Chapter Text
The dining hall buzzed with conversation and laughter, the seated merfolk of high status pretending they cared about each other’s lives, asking questions like, Oh, and how did that deal go?, trying to figure out the secret to such an investment. Or maybe statements like, Your daughter is so gorgeous, I think she’d get along just well with my son, in attempts to make good connections through their kids, who both looked like they were just this close to killing each other with the fine silverware.
Haruka could agree with that sentiment. It was his eighteenth birthday banquet, and instead of getting what he would have liked, which was a peaceful day without all the attention, he was forced to indulge in all these snobby pleasantries. It's not like he fought it much anyway. His parents always got what they wanted in the end.
The merpeople seated around him asked about his life—his studies, his training, his love life. All of which were given vague responses: Good, good, fine. And when they attempted to pry him for answers, he didn’t provide any. He’s not gonna play their weird game of false niceties.
This would have been less of a chore if he had been allowed to sit with his friends, who were put further down the long table. Makoto, the son of the Commander of the Iwatobi naval, and Nagisa, one of the most popular performers in the kingdom. They were also seated away from each other, and all three of the boys had resorted to communicating through facial expressions and gestures—Nagisa, wide-eyed and moving his hands animatedly, Makoto, smiling politely, and Haru, shrugging, nodding, or shaking his head.
In the middle of the meal, the Queen rose from her spot beside Haru (which was, unfortunately, at the head, front and centre with the King on his right).
The room quieted without prompting, and everyone turned to look at Haru’s mother. She smiled at them all. “Thank you all for attending. I appreciate that so many of you came to celebrate Haruka turning eighteen, and I am sure that he, too, is happy to see you all.” She pinched his cheek, and he grimaced. “Even if he doesn’t show it.” There was a chuckle that ran through the rest of the table. Makoto gave Haru a sympathetic look; Nagisa laughed louder than the rest.
“Now that Haruka is an adult, he’ll be taking on more responsibilities in preparation for when he becomes king. Rest assured, we will take care in preparing him for the future. He will listen when there is unrest, and he will keep us safe from the southern threat, just as my husband does now.” Southern threat caused Haru’s heart rate to speed up the slightest bit. “You are all in good hands.” She put a hand on Haru’s shoulder. “To Haruka.”
“To Haruka,” Everyone else echoed back, and the Queen sat back down, satisfied.
Everyone continued their meal and conversations, while the Queen spoke to Haru, “You understand your responsibilities, right?”
Haru nodded.
She cut into the salmon before her and said, “Do you also understand that you must look for a wife soon?”
Haru stilled.
It’s standard within the royal family that those who are preparing to take over the throne must have a spouse chosen, solely to keep up appearances. It would reflect better on them if they were certain that they could continue the royal bloodline.
None of the mermaids in Iwatobi had Haru’s interest, but he could find one. Eventually. He’ll meet a mermaid who fits his parents' standards and his own. Whatever his standards were. He wasn’t sure of them himself, but he had to have some if he was still single.
“Good,” His mother said, and didn’t say anything else to him for the rest of the meal.
⬺
“I bet you’re super excited to be king, Haru! Everyone just adores you!”
The meal was over, but the celebrations continued, with merfolk milling about in the courtyard, chatting it up with people they hadn’t had a chance to before when everyone was seated. Haru, Makoto, and Nagisa were among them.
The three were floating off to the side, away from everyone else. However, this did not stop others from interrupting their conversation to wish Haru a happy birthday and talk him up a little.
If you want someone to take your asskissing, then go find my parents.
Haru fixed Nagisa with a bored look. “Do I look excited?”
Nagisa waved him off. “I’m sure it’s something you’ll grow into.”
“Nagisa, don’t be insensitive,” Makoto chided. He then gave Haru a reassuring look. “It’s still a ways off. Nothing to stress about just yet.”
“Hey, speaking of stress, guess what kind of play we’re working on now!”
Nagisa’s production team always worked hard on their plays, but it paid off, garnering enough attention that even the King and Queen thought highly of them. Nagisa was by far the most talented actor among the crew, and definitely in Iwatobi. And while Haru was being targeted for attention tonight, some merfolk had also stopped by to compliment Nagisa.
Haru wouldn’t outright say it, but he was also quite impressed with Nagisa’s skills. “What kind?”
Nagisa gave them a dark grin. “It’s a horror about a pair of young mermaids sneaking into Samezuka!”
Makoto paled slightly. “Ah.”
Haru raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
Nagisa nodded fervently. “Mhm! And once in Samezuka, they’re immediately captured!”
Makoto pales further. “I don’t suppose there’s a happy ending then?”
