Shoto made his way to the large meeting room that was housed in his father's wing of the castle. Lucky for him he was only meeting his mother to discuss how they would ensure that the new law on marriage was followed. As he walked into the grand room he saw his mother already seated at the large table. Her hair was pulled back into a long braid that had gold chains and jewels woven within it. She wore a simple light blue dress with long flowing sleeves that had a fitted top and flared out softly at her waist. Her reading glasses sat elegantly on her nose and framed her storm grey eyes in soft silver. The crown she always wore sat atop her head and completed her regal look. At the sound of the door opening she looked up at Shoto and smiled brightly. She took off her glasses and set them down on top of the documents that she had in front of her. A quick stretch and she was standing up to greet her son.
"Shoto, how are you my dear?", she asked as she extended her hand out to him.
The duel haired prince gladly took her hand and rubbed the back of her smaller appendage lovingly with his thumb. "I'm wonderful mother, and you?", he replied.
"I am lovely Shoto. I apologize for calling you here but I just wanted to make sure that we are on the same page".
"Its alright, I completely understand".
"Before we start, how are you and Izuku doing?"
Shoto smiled fondly at the mention of his small lover. "We are doing great, thank you for asking".
"Wonderful", she said as she sat back down.
The heterocromic mad joined her. He grabbed one of the papers and began reading it over. His mother put her glasses back on and began reading on of the documents. It was pretty straight forward. Those that chose to not abide by the new law would be punished via imprisonment. If there was proof of them being abusive to the family in any way, they would be in the cell for life. With that rule they had a backup in case Enji ever tried to get away with another arranged marriage as he would be tried accordingly. It had been Shoto's mother's idea and she promised Shoto and his siblings that Enji would never lay a hand on them again.
"Are we sure that father isn't going to try to find a loophole?", Shoto asked.
"We can never be sure of anything but I was hoping that with your help we could see if there is any that could be found within the text".
Shoto looked over the words again, trying to think how his father would. Thankfully, he could not find anything that could be twisted to fit his father's needs. "Nothing. There is nothing that can be used"
"Thank goodness". She lent over and gently took the document from Shoto and placed it back in her stack of papers. She hit them against the wooden table top to organize them. Once they were to her liking she removed her glasses and folded them so that they rested in the neckline of her dress. "I apologize for keeping you again. You go have fun with Izuku. I'm sure he misses you already".
Just as Shoto was about to answer her the door flew open to show Liliana. She looked like she had seen a ghost. Shoto stood from his seat and walked over to her. She was breathing heavily as if she had run the whole way to the hall. Her face was pale and her eyes were blown wide. Shoto put a hand on her shoulder and the queen moved to her side to rub her back encouragingly.
"Liliana, whats wrong? Is everything okay?", Shto asked worriedly.
"I-its Izuku. He's not in his room.", she said frantically. Shoto's blood ran cold as the word left her mouth. "The room is a mess and there's blood on the floor".
"He's gone?", Shoto asked in disbelief.
Liliana just nodded her head shakily. Shoto didn't wait for another response as he sprinted out the door. He ran down the hall and around the turns until he came to Izuku's door. He threw it open and looked around the room. It was just as Liliana had said. The room was a mess and showed signs of a struggle. On the floor there were drops of blood and a large puddle of it a few steps away. Steps down the hall cause him to turn and he saw his mother who looked just as shaken as he was. He looked at her with fear in his eyes.
"What could have happened? Why would someone do this?".
His mother put her hand to her mouth as she began to shake. "Your father", she said softly. "I know where he is".
Izuku woke up to ringing in his ears and a throbbing in his head. He was really getting tired of having this feeling every other time he woke up. He tried to move his arms to find that they were chained beside him on a table. He looked around and saw that his legs were in much of the same state. The room was made of marble but reeked of death. He could feel the pain of the past people that had been in the room. Any mer could feel the pain of their brethren in the final place of their living lives. This room was the place of death for dozens of mer and Izuku could feel their pain radiating from the vary table he was chained upon. He tried to break free from the chains using his magic but found the action to be futile. The chains were most likely enchanted long ago. With the knowledge that he was unable o break free he began to panic.
He thought of how he had promised Shoto that he would never leave and how he was staying. How he would always be with him. Now he was gone again. Shoto probably thought that he had left. By the time he realized that he was missing he would most likely be dead. His eyes teared up as he thought of how he would never get to say goodbye to the man he loved. He would never get to tell him how much he meant to him. Then he thought of his mother. She was probably worried sick. He would never get to apologize for leaving and worrying her. The tears were falling freely now. They coated his freckled cheeks. He was startled out of his thoughts at the press of glass against his skin. He looked over to see the king collecting the salty droplets of water into a glass vile. He flinched away from him quickly.
"Can't be wasting those precious tears now can we?", he asked as he set the vile down on a smaller table next to the one Izuku was chained on.
The table was covered in a clean white cloth. On top of the cloth there was about thirty or so small viles, one of them containing the few tears that he had previously shed. With the viles were syringes full of different colored liquids and holographic glass shards of varying sizes connected to intricately carved wooden handles to create daggers. At the sight of the daggers Izuku's heart stopped. He knew what the king was planning to do. It was a known fact that mermaids held magic but their tears housed it in a raw form that could cure anything from a simple headache to a fatal wound.
"Let me go", Izuku said shakily.
The king merely smirked at him. "I'm afraid I can't do that", he said. "You see, I need these tears of yours. They will make me a pretty fortune on the black market".
