Chapter 2

The next few days after Kanda met Allen were, in a word, odd. The daze he'd always found himself in every time he looked out at the sea was gone, confirming it was because of the boy's presence. However, that daze had been replaced with constant daydreaming, so constant it was starting to irritate both his caretakers. He didn't notice though, obviously. He was too busy thinking of his aquatic friend. It didn't help that he came back every other day.

Kanda didn't particularly care, though. In fact, the only time he could focus was when the boy was there, so he more or less welcomed the change in his routine. Kanda would sit on the dock and work on whatever it was he needed to do whilst Allen floated on the surface, enjoying every second he spent out on the sun, making idle chatter with Kanda while he got his homework done.

Allen had come back the next day after their first meeting with a nasty bruise on his cheek. Kanda had to pry a little to get the boy to tell him how he got it, and when he did, he ended up explaining his whole back history, who and what he was, who his mother was and why he was hated. Kanda had been shocked to hear he was a prince, and even more shocked to hear he was hated only because of his gender. As it turned out to be, his species was predominately female, having a 10:1 ratio of female to male births, a result of some curse that a scornful witch had cast on them millenia ago in a vain attempt to eradicate them. Because of this curse, and the simple fact that before him, his bloodline had never seen a first born male, his kind ended up viewing males as inferior. Needless to say, Kanda was shocked to hear this.

After that conversation was out of the way, Kanda and Allen only got closer. It didn't take long for them to feel that the two hours they got alone was simply not enough time. Kanda started to develop the idea that maybe the boy didn't have to go back; if he wasn't supposed to even be near human settlements, who would think to look for him there? But he kept this to himself, watching as Allen left time and time again, noticing how sometimes he showed up with bruises, sometimes with cuts, and how sometimes he just lay on the dock in what he knew was pain. He never told him why or where he got them either, no matter how many times Kanda asked him.

Kanda glanced at the boy, who was laying next to him, his tail hanging off the edge of the dock, dipping into the water. He hadn't said much to him, and neither had Kanda tried to make much conversation. It was one of those days where both were just lost in thought. It had already been a month since they first met, and both had grown alarmingly comfortable with their routine. Not that they minded, anyway. Allen had been going to their house near every day before he'd been discovered, and now that Kanda knew he existed, that hadn't changed much. In fact, Kanda would become worried if the boy didn't show up, like how he almost didn't today. Kanda had been meditating on the dock, hoping to clear his mind of some disturbing thoughts he'd developed in the past few days when the boy had arrived, launching himself out of the water and sliding to a stop next to him, startling Kanda half to death. When questioned about what had happened to him, for he had several nasty looking bruises and even a few concerning cuts, Allen merely flipped himself on the dock to lay in the position he was currently in. Once again, Kanda suspected that there was damage to his tail as well, but the boy wouldn't say. The only indicator that there was anything wrong with it was the constant twitch he had and the one fin that wouldn't open all the way.

Allen sighed, breaking the thick silence that had enveloped them for the past hour, finally shifting his position. "I don't want to go back..." he muttered.

Kanda stared for a moment, slightly surprised. "Allen... What happened?" he asked.

Allen looked at him, holding his gaze before finally answering. "I got in a fight with the high priestess..." he said.

Kanda frowned. "What about all those times you came with bruises and cuts? Was that her, too?" he asked.

Allen nodded, dropping his head back onto the dock.

"What did she do to your tail, then?" Kanda asked, surprising Allen.

"I don't know... she was trying to keep me from leaving I think, but I honestly have no idea what she did to it... it just hurts like hell." he said.

"Don't you have anywhere to go where she won't find you?" Kanda asked.

"Aside from here? Atlantis, maybe. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know I know where it is..." Allen muttered.

Kanda stared at him, mouth agape. "Atlantis? As in the lost, sunken city of Atlantis?" he said.

Allen nodded slowly. "Yeah... I don't know where it is exactly, but I do know how to get there." he said.

