I really shouldn't be writing this right now...I should be typing up the next chapter for LTIS. But the mermaids seem to have taken hold of my brain. Or perhaps I am getting just as impatient as my readers with the 'I wanna see Kanda' thing. Because I do miss him. I luffs Kanda. BTW, I dunno if I have advertised any of my other stories yet, but I will now. If any of you guys like Naruto or FMA, go read my other stuff. A couple of my off shoots are in serious need of reviews, and LTIS is a lot of fun. ^_^
The relationship progression of this story is really strange if you take it out of context. The first pairing in the story is actually KandaxLavi, then it shifts to Laven, AllenxLenalee (OMG, a Hetero Pairing) has wedged itself into this chapter, we will jump into the Yullen next chapter and eventually we will find ourselves with various forms of KandaxLavixAllen. So weird...also, I am now completely positive that the online translator I found is not 'real' elvish, but it sounds super cool, so I am going to continue using it for Allen's language.
We reached a pretty big mile stone last chapter, but this chapter is going to be the turning point of the story...*sigh* The Little Mermaid aspects will prevail over this chapter a bit, but I promise there will be no fat sea witches or talking crabs. Turtles pwn crabs anyway. If I ever put a turtle character in here, I am going to name it Turquoise, like on Blues Clues. Yeah. I'm cool. Mehhh...to be honest with you guys, if I had to choose a single DGM pairing, I'd probably pick Yullen over Laven. But Laven is so much more accessible. Of course, that's assuming you do not change the personalities of the characters. If you turn Allen into the girly, shy, ditz that ukes so often become in fanfics, then I guess Yullen is just as easy to write as anything else. But, in the words of Galagza, Allen is too much of a BAMF for that. Anyhow, we are going to set up Allen for his wonderful return to the surface world in this chapter, and the next will be the Kanda POV chapter. I am a little nervous about that one...I've never written from the perspective of a Kanda-ish character before. I hope I can pull it off. *crosses fingers*
Murder plots are fun to write. *smiles* And the big spell at the end is a bit technical, so don't be afraid to ask me questions, and be sure to tell me if something is unclear, okay?
Allen swam as fast as he could, not out of fear, but out of the sheer joy that was coursing through him.
The sea! He was back in the sea after so long!
He did a flip underwater and twisted every possible way he could, to make up for all the time that he couldn't move freely. He took in a big breath of water through his gills and savored the flavor of true ocean. Then, he released the breath, laughing at the air bubbles. He was giddy, an addict coming back to his obsession after far too long.
The loving mother that was the ocean embraced him, celebrated his return, soothed his ragged nerves with cool waters. She whispered encouragement to him, told him how happy she was to have him back within her reach. Allen shouted his ecstasy with all that he had and laughed until his sides began to hurt. The few fish that swam about the open ocean at night looked on his exuberance strangely, but he simply smiled at them in return and wished them well.
Through the near orgasmic happiness, the pragmatic voice in the back of his head reminded him that he still had a dilemma on his hands: He had no child.
This dampened his high spirits a bit. He needed to get back to his family and friends-he wanted to see them so much! But would they be upset that he had not succeeded? Would his master be able to guess that he was unable to kill a human? Did they think he was dead?
Allen shook his head, white hair flowing through the water.
There was only one way to find out.
Allen hesitated near the edge of the merfolk's territory. As soon as he passed the magical boundary that marked their waters, everyone would know that he was back.
The vessel he'd been on had taken him quite far from his home, and it had taken him four days to swim back at top speed. This had given him time to think, but he still didn't have any answers. Only questions. These questions swam about in his head like sharks circling in the water.
'Will they be happy to see me? Will they be disappointed? I wonder if this has ever happened before.'
Allen took a deep calming breath of pure ocean water. The waters down here were much cleaner, being virtually untouched by the nonsense that humans dumped into the sea. It really helped clear his head.
