A/N:
Aloha, my beauties! I've been ridiciously into fantasy shit lately, and I though about mermaids. Originally it was going to be Carlos that was the Prince, but James seemed to fit better, considering mermen are supposed to be beautiful and stuff.
ANYWAYS, I do hope you enjoy it and that you will review and tell me some stuff you might like to see, or just to tell me that you 'love it' or whatever really. Also I haven't seen any mermaid BTR fics yet, so I'm feeling pretty original. If there is a merfic out there that I haven't seen, I'm sorry for using your idea? But if I am one of the few to do this, do not take my ideas or storylines. It takes a lot of work to make this stuff ;p
This will be a multi-chapter fic as well, if anyone was wondering. And I know I haven't updated Got it bad but I am working on it, pinky promise!
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SUMMARY: In this world, merpeople and humans do not mix. In Hallendria, the kingdom under the sea, James is a seventeen year old Prince with curiousity. What happens when his friend and witch Camille offers to take him up and join her on the surface?
Chapter one: The Surface.
Some people perceive them as demons of the sea, while others see them as Gods. And really, both were right.
Way down under, sitting on the ocean floor, is a kingdom. A beautifully structured underwater paradise that only merpeople and other aquatic beings could get to. It wasn't by chance that they made the kingdom so deep down under the sea, however. It was structured and built as so to avoid the walkers.
Or, if we are being formal, humans.
Humans and merfolk haven't . . . played nice for quite a while now. Though they are very similar—minus the legs, add the fin and vice versa—. Hundreds of years ago, when humans were just beginning to colonize in North America, merpeople and the walkers were allies, in a sense. Children, both human and mer, were discouraged to interact with the other kind, especially to go to the docks where much of the human-mer ally members conversed and did business.
Marriage between the two was highly illegal, punishable by death if it was found out that you had even kissed a merperson or human, depending on which side you were on.
And, you see, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Queen Matilda of Hallendria was not only deeply in love with a human, but she attempted to use her powers to change him into a merman. She was caught, however, and captured by the humans. She was killed for reason of human manipulation, and when she was pronounced dead to the people of Hallendria, the alliance between the two was broken and, if anything, they became enemies.
Losing all contact and evidence with/of the merpeople, humanity has turned them into a sort of folktale. A mythical creature. It's as if they didn't really exist.
Of course, the merfolk don't exactly like talking about the humans, but the death of their past queen and the alliance with the humans is a fairly important and large contribution of Hallendria's history. That, and the witchcraft.
Witchcraft in the Hallendria kingdom was always frowned upon, but it wasn't until the early seventies that the council came together and illegalized the act of using and/or practicing witchcraft. It was the non-users, the ones who didn't have the ability to harness magic that initiated the illegalization of witchcraft.
They rioted outside of the council hall's doors until finally they sat down with the king and queen and made the decision. Not many people in the mer society could harness the magic, usually only the royales.
The royales consisted of Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses and the occasional council member. When they illegalized it, they even drained away the powers of the magic users. It seemed that, finally, it was quiet in the kingdoms of Hallendria. Well, that was until James Diamond turned seventeen.
James Diamond, Prince and future king of Hallendria, was born into a family consisting of seven daughters, all of whom are older than he. His parents, the King and Queen of Hallendria, wished so badly to conceive a boy. Trying time after time without success, they decided to try just one more time before finally giving up. On that last try, they had the fortune of giving birth to James. If he had been a girl, the Diamond dynasty would have been over and gone forever.
He had brown hair that fell behind him and waved around perfectly in the warm and salty water, soft hazel eyes that had woman swooning at a single glance, and a deep tan that only the sun's rays could give. Naturally, he was slim and heavily toned from the years of swimming. Not that he could do much else, of course.
James was a good, well-educated and proper young man who had the future of Hallendria in his perfectly sculpted hands. Despite his beauty and charm, James Diamond wasn't happy.
He lived every day surrounded by guards, making him want to scream from lack of privacy. Wake up, eat breakfast, work on his studies, practice his royale duties, eat lunch, more of that intensely irritating damn practicing, eat dinner and hurry off to bed. That was exactly what Prince James did on a day to day basis.
His sisters had an immense amount of freedom compared to him. He asked his father once why that was, but all that the King said in response was "They do not have the same royale duties as you. They will not be crowned on their eighteenth birthday as you will." And since he had asked his father that, he tries his hardest at everything he does for his father, to make him proud to have James as a son.
But recently, since James turned seventeen, he really just wanted to skip studying and his practice and just go out and have regular teenage merman fun. He, with his newfound rebellion, sneaks out from his bedroom when the sun falls from the sky and the moon rises to take its place.
He swims up and up, goes to the very top of the ocean, head poked out as he watches the silent houses that lie above water and on land. He knows what they are and what lies within them.
