Flashback
The room was getting steadily colder and it wouldn't be much longer until the ice that coated the surface of the water would extend down below to the small child contained in the metal bars. It was one of the coldest days of the year so far and it had barely passed the 10th-month mark.
The child shivered as he gazed through the bars for what could only be the last time before the cold finally got to him. The man said he would be coming soon, a long time ago. When it was still warm. The child held his coral blue tail closer to his body, which was steadily approaching the same color.
It was right when the night began to fall that a loud scissoring sound was heard. The child looked up in dismay as the ice above him was cut away by a large shiny piece of metal moving back and forth in unison. Strange tongues floated down through the water and that child swam slowly to the top of his prison to better see the large blades.
Above, a man by the name of Matthias saw something shiny below the cold, gray waters. He angled his saw and cut cleanly through the thing, and motioned for his best friend, a man by the name of Lukas to come near. Lukas made his way over from the cart, where more and more ice cubes were being stacked. The two were stocking up on ice for the coming spring, as farther down in the valley there was a good sized town that frequently saw warm summers. They, however, were not from the blessed warm village, but rather from the colder northern one that was cleanly cut out of the side of a cliff.
Lukas, watched closely by Mattias, as the last thing he would want is for his "friend" to fall into the water, leaned over and carefully used his claw to pull the object out. It was heavier than either expected and Lukas, assisted by Mattias and another member of the crew, Emil, eventually pulled it up.
It was a cage and inside was a merperson. Well- merchild. Emil gasped and the child pulled further back into his cage. They all pulled the cage out of the water and used a saw to take the top of the metal cage off. The child contained within had blue eyes with hints of brown in the irises. He had dirty blond hair and curious markings on his face and shoulders. The child stared at them all with terror in his eyes, his form visibly shaking.
"Hey! Tino!" Mattias called. Another man, this one hefting a large block of ice, turned around and saw the child. He nodded quickly and set down his ice block, hurrying over.
"Moi, what's your name?" He said, kneeling down by the half-cage. Inside the child's eyes grew about four sizes as the man held out a hand. The child shivered violently as the cold wind gave a blast. Lukas, who was simply staring in awe at the merchild in front of them, quickly headed back to the cart, digging around and coming back with a brown coat about 2 sizes two sizes too big for the child.
Tino took the coat from Lukas and draped it over the child, who still looked petrified. Tino stood up and reached into the cage, picking up the small merman and cradling him in his arms. The small child looked somewhat more comfortable and began to shuffle around in the coat, pulling it closer to his small body. He smiled down at the child, to which Lukas to roll his eyes.
"Tino," Mattias who was looking into the water, whispered, "Something is down there," Lukas and Emil had joined Mattias who was standing by the hole in the ice previously made. The water was foaming up in bright blue bursts. With the ice around the hole melting fast, the three men moved away from the edge of the hole almost in perfect sync. As the water foamed higher and higher, shapes began to be formed. All the men at the sight had stopped all work and were watching the group of 4 which stood by as the foam grew steadily taller.
First, what looked like legs, then a body, and then a head. The figure grew taller, at least 6 meters tall.
The child watched as the figure became more detailed. Then, just as the face was morphed out of the pale blue foam, the face of a woman from the land over the sea. The seafoam woman held out her arms and the child delightedly jumped into them. Tino was surprised and the look of hurt that crossed his face as the child left his arms was enough to even make the head of the ice business, Berwald Oxenstierna, shed a tear. The splash the child made was small compared to the vibrating of the sea, and near-constant bursts of foam. The woman smiled down at Tino's form, which was still in the position to hold the child.
The woman's voice echoed from her in waves, bringing thoughts of summer in the meadows and joyful walks through woods, " Tino Väinämöinen, thank you for watching the child of the sea. In return, you will be blessed with your own son from the sea," Gusts of wind flowed over the group, causing coats to shuffle and hats to fly. Then, all at once, the winds stopped, and the warmth fled from the people and water. The ice stopped receding and instead grew back to its full thickness.
No one said anything except for the child, who's laughing voice echoed out from underneath the water:
"Mom!"
A/N
...
I hate the ACT.
Just gonna say that.
I am so sorry about not uploading for a MONTH. I am so mad at myself, but I'm trying to save up for a trip this summer, and we had testing in school and my family came out from the west and uuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh it's been a crazy month.
Edit: I spelled Tino's name wrong and Berwald's as well... You will have to forgive the reuploading thing, but Tino Thefrickisyourlastname is sadly not canon. ;-;
