The Seal's Lament
First day of Mythtalia March!
So, I combined two different mythlogies, firstly I got the idea of a Selkie and put it into Alexandros' Papadiamadis story, the seal's lament.
It's VERY good, also short so if you wanna check it out, I think there's an english translation somewhere.
Main pairing: Germany/Italy, HRE/Italy
TW: Implied Abuse, and CHILD DEATH. It's not described. Slight descriptions of a corpse. YOU ARE WARNED.
Mythtalia March is by @hwsevents
On an island, the name of it unknown, though it lies in the middle of the Aegean Sea, during an era of poverty and illness, there was a child, long ago, his name was Ludwig Beilschmidt.
His family was not too poor, at least not anymore. They used to buy food for ten people, and they barely had enough left to survive. But after the sickness that plagued his home a few years ago, they never had to think about food again.
He used to have a myriad of siblings. Now only Gilbert remained.
Whenever he wanted to think alone, he would go and walk along the rocky beach of his island, which was called Kochyle, and gaze upon the sea. His brother would herd the goats and play the flute all the while, and his grandfather would wash the clothes in the salty water, only to clean them again in the small stream nearby their house.
Ludwig was a silent child; he didn’t have many friends and he preferred to play alone. If he even wanted to. Most likely he could be found helping his grandfather with his tasks, even if he didn’t hear a single word of thanks from him.
Sometimes, during his walks, he would sit down and listen to the crash of the sea waves and focus on the repetitive calming motion. One time, he decided to take a walk during the night, seeing that Gilbert and his grandfather wouldn’t stop yelling at each other.
That warm summer night, the sea was still like olive oil, and when he sat down nearby a small cave, there was complete silence for a bit. The moon was full that night, but the stars seemed to shine just as bright as if there was complete darkness. Then, he heard a sound in the distance.
It was otherworldly, and beautiful. High pitched, like the yell of seals and melodic like the movement of the fish. Ludwig was immobile, entranced by the sweet melody.
Then, more voices, and more and more, until an entire orchestra of alien melodies sang at the empty beach. The voices got louder and louder, until at the crescendo of the giant melody, there was silence again.
Ludwig sat still, afraid and hypnotized.
A seal burst through the sea. Then another and another, until around thirty or forty seals laid against the surface. Ludwig hid behind a large rock and put a hand over his mouth. He then sneaked a peek at the seal gathering.
They weren’t seals anymore. They had shed or were shedding their skins and were now human. They laughed with each other in a strange language, akin to gurgles and pulled more and more people out of sealskins.
Ludwig’s eye fell upon a younger seal, and its father, or grandfather, trying to say something to it. It yelled out a few times, and the grandfather said something again.
Then the seal started taking off its skin, taking on the form of a human. He was the same age as Ludwig, only thinner, and with curly brown-red hair. He took his grandfather’s hand and went inside the cave.
Ludwig stared at the procedures, and then listened to the yells and the dances of the seals within the cave.
He was too tired to move anymore, and he was exhausted. He closed his eyes, and he fell asleep on the tiny rocks of the beach.
.
The sun was warming him, Ludwig thought as he woke up the next day. He grumbled and tried to push himself upwards. The rocks made his back hurt, and he hissed as his spine ached.
Then, he realized something fell off him. Something like a blanket. He was confused, so Ludwig looked at the fallen sheet of linen or wool. But it wasn’t linen or wool.
It was sealskin.
Ludwig stared at it for a moment. He opened his mouth to make something like a scream, but then something made a sound of surprise. Ludwig looked upwards and saw the boy from last night. He was wearing just a cloth, had tan skin and deep brown eyes. He seemed as if he had been in the sea just a second ago, droplets dripping down his hair and nose.
Ludwig didn’t say anything. Neither did the boy.
Then the boy said something in the tongue that seals spoke. Ludwig didn’t understand a word. The boy’s eyebrows furrowed.
“H-hi” he managed to wretch out of his mouth.
Ludwig was stunned. “Hello” he returned.
They stared at each other for a while. Then, the boy pointed at himself and made a strange sound out of his mouth. He must have seen Ludwig’s confusion, because he laughed. It was loud, but Ludwig found it endearing.
Then he made the sounds again, but with a syllabic form. “Fe-li-ci-a-no"
Ludwig tried to pronounce that, but he could only pronounce Feli right.
“My... apologies.” Ludwig said. “I cannot pronounce your name...”
Feli looked blankly at Ludwig.
He sighed and got entirely out of the sealskin. It lay on the ground, dry and brown. Ludwig put his hand of his heart. Then he pronounced, slowly and deliberately.