As future king, he receives the scrolls that tell about the humans. The same scroll that Queen Matilda had written herself during her reign. It was his duty to be aware and know about the humans. Of course, he didn't have to watch the surface; he did that whenever his curiosity got the better of him.
Which, it seemed, was beginning to be a nightly occurrence.
And on this particular night, his curiosity did not seem to diminish like it usually did after a few minutes of watching the houses. He wanted to walk along the sand. He wanted to know what it was like to cross his legs and take deep breaths oxygen. Well, he knew what it was like to breathe oxygen now, but it was in the same. No, none of it was the same.
Human boys, they got to play sports and wander and be free, while James . . . he was confined to the water, and his royale duties. He wonders what the humans are doing, but he can probably assume that they are fast asleep in their homes, just like he should be.
He just had one more thing to do before he headed all the way back down to Hallendria . . .
He dives his head back into the water, coughing a little as his gills power back on. He swims to the outskirts of Hallendria, into a cave that the people of his kingdom knew very well to avoid.
He whispers in a small voice, "Camille? Camille, are you here?"
He had met Camille completely on accident; when he was fourteen and wanting so badly to practice the forbidden art of magic. He had swam away in the night like he was doing now, and went into what he thought was an empty cave. He met Camille and Camille's mother, learning soon that his own father had banished the Robert's family after him and the Defenders found Camille's grandmother practicing magic.
Now, Camille's grandmother and parents have passed, leaving the nearly nineteen year old girl to defend for herself. James watches as the tiny brunette wanders into view, dark eyes lightening at the sight of the charming Prince.
"James! Thank the Gods; I am so happy you were able to make it! Come on, follow me! I taught myself something REALLY cool earlier," Camille had learned and mastered the art of sorcery, yes. She takes his hand and leads him into the momentary darkness, before a dim light came on and James found them in her 'living quarters' if it could even be called as so.
She was genuinely intrigued by humans, just as her grandmother was, and often used her gift to transform herself into one. No, she wasn't a royale, just lucky. "I figured out how to change your hair color! I can make it any color or shade that you want; shall I show you how to do it?"
"I am not so sure I should practice my magic any longer. Last time I did, Dad seemed to smell it on me."
She frowns at his words. "How are you going to get any better at it if you refuse to try?" James shrugs his shoulders, and Camille rolls her eyes. "It still boggles my mind that Wicca is still illegal."
"Because, mermaids and mermen use the powers to turn themselves into humans, and we worry about the safety of Hallendria and its people."
Camille snorts. "Look at you; you're really shaping up to be king. You know everything by heart now, yeah? I'm not going to tell anyone, thank you very much."
"Never said you would. But it's the others, the unpredictable ones that we worry about."
Camille sighs, shaking her head before meeting the prince in a tight hug. "I'm going to the surface tomorrow."
"I know."
"I might not be coming back this time."
"I . . . I know."
She releases him, pets his perfect hair. "I do hope you'll join me . . ."
"Camille, please. You know that is not an option."
"But why not?"
"I am going to be crowned king in less than a year, Camille! KING!"
"You told me yourself that you did not want to be crowned. AND you even told me you wanted to visit the surface and -"
"And nothing. I have to rule. I have to get married soon, for God's sake!" He puts his head in his hands.
Camille wraps her arms around him, whispering sweet things into his ear. "Do you hear that?" James shoots up suddenly, green-blue fin swishing rapidly.
"Hear what? I don't—"
"JAMES? JAMES ISAAC DIAMOND!"
James and Camille exchange terrified glances before watching his father enter the cave. His face, his whole body is painted red with fury. Even his usually golden fin seems to be tinted red. "Just what in the hell do you think you're doing? Sneaking out to be with . . . to be with a banished Wiccan! Are you mad?"
He grabs at James' wrist, yanking hard and James winces. Camille watches with wide eyes as the Prince is half-dragged out of her home, silently thinking of a way to get him back.
"I thought you were smarter than this!" His father's voice shakes the walls, along with James' body
"I'm sorry Dad, I just wasn't thinking."
"The hell you were! Zeus, please forgive me for raising a son with only half a brain. Also for being with that banished -"
"It's not her fault you banished her grandmother and everyone within her family. You—" He is slapped hard, knocking his back against the wall of his bedroom.
"You are to sit in here, study and practice. I have guards surrounding this place, you rebellious fool, so don't try anything. I still cannot believe that you have disobeyed me in his way." He shakes his head, leaving and slamming the door behind him.
