Ok... I suppose I've gathered enough interest across many sites to attempt this fan fic based on the AU I came up with under the name tornrose24. Now I've already done a Little Mermaid inspired AU for Moana, but I want to try a few things differently this time around considering what this AU is for.
This time I went for a fictionalized 1930's inspired era so that I could have something that felt modern, yet also held room for a fairytale theme. Also no one is singing songs from the LM movie. It just doesn't feel right and this will not be a direct adaption. NO ONE IS LOSING THEIR VOICE THIS TIME!
So I want to get this out of the way–If Pilkey could get away with something, then I shall try to do the same. Lisa and Billy are actually HIS creations and you may know them as the future wife of George and the future husband of Harold from the books.
Speaking of which...
I kept the general/K plus rating because I want this to keep the rating of the target audience of the books in mind. If you have a problem with the use of gay characters in this story, I will not mind if you don't want to read the fic ( plus there will be little to no romance between the children in this fic). But remember: Pilkey got away with so much in the books and the movie was able to do the same.
Chapter 1- curious children
The kingdom by the sea was the crown jewel of the coastline for its famous boardwalk (and all the rides and attractions upon it, from the great ferris wheel to the giant of a wooden roller coaster), scenic town, strong and supportive creative and performing arts society, and an impressive castle on a hill with an incredible view of an ocean that seemed to stretch on for miles and miles.
It was upon the shoreline of this kingdom that two children poked at something they found upon the wet sands. The sky was clear and blue, the weather was mild and pleasant, and the ocean itself was calm as the reflection of the sunlight made it shimmer as if it were made of precious stones instead of water.
"The heck is it?" A girl of about nine years and six months used a stick to poke at a clear jelly like object that somehow found its way on the beach. "It kind of looks like snot."
"I don't think so." A dark haired boy with glasses and who happened to be two months younger than the girl also poked a stick at the odd thing. "They do show up a lot."
"But what if it was snot?" The girl moved her dark brown hair away from her tanned face and cracked a grin at the boy. "Imagine a great sea beast having a sick day and blowing chunks up through the water." This made the boy snort and laugh. "You have a good imagination, Lisa! I wish you were like that more often!" He then poked his stick as hard as he could into the thing for pure curiosity. Lisa made a face at this as she realized she said something that was rather childish and gross and she tried to shake it off as if it didn't happen.
"Why are you two off on your own on this beach?!" Both children turned in alarm to see an old and dirty looking man with a walking stick giving them a grin that revealed quite a few missing teeth. "And why are you poking something that could be alive? Don't you remember the tales of the king under the ocean?"
Both children quickly got up and dropped their sticks as they stood side by side and were ready to bolt away from the stranger if they needed to. "The king under the ocean?" The boy asked. "But he's just a local legend."
"Billy let's go, he seems like a nut case." Lisa whispered to the boy as she grabbed his shoulder.
"Oh, but you of all children should know of him!" The old man was all too eager to tell the tale as he leaned in closer to them. "You know if you don't treat the ocean and all who inhabit it with respect, he'll send someone to drag you down into his domain and keep you locked up as punishment! If you stray too far from your parents on the shoreline or if you are all on your own out here, he'll do the same. If you swim too far out, then you have no chance of seeing the surface ever again because he'll grab you by your boney little ankles and–!"
"We know that's an old ghost story to get us to behave and it's not going to work on us like we're a couple of five year olds!" Lisa defiantly told the old man. Instead the old man let out a chuckle as he slapped the hand that was resting on his walking stick.
"Oh you silly child. You know what causes the sudden storms with little to no warning around these parts? It's all him because he's that dang powerful and they happen when he gets angry! The more enraged he is, the more dangerous and deadly the storm!"
This caused both children to glance to the ocean for a moment as if this really could happen on cue.
"Even when you think all the merfolk are down there in the ocean away from you, you still aren't safe!" The old man leaned farther towards the children to the point that he could have easily fallen over (his cane was about ready to finally tip over and fall in the sand). "And their king? He's a right scary old monster who doesn't care how young or good hearted you both are! They say he is more than willing to personally punish naughty children who misbehave–he enjoys it!" The old man's grin widened to the point that it could have gone from ear-to-ear. "So I wouldn't be taking him so lightly!"
