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I am so tired. And it's so cheesy and fluffy and there's not a definite tone. Oh Poseidon, just kill me!
Virtual cookies if you get all the references.
Mermaid mythology is from Aquamarine and Mermaids (2003).
For the meaning of Caroline's nail colors check out mood ring color meanings on google
"You should do a story based off a fairy tale like the little mermaid, or something and switch it up" -HollisterandGames
You want the Mermaid 401?
There are like these giant golden tablets with the history of the merfolk engraved on them, telling us all how we came into existence from the sea being created and all the creatures being made and then the first merman was born and then –
Oh God, I sound like Grandma Helen now, just droning on and on about the old days and stuff. Like I really even care much about how everything came to be in our world. It's simple really. There was the ocean, the first merman was born. Then the first mermaid. They banged. End of story.
There really is no need for flowery language or to praise the almighty Poseidon for creating our land of constant wetness and scaliness. We're dryness-deprived creatures and everything smells of fish. What's so cool about that?
The only time it gets exciting is when there's a party. Cause there is always a party here at Atlantica, there's always something to celebrate. The smallest, most mundane things are celebrated.
Grandma Helen turned another century older? YAY! Damon fathered another baby with another gullible mermaid? Woo-pee! Elena and Stefan are getting married? LET'S ALL DO THE MERFOLK VERSION OF GANGNAM-STYLE!
Okay, the last one sounds horrible. I really am happy for Elena and Stefan. They are my best friends and I'm happy that they're happy and they're going to start a family cause after all that's all going to be left of them when they die.
Our lives are all ran by magic.
We need to always be dryness-deprived because when we're dry, we get legs. Seriously, like human legs and we can pass for them and we can walk on land if we wanted to. But none of us want to because humans are jerks. Crazy, obsessive jerks who have wanted to capture us for centuries so they could put us into aquariums to stare at us and then cut us up when they get bored.
We've heard the warnings from the elders and we know better than to expose ourselves and be tortured that way. Also, none of us want to risk the others who the humans will want to look for as well. Secrecy is a necessity in our world, always has been.
Anyway, what was I saying?
Oh right, mermaids live a lot longer than humans, a few millennia before we become sea foam and then we're gone forever. The thing is, merfolk have no souls. Not in the demon kind of way humans like to describe us as but as in, there is no merfolk afterlife. There's just here and now and all that's left behind are the generations after us.
Alright, don't be so glum now, chums! There are some perks to being a mermaid even if there is no immortality or heaven for us. We have super strength and speed. And some of the girls are sirens which means they can pretty much get human boys to do whatever they want (not that that has much use since we don't go up to see those human boys). And of course, there's the birthright.
When you're born, you're given a birthright which is an object presented by your parents. It can be anything really. Damon has a silver triton that he can change the size of it at will, Bonnie has a magical mirror that lets her see anyone she wants, and Elena has a seashell that lets her talk to anyone she wants to reach.
Pretty cool, right? Wait, what's mine?
Oh, mine's a coral necklace. Pretty ugly actually and all it does is give me the ability to morph my appearance. I can look like anybody I want to be and sure, the necklace's ability sounds cool right? But the necklace doesn't really disappear when I change appearance so anyone just needs to look down at that ugly accessory and know it's me so moot point.
I would rather have Bonnie's mirror or Damon's triton. Or just the triton, no one messes with you when you can stab them with a freaking magical triton.
Well, I guess it could be worse.
Stefan's birthright didn't even do anything. It was a pocket watch that his Dad found in a sunken ship and of course, it doesn't work underwater so it did nothing. But Stefan loved it. It was gold and there was an engraving in human language so we couldn't read it but Stefan could stare at the foreign words and try with all his might to gauge what they mean. He's weird like that.
So I've rambled long enough. What's the moral? Stay away from humans. At all costs.
Another day, another party.
What's the party, Caroline? Oh nothing, just my birthday. Why must I be so glum on my birthday? Well, it's just my eighteenth birthday. And mermaids live practically forever, remember? My Dad just turned one-hundred and fifty last month. So turning eighteen isn't really a milestone.
It just feels like another day to me. Another day, another thing to celebrate and I've been sick of these things since I was fourteen.
The same things always happen.
All the merfolk will gather in the great hall of the palace.
We will sit- ugh, float around.
My Dad, the King (yes, I'm the freaking princess get over it), will arrive fashionably late and will make a speech about how awesome we merfolk are, especially me cause it's my birthday, then he will sit down on his golden throne.
John will come in on his freaking seahorse, dramatic as always and starts conducting the entertainment. Nowadays, it's his new mermaid chorale, including Elena and Bonnie and guess who's the star singer? Yup, you guessed it, me.
I've been practicing Mermaid in a Bottle and Ship Me Baby One More Time for freaking weeks and I just can't wait to get it over with.
We'll finish performing, everyone will clap, especially my Dad then we will all float around a bit until high-tide and everyone will go home.
That's all that happens. Seriously.
A few hours before the party, all the girls in the chorale are getting ready, putting shells and starfishes in their hair and gushing about the cute merboys. Elena was talking with Stefan on her shellphone and Bonnie was watching Jeremy on her mirror (and it's not creepy at all, it's not) and it's so cute. All this cuteness made me sad though.
I mean, yeah, I'm happy for them. But where's my merguy? How come they all avoid me like freaking red tide? How come I don't have a Stefan or a Jeremy?
Grandma Helen tells me because I act like a human girl and not like a mermaid. You know, emotional and not like a cold fish like the other mermaids? And this is a very bad thing. I am the freaking princess and therefore I shouldn't act so…human. Cause we're not human and we – I shouldn't act like them.
I guess she's right. I have a duty to my lineage and that's to find a suitable merman and pop out a guppy or two and the royal family of Atlantica can live on. If only I could just stop…feeling. Was there an off button or something no one told me about? And how come they didn't tell me?
I glare at my reflection in the mirror for a minute before shaking my head and swam out of the dressing room, wanting to find someplace where I could be the freaking emotional freak I was and not be ousted for it.
I opt to just swim around the palace, passing by servants carrying all sorts of food for the party, kelp, seaweed, crabs, oysters, shrimps, fish – anything you can think of, we have it. The guards were standing less alert today, as they always were during feasts and chatted with one another, not minding me at all as I swam past them to exit the palace.
Seeing the coast was clear, I swam as fast as I could to get out of the open area and towards Deep End, the graveyard of sunken ships.
