A/N: Hey, thanks for continuing to read my story! If you made it this far, thank you so much! Remember to review and correct me on any writing mistakes! I'll work my best and reply to you!
Story inspired by the Waterfire Saga by Jennifer Donnelly :)
ANYWAYS, HERE YOU GO~
The child felt as if she was withering away as she wandered in the northern regions of Atlantica. Shivering and cold, she had wrapped and tied seaweed around her shoulders- which only helped a little for the chilling currents. Her knuckles were white and her fingers were numb, but Juvia didn't have pockets to keep her hands warm.
It didn't help that she could not find a resting place either. She had been swimming for days to look for a warm area, ever since she left her camp for food.
She was lost. She wanted to catch some fish with a spine dagger she had found, but had failed to hunt that day. It didn't help that Juvia had travelled too far without a trail, either.
Finding pieces of seaweed along the way, she kept a few in her pouch and picked some more to tie a weak shawl. That was all she could manage; wearing only a soft blue tunic.
Still, Juvia slightly enjoyed wandering around. Even if she felt lost, she was still free. There were things along the way that caught her eye, like a small ice figure dropped by a young art student, or a string of pearls laying on the sea floor. Those were the things that fascinated her and made her wonder. Still, she felt a nagging feeling in her heart that these items were left behind by the victims of the humans. She frowned. Juvia kept a furious rage of melancholy in her heart against the humans, who were the ones that killed and displayed many of her people. She wanted revenge.
And then something stirred, and she remembered.
The old mer was sitting on a sea sponge, hugging a young girl, who was crying on her lap after her skin had scraped and her shoulder was bruised. A minor injury, but what does a young mermaid know? And so her grandmother whispered, "Silly child," stroking the girl's head. She combed her fingers through her hair and finally let her go, giving her a kiss on the forehead. The child gave a final sob when her cheerful grandmother tickled her shoulders, and she tried resisting- but soon, she balled up and giggled while her grandmother laughed beside her.
That was the first time that the mermaid tried to hold an orb of magic. The old merwomen of the Locksers always had the tradition to teach their granddaughters to protect themselves with magic that they'd unlock inside themselves. At that time, Juvia ended up in a whirlpool while holding but a bead of magic in her palm. That bead, however, was glowing at its brightest, and what seems to be a fury of water inside the small orb had been so powerful that Juvia was blown away- literally- and slammed, elbow first, into a sharp boulder.
"You're a very strong mermaid, Juvia. You are talented. A unique, one out of a thousand." And the old merwoman smiled. "How about you try to sing the lullaby?"
The young mer just gaped at the merwoman. "No, of course not! It's difficult, I have a childish voice, I can't sing!" They were excuses; she was blushing.
"Childish voices are adorable!" Her grandmother exclaimed. "Is it that you forgot the words, dear?
There was a faint memory when Juvia's mother sang the "lullaby" to her. She was but an infant then. Her mother, a mermaid from the Celtic Sea, had often eavesdropped on the humans. She even learned to balance her tail- and went on land, walking as if she was an actual human. She wore a long dress to disguise herself and hide her tail. As a clever mermaid, she was highly capable of doing so- in her teens, of course, she didn't dare to sneak out after the invasions started. That did not stop her mother from memorizing an old human's melody, however. Juvia could still remember her mother's sweet voice.
Huna blentyn ar fy mynwes
Clyd a chynnes ydyw hon;
Breichiau mam sy'n dynn amdanat
Cariad mam sy dan fy mron;
Ni chaiff dim amharu'th gyntun
Ni wna undyn â thi gam;
Huna'n dawel, annwyl blentyn
Huna'n fwyn ar fron dy fam.
Those, those were hushed whispers. Memories renewed but soon forgotten. Things she coveted of her past self but could not get back. Her grandmother was gone from the very beginning of the invasion. She was captured with those great, terrifying fishermen nets, and Juvia saw it with her very eyes, helpless, defenseless. "Save me," was her body language, but she already knew it was hopeless.
Shutting her eyes for a few brief seconds, Juvia sighed. If only I had sang to her. It was my only chance and no more.
