#also I was thinking maybe mermaid's blood can have some healing abilities or something but don't know about it for now

[cutetanuki-chan]

Luz broke a mermaid :D

and Amity is still a cat even when she’s a mermaid

I have more for this au but it’s mostly just a small fun art ideas :D though I still don’t have a fully story with it, just some moments 

so shortly, Amity is a wild animal and don’t understand a word Luz speak, for now, she’ll catch up with time. I like the theory in media that mermaids actually can be really smart and stuff, so she learns 

but she’s still very dangerous, Willow and Gus terrified of her and scared for Luz but Luz’s just goes “beauty in the water, angel on the beach, ocean's daughter-”     

#the owl house #lumity #amity blight #luz noceda #toh #Eda is a mermaid who lives as human for a long time #kinda inspired by the show Siren #I like their version of mermaids though I only watched first season #still don't know if I want to bring magic into this au or not #once Amity bit Luz's hand too hard so Luz scold her later by showing drawings of what she can eat and what not #Amity was feeling sorry for it #also I was thinking maybe mermaid's blood can have some healing abilities or something but don't know about it for now #when Luz was telling Willow and Gus about Amity she showed them cute drawing of her that she made #but when they actually went to see her she appeared like a fucking sea monster #also again I don't have a story for this au but just imagine concept of Hunter being half mermaid half human #like maybe he was taught to be afraid of the sea and other shit by his 'uncle' cause Idk his parents died there or something #Idk how he met with Luz but Luz's at some point like 'that's sus' and just pushes him in the sea water #after a minute Luz: 'look he's not coming up my theory is right :D' #Gus: 'or he's drowning cause he can't swim since he wasn't allowed near sea water' #Luz pulls out half breathing Hunter out of the water 'I'msosorryI'msosorry I didn't think this through' #Luz was actually right Hunter just can't transform :D

[klbwriting]

Pirate’s Heart - Chapter 5

Parade Music Part 1

Fandom: Six of Crows

Pairing: Kaz/female!Reader

Summary: Y/N is saved and Kaz finds something troubling

Notes: so this was originally going to be longer but it was getting to be like 2500 words and I figured I would split it into 2 chapters, also we get to see how Y/N and Kaz met and the flirting is just *chef’s kiss*

Taglist:  @sixofshadowandbone​ @thedelusionreaderbitch​ @itsemy01​ @angelicdanvers​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @screen-to-stage​ @aysegust​ @sagewrites111​ @lilyoflower​ @hey-peeps​ @starjane312​ @spawn0fsatan​ @myalupinblack​ @ameliathackray​ @moondustmarauder​

​

(its been too long since I’ve seen Milo)

This is parade music

Good grade music

Party like you just paid or got laid music

              Kaz had panicked when they started going to fast in the boat, they all looked shocked as Y/N was just pushing them, moving so fast in the water. Then he felt the boat falter for just a moment and blood was moving behind her legs in the water.  A bullet must have hit her and for whatever reason Kaz felt his heart was in his throat, worried she might stop and they would all be killed, worried that she was going to die.  He wasn’t sure at what point in this little jaunt he had really gotten attached to Lady Heartless but now he was.  They had always been friendly, even as rivals, but he never felt worried about her.

              Just after he was made captain of the Crow their small crew needed money to get more hands on deck so they had decided to hit up a small navy treasury on Port Du Nonce.  They noticed another ship was there, a pleasure vessel that they ignored, assuming it was just for the men.  They were even excited, hopefully most of the guards would have abandoned their posts to go party for the night.  They were shocked to find the guards dead, all of them.  Inside the treasury was a small group of young women, putting the money and gold bullion into bags and barrels.  

              “Can we help you gentlemen?” one of the women, the oldest of the group asked, holding her machete casually at her side, a pistol poised in her other hand. Kaz had considered his options, there were more of her crew than theirs, the odds were not good.

              “Who are you?” he asked, glaring.  He had wanted to make a striking first impression on his first job but clearly this would not be happening.  

              “I am…” the woman paused as if no one had asked her that before.  “Lady Heartless.”  Kaz had laughed at that.  What a dumb name.  “Have you come to steal our treasure?”

              “No, we came to steal Pekka Rollins treasure, but it appears you’ve done that already,” he said.  He didn’t know the moment it happened but something shifted then, maybe it was something he said or did but she put her weapons away and snapped her fingers.

              “Come on ladies, we have enough treasure, let’s leave the rest for the boys here,” she said.  The girls just nodded and grabbed onto what they were carrying.  She picked up a couple full bags of her own.  “There, now we each have some treasure to get our pirate careers going.  Take this half and stay out of my life, I’ve already had my life ruined once I don’t want it happening again.”  Kaz had watched her walk away and in that moment decided he was going to mess with her, fuck up every heist she tried to do if he could, generosity was a weakness he would exploit at every turn.  

              At first that’s what he did, he would do any job that he thought she might be at, noticing her pattern of only attacking pleasure vessels or navy treasuries or mining sights, anything that Rollins had a hand in.  His uncle must have done whatever she had said had ruined her life. They met often at first and finally she had gotten tired of him.  

              “You are ruining my life,” she one night when she had just finished kicking his ass and taking a job out from under him, something he normally did to her. “Now, stay down and don’t make me shoot you.  You’re a boy trying to be a man, grow up a little bit before you try crossing me again.”  

              “I’m not here to ruin your life, only fuck up your night,” he said, moving to stand.  She sighed and shook her head.

              “I really didn’t want to do this,” she muttered.  He lunged for her, ready to take her out with his cane, when she shot him.  It only grazed him really but it was the first time he had been shot and instead of pushing through it and attacking he just grabbed her sleeve, pulling it down and seeing the scarring on her chest.  It was then, as he lay bleeding, that he put together who she was.  

              “Wait…” he had called but she kept walking, yelling for his crewmates to come retrieve him before leaving him there.  

              Kaz touched the scar on his side from her shooting him as he cleaned up from their job.  She had been taken to his medic’s room to be looked at and he had sent the others to clean up.  The ship was in a state of paused motion right now, everything seeming slow as they waited to hear about the other captain.  He knew that the others had questions, but it wasn’t his place to answer them.  He had left them waiting for word on her while he changed and wiped off the blood. He had already been sick from what had been happening but seeing her carried below, pale and mumbling incoherently had made it worse.  He couldn’t stomach going to see her while she was worked on so instead he decided to go through the bag she had retrieved.

              He hid the will and all of Rollins’s identification papers, knowing that the crew did not need to know about any of that.  He counted the heaps of money and bonds finding that there more than he thought before.  This was enough for both ships to function for a year without needing to do another job. He set them aside and started to pour through the business documents, wanting to see what was going on amongst the islands.  He froze when he found a parchment that held plans for harnessing the power of a sea witch to destroy the reef and open them back up to the world again.  That would be a problem.  More access meant more pirates, more competition.  Kaz clenched his jaw, he didn’t like the sound of this. He slid that paper aside to show Y/N later, if she survived.  He was just finishing a rather boring stacks of documents when Jesper came in without knocking.

              “Didn’t I tell you next time you came in unannounced you would lose a finger?” Kaz asked, looking up from the parchment.  Jesper took a step back out the door and knocked on it.  Kaz nodded, not really wanting to get more blood on him tonight anyway.  

              “I just wanted to let you know that Y/N is ok, awake, the medic gave her a crutch to use and why the hell didn’t anyone tell us she could do that? What is she?” Jesper asked.  Kaz glared at him.  “You know what, I will just go and ask her, um, goodnight.”  He closed the door in a hurry.  Kaz let out a breath of relief and sat back, a small smile coming to his face.

                Y/N woke up, sitting up quick and gripping her head.  It ached like someone had hit her with a hammer.  She looked around the small cabin, slowly figuring out that it was the medic’s room.  She looked at her leg, seeing her pantleg pushed up to her knee, a bandage wrapped around it.  There was a crutch leaning on the bed.  She gingerly swung her legs over the side and stood, leaning on the crutch.  She remembered swimming and the pain, she must have been shot during the escape.  She needed to get some seawater and kelp, that should help her heal faster. She pushed open the door of the cabin and walked out.  Inej and Nina were waiting for her.

              “Let us help you,” Nina said, offering her arm.   Y/N took it gratefully and walked to the steps.  “What do you need?”

              “Find out if they have any kelp and seawater aboard, I don’t think I can swim enough to get it myself, it’ll help me heal up faster,” she said.  Inej nodded and went off to do as asked.  “When she gets back I’ll explain everything.” Nina smiled.

              “Its ok, we kind of figured you were a mermaid with the whole finding you in the jungle thing, and you know not aging for 5 years,” she said.   Y/N laughed a little, feeling a great fondness for her ladies.  She wished she could love them, she really did.  

              “Yes, but I didn’t tell you everything and you should know, I mean, I’m sure you’ve pieced together parts of my story, but I should tell you both all of it,” she said.  Nina got her above deck and sat her on a bench near the side of the ship.  She stretched out her leg and saw the rest of the crew eyeing her.  Ah, so everyone knew there was mermaid aboard now, great.  Inej soon came back with some kelp and fresh seawater.  

              “Captain Kaz told them to get it after he knew you survived,” she said. Y/N raised an eyebrow but just nodded, taking the kelp and dipping it in seawater.  “Nina, remove the bandage please.”  Nina did as asked, her fingers quick and concise.  Once removed Y/N handed her the kelp.  “Now wrap that like a bandage.”  Once again the girl did as asked before sitting back.  

              “How does that help?” Nina asked.  

              “Mermaids get their abilities from the water, we are born into it and we spend our lives taking care of it and the creatures in it so it in turn takes care of us.  I’m sure you saw me swimming, it gives us some extra strength and speed in the water and also can help us heal quickly.  That wound should be gone in a couple days.  Send word to the Menagerie to meet us at the rendezvous point at Pirate Island,” she said.  Inej ran off to do that.  Jesper, Matthias, and Wylan joined them soon, offering their regards and telling her they were happy she was alive.  She looked at the stern and saw Kaz watching her.  He didn’t approach so she just nodded to him and he nodded back to her.  

              During the voyage to Pirate Island, the farthest island from Argoes, Y/N slept a lot in Kaz’s room, healing up.  Kaz avoided his room mostly, only sleeping in short bursts so that he could not be around her.  She looked dead still when she slept and he couldn’t handle it.  After Jordie he couldn’t handle someone else he cared about being hurt like this.  He scowled at himself.  Admitting he cared for Y/N just annoyed him, he already cared too much about other people and its not like she could ever really care about him.  She could like him enough to not want him to die, but actually care?  Never.

              He hadn’t meant to be in the room when she woke up but here she was, just a few hours before they would be getting to their destination, sitting up, looking much better, eyes finally focused and sharp again.  Kaz had been coming in to change his shirt but stopped, trying to close the door again but she had seen him.

              “Kaz Brekker get in here and acknowledge that I’m alive,” she demanded. He groaned internally.  This fucking woman.  He entered, glaring at her.  “Don’t be like you’re happy I’m still breathing.”  He dropped the glare but still didn’t look pleased.

              “What do you want?  Aren’t you still resting?” he asked, leaning to his cane.  She leaned down and peeled the kelp from her leg, showing him a scar where the wound had been.  “Miracles seem to happen every day for you it seems.”

              “Not the day I met you cranky,” she grumbled.  This brought out the glare again.  “Why have you been avoiding me?  We should be talking about what we found from Rollins’s desk and how to divvy up the cash.”  Kaz didn’t want to answer her question so he avoided it.

              “There’s enough in there for each of us to live a year without actually pirating,” Kaz said.  Y/N’s face broke out in a grin that rivaled the sun.  “We can do the official split after the party.”

              “Party?” she asked.  Kaz was throwing a party?

              “It’s the biggest bounty we’ve had in years, the men want to have a party. They also wanted me to ask for your ladies to join if they want,” he said.  

              “Yes of course as long as they behave, anyone giving trouble will have body parts removed,” Y/N said.  Kaz agreed to her stipulations before moving on to the next issue.

              “We have a problem, Rollins has plans to harness a sea witch’s power to try and break the reef again,” he said.  Her eyes widened.  “More access to these islands means more competition for us, less loot to go around.”

              “It would mean that Rollins would get unlimited power too, if the sea witch’s power is strong enough to break the reef it could possibly be strong enough to do much more to the rest of the world,” she said.  Kaz looked at her surprised, having not thought about that.

              “What would give a sea witch that kind of power?” he asked although he was pretty sure he already knew.

              “The heart of a rare tail mermaid,” she answered.  “Well, we have the plans, is there a map?”

              “Yes, to a spot near Argoes.”

              “Horus’s home, they probably don’t know how to summon them, shit, now that Rollins knows I’m alive he’ll probably try to find me.  Fuck, I’m going to have to abandon the Menagerie until this is over, I can’t put those woman at risk over my own stupidity,” she said, throwing the useless kelp across the room.  “He knows I’m alive, he knows I know how to summon a sea witch.  I’m sorry Kaz, me just being here is going to put you in danger…”

              “I’m not worried about that, I’m worried about how we’re getting you to this Horus’s home to summon them,” he said.  She snorted a laugh.

              “You think that I’m just going to waltz in there and somehow get their power? They wear their power in a crystal around their neck, it would take a master thief or magician…”

              “Good think I’m both of those things,” Kaz said.  She looked at him.  

              “When do we tell the crew?” she asked.  

              “After the party, let them have some fun before we start putting their lives in danger again,” he said.   Y/N nodded. “Will you…join me at the party?”

              “Are you asking me on a date Kaz Brekker?” she asked, hoping she didn’t bely how pleasing the idea was.  Kaz smirked and shook his head.

              “No, I just know everyone would like to see you there looking healthy after you almost died on us,” he said.  “Morale booster and all.”   Y/N looked at him and smiled, he was telling her half of the truth.

              “Admit it, you just are too nervous to ask me on a date.”

              “Would you even say yes if I did?”

              “Ask and you’ll find out.”  Kaz opened his mouth to speak but they heard the call for land above them so instead he stood and headed out the door.  Y/N smiled after him and for the first time she felt a pang of something new in her soul, she couldn’t identify it but it was something that only Kaz seemed to bring out in her.  

#six of crows #kaz brekker x reader #kaz x reader #kazbrekker #kaz brekker #kaz #pirate kaz brekker #pirates heart series

[inagetawaycarxo]

Ocean Child | Tom Holland

— omg can i pleease request one with mermaid/human au (kinda h2o au if you’ve seen it) where bestfriend!tom gets hurt and mermaid!reader uses her powers to help heal him and he kisses her after finding out shes a mermaid -Anon

Pairings: Bestfriend!Tom Holland x Mermaid!Reader

Featuring: Harrison Osterfield, F/n, B/f/n, other oc’s that I couldn’t be bothered naming cause they aren’t that important.

Summary: You use your powers to help Tom survive, by doing so he finds out your secret.

WARNINGS: jealous!reader, reader might have been the cause of Tom’s accident, drowning, light angst, kissing, friends to lover’s trope, mermaid stuff, bad end or writing.

Word Count:1915

A/N: YAS! I love that show, might have binged watched it! I’m going to use Cleo’s power which is Hydrokinesis, the elemental ability to create, control and manipulate liquid water at will. (also, in the second season she can control air and wind, so I added that too)

f/n= friends name & b/f/n= best friends name

Wasn’t going to post this until Monday, but it’s my b-day, and I’m feeling generous!

A faint scowl forms on your lips as you stared at the scene that was playing out in front of you. Tom was flirting with some girl, or well trying to anyways, he was leaning way to close to the railing of the boat, if he leaned anymore closer to the railing he would fall into the water. Which would be much better than watching him flirt with some girl.

You wished it was you he was flirting with, but unfortunately, you were stuck in the friendzone with him, and quite frankly you were terrified that he wouldn’t respirate those feelings back even if you did confess to him, you were terrified you would ruin your friendship with him.

The more you stared at the scene, the more the wind picked up, which caused the boat to rock back and forth, which caused Tom to lose his barring’s and fall from the boat and into the water. Your eyes widen as, watched Tom fall into the water, you couldn’t exactly manipulate the water and bring him back up to the boat, not when there where people on the boat.

The girl he was flirting with let out a blood-curdling scream, which honestly gave you a headache.

Harrison quickly jumped into the water, diving under the water in search for his best friend, by this point every person on the boat was at the railing looking to see Harrison resurfaces with Tom.

About five minutes later Harrison resurfaced with Toms unconscious body. Harrison with the help of Tom’s brothers Harry and Sam laid Tom on the boat floor carefully.

Guilt started to bubble up in your stomach as you watched Harrison starting to do CPR. Harrison stopped doing compressions, slightly hesitating with the next part. The mouth to mouth part.

“I will do it.” The girl Tom was flirting with spoke, you rolled your eyes at her, you definitely didn’t want to see her putting her mouth on his, so you did the only thing you could think of, you would use your powers to push the water out of his mouth.

Without so much of a second thought, you raised your hand up slightly and looked at Tom in concentration, cringing slightly at the feeling of the liquids inside Tom’s throat. Besides no one would be paying attention to you, all their attention was on Tom, not you.

Pushing aside the cringy feeling, you took control of the water that was in Tom’s throat and pushed it up, Tom let out a gasp, coughing up the water just as the girl was about to touch his lips. She let out a squeal of annoyance, taking a step back, while Harrison titled Tom to the side, as Tom coughed up the water some more.

Sam and Harry put dry towels around Tom, once he stopped coughing up water, he was shivering uncontrollably.

Your hand fell to your side, but you felt a strong grip on your wrist, pulling you towards the inside of the boat, where the boat wheel was.

“What the hell y/n, are you crazy? What if someone saw you?” your friend snapped at you. While your best friend crossed her arms. Like you, they were mermaids too.

“They were too busy looking at Tom, not me.” You defended yourself, rather weakly.

Your friend let out a scoff, before replying.

“That doesn’t matter y/n, if someone saw you, they wouldn’t hesitate in handing you over to a scientist.” f/n growled out.

“I’m sorry I was trying to save my friend’s life, next time I won’t use my powers again, I’ll just stand idly by and be useless, it’s not like I jumped in after him and flashed everyone my tail.” You growled out. By this point you and f/n were face to face. While your best friend was standing by ready to interfere.

Little did you and your friends know, that someone was eavesdropping on you and your friends. Tom wanted to find you, so you could comfort him, sure his brothers and his other best friend where doing their very best to comfort him, but they weren’t you, they didn’t have that magic touch that you did, so he went off in search to find you, and found himself eavesdropping in on your conversation with your friends. His eyes widen at the word tail, what were you and your friends talking about.

“No, you did a much worse thing then that, you used your powers in front of people without checking if the coast was clear.” f/n hissed.

“F/n, drop it, I am sure she didn’t mean to do that, besides she was just trying to save her other best friends life and in the midst of her panic to save him, she forgot to check her surroundings to see if anyone was watching her.” your best friend grumbled, giving her a pointed look, to tell her to back off. Though it didn’t work f/n gave b/f/n a deadpan expression.

“Are you seriously defending her? she nearly gave away her secret, she might as well have jumped in after Tom.” f/n growled out.

“I’m so sorry I saved his life.” You snapped, moving past them and heading towards the door.

“Y/n.” your best friend sighed, trying to reach her hand out to you, but you stormed out, not before giving f/n a death glare.

You stormed right past Tom, not noticing he was there. His eyes were widened at the news he just heard. You were a mermaid. You saved his life.

Tom waited a few seconds before following you, making sure your friends didn’t see him.

After a few minutes of searching for you, he finally found you walking slowly towards you, as you stood at the front of the boat, looking at the waves.

“Hey.” Tom spoke hoarsely, he hugged the towels closer to his body, standing beside you. You quickly wiped the tears away from your eyes, before you turned to face him.

“Hey, you, how you feeling? You gave us all a fright.” You spoke, giving Tom a reassuring smile, Tom felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach as he noticed your bloodshot eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

“Little shaken up.” he replied, hugging the towels closer to him for warmth, as he studied your facial features.

“I bet, we thought you were a goner, then suddenly you cough up water, thank god Haz did CPR on you.” You rambled.

“I felt something, some sort of force it was like a magical force, pulling the water and making me cough up the water.” Tom explained, looking at you cautiously, as he examined your reaction, you quickly turned your attention towards the waves, gulping harshly. Your breath caught in your throat; you took a deep breath before answering him.