Deep End is generally avoided because One, humans love sunken ships, all the treasures hidden inside (most of which we already get before they can even get their scuba gear. What? We love shiny things!). Two, Dad thinks we shouldn't learn too much about humans since they are such crazy jerks. And three, sharks. The Great Whites particularly love to hang around the area and unless you want to be shark food, you better be extra careful.
Most of the loot in the ships has already been coveted but it never hurt to check for any forgotten things. The latest ship is from last year, it is a small one and I barely fit through the window but once in I swam about, trying to find something to take with me. It'd be awfully sad if I come back empty-handed.
I enter the lone room below deck and look around. Everything is deteriorating already but still I search under objects and looked into tight spaces, trying to find…something. I feel something behind the wooden 'closet' (what did Damon call it? Something to hold clothes and things in?) and my hand touches something so I use both hands to get it out and it turns out to be a box. Smooth ivory wood with swirls of pink and gold painted on it.
I open it and there's a small figurine inside, a girl standing on her tiptoes. Is she dancing? Is that how humans danced? It makes me wonder for a moment, a dark forbidden minute, what it would be like to dance with feet instead of swimming and floating around with my fins. Would I still be graceful despite gravity? How different would it feel?
Caroline, what the hell?
I close the box and shake my head. Sorry. Being emotional tended to make you delusional as well sometimes. I need to get back to the party, it would begin soon and I couldn't be late. It's in my honor after all. Tucking the music box under one arm, I swim away.
I make it just in the nick of time. Dad has just taken his seat when I swim in from the servant's entrance in the kitchens and took my place with the chorale. Elena and Bonnie give me curious looks, silently asking where I've been and I just smile and shake my head. I can't very well tell them I was hanging out at the no-mermaid zone, can I? Besties or not, those two are horrible at keeping secrets.
Everyone applauds as John arrives, yes, on the previously mentioned seahorse. What's his name? Golden. Why? Just for the reason he can say "Stay, Golden". Yeah, what a cheese ball and I'm the freak?
John smiles at my Dad and then at the crowd before turning to us, a stern gleam in his eyes telling us that we better not screw up or else. What would he do, you ask? He'll throw a hissy fit. And John's hissy fits are to be avoided at all costs.
The first song begins and I just let myself get lost in the music. It's the only time I could feel and be emotional and not be made fun of or scorned for it. Music has a life to it, didn't it? But it doesn't feel alive at all if you don't give it anything of yourself. And while the other mermaids have beautiful voices, yes, but there is no, forgive me, heart to it. And when I'm singing, I don't hate myself because I feel free.
We perform our set list to loud applause, John preening through it all. Lucky for us, no hissy fits later. Dad smiles at me as I float towards him, giving him a quick hug before they deem it inappropriately human and giving the same treatment to Mom.
"You were lovely, Caroline." Mom says to me, smiling but it still felt cold. There is just no warmth and I'm underwater, yeah, but for some reason I know a smile should never be cold.
"Of course, Liz. Our daughter is the best singer in the kingdom, in all the seas even." Dad tells Mom and she nods, agreeing. "A trait that should help with her marriage, I hope."
Okay, wait what?
I blink a few times before repeating, "Marriage?"
Dad turns to me and explains. "Yes. Prince Tyler has agreed towards a union."
Union? Prince Tyler?
"You want me to marry him?"
"Yes."
Blunt. Cold. As usual. It should not be that way.
"But he lives in the Pacific Ocean!"
"And I'm sure you'll adapt, Caroline." He stares down at me as I splutter for something to say. "He'll be arriving in a three months time to bring you home with him. I'm sure you can get all your affairs sorted by then."
"Dad, did you even ask me if I wanted to marry him?" I'm hyperventilating and I want to scream so I do. "I'm your daughter! Why are you treating me like this?!"
"You're emotional again." Dad gestures for the guards to take me away. "You will not be let out of your room till you can act like a proper mermaid."
I seethe in my room for what feels like forever but is only a few hours and all I could think about was the more time I spend stuck there, the closer Prince Tyler is coming to bring me back with him to live half way around the world. Why does my life suck so much? What horrible thing have I done to deserve this?
I pout and look at the mirror in my room. I've been able to identify expressions on my face for the years but this one had been appearing more frequent recently. I'm sad. I bow my head and let out stuttering breaths, the bubbles around me swirling and floating out the window and as I watch them leave this cold prison I know what I had to do.
There is no way I am spending another day of my life living in that palace of emotionless creatures and then marrying some prick who didn't even care enough to ask me if I want to marry him. No way. No more of this.
First thing I do is use my birthright, my hair redder and my eyes a shimmering green. Then I change my scales from gold and silver to green. Gold and silver scales signify royalty after all and it is too much a giveaway. Second, I pack into my small bag (a long time ago gift from Damon) a few things I could not bear to leave behind, mostly items from scavenging trips at Deep End with Damon. A silver fork, a smoking pipe and the ivory box with the dancer. Lastly, I squeeze out of the window of my room and I'm gone.
It's amazing how no one notices me leave. It's like no one really even cares. Which should hurt but I'm too glad for my freedom to care.
I focus on swimming away from the palace as far as I could but I'm miles away from the bright, golden walls when I realize I have nowhere to go. The nearest kingdom is too far away for me to reach before my father is undoubtedly going to make sure there is no place where I could hide in the seven oceans once he finds out I'd ran away. I certainly couldn't hide out at Deep End before then.
But what about-
No, Caroline, that's stupid. There are rules from that for a reason. It's dangerous. And what if...what if….
What if? Come on, who am I kidding? I'd be dead anyway if I stay underwater. Not literally but in all the ways that matter. I'd be forced to live this cold life in this cold world with a cold husband.
I've had enough. I want warmth. I want to feel. I want to live.
So to the human world it was.
The first moment my head surfaces from the water strangely feels like I am being born again. It's the first feel of air on my cold skin and to see the stars in the dark sky so clearly and to see a ship, one that wasn't underwater and rotting, floating on the waves. There are loud noises, laughter and singing and bright, colorful lights exploding into the sky.
It's…it's marvelous. And it is so new and I feel overwhelmed by it all. So much to see, hear, feel and I want more of it.
I swim closer to the ship, making sure I am surrounded by shadows so if anyone looks down in the water they would not see me. Secrecy is still a necessity…until I get legs. Oh God, just the thought makes me want to burst.
From the side of the deck, I could see humans, my first glimpse of them and not just from paintings and tales from the elders. And I tell you now, those stories were very inaccurate. None of them are sporting swords and had hooks for hands. They look basically like us except dry and with legs of course.
How do they walk with those? How do they stay balanced even with gravity? How weird. Humans are weird and yet…fascinating.
