Chapter Text
„What by the colors of the sea is that even supposed to mean!?” Eyebrows scrunched in confusion, hand scratching over his scalp, the young mer boy couldn’t help but sigh. The scriptures in front of him seemed to mock him and with a twitching fin he sunk lower, letting out a loud, drawn-out whine. Some of the writing knifes where almost poking him in one of his fins, so he shoved them out of the way. “Can somebody please explain to me, why I need so many of these? It’s not like one of them is easier to use than the others…”
When they only joined some broken stone slates on the floor along with some shells from his last meal, Jisung’s frown only deepened. With another sigh and a frown he took some of the things and put them on his writing desk.
It was in that moment, that he hit another tower of some scriptures, as well as some other things he had stacked to gather. Jisung didn’t even bother to try to catch them as he watched them floating to the ground. Great, just great.
The boy stared at the new, even bigger mess, then around his room. Well… he could have sworn that it hadn’t been that chaotic when he went to bed last evening. So when by everything that swims and breathes did everything… explode like that?!
“Okay, first things first. If councilor Chaewon finds out what I did to my room, she’ll kill me.” So humming a song under his breath, Jisung righted himself a bit, taking as much of the stuff he could and shoved it under his bed. When everything was – more or less – safely tucked away, he looked around for the scripture he had been studying.
Now… just where was that stupid thing? A quick glance around the now relative spotless room showed not a glimpse of the piece. Disbelieving Jisung turned around, looking at his bed again. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Because yes, right there sticking out from under all the other things was a corner of the stone template he was looking for.
So ever so careful he pulled it out, happily humming when the mess didn’t spill out from under his bed. His good mood was soon forgotten, when he read the lines on the template. Jisung let out a load grown, almost wanting to cry. “Why by the nine seas, why did ever think that stone templates where the best way to write stuff down?! And why did the y have to make it so complicated?!?!”
With a load wail, Jisung let himself sink to the floor of his room. It was silent for a few seconds, before his frown deepened and the stone template received a harsh glare. “By the degree of King Octavian, third of his line, it shall be known, that only the pitches of the voices should be the control a mer shall need to use and manipulate his very own magical reserves so that the pitch and intent intermingle to make the most magnificent harmony known to blub blub blub!”
His words took on a mocking tone the further he read on and on. “Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Can please somebody also write down how and what pitch and intent and voice color are supposed to be mixed together?!” With another groan he buried his face in his hands, letting the template fall to the ground again. “If there’s one more line about how it comes instinctively to each and every mer, it’s going to melt my brain… sea horse shit!”
The young mer boy just let himself fall backwards against the floor. It was hopeless. Councilor Chaewon would never let him advance, no matter how good he got with his writings, how creative and effective his songs for the other mer’s were if he didn’t master that one simple step. Because those were the rules and she was a pretty strict teacher.
So Jisung could help his prince should he ever be threatened.
Ha!
Jisung couldn’t help but scoff as he closed his eyes. As if that would ever happen!
Firstly, every assassin would be more than foolish, because Felix was probably the only heir of King Alexander that all nine tribes would accept. He was fierce and charismatic at the same time and in the last tournament, he had showed everybody, that there was currently no one with a wider vocal range in the royal line.
Also, if he hit you with his fin, you would be knocked out for quite some time. And lose a lot of teeth. Yeah, Felix’ tail spin was no laughing matter.
And secondly, Felix had Chan-hyung as well as Changbin-hyung. The first was the head of the royal guard and the second his personal bodyguard. And they were more than proficient with their magic and their spears.
Simply put, the other two were more like the brawn of the team, so it should fall to Jisung to become the brains. That’s how every squad was supposed to work, wasn’t it. So why… WHY DID HE HAVE TO STUDY THAT STUPID VOCAL MAGIC SEA HORSE SHIT WHEN HE COULDN’T EVEN UNLOCK HIS ON CORE?!
“Why are you lying on the ground?” Speak of the orca and he shall appear. Why did he even have that particular talent to always appear when somebody was talking about him? “Are you trying to become a sea slug with that pose or did you get stuck? Again?”
Jisung opened one eye to glare at the offending blonde who had just come through the door. “Go away.” The prince just sent him a blinding smile. “Aaaw. Is that how you should speak to your best friend who’s come to release you from all of your worries?”
At that, the dark-haired mer lifted his head, gasping dramatically. “You’d fire Chaewon and started a coup against your father? Wow, I was wondering why the palace has been so silent today.” The blonde mer just giggled at that and poked him with his fin. “Don’t be a grouch, Jisung, Chaewon isn’t that bad and… my father’s mood hasn’t been that bad for some time?”
Felix' face looked even less sure than he sounded and Jisung couldn’t help but groan. The dark haired mer didn't really know how the prince could look past the things his father did or if he accepted them and just promised himself that he would do better when he became the next monarch.
