto the pier. Not even going underneath, where they would logically have to go to begin searching. Ludwig followed, confused.

Antonio didn't even seem to notice his approach. He was too busy speaking to...someone. "Aren't they delicious? Mamá and I grow the tomatoes on our farm! I bet you don't have tomatoes under the ocean, sí? I don't think they could grow down there."

Whatever Ludwig had been expecting, it was not what he found. He approached the end of the dock, glancing down curiously toward the water.

And met a pair of hazel eyes, staring right back up at him.

"Ludwig!" Antonio finally seemed to notice that he was standing right beside him. He lifted his head, flashing him a brilliant smile before he returned his attention to the dark-haired girl currently staring at them from the water. "This is our new friend! I don't know what her name is, but she likes tomatoes!"

She wasn't wearing a top...

Ludwig's brain had completely short-circuited at this realization. There was a girl, in the water... Topless. One of her hands was tightly gripping the closest pillar, presumably to keep herself in place, the other was wrapped around a half-eaten sandwich. She frowned as he continued to stare at her, unable to turn his eyes away.

Gilbert snorted. "Yeah, she's got tits. She's a bitch, though, so don't even bother."

Ludwig had actually managed to forget about his brother's presence. Now he jerked his gaze away, horrified by his own staring.

Francis was smirking at him. Gilbert was scowling, which definitely emphasized the strangeness of the situation. Normally he'd be making lewd comments and making fun of him for being 'a pervert'.

"I...um..."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and then pointed toward the girl. "She stole my cross."

What?

Ludwig's eyes automatically returned to the girl, who had apparently lost interest in their conversation and was now eyeing the sandwich again. She opened her mouth and Ludwig suddenly noticed...

Her teeth.

They were sharper than any normal person's teeth, more like a shark or piranha or some other carnivorous animal. She tore a piece of the sandwich off in a freakily-violent motion and he noticed, at the same moment, that there were five slits down the visible side of her throat.

What?

"You've gotta get it back from her! I tried getting it, but she threw a rock at me!"

"You scared her, Gil," Antonio responded. "Even if she can't understand us, I'm pretty sure she realized that you were angry."

"She stole my cross!"

"Technically, cher, you dropped it on her. It wasn't 'stealing', so much as she's refusing to return it."

"Shut the fuck up, Francis."

Ludwig felt like the metaphorical rug of the world had been yanked out from underneath his feet. He could only stare in amazement as the girl released the pillar and floated backwards. In the process, revealing that instead of a pair of legs, her lower-half instead consisted of a long, red-colored tail.

The word immediately burst into his head, despite Ludwig's attempt to mentally deny the reality. A mermaid.

"No, this is..." This was impossible. If there was one thing Ludwig knew, it was that mermaids didn't exist. They were mythical creatures. Key word being 'mythical'.

"Incredible, isn't it?" Francis remarked. He sounded much, much too calm right now. "There's so much we have left to learn about the ocean, apparently."

Gilbert frowned as he glanced between his panicking-brother and smirking-best friend. "Dude, you freaking out 'cause she's a mermaid apparently? Who cares about that? She's a thief!"

Maybe he was dreaming, right now? He had to be. There was no way...

Except, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a sudden impact against the side of his head; something wet and slimy slapped against him and then plopped onto the wet pier. He looked down and saw a large clump of seaweed.

"Mermaid, don't throw things at Ludwig!"

"Told you she was a bitch."

The girl finally made a sound, which sounded like something halfway between the clicking of a dolphin and a human's mocking laughter. She used her tail to propel herself underwater, earning an exclamation of panic from Gilbert, but then she reappeared closer to the pier. Although, Ludwig noted, she was taking care to remain out of reach of Antonio.

Francis suddenly stepped forward, passing Ludwig to stand next to Antonio. The mermaid eyed him warily, but he just smiled and then turned his head toward Ludwig. "She is a real mermaid, I'm relatively certain. I also believe that she's intelligent, although she obviously doesn't understand English."

"She doesn't understand Spanish either," Antonio helpfully added. "I asked her where she came from in Spanish and she didn't answer."

Ludwig honestly had no idea what to think or do, right now. He couldn't believe... Maybe this was just a prank. He wouldn't put it past these three to hire a girl to put on a very realistic mermaid tail just to mess around with him.

The only problem with that theory was Gilbert's obvious panic. He was shifting his weight between his feet, his gaze entirely focused on the mermaid girl.

"You're sure she has the pendant?" Ludwig finally asked.

Maybe she was a girl that they'd hired, but Gilbert had legitimately lost his cross? Maybe she was a foreigner and they couldn't communicate for that reason.

Ludwig knew that theory was filled with holes, but he was going to go with it, because he couldn't accept that this girl was an actual, real-life mermaid. His mind wasn't equipped to handle that type of reality.

Gilbert nodded. "She's holding it in her hand. I'm pretty sure, at least."