The very thought made her feel weak to her fins and sick to her stomach. She was going to roll into a ball again and cry, but she swallowed again and released a shaking sigh, little bubbles rolling out of her mouth. She shook her head, and snapped back to reality. No time to waste- she must make haste, unless she would starve or fall to hypothermia. And she clutched the seaweed harder than ever.
Despite her determination, though, Juvia left a part of herself in her mind. She found herself drifting back and forth to her memories and wondered if she was mad. At long last, she collapsed to the ocean floor.
Her lips were now pale. She had gone off for too long without a trace. No home to refer to. No place to sleep. The weak seaweed was going to wear off or freeze. And the poor mermaid, cold and still shivering, was expecting death.
Rubbing her hands together, causing friction and heat, she let out a shaky sigh. Cold breaths released as white bubbles.
Take me away, she thought. Please have mercy, Mother Earth! Desperate, Juvia gave a push with her tail, which propelled her forward. She slowly rose and let herself float. She'd given up now. It was all or nothing. Either the water would push her up or she would float there, silently, dead.
All of the sudden, a great wave of heat took over her. The sun, she thought, the shining sun!
Met with what seemed to be sunlight, Juvia rose up and basked on all the shining glory as she threw her arms up. Her body still cold, she rubbed her skin. On a whim, she decided to flash her marvelous tail and let it glint. Each scale was shimmering- and she just delighted in seeing the light again. She flashed her tail for minutes just to gaze at herself, when a fisherman's hook impaled her chin.
With a cry that caused every inch of her body to silently scream in pain, she thrashed as she tried to take out the hook, to no avail. It only dug deeper into her cheeks, going through her tongue. She had almost gasped, but her tongue was pulled back from the hook.
She was dragged, and went flying in pure agony onto the boat.
"Oh, what fun," the first fisherman smirked. "Ya want 'ta go first?"
"Of course. It's a lassie. And she's pretty." The second fisherman's grin showed all his yellowed teeth. He was missing one at the top. His hair and beard was shaggy, his clothes were wet and dirty. As he placed his soiled hands on Juvia, she used all her might to throw him off by slapping him, at full power, with her tail.
She screeched the loudest, most devilish and high-pitched one she could, causing the fishermen to tense and cover their ears. She then started to push herself to the edge, little by little, pushing her hands down and dragging her fin over.
Soon, one of the men recovered and stood. "Don't ya dare go, ya arse!" While grabbing his ears, he stumbled across the wavering boat. Juvia could tell one of his legs were crooked or injured; he had been walking unlike the other humans. But she didn't care right now. Her heart doubled over and she leaped the best she can. Her fin caught on to the boat edge, but as she shifted herself, it let go. She dove into the ocean.
She thought she was free. But not quite yet. A large fishing net was inside the water. With a swoop, she and many other sea creatures were immediately captured.
"No!" She screamed, and looked around anxiously. Oh, how to escape, how to get out... And then she spotted her grandmother. She sat on the ocean floor, just staring at Juvia with an otherworldly look to her eyes. "Child," her voice was the softest of whispers but louder and lovelier than a whale-song, "I can not do anything." And she turned to swim away.
"GRANDMOTHER!" Juvia thrashed and tore at the net. "Come back! Please!"
Her grandmother's hair was in whisps as she stared out into another universe. "Huna'n dawel..."
"NO!" She shook the tight rope of human technology. "Save me!" A rush of adrenaline made her dizzy. Her skin felt hot, and her head was in a frenzy. "You promised that you would help me whenever I needed it, if I ever called out you would come!"
Her grandmother finally looked at her, a pained expression painted on her face. "I was once promised that, too. I was once a beautiful, young girl. I could walk on land. And a sailor made me to warm his bed so I leapt into the ocean and ran 'way..." A dark mist, like the ink of an octopus, surrounded her body now. "I hated that sailor. He wore the overcoat of the wealthy and nobles but he was truly a man of a dog. I hated that I had even loved him. But there was always this alluring voice that bid me a good sleep. And he said..." Before fading into the eternal night, she whispered- "Good night, Miss Lockser."