“Nope.” Nagisa shakes his head. “I can’t spoil it, but just know that the mersharks do exactly what you’d think they’ll do! And according to my boss, it’s based on a true story!”
“Then I hope you’re not expecting me to show up…” Makoto looked queasy, without even knowing what the performance would bring.
“But Mako!”
Mersharks… The southern threat.
Haru knew full well that when he became king, he was expected to be prepared in the event of an invasion; there hadn’t been contact with them in almost four centuries, but, with them living so close, it was hard to ignore the possibility. Haru’s parents painted it as less of an ‘if’ and more of a ‘when’. It will happen, according to them, and even though there wasn’t a timeframe for it, they have to be prepared.
While Haru was scared of the mersharks, like everyone else, he also couldn’t help being a little bit curious about them. The people of Iwatobi were told from childhood that mersharks were scary looking; tough, grey skin all over, with slightly elongated heads. Huge, sharp teeth, the size of a hand. Mersharks themselves were twice the size of a full-grown mermaid, and were said to be able to eat one in just two bites.
Obviously, that was a terrifying image. But Haru kind of wanted to see one in person. Like some would with a killer whale; it may be deadly, but if seen from a safe distance, or maybe from the outside of an enclosure, it would be an incredible sight.
Or maybe it would give him nightmares, like Makoto was currently worried about.
“Aww.” Nagisa pouted. “But what about you, Haru? You’ll be there, right?”
Haru shrugged. If anything, it’ll give him an excuse to leave the castle for a little while. Plus, he was a bit interested in this ‘true story’. “Yeah, sure.”
Nagisa cheered before resuming his mission of convincing (pestering) Makoto to see the show too.
Haru will see a real mershark one day. For now, he’ll have to settle for one designed for entertainment.
⬺
As it turned out, Haru’s preparation to be King was entirely composed of long lectures, much like his scholarly ones. He’d had these ‘Lessons in Royalty’ before he turned eighteen, but they were much more general. Now, he was learning in depth about politeness (do I really have to know all these social cues?) and etiquette (how many forks are there?).
When his mom had said he’d begin taking more responsibilities, he expected more practical work and less theoretical. Not that he wanted that. He really didn’t like doing things, but this was getting to be so boring…
“Haruka!” His instructor's gruff voice startled him out of the drowsiness that threatened to take him. “Am I that boring, kid?”
Haru sighed from where he was sitting on a cushioned chair and pulled his tail up to his chest, bending it at the middle. “No, Mr. Sasabe.”
Mr. Sasabe tilted his head. “Then did you get enough sleep last night?” He asked. “I’m pretty sure your curfew isn’t that late.”
“Ah.” Haru didn’t know how to explain to Mr. Sasabe that he wasn’t boring, just the lesson. Haru rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. Couldn’t sleep.”
Mr. Sasabe seemed to be contemplating for a moment before saying, “Alright then, I think that’s enough for today anyway. I’ll let you go a bit early.” He smiled.
“Oh. Okay. Thank you.” Haru rose and stretched his limbs while Mr. Sasabe cleaned up the scrolls he’d been using for the lesson, tying them back up with stretched bubble coral before placing them with the many others on the overflowing shelves.
“Go get some rest, kid.” Mr. Sasabe turned back to Haru, a glint in his eye and a mouth stretched into a grin. “You’ll need it for tomorrow.”
Haru raised an eyebrow, but didn’t feel like questioning it. Maybe Mr. Sasabe had a pop quiz planned for him tomorrow. Or perhaps another overdramatic skit in which Haru had to pretend he was already King and had to respond to a very pressing issue (“King Haruka! The hunters would like to know if it would be beneficial to hunt each other for food!” “What?”). He nodded and swam out of the classroom.
⬺
Apparently, all of the castle staff knew what tomorrow would bring, which raised Haru’s suspicions. It was one thing if a few of them knew and mentioned it to Haru (Mr. Sasabe liked to talk), but it was another thing if all his servants were rushing him through his nightly routine, especially when they had never bothered before and left him to his own devices.
Usually, Haru would lie in the garden, letting the warm water settle over him before getting ready for bed. At least an hour was spent out there, surrounded by the fox coral grown in the very centre. But this time, the servants barely let him go for twenty minutes, insisting that he had no time for such a thing tonight.
“Seriously?” Haru asked as he was shoved back into the castle.
“ Yes, seriously,” she huffed. “You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow.”
Haru scowled as she dragged him through the castle corridors. “Is anyone gonna tell me what’s happening?” He was starting to get worried. What if he has to do something tomorrow? But I hate doing things …
She looked back at him and smiled, which did not help Haru’s sinking feeling. “Sorry, Prince Haruka. It’s a surprise.”