“Lud-wi-g. Ludwig” Feli tried to play the sound in his own mouth. He giggled. Then, he managed to say “Ludwy. Uwig? Luddy?”
Ludwig thought for a moment and nodded. “Luddy. Yes.”
Feliciano said ‘Luddy’ again and again and laughed. Then he spoke in his tongue for a moment.
Ludwig didn’t understand a word. Then Feli stopped and stood up. Head obviously deep in thought. His eyes were shut, and his mouth was in a pout.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and smiled widely. He touched Ludwig’s hand and then pointed at him. Then he ran away from Ludwig, and he was left to understand what this naive boy meant.
He stood up and then walked towards Feli. He walked backwards, a bright smile on his face. Ludwig understood what he wanted to play, but he didn’t have time... his grandfather would search for him... well, at least Gilbert would.
He frowned. After a lot of thought, and a lot of Feli watching him carefully, he made a decision.
He sat down and slowly took off his shoes. Then, he ran towards Feli, first slowly, and then quicker and quicker, hand outstretched to catch him. Feli ran away, quick as a bird. The two children played tag for hours on end, sitting under the bright sun, or splashing into the water.
It was summer after all.
Ludwig was laughing so much; he hadn’t realized the sound came from him. Feli was also smiling, eyes shut. They were sitting on the rock, where Feli’s sealskin lay. Ludwig was sitting beside him, looking at his features.
Feli looked back, and Ludwig blushed, strongly. Feli didn’t seem aware of it though. He looked back at the sun, which was by now harshly illuminating their surroundings.
The sounds of crickets was loud and endless.
“Ludwig!!” There was a yell. Feliciano looked back at Ludwig; confusion obvious.
“Ludwig where are you?!!” It was Gilbert, his brother. For some reason, he didn’t want him to know about Feli, so he pushed himself off the rock and took with him the sealskin. Feli yelped and chased him.
He said something, but Ludwig shushed him and threw the sealskin inside the sea. Feli looked back at the waves and Ludwig. He suddenly hugged him, and jumped inside the waves, taking with him the sealskin.
A moment later, a seal tore through the waves, jumping back inside the endless sea.
“Ludwig!! Where were you, you little shit!? You made me so fucking worried!! God, what even are you doing here?” Gilbert’s tall lanky form appeared beside Ludwig. His hair was bright, and he wore long sleeves and pants.
He shouldn’t have come to the beach at this time, it was too bright. He would get badly sunburnt at home. “I was here last night, and I fell asleep”
“Why were you sleeping fucking here? You could get a cold, and then I’d never hear the end of it from grandfather. My awesome self wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen to you hm?”
Ludwig let him monologue as they walked home.
“Anyway, how did you sleep for so long? It’s already noon, I’ve never seen you sleep for more than an hour after seven.”
“I was tired” was all he said.
In the house, their grandfather stared at Ludwig with empty eyes. He didn’t ask anything, not where he was, not what he did.
He just looked at him and asked him to mop the floors while he went to sleep.
.
The next night, Gilbert and his grandfather were fighting again. Ludwig sighed and got out of his bed, as the screams woke him up. Looking opposite his bed, where Gilbert normally slept, he could see disturbed sheets, but the bed itself was empty.
Ludwig walked down the now empty hallway, filled with pictures of the dead. He walked down the stairs and the yelling got louder and louder. He heard something break against the floor.
Both Gilbert and his grandfather started screaming more and more, about money, about leaving, or about selling some objects. His grandfather screamed at Gilbert and Ludwig heard a loud crack, skin falling on skin, and then silence.
He slept alone that night.
.
The next day Ludwig was once again taking a stroll on Kochyle. He was at the cave where he met Feli before and waited for something. Maybe he waited for Feli again, or maybe he just wanted to be away from Gilbert and his unexplained bruised eye.
So, he gazed at the sea. And he waited first for a few minutes, then for a few hours. There wasn’t anyone else to go to, not Gilbert especially, and he most certainly didn’t want to be at home. He didn’t think his grandfather wanted him anyways.
The sun was at its height, and Ludwig decided to swim for a bit to cool down. He took off his shirt and short pants and walked inside the cold sea. He swam for a bit and allowed himself to venture deeper and deeper.
A cold stream flowed beneath his feet, not strong enough to pull him, but enough to need to hold back.
Then, he felt something brush against his feet. He yelped and immediately swam quickly towards the shore, panicking and flailing his hands and feet. Beside him, there was a brown shape, emerging and submerging itself.
Ludwig panicked even more, swimming in panic before the brown shape shot up from the waves and revealed itself as a small seal. It made a few sounds, and Ludwig started to calm down. He stopped moving when his feet touched the sea ground, and he was very close to dry land.