“Maybe you were just hallucinating, I heard people do that when they drown, I read it somewhere.” You babbled out, avoiding his gaze, as you continued to stare at the water.

“Y/n, I know.” Tom spoke, you felt your breath catch in your throat again, what does he know, that you are a mermaid, and you used your powers to save him, or your feelings for him? It felt like the whole world was closing in on you.

You took a deep breath, before turning to look at him.

“Know what?” you finally gasped out, blinking rapidly, Tom wet his lips before talking again, staring at you intently. God, you wanted to kiss his lips so bad.

“What you did, That It was you that got the water out of my throat, not Haz…-” Tom spoke, he quickly stopped himself from what he was going to say next, looking around cautiously before whispering the next words.

“I know that you’re a mermaid.” Tom finally confessed, making your heart plummet to the pit of your stomach, you felt your breath catch in your throat as you stared at him in shock. Tom looked at you with a look of concern in his eyes. The both of you staring at each other for a few minutes, before you let out a forced nervous laugh, shaking the shock of.

“Tom, you did swallow a lot of water, maybe, I think, it might have affected you, you should go to the doctor.” You sputtered out, slightly leaning on the boat railing, avoiding his gaze, you nervously tucked a piece of stray hair behind your ears.

“I know it’s true, I heard you arguing with your friends, and I know it was wrong of me to eavesdrop, but I wanted to find you, and well, I kind of wanted to know what you were arguing about-” Tom spoke, but you quickly turned around to face him, staring at him with wide eyes.

“You can’t tell anyone, Tom, not a single soul, not even your family, your friends, not even the girls you flirt with, future girlfriends, your future-.” You cut him off, only to get cut off by Tom’s lips pressing against yours softly, his hands cupping the side of your face.

You let out a content sigh, kissing him back, grabbing ahold of his wrists.

Tom pulled away after ten seconds. His whole face lit up with happiness.

“You have my word.” He promised. You smiled at him.

“Good.” You squeaked out, rubbing the nape of your neck nervously, as you shifted your weight from side to side.

Tom was about to open his mouth again when his brother’s voice cut him off. Making Tom rub the nape of his neck nervously, while his cheeks tinted a shade of red, while you averted your gaze back to the water, playing with the hem of your shirt nervously.

“Tom, there you are, mate I got you more dry towels.” Harry spoke, clearly not aware that he was ruining a moment.

Harry quickly to off the damp towels of Tom, then put the dry ones on him.

“There you go.” Harry announced, smiling at his brother then at you, his smile dropped, as he looked from Tom to you, noticing the awkward tension between you and Tom.

“Thanks.” Tom muttered, wishing his brother would leave already so he could ask you out.

A smirk toyed on Harry’s mouth.

“Am I interrupting something?” Harry asked.

“No.” you answered, rather way too quickly.

“Yeah.” Tom answered.

“Oh, right well I will just leave, just call out if you need more towels.” Harry spoke, he gave Tom a suggestive smirk, before turning around and walking away, leaving Tom even more embarrassed.

“I should probably go find f/n and apologize to her.” You spoke, looking up at him.

Before you could even think of leaving, Tom is gripped your forearm.

“Wait, do you maybe want to like go on a date sometime?” he asked, shifting from side to side, then rubbing his nape nervously. Looking at you with hopeful eyes.

“Yeah.” You replied quietly, Tom’s face lit up at your answer, letting go of your forearm, you quickly turned away and walked away from him. But Tom didn’t mind, he was too busy fantasizing about the date he would take you on, and the fact that you said yes, and you were a mermaid.

You leaned against a wall, bringing your fingers up to your lips and pressing them against them, a smile formed on your mouth as you thought about the kiss you and Tom shared, your heart fluttering at the memory as your lips tingled…

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland fluff #tom holland imagines #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fic #tom holland prompt

[bedbellyandbeyond]

Emotions

Ruben didn't leave Dante's room for anything else but dinner and the restroom. It had been two days already and Dante hadn't woken up. Köbi had healed his wounds, but dark scars were still left over his body. They didn't mangle his skin, it was more of a pigment change, like a tattoo. Ruben was assured that he wasn't in too much pain, his body was just taking it's time recovering. A surprising side effect of the ritual was that Dante's hair had grown out incredibly faster than normal. Köbi had said it was part of the healing, bodily processes had been sped up to heal him faster. What was unusual was that while Dante dyed his hair, the new hair was coming in entirely white. When Ruben asked about it, Sydryn said it was likely that the trauma had whitened his hair. He'd also attained two months worth of beard in two days.

“If his body keeps doing this so fast, won't he run out of energy and stuff?” Ruben asked as Sydryn came in to check on Dante's monitors. “The process has already slowed,” Sydryn said. “It's the main reason he's still asleep. He sleeps now to regain that energy.” “Okay…” Ruben he stood beside Dante's bed and put a hand through his hair. “So, it's just sleep, right? Not a coma?” “No… If we really needed to, we could wake him,” Sydryn explained. “He just really needs the rest so it's best to let him wake himself. But when he does wake up, he may not stay awake too long.” Ruben nodded. “Will the scars go away?” Sydryn sighed. “They may not… They could fade perhaps but they're not like your typical scar… They were created by the blood of demon. It's safe to assume they're permanent.” “Oh…” “Do you find it unappealing?” “No, no… If they're not hurting him…” Ruben rubbed the back of his neck. “They're kind of cool… I could get some kind of tattoo maybe. To match.” “Mmhm…” Sydryn looked at Ruben. “Could you do me a favour?” “What?” “Would you mind walking my dogs for me?” “Oh. Um…” Ruben looked down at Dante but it was obvious he wasn't waking any time soon. “Sure…” “You can take them down to the courtyard,” Sydryn explained. “You don’t have to scoop. Their excrements are very good for the flora.” “Good to know.” “They don’t have leads. They know where to go. Once you’re out of the elevator, just follow them until they tire themselves. And do not visit the other floors.” “Right…” Ruben scratched his elbow. “It’s Rozovyy…” “Rozovyy, Arbuz, and Fandango. Just call them. They’ll come. I trust them to you.” Sydryn smiled. “I know you’re a dog lover.” Ruben pulled a face but left and whistled for the alien pets. All three night dogs bounded over and jumped up excitedly around him. “It’s walk time, weirdos. Let’s go.” He called the elevator and when the doors opened, the dogs all barrelled in. He squeezed himself among them and pushed the button for the ground floor as the doors closed. The elevator immediately dropped and they were falling quickly down to the awaiting outdoors. The doors slid open and the dogs bounded outward, each going in separate directions. Rozovyy started sniffing around the flower garden while Fandango and Arbuz decided to chase some hummingbirds. Ruben just kept an eye on them while taking in the fresh air. He looked up to see if he could spot Sydryn's floor, and low and behold it was the pinkest stripe along the inside of the building. Going one up, he still couldn't figure out how such a large space could fit into Azeros's floor when the story seemed no taller. Some kind of magic was definitely about. Matter of fact, it would definitely be late autumn in Europe but the plants were all in bloom and Ruben was comfortable outside in a tank top. Ruben took a look around at the other animals Sydryn kept here. Up close, it was much less a zoo than one big enclosure. All the animals shared the open space and it didn’t seem that anyone was interested in eating each other. They all seemed content just to go about their business and chill, enjoying their pinkness. It still seemed unnatural to keep them all there, but it didn’t look quite as cruel as Ruben expected. At the far end of the enclosure, there was a little tool shed and a bench. On that bench, Dusty sat quietly, reading a book. Ruben hadn't seen much of Dusty for the last couple days, but that was mostly due to Ruben not leaving Dante's room, so he wouldn't have known Dusty had been MIA for some time now. If he had known, he'd figure Sydryn sent Ruben out with the dogs to find Dusty. But he hadn't known so he didn’t figure. Arbuz had found him first and was curled up on the bench beside him, putting their doglike head in his lap. Dusty noticed Ruben approaching and put a bookmark in his page before looking up. “Hello.” “Hey.” Ruben didn’t know yet how to feel about Dusty. He was glad he'd been unbound from Dante, but it still felt like it was his fault Dante even had to go through all this in the first time. “I'm just reading,” Dusty stated. “I can see that. I'm just walking the dogs.” “Yeah…” Dusty closed his book. “Do you read, Ruben?” “Mmm… Not really,” Ruben admitted. “I used to read a lot as a kid. Fell out of it after middle school… Does reading to my kids, count?” “Sure. I don't see why not.” Ruben shrugged. “I don't really have the time for a book for myself.” “Fair enough…” Dusty stroked the spine of his book. “I had a lot of time to read when I lived with Syd. You'd be surprised how many books were published with pink covers.” “I can't imagine… Listen, I'm not really a small talk kind of guy…” Ruben stated. “If you want to talk to me about something, might as well get to the point.” “I'm lost, Ruben,” Dusty said. “I feel really empty. I thought maybe I could read and find something inspiring in it to help me through this, but it's not working. I can't enjoy the things I liked before right now.” “That's a lot…” Ruben shooed Arbuz off the bench and sat down. “But it sounds like depression.” “Azeros said the ritual took my emotions away temporarily. I don't feel like they're back yet,” Dusty said. “I want to want something but I don't know what…” “What about Grey?” Ruben offered. “Grey?” Dusty stared blank for a moment then his head jerked up and tears started falling from his eyes. “Oh god… I forgot about Grey…” “Dude.” Dusty wiped his eyes and turned to Ruben. “I didn’t think I'd forget my son!” “Well… If you lost your emotions, they're back,” Ruben stated. Dusty sobbed and rubbed his knees. “I want to go home…” “Hell, me too. Couldn't you though?” Ruben said. “You're not bound to Dante. You could just leave.” “Sydryn said I need to recover first…” Dusty stated. “And I know they're right… I don't feel right inside. I'm…a little too strong, if that makes any sense.” “Sure, you sucked the life out my boyfriend,” Ruben stated. “Ruben, the ritual—” “I'm messing with you.” Ruben smiled. Dusty looked at him shocked. “Wow…” “What?” “I've just… I've never seen you smile before.” Ruben frowned. “I smile.” “Not around me. Everyone says you don't like me.” “I don't. I didn’t…” Ruben rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, I'm a simple guy… I went through shit as a kid and it messed me up so I was pretty happy just to have a decent normal life after that. But then I met Yori, and I love him, but it wasn't until my kids were born did I get a really big reality check. It's like every day, there's another…supernatural thing going on, and yeah, I mean I knew this alien business was happening in the news, but none of it really affected me until Yori. While I wouldn't want to live without him, I am constantly reminded that I'm… I'm literally just a man. A human man. No powers, no special abilities. A normal regular human. But I live in the same house as a hyper intelligent alien. My partner and my children are basically dog gods. I’ve met a mermaid, an angel, a dragon... And then all of a sudden I find out my boyfriend was bonded to a demon. Then…on top of that… They have a child together.” “Ruben…” Dusty bit his lip. “I didn’t realise—” “Of course you didn’t,” Ruben huffed. “No one else seems to know how fucking terrifying all that is. I'm sick and tired of it! I'm literally just a man! And all I want is a fucking drink!” Dusty blinked. “A drink? Just have a drink.” “I…” Ruben licked his teeth. “Ah, fuck… Yeah. Let's have a fucking drink.” “Let's?” Dusty perked up. “Me and you?” “Yeah. Can demons get drunk?” “Yeah, sure.” “Good.” Rusty looked up at the building. “One of these dragons has got to have something good… Maybe one of them has an alcohol hoard.” “You want to raid another dragon's hoard?” Dusty was suddenly both terrified and terribly excited. “Sure. Isn't there one with a basement floor or something?” Ruben said. “There's gotta be a cellar down there.” “We really… We really shouldn't…” Dusty muttered, hating every word. “You're a demon. My parents thought I was too,” Ruben said smirking and standing up. “You were born to indulge yourself. Am I wrong?” “Well, no… But don't you have the dogs?” “When they're done shitting, we'll just drop them back in Syd's and sneak out,” Ruben said. “You…Dante told me you could teleport.” “Oh. Yes, yes I can. Only where I've been or can see though.” “Then just take us back down here after we lose these dogs. Deal?” “I haven’t done something like this in a really long time,” Dusty said. “Me neither. I miss it,” Ruben said. “Are we fucking doing this or not?” Dusty nodded quickly. “Yes! Definitely!” “Alright. Awesome.”

#lore #Ruben #Dusty #Sydryn #Rozovyy #Arbuz #Fandango #demon #dragon #alien #night dog

[sanjuno]

BloodRaven Actually Does Something

What if the resurgence of magic was more drastic?

(By which I mean I re-read The Great Northern Alliance on a03 and it’s hilarious and brilliant and I couldn’t stop imagining stuff about it)

Like, imagine that the children born after a certain point (perhaps BloodRaven saw all his remaining relatives go nuts/start getting kicked out and decided to tip the scales a bit) start manifesting magic traits and potential. The highborn have been selectively breeding themselves and accidentally keeping the magic blood strong, but there’s also a lot of small folk, either descended from bastards/demoted families or just genetic luck, who get “tricks”. Like a pair of twins who can share their senses with each other. Or a toddler who’s dolls move. Or a little boy is attacked by his drunken father and his bottle shatters against his glass-glimmer skin.

But the focus the instigator has is on the people he actually wants to have strong abilities-everyone else is just from a ripple effect- aka his relatives (Targaryens) and the Houses who will actually prepare for winter (Major Northern Houses). Starks actually fall into both categories, and so basically all the children from Roberts Rebellion onwards in Winterfell-shire can do something weird. (And in the free cities there are rumours of unnatural children being born, and a Dornish girl hisses to snakes in the shadow of the Tower of Joy).

Stark children “talents”. I’m thinking they can all warg, at least a little. It’s the baseline manifestation of magic. Not a lot, but as the talent ripples out it becomes a boon to sending messages.

Robb picked up his “template” from the far ancient intermarriage the First Men had with the Children of the Forest. Roots climb up his boots if he stands still too long, plants flourish under his gaze. The weirwood trees whisper to him, and let him give them new faces and children. It’s not particularly useful in a fight, but an army under Robb Stark will never go hungry. And if he has a slight green tinge to his skin, and eats a little less than he should, who will know?

Jon Snow may look like his mother, but his many times grand uncle made sure that it was his father’s blood that shaped the awakening magic. The Valerians had children with their siblings do you really think they wouldn’t try and weave the dragons in there somehow as well? Jon doesn’t burn, has never been hurt by heat, and when his rage builds so does the fire in his lungs. Scales sleep under his skin, ready to protect him. No blade seems to do more than well up a tiny amount of blood when Jon Snow wades into battle.

Theon Greyjoy was an accident. An accident that turned out for the best, but still an accident. He came into his abilities late, it taking a year or so exposed to Brynden Rivers’ best efforts before there were results, and even then it wasn’t noticed till Theon dived into a river to save a Bran that was too young to know how to swim. The first Greyjoy took a mermaid to wife, and her blood resurged in her descendent. Water is like air to Theon, and no matter the depth to which he dives, pressure will never be a problem. Less useful is understanding the creatures of the water. That doesn’t mean obey, and they cannot understand any human other than Theon. It does help his claim to heirship when he returns to the Iron Islands with a pod of kracken.

Sansa Stark is a … difficult case. The White Walkers are tied to the Starks, in ways that only they know. But Sansa can walk barefoot through the snow, and haarfrost forms on her fingertips when a presumptive Southron sees a pretty Northern maid travelling to meet her mother’s kin. When the Northern armies cannot win, they fall back into the deep forest, and Sansa Stark steps onto the field, ice woven like lace through her blood red hair, and her Tully eyes burn bright. The Heiress to the Night King smiles like her wolf as every dead man on the field stands up.

Arya Stark actually pulls from her mother’s line. The Tully’s are Andals, and have been devout every since their first crossed the sea with a seven pointed star on their sails. Now a way has been opened for the seven-who-are-one and this child has the potential for any of their faces. Arya Stark can pull on one of the faces of her patron(s), and gains almost impossible skill in that concept. If one did not know how old she was, it could be attributed to a lifetime of study and practice. Arya Stark dislikes stepping into her mother’s sept. The light and statues that turn to face her draw too much attention. The travelling Septon bows to her on the road, and he doesn’t know why he listens to her arguments.

Bran Stark has two Uncle Bryndens. One of them isn’t actually related to him, and he’s never met the other, but they are still his Uncles. Bran has been drifting from mind to mind since he was four, and has been the apprentice to the Three eyed Raven for almost as long. Every creature could have him hiding behind its eyes, listening. Everything ever spoken near a weirwood tree is ready for his perusal. When the North goes goes to war, Bran makes sure his Brothers know everything. And their enemies never think about the rat crouched under their chair. Listening.

Rickon Stark is still young, but his talent for learning languages is already catching attention. Things he writes in the surviving words of the Old Tongue seem strange somehow. Things become much clearer when he recreates a miniature of the Wall from snow, paper, and bloodied ink. His first project is a war table for his elder brother, with the everfrozen ice taking pride of place.

(I have more for other Northern Houses, “wild” talents for the small folk, and what’s happening with and around Viserys and Daenaerys. Also does anyone know where all the Sand Snakes were prior to Oberon picking them up and training them to kill?)

The first idea with much crazier powers could be a ton of fun, but at a glance I worry that it’s too skewed in the North’s favor. I get that it’s Brynden influencing the people he thinks will play the greatest role in the War for the Dawn, but it feels off to have so much of the powers concentrated among characters who already get so much in the fanfiction community. I really dig the Seven being at play with Arya, and I’d probably just take that further to other gods and faiths. Have some of the Rhoynish stuff in Dorne, maybe have Shireen with Rh'llor powers. If the Lannisters have any sort of magic blood, then naturally it would be strong as hell in Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen, since they’re inbred beyond the norm.

Maybe have him focus on the Ruling families, the Strong families (plus his)? or have it as a ripple effect down from whatever cave he’s huddling in, spreading South? Admittedly I do like giving the North a little help, and in universe Brynden would Want the vanguard against the Others to be strong. And I’m focusing at the characters theatre common in stories because they are the ones I know well.

But you’re right that other post rebellion children should have “talents”. What if Shireen and all Roberts Bastards all have variations on weather magic, while Cercei’s children all take after the Lannister mind manipulation or stone singing?

Anyway. I’m thinking there are baseline abilities before the quirk that ancestry or environment gave them. These were set up last time magic spread across the world. Those of First Men blood can warg a little, to a single close animal at minimum. Those of Andal blood may use Septon blessed boundaries to slow or even stop those who are against them. Valerians are fireproof, or at least resistant. And the Royinar ( nowadays Dornish) heal faster, to a varying degree, when in water.

Magic in a person is another tool of survival, and though it may be shaped by ancestry, in manifestation and power, what the wielder needs to survive, to live, is what shapes it. A starving child becomes capable of eating rot without ever sickening, an abused one skin hardens to steel. A child who is fed to the point of vomiting learns to burn fat into bursts of incredible speed and strength and thought .

#not my bunny #but still super cool #I really like this bunny #the North remembers #BloodRaven actually does something #submission

[angstyzebra]

Space Bears Aren’t Cool

When one of his team members is in danger, Lance might have to give up his secret to save them.

He really should have thought this through more.

(Read it below or on AO3 here!)

Now that he thought about it, Lance really should have told the team sooner. What was the point of hiding something like this? There was no way any of them could be mad at him for it and it would definitely come in handy for future missions.

Lance is, in lack of a better term, a mermaid.

Merman?

Merperson.

Anyways, he’s pretty much just the better version of humans. That’s what he’s always thought, at least. Most humans think merpeople are just people with tails and gills but there’s more to it than that. They also have healing magic, which can be used whether they’re in their natural form or human-form.

Lance knew for a while that this ability would be very useful later on. Maybe someone was badly hurt and wouldn’t be able to make it to a healing pod in time. Or maybe someone’s leg was broken and they couldn’t walk to get away from an unexpected group of Galra soldiers.

But this healing power wasn’t the only reason why he should have told the team. Merpeople also have to change into their natural form once and a while or else they get sick. And Lance hasn’t been out of his human form since they left Earth. It’s been months since then.