“On his good days he has the temperament of a white shark, so… great. It only means that there is going to be a huge freaking storm and many humans will drown.” The dark-haired mer let himself sink down again.
King Alexander was not known to be a benevolent king nor was he known to be kind. It was cliché, but Felix father was as ruthless as the ocean on a bad day and all of Miroh knew to lay low when he was in a bad mood.
But it was more dangerous when he was in a good mood. Because like the fourth, fifth, sixth, tenth and eleventh king, the nineteenth king loved seeing the humans suffer. It was said that he had sunken more than 300 ships, while some believed that the actual numbers were even higher.
Nobody knew why but there were rumors about something that had happened roughly 300 years ago. But no one who had been alive back then was foolish enough to talk about what had happened.
Luckily, Felix was the polar opposite of his father. He was the most dangerous to himself and his friends when he looked as innocently as possible. With wide eyes, a big smile and his hands tucked behind his back.
Jisung looked more closely at his friend.
And felt a shower run down his spine.
Yes, he looked just like that.
Right now.
In this moment.
So Jisung sprung up, holding out his hands as if trying to calm an angry sting ray. Which was one of the incidents that particular look had earned him. And he wasn’t keen on a repetition. Or anything similar dangerous.
When Felix opened his mouth, the other just pointed at him. “No.” Flaring his gills, making himself look taller – they both weren’t that tall, but that’s beside the point – he crossed his arms. “No. Whatever it is. I. Won’t. Do it.”
At his words, the prince just swam nearer. “But Sungie…” The dark-haired mer boy just shook his head, even more vehemently when the blonde began to pout. “No, no, no. I’m not going to get into trouble with you. Again.” He flared his gills in a mix of panic and trepidation. “I’ve only gotten back into the head maids good graces after that dolphin wrecked the kitchen. So no. Definitely no.”
The pout only intensified and Felix blinked at him. “Aw, come on. I don’t want to do something in the palace with you.” At that, Jisung lowered his arms, just to raise a suspicious eyebrow. “No palace?” – “Yes.” – “No jelly fish fields?” – “No jelly fish fields, I promise.”
Okay, that didn’t sound too bad. But still… it must be something big if the prince tried to use the Pout on him. “And you don’t want to pet a blue whale again because they are cute.” Felix just rolled his eyes at that. “Oh please, I’m not sixteen anymore. And if I remember correctly, you were even more excited about that than I was, to be honest.”
Jisung only shrugged at that. His memory of that particular event was a bit foggy, but… that was almost every stunt the pulled and were caught doing it. So…
Wait…
Wait for one single…
The dark-haired tried to take a deep, calming breath. “Please tell me you don’t want to go looking for humans in danger again.”
At Felix guilty expression, Jisung immediately started shaking his head. The prince had to be kidding. There was no way in the depths that he was serious. “No. Nope. Forget it. If anybody ever catches us-!” – “But Sungie, we did that how often? And how many times did anybody catch us?”
And yes, there was the pleading look again. It made it so hard to stay strong. Big eyes, like a clown fish and sticking his lips in a pout.
“We were never caught, but that’s beside the point!” Jisung tried to put as much force behind his next words. “Because one day, we will be. And your parents are going to yell at me. And Chan-hyung is going to be so disappointed.”
At that, Felix couldn’t help but flinch. Nobody who knew the captain of the royal guard wanted to see him disappointed. That was an even greater force than the princes pleading looks. “But Sungie…!” - “Chan-hyung's disappointment, so no. No. NO! Definitively no. Not again.” With as much gesturing as he was able to, he swam away from the prince.
It only made the blonde pout even more. “But you just said it! We already did tha-!” Jisung had never slapped his hands over the others mouth this fast. “Ssh! Please! Just… shut up!” Felix just rolled his eyes and gave some muffled sounds. The dark-haired mer just looked around, afraid that somebody would come and overhear what Felix had said.
The prince was relativly safe as long as the king didn't hear about it. But he didn't even want to think about what the counselors would have in store for him.
When he pulled away again, Felix just rolled his eyes. “We already did save a few humans from my father’s wrath, you remember? So what’s your problem?” The dark-haired boy just shushed him again. “I know and could we please stop talking about it? And repeating it! Because that’s one of the most foolish things we do. Did.”
The prince only frowned at that. “But we’re saving people. How could that be foolish?” Somehow, those few words made it really hard to swallow, so Jisung just closed his eyes to gather himself for a moment. His voice was small and it wasn’t as stable as he wanted it to be. “But Lixie, they are humans. They kill mer like us.”
It had always been like that. And Jisung wasn't the only who had negative memories regarding the humans. But it was only him that the prince asked each time, because Felix knew that Jisung would never hold it against him.
At that the blonde just shook his head. “Yes. And we drown them too. So could you please tell me where the difference is?”
Oh sea horse... shit.