"Shoto will stop you", he replied, attempting to threaten the king into letting him go.
"No he won't. He has no idea that this part of the castle exists and, by the time he finds it, all that will be here is your rotting corpse".
"Why are you doing this?"
"Its quite simple really. I had planned to do this from the very beginning. Shoto brings the mer to heal his precious mother then I say that I'll return it only to harvest it's tears and depose of the body. Sadly he had to go fuck up my plans by getting attached".
"So whatever mer was captured was going to die anyways?", Izuku asks.
"Precisely, now that we are on the same page let us begin. I am a very busy man after all".
With that he picks up a syringe with a light blue liquid inside. He taps the needle to get any air bubbles to release from the chamber then brings it to Izuku's neck. The mer tries to move away but is restricted by the chains. He hisses in pain as the needle pierces his skin and injects the liquid into his veins. The king removes the needle and hands it to a woman dressed in physician's cloths who takes the tool to a water basin to wash it. The serum's affects instantly start as Izuku's vision blurs and he slips into unconsciousness.
The mer wakes up in a plane of sorts. He is floating in a lake that stretches as far as he can see in every direction. He is still clothed in his bloody shirt and trousers but his feet are bare. Slowly attempting to right himself, he finds that the lake is shallow, reaching to about his mid calves, and has a jagged rocky bottom. He begins to walk in a random direction, attempting to find some sort of land form. After a few steps ripples in the water cause him to stop. A head emerges from the water, followed closely by a body. It was familiar and as soon as all of the body was done emerging Izuku ran to the person and latched onto them for dear life.
"Shoto", he whimpered out, tears forming in his eyes.
He knew that it wasn't real but he felt so comforted in his lover's arms. He buried his face into the chest in front of him and sighed in relief as strong arms encircled him.
"'Zuku", Shoto whispered.
Izuku felt the larger man's arms hold him tightly. He hugged him back with the same vigor. He felt as his large hands moved over his back comfortingly. They trailed up to encircle his small shoulders. Without warning his nails dug harshly into Izuku's skin through his shirt, causing him to yell out in pain. The mer wrenched himself free from Shoto and backed away. The sight that met him was horrifying. Shoto's body was covered in lacerations and bruises. His torso was bare, showing deep cuts along his pale skin. One of his eyes was swollen shut and his lip was split open. Blood poured from every open wound and the white side of his hair was stained pink from the thick liquid.
"'Zuku", he repeated as his lips spread into a smile causing them to split open more. "Why did you leave me?"
He stalked forward, staggering with every step. His hands reached out to attempt to grab at Izuku. The greenette backed away from him in terror only to trip on the rocks beneath his feet. He fell on his back and groaned in pain as the rocks cut him through the shirt. He tried to crawl backwards but Shoto was already above him. His feet were on either side of Izuku's hips and he quickly dropped down to straddle him.
"Shoto, get off", Izuku said calmly, tho his heart was pounding a mile a minute.
"Why would you leave me 'Zuku? You promised to never leave me. So why?", Shoto asked.
"I would never leave you. I promised that I would say with you didn't I? Please Shoto, you have to believe me".
"You left me Izuku. You left me with him. Look what he did to me Izuku. Look what you did to me!", he screamed out.
Before Izuku could react Shoto had his hands on his neck, squeezing harshly. The mer gasped for air as he reached up to try and pry the hands away but Shoto held tight. He thrashed his legs about to try and get free, causing water to splash around them. His vision was blurring and breathing was becoming painful.
"Let go", he pleaded.
Shoto merely laughed maniacally back at him. Izuku's eyes widened as he took in Shoto's appearance. His skin was starting to smolder as if he was on fire. It blistered painful so and began to peal off in areas, exposing his muscle and bone. The smell was overwhelming and cause Izuku to gag despite his throat being closed off from most of the air. Shoto's blunt nails dug painfully into his neck and he could feel the blood running into the water.
"Look Izuku. Isn't this what you wanted? You left me to fend for myself with him and now you get to see the results. Aren't they spectacular?", Shoto shouted. His voice was becoming hoarse as if he had been screaming for days.
"Sho, please", Izuku said, his vision becoming black at the edges.
He watched in horror as the skin kept pealing and flinched as one of the pieces fell onto his chest. He shut his eyes tightly to hide the sight from him and screamed out as Shoto tightened his hold. He was unconscious in seconds.
When Izuku woke up he did so with a scream. He was breathing heavily and his eyes hurt from the tears he had cried while he was under the affects of the serum. His throat was dry and hurt, most likely because he had been screaming the whole time. He looked over to the table to see Enji holding a vile proudly. He placed it down and Izuku could see that all of the others had been filled too.
"Would you look at that", the king said with a smirk. "You cried yourself dry in one go. Must have been one hell of a dream. I knew this stuff was powerful but damn does it work wonders".
Izuku weakly glared at the man. He was in pain and his limbs felt numb.
"Let me go, please".
"I'm afraid that I can't do that. You see, you know too much. You're a liability now. Best to just get rid of you".
With that the king picked up one of the larger glass daggers and brought it over to Izuku. He shredded the shirt that Izuku was wearing and traced the blade over his skin, drawing a light trail of blood in it's wake. With a smile he hoisted the dagger up above Izuku's chest. The mer closed his eyes tightly and looked away, not wanting to see the blade as it came down. A few left over tears fell from his eyes as he accepted his death. But it never came. He slowly peaked open his eyes to see the king looking over towards the door in shock. In the opening stood Shoto, his mother, and Liliana. At their feet, was the physician who laid unconscious.