"Now that's a great pack of lies if I ever heard any!"
The two children turned around to see a woman protectively stand behind them and the old man yelped and nearly fell over as he almost had a heart attack from her sudden entrance. The wind kept blowing her dark brown (almost black) hair in her face and she was forced to tuck it behind her ears to reveal a face that had light freckles and eyes that were as blue as the sea itself, if not bluer. Despite her age ( she looked as if she could have been in her very late twenties to early thirties) she somehow managed to look rather young without any visible sign of extreme hardship wearing her face down.
"Stories like that will only traumatize people from going anywhere near the ocean!" She snapped at the old man before gently grabbing the hands of Lisa and Billy. "It's bad for the kingdom!"
"Yeah, but you don't want the king under the ocean snatching up the young prince and princess of this kingdom, now do you?!" The old man chuckled again after he regained his composure. "Better keep an eye on them, pretty lady, or else you'll lose them for good! He's as mean as he is ugly, both inside and out!"
The woman sighed and lead the children away from the man and towards the castle. "Remember not to throw your trash in the ocean!" He yelled.
"Crazy old loon." The woman muttered under her breath. "Probably going to get himself into a heap of trouble."
"Do you think it's all true, Miss Edith?" Billy asked. "The storms do happen without warning."
"Well if they are, I'd give this 'king' a piece of my mind." Edith admitted as she stared at the ocean. She almost pitied the supposed king under the ocean for being the indirect cause of the storms–that would be a connection no one in their right mind would want. But if he was real then you would also think that he'd be aware of it and try to keep his temper down when people needed to be out at sea. "The fishing hasn't been good lately."
"I'd want to met a merperson." Lisa confessed in a soft voice. She knew she was getting too old for such things, but a small part of her longed to have this become a reality. Lisa turned to the ocean and added "Not a mean one, but a nice one. I want to know what it's like down there."
"Yeah, like if they have toilets." Billy snickered.
"EW!" Lisa made a face at this as she struggled not to laugh. She told herself several times that she was already above this sort of humor, but she was failing miserably at it.
"Oh come on, they have to be like fish! They drink and swim in their own–"
"STOP!" Lisa cried out, but she ended up snorting out a laugh that made Billy laugh in triumph. This also made Edith laugh as they finally made it to the pathway to lead them back up.
"So, since I have the ingredients would you two like crab melts for dinner later tonight?" Edith asked and the eyes of both children lit up. "Oh heck yes!" Lisa's mouth watered at the thought of the tasty meal.
"But anyway," Billy returned back to the previous discussion. "Yeah, it would be pretty neat to see a merperson." Billy turned towards the ocean. "I doubt they all are as bad as that old man makes them out to be."
Unknown to both Billy and Lisa, this was true. Not all merfolk were as bad as one might think and in fact some were equally as curious about their land counterparts.
"Almost... got it..."
Deep within the depths of the ocean, in a place not too far from the kingdom upon the land, a young merchild who was part orca struggled to pull something out of the mud and rocks. He screwed his face up as he pulled the handle of the object as hard as he could before he turned to see another merchild playing with a dolphin. His friend was supposed to be searching, but the dolphin was proving to be a huge distraction to him once again.
"HEY I COULD REALLY USE SOME HELP HERE!" He yelled.
"Oh!" The merchild who was part dolphin finally snapped out of it and left the mammal to join his best friend. He also grabbed onto the handle and they both pulled as hard as they could. This time the object managed to yield and within seconds it came out–the force knocked the two back and they went sailing with their new found treasure (with a perfect duet of startled yells as their accompaniment) before they could finally come to a stop.
"What the heck is this?!" The merdolphin finally let go of the object while the merorca held it out–it was some sort of red suction cup attached to a wooden handle.
"I don't know, but someone must have wanted it to be like an octopus's suction cup." The merorca chuckled as he looked at the object. "Humans come up with the weirdest stuff sometimes."
"We should totally keep it!" The merdolphin's eyes sparkled as the dolphin came to join the two. "Think of the things we could try with it!"