Sometime later, Jisung swam behind Felix, cursing the royal line from its beginning to the prince and back again. Because of course the blonde had managed to convince him – again – to risk his own future and everything he had worked for. And for what? For some humans who wanted to catch mer's like them, so they could drink their blood, eat their flesh and gnaw their bones.
For immortality or some other dipshit reason. Because it seems like humans are not content with their measly sixty or eighty years. Well, tough luck to them.
But Felix had gotten the idea, that they should be protected, because they weren’t able to breath under water. Well, then they should stay away from large bodies of water. Like forever. Why had that to be their problems? Other mammals also didn’t decide to build floaty things and sail the seas, so why did they have to?!
Great. Awesome.
The dark-haired mer wanted to cry. For real. And no, he wasn’t irritated, what could have given one that idea?
“This is a stupid idea, just a friendly reminder.” The prince hummed just at his words, having already heard them more than a couple of times. He didn’t even deign that with another response. Jisung just continued to grumble, following him through the dark waters of the sea.
They had sneaked out of the palace, trying their hardest to avoid the guards. Because if one of them had even caught a glimpse of them, they would have immediately reported him to Chan-hyung.
Oh boy, did Jisung whish that someone would have reported their current doings to the head of the royal guard. Because, no matter how weak the older was to the prince’s big and pleading eyes, Felix was equally weak to the guard’s sad face. And Felix as well as Jisung would have immediately spilled everything to the older. Well, maybe not immediately. They would have endured a while… a little while at least.. And Changbin-hyung would have teased them relentlessly.
And if the head of the royal guard had gotten involved, they wouldn’t be in the middle of nowhere swimming against a current that was getting stronger and pulling at his limbs.
Just so that they could maybe help one or at most two sailors and keep them from drowning. Because humans still couldn’t breathe under water.
Surprise.
Now everybody say "uuuh" and "aaaah".
Also they had to try to not to be killed by those land dwellers, did he already mention that?
“You know, Jisung, it’s going to be okay.” Felix gave him a grin so warm that it literally could melt ice. It should be unfair, that one could have so many talents and be charismatic too. There hadn’t been one thing that the dark-haired had been able to say no to if the prince had really insisted on it.
And that only worked because he was a generally really nice person. So not fair.
So Jisung shot him a sceptic look. “You keep saying that. And I’ll keep reminding you, that this is all going to bite us in the fin.” He paused for a moment. “Like a shark. Njom njom.” The prince just giggled at that. Well, at least someone was having fun.
The dark-haired mer just blew him some bubbles. “So can we please get this over with so that we can swim back home and pretend this never happened?” Jisung looked back in the direction of the palace. “Because we should be far away from home so you can use your magical prince powers to locate a ship that needs help without anyone else sensing it.”
Felix just gave a nod at that and opened his mouth to sing.
And here came the real reason why Jisung always chose to accompany the blonde on his trips. Because at home, Felix’s song was always kind of stifled by regulations and rules and how he should behave and which words, sounds and notes he should use. It was beautiful, that wasn’t the problem.
But out here? Without all those things that kept him in check?
Here, Felix mer song was hauntingly beautiful. It was mixed with such longing for things just out of reach, things that one wanted to grasp but was unable to reach. Together with the mer’s magic it made a song that reached deep inside of Jisung’s bones and dragged all his hopes, dreams and insecurities to the surfaces.
It was in those sparse moments that Jisung could understand everything about mer magic he had been thought. It came from the heart and was guided by intent. The words were just a way to convene the feelings and guide the magic. The great mer of old hadn’t even needed them to drag the sailors to their salty depths.
That skill had been lost some time ago.
When Jisung listened to Felix in these moments, he didn’t even hear the words the other used. The dark-haired mer could almost believe that they had once hold that particular might. And it made him yearn for it, as well. To just catch a glimpse of his very own magic. But maybe he would never be able to do that.
“Ah! There! Found it.” That shout startled Jisung out of his reverie, blinking at his best friend as if just now returning to the present. At the princes shit eating grin, he only gave a grumble. “Not. One. Word.”
Of course the blonde didn’t listen as he threw his arms around Jisungs shoulders. “You knooooooow…” – “No, I really don’t.” – “If you just wanted to hear me sing, you could have always just asked.”
The glare he sent Felix could be called legendary. At least in his own humble opinion. As if Jisung would ever seriously ask him that. Felix would lord those words over him for the rest of their lifes.
And even longer.
The dark-haired had no idea how, but his best friend would find away. He always had. He always will. So no, he was not admitting that tiny tidbit.
Instead he gave a grumble. “Don’t you have some helpless little humans to save from the rage of the ocean or something?” Felix, who had looked like he wanted to annoy him further, visibly perked up. “Oh, yeah, your right. Come on!”
And with that, the blonde dragged Jisung further along against the currents. Jisung let out another sigh. This was going to end in a disaster, he just knew it. Life had just been too peaceful lately.
Little did they know that trouble was indeed following them. And they couldn’t even begin to fathom the impact of the waves their actions would have.