There are around twenty of them at the deck, young and old, of different shapes and sizes. The ones nearest to my view are the young ones, about my age with their youthful laughter and a carefree quality to them. They could feel emotion and are showing it openly, not caring, not minding it at all.
There are three of them. The youngest was a blonde girl in a silver dress that showed her glorious tanned legs (would mine look like them? I really hope so), the second was a girl with messy dark hair, dressed in a black dress and third was a tall boy with dark hair and eyes. He's drinking a dark liquid from a bottle and occasionally handing it to either girl sitting beside him.
"How does it feel to finally be twenty, brother dear?" The blonde asks the boy, grinning at him in an almost mocking yet playful way. "Another year and you're really an adult."
He rolls his dark eyes, takes a long swig. "Stop being a hag, Rebekah."
She pouts. "I'm never a hag."
"A brat then," He replies. "As always."
The blonde scowls and retorts unhappily. "I am not a brat!"
"I have another word for you but I'm trying to keep things delicate for Anna dear, here." He grins down at the girl at his right whose faced reddened at his attention. He doesn't seem to notice though since he's bantering with the blonde again.
"And let me guess, it beings with a B and ends with a-"
"No, more like it begins with a C and ends with a-"
"Kol!"
The three humans look up as a woman with strawberry blonde hair calls them over. "Time to blow out your candles!"
"Mom, I'm too old for this now…" The boy –Kol- tried to protest but is walking towards his mother anyway. The two girls follow him and Kol lets out an unhappy grunt and looks up at the sky as they all start to sing Happy Birthday to him. When they finish, he blows out his candles and they all clap happily.
"Happy Birthday, Prince Kol." Rebekah grins at her brother and kisses him on the cheek sweetly. He rolls his eyes and makes a show of rubbing his cheek to get rid of the pinkish gloss from her lips.
"Alright, let's cut the cake…"
I could only watch them as they ate and laughed. Music starts playing and they are dancing, twirling, spinning and even bumping against each other very closely. Are they cold? Do they need the friction to keep warm? Why was the blonde kissing that boy now?
Humans are so weird and yet I want to be in their world now. It looks beautiful, bright and alive and I want to see more of it and be in it.
Kol looks annoyed with everyone around him and walks away, nearer to where I could see more of him. He is really quite…handsome for a human, good enough for a merman even and merfolk were the most beautiful creatures there are. His chiseled looks make him appealing visually but there is a sadness in his dark eyes that reminded me of myself.
Anna follows him quietly and pokes him lightly on his arm. "You having fun, Prince Kol?"
Kol scowls at her. "Could you stop calling me that? I am not a prince-"
"You're descended from Queen Victoria, so technically still royalty."
"Yes, how could I forget?" He rolls his eyes. He seems to do that a lot. "My parents only drilled that into my brain the moment I was born."
Anna just smiles at him in a way that is tender, hanging on to his every word like he really is a prince. What emotion is that? I'd never seen it before, not in my world anyway.
Kol doesn't seem to notice that unknown emotion though and just stares on ahead, lost in thought. Anna pulls him back into conversation again before long. "What did you wish for?"
She hastily adds. "But you don't have to tell me, wish not coming true if you do and all."
He shakes his head. "It's fine. It's not going to come true anyway."
Her eyebrow's furrowed in question and concern. "Why?"
He stares at her for a minute before taking a sip from his bottle. He grins when he looked back at her. "I wished that my life would become exciting."
"FIRE!"
Well, he gets his wish.
Despite the crew's efforts, the boat is on fire in mere seconds and the people are put into the lifeboats and out of the fire's way before anyone could get hurt. Kol is quick to get Anna into a lifeboat and yet he doesn't go with her despite her vehement protests. He is busy helping other people get away and everything is just a chaotic blur, happening too fast. The first just keeps growing and getting warmer until he is surrounded in it. He finally has to jump into the water to escape, narrowly missing me actually and wait–
He's floundering in the water, trying his best not to sink.
Don't tell me he can't swim.
Still floundering.
Seriously?
I roll my eyes (oh look, new habit!) and I went to save the human boy who is doing a great impersonation of a rock now.
I end up dragging Kol's unconscious body to shore hours later (it was quite a swim towards land) and it is dawn by the time I am able to pull him unto the sand (which was quite a feat since I am still not dry so I basically I am dragging myself and him. Seriously).
I couldn't really get him more help since I am waiting for my legs so I just lay there on the sand with him and I could not help but stare. Not in a creepy way, just fascinated. I've never been this close to a human (ever really, this was my first human sighting remember?) and Kol's face is all borderline androgynous, masculine and feminine at the same time. I count each individual eyelash before tracing the contours of his face. The ridge of his nose, his forehead, his cheeks, his chin and then those lips, soft and thin and pink.
I've never kissed anyone before. No merman has ever wanted to loss me and I don't want them either and yet I want to kiss him. What would be the difference between my kind and his? Would he taste, feel different? Or would it be the same? Probably less wet….
He starts to stir and I panic as I realize I am still a bit damp. I need to get dry. Now! Panicking, I try to come up with something to do and just end up letting out a girlish squeak as Kol finally wakes up and looks up at me, dark eyes still dreamy, not fully awake yet. I hold my breath as I hold his gaze and finally (Thank you Poseidon!) his eyes flutter shut again.
"There's somebody there!"
There are people coming and I have to get away so I drag myself as fast as I could towards the large rock at the right of the shore and hide behind it as people surround the unconscious boy on the sand.
The men carry Kol away and I tell myself he would be alright. I have no reason to worry. I already saved him from drowning, the hard part was over. I just have to get dry, find some clothes (I noticed nudity wasn't a big trend for humans) and then live amongst the humans like I am actually one of them and not half-fish.
Easy enough.
I wait for a few more minutes before I am completely dry and I watch fascinated as my fin glowed white, so bright it almost blinded me and then….
Legs!
I lift one up into the air, inspecting my toes, the nails a bright purple. I inspect the other to see if they are the same. It looks to all be in order.
Now to walk.
Oh Poseidon.
How do humans do it? Walking is hard! Really, really hard! How do they keep their balance and not fall into the sand like how I've been doing for the best part of my time?
Seriously, how?
My nails are gray now and I glare down at my useless feet for a minute before getting fed up and grabbing a handful of sand, throwing it at the ocean.
Why am I always such a failure? I couldn't be a good mermaid and now I couldn't be a good human. Fat load of good all this is. All it's done for me is given me vacillating nail color.
There are people again and I try to crawl towards the rock again but my new limbs wouldn't cooperate. They are dead weight and I couldn't hide in time before two human women are looking at me with wide eyes.