"We thought that you might be able to help retrieve it," Francis added. "You're the strongest. We thought that we could perhaps get one of those large fishing nets..."

Antonio tuned his head back toward them and frowned, "You can't use a fishing net on her. You might hurt her."

"You got a better idea?" Gilbert demanded.

Antonio shrugged and then said, "Maybe we can trade something? I don't have any more tomatoes, but maybe she'd like something else." He turned back to the fish-girl, who was eyeing them with a very obvious frown. She clearly didn't understand what they were saying, but she probably knew that they were talking about her.

Ludwig wondered why she was even here. If she was a real mermaid—which she wasn't—then why had she revealed herself to a bunch of humans?

"She hasn't tried to do anything?" he asked. Like drown anyone? Wasn't that part of the mermaid mythos, that they liked dragging unsuspecting sailors down into the ocean?

Francis shook his head. "No, we didn't even realize that she was here at first. We were just sitting on the dock, talking about things. Gilbert's tie must have broken somehow, because he moved his head and all of a sudden the pendant fell down, right between the boards before we could move. Of course," he eyed Gilbert now, "he started freaking out. We were about to go underneath to try to find it, but then a girl's head popped up out of the water beside the dock."

"I think she wanted to give it back!" Antonio interrupted.

Francis shrugged. "Possibly, but as soon as Gilbert saw that she was holding it, he starts screaming at her to give it back. She didn't like that, threw a rock at him, and swam away. That's when we saw her tail."

"She came back, though!" Antonio added, again. He seemed oddly-fine with this development. "I offered her some of my sandwich and she really liked it!"

Ludwig honestly didn't know how to respond to this. A girl was swimming in the water, topless. She had a mermaid tail that at least looked real. She'd stolen—or at least, was refusing to give back—his brother's prized pendant.

This was making him tired. He wished he could just go home and finish eating his breakfast, except he'd thrown out the remnants of his meal already.

"A net seems rather extreme," he finally stated. He didn't really like the idea of using a net to capture a creature that looked at least half-human. "Maybe we could find some other method of communication?"

He supposed that he was going to have to be the one to try. He sighed and then walked to the very edge of the dock. She stared up at him, still frowning. She crossed her arms over her chest, which was extremely relieving. It also drew his attention to the small, black and silver cross that was tied around her wrist.

A trade did seem like the best option. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill. "Hello, um...mermaid."

That was a sentence he never thought he'd utter.

"I don't think mermaids use money like that," Antonio commented helpfully. He was still sitting on the edge of the pier, his feet dangling over the water. Which seemed unsafe. Even if the girl hadn't done anything yet, she could still pull him down into the water at any moment, and then Ludwig would be forced to save him.

She was also remaining close to Antonio, perhaps waiting for a moment to strike.

Ludwig wished he had something better, but she might be distracted by the images on the bill. At the very least, she'd hopefully move close enough for him to grab his brother's pendant from her wrist. He slowly crouched down and held the bill out, so she could see it clearly. "Look, if you return my brother's necklace, I'll give you this."

She continued frowning, but did seem at least curious about the bill. She floated slightly closer, looking up to watch him for any sudden movement, obviously expecting this to be a trap.

He remained entirely still, tense as he waited for her to reach out toward him. When she did, he'd—

Except that he suddenly was being smacked in the face with a clump of seaweed. Again.

"Luddy!"

That wasn't concern in his brother's voice; that was annoyance, because he knew that he'd dropped the bill into the water. The clump of seaweed slid down his face and into his lap and he wished—not for the first time—that he'd been born an only child.

The girl was laughing at him again. She also was holding his ten dollars in her hands. She twisted it back and forth in her hands, then dipped it under the water and lifted it back into the air. She raised it to her nose and sniffed it, then made a disgusted noise and tossed it over her shoulder.

"Well, it was a good attempt," Francis offered with a slight shrug.

"Dude, that fucking sucked," Gilbert disagreed. "Why would a mermaid want ten bucks? That pendant's worth at least fifty, for one thing."

"I don't think it was the amount of money that was the problem, mon ami."

Ludwig wanted to go home and take a nap. After a shower.

A/N: Ludwig's life is so hard. xD

So, I told tumblr that I was in the mood to write a one-shot story and asked for a prompt and got mermaid AU. So, here we go! Technically it's a two-shot, though, cuz I decided to do a chapter from Lovi's POV as well as Ludwig's. But eh, details.

Also, while coming up with ideas for this story, I created two other mermaid AU's (or technically came up with one and further developed another), so maybe if y'all like this, you'd like more mermaid-yness as well? Although those are a very different take on mermaids. Also, those are more romancey. One is USUK focused. One is Francis/Leon, because mermaid cop.

So, hope you guys enjoy this. Please review and let me know what you think. Also, if you would be interested in more mermaids, let me know that too. Haha. ;D