Chapter 8

Even a sparring match with his father could not compare to the deep-scaled ache throbbing throughout his entire body. His head pounded, his tail fin cramped, and every inch of his scales felt dry and cracked. Gajeel sank onto his back at the bottom of the lagoon, looking at the bright, blurred sun above him. He smiled and rubbed the human fabric against his cheek.

"...completely worth it."

"What?" Lily unlatched from his tail and swam in a small circle.

Gajeel shook his head and sat up, "Nothin', Lil."

Juvia scuttled on the sand, her claws pinching together as she muttered to herself. Gajeel bit back a smirk, then sobered again when he looked at his new treasure.

Levy said it was a promise. And there had been a sheen in her eyes as she backed away. He brought his tail up to his chest and rested his forehead on his scales.

The pounding in his head began to subside the longer he remained underwater, but it was replaced by a throbbing in his chest. His mind swirled with questions. Why did she fall? Would the other humans help her? If he was this dry from being in the sun too long, then she must be hurting too, right?

By the Seven Seas, I already miss her…

His lips curled and he tilted his head until his temple rested against his tail. He could never have imagined that a human would have been so much fun. Levy's shrill scream when his tail accidentally touched her foot, the way she got excited and talked too fast for him to keep up. But anytime he asked something, she always slowed her words and waited for him to form the right words to respond. The longer they talked, the easier it became to understand.

I need to see her again…and soon!

He pushed off the sandbed and surfaced, peeking his head around a large rock. The sandy shore was cleared of all humans, but a large human building sat on the above-water reefs.

He knew where she lived now. The storm might have veered them off course, but he recognized the waters near Levy's home. It would be a short swim between the cave and her home, shorter than what they swam just that sun cycle. Once his training was finished at the start of the new sun, and his father would no longer require his presence, it would be easy to make the trip to the lagoon.

Heart lighter than when he watched Levy leave, Gajeel slunk back into the water and began the swim back home. Juvia latched onto his tail and Lily circled his head.

"What?" Gajeel growled, pushing aside the hovering fish.

"I don't like that look in your eye…what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing! Just…I need to train more. My tail is tired from all that swimming."

"Gajeel should feel tired!" He winced when Juvia's hold on his tail fin tightened. "What the king will say when he hears about the prince's little adventure! He will scold Juvia greatly and–"

"Juvia, please…you can't tell him!"

Gajeel twisted and brought his tailfin to his face. He waved away bubbles and pleaded with the crab. "You have no idea what he's gonna do–"

"Juvia must! It is Juvia's job to report everything the prince does to the king!"

"Please, I'll do anything! I'll–" He looked to Lily for help, but the remora refused to meet his eyes. "I'll…I'll be early for the next sparring session…no, the next three sessions! And I won't complain about training for an entire tetrad!"

The crab's eye stalks shifted. "The prince must also listen to all of his instructors' directions."

Gajeel nodded frantically. "Yes!"

"Juvia has the prince's word?"

Gajeel held his breath as his father's advisor stared at him. Finally, the crab sighed and clasped back onto his tail.

"Juvia promises that she will keep this from the king. But should Gajeel break his word…"

"I won't, or may I turn into sea foam."

Juvia waved a claw and Gajeel followed the current toward home. He bit back a smile and twisted in the water. He might have made a promise, but the next time he visited Levy, he would make sure he came alone.

True to his word, the merprince dutifully attended his training every new sun. Juvia watched him with a raised eye stalk, sure that the prince had some sort of plot brewing in that thick skull of his. But for the past seven sun cycles the prince not once complained about his early tide practices, or the amount of times Juvia mentioned the upcoming sparring session.

He was so compliant, in fact, that His Majesty started to become suspicious as well.

"What do you make of this, Juvia," the king asked as they watched the merprince finish his practice for the day.

Juvia clacked her claws together, her duty to the current king warring with her promise to her future king. "Juvia…simply spoke to His Highness about his recent actions during Juvia's festival. The prince is very sorry."

"That's not like him…" the king muttered, stroking his long hair.

Thankfully, the king asked no more questions and Juvia held back her relieved sigh. They watched the prince strap his spear onto his waist before swimming away from the practice grounds. The king slowly followed and Juvia hurried to keep up.

"Are you certain nothing happened? My son seems…distracted lately."

"Perhaps he is simply tired?"

Juvia sat on the king's shoulder and kept a loose hold on his noble fringe of hair. Passing merfolk greeted His Majesty and he paused to great each one in turn, showing his dutiful, benevolent nature. Juvia straighted next to the king, shell puffing at serving such a noble ruler.

It took them nearly half a tide to swim back to the castle. The king swam down the hall to the sleeping quarters, where a soft, melodic sound drifted over the waters.

The king stopped in front of the merprince's room. Juvia swam to his shoulder and looked into the room, frowning at the sight of the prince sitting on his bed. His dark head was bent over an ivory-coral lyre, his deft fingers gently strumming the chords. Occasionally he would take the squid ink pen from his mouth and jot something down on a large piece of cured shark leather next to him. The king hummed deep in his throat and turned to leave.

"What do you suppose he's doing?"

Juvia swam off his shoulder and scurried behind the king. She knew exactly why the young prince resumed his long-forgotten hobby; even she was not so hard-shelled to deny seeing the spark in his eye when he first encountered the human female.

"Juvia believes the prince is writing a…a love song, Your Majesty."

The king spun on his tail, bubbles erupting around them, and Juvia crashed into his back. "A love song!?"

"Perhaps that is why the young prince has been distracted as of late?"

His Majesty grinned, a feral smile that looked identical to the prince's. "I want you to keep a close eye on Gajeel!" Juvia couldn't help the small yelp that escaped her shell when the king grabbed her mid-water. "Follow him everywhere he goes! I must know who the lucky mermaid is…she must have been incredibly brave to have managed to tame my son, gihee!"

He tossed her into the water and hurried away, his laughter bouncing off the coral walls.

"...yes, Your Majesty," Juvia muttered into the empty hallway.

The king was completely correct. The girl was incredibly brave, but unfortunately she was also very…very human.