Turns out those two human women are servants or well, one of them is a 'maid' and the other is a 'personal assistant'. They both work for the richest family in town – the Mikaelsons. They are both pretty shocked when they see me, naked on the shore and asks me repeatedly if I am alright and if someone has 'raped' me. What is 'rape'?
I don't really get much word in as Sage, the personal assistant, waits with me as Emily, the maid, goes off to get more help and clothes.
Sage's hair is the exact same shade as my glamoured hair.
Two men come back with Emily, both are tall and dark-haired. 'Elijah' wraps a blanket around me and asks me questions, mostly about what happened to me and 'Finn' picks me up and carries me away from the shore.
My nails are black now. I don't know where they are taking me and as much splendor I was able to witness last night, the stories warning me about how horrible humans are ring through my head.
What if they find out about me? Will I leave my life in a tank? Be cut open and studied? And worst yet, doom the rest of the merfolk?
Yes, they are cold and uncaring but they are still my people, my kind. They do not deserve to suffer and die. And I would not speak and endanger them. I refuse.
Elijah is talking to Sage now, asking what she knows about me so far but Sage just said something like "Maybe she's mute?" and Elijah frowns, staring at me before making hand gestures I could not understand.
I blink at him and he sighs, turning back to Sage. "She doesn't seem to know sign language."
Sage shrugs. "Well, she hasn't spoken so far."
"Or maybe she's just afraid." Finn finally speaks before looking down at me, smiling kindly. It is the first warm smile I've ever received. "It's okay, duckie. You're safe."
My chin quivers as I let out a relieved breath and I look down at my nails. They're amber.
They bring me to a spare room, placing me on a bed. It's dry and doesn't seem to be water-damaged from being in the sea for so long. This would take some getting used to, constant dryness.
The four humans don't leave yet though, just staring at me curiously before Elijah takes a seat on the chair by the bed. Sage leans on the wall and Finn taks a seat on the edge of the mattress. Emily remains by the door.
I look down at my still amber nails as my fingers fiddle with the blanket. I've never felt dry material before and it feels warm against my skin. Dryness is odd but warmth was rather lovely, isn't it?
Elijah starts. "Pardon but may I ask what's your name?"
I look at Finn. I've just met the guy and he's human but he'd been kind so far. Though I still have no idea what a 'duckie' was. He smiles again, warm smiles and he nods at me, encouraging me to answer.
I look back at Elijah. "Caroline. My name's Caroline."
"And do you know what happened to you, Caroline?" Elijah asks, slowly, carefully.
And I look down again. My nails are gray.
How much could I tell them before it becomes too risky to hide what I am, who I have to protect? My parents are cold and cruel but they are my lineage, my heritage and wasn't all that is left when we die? I have to protect them. I have to.
"I don't remember."
They get me some clothes and after learning I could not walk, Finn carries me into what they called a 'car' which is odd to be inside because it moved quickly and I stare outside the window like a small, giddy child before I start feeling woozy at the fast moving scenery. I have to look away and stare down at my now green nails.
What do all these colors mean? I've never had changing nail color when I was a mermaid, what made being a human different?
Everything, of course.
We arrive at our destination and Finn carries me out of the car and into a tall house that has many windows. It smells very odd inside, strong odors all over the area. We go into a small grey box that feels like we are being pulled by gravity. A man in a white coat is waiting for us and he asks me questions, puts a cold metal against my chest that makes me shiver (I don't like the cold anymore, never again) and then he asks more questions.
I try to answer what I thought would be safe to reveal and just shake my head at questions I think are too revealing or I just don't understand.
They move me to another room and I have to keep still as I am moved slowly into a small box. I could hear still hear their voices as they talk about me.
"There doesn't seem to be any brain damage."
"So, this is what, amnesia?" Sage asks. "Aren't those just common in soap operas?"
"Uncommon in real life but not impossible," The doctor answers.
Elijah interjects. "So, Miss Caroline is a mystery then."
They take me back to their house which really is quite big and lovely now that I am able to really look at it. Emily says the Mikaelsons are the richest family in town and it shows. It isn't as big as the palace in Atlantica but very few things could leave up to that light show of pure conceit.
Finn carries me into the house and I wonder if he minded carrying me about like I was cargo but he doesn't seem to, he even smiles at me when he catches me looking at him and he brings me back to the room earlier without any signs of discontent.
Elijah tries to reassure me as I settled into my new surroundings. "You're welcome to stay with us as long as you'd like Caroline. We'll do all we can to help you with your predicament."He gestures to Emily who is by the door. "Emily will see to any need of yours."
Sage whispers something in his ear, something like "What about your parents?" and he whispers back "I'll deal with them". Elijah smiles at me kindly before taking Sage with him and leaving.
Finn smiles at me once more. "Give it time, duckie. We'll find out what happened."
And then he leaves too.
I still feel that anxious little fluttering in her belly. What strange bodies humans have. But humans have been kind to me so far. Maybe this wouldn't be so horrible?
I spend days in my new room. Partly out of choice since I still am a little wary of my gracious hosts and mostly because I have a hard time learning how to walk. The doctor has pointed out I am physically healthy but marked up my inability to walk to trauma or some minor atrophy. I don't really know how to explain that I do not know how to walk at all.
Emily helps me mostly and I try to mimic the way she moves before almost falling to the floor if not for her. Finn offers to take me to and fro for meals but I decline and ask my meals be sent to my room because it is really embarrassing. I feel like a guppy relearning everything about her life. I didn't like this feeling.
On my fourth day there though, Finn comes into my room before dinner time and smiles sheepishly at me. "I'm sorry, duckie, but I'm afraid you have to have dinner with us tonight."
"Why?"
He grimaces. "Mother and Father have come home and we've explained your situation to them and they are sympathetic. They still want to meet you though, at the least to make you feel more welcome."
Finn's nervousness is making me nervous. He seems the type to be calm all the time so anything that unnerves him must be something horrible indeed.
"They don't trust me, do they?" I ask, knowing enough from my own parents to gauge such things.
"They haven't met you." Finn gives me his warm smile. "I'm sure that once they do, they will see that you have no ploys towards our family."
Right…of course I don't. Aside from lying about not remembering much, I am totally honest. I just have to get through this dinner and convince everyone that I am not a liar (even though I was).
Great.
I want to walk to dinner but I am still learning how to so Finn just carries me towards the dining room. Everyone at the table looks at us as we enter. Finn puts me down on the chair between his and Elijah's.
I look around the table and first saw, at the head of the table, a man who resemblances Finn and Elijah, his hair though was a light brown and he stares at me suspiciously with dark eyes. To his right was –wait a minute.