Slowly, he started forward, making his way into familiar surroundings. He saw the slight shimmer in the water that marked the line around his home, around Deepsea. He pushed through the curtain of magic, shivering a bit as the powerful spell brushed against his skin.
And just as he had predicted, it wasn't five minutes before he was assailed by quite the crowd, mermen and mermaids all coming upon him in a big group. They bombarded him with too many questions for him to keep track of, all of them seeming happy to see him, putting their hands on his shoulders, or giving him quick hugs. But it was only when a dark haired mermaid with a green tail and a glowing smile pushed her way to the front of the throng and embraced him, that Allen finally broke down and hugged back.
Finally, he was home.
"Oh Allen, I'm so happy you are home!" The girl cried for the millionth time.
"I'm happy to be back, Lenalee." He snuggled close to her, needing the bodily contact to reassure himself that this wasn't a dream. He thought back to his time on the ship and realized that he'd never really seen anyone touch each other, aside from the brief contact he'd shared with Lavi. Allen wondered why the humans had to be so awkward about everything. He was glad that merfolk didn't feel the need to avoid displays of affection.
They reclined on one of the many large rocks that adorned the grounds outside the coral palace. Allen stretched a bit and thought that there was no place on Earth more comfortable than this.
Allen felt a hand brush against his back and looked over his shoulder. Little Timothy floated there, looking very much like he was about to cry.
"I-It's good to have you b-back, Allen."
The white haired merman smiled at the boy, then pulled him in for a hug. Lenalee giggled and hugged them both, pulling Timothy in between herself and Allen, where he laughed and proceeded to nuzzle into the older merman's chest.
"It is indeed good to see my apprentice again."
Allen stiffened and looked toward the newcomer, bracing himself for the worst.
Marian Cross looked just as he always had to the casual onlooker. His fiery red mane flowed around him like a devil's aura. The mask covering the right half of his face seemed to shroud him in mystery. The powerful fins he possessed shimmered iridescently. (There was much debate as to what color his scales actually were-red that shone gold in the right kind of light, or the other way around.) All in all, he looked downright spooky.
But Allen knew better. This was the merman that had raised him after Mana had died, and the white haired youth understood some of the more subtle nuances of his character that most would gloss over. There was a slight shadowy smudge under his one visible eye, an upset tilt in his usual frown. His fins twitched nervously, little bubbles following tentatively in their wake. Allen could see that his mentor was under duress, he just didn't quite know why.
The two mermen stared at each other for a long moment, not moving or speaking.
Surprisingly, it was the eldest who broke the silence.
"Ahem. Now that we have that out of the way, we can get down to business." Cross swam closer to the small group and Allen shivered slightly, dread pooling in the pit of his stomach.
"Tell, me..." The red haired merman began, before suddenly turning toward Lenalee. "Would you like to have dinner with me tonight? I know a very nice, private, kelp bed."
'I knew it.' Allen rolled his eyes and shook his head at his predictable master.
From out of nowhere there came an unearthly screech and Komui shot out of the palace and swam in front of his sister.
For a few moments, chaos reigned while Komui glibbered on and on about his precious sister, General Cross covered his ears, and Timothy laughed hysterically. The episode ended when Lenalee got that look on her face and all parties present got very quiet.
The mermaid huffed and mumbled something about seagull-brained-males.
"A-Anyway..." Komui shifted uncomfortably, before latching onto a change of subject. "Allen. You still haven't told us where you've been."
Allen twitched and turned fully toward the group to find all eyes looking at him expectantly.
"Well...gosh, where to start?"
'Yes, where to start? What should I tell them?'
The General spoke up then. "Why don't you begin by telling us why you do not appear to have any children?"
"Yeah...well..." Allen hesitated, contemplating his reply.
'Do not lie. You know that Master Cross will be able to tell. Tell him the truth. Just...not all of it.'
"I was captured."
There were gasps of horror and much petting and cooing ensued until Cross managed to rein it in.