Kanda stared for a moment, still in shock at hearing about the lost city. "Well... are you sure she won't find you there?" he asked.

Allen chuckled dryly. "No... the only place for sure that she won't search is here..." he mumbled into the wooden deck.

Kanda thought for a moment, debating whether or not to speak his mind. One look at Allen and his twitching tail, however, made up his mind for him. "Why don't you just spend the night here then?" he said.

The suggestion startled Allen. Spend the night with Kanda? "What... but, what about that woman from before? Won't she see me?" he said, a bit self-conscious now.

Kanda snorted. "If they haven't already seen you, and even then, I sincerely doubt they'd mind." he said.

Allen frowned. "They?"

"Yeah... her and her fiancee, Lavi. Did you forget he lives here too?" Kanda said, grinning.

Allen smiled, sheepish. "Yeah, kind of... I don't exactly hear from him a lot, you know. It's usually just that lady yelling at you to go back inside." he said.

"So what do you say? I mean, if this is the only place for sure she won't find you, just stay, at least until you're well." Kanda asked. He'd never admit it out loud, but the idea of Allen spending the night with him excited him more than he was willing to admit.

Allen thought about it for a few minutes. He wanted to, he did, but at the same time he was reluctant to accept. Kanda was human, he was not. Kanda had a family, while he himself had a... master, more or less, for a mother. He was a prisoner in his own house, and hated all throughout the sea. If he stayed with Kanda, he could put him in danger, but at the same time, who would think to look for him on land, in a human home? There were so many things that he could think of, so many reasons not to stay with Kanda, but only one reason why it was okay to stay and trust him completely, and that one positive reason outweighed all the negatives he could come up with: he'd be safe.

He slowly turned to look at Kanda, smiling shyly. He nodded, consenting to the suggestion. "Alright... I'll stay. But just for the night." he said.

Kanda allowed a small smile to show itself on his face. "Or until you're well." he agreed, moving to stand.

From the curtains of one of the living room windows that overlooked the dock, a gray eye could be seen peeking out at them, watching as Kanda picked Allen up from the dock. It continued to watch them until they disappeared around the corner of the house, headed for the back door.

After that, Allen started to spend more and more time with Kanda, both on the dock and in his room. Their conversations started to become more and more intimate the closer they became, though they did avoid a few certain topics that they both silently deemed too intimate to casually talk about, such as sex, for instance.

The first night Allen had spent with Kanda had been both exciting and awkward for the both of them, neither knowing just how to go about actually sleeping. After some questioning glances and some hilarious moments of silence in which both had a surprisingly effective silent conversation, they decided to just play it by ear and just curl up together in Kanda's bed. When morning came, they were both surprised to find that they had shifted significantly throughout the night, going from next to the window curled up facing each other to the other side of the bed, Kanda on his back and Allen essentially on top of him, using his shoulder as a pillow. Neither was embarrassed, however, and even opted to stay in bed a while longer, enjoying each others' company. Kanda found he couldn't really be surprised when Lavi didn't come bother him that morning as he usually did whenever he tried actually sleeping in, having expected that already. Instead, he decided to bask in the warmth the boy provided as he observed his sleepy expression.

Allen stayed with him for another day, going back to the ocean after the sun set, happy for once. School had just ended the week before, so Kanda didn't have to worry about leaving Allen for eight hours during the working week, so for the next several days, while his "babysitters" were gone, they went around to several hidden fountains near his home, simply lounging around, Kanda joining him in the water now and then.

Allen had begun to ask Kanda of how life was for humans, and in turn, explained any questions Kanda had about his kind. While Allen finally understood the concept of a working week, Kanda found there were some similarities between humans and mermaids, or merman in Allen's case. How they measured time was one of those things, though of course not the same. Other things they both found to be strange, such as relationships. Allen didn't quite understand why people spent so much time with just one partner, while Kanda couldn't quite grasp how Allen's kind was so fond of passing around partners. Yes, there weren't very many males, but homosexuality obviously wasn't uncommon for them, or so Allen had said. Why leave one partner if you were happy with them?