He could feel the start of a tingling sensation in his legs. It’s been days now since he first felt it and it was now a constant feeling. He knows it means that he’s getting sick, that he needs to stretch his tail out for a little while. He just doesn’t know how to tell them.

But he has to, because when a merperson gets sick, their magic becomes weaker. If Lance didn’t change into his natural form soon then he would eventually lose feeling in his legs. That was a dangerous risk to take, especially since he’s a paladin and may have to go into battle at any time.

Soon enough, the tingling sensation became more painful. Just when Lance decided to finally tell the others about it, the siren rang throughout the castle. When he arrived at the bridge, the princess informed them of a new mission.

It wouldn’t take long to complete, they only needed to visit a cave on a secluded planet for some crystals that would help to power the castle. The scans revealed that the planet should be absolutely void of any life.

The paladins all flew to the planet in the green lion. They arrived at the cave and took as many crystals as they could, stuffing them into their bags.

It was on their way out when they ran into some trouble.

They all saw as a giant beast stood before them, something Lance would describe as a purple oversized space bear. “I thought there wasn’t supposed to be any life here!” Pidge yelled through the comms, frustrated.

Before anyone could respond, Pidge cried out in pain as it bolted towards her and cut her abdomen with its sharp claws. Shiro was the first one out of shock, and began to attack the creature. The rest of them followed suit, except for Pidge, who stayed curled up on the cave floor on one side.

It didn’t take long at all to take it down, and once it finally seemed like it wouldn’t get back up, they rushed over to Pidge. “We have to get her back to the castle right now!” Shiro ordered.

“We won’t make it to a healing pod in time!” Hunk shouted.

At that moment, Lance knew what he had to do. He dropped to his knees besides Pidge and gently put his hand on her wound, concentrated on fixing it.

“Lance, what are you doing?” Keith asked.

“Shut up and give me a second.” He mumbled back, teeth clenched as he spoke. He hasn’t used his healing magic in a long time, so he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to help at first. But then the familiar white light glowed around his hand and he felt as her cut closed up.

When Lance was finished, he removed his hand and watched as Pidge opened her eyes. She looked down at where her flight suit was ripped but didn’t see an open wound, only some blood which stained the surrounding skin and armor.

Everyone looked at Lance in awe as Pidge asked, “How did you do that?” But before he could answer, he fell to the floor as block spots clouded his vision.

“Lance!” he heard them all call out in unison.

“Don’t worry…” he assured, “I just haven’t done this in a while so…” he starts to sit up and it causes him to feel really dizzy, so he holds his head in his hands and groans.

Hunk moves to his side quickly and helps him stand up. They all head out of the cave in silence, Lance pushing most of his weight onto Hunk as they walk.

Lance realizes that he had made a mistake when he loses feeling in his legs. He would have hit his head on the hard cave floor if Hunk weren’t there. He tries to help Lance up again, but Lance is too weak to try, so Hunk picks him up and carries him back to the green lion.

Lance starts losing awareness in what’s happening around him and what the team is trying to say to him. They’re all extremely worried about him, but he knows that he will be perfectly fine once he’s put into some water and is able to change out of his human form. He tries to tell them this, he wants to let them know he’ll be okay, but he’s just too out of it to say anything.

They reach the castle and Hunk is once again carrying him to the med bay. He didn’t realize he was half asleep until he felt a tap on his shoulder and looked up to see a worried Coran. He says something, but Lance didn’t quite catch what it was.

“What?”

“I asked you to change your form. I just ran some scans on you and I now know that all you need to do is change for a bit. Can you do that, Lance?”

“I need to be in water.” He says weakly.

“Oh, you’re aquatic! Just a tick.”

A minute later, he’s being lifted again, probably by Hunk, and placed into a small pool of water that slid out from the wall. It was probably put there for any other aquatic patients, Lance assumes.

He’s happy to finally be able to change form but realizes that he can’t be in this paladin armor to do it. Because, ya know, legs.

“I can’t be in the armor.” He explains.

Lance is afraid that maybe they hadn’t heard him at first, that maybe he said it too quietly, but Shiro is at his side and helping him out of his armor a moment later. Lance finds the situation really embarrassing, but then remembers that it’s his own fault that he’s in this mess in the first place.

If only he’d told them.

Lance changes back into his natural form with a low groan. It’s painful since he hasn’t done it in so long. He then hears many surprised gasps fill the room.

“You’re a mermaid?” Hunk asks in awe.

“Merman.” Lance corrects. He hears Pidge sort at that from across the room.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Shiro asks from besides him.

“Well I was planning on telling you but then we had to go on that dumb mission to that dumb planet in that dumb cave. And then the dumb space bear attacked Pidge.”

Shiro laughs amusingly at Lance’s child-like behavior. “I’m just glad both of you are okay.”

#amanda writes #vld fanfic #mer lance #gen fic

[lopithecusfanfiction]

Catch of the Day

Author: Lopithecus Pairing: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Rating: Teen+ Word Count: 7079 Alternate: AO3, fanfiction.net Summary: Clark, while out fishing, finds an unusual man. Warnings: N/A Author's Note: This is my second story for the SuperBat Secret Santa and is, again, for @boxymilk!

Boxymilk, I hope you enjoy this story as well! I had so much fun writing it!! XD

Enjoy and happy holidays!! Prompt: Mermaid AU

Clark sighs as he motors his fishing boat out into the water. Today, the ocean is calm enough that he won’t have to worry about the boat not holding up to it. He really needs to invest in a new one but they are so expensive that he just can’t afford to. It doesn’t stop him from wistfully looking in the boat catalogues that he picks up from the local veggie market. If only the demand for fish would rise and then he could grow his business. Maybe even move somewhere bigger than the small, rundown town he lives in now.

When he’s far enough out into the ocean, he prepares all his materials, throwing the net out into the water. Then it’s just the waiting game, the part of the journey he enjoys the most. Clark likes the quietness that being out in the middle of the sea brings with it. The sound of the waves is soothing, the slosh slosh of it enough to put him asleep on more than one occasion. It’s also away from any civilization. Back on the land, he isn’t exactly the most outgoing of persons and it can get extremely lonely sometimes. But being out here, Clark can forget about all that and just relax while he recharges from the sun.

Looking around the wide expanse of water, Clark is about to settle in for a long wait when something catches his eyes. There’s a figure a few yards away, floating in the water. Using his powers, Clark looks closer and is alarmed to see that it is a human body, face down and bloody. Quickly, Clark floats into the sky and flies over to the prone figure, looking it over.

The water around the body is red and using his super hearing, Clark can hear the person still has a heartbeat. Hastily, Clark bends to pick up the person but then stops short when he sees where some of the bottom half of the body is sticking out of the water. Carefully reaching down, Clark flips the person over and gasps.

This person isn’t a human at all. They’re a mermaid or better yet, a merman. The man has a pale, human torso with arms, hands, and a head. Black hair is floating around that head in wistful motions. Below the torso, is a black tail that is mostly submerged in the water. Blood and dirt covers the merman’s body.

Promptly, Clark picks up the merman, cradling the body close to his chest. He flies back to the boat as fast as he dares with such a delicate thing in his arms. Clark’s mind is whirling, not only with the fact that mermaids are real but that he has now got to save one from bleeding to death. He sets the body down onto the deck of the boat and starts to clean it up, putting pressure on some of the more serious wounds.

“Don’t worry,” Clark mumbles as he works. “I’m going to help you.” The merman doesn’t wake to Clark’s words and Clark thins his lips in worry.

Nodding to himself, he stands and quickly pulls the net up. It’s empty but that doesn’t matter right now. Instead, Clark goes to the bridge and starts the engine, heading home at top speed. Looking back at the merman, he sees that the man is still lying there unconscious. Clark is relieved to see that the blood isn’t soaking through the makeshift bandages he applied before they got underway, but is still concerned about how much blood the merman lost.

He makes it back to shore in record time and picks up the merman once more. He decides to fly home, hoping that it will be quicker and conceal the creature in his arms. The last thing he needs is a whole debacle of towns people coming to see the mysterious mermaid. Then the next thing Clark knows, the FBI will be knocking at his door, asking to confiscate the ocean dweller. Clark shivers, remembering his fears of being discovered for his own alien abilities.

Luckily, with it being so early in the morning, not a lot of people are out. There are mostly the shop owners opening up for the day, either inside a building or under the cover of a market stand. It makes it easier for Clark to fly overhead and not be seen. Eventually he lands behind his house and enters through the backdoor.

Clark heads upstairs and is about to set the merman onto his bed but then thinks better of it. Turning in the opposite direction of this bedroom, he enters the bathroom. His house isn’t big by any means; one bedroom and one bath. The kitchen is small and the living room even smaller. He doesn’t even have a dining room or a table to eat at. Instead he has to eat at his couch, watching the news on his cheap tv that is on its last legs.

Clark carefully sets the merman down into the bathtub and frowns at how the creatures tail scrunches. The tub is nowhere near big enough for such a long man but it will have to do. Kneeling, Clark begins inspecting the wounds closer, peeling off some of his homemade bandages. The man is going to need to be cleaned to get all the blood and dirt off. Clark also doesn’t want to keep him out of the water for too long. He’s not sure what will happen if too much time is spent in the open air for a mermaid and Clark has a feeling it’s not what happens in the fairy tales. Still, he needs to treat the wounds before filling the tub.

Clark stands once more and grabs for a clean washcloth and the first aid kit. He doesn’t know the first thing of taking care of a mermaid. Just half an hour ago, he didn’t even know they existed. But he has to focus right now and hope that he is doing the right thing for the man. Clark kneels back down and gets to work, using the washcloth to wash some of the blood and dirt away and the first aid kit to sterilize the wounds.

The more Clark reveals of the man, the more he realizes that the dirt isn’t actually dirt and instead tattoos. Slowly, Clark runs the washcloth over the man’s chest, exposing a wide expanse of abstract art of swirls and patterns. It travels over merman’s left pectoral and onto his left arm, down until it reaches his elbow. On the left shoulder, among the swirls, there is a picture of a turtle, the surrounding background filled in with black in order to make the animal stand out more. On the merman’s right forearm, there is a tattoo of the bottom half of a fish tail, though Clark assumes it could also be a mermaid’s tail. The other half disappears into a curving line that travels to the man’s wrist where a clam shell tattoo rests. When Clark gently leans the merman forward to clean the man’s back, between the shoulder blades is a picture of an octopus, wrapped around a coral reef. Then, on the lower back, just before it turns to tail, is a tattoo of a jellyfish swimming horizontally. Clark stares at them in awe, wondering how the man had gotten them and what the meaning of them are.

The merman groans and Clark carefully sits the man back, waiting for awareness. It doesn’t take long as the merman blinks open eyes and Clark is struck by how blue they are. They’re the color of the sky and absolutely beautiful. The man regains consciousness and looks around the room, eyes finally settling on Clark.

The merman clears his throat. “Where am I?”

“Oh!” Clark exclaims, feeling a flush of heat make its way onto his cheeks. “You’re in my house.” Those icy eyes narrow. “I found you in the ocean, hurt, and I brought you back here to heal you.”

The merman looks down at his own body. “Well, I’m not going to heal if I’m not in water.” Narrowed eyes turn to Clark once more. “Instead you’re killing me.”

“Oh!” Clark exclaims again and immediately turns on the water, plugging the bathtub. He sticks his hand under the spout to check the temperature. “Is it too cold?” The merman only crosses muscled arms over a strong looking chest. “Um… too warm?” Still no answer. “Not salty enough?” The merman looks like he wants to throw something at Clark’s head. “Okay… um… how about this? What’s your name? I’m Clark.” Clark sticks a hand out to be shaken.

The merman ignores it, reaching over and adjusting the temperature on the faucet to fully cold. “Bruce.”

“Okay, Bruce.” Clark eyes the temperature and forces a chuckle. “I guess I should have expected you would want it to be cold considering the ocean is thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit.” If there were crickets around, now would have been the perfect time for them to play their tune. “Okay… what about salt? The ocean is salty.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” Bruce turns judging eyes onto Clark.

Clark swallows awkwardly. “I’ll go see how much salt I have.” He stands and leaves the bathroom, heading downstairs and into his kitchen. Opening up the cupboard shows that he only has a small container of table salt. Shrugging, Clark figures any salt would be better than no salt. Grabbing it, he heads back upstairs. Once in the bathroom, Clark opens the container and dumps the salt into the water, Bruce’s curious, calculating eyes trained on him. When all the salt is in the tub, Clark smiles down at the merman.

Bruce glares. “You really think that’s enough?”

“It’s all I have,” Clark explains and Bruce uses his tail to splash Clark with water angrily. Clark stands. “Hey, watch it! I don’t need water all over my bathroom.” Bruce huffs and turns away petulantly. “You know, you would think you would be more grateful considering I saved you.”

“I didn’t need saving,” Bruce grumbles, still facing the wall.

Clark huffs and mumbles under his breath, “Yeah, right.”

Hearing Clark’s breath of air, Bruce peeks over at him. “I guess I should expect a prude like you to be bothered by a little water.”

“What?” Clark asks, confused. “What do you mean I’m a prude?”

Bruce’s eyes travel up and down his body. “You land dwellers and your penchant for covering yourselves.”

Clark gapes. “Wearing… clothes makes me a prude?”

One of Bruce’s eyebrows rises. “Even the mermaids pretty much bear it all.”

“You mean the female ones?” Clark asks.

Clark watches as Bruce takes an angry breath in and Clark has to stop himself from laughing. “I am not a mermaid, whatever your name is. I am a merman. When I said mermaids, I mean they still cover up their bosoms.”

Clark snorts. “Bosoms? You can just call them breasts, you know.”

Bruce’s eyes narrow even more. “Don’t be crude.” Clark refrains from asking which he is, a prude or crude.

Clark sighs. “Well, you just got me wet so I’m going to take my shirt off anyway.” Clark reaches down and starts unbuttoning his shirt, peeling it off where it sticks to his skin. “And the name’s Clark.” Bruce is eyeing him intently and when Clark has the shirt completely removed, Clark turns to the merman. “What?”

Bruce gestures for Clark to spin and so Clark does. When he is facing the man again, Clark raises an eyebrow. “Where are your markings?”

Clark’s eyebrows furrow. “Excuse me?”

Bruce huffs, as if the merman isn’t surprised by this revelation. “You don't have any? What are you? A barbarian?”

Clark stares at the merman, confusion and shock running through his head. “Uh… not all humans have, um, tattoos.”

Bruce huffs again, crossing arms once more. “Barbarian it is. Getting markings signify maturity. Obviously, humans without them aren’t mature.” Bruce gives Clark a pointed look.

“No, we-” Clark starts but cuts himself off, giving up. “Look, I need to treat your wounds.”

“There’s no need for that. They are healing just fine on their own,” Bruce states. The merman is flapping his black tail impatiently when suddenly it bumps a bath bomb that had been placed on the side of the tub, into the water. Bruce watches it as the thing sinks to the bottom of the water and starts dispersing into a pink mess. The man sniffs the air. “What is that?” Bruce sniffs again. “Why does it smell so… strange.”

“It’s a,” Clark goes to reach into the water to take the bath bomb out before the whole thing disintegrates, “bath bomb. It’s used to add some flare into the water.”

Bruce slaps Clark’s hand away. “Don’t you dare reach into the water near my tail.” Clark baulks. “You land dwellers are strange beings. Why do you want to change your water? Do you know-” Bruce cuts off. “My tail feels weird.” The merman reaches down and starts to scratch at the black scales. “What the hell is in that thing?” Bruce demands.

“I…” Clark flounders, not knowing what to do. “You must be allergic to it.” When Bruce growls at him and gives Clark a death glare, he quickly reaches over and starts draining the tub.

Bruce watches the water go down, eyeing the drain with suspicion. “You know this dumps into my home, right?” Clark clears his throat, turning on the faucet to cold in order to start washing the bath bomb off Bruce’s tail. “No comment?”

“I’m not the one who does the plumbing,” Clark explains. Bruce’s tail slaps Clark in the face and Clark rolls with it. “Was that really necessary!”

Bruce’s eyes narrow on him. “You’re not hurt.”

“I have tough skin,” Clark retorts, feeling annoyed.

“Merpeople have tough skin. Humans don’t,” Bruce grumbles.

With a tired sigh, Clark grabs a sponge to work over Bruce’s tail, not bothering to elaborate. Bruce looks at it. “Touch my tail and you’ll get more than just a slap in the face.”

Clark stares at him. “You’re mean.”

Bruce yanks the sponge out of Clark’s hand and inspects it. “What the hell is this?”

“Uh…”

Bruce’s eyes narrow. “Why does this thing look like the sponges in the ocean?” The merman’s eyes then widen, looking up at Clark gapingly. “You murderer!”

Clark takes the sponge back. “What! It’s not-” Clark pinches the bridge of his nose. “It’s not a real sponge. It’s made from plastic.”

“Plastic?” Clark can hear the judgement in Bruce’s voice. The merman huffs. “I don’t want that abhorrent thing on my scales. Do you have a pumice stone?”

Clark blinks at the man. “Um… no?”

Bruce huffs again and then mumbles under his breath, “Definitely barbarians.”

“Well then, I’ll just… get cleaning,” Clark says, reaching down and starting to wipe the sponge over Bruce’s black scales.

He’s slapped in the face again for his efforts, this time with a fist. “I told you not to touch my tail.” Bruce takes the sponge back roughly and starts scrubbing not so gently over the scales.

Clark rubs at his cheek. “Sorry.” Clark kneels there watching as Bruce rubs. At one particular spot, however, Bruce flinches back and then red trickles down Bruce’s tail. “You opened one of your wounds back up again. Let me see.”

“That’s because there’s not enough salt in this Rumjir-forsaken water,” Bruce grumbles, handing the sponge back.

“Well, I am so sorry that I don’t have salt water on hand.” Clark reaches down and starts cleansing the scales gently. “My bad. Next time, I’ll make sure to carry some buckets back with me too.” This earns Clark Bruce rolling those sky-blue eyes. They do this in silence for a few seconds before Clark asks, “Rumjir?”

“He’s our god, the god of the ocean,” Bruce informs.

Clark nods absently, focusing on cleaning Bruce’s tail. It’s swelling a little from the reaction to the bath bomb and Clark worries. “I thought Poseidon was the god of the ocean?”

Bruce shakes his head. “I’ve never heard of this Poseidon. Don’t equate human things to merpeople things.” Bruce then glances around the room, not giving Clark a chance to respond. “What is up with this room?”

Clark looks over at the merman. “Excuse me?”

“Your wall has pictures of anchors and life preservers on it. There’s even boats in places.” Clark glances around his bathroom, eyeing the wallpaper. Bruce is glaring again. "Those anchors destroy the coral reefs."

“I… don’t use anchors.” Bruce huffs at Clark’s statement. “It’s just wallpaper anyway. It’s not hurting anyone.”

“It’s hurting the ocean,” Bruce states. Then those blue eyes are glaring at him suspiciously instead of the wall. “I hope you recycle.”

“Of course, I do!” Clark crosses his arms, sponge dripping onto the already wet floor.

“Well at least there’s one thing you haven’t screwed up,” Bruce grumbles and Clark takes a calming breath, feeling his annoyance start boiling again. “But then there’s the trash issue,” Bruce continues, grumbling next, “Got my tail stuck in a diaper once.”

“I’m… sorry?” Clark says because he’s not really sure what he is supposed to say.

Bruce’s eyes snap to him. “You should be sorry. You’re ruining the ocean.”

Clark uncurls his arms from his chest, placing his balled-up hands on his hips. “I’m not ruining the ocean, but humanity is.”

“And don’t even get me started on the dwindling fish population,” Bruce mumbles, as if not hearing Clark at all.

“Fish population?” Clark comments, mostly to himself. He thinks back to his profession as a fisher and huffs, his annoyance rising with the man he is trying to mend. Reaching over to the cabinet under his sink, he opens the door and pulls out a rubber ducky. It was gag gift to him from the Daily Pescetarian’s owner, Perry White.  He tries to hand it over to Bruce, knowing that it will most likely irritate the merman. “Here.”

Bruce takes it and investigates it, pressing it down and squeezing it. “More plastic?” Bruce chucks the duck at Clark’s face and the toy bounces off. “We get plenty of this material in the ocean. It kills everything!” Bruce’s eyes roam up and down Clark’s body. “You should write all the things I’m telling you down. I'm sure your human brain isn't big enough to remember how much you've screwed everything up.”