"What happened, Allen? How did you get captured? How did you escape?"
'The key to a good half-truth is in the obscurity. Answer with as little detail as possible, while still giving them enough to satisfy them.' Allen's mind whirred, going over the events of the last two and a half weeks in mere seconds.
Slowly, he wove together the tale of his little adventure, leaving all mentions of Lavi and his own inability to act out. He told the story of a young, unassuming merman locating his prey, but being captured in a net and losing consciousness before the child-making ritual could be completed. He used long, rambling descriptions of the atrocious humans and their foul ship, described in gruesome detail the long hours spent in that unholy box, the stagnant water, the minimal amount of interaction, the hopelessness. Finally, he neatly tied up the loose ends by speaking of his own cleverness, of how he at last was able to charm an unnamed sailor into setting him free.
"How horrible." Komui had gone very white at the mention of the box, and was only now starting to look better. Allen couldn't really blame him. That ungodly prison would be haunting his own nightmares for a very long time.
Timothy snuggled closer to the silver scaled merman and shivered, nodding in agreement with the older merman's comment.
Allen shook his head sadly, while secretly being glad that his story seemed to have convinced them. "The real tragedy is that I couldn't complete the ritual for making a child."
Throughout the whole story, Allen's mentor had stayed very quiet, and it seemed as if he was thinking very hard about something. Finally, he spoke:
"It seems as though you have been through much, though your inexperience and idiotic disposition seem to be as much to blame as anything else. Still, one failed attempt is not enough to give up. They should still be on the water. I'm sure I can locate them again."
"Ah, but..." Allen panicked. He couldn't go back, he didn't think he could stand being put in that horrid tank again, and most importantly, he couldn't kill.
"General Cross, I don't mean to be rude, but...don't you think it's a bit soon? Allen just got home." Lenalee piped up.
The white haired merman internally cheered for his friend.
"Perhaps, but it wouldn't it be better if he got to the humans while they are still on the open ocean?" Komui asked, looking to the General for his opinion.
"I agree. We should take action while we still can. Allen will be ready for them this time."
"But Master," Allen spoke up, desperately hoping to dissuade the merman. "They will also be ready for me. They might be horrible, but we can't ignore the fact that they were able to capture me before I was able to hurt them and keep me imprisoned for two weeks. I barely made it out with my own life. We can't expect that I would be able to make it there and back with children in tow. Not now, when they have their guard up."
"Allen's right. Going right now would just do more harm than good. Perhaps if we had more merfolk to spare for the effort, but there just aren't enough of us to merit risking so many lives." Lenalee nodded, and Allen swore that he would always, always love this mermaid more than all the others and gave thanks to Neptune for blessing her with good sense.
General Cross gave an unhappy grunt in response.
"Lenalee, once they get to the shore, they are out of our reach. We must act before land separates us. It's because there are so few of us that we should risk it." Komui spoke again, looking very distraught.
This debate went on for quite a while, with Cross looking more and more disgruntled with each passing moment. Allen had begun to worry that someone would wind up getting hurt when little Timothy spoke, shattering the circular argument of the green scaled twins.
"Why don't we just follow them once they reach land?"
"We can't exist in the same space as Men. They would kill us." Komui said, an annoyed expression on his face.
"But won't they let their guard down once they are in their own territory?" The child asked.
"Yes, but...Dear, we have fins. To follow them on land, one would need legs." Lenalee patiently explained.
"Then why don't we just give Allen legs so he can go get them? If he looks like one of them, they wouldn't think to hurt him, would they?"
For a moment, all was quiet as each of them took in the simple logic of a child in wonder and turned the option over in their minds.
Finally, the male twin spoke. "But that isn't possible...is it?"
The General thought for a moment and tapped his chin. "Hmm...It might be...but such powerful magic would come with consequences..."
