/swamped by reviews/ Whoa, this is incredible. With just seven chapters, this story has outstripped my other fic, Incubi! Thank you everyone.
And now, for some author to reader comments/answers/compliments/complaints/etc.:
Kitty Neko: No, he isn't dead. Blackness doesn't count as death. Besides, that would have meant Pegasus broke his word, which he can't, technically. And that would also mean no more story, which is far from the truth.
Yugi-obsessed: Did you read the sixth chapter, dear? If you have managed to read through the sea witch's spiel to Yugi about the prices that come with the mortal legs, you would have known that the witch warned Yugi that whenever he walked, it would feel as though he were stepping on glass. And yes, he will be in pain even with shoes.
Fairren: That's an interesting question. I'm not quite sure of it but he's probably rather short for a male, even with legs. He has to be in proportion with his human half after all.
Raefangirl: /rubs back of head/ You are too kind. My mum wants me to start publishing but the only complete stories that I really have are fanfics and I can't publish those. Damn American copyright laws.
Sarcastic Pessimist: That is disturbing indeed... I am a member of ethnic minorities in the U.S. and though I haven't gotten outright hatred, people, on the basis of my eyes and skin, have rebuffed me. And being an agnostic isn't always the best. You can be a Catholic or a Christian and have tolerance, that's the main part of my being an agnostic. Tolerance is the key. Though being an agnostic is not particularly safe, especially at my school, where Christians are so plentiful there is a Christian Club. Needless to say, I have no real fondness for some Christians. Mind you, it's not directed to ALL, only to a specific few.
Angel Reaper: Well, there is no definite time. Unlike the Disney version, the sea witch gives no definite time limit, only the warning that if the prince marries another, Yuugi will turn to foam upon the morning after the wedding.
Koishii no Tenshi: Really? I haven't seen such stories then... Maybe I should try searching for them.
Little Atemu: Nope. Not likely. Read the official story by Hans Christian Anderson. The witch was a strictly neutral party in the story. Disney just found her a convenient villain. Pegasus-chan is just an insane, perverse witch in this story. Yup.
...
Dancing Doves
...
I found myself at the Prince's side after the maids had dressed me entering an enormous room with vaulted ceilings. The floor was of smoothly polished white marble veined with black and gold, laid by rugs of rich scarlet and blue-violet. The walls were covered in tapestries of battles, of fantastic beasts, of lovers and families, glittering with gold, silver, and gems upon their rough surfaces.
There were courtiers about, whispering in pairs or small groups. They were dressed in all manner of garments, from the very simple to the most bewildering combinations of color and styles. I could feel their eyes upon me from behind feathered fans and long bangs and looked away from them, staying close to Yami.
As I walked, I could feel the invisible blades of knives stabbing at my feet and it was all I could do to not sag to the ground and cry. But I could not; I would not disgrace myself as a prince, nor disgrace Yami as his guest.
Yami took a seat upon a vaulted throne of dark wood cushioned with violet velvet. A wave of the hand ensured a chair for myself as well by the throne-like chair. I gingerly seated myself and set my hands upon my lap. The courtiers settled about upon couches and seats about the room. Servants whisked in, offering silver trays with goblets of many colored liquids and plates of curious foods.
Bewildered, I did not know where to start. Yami noticed my confusion and chuckled warmly in his deep voice. He took two glasses of a curious violet liquid and offered one to me. I tentatively raised it to him before sipping. He gravely mirrored my actions.
The drink was pleasantly cool, tasting sweet and bitter at the same time. As it slipped down my throat, it started soft warmth in my stomach that blossomed. It was a very pleasant feeling.
Yami fed me from his own hand, telling me from time to time what he was feeding me. In nearly any other case, it would have been most embarrassing, as I was nearly sixteen and far from a child. However, as it was Yami feeding me, it was nothing more than one of the greatest pleasures of the world.
"This is called the miser's purse [1]," he told me, feeding me a curious golden ball. It actually consisted of layers. The outer was of some flaky, almost tasteless material and the inner layers were of some soft, melted yellow substance that tasted faintly salty and curiously tangy [2] and bits of green that added the tang to the yellow.
I was fed vegetables and fruits of many colors and tastes. Some were sweet, some bitter, some curious and indescribable in taste. Yami chose out sweets for me in particular. I soon grew very fond of a soft brown confection he called "chocolate."