"Well we won't know for sure until we head to you-know-where." The merorca hinted as he went to his bag and put the object inside while making sure that it was carefully hidden amongst the other odd things they found that day. He then slung it over his shoulder as he turned to the merdolphin. "Ready Harold?"
"Ready as always George!"
After carefully moving a large rock aside the boys went in (and made sure that the rock was closed completely afterwards) before they swam up to their secret domain.
Somehow there was an odd formation that stuck out above the ocean. It looked like either a large rock or a small mountain of an island, but it was hallow on the inside, and holes that were spaced around the top permitted warm beams of sunlight to enter the hidden grotto. The grotto was above water, so it was almost like one could have their own small swimming the grotto was also filled with various objects from the human world that the boys had found, from bottles, a spyglass, an oar, fishing lures and fishing poles, nets, toys, a life ring, some odd circular white thing, a flyer advertising a location on land that looked like fun, and now a weird red suction cup on a stick.
"And another one for the collection!" George beamed as he set the object in a special spot and snapped his fingers for a dramatic flourish.
"Oh hey you did it!" Harold grinned. "You did the finger snapping!"
"Yeah, it took me a bit to get it down." George grinned back as he did the gesture again after taking out the rest of the objects they both had found. "Can't really do it that well in the water. Want me to teach you before we get to business?"
And so the boys spent a couple minutes learning how to attempt the gesture of snapping their fingers with some success, until Harold finally said "I think I'll get it next time. I need my fingers for drawing."
"Ok, ok." George went to get some special paper ( made out of carefully woven and bleached seaweed and wood, and designed to survive underwater) and ink to jot down some ideas. "So I had some ideas in mind for a new comic." He grabbed a pen that was carefully made from the bone of an animal.
"I'm listening." Harold grinned as he got his paper, ink, and pen, and set it all on dry land so that he could begin to draw whatever mental images George would gift him with. For the next hour, both boys shared ideas and drew them out for the next comic they planned to make. George would share his ideas and tell the story while Harold would draw it all out as best as he could.
Now you would find it odd that a merperson would know about what comics were, but one of the earliest discoveries the boys made together was a collection of comics from the human world that somehow fell into the grotto. Call it fate or sheer coincidence, but the boys were drawn to it and it sparked something in them that they didn't realize they had, but it had always been there waiting to come out–the desire to create something for fun that could combine their talents. These comics not only gave them some clues about what the human world could possibly be like (though they were smart enough to tell fact from fiction), but they were able to come up with their own. With George's writing paired with Harold's drawings, they came up with as many comics as they could and each one gradually became better than the next.
As George played with the tooth of an orca that was attached to a necklace of thin strands of entwined red and yellow ropes around his neck, he threw out an idea. "I got a good one for you–how about Kraken Kid? He's the son of the Kraken, but instead of breaking ships apart..." George pondered for a moment. "How about he guides them back to land and fends off other monsters from attacking his ships?"
Harold grinned as he began to draw the character. "Alright, I think I have a design in mind. Unless you have something you want to throw at me."
Of all the stories the two enjoyed within the human comics, they liked the tales about the 'superheroes' who seemed human in appearance but had powers or gifts that made them seem so much more while also using those powers to protect others and stop forces of evil. They were almost like fairytales and myths on their own and they impressed and delighted the boys so much that they wanted to try to make their own.
On their own the two were good, but both boys lacked more exposure to comics, in addition to the additional tools and education that were needed to improve their talents.
Unfortunately there was a good reason for that. It was a reason that they had to hide everything they found in here as well as pass the comics to other merchildren in secret as carefully as possible. The grotto was the only place where they could truly be themselves, for even their own home was not safe from the strict rules of their king. Everything they were doing was regarded as illegal and just flat out awful, and it frustrated the both of them. It was enough to make both boys almost wish for one of these superheroes to show up and make things better for everyone, but stories were stories for a reason. All they could do was rebel against the king in their own little ways, in addition to collecting human objects and just being creative.
"Got it!" Harold showed George the drawing of the character he gave him to create. A friendly looking sea monster with a determined glint in his eye swam by a pirate ship with a bunch of relieved crewmen upon it.
"Yeah that's it!" George clapped his hands. "Ok, sorry about distracting you, I just wanted to throw it out before I forgot about it!"