"Even if it is possible, don't you think that's too dangerous? The land is completely foreign territory to us." Lenalee swam back to Allen and held him close, as if she thought shoving his face in her bosom would protect him from all this craziness.
Allen pulled away slightly so he could respond. "More importantly, don't I get a say in this? I don't mean to question you Master, but this is absolutely insane."
The General nodded. "You are right. Normally, we would never take such a risk. However, yours is a special case. You have ability to mate twice. Lord Neptune is obviously expecting great things from you, and we cannot disappoint him."
Allen hedged, feeling quite uncomfortable with that gleam in his tutor's eyes. He knew that look, the one the red haired merman always got when he was planning something that had to do with the complex ancient magic that he loved so much. "But, Master..."
"Don't you understand, boy? Two rounds of spawn was unheard of before your mating cycle began. You've been given the chance to perform what would amount to a miracle; we can't just disregard it because the path may be difficult."
"Wait. Are we really planning on doing this?" Komui asked incredulously.
"We aren't planning on doing anything. He," Allen pointed at his mentor, quite fed up with this conversation, "is planning on turning me into a magic experiment."
"It's for the greater good, Idiot Apprentice. Buck up."
"Sweet Neptune, are you serious?"
"Yes, boy. Now be quiet so I can concentrate."
They had wound up waiting a week, with the General keeping track of their progress while he planned out his crazy proposed spell. Allen had tried in vain to dissuade his tutor, but so far none of his arguments had worked. Eventually, the dreaded day came when the red haired merman had announced that their ship had reached land, and that it was time. He then led his pupil and the twins to a small sea cave that was used solely for large scale spells.
Every inch of the place was covered in glyphs and glowing symbols. Allen knew that they were used to modify and expand the latent energies of the ocean, but he couldn't read any of them. The General had always been very secretive about the art of Glyph Sighting.
The eldest mermen swam around while muttering to himself and fiddling with things, finally pulling out a stone that seemed to dip in the middle from somewhere and whispering to it.
Komui looked around the cave curiously, giving all the glyphs a wide berth as he examined them. But his sister seemed to be more concerned with her best friend at the moment.
"Allen, do you think you'll be okay?" Lenalee wrung her hands nervously.
"The answer to that should be obvious." The silver scaled merman replied dryly.
"Oh ho. Confident, are we?" Cross turned around from whatever he was doing and swam toward the middle of the room.
"No. I'm just certain that this plan is doomed to fail." The young merman explained.
"Oh please. So long as you keep your wits about you, it'll work out fine." Cross mumbled absentmindedly as he dipped his fingers into the indentation in the rock. There was nothing that Allen could see in the little hole, but when his mentor pulled his fingers back out, they seemed to glow. He pressed his luminous fingertips to the floor of the cave and the three younger merfolk stared as the light seemed to spread out over the floor in all directions, swirling intricately upon itself, crisscrossing and overlapping, forming various shapes and designs before forming a huge circle around the whole thing and coming to a stop.
The hum of magic that filled the entire ocean seemed to find its focal point in the cave, and the energy flew into the new glyph on the floor, making it glow even brighter.
"You two," The General motioned to the twins, "Say goodbye and leave. I don't want anything disrupting this spell."
The two green scaled merfolk swam over to Allen and gave him a big hug.
"Good luck, Allen. We're all counting on you." Komui told him.
"Stay safe, Allen." Lenalee whispered. She pushed the white haired youth to arm's length and smiled rather sadly. "Don't look so down. I know you can do it. We all believe in you."
"Lenalee, I-" Allen began, but he was cut off by lips pressing against his own. From somewhere in front of him he heard a strangled gasp that sounded a bit like Komui, but he didn't particularly care at the moment. The kiss was...nice. Reassuring. It spoke of tender love and the promise of coming home. Allen was almost sad when it ended.