That's the woman on the boat a few days ago, with the strawberry blonde hair, Kol's mom.
Wait, Kol's mom.
I look across from me at the two siblings who are both staring at me in different ways.
Rebekah looks outraged. "Is that my dress?"
I look down at the navy blue dress I', wearing. Oh so, the clothes must've been hers. I haven't really bothered to think about where they come from, I'm just happy to have something to wear. Obviously, the owner is not so happy though.
"Rebekah," Elijah's voice is a clear warning. "Be nice to our guest."
The blonde huffs indignantly but stops staring daggers at me. I try to avoid her stare and shift mine to the boy at her side, his dark eyes staring at me like I am a confusing riddle.
Who is it? Come on, you know who it is.
"Have we met before?" Kol asks, not taking his gaze off me.
I don't really know what to say, how to answer that without raising more questions. So I just stare at him with wide eyes and wondered if they could all smell my fear. My nails are black.
His eyes widen in realization. "It was you!"
"Was what, darling?" His mother asks.
"She's the girl I saw, the one that saved me." Kol answers, like he was telling them that Yes, we are the supreme rulers of the universe now. Let's party!
"Oh, you mean the girl you've been moaning about in your sleep?" Rebekah makes a face and gave me those dagger eyes again. "Are you sure it's her?"
Kol nods. "I was at the beach and you say you found her at the beach. Coincidence? I think not."
Elijah looks at me. "Why didn't you tell us that?"
Oh Poseidon, this is just going worse by the minute. What am I supposed to say? I decide to play heroine to some human boy, perfectly happy to know I'd never have to see him again and then guess what, he's your brother? Are there like only fifty-five people in the human world?
"I didn't know he was your brother." I finally answer meekly.
The whole room is silent before the man at the head of the table spoke. "Well, that is rather remarkable."
His wife just shakes her head at the ridiculousness of this scenario before smiling at me. It's warm. What is with these humans and their warm smiles? Is it a human thing or just with this family, the ability to relax you with their charming smiles of warmth? (I know it's something that doesn't run in my lineage or all merfolk in general). "Nevertheless, you saved our son, Caroline We are very grateful."
"You have saved our lives. We are eternally grateful." Rebekah and Kol quip together.
I stare at them in confusion.
Humans are so weird.
The rest of the Mikaelsons are really rather nice.
Esther seems to have taken a shine to me (saving her son from death was the ultimate move apparently). Rebekah isn't cruel but still a bit snooty, she was obviously grateful for what I did for her brother and she doesn't make a fuss about me borrowing her clothes. Mikael is not as congenial as the rest of his family but he is welcoming enough by not snooping me out like I'm a criminal
And Kol…
Kol is frustrating, frustrating in that way I don't know how to deal with him. He always seems to be around me.
When Emily would help me walk around the garden, he is coincidentally at the gazebo where Emily and I would stop for a break. When Rebekah takes me shopping so I don't have to borrows hers anymore, he tags along for no apparent reason except to fight with Rebekah on what I should wear (um, don't I have an opinion?). When Finn would come to my room and ask how I am, Kol would follow him in.
Why is he acting like that? I mean, yeah, I did save his life but can't he just get me a seahorse or whatever the land equivalent of that was and move on? He doesn't have to stalk me like a shark after its prey. Are human boys supposed to be this strange or is it just him?
I am just grateful we are never alone. He never dares to venture into my room alone and when I am out of my room, I'm either with Emily or some other Mikaelson but never alone. I dread to see how Kol would act towards me if we're alone. What would he do?
And then it happens.
I'm in the library, trying to read the books there. They have many books and I spend days reading about human culture and trying to understand how they are. So far, they seem to be a lot odder than we thought. This book I'm reading in particular is so weird.
"Twilight? Really?" Kol's voice makes me jump and I drop the book in my hands, placing a hand over my heart as I try to restart it.
I glare at the smirking boy at the doorway. "You startled me."
He just shrugs and mumbles out an apology though it isn't real. He's playing with me again. He seems to love that. He walks over and picks the poor, fallen book off the rug, scowling at it and throwing it on the coffee table. "Rebekah should really stop bringing rubbish into this house."
"What's bad about it?" I ask.
Kol makes a choking noise. "What isn't bad about it?" He takes a seat on the couch beside me, so close his thigh brushed mine. It's much too close. "I mean from the stupid heroine to the serial killer love interest, not to mention it makes vampires freaking sparkle.
"And all the other bad values in there too like teen pregnancy and pedophilia." He makes a careless gesture. "Take your pick."
"You seem to know a lot about something you seem to dislike."
"I had to write a paper on it last year." He shakes his head in disgust. "What happened to the greats like The Great Gatsby and Shakespeare?"
I have no idea what any of that was and it must've showed on my expression because Kol balks at me. "You've never heard of Shakespeare?"
I shake my head.
"F. Scott Fitzgerald?"
No.
"Hemingway? Dickens?"
Nope.
"Alright. How about more modern stuff? Chuck Palanuik? Neil Gaiman?"
Nu-uh.
He looks almost desperately. "J.K. Rowling?"
I give him a bemused smile and shrugs. He collapses back against the sofa before sitting up again. "I can't believe it. It's like you're from another world."
I stiffen and tried not to let it show, just smiling at him and try to keep calm. Keep calm, Caroline. Keep calm.
Then he frowns. "Maybe it's your amnesia? Made you forget about those things?"
I shrug. "Maybe."
He looks down at the rug and looks really daunted. "Well, that's sad. Literature is like part of being human. To forget that is like to not be human."
If only you knew.
He suddenly gets up and goes to one of the shelves, pulling out a thick book and then returning to the couch beside me. "If you're going to remember, you should always start with the fun stuff."
He cracks open the book and introduces me to the world of Harry Potter.
Before I know it, a month has passed by and I am still with the Mikaelsons. The family has gotten used to me, treats me kindly albeit differently with each of them. And I've gotten used to them. It's a strange feeling to be with humans who have warm smiles and aren't afraid to be emotional.
Rebekah is the most emotional of them all. She wears her feelings on her skin like armor. Just daring anyone to piss her off and see if they lived once she is done with them (I have met less bloodthirsty killer whales).
Elijah is the most level-headed one, pragmatic, moralistic and polite.
Finn is kind as always, if not a bit protective of me once finding out how much time I've been spending with Kol.
And Kol? Kol is still frustrating. And very crazy, unstable and inappropriate. He does not seem to understand the concept of personal space and his touch though not pervasive is much too frequent. He always seems to have an excuse to touch me.