Other minor details were compared as they thought of them, Kanda demonstrating when he could, and Allen describing from his limited experiences in his kinds' main city, though they didn't really bother with the smaller details. Memories were shared and made as they developed a bond, strengthening the connection to one another the more time they spent together. It was quickly becoming evident to the both of them they were developing more than friendly emotions to one another, but both were too scared of ruining what they had to say or do anything about it. Instead, they contented themselves with simply being with the other, though more often than not, this was simply not enough.

Kanda was set to begin his last year of school in just a few days. The summer break had been heaven for the both of them, so naturally time had flown by. Allen was especially nervous about this, for one main reason, and Kanda had noticed. Kanda would leave for eight hours, leaving Allen with no reason for staying away from his kind. Kanda understood.

He'd suggested a few things to Allen when the creature finally voiced his concerns, but he would have none of it. He'd run away from his "responsibilities" long enough; it was time he turned and faced the music. Kanda tried to remind him it could very well kill him, but the merman didn't seem to listen to that tidbit. Though he didn't want to worry Kanda, he really had no choice but to go back. His mother had become increasingly attentive of his movements and it was becoming increasingly difficult to make it back to Kanda without her realizing where he was going. He knew Kanda would be upset at him for keeping it from him, but if he didn't know then he wouldn't get hurt... right?
Those last few days went by much too fast for their liking, and it wasn't long before they found themselves on the dock watching as the sun set on that last day before Kanda had to go back to school. Neither had said much in the last hour; they were both too deep in thought to. Kanda kept wondering how Allen would fare during his absence, while Allen kept wondering how he would convince his mother that he was elsewhere rather than at a human dwelling. Neither were coming up with many answers.

It was only when the sun was about to disappear that Kanda was pulled out of his thoughts, again by one of the things that had caught his attention from the start. He couldn't help but turn his head to watch as the sunlight lit up Allen's scales a beautiful fiery orange, contrasting in a very captivating way against the pale silver of the rest of his tail, his pale skin tinted a darker shade by the dying sun. He wondered every time he saw him how it was that he could captivate him so easily when there were women who were much more slender and tender and all around finer than him, but every time the question would answer itself. It wasn't his features that attracted him, though yes, that was part of it. Allen himself was captivating, and not just because of his appearance. Everything about him ignited his curiosity in such a way that Kanda could spend days just watching him and not get tired. It was then that Allen turned to look at him, and although normally the sunlight in his eyes made him dive deeper into his musings, the sad look in them forced him back to reality.

"Hey... what's wrong, moyashi?" Kanda asked, instantly concerned.

Allen sighed. "I thought I could keep it from you, but... I keep thinking myself into circles with this..." he said trailing off.

Kanda frowned. "Keep what?"

Allen looked to the side, mumbling out his response. "The high priestess has... begun to notice where I disappear to... and it's become difficult to appease her."

Kanda was silent for a moment. "Why didn't you tell me any earlier?" he asked.

Again Allen sighed. "Because I didn't want to worry you... but, I'm scared..." he said, turning his mercury eyes back to Kanda, effectively captivating him once again. "You were right, you know... she could very well kill me, if she found out..."

Again Kanda was silent for a moment, this time for a completely different reason. "But why tell me now?" he asked.

Allen smiled. "Because I've become too invested in you to just leave and not tell you. I know if I go back now, I may very well not return, and I couldn't just leave you with no explanation as to why." he said, a hint of sorrow in his voice in spite of the warmth in his eyes.

Kanda swallowed thickly, not sure how to respond to that. They stared at each other for a moment, both caught in the others' gaze, wanting to say something, do something, but neither had the strength to.

Finally, as the sun set, Kanda moved to speak, though another voice drowned out whatever it was he wanted to tell Allen, startling both of them out of their stupor.

"YUU! GET INSIDE ALREADY, YOU HAVE SCHOOL TOMORROW!" came a woman's voice from somewhere in the house.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Kanda yelled back, frustrated. He turned to look back at Allen, who looked sad but determined.