His head was just above the ground, before the seal jumped in front of him, and dove under the sea.
Seconds pass, and Ludwig searches for Feli? in confusion. Suddenly, he hears a soft, thin voice, speaking words in a language akin to the waves that break upon the cliffs of his island.
He turns around, and Feli, holding his sealskin, and smiling sweetly and widely. Ludwig also had a timid smile on his face. The two children got out of the water and sat down on the rock on which they first met.
They looked at each other, and Feli lay down on the rock, he looked tired and ready to take a nap. Ludwig furrowed his brows and turned his head. Feli laughed and pushed Ludwig down, making him lie under the warm sun.
Feli said “Luddy” and then made a face that looked exaggeratedly tired. Ludwig shook his head, but Feli nodded much more strongly. Ludwig sighed, but before he could lie down again, Feli beamed and jumped down.
He took his sealskin and made Ludwig jump down. He then laid it down onto the flat rock and jumped upon it, making himself comfortable and patting a space beside him. Ludwig was panicked and wide eyed. His cheeks reddened a bit.
But Feli insisted, so he timidly lied as far as possible from him, while still sitting on top of his sealskin. Literal seconds later, Feli started snoring and Ludwig looked t him in disbelief. Could he possibly be already asleep?
He snored again. Ludwig chuckled lightly and turned to nap too. A few minutes later, he also fell asleep.
.
When Feliciano woke up, it was already night. He had been tired from traveling to the shores from his home, but he wanted to see Luddy again! He looked beside him and saw the pale boy that napped on his sealskin.
He smiled, Luddy seemed like he didn’t want to sleep at all, but he is sleeping for more time than him. How funny!
But then came another voice from a distance. “Ludwig! Ludwig!” It was the person who got him last day too, the one Luddy didn’t want him to see.
So, Feliciano shook Luddy awake, and his groggy expression made him feel funny in his stomach. But he pulled on his sealskin, and Luddy looked very confused, and Feliciano jumped in the water of the sea and hid.
“Ludwig!! Ludwig!!!”
Luddy woke up completely, looking behind him. The older boy that appeared was pale. Much, much paler than Luddy, and he had white hair and crimson eyes. Feliciano’s mouth gaped.
The man was obviously Luddy’s brother, he had the same eyebrows and eye shape. But... but...
His brother was a ghost!!!
He knew land dwellers were strange, but this is over the top! Oh, how excited will his brother and grandpa be when they hear of this!
Before he left though, he heard what the two siblings had to say. He didn’t catch much, but he did hear one name. Alaric, and words that repeated, something like grandfather in his tongue.
.
Ludwig waited for Feli the next day too, and he came. And the next day, and the day after that, and just like that July passed without him noticing. Usually, every day and week passes slowly, dreadfully, without much reason for fun or celebration.
The only irregular things were done by Gilbert, when he went to the village with his friends, or when he fought with grandfather, although that is starting to become regular too. Feli was wonderful to spend time with, the little beach at Kochyle was like an island of solitude where they could do whatever they wanted.
And, sometimes, Ludwig forgot all about his grandfather and Gilbert and the graveyard with his family, so he laughed with Feli as they explored the cave, he laughed as they built sandcastles, and he smiled as he tried to teach Feli his language.
“Ocean”
“Oken”
“O-ce-an"
“O-ke-an"
“Not Okean, Ocean!” He smiled as he said so.
“Ocean!” Feli said eventually. Ludwig nodded, obviously proud with Feli, and himself a bit if he’s being honest.
Feli sat back, he had moved his face close to Ludwig’s and he was blushing a bit. They both turned and gazed at the sea. The waves were calm that day, the sun bright. The seagulls cried out and the two boys sat on the wet rocks, so as to not get scorched by the sun.
Then Feli turned, and Ludwig felt him looking at him. His sealskin was lain bare upon a rock behind them. Ludwig knew so, because he worried that someone would come and steal it.
Ludwig continued holding his head forward, although he knew that Feli was starting to lean in. He knew what was coming, he wanted it to happen, so why did he close his eyes as his cheeks burned bright, bright red?
Oh, he didn’t know. He was only ten, after all.
Feli kissed him slightly on his cheek. And Feli immediately pulled back, as if ridden by shame. Ludwig opened one eye and checked beside him. Feli was red too, only his eyes were wide open with panic.
Ludwig swallowed his fear, because that’s what boys do, or so had Gilbert said once, and kissed Feli on his cheek too, completely red in the face. Feli looked back. He smiled. He rested his head on Ludwig’s shoulder.