The other day when I stumbled in the garden during my morning stroll he came to the rescue like Harry Potter without the hippogriff and carried me back to my room despite my protests. Then at lunch, he passed me every dish I asked for, despite the facts I was asking someone else or it wasn't even near him. And after dinner, he walked me back to my room and kissed me on my cheek good night.
Remember when I said I've never kissed anyone before?
You can just imagine the panic attacks I had after that. I swear I can still feel the warmth of his lips on my skin. It feels scalding. I never thought I'd miss the cold.
A week later, Kol takes me to town.
We take his sports car, it was black and shiny and he caresses the hood of it like it was a lover. The same way Damon would caress his triton. Boys and their toys, they are the same no matter what species. That's nice to know.
The top of the car is down and the wind blows through my hair and I giggle at the sensation. I'm wearing the sunglasses Rebekah bought for me our last shopping trip (which are weekly now because I found out quickly that Rebekah loves to shop quite a lot) and Kol wore his, protecting our eyes from the bright glare of the sun.
Music is blasting from the car and I don't know where it came from but the loud sound makes me want to dance like how I saw the people on the ship did, happy and carefree. I wonder if Kol would dance with me if I ask. Not that I want to dance with him but he is the only one I knew around so…
Right, shutting up now.
We arrive in town and Kol parks his car. He holds my hand as we walk around the place, there must be some kind of event because there are kiosks everywhere, vendors selling all sorts of things, trinkets that sparkled and shined with thingamabobs that made noise and so much more.
I hold on to Kol all the while, afraid I would be lost amongst everything. It is all so bright, colorful and alive. Why is it humans could be so alive and be able to live with it every day and yet my kind cannot? Is that why we live longer because as we have no souls or passions, we exhaust less of our life spans? That must be it.
There is a vendor selling fish and all the fish in the aquarium look towards me and I grin at them yet felt a pang of sadness at the same time. Do you all miss the sea? Do you miss the cold? Do you want to be free?
I have to drag myself away before I do or say anything foolish and we stop as people start dancing and singing on the streets.
Wake up kids
We've got the dreamers disease
Age fourteen we got you down on your knees
So polite, you're busy still saying please
"What song is this?" I ask Kol over the loud music and he stares at me oddly as he usually does.
"The New Radicals? You Get What You Give?"
I just stare at him.
He raises his hands in surrender. "Oh come on! What planet really? Neptune?"
Frenemies, who when you're down ain't your friend
Every night we smash their Mercedes Benz
First we run and then we laugh till we cry
"Will you dance with me?" I look up at him hopefully.
He shakes his head. "I don't dance."
I remember him not dancing on the ship on his birthday so maybe he is telling the truth but I want to dance. I wanted to ever since I found the ivory box. My whole being practically hums for excitement and I give him pleading eyes before he sighs and gives in.
He twirls me and I giggle as he maneuveres me gracefully, I'm pressed up against him and I could see the specks of gold and silver in his dark eyes. I want to count those eyelashes again and trace the contours of his face but I restrain myself cause he might think I'm more weird than he already does.
But when the night is falling
And you cannot find the light
If you feel your dream is dying
Kol's staring down at me with a tender smile on his face, it reminds me of the one Anna gave him on his birthday. That emotion I couldn't identify, that emotion that makes you want to hang on to their every word and makes you feel special when they look at you like that. That's what I feel – special.
I don't feel like the emotional freak of a mermaid or the human wannabe. I am just…me. He looks at me like I'm just me. And for a moment, a single forbidden minute I think Could I stay here forever? With you?
Hold tight
You've got the music in you
Don't let go
You've got the music in you
Could I be human forever? Forget everyone from Atlantica and just live here? With Kol? No more coldness and just pure warmth forever?
I almost want to ask him, Can I stay with you?
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
"Of course you can." He smiles at me, eyes sparkling with that undeniable warmth.
Wait, did I say that out loud?
At my panicked expression he laughs and pulles me closer until I am enveloped in nothing but his warmth. It's a good feeling.
My nails keep changing from blue to violet now. The latter seems to be when I'm with Kol. I don't know what they mean. I wish I did but none of the humans would know what this means and I'd have to explain a lot if I do tell them about it. It is too risky.
I spend a lot of time in the library, reading all the beautiful stories humans have created overtime. Harry Potter had been lovely, even if the mermaids were a little upsetting for me. Brought back to many memories and I had to feign tiredness to appease Kol's concerns.
I mostly read books Kol recommended. Most of which was a bit too advance for my seriously lacking knowledge of humanity but what I did not know Kol explained patiently. He sometimes calls me a Neptunian when something supposedly simple is hard for me but mostly is very patient and kind. It is lovely.
Nowadays, Kol makes me read his favorite modern-day fantasy writer, Neil Gaiman. I've read Coraline and The Graveyard Book but Kol wants me to read another book today.
"Stardust," I read the cover and turn it over to read the summary on the back.
Kol explains anyway. "It's about a star that falls to the earth after watching humanity for so long. She finds love in a human bloke and they live happily ever after among the stars."
I'm frozen in place.
What irony to have such a story in my hands? Does he know about me and what I am? And these tender, lovely, painful emotions that make feel special and yet terrified when he looks at me? Does he know how I wish our story would end?
"And of course, there are witches and magic and stuff." Kol shrugs. "All the best stories need a villain."
I dearly hope not in our case.
I have been avoiding returning to the beach for fear of seeing anyone of my kind come looking for me. I know that my father would not endanger any of his people by sending them so close to humans and yet I should never underestimate the man. Cold practicality is a merman trait after all.
But I want my bag and I hope it hasn't been washed away by the ocean or taken by some stranger. Please, please no.
I make my way one sunny afternoon to the beach, it is much too warm to be out but it never mattered to me. I revel in it despite the risk of sunburns as Rebekah warns me about. You're too pale She said. You'll probably catch on fire without sunscreen.
I feel that familiar tug of dread and fear in my belly and I don't have to check to see if my nails are gray. But I need to do this. I take my first few tentative steps on the sand, walking closer and closer until my feet are just a few inches away from where the waves crash unto the shore, as if trying to pull me back into its world.
I shake my head. No. Never again.
I stare at the blue green waves for a few minutes before I wander over behind the huge rock where my bag is. It is dry from weeks under the sun and the salty smell of the ocean is wafting of it. I pick it up and make my way back to the sand but freeze when I see who is in the water.
"Caroline."
"Dad."
What is he doing here? This is much too close for him and doesn't want to ever be this close to the humans. He hates them. And how did he find me?
"Is this what you've been doing, Caroline? Playing at being something you're not? Communing yourself with those…those…"
"Humans?"
