Day 4/ Prompt: Disguise
Summary: "But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore suffers so much more..."–The Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Andersen.
Her satin pink dress dripped on the sandy floor, forming the shiniest pool any human can lay eyes on, as she kneeled down. With delicate grace she reached into the shallow water and pulled out the object that had caught her full attention a few seconds ago; a purple shell.
Such a rarity and she couldn't help but brush her fingers against it's smooth-yet-bumpy surface before silently tucking it in the orange bag she wore around her shoulder. Her "little bag of treasures" he had puzzledly called it the instant he laid eyes on it and when she explained her idea of how to use it.
The visual image of his face clouded with confusion popped inside her mind and she couldn't help cracking a small smile on the memory. Such an intelligent and shrewd man he was when it came to solving the morbid murders that fell upon his feet or anything involving that, but when it came to other topics outside that, he was clueless.
Sighing, she shook her head and made her way to her favorite spot, a rock protruding from the ground. A good place to sit down to read and what a view of the ocean it had. Many memories of hers were connected to this rock and how she felt this very instant to relive them all, but she refrained herself. There were far more important things she had to do. Once more more, she grabbed for her orange bag and pulled out an item from inside. This time it wasn't one of her unique findings she'd discover during her peaceful outings or even a granola bar to snack on.
A small and thin paperback book is what she brought out of the bag.
Her lips formed into a warm smile as she looked down at the cover of the book and ran a dainty finger along it's fine spine, jumping over it's permanent markings that showed it's old age. After she reached the end, her blue-green eyes looked up and read the title quietly to herself.
The Little Mermaid
A classic tale that had a special place in her heart for she related so much to it. In the young mermaid who had fallen helplessly in love with an ignorant prince and gave up her beautiful angel-like voice and her long scale-covered fishtail….She saw herself.
She was a young toddler when she first heard the story, maybe 5 or 4 years old, she doesn't remember what specific age she was but she did recall how her childhood room looked like at the time, her female caretaker, and the warm feeling that was bubbling inside her when the story was read.
When the little mermaid's tragic demise came, she flung herself against her pillows and wept until sleep fell upon her. For the next few days she spent her time sulking over the terrible ending of the story, refusing to do anything except eat and stay in her room.
Everyone in the syndicate's boarding house were worried about her and wondered what to do. None of them had ever dealt with a 5-year old getting hung over a story's tragic ending and refusing to do their normal daily activities. After about two weeks or so, she finally recovered and was happily playing with the other children, much to the relief of the working hands of the children's wing in the boarding house.
The person to thank for releasing her out of her terrible state was her older sister, who had come to visit all the way from Japan, her birth country.
Seeing her sister again a year after they were seperated overjoyed her so much that the sadness left from the heart-rending story became oblivion, especially after her sister had read her a variation of the original story, this time with a very well-deserved happy ending.
Afterwards, her sister had showed her the Disney movie they had made based off this new version and the young girl was immediately in love with the red-haired heroine and her feisty, perky, rebellious, and determined personality. Such a personality had grown a yearning for freedom from the syndicate's cold grasp and to be reunited with her sister, her only family, in Japan and to be a normal girl.
As the years passed, she realized it was hopeless wishing. No matter how much she wished upon a star in the dark-blue sky, it would never come true; she was tied to those malicious crows since her birth and will be until her time came. Her region of reverie was the only place her wishes came true. Each night, she'd dream of her and her sister sitting on a lush green meadow covered with many flowers having a picnic or taking a small stroll through the sandy beach. She'd splashed around in the ocean water with a certain mermaid, playing water tag or giving her huge hugs, hiding her face in her wet red-colored tresses, and allowing herself to be peppered with small kisses.
Then her sister's death came.
The night the news of her sister's death reached her ears became the night that everything she had wished and hoped for withered away.
Months following her sister's death weren't easy; she was locked up in one of the syndicate's gas chambers, her attempted suicide had resulted in her turning into an 8-year old child, and on the run for her life. There was nothing good to grasp for anymore, no reason to continue living.
Maybe except him.
She was now in the little mermaid's fins .
She had fallen in love with a being from a world so much different than hers.
Unfortunately for her, this unrequited love wasn't heading in the same direction as in the Disney movie. It was tragically playing out exactly like the original. The prince showed no signs of admiration for her, he already had a princess to love and cherish, and the days until she was to leave were being counted.
A salty tear rolled down her cheek.
She was glad he had someone, someone better than her, who would be there for him; his happiness was her happiness after all. Still it hurt, the wretched pain in her heart that felt like it had been heavily gored with broken shards of glass. She now understood clearly what the original Little Mermaid went through whenever she took a step on her new feet; each step felt like glass piercing her skin.
Oh, how she was beginning to despise it all, the unfairness. Hadn't she suffered enough in this cruel world?
How she yearned to just let out all her feelings, let him know how much she loved him and the aching pain she was hiding behind every one of her smiles. She wanted to pull away this silly disguise off her, end the fucking suffering and pain she was enduring—but she refrained herself from doing so.
This was her punishment, she knew it, for the crimes she had committed while in the organization. Feeling guilt over the killings she had committed without staining her hands, she reluctantly accepted the emotional state she was being put through. A criminal that doesn't pay for their ghastly crimes is a foolish coward and she did not want to be called such a thing.
Years passed, the possibility of an antidote to cure this curse withered away with the time, and the ache in her heart grew. He was forever trapped in a freakish state, never to be reunited with his true love who had waited for him for so long.
She despised herself for the disgusting happy feeling she felt, now knowing there was hope for her to win his love. Many ideas flowed her mind, ideas of easily taking advantage of the situation they were in and swooping in to be the person he would find comfort, which would most definitely lead him to love her and cherish her. She could've easily done it, but she refrained herself. There was no way she was going to be a manipulative monster, playing with his feelings while he was in his weakest point.
To ensure that her ideas won't become reality, she disassociated herself from him, swimming deep into the depths of the ocean as she possibly could.
But he bent down, grabbed hold of her hand, pulled her up to the surface, and when he did, he tore off the veil she had over her face. Happiness gushed out of her just like the joy-filled tears coming out of her eyes as she was pulled into a deep embrace and felt a soft warm touch on her forehead and then on her lips.
"And they lived happily ever after.", she whispered, with tender smile on her face as she looked at the illustration of the red-haired mermaid finally with her true love.
As she closed the book, she heard cheerful shouts of her name coming from the direction she came from. Looking up, she noticed 4 figures heading towards her. She smiled warmly as she recognized the man, the one she had given her vows to a few years ago, and the three kids, each looking like a perfect blend between her and him. They were all pulling him along the beach with giggles and glee-filled shouts. Seeing him struggle against them, she chuckled and stood up, ready to lend him a hand.
Froody's Afternote: First, yes those are ShinShi children. I'm a sucker for ShinShi lovechildren lmao. Also this song was heavily inspired by the song from "The Little Mermaid" musical titled "If Only".