The glass given to me was refilled until I raised my hand for the servant to stop. It gave me a pleasantly warm sensation in my body, even numbing the pain of my feet for a while, but it was making me feel a touch light headed.
Soon however, as the servants made their last rounds of silver trays, came in entertainers. A noble separated from the others and seated himself at a curious black piece of furniture. He lifted a panel, revealing a long line of long pieces of black and white. The black ones were smaller than the white ones, settled in between white keys [3].
The curious noble was much different from the rest. He wore garments of subdued colors, gray, pale blue, and white making him a forlorn figure among the other brightly clad courtiers. His hair was white as snow yet his face was youthful. Though he wore a polite smile, I thought I could see an air of melancholy about him, especially in his dark brown eyes. Those eyes flickered, hiding a great secret in their depths, something that unsettled me.
He looked to Yami, who nodded graciously. Then the noble raised his hands above the white and black and started to press them. The most beautiful of sounds came from them, an enchanting melody. I leaned forward, curious of this mysterious object that created music.
"He is Lord Ryou Bakura," Yami said to me softly. "He is the palace music teacher and tutor. Perhaps he can teach you, as you seem to have a great fondness for music."
I nodded, enraptured by the music. It sang high and low, in a voice that was unlike anything I had heard before. The voice of the instrument sung in chords and single notes, as the pale, delicate hands of the noble danced across the white and black keys.
A troupe of girls was coming in from a doorway. They were dressed in almost tawdry garments, in suggestion of beasts of land and sea and air. One girl gowned in brown and soft gray started to sing with the music.
Her voice was lovely, true, but I knew so many who were better. Her song was of curious things, of woodland pines and lost lovers. What was a nightingale? What was a hart?
One by one, the girls sang, each voice lovelier than the last. Finally, the youngest and smallest stepped forward. She was in silver that flashed and glittered like the scales of a fish. Her voice was the loveliest of all and all leaned forward as to hear her better. Yami was smiling at her as she sang of a Maria in a fluid language that I could not understand.
I knew I could sing better than her. I knew my voice was far lovelier. But even as I instinctively opened my mouth, I realized I was no rival to this girl. I had no voice to use.
The pain in my heart in realizing that hurt more than each step I had taken upon land.
I had given up my voice, one of my most prized possessions, a part of my soul, and now I felt the emptiness. Was this truly worth it?
The prince looked at me with soft ruby eyes and the emptiness vanished, as I knew that being with him was worth my voice a thousand times over.
As the last note was sung, the company of nobles clapped and the girls curtseyed to the prince before taking new places. Others joined the musician; a tall man carrying drums, a lean girl holding a flute, an old man tuning a lovely harp, a young man holding a curious stringed instrument with a long stick of wood strung with strings [4].
They started a new song, and the pounding of drums now set the beat for a dance. The singers started to dance, graceful as the wind, as water, with all the grace of birds in the air, and fish in the sea. The music sang, not soft and delicate, but happy and joyous, water stirring at the first warmth of spring.
It bubbled happily from the mountains, sweeping into the sea and bringing a new song of life and rebirth. All the nobles about were smiling, tapping their feet to the music, the occasional one perhaps dancing to it as well with others.
I then realized Yami had risen and offered his hand, eyes soft and amused. "A dance, my foundling?" he asked.
I looked up at him and nodded before rising. My feet sent slivers of pain up my leg but I ignored them. He led me to the common ground where nobles and performers were, and we danced.
I was acutely aware of how warm his hands were, how they held me so. He was quite graceful as well, but I felt lighter than air, my steps delicately treading the marble floor.
I danced for him only, barely noticing the admiring glances of courtiers. My feet were surely bleeding from the pain they gave me, but it mattered not. All that mattered were Yami's warm hands and his soft chuckles and his beautiful ruby eyes.
And the music, washing all about us like the currents of the sea, laughing and burbling.
...
The hour was late when I was finally escorted to a room. Yami delicately kissed my forehead before taking his absence. My heart panged to see him gone, that warmth deep in my heart vanishing.
But he smiled as he left, telling me that he would be back in the morning and we would start a new day.
Then I turned my attentions to my new room. It was softly lit with candles in glass globes the maid lit before bustling about. She turned down the blankets and sheets for me upon an enormous bed of dark wood while I waited awkwardly.
