A rewrite of The Little Mermaid I wrote a while ago when I went into fairy-tale rewriting mode XDD
It's like...a year old, maybe?
I think I wrote this before I ever started writing Aress in Wonderland, so the writing style's probably different XDDD
lol my friend read this and he was all like THIS IS UNREALISTIC. ONE OF THE CHARACTERS STARTED OUT UNCONSCIOUS.
me: AT LEAST HE WASN'T ON THE BOTTOM
him: IT'S STILL UNREALISTIC
I THINK I MAY HAVE CONVERTED HIM TO BL "OTL
But that was a while ago, so... XD
Please Read, Review and Enjoy!

The depths of the sea sparkled an aquamarine blue. The fish swam in shiny schools, leaving trails of bubbles behind them. The seaweed waved peacefully in the underwater currents. It was a beautiful scene ruled by serenity.

Aoki hated all of it. He hated how perfect everything was, how nothing ever changed. He longed to see new worlds, to be anywhere but here. Out of his eighteen years of his life, he had never been anywhere else. Sure, he had been to the surface tons of times, but never for too long. He glared at the tail he had. Sometimes, he absolutely despised being born as a merprince. Especially being stuck in the family he was in now.

"Aoki!" He sighed at the screeching voice pierced the calm of the sea. Even though he hated the serene silence, he hated her voice even more.

"Yes, Stepmother?" he asked, barely keeping his irritation hidden in his voice. He turned to face her as she swam into his room without even asking. Granted, it wasn't too hard to do that underwater, but still. He didn't like others to invade his privacy.

"What's this I hear about your going to the surface again?" she asked, demanding an answer.

"What do you think it means?" he replied calmly. He didn't like ever bothering to properly respond to such a disrespectful person.

"I thought we had an agreement: that you would no longer go up there!"

"No. You agreed with yourself," he answered coldly, looking out the window.

"Well, I have no choice then. If you choose to go to the surface again, I will instantly arrange for you to be married and be locked in the castle for the rest of your life," his stepmother threatened.

"You can't do that!" Aoki yelled in outrage, turning around quickly to confront her.

"Ah, but I can. All I have to do is tell your father that 'I'm worried about your well-being' and that 'you should be monitored until your behavior improves,'" she replied with an evil smirk. Aoki bit back a response, gritting his teeth in helpless rage because he knew that they both knew there was nothing he could do against that.

He hated this too. He hated how she would blackmail him "for his own good" and "for the kingdom's good." It was blackmail and not even requests that she made, yet everyone believed he was just a rebel acting out without a cause. "I've had enough of this!" he growled as he swam out his window and into the open sea. As he swam towards the glimmering surface, her screeches faded away into silence.

"Hah...!" He gasped as he broke through the water's surface, flinging his head back, wet strands of his crimson hair flying through the air. He looked around as he floated on the surface peacefully. The sandy shore was only barely visible from where he was. He looked up in surprise as huge waves buffeted him. A huge ship loomed over him as it sailed by. "Wow..." He had been to the surface several times before, but he had never seen something like this before. He climbed up the side of the ship, curious to see what was there, hearing music.

A young man with brown hair and green eyes sat alone on a barrel on the deck. He played a touching, almost mournful, song on his trumpet. Aoki watched him, almost moved by a song a stranger was playing. He had never felt this way before. "...who are you...?"

He watched as the young man got up and got ready to go below-decks. Suddenly, a loud snap rang through the air and a huge beam swung at the unprepared human. Aoki could only watch as the human was flung into the water, most likely unnoticed by anyone else. He hurriedly dove into the water and swam to the spot where the young man had fallen in. It was all blue underwater, too blue, he couldn't see anything, where was he? Aoki looked frantically underwater for the human; he knew that they couldn't breathe underwater like he could. The young man would die if...!

There! Aoki finally spotted the young man, sinking towards the dark blue depths. The merprince sped towards the unconscious young man and grabbed him. The redhead struggled to drag the watersoaked human to the surface; he never understood why humans wore so many clothes. Clothes were far too heavy to move in. Aoki finally broke the surface again, human in tow. He hurriedly swam towards the shore, which was so distant...too distant...

Would he make it...? After what felt like an eternity, he finally made it to the sandy shore. He laid the human on the warm sand. The young man wasn't moving. Was he too late...?

Virgil felt like he was floating in a warm sort of bubble. The last thing he could remember was getting knocked off of the ship by a beam, and then landing in the water. No one had heard. Was he dead...? He slowly blinked open his green eyes. Someone was leaning over him. Who...?

He had never seen this person before. Dripping wet crimson hair, curiously worried sea blue eyes, wet pale skin... Virgil hazily wondered if this was an angel, sent to take him to heaven. He licked his lips. Perhaps in more way than one...

He wrapped his arms around the vision and kissed him. He continued when there was no resistance.