His scowl deepened, and he fought the urge to drag his tail like a child.
⬺
Whatever it was, it started with his father waking him up way earlier than Haru was accustomed to.
“Haruka, my boy, it’s time to wake up!”
Haru’s only response was a confused grunt. His eyes opened the slightest bit to squint at his father, and his tail curled further into his chest from where he lay in his nest of sand-filled pillows.
His father floated in the opening to his room, hands on his hips. “Don’t give me that. Today’s gonna be fun!”
Haru lifted his head up the slightest bit. “And why is that?”
His father grinned. “I’m taking you beyond the south border today.”
Haru sat up.
Should they ever attack, the south border was in place as a defence against the Samezuka mersharks. Beyond the border was a large expanse of coral reef, and beyond that was a large mountain that held the entrance to a vast cave system, most of it underground. There was only one path through the caves that would lead out to the bottom of the cliff where Iwatobi was situated on. That was the entrance to Samezuka.
Haru was venturing out there today…
His father chuckled at the look on his face and held up a hand. “Now, now, son. We won't be going near the caves today. We’ll only focus on the reef.”
Reef only today, but that did mean they would go into the caves sometime in the near future, right?
Haru didn’t know if he should feel excited or apprehensive.
His father was leaving Haru’s room as he said, “Just get ready! I’ll tell you more when we get out there.”
⬺
Instead of getting dressed in his usual wear, gold adornments that covered a majority of his torso, he was instead given a chestplate, the same type that members of the naval wear. This did nothing to settle Haru’s nerves, but he put it on anyway. He was still given his crown and gold armbands.
His father had already left and was waiting by the south border, so Haru was escorted there by one of the palace guards, who was, unfortunately, very chatty. Like an older Nagisa, but less endearing.
Meeting his father by the gates, he looked around. He’d never been to this side of Iwatobi before. It looked… Empty. There were plenty of buildings, but they seemed worse for wear. The stone was cracked, and some buildings even had large openings in the walls, parts of it in heaps on the ground, or even missing. There was no one in sight. This place was, evidently, abandoned.
His father must have caught his questioning gaze. “Yeah, nobody wants to be the first down when the mersharks attack. The buildings that are still standing may be cheap, but,” he shrugged, “it just isn’t worth it.”
No one was coming to fix these buildings. Everyone was so sure that the mersharks would attack that they left part of the kingdom to be forgotten entirely.
Sometimes, in some rare moments, Haru can’t help but wonder if everyone is just super paranoid. If the mersharks were as ruthless and mindless as they say, then wouldn’t they have come to attack already?
His father had said ‘when’, just like everyone says. And soon, Haru will have to be ready for that ‘when’, right?
He didn’t feel ready. He didn’t even feel like it was something he should be prepared for. He just didn’t feel the urgency that consumed everyone else.
And sometimes, late at night, when his eyelids were heavy, and he could feel sleep creeping up on him like a predator, he had the briefest thought that maybe, maybe, everyone was wrong about the mersharks.
Though he never remembered these thoughts the next morning.
His father’s hand on his shoulder jolted him out of his reverie. “Ready to see the sea south of Iwatobi?”
Haru slowly nodded and then followed his father through the gates.
⬺
He’d imagined the coral forest a few times before, when he was younger. In his mind’s eye, the coral was a million different colours, just one big rainbow. He dreamed about swimming through bright reds and blues and lying under greens and oranges. He had imagined the forest to be full of life, with beta fish and sea slugs that blended in with the coral. He thought about chasing the different fish, and maybe even seeing a sea turtle.
Now that Haru was more mature, he tried to rein in his expectations a little, but he still wound up disappointed.
The forest was very dull. There were blues and reds, sure, but they looked so unsaturated. The coral itself was huge and packed together, and Haru doubted it would be easy to swim freely through it. Didn’t look like there were any animals either.
Six-year-old Haru would have pouted and swum back into Iwatobi. But eighteen-year-old Haru only let his shoulders drop before following his father through the forest.
“Why are we out here?” He asked.
“Well,” his father started, running a hand through his beard. “As King, once a week, I must join the guards patrolling the forest to ensure they are doing what they should be.” He put a hand on a giant orange staghorn coral as he swam past it. “Once, I caught two male guards behaving… inappropriately… with each other. “ He looked back at Haru. “You can trust that they’ve been dealt with .”
“Hm.” Same-sex relationships were illegal in Iwatobi. Haru didn’t really care what people did in their downtime, but if those two guards had decided to fool around when they should have been protecting the kingdom, then Haru supposed that the punishment was justified. “So, I have to do this when I’m king?”
“Indeed.”
Great.
“And while we’re out here, we shall also do a bit of patrolling ourselves.”