The walls were covered in blue, with whirling designs of flowers and leaves. I touched them, my fingers feeling the slick material. The ground was covered in plush cloth, black and white tracing intricate designs upon ground of dark blue. It was pleasant and slightly springy under my new feet.
There was a desk and a matching chair, both made of the same wood as my bed. I touched at it delicately, opening some of the drawers to find curious utensils. The wood was slippery under my curious fingers.
In wonder, I went to the window, hung with blue curtains, from where I could see the sea. Touching the cool glass, I let my eyes close, hearing the breeze sing to me. But... it was faint and I had to strain to hear its song.
The maid touched my shoulder and I jumped, turning to look at her. She was a pretty, delicate creature, who smiled at me with the brightest gray eyes I had ever seen. They narrowed slightly, squinting. It was then I realized that she was steadily going blind.
"Time to bed, young master," she said cheerfully, taking no notice of my stare.
I was lost in thought as she helped me undress and clad me in a long gown of soft white. When we were done, I smiled my thanks to her and she smiled back.
"I'll be back in the morning, young master, and my name is Shizuka," she told me, helping me into the bed. I shifted under the layers of cloth as she put out the lights except for one and quietly exited.
It seemed as though I had barely gotten into the bed, tucked between its white sheets and blue comforter, when my eyes closed and I fell into a world of dreams.
...
I was facing the sea witch. He was in human form however, clad in a garish suit of bright red. In his hand was a glass of wine, from which he sipped every so often.
"Finding the human world to your liking, my pretty prince?" he asked, not unkindly.
"Yes," I said, before realizing that I had just spoken.
"This is the realm of dreams, pretty one," he said, answering my question. "You are not limited by the physical world."
He smirked at me as I shifted and realized that my feet no longer hurt.
"Why do you haunt me then?" I demanded of him, glaring.
The witch looked offended and hurt. "I must make sure of your safety, you realize," he said. "After all, your brothers and father are worried for you."
I realized then how worried they must be. My dream legs would not hold me and I fell to my knees.
"Now, we can't have that," the witch said reproachfully. A chair came into existence just behind me. "Sit down, love."
Numbly, I managed to sit down, as the witch offered another glass of his drink.
"You've met them?" I whispered. My fingers dazedly took the glass.
"Not yet, but I suspect that they will come, my dear Yuugi." His delicately clawed finger circled the rim of his glass. "They will force me on pain of death to reveal what I have done. Then they will try to get me to undo the magic. Which I cannot do. Not without your consent." His red eyes glanced at me, half-lidded.
"They will come to you, dear prince, and sing to you, sing of the songs of the sea and try to lure you back, get you to yearn for the sea and plead them to bring me to you so that I will change you back. But will you do that? Two spells of such magnitude upon one merman can be devastating."
"No! I love him," I cried. "And this world... it is beyond what I had thought."
The witch laughed harshly. "You see this only from the prince's gilded palace, my pretty one! Wait until you see the ugly natures of humans, their fickle ways, their lusty appetites, their spite to fellow man! Wait until you see poverty, children naked in the streets dying every day, and sickness, women and men in filthy rooms coughing up their life blood!"
I recoiled as his words struck, my mind unwillingly producing those ugly images. "But- I love him," I whispered. "I may be selfish, but- I love him, even in this ugly land."
He looked to me, sipping at his wine. "Ah, you are struck by that curse that takes so many each generation. You are young and foolish, seeking that you cannot have. Very well, let us see this farce to its end. And we will see who is right."
He then kissed my lips and I could taste the bitterness of sea brine and the heady sweetness of his wine. I pushed him away, glaring at him.
The sea witch only smirked at me, before lifting his glass in a toast.
And all faded to black.
...
[1] This is actually a dish, puff pastry wrapped about minced meat and herbs in the shape of a bag.
[2] /sighs/ My attempt at describing the taste of cheese.
[3] /grins/ Just in case you guys don't realize what this is, it's a piano, or rather, a harpsichord or a spinet, if we're going by more historical versions.
[4] A futile description of a violin, from the point of view of a boy who really has never seen one.
Well... this is quite impressive. But seriously people, I need some good, solid, constructive criticism. Are the descriptions too maudlin? Is the characterization incorrect? Let me know. I don't write just for myself, you know. I also write for others. What's the point of writing if people can't enjoy it?
Then again, ego stroking is just fine! /grins a thousand watt smile/