"Yes." His cold sneer is colder than ever. "Well, you're done with that now. It's time to go home."
My hands tremble with anxiety and fear.
Home? Back to the cold? And away from the warmth? From Kol?
"I don't want to."
His eyes narrow. "Don't disobey me, Caroline. Your fiance's arriving next week and you need to be there to welcome him."
"He's supposed to come next month!"
"Somebody tipped him off that you plan on backing out so he decided to travel faster."
I am panicking, my entire being quaking from head to toe as I try to think of some way to escape this fate. I don't want to go back to the ocean, to the merpeople, to the future husband I didn't choose.
I want to stay here. But maybe if I explain to him, the things I've seen and felt. Maybe he will understand. Maybe I could stay.
"Daddy, please, I don't want to go back." I plead. "I want to stay here. We were wrong. Humans are nice and warm and they…they're not afraid to feel. It's amazing how much color and life there is. If you could only-"
"Enough."
I close my mouth and stard at him in apprehension, his gaze is piercing and I shiver from it alone. His gaze is calculating before he grins that cold, cold smile. It is chilling."Are you in love, Caroline?"
I stare at him in confusion. "What is 'love'?"
"It's when two people share a soul." He explains. "It's a legend among our kind, forgotten and discarded for good reason so fools like you won't follow it. It is said that if a mermaid is loved by a human, she will share his soul and have her own. That is love."
Hope sputters inside me and before long I am overcome by this hope, this joy of the possibility that if Kol…Kol loves me, I would have my own soul and we could be together even after death. It is a possibility so beautiful it makes me ache. I want it so badly.
I stare at my father with bright, shiny eyes. "If he loves me, can I stay?"
"If he loves you," He corrects.
"But if he does…"
"Do you want to make a deal?"
My mind races at that. My father is excellent at making bets because he is great at predicting the outcome. With a coldly logical mind a calculating nature came hand in hand. And am I willing to bet against him?
"Yes."
But I have to.
"You have three days to prove he loves you, this human boy of yours, with true love's kiss." He says. "And if you don't, you will come back home and do as your duty dictates."
It is risky. And for a moment of pure doubt I wonder What if I Kol doesn't love me?
The very idea scares and hurts me and I don't even want to dwell on that thought anymore because I want him to, I wanted him to love me. But if he doesn't, I would go back to the world of cold dwellings and people. Which seems appropriate, the cold may balm the ache of rejection.
"Okay."
I don't really know how to go about kissing Kol. As I said I've never kissed anyone before and I don't really know what to do. Do I just press our lips together? I don't know. I feel hopeless.
How would I even initiate the kiss? I doubt just attacking him at the breakfast table would prove Kol's love for me, his belief in my insanity maybe. I need a plan but I suck at planning. I need help.
Which low and behold, here it comes.
Elena contacts me with her birthright and apparently Bonnie has been watching me with hers ever since I ran away. So not really sure if this is a good idea, I go back to the beach and find Damon in the water, his triton out.
"Damon,"
And Damon smiles. There is warmth to his that was different from the others. It isn't the supernova of Kol's but it is still there, like embers. How did I never notice it before?
"I have come to help since I happen to be the bravest of us all."
"Or the least with survival instincts." I quip and he grins.
"I have missed you, Caroline. No one puts me down as cruelly as you."
I roll my eyes. "Your ego does seem to have inflated since I left."
"Well, if I didn't care for you so much I'd drag you back to the sea so you can do your job of deflating my ego properly."
I pause before speaking. "I never noticed before that you're different. You're just like me, aren't you?"
He grins a secret smile. "I spent one year as a human way back when you were too young to remember, caused quite a commotion for a bit and then everyone just chose to forget about it."
This surprises me and not at the same time "Why'd you go back?"
"My brother needed me."
I nod, understanding completely. I would go back to if I had someone that needed me like Stefan needed Damon. Maybe our kind was cold but we could care to, just not the degree of humans but it is there like a faintly beating heart.
Damon's advice is simple. Tell him how you feel. Like it is that easy! To be honest, I do not know how to describe how I feel. It is so chaotic, like I am all over the place, trying to grasp on to one single thought and failing.
And it is so scary. Telling Kol I love him, leaving me open for him to ridicule is as daunting as anything and I don't think I could bear it if he laughs at me but I need to do this. So I would try at the least.
I go into the library. I don't want to call it our spot but it technically is. We spend much of our time together here, reading and talking and there is one time we fell asleep and was only woken up by Emily for dinner. I still remember being cradled in Kol's arms as he snored like a humpback whale.
The memory makes me smile.
Kol is sitting on the couch, re-reading Catcher in the Rye which he admits is his favorite book and that…that warmth inside me that must be love overcomes and words pass through my mind before disappearing and I forget to say them.
Then the fear comes. And I start thinking about all the horrible scenarios this could lead to. He would laugh at me. He would tell everyone at dinner so they could laugh with him at me. He would kick me out. He would reject me and ask if we could still be friends.
Well, I'm not sure if we could be friends with me living in the Pacific Ocean then since he rejected me so all the scenarios weren't very good, Maybe I could do this some other time ti-
"Caroline?" Kol finally notices me and puts down his favorite book, beckoning me over with one hand and I slowly move closer, taking my usual seat beside him on the couch. He grins at me, leaning really close until his breath is tickling my face. "Why so quiet, sweets? Are you planning anything nefariously Neptunian today?"
I couldn't even insult back so overcome by fear that I try to smile and it comes out a grimace. He becomes concerned at that and pulls me closer with a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"
I nod, wincing. "Yeah, of course."
"You look like you're about to puke."
"Stomach bug," I reply. "I'll be fine."
He still looks skeptical. "Are you sure?"
"Mm-hmm."
He goes back to reading and I stare at him as he does so, wanting to just get the words out but knowing the delivery affected the message. How do I say I love him and make it sound romantic and now cheesy and cliché?
"Kol…"
"Hm?"
"i…I…"
He looks up again.
"I think I – no, no I know that I- I…I…Oh Poseidon, help me. I love…"
He eyes me curiously. "You love?"
You.
"Literature."
I chicken out like a fucking coward.
"You were right. You're not human without it."
Kol blinks at this but just agreed and we discuss the merits of J. D. Salinger. Meanwhile, inside my head, I have killed myself ten times.
Damon face palms when I tell him what happened at the library and he looks ready to just throw his triton at me and end all our misery. "This is Day Two, Mermaid Barbie, sundown tomorrow is the freaking deadline. You haven't the time or the luxury to chicken out!"
I pout and want to throw a rock at him but he's right. I am wasting precious time because I am a freaking coward. I hate it when Damon's right. It feels natural.