All James had wanted to do was visit his friend. Well that, and watch the surface, but he was not going to tell the King that. He understood his father's anger, really he did. Princes must be responsible. They must be perfect. But what if . . . what if he did not aspire to be a Prince, let alone a King? He sits in his room, trying very hard to ignore the window that he has used to escape at night so very many times before. He had lost track of time; spent to many hours dreaming of the surface and now he was paying the price for it.
Stupid! James thinks, why am I so stupid?
He swims around his room a few times before settling back on the bed with his fin polishing cream. He rubs it along his scales, sighing at the warm feeling it is giving him. He smiles when it's slippery and oh-so shiny. In Hallendria, the look of your fin was about as important to merpeople as clothes and makeup were to humans —Yes, James was vaguely aware of what makeup was —. He had just applied his final layer of polish to his fin when a knock on his window nearly startles him to death. He looks out, eyes wide when he is greeted by Camille's face. He opens it carefully, as if he opening would trigger some ear piercing alarm.
"Jailbreak! Come on, you are coming to the surface with me." The witch whispers loudly.
"What? What about the guards? Camille . . ." James is panicking.
"Sleeping spell. It won't last much longer so let's GO." She tugs on James' arm, pulling him out of his room. He looks at the sleeping guards for a long moment, before he feels the witch tugging on his arm again. Camille is ahead of him, the Prince seeing nothing but the sun and her maroon colored fin as she continues to swim up and away.
They don't speak again until they are at the edge of the water, a mile or two away from those beautiful homes.
"Camille . . . I can't . . ."
"What? Yes! Yes you can! Come on, James. Take my hand."
He studies her a moment, watching her brown eyes as if he could read her mind. Finally, he finds himself gripping on to her hand. She starts whispering something James doesn't understand, maybe a different language? He can't think about it for too long because the water starts to get excessively cold around him and the waves turn choppy. He finds himself struggling to breathe, and his fin is no longer cooperating. Then, all he sees is blackness.
When James wakes up, Camille is not with him. He is lying alone on the sandy ground, sunset his only light—wait a second, he was on dry sand. He was on the surface! Before any further examination of his human form can happen, he hears a few voices.
"Kendall, look over there! Is that . . . is that a dude?"
"Holy shit!"
He closes his eyes as he hears them rush over, slightly afraid.
"Go get my Mom, Logan!" Says a voice.
"On it!" Says another one.
"Hey," the first voice whispers to James. "Can you hear me?"
He feels hands on his torso and they press down, making the Prince groan at the awkward pain.
"Shit, sorry dude. Shit man." Is the last thing he hears before sleep covers him again.
This is what happens for the next few hours. James wakes up, eyes opening to see both a brunette and blonde male, and sometimes a red headed woman. They ask him small questions, but he can only answer a few before he passes out again. He did not like the side effects of the spell. He was human and he hadn't even gotten the chance to use his legs yet. God knows how long James has been out when he wakes up again, this time able to sit upward.
It's awkward, sitting on an actual butt rather his fin. The red head watches him with wide eyes as he cracks his neck, wincing when he does the same.
"Son? Can you talk now?" James hears the woman ask, nodding slowly as he readies his body to speak.
"Yes."
He struggles to take a breath after, body not used to using his lungs without the need of his gills. "Kendall said he and Logan saw the water go pretty crazy, and after a huge wave he saw you on the beach. You're lucky he found you when he did; you might have been pulled back to sea and drowned."
He fights back a smile at the kind woman's words. No, he definitely would not have drowned.
"Who . . . who is Kendall? Logan?" His throat hurts, which confuses him.
She sighs, bringing a cloth to his face and patting his forehead with it. "Kendall is my son, the one who carried you here. Logan is his friend."
"And where is 'here' exactly?"
"My home. Kendall's home."
James nods, forcing his lips into a tight line when they try to pull into a smile. He was in one of the houses that he watched from the water. He was with a family that he so longed to be in. He fists at the cloth covering his body, trying to get it off when the woman stops him, cheeks turning red.
"Oh, honey, wait until I'm gone." She stands up and pats some pieces of fabric that sit on a dresser. "Here are some clothes you can wear." She gives him one last smile, which he returns, before leaving and shutting the door quietly behind her.
He rids himself of the annoying cloth and looks down at his legs, grinning at them. He touches them, pokes them, and pinches them. He doesn't bother with the human reproductive organ on his body; he decides to examine it later.
Because right now, he wanted to walk.
James stands slowly, wobbling horribly for a while his legs get used to his weight. He tries to remember what the red headed woman looked like when she had left the room, and mimics her. He fails, nearly falling to the floor before grabbing at the bed. He gets himself back up and tries walking again, a little more successful. He walks from the bed to the dresser and back at least a hundred times before grabbing the clothes that the woman had so kindly supplied him.