“Right,” Clark says sarcastically. “I’ll just go get my pad of paper and pen. Or would you rather me use a rock and chisel so not to pollute the ocean?”

Bruce waves a hand. “If you must, the rock and chisel will do.”

Clark growls and stands. “You’re vexing.”

Bruce rolls his eyes. “And you’re living proof land dwellers can live without a brain, but sometimes we have to settle for what the tide brings.” Bruce’s tail flexes as Clark clenches his jaw in irritation. “For example, this contraption you’ve stuck me in is way too small, this room is also very tiny, you waste water that pollutes my home, and,” Bruce grabs the body wash, opening the cap to sniff it, “what the heck is this?” The merman holds it up for Clark to see. “You rub chemicals all over yourself? What kind of creatures are you?”

“Wait a minute,” Clark starts, kneeling again and turning on the tap in order to fill the tub once more. He won’t be able to add salt this time and hopes Bruce doesn’t notice. The merman probably will, however. “Just an hour ago, I didn’t even know merpeople existed. If you’re confused about humans, then I’m so much more confused about you.”

Bruce huffs and turns away from Clark, waiting for the tub to fill. At least the man’s tail is now looking better. “You land dwellers always believe you are superior to us ocean dwellers.”

Clark frowns, not really knowing how to respond to such a comment. It’s not true that Clark considers himself better than anyone, whether they live on land or in the ocean, but he isn’t sure how to get that across to the merman that is currently in his tub, glaring at the water. Instead he watches Bruce’s body and eyes at all the wounds. There are scars that he had missed seeing before when tending to the man. Now that he can sit back in leisure, he notices them prominently.

Sighing, Clark begins a new topic, hoping to quell the merman. “Can I ask you something?” Bruce says nothing, continuing to study the water with disgust. “Why were you hurt?” Still, Bruce says nothing. “You don’t want to tell me?” Clark pushes.

Bruce’s arms cross. “It’s none of your business,” the merman mumbles. Clark stays silent and Bruce eyes him curiously. Then those blue eyes roll in their sockets, Bruce relenting. “Bottom feeders.”

Clark raises an eyebrow, surprised. “Bottom feeders? As in criminals?” Bruce nods. “There are mermaid criminals?”

“Merpeople,” Bruce says pointedly. “Don’t be sexist.”

Clark blinks at him. “...Right.”

Bruce turns and makes eye contact with him, shrugging. “I’m normally pretty good at taking down the bottom feeder scum but this particular group had Atlanteans with them.”

“Atlanteans?” Clark asks. “As in from Atlantis?”

Bruce rolls his eyes once more. “Yes, of course. What else would I be talking about? Don’t be stupid. Keep up.”

“Right, my bad.” Clark clears his throat, trying to not let the insult get to him like last time. “So, why were you fighting criminals? Are you a merman cop or something?”

“Or something,” is Bruce’s answer and the merman doesn’t elaborate on what that means. Bruce’s eyes become downcast, studying the floor of the bathroom. “You humans help the bottom feeders thrive by polluting our water. They prosper on anything on the ocean floor. So, anything bad for our home that goes down there, it has an impact, for better or for worse. The sea life that is responsible for keeping the ocean clean and healthy are overworked and can’t keep up. The land dwellers’ population continues to grow while ours continues to dwindle. Innocents die because of the plastic and waste of humans.”

Clark stares at Bruce in dismay. “I… didn’t know that.” He knew that humans were polluting the water and that it was killing the marine life. All he had to do was look at his average catch of the day and watch it lower and lower in count, to know the kind of impact polluting has. He just never realized there were actually living, sentient beings with their own population and villages that were being affected as well. “I’m sorry about what the humans are doing to your people.”

Bruce side eyes him when Clark mentions humans, not looking angry but instead hesitant and wary. “What did you mean earlier when you said that you have tough skin?”

Clark smiles at Bruce and looks at his watch. He stands. “I’m sorry, Bruce, but I have to get to work. I’m already late opening up.”

Bruce’s eyes narrow. “You sell fish?” Clark tilts his head in question. “That’s why you were out on the water, right?”

“If you’re going to lecture me about the fish population again, there’s no need.” Clark picks up his soiled shirt. “I already understand.” He reaches over and turns off the faucet. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Bruce’s demeanor changes almost instantly to anger. “You’re going to just leave me here?”

Clark pretends to think about it, smiling smugly at the merman, and shrugs. “Bye.” He walks out of the room, ignoring Bruce yelling profanities at him.

Clark heads towards his bedroom in order to pick out a new shirt to wear. He’s not really sure what he is going to do at the shop today. He has no fish to sell except the few buckets he had frozen just in case he ran out of stock for today. After putting on a new shirt and with a heavy, tired sigh, Clark walks out back. He opens his freezer, taking out the buckets full of frozen fish. They will begin to thaw on his way to the fish stand, since it’s a good fifteen minute walk from his house, but luckily they won’t be completely melted so he’ll have time to add them to the coolers.

When he gets to the stand, Clark sees a familiar face and groans. “Kent!” Lois calls as he approaches.

Clark sets the buckets down with an exhale. He doesn’t really want to deal with Lois today. “Hey, Lois.” He begins adding the thawing fish to the coolers.

Lois eyes him. “You’re late opening today. You’re never late.”

“I got caught up with something.” Lois’ eyes narrow at him. “And no, I’m not going to talk about it,” he adds quickly. When he is done relocating all the fish, he turns over the closed sign to the side that says open. “Do you need another article for the Daily Pescetarian?”

Lois’ lips are pursed with suspicion. “No, I just came to see how you were doing. Why did you need your extra stock? The fish weren’t biting this morning?”

Clark sighs. “I didn’t have an opportunity to get out into the water.” One of Lois’ eyebrows rises. “Something came up.”

“And let me guess?” Lois says, leaning over the coolers to inspect the fish. “You’re not going to tell me what it was.”

Clark shakes his head. “It’s really nothing that important, Lois.”

“But something important enough to keep you from fishing and opening the market on time,” the woman points out. “Clark Kent, I never pegged you as someone who could end up being unreliable.”

“I’m not unreliable, I just-” he starts but Lois starts chuckling.

“I’m only teasing, Kent.” She gives him a warm smile. “I know people can always count on you.” Lois looks at her watch. “Shoot, I have to go. Perry is going to fire me if I’m late again.” She waves as she starts walking away. “Bye, Clark!”

Clark waves back at her, forcing a smile. “Bye.”

When Lois is out of sight, Clark takes a deep breath and falls back into his chair. That was close. He’s going to have to be careful or else Lois will start sniffing around where Clark doesn’t want her. The last thing he needs is for Lois to find out he’s hiding a merman in his bathroom and then write up an article in the Daily Pescetarian about mystical mermaids. That would make his and Bruce’s life unnecessarily complicated. It’s best to just keep the whole thing quiet.

The rest of the day runs smoothly until Clark finally runs out of fish, except for two he keeps, by mid-afternoon. He’s going to lose profits because of it, but he really doesn’t have a choice. Walking home as fast as he can without using his powers, he makes it back to his house in record time. Instead of heading to the bathroom, he heads to his kitchen and starts up the gas stove, putting a pan on top of it. Then, he begins to prepare the two fish he had saved.

Using his super hearing, Clark focuses on the bathroom as he cooks. He can hear Bruce’s even breaths, almost as if the merman is sleeping. Clark wonders how often the man is able to sleep without interruption. If Bruce is out fighting crime, does that mean he does it in whatever the equivalent to night time is down in the ocean? Clark doesn’t know but he suspects that either way, Bruce doesn’t get much sleep no matter what.

When the food is done cooking, Clark dishes it carefully onto two plates and then heads upstairs and to the bathroom. He enters with a wide smile, greeting the merman happily. “Hey!” Bruce startles awake, splashing more water onto the floor. “I brought some food.”

Bruce eyes the plate as Clark holds it out. “Is that… fish?”

“Yes.” Clark sets Bruce’s plate down on the edge of the tub and then sits down on the toilet. He grabs his fork and begins to eat.

Bruce is still eyeing the food. “Are you insane?”

Clark almost chokes, coughing to clear the food out of his throat. “I’m sorry, what?”

Bruce looks like he is going to throw up. “Merpeople don’t eat fish.” Clark’s eyes dart to the plate in front of Bruce. “We only eat plant life.”

“You’re a vegetarian?” Clark asks, astonished. He hadn’t been expecting that.

Bruce closes his eyes. “I’m sorry that your life had to come to a premature end. May Rumjir watch over you, little one.” Bruce opens his eyes and glares deadly at Clark. “How dare you take such an innocent life.”

“I…” Clark gapes, lost for words. He hangs his head. “I’m sorry.” Clark looks up and sees that Bruce’s eyebrows are furrowed. “I should have been more considerate of you and asked what you eat.”

Bruce is staring at him. Finally, the merman turns his head away. “Whatever.”

Clark is about to sigh in defeat, thinking he had ruined all his chances with the man, when he notices something peculiar. Bruce’s tail starts to shimmer yellow. “Your tail.”

Bruce’s eyes dart in the direction of his tail and when the merman sees what is happening, his cheeks alight in flames. Clark raises an eyebrow and Bruce’s blush travels down the merman’s torso as Bruce starts rubbing a hand down the scales, muttering, “Stupid tail.”

“Um, Bruce,” Clark starts, amusement building in his chest. “Why is your tail changing color?” It couldn’t mean what Clark thinks it means. After all, Clark knows a lot about fish but pretty much nothing about merpeople. Clark knows fish change color to attract a mate. Certainly, merpeople didn’t do the same thing. Did they?

Bruce scowls at Clark, splashing the water all over the place. “It’s no reason,” Bruce snaps in response.

The edges of Clark’s mouth pull upwards and he sits down on the tub. “You know, I’m very logical in fish and their behaviors.”

“Are you?” Bruce says. “I hadn’t noticed through all your stupidity.”

“I’m going to ignore that insult for now,” Clark states, smiling at the merman. “One thing I learned about fish through my studying for my job, is the fact that some fish change colors when they are trying to attract a mate.” Bruce’s face turns into a deeper red. Clark shrugs. “That wouldn’t happen to occur with merpeople as well, would it?”

Bruce throws the sponge at Clark’s face and Clark blinks as the water splashes all over his face and down his shirt. “Of course, not, idiot!” Bruce huffs, crossing arms again. “Don’t be so ridiculous. Obviously, this is a reaction to that water dissolving thing.”

“Bath bomb,” Clark says.

“Yeah, whatever.” Bruce waves it away, hand flopping back and forth in front of Clark’s face. Bruce huffs again. “As if I would be attracted to you, a moronic land dweller.” Clark tries to hold back a smile. Bruce is looking very petulant right now. “Not in a million years.”

Clark chuckles and Bruce glares at him. Clark sits back against the wall, watching Bruce’s tail continue to turn an iridescent yellow as the merman continues to ignore it while the red of the blush Bruce is sporting travels down Bruce’s chest. He decides to change the subject for now, having mercy on the flustered man. “So, how long do you live for anyway?”

Bruce’s eyes travel to the side to peer at Clark. “Longer than a human.”

Clark nods. “So, do I.” One of Bruce’s eyebrows rises and Clark shrugs at seeing it. “You asked me why my skin is so tough. It’s because I’m not human.” Bruce’s eyes narrow, the man giving Clark full attention now. “I’m an alien and I have super powers.”

“Yeah, right,” Bruce says, sounding disbelieving. “And I’m friends with the Loch Ness Monster.”

Clark laughs slightly. “No, really I am. I can prove it too.” Clark crosses his legs and then begins to float. He looks over at Bruce to gauge the merman’s reaction but there is none. Only continued suspicion. With a silent sigh, Clark lands back down. “See?”

Bruce’s face softens a little. “An alien, huh?” Clark nods. “And you can fly-”

“Among other powers,” Clark inputs.

“Uh huh,” Bruce hums. “You have all these powers and you choose to be a fisherman in a,” Bruce’s eyes travel around the room, a look of disgust on the merman’s face, “dilapidated, ratty, run-down, unsightly house?”

“There’s no need to use four adjectives to insult my house, is there?” Clark mutters under his breath.

Bruce continues, not acknowledging Clark’s words. “You could do anything and you choose this?”

Clark shrugs. “What else am I supposed to do? I need a way to support myself.”

Bruce looks around the room again. “It doesn’t look like you’re supporting yourself.” The merman points at part of the wallpaper that is tearing off the wall. “Even the wallpaper doesn’t like itself.”

“You’re the one who doesn’t like it,” Clark mumbles and Bruce ignores him.

“You could use your powers to get somewhere in life, Clark.” Clark’s eyes snap up from looking at the floor to peer at Bruce. It’s the first time the merman has said Clark’s name. “What do you use your powers for?”

Clark shrugs again. “I don’t use them.” Bruce’s brows furrow. “I hide them mostly.” Now Bruce’s eyes are narrowed and Clark sighs. “Think of it this way. If humans found out that I was hiding out a merman in my bathtub, the government would be here within the hour to take you away and study you.” Bruce’s face slowly softens. “They would do the same to me. Humans don’t know we exist, Bruce, and I would like to keep it that way. For the safety of us both.”

Bruce’s lips thin and he studies Clark. Then, the man finally asks, “What other powers do you have?” Clark looks away from the merman as he begins to list them out. He tells Bruce all the ones he knows of and he can feel Bruce’s eyes boring into the side of his head in concentration. “I see,” Bruce says once Clark is finished. “So even though you could single handedly take out the government, you’re still afraid of them.”

“What if they find a way to capture me or kill me?” Clark asks, looking Bruce in the eyes.

“Aren’t you curious about where you came from?” Bruce asks.

“Well, yeah but-” Clark begins, getting cut off.

“Then you should find out,” Bruce states, running a hand down his tail that has started to shine more yellow. “I just think you can’t do that without revealing yourself.”

“Why not?” Clark inquires. “I’ve been sneaky so far.”

“No,” Bruce retorts. “You’ve been hiding. There’s a difference.” Bruce’s eyes squint at Clark, evaluating him. “So far, all you’ve been is a coward who is hiding behind an excuse. You could be doing so much good with your powers yet instead you choose to be selfish in your own unfounded fears.” Clark opens his mouth to respond but Bruce doesn’t let him, continuing on. “Finding out where you are from can help you learn to utilize your powers for the better and, in turn, use those powers to help people.” Bruce is looking at Clark with an enraged glare. “That’s what you should be doing. Not living in an eyesore, selling fish and barely making enough money to live off of.”

Clark frowns, not meeting Bruce’s eyes. “You want me to be some kind of superhero?”

“I want you to stop being a selfish coward!” Bruce yells and flinches at his own slip of self-restraint.

Clark’s eyebrows scrunch in confusion. He looks up at the merman. “Why does it matter so much to you? You don’t seem too highly keen on humans.”

Bruce doesn’t answer right away, staring at Clark instead. Then, finally, “Because down in the ocean, it’s not just clear waters and coral reefs all day.” Bruce looks away. “There are bad people down there, Clark. Crime and wars, poverty and illness. I fight those, every night, just to try and make my people safe, to make them just feel a little safer. I don’t have powers that could help me.” Bruce snaps his eyes back to Clark. “You do and you do nothing with them.”

“I…” Clark trails off, suddenly feeling guilty. Bruce is right, in a way. He has all these powers and instead of taking advantage of them to protect people and the world, he pretends to be a normal human being that can’t do a thing to help. Clark hangs his head. “I’m sorry.”

There’s silence that makes its way between the two for a long moment before Bruce begins speaking again. “It’s not too late to change it.”

Clark smiles a little, peering over at Bruce. “No, I guess it’s not.” Clark lifts his head, smile growing bigger. “Thank you, for showing me better.”

The blush is back on Bruce’s cheeks and the merman’s tail turns a bright iridescent yellow. Bruce turns away huffily. “Idiot,” the merman mumbles and Clark’s smile widens.

To save Bruce from any more embarrassment, Clark moves on. “Are the merpeople at war with the Atlanteans?”

Bruce sighs. “It’s a war that has been going on for years. It’s bloody and horrific.”

Clark swallows, not really wanting to know the answer to his next question. “Who is winning?”

Bruce’s face turns sullen. “Atlanteans.”

Clark’s shoulders slump even though he had been expecting that answer. “I’m sorry, Bruce.”

Bruce nods gloomily. “There’s nothing you can do, Clark. There’s no need for you to be sorry.”

“Maybe someday I will be able to do something,” Clark says.

Bruce huffs a small laugh. “Atlanteans hate land dwellers even more than merpeople. There will never be anything you could do.”

“Are…” Clark starts, pausing to take a deep breath. “Are you in danger from them?”

Bruce smiles at him. “Clark, I put my life on the line every night. It’s not just them I’m in danger of.”

“But when I found you, it was because of Atlanteans.” Bruce nods and Clark continues. “What if I don’t find you next time?”

Bruce crosses his arms, raising one eyebrow. “You plan on making this a habit?”

This time it’s Clark’s turn to blush. “No, no, of course not.” He chuckles awkwardly and Bruce smirks at him. “I just meant…” Clark trails off, sighing. “You were very badly injured when I found you and if I hadn’t of found you… you would have died, Bruce.” Clark licks his lips. “I don’t want you to die.”

Bruce’s smile eases slightly, getting less teasing and getting fonder. “Don’t get soft on me now, land dweller.”

Clark huffs a laugh, his own affectionate smile directed at Bruce. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” Clark takes a deep breath and stands. “It’s getting late. We should try resting.” Clark examines Bruce’s tail with his eyes and a heavy feeling forms in his chest at seeing the wounds almost fully healed, knowing he’ll have to say goodbye to the man soon. “It looks like you’ll be able to go back to the ocean tomorrow.”

Bruce glances down at the black tail that just won’t stop shimmering yellow. “I was actually kind of hoping you would bring me back tonight.”

Clark’s heart jumps. “Oh!” Clark had hoped to have a bit more time with the merman. He is growing fond of Bruce, despite all the insults that were hurled his way and Clark feels as if he and Bruce could get along well if given the chance. “You should eat first, shouldn’t you? I’m sure I have something here that will be deemed edible by you.”

Bruce huffs playfully. “I’m not counting on it.” They both chuckle and when they’ve finally settled down, they smile at each other tenderly. Bruce sighs, looking off to the side. “I can eat something once I’m back in the ocean.”

Clark’s heart falls but he doesn’t show it. “Okay.” Clark bends over and picks Bruce up out of the bathtub, Bruce slinging arms around Clark’s neck to hold on to.

The flight back to the ocean is made in silence and Clark tries to go as slow as possible without it being obvious. He’s sure Bruce notices anyway but the merman doesn’t complain. Clark brings Bruce back to the spot he found the man in. They both look down at the water, the moon shining off it in ripples. Clark doesn’t let go right away, wishing he had just a bit more time with the merman. But eventually he knows he has to set Bruce back into the sea and say his farewells.

“Hey,” Bruce gets Clark’s attention. “Wait here.” Then Bruce dives out of his arms, the man being more slippery than Clark had anticipated. He doesn’t know how long he waits but it feels like several minutes as he watches the moon crawl across the night sky. After what seems like forever, Bruce’s head finally breaks the surface. The merman holds up a hand, clasping something. “Take this.” Clark reaches down and retrieves it, examining it closer. It’s a type of shell with brown, tan, and gold stripes. “It’s a fulgurator olive shell,” Bruce informs him.

“It’s… beautiful,” Clark comments. “You’re giving it to me?”

Bruce nods once. “You know, you could put it on a shelf or, if you get someone skilled enough, you could,” the merman shrugs nonchalantly, “possibly make it into a necklace.”

Clark stares at Bruce in wonder. “Thank you.”

Bruce’s cheeks are red again and he gestures for Clark to come closer. Clark does and Bruce jumps halfway out of the water, kissing Clark on the cheek. “Thank you for saving me.”

Clark reaches up to his own flushed cheek, placing a hand where Bruce had kissed him. “Y-You’re welcome.”

Bruce nods once again and then starts swimming backwards. “I’ll see you around.” Clark says nothing, stunned. Bruce clears his throat. “Don’t forget about the dwindling fish population, land dweller.” Bruce then backflips back under the water, tail showing off the bright iridescent yellow as the merman disappears from sight.