"What should I do then?" I asks him and he purses his lips as he thinks of a Plan B.
Plan B is supposed to be the Blue Lagoon. I am supposed to take Kol out on a date and we'd be on a boat and he'd rowing towards inside a small dark area, it'll get really romantic, we'll kiss and problem solved. Right?
No because Kol's brother Nik comes out of freaking nowhere from England and he whisks all his siblings away to spend time with them. By the time Kol got back he was too tired to even visit me at the library as he went straight to bed. Day Two had been wasted and this time it wasn't even my fault.
"Well, why didn't you insist on coming?" Damon asks bluntly.
I splutter. "It was a family thing! I can't just invite myself to an outing I'm not wanted. I don't even know Nik so why would I even want to-"
"To get close to Kol!" Damon exclaims. "His siblings would've been busy with each other. You could've whisked him away somewhere to 'talk' then you'll confess your love for each other and bam true love's kiss!"
I scowl. "I hate you."
"Not as much as you hate yourself right now, I'm sure."
Last day and I have until sun down to get Kol to give me that soul-sharing kiss. I need it, not because I want to be in this world but because it's Kol. And I've always felt drawn to Kol ever since I saw him on that ship. I have until sundown and this was my last chance.
Things as always are not going well for me. The Mikaelsons are hosting a party, Rebekah's eighteenth birthday to be exact so there are a lot of people everywhere and I'm sitting at one of the tables at the Mikaelson's large garden, just wanting this over with. Parties suck in any world, okay?
Rebekah is being introduced and people clap as Rebekah goes out of the house in the red couture dress that makes Rebekah look like a goddess (preferably one of war and bloodshed and PMS). Kol is escorting her in a black suit and he winks at me when he passes by my table.
All parties go as they do. There's dancing, food and alcohol except in between everyone's wishing the best for Rebekah. Nik gives a particularly lovely speech that makes Rebekah tear up and Kol's speech makes me laugh so hard I almost fall of my chair. It is kind of boring, yeah, but it is a bit better than the one I had for my birthday.
In between there's laughter and smiles (most from the alcohol) but at least there are some. We don't even have alcohol at home because we were underwater. Ugh, no wonder everyone's miserable.
After the eighteen roses, Kol takes a seat at my table with two glasses of champagne in hand. He hands one to me and we make a toast. "To Rebekah, may she always be a crazy, bloodsucking hellion!"
I giggle and Kol spends a few minutes talking to me before he has to go dance with his friend Anna.
Anna.
His friend on the ship. The girl who stares tenderly at him. The girl who is in love with him.
Oh Poseidon, why do you never make things easy for me?
I know I had to do something. I have to fight, right? I have to fight for the boy I love that loves…wait, I don't even know if he loves me. For all I know, he could be in love with Anna.
Oh Poseidon, I'm going to-
"Sit down, Ariel."
I turn around and sit back down mostly from shock as Damon takes the seat Kol acated. I stare at him in shock, looking around frantically if anyone has noticed him before realizing he had legs and is dressed in a suit, a very stylish suit. He looks like he could be in one of Rebekah's fashion magazines.
"What are you doing here?" I ask him.
Damon rolls his eyes. "Divine intervention. I had a feeling you would do something to mess it up again and I took it upon myself to stop you from doing so." He leans forward until all I could see are the blue of his eyes. "Listen here, Caroline, the villain of this story isn't an evil sea witch. It's not even your Dad and it's not even the girl your boy is dancing with. You know who it is?"
I shake my head, confused. And he smiles, answering. "It's you."
"What?"
"All this time, Caroline, the only thing that held you back was you." Damon explains. "Coming here and meeting Kol was the best thing you ever did but you can't get true happiness until you know he loves you back. And for these past few days, your Dad didn't do anything to sabotage you, you just ruined it all on your own.
"Why? Because you're afraid, afraid that he won't feel the same way, afraid that you can't live on without his returned affections. Well, guess what? You can. You're strong, beautiful, smart and brave. Who needs a soul when you've got that?"
I stare at him. "What are you saying, Damon?"
"What I'm saying is that the worst he can do is say no. You can just move on, continue living here. Find some Hugh Hefner to leech off of, become a marine biologist, anything you want. Your Dad's too chicken to go up here and you know it. So go over there and tell him how you feel. If he says yes, well, that's awesome. If he says no, life goes on."
I blink trying to process everything he just said. "Did you dab into public speaking when you were here?"
"You'll never know." He smirks. "And here's a clue for you. He's been glaring murder at us since I sat down."
I turn towards where Kol was dancing with Anna in surprise to see that he is glaring darkly at us like he wants to fish fillet Damon (no pun intended) and he wasn't paying attention to Anna. I barely notice Damon getting up to get a glass of champagne, bumping into Rebekah on the way before I stand up and just end this story.
One year later…
"This is the story of a little mermaid who wanted to be part of the human world. She fell in love with a handsome prince who lived in a castle and to be with him she needed legs, so she traded her voice to the sea witch and-"
"Blondie, tell the story right." Damon chides.
I roll my eyes. "You tell it then."
"Once upon a time there was a really troublesome little mermaid who wanted to escape an arranged marriage so she decided to tell everyone to go fry themselves and went up to the human world. She ended up saving this annoying little prick-"
"Hey!" Kol protests and Damon ignores him.
"-but since she saved his life, he let her stay at his house which is not a castle by the way cause he's not a prince no matter who his great times a billion grandmother was. So of course, these two kids fell in love because there really isn't much to do in this place but apparently read books and dance in town like lunatics.
"Then the mermaid's Dad eventually came for her and gave her an ultimatum. Prove his love with a kiss and blahblahblah, lots of trials and errors until her handsome and debonair merman friend came and gave her the strength to go after what she wanted.
"She went up to him, kissed him like it was the end of the freaking world and then they confessed their love for each other. They apparently went inside the house and had sex right after because all that sexual tension between them had been-"
"Ahem," I clear my throat. "And yes, that's the gist of it."
I look down at all the mermaids in the ocean, listening to the tale with surprised and mostly bemused looks on their faces. Damon is grinning at the effect of his riveting storytelling and just pulls Rebekah closer to him. My friend had found his own soul and I couldn't be any happier for him.
I smiled up at my own soul who is caressing my swelling stomach with one hand, the other playing with my blonde curls.
"Do you know what happens now?" I ask him and he looks down at me grinning.
"We shag?"
I roll my eyes before reaching up and pecking him lightly. "No, we live happily ever after."
He shrugs. "Whatever."
Humans, still so weird.