Haru sighed, careful not to let his father notice.
Patrolling meant carefully checking the coral to make sure that it hadn’t been tampered with by the mersharks, or hiding one. In the back of Haru’s mind, he wondered how a mershark could hide in such tiny crevices if they were twice the size of a merperson, but he just figured that it’s better to be safe than sorry.
When they needed to check on the guards, Haru thought that he and his dad would just swim around them, maybe chat a little (which Haru dreaded), but instead, they hid behind some coral whenever they got within earshot.
Haru shot his dad a questioning look after they left the first one, and his dad replied, “I need to know that they are performing their duties whenever I’m not around. For that, I must eavesdrop.”
After a few hours of alternating between checking the coral and spying on the guards, Haru’s dad brought him back to the entrance, but didn’t let him go back into Iwatobi just yet. They floated in the little clearing there for a moment while a couple of guards entered the clearing as well.
“Now, son, it hasn’t happened in almost four hundred years, but in case contact with the mersharks happens, you must be prepared.” His father put both hands on his trident and tilted it forward. “Do you know the weak points of a mershark?”
Haru shook his head.
His father gestured to one of the guards to float in front of him. Haru moved so that he could see both of them.
“Pretend that Hasunaro here is a mershark,” his father said, and then to Hasunaro, “Please face the prince.”
Hasunaro did so.
His father pointed with his trident, keeping enough distance between it and Hasunaro. “Since the mersharks always have their teeth bared in order to attack as quickly as possible, it is easy to strike them there. And considering their lack of lips, the gums are very vulnerable, and that is where you aim your spear.” He drew his trident to his side and put a hand on his hip. “Their teeth are their pride, and if they lose even one, their will starts to go too.”
Teeth… Alright.
“Their other point of weakness—” He gestured to Hasunaro’s back and rear. “is their dorsal fins. One large one up here—” He pointed at Hasunaro’s back. “And a smaller one down here.” The end of the trident pointed to a point below where the tail bends, but a bit above the caudal fin. He pulled his trident back once more and then faced Haru. “The first dorsal fin is a bigger target, so it is easier to aim for.”
He nodded to Hasunaro, who then moved away. The other guard that was with them swam to Hasunaro, and the both of them went back into the coral forest, presumably to continue their patrol.
“Remember, survival is the most important thing when facing mersharks. And though it may be frowned upon, remember that their tails work similarly to ours; if you need to, do not hesitate to impale it.”
He put his hand on Haru’s shoulder, who was trying not to imagine the feeling of his tail being speared. Could he really bring himself to do that to someone else, regardless of their species?
Do not hesitate.
Haru was unsure if he could do that.
⬺
A week had passed since Haru’s father took him out to the coral forest, and he was now out there once again, but instead of watching the patrols or checking the coral, they swam past and through it all, heading for the tall mountain that Haru often gazed at from his bedroom window in the palace.
“Today,” His father had said, “we go into the caves.”
The swim there took about an hour, not counting the breaks. Haru thought that the only reason it took that long was because the coral was so densely packed together, but it wasn’t like they could swim above it; the water was too thick for air to filter through their gills, and the fish got bigger and scarier the higher one went. The coral was that tall, but wasn’t nearly as tall as the mountain. The top of it wasn’t visible from anywhere in Iwatobi.
As Haru, his father, and a handful of guards floated at the base of it, in front of the large entrance to the caves, he decided not to crane his neck back and try to take the whole thing in.
“You ready, son?”
Haru nodded, and they all swam in.
Immediately, it branched off into several directions, most of them going downwards. Haru and his father went on one path while the guards split up and took the rest.
“Just stay close, son. I’m only showing you what the caves look like. You’ll be given a map when you do this on your own, but for now, I don’t need you getting lost.”
The caves were dark, and his father probably couldn’t see him nod, so he said out loud, “Okay.”
His father had his left hand on the cave wall as he swam, and Haru mimicked him.
The first ten to fifteen minutes, Haru’s father kept looking back at him to make sure he was still following, and Haru was tempted to snark, “I’m not a kid. I’m not gonna get lost,” but eventually his father stopped, so he kept it in.
They swam through the caves, descending, twisting, and turning, and Haru internally lamented about how far into these caves his father was planning to show him.
Around the half-hour mark, his muscles were starting to get tired, so he slowed, careful to keep his father in sight.
Well, he wasn’t careful enough, because after another bend, it branched off once more, and he didn’t see which way his father went.
Left or right? He pursed his lips. Shit.
He swam back where he came from and tried to decipher which path was the way out, but they all looked the same.
He’s lost. He’s lost in the caves that hold the entrance to Samezuka. He’s practically in mershark territory now.