Clark smiles after Bruce, his chest feeling warm and the shell held carefully next to his heart.

A/N: Thanks for reading and again, happy holidays everyone!!

#superbatsecretsanta2017 #DC Comics #SuperBat #Superman #Batman #Clark Kent #Kal El #Bruce Wayne #Catch of the Day #My Fanfiction #SuperBat Secret Santa 2017 #sfw

[wendychuu]

The Key To Our Future

A/N: I needed a feel better fic after this week’s chapter idk about you. :’) <3 lets be real that chapter made us all depressed (link to it on ff.net!)

Summary: Some stories endings are just the beginnings. NALU. One-Shot. Based on Chapter 538.

Pairing: Nalu

Rating: T

"Haa..haa..haa.." Lucy pants as she struggles to keep focus to continue writing in the remaining blank pages inside the Book of End.

She tries to keep her breathing normal but it is difficult due to the demonic energy draining her energy away. But nevertheless there's no giving up now, not with Natsu's life on the line, and it's up to her to save him.

Gray and Happy watch Lucy intently; making sure to be there for her for whenever she needs it along with hoping whatever she's writing is working.

"What is…"Happy comments slowly but is too stunned to continue as he moves in closer to examine the book.

"Happening to the book?!" Gray says astonishment in his voice.

After finishing a page, the letters in the book suddenly glow — as the words that were once surrounding the three of them —go back into the book.

"The letters are going back into it." Happy points out.

"With this, everything should be fine…" Lucy says tiredly. She tries to steady her breath; despite Gray cooling her off earlier she still can slightly feel the burning sensation in her body. A few drops of sweat slide drip off her face due to the heat and her breathing are shallow from exhaustion.

Happy tries his best to keep faith in her words yet finds himself in anticipation. He hopes with all his might that everything is, in fact, fine as she says. Zeref's warning about Natsu dying once the book disappears still haunts Happy's mind.

Gray silently nods not bothering to question her. He has full faith in Lucy but there is something peculiar about the entire thing. It seems too easy to just have the ability to gain access and rewrite something like the Book of End. He can't help but worry. Something still doesn't feel right.

"All our memories of him were written," Lucy assures them as she closes the book.

"Natsu's…" Lucy attempts to speak but her voice falters. She struggles to get the words out due to the small amounts of energy she has.

"The Natsu we know…" Lucy tries once more and takes a deep breath to see if that will help give her the strength to get her point across. However, little by little, it seems like no matter what she does her energy just leaves her.

"Is no demon…" Happy helps Lucy by finishing her sentence. He also feels the exact same way as her and knows that regardless of who or what Natsu is, he is always Natsu.

Lucy feels her eyes struggle to stay open and her body is unable to hold on any longer which results in her passing out.

The unconscious celestial mage falls nearly onto the floor if not for Gray being close by and catching her.

"LUCY!" Happy cries in distress.

"I thought that it would be okay since she touched that evil book for such a short while, but…" Gray thinks out loud worried about the well-being of his friend.

He knew something wasn't right.

His hair begins to stand upwards as dark marks appear on parts of his body; he gets his Devil Slayer form out to try and use some of the powers to help Lucy.

"This time I'll use this power to destroy…this demon." Gray holds on to Lucy's right hand to rid of the demonic energy that slowly has been taking over her body; exorcising it in the process.

Moments afterward Lucy regains her consciousness and coughs.

"Are you okay?" Gray asks keeping a tight grip on her; hoping he didn't hurt her.

"Thank you, Gray..." Lucy smiles gratefully.

"The patterns on her body vanished…" Happy mentions wondering how or what exactly Gray did to make them go away.

The Book of End begins to evaporate slowly.

"Look." Gray motions to Lucy.

"The book is disappearing…"

"Zeref was defeated." The Ice-Make user says with a small smile; happy at last everything is finally over.

By the time this book disappears Natsu will go… Words of worry take over Happy's mind as he stares at the book. The blue exceed is still reluctant to fully believe Natsu isn't going to disappear.

He begins to cry thinking all the negative outcomes of all of this. He feels Lucy's hands pull him into a hug as she too, shares his concern. She closes her eyes wishing that Natsu will just hurry and appear out of nowhere or tell them how he's doing.

And as if dreams truly do come true; the sound of someone walking come closer in their direction and it's no other than Natsu.

The three of them look at Natsu unable to even say anything.

No words can even describe how happy Lucy feels seeing the sight of him. Her best friend is here in person, alive, and walking towards them.

The gods have answered her prayers; it is a miracle.

She happily sobs into the palms of her hand, the closer Natsu comes.

"Yo." Natsu waves with a smile as he winks at the group.

"NATSUUU!" Happy practically explodes with joy flying as fast as his wings would take him towards Natsu.

Both Gray and Lucy cheerfully look at Natsu; the two don't say anything yet as they are just enjoying the fact he's here right now.

"It's over." Natsu declares.

"Yeah" Gray agrees.

"As expected of Natsu." Lucy laughs a little while she wipes the tears out of her eyes.

"Uaaahhh! Natsuuu!" Happy bursts into tears hugging and nuzzling himself all over Natsu's face.

"So many tears! I told you I would certainly come back, Happy!" Natsu laughs with amusement as he tries to calm his exceed partner down.

"They're not tears! It's just juice overflowing" Happy retorts.

"No, they're tears."

"Natsu~" Happy repeats Natsu's name again wanting to hug him once more. He mainly needs it to give himself reassurance that Natsu is truly here and not actually going to disappear. He starts to feel emotional at the thought once more.

"Hey…" Natsu notices and pats Happy's head as he pulls him into him into a small hug.

"I think the first also passed away."

"Eh…?" Happy moves a bit away from Natsu to make sure he heard those words right.

Gray gasps in shock.

"The first…" Lucy mutters sadly.

"But you guys shouldn't look so down..." Natsu tries to comfort them. "Because I'm not sure but, isn't this what first wanted…?"

"I see…" Gray looks down with a small smile realizing that it probably is what Mavis has been wanting since the beginning.

"Let's laugh and return to the guild with pride!" Natsu yells with much gusto.

"Yes!" Happy cheers happily.

"Yeah." Gray adds.

"Yes!" Lucy ends with the final agreement; moved by Natsu's speech tears swell in her eyes.

Natsu flashes his classic smile happy to hear his friends feel the same as him.

The three of them begin to head back towards the guild hoping their friends are there waiting for them. Gray and Lucy are a bit ahead of Natsu and Happy but occasionally Lucy looks back at Natsu to ease her anxiety and to possibly overhear what they talk about.

"Your right hand…" Happy looks at Natsu's hand noticing it seems to be burned and in bad shape.

"It's just a bit burned…" Natsu scratches the back of his head trying to play it off cool not to worry Happy. "It'll be okay, Wendy can heal it later!"

"I can see the guild." Gray affirms as he turns his head towards Natsu.

"Even so, just now I feel nostalgic about it." Natsu reminisces.

"..It's finally over." Lucy sighs with relief.

"I want to relax at home for a while…I also need to finish the manuscript to the book I was writing." Lucy declares to herself knowing that she's gotten pretty behind on writing due to the war.

"I need to apologize to Juvia properly." Gray says sheepishly. Recollections of the fight between Invel, himself, and Juvia fill Gray's mind.

"When things calm down a bit, I wanna go out on another adventure." Lucy hums optimistically.

"That's great." Gray compliments.

"I want to go too!" Happy chimes in.

"An adventure to find Aquarius Key!"

"Aye! I love that huge fish!" Happy excitedly waves his arm together.

"She's half-fish, half-person!" Gray exclaims in disbelief at Happy.

"She's a mermaid." Lucy corrects both them.

"Speaking of which, since this battle ended, is there something you wanna do?" Lucy asks Happy. She is genuinely curious to hear if Natsu has any plans or just him and Happy in general. Maybe they can come with her if they wanted.

"Aye!"

"Do you wanna announce it? Natsu~" Happy teases as he withholds a giggle.

Lucy and Gray look back wondering why Natsu didn't respond.

"Natsu?" Happy repeats his name.

But the three soon realize no one was there.

Fear stricken faces took over all of them.

How long was Natsu gone?

"Huh? Natsu where are you?" Happy tears up ready to panic at any given moment.

"Hey…stop this weird joke." Gray demands angrily.

"…" Lucy balls her hands into a fist and trembles.

"Why…"

"I should have rewritten it properly…" The blonde complains; unable to mask the regret in her voice.

All faith is lost.

Everything has been for nothing.

"U-Uguh..."

Lucy grinds her teeth back and forth as the tears silently fill her eyes. Her hands shake once more becoming clenched fists and she digs her fingers into her palms as she bites her lip quivering up.

"WHY!"

Lucy's face contorts into a terribly beautiful, yet heartbreaking expression as she lets herself fall to the ground.

"Natsu? Where are you?" Happy hastily flies looking for Natsu.

"This can't be…" Gray in denial refuses to believe this is even happening. He had watched Lucy the entire time, never taking an eye off her as she wrote in the missing letters. He watched her through blood, sweat, and tears to do whatever she had to save Natsu's life. Everything she did helped him so why...what went wrong?

"NATSUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Lucy screams letting out such a piercing cry so loud, it can be heard bellowing throughout Magnolia.

"Why! Why!" Lucy mourns smacking her hands against the hard pavement on the ground. "He shouldn't have disappeared…I…W-We…"She chokes up midway stopping herself to swallow to catch her breath. "It's not… It's not fair!" She digs her nails into her hands tightly, ignoring the developing scrapes she is giving herself.

"Lucy you gotta calm down!" Gray tries to get a grip on Lucy to reason with her but no avail. All he wants to do is comfort and calm her down; he knows out of everyone the most how important Natsu is to Lucy.

Deciding to not give up, Gray nearly gets smacked in the process of her tantrum but finally gets ahold of her and looks at her in the face as calm as possible.

"Breathe Lucy, you have to breathe."

Lucy stops for a brief moment and does what he says then quietly whimpers into his arms.

"Natsu is gone forever…" Happy says meekly joining Gray who is busy comforting Lucy. He gets in between the two of them also wanting comfort as well.

Lucy's eyes become filled with sorrow; her face stares blankly off into space as she recalls everything that has happened throughout the war.

Though there's one thing, in particular, she learned from it all, it was that was what helped her truly realize how much she loves Natsu.

From meeting Natsu the first time when he saved her from the criminal "Salamander" Bora, to him dragging her along in Hargeon and helped her join Fairy Tail — the guild she's dreamed of joining for so long — to giving her kind friends, a loving guild of a family, and new goals in life.

He saved her from poison when they went to Galuna Island.

He caught her when she was falling out of the tower as she yelled out his name being sure that he would be there to catch her.

Lucy blushes as she remembered fondly of when Natsu had uprooted the entire Rainbow Sakura tree for her specifically since she couldn't go to the viewing because she was sick.

Natsu…I…

The fire dragonslayer took her on many adventures, some were just crazy and others were fun. There were also times where things got rough but they always had each other's backs through thick and thin in the end. After all, it was more fun when they were together.

Yet the world has been so unfair and cruel to her and Natsu.

Is it so hard to just let us be happy?

Fate why must you be so cruel to us...

Lucy feels anger rise within her; she shoves herself away off of Gray to give herself some space. She places her hand across where her heart is; the place where she has been keeping her residing feelings for Natsu and stares up into the vast sky.

Suddenly a strange feeling erupts within her heart. It's a warm feeling, a familiar feeling, a strong feeling.

Lucy suddenly finds herself in a white space and across from her, there's a figure standing in front of her who appears to be running right at her.

Lucy- The voice begins suddenly then Lucy blacks out.

Suddenly Lucy feels newfound determination wiping the dry stains from her tears off her face.

"No more crying." She vows as she wobbles standing upwards to regain her posture.

"Huh?" Both Gray and Happy watch in shock at Lucy's sudden mood change.

"It's not the time to sit and cry or do nothing. We need to find him. We need to find Natsu!"

Happy smiles tearfully agreeing; satisfied that Lucy is back to her usual self again and it seems she has a plan as well.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Gray chuckles.

"We're going to look all over Magnolia; let's split up." Lucy suggests.

"But Lucy…there's only three of us we can't possibly search the entire town ourselves" Happy replies doubtfully.

"Happy's got a point there." Gray concludes.

"You don't have to worry about that." A low familiar voice adds in.

The trio all look at each other wondering who just said those words until they turn around to see Erza and behind her, the rest of the guild—including Makarov—ready to be used at their disposal.

Lucy smiles as her chin trembles at the sight of her family.

"We got your back, Lucy, you can count on us." Erza gently hugs the Heartfilia with a small squeeze.

"Yeah, girl I'm here for you." Cana places a hand on Lucy's shoulder.

"Don't worry Lucy, I can help too! I have a good sense of smell that can help track Natsu down!" Wendy beams with a twinkle in her eye as she holds onto one of Lucy's hands.

"Ay, don't go takin' all the glory kiddo. I've got smelling capabilities too ya know." Gajeel's rough voice breaks through the girls; he ruffles the sky dragonslayer's hair earning a pout from her in response.

"Love rival fear, not for Juvia has your back, you can count on me." Juvia simply states moving in closer to the group; giving Lucy a warm smile.

"We got ya Lucy." Mirajane winks with Lisanna agreeing alongside her.

"We'll bring em home Lucy." Makarov weakly gives her a thumbs up.

The rest of the guild told her similar words; all in all wanting to do nothing more than to help her find Natsu.

"Ev-Everyone…" Lucy lifts her hands to cover her mouth; feeling moved by the words of her fellow guild members.

"I…thank you."

Afterward the guild split up into different squad units.

Gajeel, Levy, and Pantherlily to the station and Book land.

Erza, Jellal, Wendy, along with Carla, to the hospital.

Laxus, Mirajane, Lisanna, and Cana to the public bath.

Juvia and Gray to Fairy Hills.

Happy decided to go check his and Natsu's house.

Makarov and the rest of the other guild members to the East Forest.

Lucy decides to stay at South Gate Park to check if there is any sign of Natsu here.

Time passes and it's getting late.

Happy's the first to come back and reports that Natsu wasn't home.

Shortly after, each group came back and shared the same news.

"I just don't know where that boy could have gone off to." Makarov grumbles folding his arms together.

"It's okay Lu, don't worry we'll find him." Levy rubs Lucy's back as she notices the blonde is beginning to lose hope.

"Are you sure you checked everywhere though Lucy?" Gray asks wondering if they missed any places.

"Erm..yeah, I hav-…WAIT!" Lucy gasps.

"My apartment!"

"Wow, how could we forget the most important place of all?" Erza says blatantly in a teasing way.

Giggles from the other guild members, especially Mirajane and Cana can be heard.

"Oh goodness…" Wendy shyly twirls a finger in one of her pigtails unsure whether to giggle with them or get embarrassed.

Lucy blushes feeling her embarrassment rise wanting to deny but knew it isn't the time.

"Come, everyone! To Lucy's apartment-"Erza shouts valiantly but is cut off by Lucy before she can finish.

"I want to go myself though!"

"Eh?"

"But Lucy are you sure?" Cana interjects.

"I'm positive." Lucy affirms trying to emphasize that she wants and needs to do this alone.

"Well, we won't force you but…let us know immediately if you need some help okay? We'll be waiting here for you." Gray pats her head.

"Thank you, Gray. In fact, thank you, everyone, you've all been a big help…I'll be back soon!" Lucy waves and then heads off into the direction of her apartment.

As soon as her apartment comes into view she dashes up the stairs hastily. Unlocking the door within seconds she bursts into the room nearly tripping over a hair brush that is on the floor.

"What the hell…when was this…?" Not bothering to question how or why it got there she charges into the depths of her room trying to check every nook and cranny for Natsu.

Checking high and low she calls his name as she searches for him. Or anything that can give him away but—she can't find him anywhere.

"Natsu...where the hell are you!"

No answer still.

Lucy's shoulders drop in resignation. She deeply lets out a sigh feeling the need to cry her eyes out all over again.

"Natsu…please…I…I can't...I can't be without you." She croaks holding her hands over her heart ready to cry at any moment.

Just as she's about to cry she feels arms hugging around her.

Lucy's heart skips a beat as she can feel hot breath against the back of her neck, leaving her to shudder and blush at the feeling.

"Lucy…" A voice whispers her name so quietly it's barely audible to hear.

"Natsu?" Lucy returns with a question of her own in the same tone as the mysterious voice. Unsure if she's going crazy she swears that the voice is Natsu's and hopes by some miracle that it is.

A moment later she hears the faint sound of what sounds like a chuckle.

Natsu's chuckle.

"Is this a dream?" Lucy softly speaks up hoping her words are as clear as she can make them. "It almost sounds like that was a laugh from Natsu."

"Hah…" She isn't sure if she can allow herself to believe this is all really happening.

"This isn't a dream though Lucy…" The voice replies in a rather stern but gentle tone.

After that Lucy can't resist anymore she needs to know if this is a dream and who is with her right now. She instantly feels her cheeks wet; her eyes widen in revelation.

Pink spiky hair.

Scarf.

Usual charcoal smell.

It's him.

"I'm truly here Luce." Natsu cups one of Lucy's cheeks with a hand lovingly. "I'm truly here and never going anywhere again."

Lucy becomes overridden with emotions and jumps onto Natsu hugging him.

"YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT! I WAS SO WORRIED! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONE!" The celestial mage hugs him tightly, not wanting to ever let him go. Natsu wraps his arms around her bringing the two as close as possible, wanting to make sure Lucy is able to fully believe it's him in the flesh.

"I was beginning to fade away though but then I heard your voice and saw you, Lucy. I don't know how but I saw you and I tried to run to you but something wouldn't let me. Then I ended up here." Natsu says in a low tone.

"I heard yours too…Natsu. I was there as well actually and I knew it was you that I had seen. I was trying to reach you but I blacked out." Lucy hangs her head down. "I don't exactly get what had happened or why we were there…"

"Natsu I-I…I can't stand the thought of losing you! I can't handle it anymore."Lucy clutches her heart remembering the pain she felt in her heart during all the times Natsu was in danger. She blushes due to having admitted her feelings in a way and continues to look down on the ground in hopes Natsu can't see the expression on her face.

Unfortunately for her he wanted to see it and he lifts her chin up with his thumb; wanting her to look at him. Natsu begins to open his mouth as if he is going to answer back but Lucy is faster and springs up an issue the two have long since needed to talk about.

Feeling the air already too awkward Lucy thinks she may as well get everything out in the open while she's at it.

"Natsu…when you left for a year it was hard." Lucy states. "It nearly broke my heart when I found out you had a tumor inside of you. I thought you were going to…die" She hesitates to try to sound out the word. "I found out about you being END but I didn't care, regardless of who and what you are, you are always going to be Natsu to me. Not a demon, not a monster, Natsu."

"And if you truly disappeared from the world I would have been miserable without you…"

"…"

Natsu quietly accepts her confessions feeling warmth rise within his cheeks. He bites the inside of his cheek cursing himself for not being able to respond as quickly as he liked.

"Thank you." He blurts out suddenly.

"No one has really cared…this much about my life."

Natsu inhales deeply as if he is trying to calm his nerves down.

"I'm still truly sorry I left for that year Lucy. You didn't deserve that and it did hurt me to do so."

"It's okay Natsu, I mean, I forgave you a long time ago so don't worry about it." Lucy answers calmly.

"While I left to get stronger for everyone, including you, I wanted to try and see if I could find Aquarius' key to bring back to you Lucy, to make up for leaving like that. Of course, I couldn't probably take too much of the pain away but…" Natsu trails off.

Lucy opens her mouth slightly; awestruck from hearing those words come out of his mouth. Though now she feels terrible thinking back because of how angry she was at the time.

"Also I, um, I appreciate you being so worried and taking care of me when I was unconscious." The pink haired dragonslayer veers his attention off of Lucy so she won't see the redness of his face.

"Ya gotta laugh though how fate has put us through hell and back with each other. One of us is either going through death or a near death experience." He continues with a hint of laughter in his voice. "When I thought you had died from Dimaria, it made me go insane with rage. Life wouldn't be the same…without you either."