"No! I will not let you go!" She tore and scratched at the rope, biting at the small strings creating the huge net. Her hands turned red as she gripped a single rope with both, and with enough force, ripped the rest of it apart. "I'm free! I'm free!" Juvia cried happily, but she was soon met with sunlight. Oh no, oh no, oh no...
The yellow-toothed fisherman looked out again. "We got her!" He looked over his shoulder. There was a new man this time- he was not as raggedy as these two, but Juvia knew his heart was as ugly and greedy. He wore clean but peasants' shirts. Like a demoted noble. "Here you are, young master!" The net touched the surface of the ocean; and the voices became clearer.
She was desperate this time. She unstrung the piece of rope from the others, unraveling the overlaps. She stuck her head out of the hole she now made, and part of her right shoulder. The fish disgustingly jumped all over her as she tried to escape. They thrashed when there was no water, wanting to jump back into the water of which is their home. Looking around, Juvia herself found a tight knot next to the severed rope. She began untying it, but ended up taking more time than expected. The fishermen were already pulling the net back towards their boat. Meanwhile, her brain was mixing up her directions, and her hands confusingly fumbled with the tough knot.
"Aye, aye, aye!" The slightly more civilized man chuckled. "What a good catch and nice season! I'm in luck!" The first two feet of the fishing net reached the side of the boat.
Juvia saw no chance. She concentrated on the complicated knot, and quickly aligned it to the rope- instead of randomly pulling strings. "Aha!" She pulled it out within the last five seconds she had. The hole was large enough now. She aligned her arms with her ears, locking her elbows straight, and clasped both hands together. With a push of her tail fin, she sprung up and dove back into the sea, scraping the side of her arm, causing friction.
At long last, true freedom! She rejoiced quietly in her clever escape from those dastardly humans. However, a strange feeling overcame her. Her grandmother had disappeared. She was alone.
A terrifying thought: maybe not.
A hand grabbed her wrist, and before she could yelp, she was dragged down into the darkness of the ocean floor.
It wasn't the regular floating sensation of being pushed down.
She was being sucked into the depths of the ocean. Little by little, the ride grew quicker. Until at last, she felt like she was a human girl falling off a rooftop-
"No!" She immediately jumped up, awoke. Her hair rushed towards her face, her eyes searching for a familiar face, a familiar place. Where was the net, where was the blackness? Wait, am I...
She pinched herself, and felt a jolt from her nerves. Thank God, Juvia is still alive...
But she looked again. What is this place? This is not... She thought again. She probably passed out in the middle of nowhere, looking for her camp.
She blinked. Juvia is in a bed! Juvia is under a blanket! She unclipped the covers from the bedside- used to keep the blankets from drifting away- and got up.
She was inside a cave. It was an underwater one; and the salty ocean water filled every little edge. There was a pile of treasue- gold and jewels. Someone brought her inside and put her in a bed.
Suddenly frightened and aware, she looked down at her upper torso. Good, she thought. Her clothes were still on, and she wasn't ravaged by some uncivilized fishermen. Still, there must've been someone who brought her to this place! But what if they were humans, going to chop Juvia's fins off? Her heart beat faster at every thought, her mind was confusing delusion with truthfulness.
She decided to leave as soon as possible and wander for her camp again. She stopped- where was her bag? Everything essential that she had took to survive, her currency, all the last items of her home and the objects that hold a part of her heart that are precious to her, she grabbed them and stuffed them inside when she'd escaped. With a sinking mind, she was about to break down at any moment. Oh, oh no...
She made an awfully risky decision to find it. Standing up, she stood and carefully swam to not produce bubbles or noises...
"Halt!" a voice shouted.
Juvia's stomach flipped. Her heart was like a shivering plate of jelly. Very slowly, clutching herself, she turned around.
A/N: The lullaby Juvia's mother sang was Suo Gân, a traditional Welsh lullaby. And thank you for reading all the way through x3 if you see this, put "Spicy Syrup" in your review (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
Here are the translated lyrics for the lullaby!
Sleep, child, on my bosom
Cozy and warm is this;
Mother's arms are tight around you
Mother's love is under my breast;
Nothing may affect your napping
No man will cross you;
Sleep quietly, dear child
Sleep sweetly on your mother's breast.
~Myrre