Aoki didn't resist because he had been taken completely off-guard. He didn't even have time to resist. Who was this person...? The merprince tried to fight off the human, belatedly realizing that he wasn't supposed to, never should have, interact with a human, nonetheless a male human.

Especially not like this. Aoki tried to push off the human, whose hands were wandering downwards from his shoulders. He winced slightly as the human's fingers trailed down his back, following every last curve of his body on the way down. He tried to gasp for air, even merpeople above water needed to breathe for oxygen on land. The young man didn't let him, instead deepening the kiss further. Doesn't he need to breathe? The human's hands didn't even falter when they met where the scales started on Aoki's body, right below the top of his hips. Aoki gasped when the hands delved too low for comfort.

He gathered all of his strength and shoved the human away. Aoki panted heavily as he watched the young man warily. He didn't understand the human's actions, but he didn't want to get caught off-guard again. The merprince cautiously observed the human's body. Chocolate brown hair, green eyes like the color of the seaweed forest beneath the sea, lightly tanned skin that was mostly covered with the now soaking wet, heavy garments. "...who...are you...?" Aoki asked softly, overcome by curiosity and the thrill of breaking rules and also the mystery of a human.

They leaned back closer together again, the human pulling Aoki back towards him, the merprince unconsciously closing his sea blue eyes. "Well, I'm-"

"Prince Virgil!" The human turned in surprise at the sound of other human voices. Aoki froze. He couldn't be seen by so many people! "Your Highness!"

"Ah, Grey!" Virgil replied almost excitedly. "Look at what I found!" He beamed.

""Why, what a...beautiful...uh...rock?" his servant finally said after struggling to find a way to not make his prince sound, well, delirious. Which he probably was.

"What? Rock? Grey, are you blind-?" Virgil turned towards the merman in his arms in disbelief and looked absolutely stunned as he found a rock in his hands instead. "Wha-?"

"Your Highness...perhaps you've inhaled too much water..."

"No, he was right here! I swear!"

"Green, White, let's take the prince back to the castle."

"Hey, no! He's gotta be real close! He can't have gotten that far!" Virgil struggled against the servants that struggled to grab him to drag him back to the castle. "I swear he's real! It wasn't a dream!" His protests went unheeded as they dragged him down the beach.

"...Humans certainly are strange," Aoki commented, just within watching distance of the scene that had played out. He ran a finger across his lips thoughtfully before diving underwater again.

Virgil turned at the sound of water splashing amidst the rolling of waves. He turned just in time to glimpse a flash of a tail before it disappeared into the blue. He gaped in surprise for a moment before blinking his green eyes. Maybe that had just been an illusion, too...

Aoki growled as he swam in circles inside his room. His stepmother had told his father about his swimming away to the surface and he had been sentenced to indefinite house arrest. He was frustrated. His freedom had been taken away and there was nothing he could do about it.

"It's not that bad, My Lord," a maid commented, trying to cheer her prince up. Aoki turned, irritated, at the sound of her voice. He froze. Brown hair and green eyes. Just like that human. "...Prince?"

"It's nothing...you may go." He watched the mermaid leave. Aoki sighed. He couldn't help it; he wanted to go to the surface again. He wanted to meet that human again, had so many questions he wanted to ask him... Aoki blushed lightly as he rested his hand on his lips. So many explanations he needed.

But here he was, stuck in his room underwater, all exits and entrances guarded. There was nothing he could do. He growled angrily as he tried to punch the wall.

"Ah, such a pretty prince...you shouldn't do violent things like that." Aoki whirled around at the unfamiliar voice, tensed for any conflict. The voice came from an eel.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he yelled angrily, hoping the guards might hear. "This room is heavily guarded, you know!" He shivered as another eel slid up his back and around his upraised arm.

"That's okay. We've taken care of them." Aoki didn't want to ask, couldn't ask what had happened to them.

"...what do you want from me?" Aoki asked tensely as the eels approached him.

"Nothing...our master just wanted us to free you."

"...Master?"

"Yes, our Master. He wishes us to free you."

"What does he want...?"

"Nothing but to fulfill your wish."

"Fulfill my wish?" he asked as he turned his head to follow the eels as they circled his body.

"Yes...our Master can do anything. For a price." Aoki shuddered at the implications in the statement. Then he realized what it meant.

"Even...give a merman legs?"

"Yes...but our Master's services are not cheap."

"Only those who are willing to pay...will take the journey with us." With that, the eels slid past him and out the open window, into the open sea. Aoki stared hesitantly after them, watching their tails disappear around the side of the window. Only those who are willing to pay...

Aoki looked around the empty room. What did he want to do? What reason did he have to remain here? What price was he willing to pay for his emotions? Was it worth it? Could he...pay for what he wanted? Or was it going to cost him far too much?

"Prince!" Guards burst into the room to protect the prince or perhaps save him.

The room was empty.