Lucy feels her face grow hotter hearing that all that was over her. She is touched once more yet happy at the same time. She takes a free hand of hers placing it on his —that is currently still on her cheek—beaming a bright smile—but then feels like she probably looks goofy so she tries to hide the fact she is a blushing mess.

Lucy also remembers what Happy had said earlier about Natsu having to "announce something".

"Natsu, um, earlier Happy was telling me how you had something you wanted to announce when this was all over?" She decides to be brave and ask seeing if she can get an answer.

"Uh…" Natsu loses his composure for a brief moment wanting to back away from Lucy but holds his ground keeping cool.

"I uh, I have no idea what you're talking about. Sorry." Happy now comes to mind and Natsu's face grows a more worry some expression wondering if he's doing okay.

Lucy pouts and chides herself for bringing Happy up because it just ruined the moment. She knows how much of an important part of Natsu's life Happy is to him.

Uuuugah…I still want to continue talking to you though Natsu…

As if cutting her off from her thoughts Natsu abruptly takes Lucy's hand out the door leaving her flabbergasted,

"Don't worry Lucy, I plan to make the announcement very shortly, but not right now." Natsu winks while running faster taking Lucy closer by his side so she can match his running speed.

Lucy nods agreeing but is now even more curious as to just what kind of announcement it is going to be.

They shortly bump into everyone from the guild and they run at Natsu like a stampede. Most hug Natsu crying saying they missed him. It results in creating a circle around him and Lucy, but she slips away so she doesn't get mauled.

"NATSU!" An emotional Happy leaps onto Natsu hugging him so tightly it was making it hard for Natsu to breathe.

"Never scare me again, will ya?" Gray smacks Natsu's head in a playful way.

"Hey there Natsu, looking good I see."

Natsu sees Makarov in the arms of Erza and nearly finds himself wanting to cry because he's happy that in the end, Makarov is okay.

Everyone keeps asking about how it went with the battle against Zeref or where Mavis is.

"Before I start telling stories though guys there's something I wanna do first." Natsu says with a toothy grin.

"Sorry for making you wait, Luce. The "announcement" I have to make is aimed specifically at you and only you." He walks up to her and takes a hand of hers gently; holding it as he continues speaking.

Lucy feels her cheeks glow wanting to take her hand away but as if Natsu can read her mind his grip tightens to make sure she doesn't try and escape. Unsure of what's happening Lucy decides to not resist and stays quiet.

Happy giggles and gets off of Natsu knowing exactly what's about to happen. He is the only one Natsu ever told his announcement to.

"First things first…"

"Lucy I'm sorry I'm a reckless idiot sometimes. I know I've messed up and I thank you for staying with me regardless. I know sometimes it can be super crazy and there have been quite a few times that were hard to handle. But I overall really enjoy being your friend, teammate, and partner. I love everything about you." Natsu confesses.

"And I have something special I wanna give to you."

Natsu pulls out a box and opens it in front of Lucy.

And the look on her face is worth taking a picture of.

The gift inside is the key of Aquarius.

"I was able to find it and meant to give it to you the next time Id see ya but..we were a bit awkward for a while so I waited till the time was right."

Lucy breaks down in tears of nothing but complete happiness. She just can't even believe what's happening right now. He hands it to her and she takes it holding it like a newborn baby.

She wants nothing more than to kiss Natsu and thank him as many times as she can.

"Now Lucy save the tears if you can, there's something else."

Natsu gets down one knee pulling out yet another box.

"N-Natsu…?" Lucy breathes deeply; feeling her heart ready to burst.

"Lucy…I can't imagine growing old with anyone else, nor do I want to. I know you're the only one I want to share the rest of my life with. There are many ways to be happy in life…but all I really need is you. I love you." Natsu admits with nothing but love in his voice as he starts to get emotional and caught up in the moment.

"And I know my life will never be complete without you beside me to share it. The story of our love is only the beginning. Let's write our own happy ending. Let's write our own future Lucy, let's write the future we both deserve, together. That's why…"

"Lucy Heartfilia…" Natsu sounds her name out entirely.

"Will you do me the honor of being my wife and marrying me?"

Natsu opens the box.

Inside is a gold band garnished with pink jewels in the shape of stars with a red heart in the center. On top of the heart, there is tiny little princess tiara.

Lucy has never felt her heart glow so wildly, it is filled with love and happiness, it could burst at any moment.

She breaks down in tears smiling widely jumping into Natsu's arms.

"YES!"

#Nalu #Natsu Dragneel #Lucy Heartfilia #nalu fanfic #Nalu Fanfiction #my writings #hinas writings #writings #Nalu fanfics #Fairy Tail #this prolly wont happen but its nice to dream xD #This fic actually was an idea I had yesterday at work. I remember yapping to myself of how I wanna write it and such. #I wanted to hurry and get it done last night but I was only able to write out the Mashima parts cuz I was a tired hyney lol. #Tonight was the deadline because after today I wont have access to wifi or my laptop and I really wanted to get this done BEFORE #spoilers for the next chapter come out so people can read this and die with me because I 100% would love if this fic idea would come true; #or some of the things. :') Im aware Acnologia may or may not be alive and there are moments here where I could have made more details #but hey its been a while yo lol I tried ;w; #ANYWAYS I hope I did this justice! IDEC IF I GOT TOO CHEESY WITH THE MARRIAGE PROPOSAL I DESERVE THIS FEEL BETTER FIC #BECAUSE THAT CHAPTER MADE ME DEPRESSED. LETS BE REAL IT MADE ALL OF US DEPRESSED. #LET NATSU AND LUCY BE HAPPY PL E ASE MASHIMA I BEG YOU PLEASE STOP MAKING LUCY'S HEART BREAK AND NATSU NEAR DEATH/DYING #MY HEART CANT TAKE THIS. WE DESERVE THIS HAPPINESS. COME ON MASHIMA GIVE US THIS! #I may or may not have pulled another One Magic kill me but i really love that whole idea okay?? okay

[missvictoriam]

The First Task @triwizardtournamentoc

‘I use seaweed face masks regularly.’

It was four o’clock in the morning, and Victoria was sitting on her bed, completely awake. This was the day they had prepared for all this time - this was the day of the first task. She couldn’t go back to sleep, and the only thing she could think of right now was the task and their plan. She knew she should get more rest, but she couldn’t even force herself to close her eyes. Finally, after sitting there for some more time, she decided to be productive and went to have breakfast in the Great Hall.

She felt like she was already underwater. Noise buzzed around her, but it was muffled and frankly, Victoria didn’t bother listening. She was like a robot, eating and talking as usual, but in her mind, she was still focused on their plan and thinking about all the possible cases of which things could go wrong. She knew overthinking this would not help, but she couldn’t help herself. She did not even notice what she ate. She vaguely noticed people wishing her good luck and she dutifully thanked them, but her mind was in a different place.

Soon, it was time to go down to the lake. The three champions had changed into Durmstrang wetsuits, with gloves and fanny packs. Victoria barely registered her surroundings until Headmistress Mercier’s voice rang out.

‘From Durmstrang, Horacy Antonczyk, Aino Koskinen, and Victoria Meyer. We have our three Champions. They will be given 1 hour to retrieve their keys from underwater. We will give them 2 minutes to discuss among themselves,’

‘So, we're all clear on our plan?’ Horuś said as the three of them gathered in a circle.

'I think so,’ Aino replied, and Victoria nodded. ‘Yep. The Neck, the seaweed, the distraction, the transfiguration and guarding,’ she said, closing her eyes briefly as she ran through their plan.

‘Cool, we got this. Aino, if you could hand me your knife,’ he said, turning to Aino. ‘Yeah, here,’ she handed the knife from her belt to him.

‘Good luck, children,’ said Headmistress Lenox,  appearing behind them.

‘Thanks, mate. And Thanks, headmistress!’ Horuś said to Aino and the headmistress. Victoria smiled at Headmistress Lenox but stayed silent, trying to concentrate fully on their plan.

Then came Headmistress Mercier’s voice again, ‘Alright, champions. We're about to start. Please line up at the edge of the dock. Once I release sparks and you hear a gunshot, you may dive. Ready?’ We will slay this, she thought to herself. For poor Adrian who needed to drop out early. For everyone at Durmstrang who put so many expectations on them.

After a pause, the headmistress shot out sparks from her want. The Durmstrang champions instantly leapt from their position on land and began treading water.

Victoria watched as Horuś slits a wide cut across his palm and holds the bleeding wound above the wave. He passes the knife to her. She copied his motions, slitting a cut across her palm and hands it to Aino too repeated the actions before putting her knife back into her belt.

‘Niksy, posłuchaj mnie!’ Horuś said, and the Neck's face appears on the surface of the water.  Victoria was glad the spirit summoning worked. ‘We've paid the fare, the sacrifice. We demand safe passage through these waters.’

The Neck somehow indicated affirmation with a motion, and Victoria felt a strange sensation on her neck - she guessed that was how it felt sprouting gills. Fins grow where their toes used to be, and a set of transparent eyelids had grown over her eyes. Breathing air was getting more and more difficult with every second that passed when they were above water.

‘Fuck, it's starting to get difficult to breathe above water. I'm going down.’ With that, Horuś ducked underwater. Victoria dove under too, with Aino just behind her.

Underwater was dark and murky. She could hear and see outlines, but details are blurred. After a moment, Horuś’s voice rang out, ‘Can you guys hear me?’ Victoria started nodding before remembering the waters are probably too dark to see clearly.  ‘Loud and clear,’ she replied. She was thankful that the Neck also gave them the ability to hear and speak underwater. ‘Yeah,’ Aino’s voice came after that.

She figured they would need to keep diving underwater, go deeper to find the mermaid. ‘Piękny,’ she heard Horuś said. ‘wskaż mnie.’ She recognised the Four-Point spell. His voice came again, saying, ‘Do we want to head north, or go another direction?’

‘I think we just go further underwater, I don't know if the direction matters,’ Victoria replied after some thought. ‘I agree with Victoria,’ Aino said.

‘Gotcha. Let's go,’ came his reply, and they kept on swimming lower. Victoria was on constant guard right now. She was just about to tell her teammates to be careful of the creatures and weeds when she noticed Aino’s figure wasn’t moving beside her anymore.

Swimming back, she saw Aino's leg got caught in some seaweed. The fuzzy figure that was Aino struggled against the seaweed's grip. She grabbed her knife and with great difficulty, she tries to cut away the seaweed.

Horuś points his wand at the seaweed. ‘Relashio!’ The seaweed broke and Aino's leg was freed. The Durmstrang team kept going.‘Let's hope we find the mermaid soon,’ Victoria murmured, more to herself than her friends.

It was difficult to see with the murkiness and the rippling seaweed. Deciding it was worth a try, she said, ‘Lumos!’ Looking at her wand, she hoped it will work and provide some light.

Suddenly, a bright light appears and a creature emerges. Shielding her eyes, it took her a moment to register the creature. Victoria decided it was a she; she was not a pretty sight, with long hair, claws and dirty scales, looking at the three of them with a glint in her eye. She flinched at the sight. ‘Is this the mermaid? I have no idea how one looks like,’ she whispered.

Probably decided to be diplomatic, Horuś said, ‘Hey, it's nice to meet you. Would love to stay and chat, but we're looking to move forward. Would you be kind enough ... to let us pass? we're not looking for trouble. Though if you meet anyone wearing blue uniforms… I'm telling you, the French are trouble.' Victoria frowned for a second, wondering if it was wise to say that.

The mermaid shrieked - it was a high-pitched, terrible sound. It stared at Horus and swims closer, beckoning one claw. ‘You want us to follow you?’ he said. ‘Sorry lady, but my dad told me not to trust strangers.’ Victoria looked to him, hoping he would not anger the mermaid.

The mermaid screamed again and beckoned Horus once more.

Victoria spoke, ‘I think she or it just wants you to go closer.’ She wondered if the mermaid would be helpful, or if she would tear his face to shreds the moment he swam closer.

‘Sorry lady, but I don't swing that way. Aino!’ he said. Just then, the mermaid hissed, "Restore me to my former glory and I will let you pass."

‘Former glory? You want us to make you beautiful or...?’ Victoria asked hesitantly.

Horuś held his wand before him. ‘Considering how I’ve never met you before and therefore have no idea what your former glory looks like, I'm not sure that's possible.’

Aino looks down towards her wand before picking up and pointing it at the mermaid. ‘Rikkaruohot!’ The seaweed began moving towards the creature.

The mermaid screeches again and creates a rip tide. The seaweed trick became useless as everyone got sucked into the water tornado. ‘Not so fast - Arresto Momentum!’ Horuś said, but it didn’t seem to work.

The mermaid screeches again. ‘Restore me to my former glory.’

‘At least tell us what do you mean by former glory!’ Victoria managed to shout in the rip tide.

‘I used to be amazing: beautiful, full of power, youthful. I am now reduced to this withering mess,’ the mermaid said, with her cat-like eyes glinting.

‘Could this be some trick of transfiguration? Reparifarge!’ Horuś said, but the spell bounced off the mermaid.

‘Puny mortal,’ the mermaid sneered. ‘Restore me to my former beauty, you damn fools!’

Desperate, Victoria blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, ‘Look, if you let us pass, I promise you I can go bring you some makeup! You can really use a highlighter and eyeliner.’

The mermaid scowled. ‘Why would I trust you? Your eyeliner is slightly crooked by the way.’ Victoria held back a gasp, offended. ‘Hey, don't blame me, being transformed into a creature with gills and transparent eyelids is not exactly the best condition for makeup!’

‘Maybe we're overthinking this. Revellio!’ Horuś shouted out the spell, but it didn’t work. The mermaid bared her teeth. ‘A good try, not but not good enough.’

‘Aino, do you see any plants around here that could help us?’ Horuś asked. ‘’It wouldn't be unlike the professors to have hidden the solution right before our eyes. I for one remember Adrian telling me about the great uses of seaweed for improving one's countenance…’ he trailed off, and Victoria held back a smile at that.

The mermaid scowled again. ‘I use seaweed face masks regularly,’ she grumbled. Victoria looked at the mermaid, confused at how weird this conversation was getting.

Maybe Aino got impatient; she grabbed her knife, throwing it at the mermaid. It hit the creature in the ribs, and the mermaid ripped out the knife and blood flowed out of the wound. The angry mermaid threw it at an unprepared Aino. It missed her narrowly and she could see blood in the water. Even with all these, Victoria could see that the mermaid’s wound healed quickly. She could hear that Aino swore.

Out of ideas, Victoria said, ‘Come on, what do you have in your pockets? Maybe there's something we can trade.’ ‘I think the blood might attract the others - we have to hurry,’ Horuś said and covered his ears. ‘Sorry, you can't take these. besides, all my earrings are steel, not silver. Cold steel. You'd hate to touch that.’

‘I have seaweed, seaweed, and more seaweed,’ the mermaid hissed. ‘You can trade your own beauty. After all, you do have such lovely faces. Merfolk can see through magic, you know.’ Victoria’s immediate reaction was objecting, but she didn’t get the chance.

‘What is this, Face/Off? how's this!’ Horuś cast a transfiguration spell on the mermaid. It worked for a second, then faded away. ‘Pitiful,’ the mermaid said, and the rip tide stops momentarily.

Suddenly, Victoria felt the waters around her move. Glancing around, she noticed that other mermaids started to appear. ‘Shit they've smelled the blood,’ Horuś muttered under his breath. One of the mermaids said, ‘Isla, what are you doing?’ Another said, ‘Isla, whatchu doin to these fish?’ She guessed Isla was probably the original mermaid’s name. Victoria narrowed her eyes; she was surprised by the modern style of speech they used, but mermaids probably caught on to the world’s trend quickly.

Isla let out a laugh. ‘They fell for it,’ she said. She took a claw and shredded her tail. It shedded and she appeared as a youthful and beautiful mermaid. Victoria’s eyebrows shot up; what kind of trick was this?

‘Girl stop punking them,’ The third mermaid said. ‘Go on, little fishies.’ Isla laughed and said in a musical voice, ‘We're terribly sorry, it was so much fun though.’ She grinned. ‘Umm... alright, glad to provide you entertainment, we'll go now…’ Victoria trailed off, starting to swim away. She wasn't sure if she should be amused or angry.

‘Jezus chrystus, what was that,’ Horuś said. ‘I used Revellio as well!’ ‘Stop talking Horuś, let's go,’ Victoria hissed. She certainly didn’t want the mermaids to change their mind. They had already lost too much time, she only hoped that they would have enough time to get to the Occamy. ‘It wasn't a glamour, Merfolk has their own brand of magic as well,’ Isla explained. ‘Go on then.’ ‘Yeah, yeah,’ The three mermaids said and dragged Isla away. ‘But beware, the Occamy is a female.’ ‘Does it matter if it's male or female?’ Victoria asked, confused.

‘I guess we're just gonna operate under the assumption that female animals are going to defend their young more fiercely than males,’ Horuś said with a shrug. Aino nodded, saying, 'Females are more protective over the eggs than males are.'

‘Though, my father would definitely argue against that. He's sensitive about these things. Anyways let's cut the chit chat and go,’ Horuś said. ‘Okay then,’ Victoria nodded.

The Durmstrang champions moved forward. Victoria shook her head. She couldn’t believe that the mermaid was only there to waste their time, but she guessed it was good that they didn’t need to use any difficult spells or resort to violence.

‘You have 36 minutes left,’ a voice rang out to notify them. She crossed her fingers, hoping they would have enough time.

The water gets colder and darker the farther they venture down. Suddenly, the waters become completely dark. She suspected that a giant octopus inked them. She started saying, 'Oh, seriously? I wonder if - ' She was about to try Lumos, but at that exact moment, she heard Horuś’s voice saying, ‘Aqua Eructo!’ The octopus disappeared and so does the ink. She recognised the spell that shot out a strong jet of water which probably worked to dispel the ink. ‘YES!’ Horuś said. ‘Come on guys, let's go.’ She was glad he had a spell to solve that so quickly.

After a while, they encountered a cave that's protected with jagged rocks. They were sharp and teeth like. It seemed that there was no way to get in without getting hurt. They could hear snarls coming from inside. ‘Do you think we can blast the rocks away?’ Victoria thought out loud, looking at the rocks in different angles.

‘I would object to that,’ Horuś said. ‘If we let the cave grow any larger, we'll make it possible for the Occamy to come out, and when it's out of its cave... god knows how large it's going to grow.’

Victoria started swimming forward - and found that her shirt had snagged onto a sharp rock. ‘This is ridiculous,’ she muttered. She tore the shirt away, leaving pieces of cloth on the rock.

‘Wait, before we go in, let's try this first,’ she heard Horuś said. ‘Dissendium!’ She remembered that it was a spell that revealed secret passageways. The cave's top raised up momentarily before slamming down again. The jagged rocks start opening and closing like teeth when any of them got near.

‘Let's swim up to the top. I'll cast Dissendium again, see if you guys can slip in,’ Horuś suggested. ‘Are you sure this is going to work, Horuś?’ Aino spoke up. ‘It's worth a try,’ he replied. ‘Well does anyone have a better idea? If worst comes to worst, I'll try to prop it open for longer with an Aqua Eructo spell.’ ‘Lets try it then,’ Aino said.

‘Alright, Victoria, you're in first. try to stay out of the vision of the Occamy before the rest of us get in there,’ Horuś said. ‘Got it,’ she replied with a nod. ‘Here,’ he transfigured the red uniform into black. ‘That should be better. Dissendium!’ The cave widened quickly and only Victoria managed to slip inside. Hearing the Occamy in distance snarling, she pressed against the wall to blend in.

‘Aino, your turn. Dissendium!’ She saw the cave widened again and Aino swam inside. The rocks started to shut together. ‘Fuck, alright, it's just me now,’ she could hear him say outside the cave. ‘Dissendium!’ The cave opened quickly and let through Horuś through.

The three of them slowly swim closer to the Occamy. She could hear the Occamy's shrieks. ‘Okay. goddammit,’ Horuś rolled up the sleeve of his wetsuit, exposing at least a dozen moving tattoos swimming across his skin. Victoria had already gotten used to them, now her only concern was if it would work.

‘We ready for the distraction?’ Horuś asked. ‘Yeah,’ Aino replied. ‘Yep, go do your thing,’ Victoria said, nodding. Suddenly, a mermaid she hadn’t seen before appeared behind them and tapped on Horus' shoulder.