"Ah, it's ok," Harold waved it off. "I don't mind a little distraction now and then. Ok, where were we?" He turned back to the comic the two were working on and tugged at his own necklace of small strands of green and white entwined rope for one quick moment.
For some unknown reason, the king forbade all forms of creativity unless it had an actual function in society. It could not be used to entertain or to express oneself and it got to a point where all stopped questioning it. All but two merchildren who couldn't help being who they were and who had a taste of the fact that creativity could be used to make life much more fun for others besides the makers.
The boys' artwork, hoarding human objects... all illegal and yet they did not care. They would not have done this all on their own and as long as they had each other they both felt that they could keep doing this without any worries.
Time gradually passed and at one point the boys could hear the ocean acting up a little without any warning. They could hear the waves roaring as they crashed against their second home and a light spray came out of one of the low holes in the rock walls. They both were aware of what it possibly signified, but the sky hadn't turned dark so there was no real concern about it.
"Done!" Harold sighed as he finished a drawing and let go of his carefully carved pen made out of a fishbone. "We'll have to resume another time." He noticed how little sunlight they had left and he frowned since he wanted to keep going.
"One day we'll get to actually see the sky and the sun without this stupid ceiling in the way." He voiced his wish to George. "Stupid royal-pain-in-the-butt won't let us because 'Oh humans are bad, so everything on the surface is bad!'" He deepened his voice to make it sound like the king and waved his hands in the air in an act of mockery. It made George laugh as he set his own paper and pen aside.
"That would be great." George agreed as he looked up to see what little of the forbidden sky could be seen. A seagull flew past one hole and another one sat within view of another. "He'd have everything in here destroyed if he ever found out." He shuddered at the thought and prayed with all his heart that such a thing would never come to pass. Both he and Harold had been really careful with their secret so far.
"I really wish we could do this at home." Harold glanced down at the comic they were making. "It would save so much time."
George hummed and tried to think of something to cheer his friend up. "Well, how about the next time we go looking for something, we go to that valley of rock formations in the east? We haven't gone there yet." It was the best he could come up with since he didn't have the means to solve their other problem.
"With the eels?!" Harold squeaked. "George are you crazy?! There's a reason we aren't allowed there! Those things could swallow us whole! They wouldn't even need to chew us up into tiny morsels!"
"Well that's where we need to put our skills to the test!" George laughed as he ducked back down under the water. Harold could only sigh before he himself went under.
"Come on Serenity, let's go home." Harold told the dolphin when the two boys finally sealed up the entrance to their hideaway. The dolphin made a happy sound and when the two held onto her dorsal fin, she took them back to the ocean kingdom as fast as she could.
"Wait a minute, there was a meeting at the castle today, right?" Harold suddenly realized. "You don't think the ocean acted up because of... you know." He snickered.
"Oh!" George snickered back as he used his free hand to slap his forehead. "I totally forgot about that thing we did before we left!" He laughed. "Oh man, it must have worked!"
"I'm so glad we weren't there, but at the same time I wish I was." Harold's snicker turned into a laugh. "If you know what I mean!"
"I totally know!"
Neither of the boys had seen that one of the seagulls that had been near the grotto was not alive. In fact it was a mechanical seagull with a small camera-like device that had been recording everything it had seen since the merchildren first came into the grotto. When the two had finally left, it finally flew off to find its creator somewhere along a part of the coastline that was well hidden to both those upon land and within the ocean.
-Please go read my notes at the start of the chapter in case you missed something important.
-For those who didn't catch my notes on tumblr, my reasoning for making Harold part dolphin was pretty obvious. I debated on whether George should be part orca or not, but then I saw a fact that they are pretty competitive with sharks for prey, not to mention there are cases where they can overpower them in a fight.
-Superhero comics were becoming a thing in the 1930's so the timing is actually perfect. They were kind of just starting out, depending on which year you would have in mind.
-Crab melts are awesome! Its pretty much a grilled cheese sandwich with real crab meat in it and I highly recommend them.
Anyway, updates can vary with my fan fics. I did give myself a head start on the next chapter though and I'll try my best to make sure that I'm getting these characters right. Until then see you soon :).
(PS: If you guys know how my author notes are done when I write my fics ... *chuckles* well we shall see).