He has seen humans wearing these 'clothes' before, read about them and their odd fashions. He has to sit back down on the bed to pull on his pants, and putting in his shirt takes multiple tries. Once he is finally dressed he wanders around the room, mainly for walking practice but also to look at all the beautiful and human things. A bookshelf in the corner reminds James of his own shelf.
These books are not like James' scrolls. They have paper pages and are soft. He liked the way they looked, the way they felt. He liked everything. He opens the door and walks out, staring at the brown staircase now in front of him. He had 'stairs' in his home, he guesses. Only they did not have these blocks, they were somewhat of a ramp-hill designed for easy access to the higher levels of his home. He grips hard on the railing, taking small steps.
"Kendall! Kendall, go help him!" He hears the woman say somewhere downstairs.
The blonde boy from earlier comes into view, James watching in awe as he jogs up the steps so easily. He takes the Prince's hand and helps him down the rest of the way. "You okay?" The boy whispers in his ear, and it sends an unfamiliar tumble down James' spine.
When he is seated, he is joined by the two boys that found him at the ocean. Kendall and Logan are their names, James is sure of it. "What is your name?" The blonde asks. "I'm Kendall," he adds before James has time to speak.
"And I'm Logan." The brunette says with a crooked grin.
"My name? Ah . . . my name is James."
They nod, and the two humans pick up what looks like silver miniature pitchforks. WHAT A WEIRD WAY TO EAT, thinks James as he grabs his own pitchfork.
"Where are we, may I ask?" James pipes up.
"The Knight Summer beach house," Kendall grins.
"Yes, a house, but where is this house located? The United States, correct?"
James watches as the two humans exchange glances. "Um, yes? The state of California."
"California . . ." James sighs, smiling to himself.
"Hey, James?"
The Prince looks over at Logan, still smiling. "Yes?"
"What . . . What happened to you? I mean, you were unconscious in the beach in the early morning. Not to mention naked,"
"Naked?"
"Yeah, naked. You know, without clothes on?"
"Oh, right." Stupid James! You were supposed to be human, remember? "Well, I was in a boat when a storm hit and knocked me off," James lies, hoping it was convincing enough.
"Where are your parents?"
James heart flutters at the word 'parent'. "My parents and I . . . we are not on speaking terms at the moment."
"Oh, really? Why?" When James doesn't respond, Kendall nudges Logan's arm and says, "Logan didn't mean to put you on the spot or anything. If it's a tough subject for—"
"No, that's not it. We . . . we didn't agree on some things." The humans nod at James, who shrugs his shoulders. "I don't mind, really."
Logan leaves to go wash the dishes, leaving Kendall and James alone.
"So, um, my mom says you can stay for as long as you need."
James grins. "Is that so?"
"Yeah, she's sweet like that. How . . . how old are you?"
"I turned seventeen six days ago, actually."
Kendall's eyes lighten up. "Really? No way. I just turned eighteen six days ago!"
James grins, happy to find something in common with Kendall, even if it was only a shared birthday. Kendall is grinning back, practically beaming at James. The tingling feeling that James finds himself growing fond of returns, leaving his cheeks a rosy color.
"Does California have a King and Queen?" Kendall's smile almost immediately falters, concern plastered on his face instead. "No, no King or Queen. The United States has a president though,"
"Oh, okay." He swallows another forkful of greens from his plate.
"James?"
"Yes, Kendall?"
"Where . . . where did you come from exactly?"
"I, uh—" James struggles to think up a lie; Kendall's mossy green eyes seemed to bore a hole into his. Fortunately for him, the conversation is interrupted when a small brown haired girl comes running in.
"Is it true? Kendall, did you really find—" She stops talking when she sees James.
"Katie, what do you want?" Kendall looks agitated while Katie smiles. "Mom told me about . . . James, was it?"
James nods. "Yes, I'm James. Nice to meet you." He extends a hand, and Katie happily shakes it.
"Hi James. I'm Katie, Kendall's -"
"Very annoying little sister." The blonde finishes for her. James smiles, the two siblings reminding him of himself and his sister, the one right before James and second youngest in the Diamond household, Geneva.
James is about to speak when he notices Katie's golden necklace, and the charm hanging from it. "Your necklaces . . . do you like mermaids?"
He watches the small girl's already smiling face brighten. "Oh Jesus, yes! Why? Do you like them too?"
"Love them." James confirms, glancing over at Kendall and smiling.
The green-eyed boy smiles back, but looks somewhat distant. "Katie," Kendall says in an oddly monotone voice. "Why don't you go show James your room here? You have tons of mermaid stuff."
Katie nods, looking back at over. "Want to?" James nods, standing up slowly. He was going to see how humans portrayed his kind.
Giddiness swells his soul, and he finds himself thinking less and less about his home back in the water.
Now only if he could find Camille!
Please review! :)