"See you later." She whispered. And with that, she grabbed her brother (who was in hysterics at this point-Allen was positive that it had nothing to do with him leaving and everything to do with 'his little Lenalee' kissing a merman) and dragged him out of the cave, swimming toward the Coral Palace. Allen watched them go with a strange restlessness in his heart.
"Are you ready, Stupid Apprentice?" Asked a voice from behind him.
"Master, I really don't think I can do this..."
"Nonsense. Lord Neptune assigned you with this task because you are just the merman for the job. Now, come to the center of the circle."
Allen sighed, realizing that once again he had no choice in the matter.
'I honestly cannot believe this is happening. Neptune, why do you hate me so?' Allen thought to himself while he did as directed.
"Alright. Listen up." General Cross put on a very business-like face. "The spell I am going to work on you is going to give you legs and take you to shore. There will be side effects."
"But, Master, I don't-"
"Shut up, boy! You must go, for the greater good. Get over it."
Allen fell silent unhappily, his mind working desperately to come up with an excuse that his Master would take as the older merman continued to talk.
"Anyway. The basics of it will work like this. You will go on land, disguised as one of them. You will find your targets and lure them into the sea, even shallow water will work. The catch is that you will not have the use of your magic for locating them or coercing them to into the water."
"What!"
"Our magic is the magic of the ocean. As merpeople, we can harness those powers anywhere. But, this spell will be suppressing your connection with the ocean in order to allow you to survive on land. So, your magic will still be there, but you will not be able to use it. However, should you come into contact with the sea, that connection will reopen and your magic will be available to you. This includes the magic that we use for bearing children. Once you have the humans in the ocean, you can go through the mating ritual."
"But I can't even speak their language. How can I be expected to get them to come to the water?"
"I will make sure that you are able to understand them, that part of the spell will not be too hard. Also-there must be conditions that will make this spell break, otherwise you will never be able to return. So, I will be tying the spell to the magic that you would use for mating. Once you have used up that magic, the spell that will make you like a human will shatter and you will return to your true form. Since you have to be in the ocean to make a child anyway, that shouldn't matter."
Allen swallowed hard, still having a hard time believing all of this. He was having difficulty keeping up, but his mentor just kept on babbling, completely ignoring his pupil's discomfort.
"Unfortunately, this puts a time limit on your mission. Since this type of magic naturally dissipates, you will only have the span of your mating cycle to do this. Obviously, this no longer includes simply making children, but also controls how long you have in a human form. If a year's time passes and you go back to your true form on land, you are as good as dead."
"A year? Master, do you really think that this is going to take a year?"
"It shouldn't, but nevertheless, that is how long you have."
"But...how am I to find the humans?" There was a distinct whine in the younger merman's voice now.
"I can send you to the coast, to the place where the sea last touched them. That should get you pretty close, since they haven't been on land for very long. After that, you are on your own."
"A-are you sure we have to do this? Why don't we just wait a while to see if they come back to the ocean later?"
The General raised his one visible eyebrow in obvious disbelief. "We can't just assume that they will come back so soon. We should act while we can."
"You are really going to make me go, aren't you?" Allen asked, growing more and more upset as it became obvious that there was no getting out of this.
"Yes. Now hush. Let's get on with it."
Allen fell silent, not because he wanted to go through with this, but because he didn't want to disrupt the spell and make something go wrong. Complex magic was delicate, and he didn't want to be the center of a spell that had gone from tame to destructive.
Cross began an incantation, but Allen didn't bother listening. He didn't know much about the bigger forms of magic, but he did know that the words that went along with it were just nonsensical syllables strung together without any real meaning to anyone except the caster. They were just to help him focus. His master's particular brand of magic-speak was strong, with many hard sounding consonants interspersed throughout short, choppy sentences.
Slowly, Allen felt the energies already gathered in the room begin to thrum in time with the General's words. He sensed the magic begin to weave together along the lines of the magic circle that he floated above, felt it surround him. The magic felt much like his master did-a bit cold at first, but it was very warm at its core. For some reason, this calmed the white haired merman down immensely.