‘Lady, what do you want?’ Horuś said to the mermaid. ‘Rude. I can help you with the Occamy.’ ‘I'm allowed to be disgruntled if someone pokes me out of nowhere, okay? Well, what's your proposal?’ She whispered, 'I'm Calliope. Alright, keep your reasons. I can distract it. I'm half Siren.’ Victoria narrowed her eyes. She had no idea if they could trust the mermaid, but they needed all the help they could get.

‘Cool. Well, in that case, let's act according to plan - Victoria, you keep an eye on all the exits. Calliope, you do your thing but I am watching you, if you do anything out of line I can and will stop you and take over. Aino, stay hidden until the time is right. You know what to do.’

As soon as he finished speaking, the Occamy came into view -  it's beautiful with glistening scales, but also intimidating with its sharp eyes. Calliope swam near the side of the cave and started singing. The Occamy screeched louder and stared at the half-siren. Victoria swims closer to the exit to guard, keeping an eye on whatever that was happening.

Calliope started singing gently and Occamy's movements got slower. Horuś tailed calliope closely, and slowly, the Occamy started falling asleep. Ther mermaid then continued singing softly.

Calliope turned to Horus, saying while still continuing her singing, ‘If you're going to try to steal them, do it now while it's asleep. I'm only half Siren, I don't have full power.’ Behind the Occamy, Aino started picking up rocks and transfiguring them into replicas of Occamy eggs. Horuś nodded to Calliope and dove towards the Occamy's nest, picking up eggs and putting them into the magic bottomless fanny pack that comes with the Durmstrang diving uniform as Aino put replacements into the nest

After a while of watching, waiting and listening to the mermaid, Victoria could hear Horuś whisper, ‘Alright, that's all of them.’ She felt a pang of relief, and then it all went downhill. At that very moment, Calliope stopped singing and started shrieking. Victoria only had time to think, I couldn’t believe this is happening when she felt something grabbed her and she was yanked from the exit. It took her a second to realise the Occamy had woken up and had her in its grip. ‘Oh god,’ she exclaimed, exasperated, and started struggling to get out of the Occamy’s… claws, or whatever it used to grab her. She should have known the mermaid would betray them.

Calliope took the chance to go to the entrance and sealed it. ‘Well, see, this is why I have trust issues,’ Horuś said, clearly annoyed. The mermaid laughed. ‘You are too easily fooled.’ Victoria swore to herself that she would slap that mermaid senseless when they get out of this situation.

‘Obudzić!’ Horuś said. She could see a whirly tattoo began to pulse under his skin and she winced at the sight. The black substance breaks through his skin. The black figure turned white and formed a large, flat skeleton.

Calliope lifted Horus' chin up with a mischievous grin. ‘I mean, I thought you'd already hate merfolk after what happened with Isla.’ ‘Shut up lady, I'm in the middle of something,’ he snarled at her. The mermaid grinned and immediately starts shrieking, trying to break his focus.

Victoria got impatient and struggled to point her wand at the Occamy’s grip. ‘Diffindo!’ she said. Occamy growled and screeched as loud as it could. ‘No be patient! We can't kill it!’ Horuś shouted at her. ‘I’m just trying to get the claws or whatever thing off me!’ she shouted back.

The manta ray skeleton soared through the water, light reflecting off its white bones. It dove fast and close to the beak of the Occamy. ‘This wasn't intended, you know. I know you probably hate all Merfolk now but I can still help you. For a price,’ Calliope said. Victoria resisted the urge to roll her eyes and scream at the mermaid, well what makes you think we would trust you NOW?

Horuś elbowed the mermaid in the ribs and then proceed to slam the heel of his hand into her chin. Watching the commotion, Victoria got bored and started saying, ‘I'm just going to wait here.’ when the Occamy released her at that moment. ‘Thank god,’ she said and swam as far away from the Occamy as she could.

On the other side, Calliope snarled. ‘You should be thankful I haven't attacked you yet.’ ‘Thanks, Calliope, for taking the top half of this challenge! It would have been more tiring if I had to distract the Occamy the entire time.’ Turning his head to Aino, he said, ‘Aino, open the passage while I still have the Occamy occupied!’

‘You have 18 minutes left,’ the voice came again. Victoria felt herself getting more and more frustrated.

‘What's that spell you used to open the cave, again?’ She racked her brain. She couldn’t believe that her memory failed her now, at this crucial moment. ‘Dissendium!’ he said. ‘Maybe we should do it together to strengthen the spell,’ she suggested.

‘All of us at the same time?’ he asked. ‘We could try,’ Aino said. ‘Well if you're occupied, then just me and Aino,’ she replied. ‘It's fine, I can do this,’ he said, taking his wand out. ‘Necromancy is second nature to me by now.’

Suddenly, the Occamy shrieked and grabbed Aino. ‘Bad snake!’ Horuś said, and the ray cut through the air over its head again to poke the Occamy, but this time the Occamy didn’t release her. ‘Ok, on three?’ Victoria said, gripping her wand. ‘Uhuh,’ Horuś replied, and Aino said, ‘Yeah.’ Victoria assumed that meant Aino could do spells even when she was stuck.

‘One, two, three... Dissendium!’ they cried out - and the mermaid backstabbed them. Again. Literally. She drew a knife and promptly stabbed Horus in the back, digging it in deep.

‘Oh god,’ Victoria exclaimed, not caring about the cave now. ’I could've helped you but now you'll pay a bigger price,’ Calliope snarled, twisting the knife deeper.

‘Oh, if this is the way it's going to be…’ he trailed off, eyes rolling back into his head. ‘Rusalka, I'm calling you now. Jokes on you, I've shed enough blood to make a bigger sacrifice now.’ ‘Good for you. I'll be sure to call all the merfolk on your way up to the surface,’ Calliope said, but she didn’t notice a long-limbed creature with long hair leaping out of nowhere and grabbed the mermaid to stop her from swimming away.

‘Nie sądzę,’ Horuś said. Calliope growled and shrieked as the cave started to rumble and pebbles rained down on them. ‘Protego!’ Victoria yelled immediately, throwing up a shield to protect herself and others from getting pelted by rocks.

Horuś turns towards the rusalka and said, ‘захватите её. я достаточно заплатил.’ The Rusalka nodded at him. 'Aino, Victoria, on a count of three!’ ‘On the count of three do what?’ Victoria shouted. Aino was still in the Occamy’s grip. ‘Dammit is Aino still stuck?’ Horuś asked. ‘Yeah, and I'm still holding up the shield, but not for long!’ she replied.

‘Come on…’ Horuś ripped open his uniform, and the cloth fell apart to reveal a large ouroboros coiled around his collar. 'Please, you're my only hope. We've watched star wars together. you're my best friend. Do this please.’ Victoria had no idea what he was talking about, but for all their sake, she hoped it would work. As the cave started rumbling violently, it snaked off his neck and turns into a giant skeleton of a Runespoor. The Runespoor begins pecking at the Occamy, and Horuś said, ‘Guys, I can't hear anymore. If we're going to use Diffindo on the count of three, signal at me instead.’ Victoria bit her lip to stop the sound of distress; he did warn them about the consequences of summoning souls.

In a swift moment, the Occamy ate the Runespoor, but the Runespoor immediately forces its way back out of the Occamy. On the other side of the cave, Calliope struggled and broke free. ‘Are you stupid?’ she yelled. Horuś instantly shouted, ‘Incarcerous!’ The mermaid was bound in ropes and the Rusalka went back for her. ‘You're absolutely mad!’ the mermaid shouted, struggling against the ropes. ‘That’ll never work!’ Victoria was too worried about their lives to care about the whining mermaid.

Meanwhile, the Runespoor started pulling at the Occamy's tail, trying to free Aino. The ray still hovered over the Occamy’s head. Calliope started singing again, and Victoria instantly covered her ears. For all she knew, the half-siren might be trying to put her to sleep.

‘I can't hear what's going on! Should I be glad?’ Horuś said, and Victoria honestly had no idea what was going on either. The cave started trembling more violently, and Calliope continued singing. She wished there was some magical tape she could use to shut her up.

‘The way you're doing it, you'll kill all of us,’ Calliope said, staring at Horuś. Oh, like you’re not trying to kill us? Victoria thought to herself.

‘Let me go and I can assure you at least 2 people will stay alive,’ Calliope continued. Yeah, you and the Occamy, obviously! Victoria screamed internally.

She watched as the Occamy made sure the eggs were okay, and almost laughed at it. The Occamy didn’t have a clue that the eggs were replicas.

‘You have 12 minutes left.’ Victoria was ready to smack whoever that was announcing the time.

‘Fine. I can be diplomatic. идите,’ Horuś said, and the Rusalka dissolves into water. ‘You can't see or hear, how the hell are you going to be diplomatic,’ Victoria started saying before remembering that he couldn’t hear her.

Again, Calliope took a deep breath and used all her ability to sing. The Occamy went into a lull. ‘Aino, Victoria, go,’ Horuś said. ‘Sirens apparently are Legilimens, and I'm a terrible Occlumens.’

‘Whatever! Aino, let's blast this thing off,’ Victoria said, but Calliope whistled and the cave entrance opened. She assumed there were mermaids outside helping her. ‘Go!’ Ther mermaid shouted. The Occamy released Aino, and Victoria swam outside. ‘Are you coming?’ she said to Aino and Horuś, despite knowing he couldn’t hear. He could probably read her lips or something. ‘Yeah,’ Aino said and followed her out of the cave.

‘Grab the eggs, and go! Hurry!’ Calliope said and continued singing. Horuś beckoned at the Runespoor, which swam back, curling around his neck as if it was a huge scarf, and pushes itself under his skin. Horuś undid the fanny pack and tossed it through the mouth of the cave. The cave mouth started to close, and Victoria caught the pack.

Horuś let out a whistle, and the ray came back. He grabs its tail and it managed to drag him through the closing cave mouth.

‘You have 8 minutes left.’

Victoria looked at Horuś - he was badly scratched but he seemed to be holding up well. She guessed the wound on his back probably healed by being a sacrifice for summoning souls. ‘Guys, hold onto this thing!’ ‘Yeah okay I'm never letting go,’ Victoria held onto the fanny pack and grabbed one of the ray’s fin-bones. Aino swam over and too held onto the ray.

‘Go before it comes after you!’ Calliope snarled. Ther mermaid seemed to be snarling a lot lately, Victoria thought mildly. The ray shoots upwards through the water and she gripped the pack and the ray tightly.

‘You have 4 minutes left.’

‘Come on, baby,’ Horuś muttered, and Victoria shouted at the ray, ‘GO GO GO!’ She could see the water beginning to lighten, and the pressure started feeling lighter. ‘That's it!’ Horuś said, but Calliope had to chime in, ‘You won't make it in time unless you get a boost.’

‘You have 2 minutes left.’

The spell that sent spurts of water came to Victoria’s mind at the same moment Horuś pointed his wand downwards. ‘Aqua Eructo!’ he shouted. The water shots them upwards momentarily but they were too weak for it to have much effect. Victoria wished she had a third hand to do spells.

Aino and Horuś shouted at the same time, ‘Aqua Eructo!’ The ray shot forward for a little bit but slowed down again. They still had a little bit more distance to go until they reach the surface. Calliope swam upwards quickly and grabbed them. ‘You are an idiot,’ she said and created a rip tide that brought them upwards.

‘Godammit, Aino! Use Bombarda Maxima, use it now!’ Horuś said forcefully.

‘You have 30 seconds.’

Calliope said, ‘On three! One, two, three!’ ‘Bombarda Maxima!’ Aino shouted. Victoria felt her pulse quicken -

BOOM! They broke the surface and landed on the deck. Victoria thought that it must have been a strange sight: a ray, three soaked champions with several cuts and injuries, a mermaid, a fanny pack, and lots of seaweed.

‘You have made it with 4 seconds to spare.’ Victoria was honestly too tired to be relieved right now. She felt the air tightening around her; she almost forgot they still had gills.

Horuś said, ‘Spiritus!’ A stream of clear alcohol shot from his wand into the water. The Neck came up, accepted the gift, and undid the enchantments for the three of them. Victoria instantly dropped the pack to the ground and shattered the eggs. ‘And here, are the keys we went through all that to get,’ she said, a little out of breath. She could hear Headmistress Lenox in the background yelling, ‘Suck it Atlas!’ She held back a smile at that. Beside her, Horuś shook his head. ‘Great, my hearing is finally coming back in.’

Victoria inspected the keys. Each of them looks different. One is steel grey with jagged spikes at the end. One is tinged slightly pink, forged out of glass. The last one is made of marble, engraved with gold. ‘Ooh they look so pretty,’ Victoria said, forgetting her tiredness for a second.

‘Well, ladies first. You have the first pick,’ Horuś said. Looking to the different boxes, she could see that Horuś had one made of ice that never melts. Her own was made of stained glass that can reassemble itself to form pictures, and Aino's box was made of jade and decorated with silver engravings.

Victoria took a wild guess and picked the pink glass key. Horuś sighed and took the steel grey spiked key, saying, ‘Why do I always get the sharp end of the stick…’ but smirked afterwards. Trying on their boxes, neither of the keys work.

‘You've got to be fucking kidding me,’ Horuś laughed and said at the same time Victoria said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ He threw the key at Victoria and she gave him hers. Trying on the steel grey key with spikes, it worked, but she decided to look when everyone opened their box. ‘I was hoping for something... less spiky, but I guess this one is okay,’ she muttered to herself.

Horuś tried the glass one, but it took him a while since he was shaking so much from laughter and pain. Victoria watched him, impatient. Aino picked up the marble key and tried to open her box. Their keys didn’t work.

‘Heads up,’ Horuś said, wanting to toss the key to Aino but then thinks better of it. ‘Okay maybe I should just hand you this one,’ he said, carefully putting the glass key in front of Aino. Aino took the key and gave him the one she just used. Horuś used the marble key. Both of their keys worked this time and their boxes opened. She guessed that the keys were supposed to symbolize each different champion; why they all got a key that was not themselves, she had no idea. To promote team unity, perhaps.

Horuś brushed his dripping bangs out of his face. ‘Well shit, what's in here?’ They all looked inside. In the boxes, Victoria found a scroll bound by a ribbon that listed some ingredients. She raised her eyebrows. 'Potion making?' she said, making a guess. She was a little unsure of her abilities in this field. 'Darn.' ‘Hey Aino, resident herbologist, do you recognise any of these plants?’ Horuś said, looking to Aino.

Aino wiped some blood off her face and stared at the scroll. ‘Yeah, I’ve heard of some but never actually seen or used them.’ Squeezing water out of her hair, Victoria said, ‘Well I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go take a shower and sleep.’ Frankly, she didn’t want to deal with the ingredients so soon. She would go into research mode later, but now she just wanted to rest. It seemed like Horuś thought the same as he said, ‘Well, I'd suggest hitting the books but now I'm feeling wiped. I could use a good nap right now.’

Suddenly, Calliope spoke up, annoyed, ‘Glad to see you guys are finished, but would you mind giving me a push back in?’ Victoria turned to the mermaid; she had nearly forgotten about her. Pushing her back in, she said, putting in as much sarcasm in her words as she could in her exhausted state, ‘Thanks for all your help.’ She knew that the mermaid did help, but Victoria was too mad at her to be grateful right now.

Horuś picked up an Occamy eggshell and tossed it at Calliope and said, ‘Something to remember us by.’ The mermaid slicked back her hair and popped above the waves. ‘Hey, don't blame me! I was told to do this by the Headmasters.’ Grabbing the shell, she said with a smile, ‘Thanks. I'll catch you guys around!’

Headmistress Lenox said, ‘Congratulations children! Who was that?’ ‘Calliope, though I thought you knew her. She told us that you guys put her up to this,’ Horuś replied quickly.

‘Me? Psh, it was all Atlas,’ she said. Rolling her eyes, Victoria couldn’t hold back a comment, ‘Yeah yeah everything is Atlas's fault, of course.’ She was joking, of course. Well, half-joking. ‘God is that why they hate me? Because I told them to watch out for the Beauxbatons kids?’ Horuś said, and Victoria couldn’t help but actually consider that possibility. You never know how those creatures' brains work.

‘Great job guys,’ Niara said with a smug smile. ‘Let's see if anyone can beat that.’

‘Ugh, no one better beat us. I nearly died for this shit,’ Horuś said, and Victoria nodded. ‘I don't know what I will do if someone beat us,’ she said, and she hoped she would never have to find out what she would do, because the results would not be pretty. ‘I will retreat to the depths of my father's mansion and never emerge again. my eagle will bring me food and there I will spend the rest of my miserable days,’ Horuś responded. She was just about to say that not everyone had a father who owned a mansion for hiding, but she decided against talking since it drained her already diminished energy. Niara said, ‘Doubt it, you guys did amazing. As for the scroll,’ she looked at it. ‘You should probably get some rest. I'll start researching.’

‘Thanks, Niara, you're a real friend,’ Horuś replied. ‘Thanks, Niara,’ Victoria said, and Aino added, ‘Kiitos Niara.’ Niara gave them a small smile. ‘Yeah, of course. let's get you guys back to the ships.’

And after that, it was all a flurry. The three of them were ushered here and there, between the hospital wing, the ship and the dormitories. Time went by slowly when you’re stuck in a hospital bed, but Victoria could feel her energy slowly coming back, and her brain started functioning again. She knew the second task wouldn’t be far away - and she would be ready for it.

#whew #first task #wtf is that graphic

[notsoguiltykpop]

Fish out of Water pt2

Humans are weird, and when you get the chance to get to know one and understand them better, you take it. But there are rules about interfering with human affairs, and breaking them might come at a higher price than you were willing to pay.

Part 1

Reader x Yoongi

Mermaid Au

Fluff, humor, maybe some angst? Not much though.

Yoongi waited on the beach with two disposable cups of coffee in his hands. The sun had gone down several hours ago, and as soon as he got off work he ran to the nearest coffee shop before hurrying back to the beach. When he opened his eyes earlier that day, he was lying flat in the sand, his clothes and hair soaking wet. He had then wandered home, still dripping wet (Jimin was quite concerned) thinking over what he had seen and what had happened. You must have saved his life—again—after he fainted in the water. That, or he had completely lost his mind.

Either way, finding out that you were a mermaid meant that he could not take you out for coffee after all, or take you out anywhere for that matter. But he had to do something to say thank you, and he had no idea what mermaids liked so he couldn’t buy you a gift. Throughout his whole shift at the restaurant on the pier, he had gone between questioning your existence and questioning how impossible it would be to get to know a mermaid. Finally, he settled on buying coffee and hoping that you would come back at all—then he could figure out what to do next.

He didn’t really expect to see you again—surely if humans didn’t know that mermaids were real, it was that way for a reason. You had already saved his life twice, it didn’t seem quite fair for him to expect you to be there a third time. But there he was, sitting with his toes buried in the sand waiting for a mermaid that might not ever return (or exist).

“What are you doing here? Haven’t you almost drowned enough for a while?” You asked, your head peaking around a column at him.

Yoongi smiled, relief washing over him. “I didn’t know if you would be here, but I wanted to apologize for earlier, and thank you again. I brought you coffee, but…Do mermaids drink coffee?” It had just occurred to him, and he wished he had done some googling before seeing you again.

“I don’t know.” You said, swimming closer. “I guess we’ll find out.” You sat mostly out of the water, your tail splashing lightly as you got comfortable. Yoongi scooted closer so he was sitting next to you, still completely in wonder of your existence and trying to comprehend what was happening. 

“It’s a caramel macchiato.” He said as he handed you the cup he bought for you.

“I thought you said it was coffee?” You asked, taking the cup and sniffing it. Yoongi nodded, realizing that you must not know much about the human world.

“It is, it’s just… A fancy kind of coffee.” Yoongi watched as you took the lid off to examine the drink. “Can I ask you something?” He asked after a second. He was trying very hard not to stare at your tail, and preoccupied himself with his own drink.

“I wouldn’t be here if I minded talking to you, so go ahead.” You confirmed. You still hadn’t tried the coffee, but watched as Yoongi sipped his own.

“Are there more… Uh, Mer…people?” It sounded ridiculous out loud, but it was too late to take it back now.