"So... see you later, I guess?" Allen said, somewhat shyly.

Kanda nodded. "Yeah... see you later..." he responded, watching Allen dive back into the sea and swim away, as he always did, before getting up to go inside himself. School was going to be hell... again.

Allen swam as fast as he could, though not away from the city as usual, but towards it. The further away he was from Kanda and his home, the safer he'd be, the less the risk of discovery. It wasn't a well known fact, but Allen was a strong swimmer. He could swim faster than the best messenger his mother had, though she didn't know it... or so he hoped.

He wasn't swimming for long when he felt it. The sting of his mother's magic. Yes, it had been a while, but he had not forgotten how it felt. He hadn't been so close to the city in a long time, after all. He instantly stopped swimming in favor of fighting off the effects of his mothers' spell, dropping down to the ocean floor quite quickly. It wouldn't take them long to get to him, he knew, but the pain was enough for him to not really care about that fact. It had been a while since she'd used her magic on him, and even longer since she actually tried to kill him. So long in fact, that he'd almost forgotten how to fight it off, even when the reminder was on his face for all to see.

Allen cursed under his breath, writhing on the floor as he quickly started to mutter the counter spell, curling into himself as his chest began to burn. He barely managed to finish the spell when he saw them coming towards him, though by the time they got to him, the spell had settled nicely and he'd blacked out from the pain. The guards that had rushed to his location cursed, but did their job anyway, picking up the unconscious prince rather gracelessly and dragging him off to the city, where he would be questioned by the high priestess.

Several hours later, Allen awoke in what was apparently a lush and well adorned room, but was by all rights a prison cell. Though he has been banished from his mother's kingdom, he is still their prince and is to be treated as such, after all, or so said his mother, going on about some nonsense regarding correct image. He quickly took inventory of what was in the room, taking note of anything he might use to his advantage. Sadly, there wasn't much, but that was to be expected. His mother was very attentive of smaller details and so had easily picked up on Allen's less than noticeable abilities. He had expected she would. One glance to the small window up above him and he knew he'd been unconscious all through the night. That was nice, at least, and rather unexpected, though again it made sense to let a prince sleep the night away, if anything for appearances' sake. If he had to guess, he'd say the sun was barely rising, so he should expect a visit any time now.

Just as expected, there was a loud bang as the guards were tossed aside, no doubt by his mother as she passed by, furious as she made her way to her son.

'Just in time, as always.' he couldn't help but think scornfully, moving to present himself as she'd always demanded, barely managing to ignore the pain of the freshly subdued curse.

"Well, well, well... what do we have here?" said his mother, circling him in a rather disturbing manner, eyeing him distastefully.

"So you think you can just come back after disappearing like that? Making me look like a fool in front of my allies?" she began, and Allen had to suppress an unbidden shudder. This conversation was going to be painful, he knew, and nowhere near short.

He prepared himself mentally, for if he were to take everything into account, he'd be able to safely say he would not get out of this one intact, if the pulsing of the high priestess' magic was anything to go by. She readied herself for the "interrogation", and with a wave of near unbearable heat, it began. For the next several hours she tortured him, incessantly, and with increasing intensity. She tried every which way she could possibly think of to get out of him just how he'd managed to avoid her for so long, to no avail. No pain she could put him through would get him to say he'd been with a human he had quickly grown to want in more than one way, for no physical pain could compare to the destruction he would put himself through should he become unable to ever see Kanda again. It was this thought that helped him endure the pain of his mother's attacks, the idea that he might be able to once again bask in his warmth that gave him hope that maybe, just maybe, there was an end in sight. He had to be resilient, however.

She left him in the evening, needing rest herself, though not nearly as much as Allen himself after all she put him through. Allen had collapsed on the bed the very moment the curtain separating him from the rest of the kingdom settled behind the high priestess, letting out a quiet whimper. She would be back the next day, this he knew for a fact. After this was repeated the next day, a pattern quickly developed, where she would go "question" him at the crack of dawn and wouldn't leave until late evening. There were days where she wouldn't come herself, sending one of the witches in her stead, who weren't as brutal about their attacks, but with the lack of recovery time, were just as bad. He lost count of how many days passed, how many times he passed out from the pain.