The two kids stayed like that for a few minutes as the sun set. Before he left, Feli gave Ludwig a seashell, colorful and bright.
He left a few moments before Gilbert arrived to take him back to the house
.
It was almost night when Alaric, a miserable poor old man, went down onto the beach to wash his clothes, and to sweeten them into the small stream that wept from a nearby stone.
He was traveling slowly, silently, singing an oh so old lament for his long dead children, his long dead grandchildren. The setting rays of the sun, setting into a mountain nearby, shone the tombstones, white, pure, dead.
He remembered everyone that was in his life. They all left, too soon, Charon the insatiable had taken them, he had sowed them.
The old man took right, where he usually went to wash the clothing. Along the road also lay the graveyard, where a flutist, one of the two grandsons of Alaric who were left, Gilbert, was herding his sheep and playing his flute.
In the graveyard. The joyful flute song put a pause on the old man’s lament. On that side of the island, only these two rested. Alaric had a fight with Gilbert about him leaving a few days before. He only stayed because of his brother.
How idiotic, wanting to leave his grandfather alone, getting older by the day.
A small brown seal also swam at the rocky beach of Kochyle, waiting for something. Or someone.
Ludwig was trying to go to the beach all day, but his grandfather wanted him to clean the house, as he was not that focused for the last month, as if something was distracting him. So, Ludwig was only now leaving, during the setting sun.
He had gone sometimes during the night to Kochyle, but with his grandfather he had t be careful. So, when he got to the graveyard and he found Gilbert playing his flute, he took a turn to the right.
“Where are you going?” Gilbert suddenly asked.
Ludwig stopped, “To the beach” he said.
“Why?”
“To help grandfather.” He thought of something. Gilbert knew something was going on with Ludwig and another person at the beach. Sometimes he thought he caught a glimpse of someone, before revealing itself to be a simple seal.
“Ha! As if I believe you, my brother. But go then, I suppose.” What’s the harm, he had thought. What’s the harm?
Before Ludwig left completely, Gilbert thought to himself that he would stay with Ludwig, no matter what. He would never leave him alone with Alaric.
The boy found a path, leading downwards. He followed it and the trees’ shadows looked as if they were trying to hinder him. The birds had stopped singing, and the cicadas had yet to start. It was silent, silent twilight.
The boy continued downwards, his foot got caught in a bush and he tumbled downwards. He got hurt. He stood up again, a scrape on his knee and blood on the ground. He looked around in the almost dark and realized that there was nowhere to go.
His heart started thundering inside his chest, he ran upwards, because he could hear the waves, but he knew he was too upwards to be on a beach. He found himself at the edge of a rock, sticking out.
The sky was black, the moon didn’t appear, and the stars were hidden from the clouds, as if they didn’t want to see.
He turned backwards.
He didn’t hear the crack immediately.
The sound of the flute made it, so his short scream wasn’t heard.
What-
Ludwig drowned.
.
The flutist was too far up to see the rock, but he turned to the sound, not realizing immediately that something could have happened.
As it was already night, old man Alaric had done the immeasurable path upwards, but he only heard the splash of a rock and thought to himself, that Gilbert not only disturbed the dead with his flute, but he also threw rocks into the sea for fun!
How shameful!
And he continued on his way. And Gilbert continued looking for his brother in the brambles, and the sailing ship continued sailing and the seal smelt something strange.
The seal was still waiting for someone, so he was swimming, and he smelt blood.
The seal was goodhearted, so it went towards the scent to find out what happened. The seal saw a small, dead, pale body.
It screamed.
It curled itself around the body, it pulled it upwards towards the surface, so it could perhaps breathe, all the while making desperate sounds, that any animal stayed away from, not from fear, no.
From pity.
The seal pulled the body out to the shore of Kochyle, and it shed its skin and turned into a young boy ten years of age.
The young boy took the body into its arms, he stared into its glossy eyes, its seaweed ridden hair, and he wept. He screamed, he cried, he shed tears for him.
He sang a song of desperation, of death, of grieving, a song so horrible and terrible that anyone hearing it would want to stop being.
The seal sang, the seal grieved, the seal screeched, the seal wept.
The seal lamented.
.
.
.
The Seal’s Lament, which was translated into human speech by an old fisherman, knowledgeable into the watery tongue of the seals, said approximately this:
This boy was named Ludwig
The grandson of old man Alaric.
Seaweeds make up his death crown,
Seashells are his dowry...
And the old man still mourns
His age-old dead children.
As if the sufferings of this world
Would even ever end...
There's also on AO3 fic for it, if you prefer it there:
I hope you enjoyed, I tried to make the romance between Lud and Feli as pure as possible, so at the end the gut punch is even stronger
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