“Oh yes.” You nodded emphatically. “Lots. There are several kingdoms, my father rules one of them.” You said it offhandedly, and Yoongi couldn’t tell how serious you were being.

“Your father is King of the Merpeople?”

“One of them.” You corrected, imitating how he drank his coffee down to the tilt of his head. He watched as some of it poured down your front, and was grateful that it was no longer hot at least. “Oh.” You said, then laughed. “It looked so easy when you did it!”

Yoongi realized that you lived underwater, of course you didn’t drink things. He felt dumb for not realizing it earlier, and was about to apologize when you started talking again.

“I really like this stuff. It’s weird, and makes quite a mess, but it has such an interesting flavor…” You gave him a thumbs-up. “I declare that mermaids do indeed drink coffee! Or, whatever this is.” You brought the cup up to your lips once more, but this time just stuck your tongue in it. “This is a much less-messy way of consuming it.” You informed him, and Yoongi laughed despite himself—maybe it was nerves, he had never met a mermaid—never even imagined that he would—before the previous night.

“Yes, I suppose it is.” He agreed. He felt like he must be in some kind of dream—was it possible he was really sitting here, talking to a mermaid? And had he really just brought said mermaid coffee?

“I have a question for you, now.” You said, and Yoongi nodded for you to go on. “What is it like up there?” You pointed to the pier above you, and Yoongi looked up at the boards that spanned it.

“On the pier?” He asked, and you nodded. “It’s… Insane most of the time, but also fun, in its own way.” He said honestly. “The tourists are the really loud ones, they blow money like you wouldn’t believe.”

“I know what money is!” You interrupted. “It’s the green paper that humans like to collect.” You looked pleased with yourself, and Yoongi couldn’t help his smile.

“Right, that stuff. There are regulars who come into the restaurant, they know everybody’s name and don’t cause trouble. Then there are the people who just go for the bar—those are the ones that I deal with most of the time. Sometimes they’re fine, other times they get into fights… It’s always an adventure to go into work. Does that answer your question?” You had saved his life, the least he could do was tell you whatever you wanted to know.

“Yep. I have another one, now.” You took another lick of coffee, and Yoongi had to bite his lip not to laugh—not at you, just at how cute it was. “What is it like to have toes?”

Yoongi blinked. How did one describe having toes? “Well…” He thought for a moment. “They’re useful for balance, but they’re also really annoying sometimes.”

“Why?” Your eyes were wide as you looked at his feet.

“Because sometimes you run into things, and they hurt a ridiculous amount. What is it like to have a tail?”

You stared at him. “How am I supposed to explain having a tail? I just have one, I don’t have anything to compare it to.” You said, then tilted your head to the side. “I just asked you basically the same thing, didn’t I? Sorry…” You laughed sheepishly.

Yoongi shook his head quickly. “Don’t be, really. I don’t mind.”

“I’m not supposed to talk to humans.” You said abruptly. “You’re… Not going to capture me and put me in a tank, are you?”

Yoongi frowned. “You saved my life, that’d be a pretty terrible way to repay you, wouldn’t it?” You shrugged, then stiffened, looking out at the water.

“What? Did I do something?” Yoongi asked, and you shook your head.

“I have to go. Will you be back here tomorrow?” There was a hopefulness in your eyes that made Yoongi think that maybe you were just as excited to get to know him as he was you.

“Absolutely.” He gave you a smile that you returned.

“Can you do me a favor? Bring French-fries. I want to try them next.”

The next two nights passed like this, you telling Yoongi what it was like to be a mermaid, and him telling you what it was like to be human. One of the most interesting things you learned from talking to Yoongi was that he wasn’t all that different from you. Sure, you had a tail and he had legs, but he certainly didn’t seem like a cold-hearted blood-thirsty killer like the history books said humans were.

He brought of food for both of you, and the two of you would eat while talking—French-fries (like you asked), and a hamburger the next night. On the third night, he showed up with soup, which, while he warned you it was hot and to be careful, he seemed to forget it himself.

He winced, fanning his mouth and making a strange noise as you watched.

“Your eyes are leaking.” You informed him, reaching out and brushing one of the droplets away.

“They’re tears because I burned my tongue. It hurts.” Yoongi said in explanation.

Without thinking, you leaned forward and brushed your lips against his. It wasn’t exactly the affected area, but it was close enough to help—the ability to heal others with touch had always been something you were grateful for, and had never hesitated to use it. You pulled away to see him staring at you with his eyes wide.

“Sorry!” You said hurriedly. “You said it hurt, so I was just trying to help��”

“I—you did. Thanks.” Yoongi still looked stricken, but smiled faintly anyway. You ate the soup in relative silence after that, and you noticed Yoongi very deliberately not looking at your tail.

“You can touch it, if you want.” You said eventually, and Yoongi looked over at you. “My tail, I mean. I don’t mind.”

“Are you sure?” Yoongi asked slowly, and you gave him a reassuring smile, taking his hand in yours and pulling it over so his fingers barely brushed your teal scales.

“See? Not so bad, is it?” You asked him, and he nodded.

“No…not at all.”

“Where have you been?”

You froze when you heard the voice. You had just left the pier, still close enough that if you were on the surface, you could see its lights.

You turned to see your cousin, Wonho behind you.

“Observing humans, staying a safe distance away…” You shrugged. “The usual.”

He shook his head. “I saw you. You know it’s dangerous—“

You shook your head. “If you saw, then surely you also saw that Yoongi is the furthest thing from dangerous! Don’t tell my father, please?”

He rolled his eyes. “You know if you get caught, we’re all done for, right?” He said, and you nodded.

“I’m careful. It’s just him, and he won’t tell anyone.” You told him confidently. 

“You’re too trusting.” He frowned. 

“You’re too suspicious of everyone! Now please, not a word of this to anyone, I’ll never be able to see him again if it gets back to my father.”

“I’ll think about it.”

You returned the next day, not long after the sun had set. You were excited to see Yoongi again, and really couldn’t wait to try ice-cream. You knew you were early—Yoongi told you the previous night that he was working late, and he wouldn’t be there until around one in the morning. But you were patient, you could wait.

Before you got all the way to the pier however, you came face-to-face with your father.

“What are you—“ You started, but he held up a hand for you to stop.

“I was hoping you would make the right decision yourself.” He sighed. “But apparently not…”

“I can explain—“ You tried again.

“It doesn’t matter. You’ve shown yourself to a human—that is a crime, no matter your reason, intention, or status.” The last part was said very pointedly. He was a good man, but a stickler for the rules, and made no exceptions—not even for family.

“But he’s good, father.” You pleaded. “He’s kind, not evil like the books say. they’re wrong about humans.”

“You think because you have seen one a few times that you are now an expert? They are cruel, vile creatures. You will stay away from them.” It was a topic that had always made him unreasonably mad, even when you were younger.

“I most certainly will not.” You said. You had never been a rebellious child, never questioned the rules--except when it came to humans.

“They are evil, what will it take for you to see that?” He ran a hand through his long white hair. “We’ve been over this before. They aren’t like us.”

“They’re just like us.” You countered.

“Very well.” He said finally, and your eyes widened. Had you just won? “You want to know humans? You want to be an expert? I curse you to live as one for one year. You will learn their cruelty. You will experience their selfishness firsthand.” The water had gotten darker, swirling around you. “Come back when you have learned your lesson. Not before then.”

There was a blinding flash of light, and then complete darkness.

You were on land, that was the first thing you realized. The only part of you touching the water was your tail... Except it didn’t feel right. You opened your eyes, sat up, and screamed. Your tail was gone, replaced with human legs, your toes barely in the water still.

“No… No, no, no…” You said. This was never what you wanted. You were curious about humans, that was all! Your beautiful tail was gone. And you knew there was no point trying to reason with your father, not when he was this mad. Your best bet was to come back in a week or so—if you could survive that long.

You looked around desperately, seeing an abandoned swim cover discarded not far from where you sat. Humans were very particular about covering things, and the last thing you needed now was to draw attention to yourself—not to mention you were cold. Apparently humans weren’t as naturally warm as mermaids.

You stood shakily, and the sand felt strange between your new toes. You tried to take deep breaths. Everything would be fine, you just had to figure out some way to survive for now… You got to the swim cover and pulled it on, grateful that, although a little wide and a lot short, it covered everything you needed it to.

“Yoongi… He’ll help me…” You muttered, looking up at the pier.

Getting all the way to the end of the pier was no easy task, but after stubbing your toes several times (Yoongi was right, that did hurt way too much) and stepping on some painful pebbles, you made it. The restaurant was packed, as Yoongi said it was most nights. Perhaps if you hadn’t just been spontaneously turned into a human, it would have been fun. But as it was, you were overwhelmed.

“Table for one?” You recognized the voice before you registered the face, and you were happy to see someone who looked at least somewhat familiar.

“Jimin!” You said, and the host blinked at you, confused.

“Sorry, do we… Know each other?” He gave you a smile. “I feel like I would remember your face.”

“Oh, no.” You shook your head, thinking fast. “I read your nametag.” You said, trying to smile in return. “Is Min Yoongi here?”

Jimin raised his eyebrows. “He is, but if there’s a problem I’d be happy to help…”

“Problem? Why would there be a problem?” You asked. Did you look like something was wrong? You hoped not.

“Well, normally when people ask to talk to the manager, it’s because there’s something wrong…” Jimin explained.

“No, nothing’s wrong. I’m just a friend and I need to talk to him.” You said, looking around to see if you could spot him in the crowd—you couldn’t.

Jimin nodded, giving you a strange look. “He’s kind of busy right now, and will be for a while… Do you think it can wait?”

“No problem.” You said, not seeing any other option. You noticed a bench near where you were standing—it would be a good pace to sit and give your bruised feet a rest. “I can wait as long as it takes, it’s not like I have something better to do.” You muttered the last part, wondering if Yoongi was really worth having your tail taken from you.

A/N Idk if this still counts as a mermaid au? But her tail will come back! Thank you for reading! It’s a bit odd, isn’t it? But I have actually thought of a whole plot (okay, most of a plot) I’m going to get some sleep now, haha. Let me know what you guys think! <3 <3 <3

--Admin Boo

#yoongi scenarios #suga scenarios #yoongi imagines #suga imagines #yoongi fluff #suga fluff #yoongi mermaid au #suga mermaid au #fish out of water #bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts fluff #bts fanfic #yoongi fanfic #suga fanfic #jimin scenario #jimin fanfic #jimin imagine #bts suga imagine #bts yoongi imagine #min yoongi imagines #min yoongi scenarios #min suga scenario #kpop scenarios #kpop fluff #kpop imagines

[geeky-elf]

Major Graphic Novel Update on REFD

So I have been more motivated than usual this week and with a little more free time, I managed to write two more storyline snippets plus three character designs (third one submitting tomorrow). I'm still figuring out the best title for the whole thing. Right now the one that sticks to me is Rajin: Edge of Darkness, but I feel I can get more creative with it and pick something else, but I'll see. Honestly I need to stay focused with grad school for the time being, but I'm really hoping after graduating and I can start illustrating pages, or at least focus on my art in general just for the sake of improving. Just somethings that I can touch on now: Characters: Skyfyre: Main and first character in the story who becomes possessed with a dragon's soul and gains elemental magic throughout. Eldoron: A sky pirate with a bad history who decides to make his life around building an airship to travel the universe, exploring new worlds, meeting new faces, and ultimately with a goal of vengeance of the eminent dark powers that lie beyond. He is very tech savvy and has a strategic mind. Often combining technology with magic, which is what created Rajin in the first place. Jessie: A Wiccan whose expertise is in alchemy. She can concoct anything from a healing potion to a powerful bomb. Ian: A accident in his youth left him for dead if it wasn't for the help and sacrifice from others to aid in keeping him alive and converting him to a cyborg with super human capabilities. His main purpose is ensuring everything runs the way it's supposed to and inventing new and useful items. He has a geeky and outgoing persionality for the most part, but is plenty happy with himself and his inventions. Pixel: An insectoid like fairy who befriended Eldoron at an early age. She's become a useful companion and guide. Her sense of adventure and need to help others has ensured her to be a useful part of the team. She mainly helps Eldoron, but often aids in other tasks where her small stature is to her advantage Orion: A full blooded elf with a mysterious and rough exterior. Not too much is known about him or his past. He rarely talks and at times can be rather blunt. However the only other crew member that seems to break his barriers is Jessie. He is the knowledge base of the crew and reads during most of his time. He knows everything about every mystical or non mystical race and their history. Orion possesses telekinetic and limited time bending powers. Trish: A nature loving goblin who is almost ninja like with her amazing senses and quickness on her feet. She is sort of the rogue of the crew, and good on stealth related and missions requiring a quick in and out. She loves fantastical creatures of all sizes and often collects them and trains them as her own. She is knowledgeable in Phoenix falconry, gryphon riding, serpent taming, and even dire wolf domestication. The only creature that still remains out of her reach are dragons. They are just too smart and clever she says. She hopes to try to train a wyvern though, being more primitive, she might have more luck. Blaze: Skyfyre's dragon companion who possessed her from within his egg form. He is one of the more powerful fire dragons, but with his link to Sky's elemental magic, he can shift and change to accommodate those needs. (An eastern storm dragon, a fire drake, a furry tundra dragon, a sea serpent, and an earth wyvern). Acheron: One of the main antagonists of the story, but far from the ultimate one. He is elven in magic, but vampiric in it's very nature. He acts as a medium to the dark powers and becomes molded and shaped in their will turning him into a monster who possesses a sense of masochism. He likes making his victims suffer greatly and yearns for the destruction of worlds to spread his evil powers further. Plot synopsis: A mysterious force in the universe, whether its the ether that holds space together or it's more has made outlying planets in worry. As darkness spreads, many are forced to leave or become victims to its power leaving others to fend for themselves. As planets get consumed, parts break off and ricochet through its infinite vacuum. One the broken parts lands on Earth near a small village where an orphaned girl's curiousity takes the best of her. Upon further investigation, she becomes possessed by the mysterious being within it's shells. Turns out that being was a dragon, though starting out as a baby, has great potential for power. As she grows stronger and discovers magic powers of her own that would change her life forever and create many enemies along the way. It's not until a mysterious sky pirate comes to rescue her is when her journey and discovery of her destiny really begin. It's aboard the grand airship, Rajin, where Skyfyre learned about what her role is among many uniquely gifted crew members. The gang will travel to the far reaches of space discovering new planets and making new friends along the way whether they are elven or dwarfish. In the end the fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of these handful of mystical humanoids and beasts alike. Style: The style found in my character designs will be similar to what I hope to accomplish in the comic. Characters that aren't too realistic in nature, but I need to master anatomy still and improve on it overall so I can pull it off that much better especially since I'll be drawing different characters of different ages a lot. The style of the graphic novel itself, will be semi Ike a hero comic book, but it will read more like those such as How to Train you Dragon comics as well as the Last Airbender set. Not pop arting as I want to focus on the illustration side of it all. I want to make the backgrounds detailed while the foreground characters are simple (Miyazaki film like). Setting: About Rajin: Most of everything will take place on Rajin, which is almost a small city in itself. Rajin has everything one would need on long periods of inner space travel. The airship itself is self sustaining powered by magic and technology alike allowing it to fly and keep everyone comfortable. Food is grown on board along with places to train and work on combat and energy based abilities. Plenty of room for Blaze to stretch his wings on and roomy living quarters that can put a luxury apartment complex to shame. Everything is customized to one's own and plenty of rooms and living space on each and every one of the floors that will fit to everyone's needs. There are armor and weapon making and repair places along with those for recreation based use. The airship itself has many amenities that are found on Earth, but also many that are inspired from all over making way for a diverse community to live in harmony and make a home for themselves. Ian has even created robots and tech that make life easier especially to avoid having to walk all the way from one side to the other. About other Homeworlds: While a good chunk will occur on Earth as Sky and Blaze learn to get used to one another and try to find their place in the world without bringing unwanted attention to themselves, the graphic novel will go through many planets and homes to not only distant human related relatives like Eldoron's, but also many mythical beings from animal halflings, to orcs, dwarves, mermaids, centaurs,....you name it they will all appear one way or another. The worlds themselves, will be as unique as them holding an artistic beauty that I really hope to master backgrounds in general by this point because I want to capture the complexity of the natural and artificial side of it all. You will have worlds that aren't anything more than caves, deserts, oceans,...etc. and even those that are completely suburban. Sort of a Futurama/Star Wars feel as many of these outlying worlds are connected and many travel between them and beyond especially in the more advanced regions of tech and discovery you will see more of these connections, while others isolate themselves more. Artist Goals: I've been thinking so much on this project since I was a freshmen in college (almost 8 years ago). Often ideas came to me as I daydreamed in class or on the way to class, but now I've changed a lot of the aspects, but began fitting all the pieces together more and more. My main goal(s) as an artist is to try and master or at least be the best I can at all the mediums available to me whether its painting, colored pencils, sculpting clay or 3D models, animating, plush making,...I want to try them all in my lifetime. I also feel it would be cool even if it's a one time thing for me to publish a graphic novel and maybe a purely written book that goes with it. I'm not sure how long the novel will be, I want to extend it as far as a I can without milking anything to death. Might publish one or two or several depending on where it goes. My main focus now is grad school so I need another year to focus on that and get my degree, but I feel with whatever free time I have I can work towards improving and putting more pieces together. I want to perfect whatever style I can come up with before the illustration process begins. Things that I should focus on: Backgrounds, backgrounds, backgrounds, I need to practice backgrounds so much in terms of accuracy in detail and lighting as well as in perspective especially for big city scenes and such. This will definitely be the hardest goal because I need to improve a lot in terms of drawing and coloring and getting everything right with that. Airship tweaking. I feel the exterior design could use continued work to make it as interesting as I want it to be. I also need to do a floor by floor layout to show all the rooms and areas and even some concept art on how some said areas will look. Character Designs: Lots of thought still needed here, I need to improve on my human based style in terms of making sure anatomy is as accurate as possible while keeping it in almost a Disney-esque sort of way since realism won't be my focus with characters to keep them simple as I focus my time on backgrounds and such. Also figure out how many add on characters will occur as the story progresses and how that will ensure their uniqueness in terms of additional roles on board Rajin. Storyline: It's getting to the point where writting while it helps, I feel I need to start just doing and thinking of further story arcs as a go. Right now I feel I have a nice story idea that should extend for a good chunk of it, but antagonist development and how that leads to end game, is what will be tricky and i have to figure that out too. Right now, it's organized like this: Skyfyre's daily life as a homeless orphan prior to the meteor strike followed by possession of soul and continues forth as Sky trying to get used to her new situation (denial first step of course and avoidance). Blaze grows a little bit with her as they spend several months trying to make a home elsewhere before eventually getting captured by government agencies. Skyfyre is than experimented on and starved to the brink of death in the hands of corrupted people who wish to extract her power. During this time flashbacks to the meteor's origins should occur "The Rescue" (snippet in gallery) will occur as Sky is brought onboard the ship She has trouble adjusting at first "Slow Dance of a Sky Pirate". As she learns to adapt to the new changes and potential destiny gets to know the other crew members better, she begins training with them. Of course in time a relationship slowly builds between her and Eldoron. During the time on the airship spanning a few months, flashbacks to Eldoron's past "Attack of Vimera" will come into play. Several flashbacks for each character will come into play (not necessarily in chronological order where they will be the most significant, I want the reader to piece the parts together and the connections that were formed from beginning to present day). These will take place throughout at different parts, some towards the beginning and some other when Acheron is introduced. Something begins to happen to the airship where some outside force disrupts the magic within the elemental crystals that keep the ship running. It becomes an emergency and they must travel to each of the major elemental based planets to restore their powers one by one starting including a visit to the marine planet. "That Night". Where the relationship between the two grows a little more. It's at these different locations they meet and take on some of the inhabitants that will prove useful as they continue to learn about the growing threat of the darkness spreading Acheron will get introduced at one point followed by many failed fighting attempts including a major climax one "Sky's last Fight" So far this is what I have laid out mainly still a lot of things I hope to extend it upon and fill it with all leading up to a life versus death situation with the final battle. Well that's what I have laid out for now. Changes are bound to occur and will update accordingly. Thanks for reading. Hope you all like the ideas so far. Created at simplydevio.us