Finally, the opportunity to escape came in the form of laziness. It had been a good while now since the high priestess began her little game with him, and in spite of the horror of what she was willing to do to her own son, they had grown too accustomed with it and become tired of it. So much so that they began to slack off while on duty.

It was a day like any other, where the priestess had some business or other to attend to and had sent in one of the witches, though unbeknownst to her, the one she sent was one of the weakest ones in the city. Not because of her abilities or strength or anything of the sort, but because she was too easily swayed by opinions and peer pressure. Yes, it was true that she was still quite formidable, but against Allen, who was used to playing all kind of mind games with his mother, who was practically the queen of them, she was just short of being strong enough. The fact that his mother had sent her in today rather than another witch, when he'd been treated to a lower tier of witches the day before, told him that his mother wasn't as omnipresent and as observant as she wanted him to believe.

The routine started off as usual, with the witch asking questions and Allen giving her vague answers that really had nothing to do with the topic at hand. This particular witch he'd not seen too often, mostly because his mother had too much fun torturing him and wasn't too keen on sharing. So, having been presented such a beautiful opportunity, he decided to mess with her a bit. Starting off simple, he made a comment about how her hair was different than the other times he'd seen her. The reaction he got from her was more than satisfactory. He barely managed to play off his grin as part of a wince as she started back, blindsided by his comment. From there he progressed, until finally she became so embarrassed by his increasingly bold comments and probing questions, she actually left the room, yelling at the guards to ensure he didn't leave. The guards didn't hear this command, however, having actually been asleep on their post. Assuming it was part of a new routine, they simply went back to sleep. Allen waited, ten minutes the first time to ensure the guards were asleep, then another ten for the pain to subside enough for him to move. Once it did, he very silently and carefully left the room, passing the sleeping guards as slowly as possible so as not to disturb them, then making a mad dash for a hidden tunnel he knew was still undisturbed, a tunnel that would lead him straight to the back gardens that were always left abandoned save for the caretakers. He was in pain, so much of it, but if he didn't leave right then, if he didn't make it back, then he never would.

It was only ten minutes into his wild escape that he both heard and felt the screech he was sure belonged to the high priestess, no doubt having discovered his escape. For a fleeting moment he felt pity for those who would be punished, but upon hearing a much more intense screech come from the heart of the city, that emotion was replaced by panic and desperation as he swam as fast as he could in his condition, hoping that just maybe he was fast enough to get away, fast enough to survive.

She was getting closer, he could feel it, but so was he to that dock that had meant safety for a long time now. Even though she was catching up, he couldn't help but feel triumph as he spotted the dock. With one last burst of energy, he launched himself the last few meters left between him and that dock, flying out of the water and onto the dock, coming to rest almost at the beginning of the dock, somehow just after a rather dense bush that had flourished on the ground next to it. A quick glance at the water told him he should hide behind it, so he dragged himself the rest of the way, off the dock and right into the line of sight of a rather beautiful brunette human woman, who upon seeing him immediately dropped what she had in her hands and rushed out to him. He barely felt it when she picked him up and carried him inside the house he'd been so curious about for so long, and he didn't hear what it was she said to whoever was there in the room with her. All he knew was that he could see his mother through the window, her head barely above the water, looking around for any sign of him, angered beyond anything he'd ever known. He finally allowed himself to slip into the welcoming darkness when he saw her growl, diving back under the sea to return to her kingdom, away from him.

The last thing he knew, after he allowed himself to truly relax, was a woman's kind voice cooing to him in a way he'd never known, a cool hand caressing his head soothingly. "Rest, young prince. You have sanctuary here."

...

I have absolutely no excuse for taking so long with this... DX

Do let me know what you think of it so far though. It'd be much appreciated.