The red haired merman's chanting began to rise in pitch and volume and the magical energies that were now situated within the circle roared along with him as they converged on Allen. The already illuminated room was filled with a white hot light that Allen had to close his eyes against.
As soon as he did, pain shot through him, causing him to yell out. He felt a cold force reach within him and grab hold of something. Allen couldn't put a name to it, but even in his disoriented state he knew that it was terribly precious, and that it belonged only to him. He screamed at the intruder, but he was caught in a net, unable to even struggle as whatever foreign thing within him shoved his beloved something into a corner of his soul and locked it away.
The moment that something was severed from him, the pain grew and grew until it was unbearable. Every molecule in him was in agony, he was burning, he couldn't breathe-
And then, there was a sense of being spun around, and a calming sea wind brushed over him, cradling him in its arms and carrying him with it, away from all the darkness and pain. Allen smiled in thanks, but it was a heartbroken smile, because he knew that he was leaving his something behind. And that knowledge almost hurt him more than the cold had.
There was a tingling in the back of his mind, and the last thing he was aware of before he completely lost consciousness was a familiar voice in his head.
"Good Luck, Idiot Apprentice."
To My Reviewers:
scrletfyre- *giggle* It was a tender moment, wasn't it? I certainly enjoyed writing it. Although I'm sure that Kanda was pretty pissed.
Tintaglia In Flight- 'The merman is out of the tank'...lol. I am really happy that you like my story. I am eagerly awaiting Kanda's chapter too. ^_^
Felnore- I am a sap, so I am glad that there are others out there who can appreciate those moments as well. And yeah, I am planning on the story being pretty long.
LizluvsSpongebob- Lol, don't worry about the typo. Happens to me all the time. I like re-reading my old faves too. I always like discovering new stories, but going through all the crap to get to the real gems is just painful sometimes.
Starisia the Shadow Dragon- Yeah, I felt pretty bad for making Lavi go through that horrible parting, but it will all be worth it.
Jasper-Jazz- I am super happy that he's free too!
JayPay- YOUR REVIEW SO CLEVER!
Kayday- Ahaha, I didn't notice that when I wrote it. Silly little sea devil.
Ciega Chica- I am feeling pretty good because you reviewed! Glad you liked it.
Miso Ramen-sama- I am happy you think that. I think that a well written story always makes it worth the wait, because it usually signals that the smut will be tasty. ^_^
lazycookies- Wow, thank you so much! To have one of my stories be one of your faves is such high praise! Just...wow! Thank you!
BehindTheSky- I love the Laven. But you are right, it was sad. Hopefully it will be more fun in the future.
sweetkakes35- You didn't sound impatient. I totally understand wanting to read more. And I so agree about stupid tween fanfiction. I totally support writing while you are young, but there is so much badly written, pointless smut that it makes me want to vomit.
Conrii- I am so happy you think so!
fan-fan31- I liked writing from Ollie's perspective. It was refreshing. I liked the kiss on the cheek too.
Ichigo 1010- I am glad that my ability to write a story has overcome my nonexistent skills with writing summaries. I love the MOMENTS just as much as the next person. Hehe. While I will be focusing on Yullen and Laven a lot, the KandaxLavi will play a part. I don't want this to be two different relationships, I want it to wind up being one big happy love triangle of bishie goodness. So, they will have 'encounters' in the future. *hides from reader's wrath* And yes- Allen's language is awesome, and I will include more of it as we go forward.
XxGothicXxXLolitaxX- I hate both genders equally too. *high five* And Ouran rocks my socks. Major brownie points to you.
Galagza- MEME FANFIC-THE ONE FIC TO RULE THEM ALL. Yes. Kimba approves. Do it. And I did the 'pregnant pause' thing on purpose. *giggle* Allen does indeed= Major BAMFness. And yeah, Lenalee can be pretty creepy sometimes...*shiver*