Archive of Our Own ^beta

A small boy of ten had been wandering on the beach, throwing seashells back into the lull of the tide that ebbed and flowed back into the ocean. His eyes were dark, but in the bright lighting that the sun revealed, his eyes looked almost like a dark grey instead. A mop of black hair was messily being tussled in the ocean breeze as he wandered further and further away from civilization. It wasn't until he neared the edge of the beach that a cave caught his eye. They gleamed with excitement.

A cave!

Taking the stick he had found somewhere on the beach, he nimbly climbed over the jagged rocks until he found the entrance to the cave. Precariously ducking his head, he entered to find a small corridor that echoed the waves of the ocean. Thankfully, the child poked his way through the cave until it got darker and darker. He did pause for a moment when he heard sniffling from further ahead. Forging forward unafraid of the dark, only to be inwardly relieved as light lit up an area up ahead. Appreciative that there wasn't anything hindering his way as he navigated through uneven terrain, he turned a corner to see a vast and large pool of glowing seawater.

And right in the middle of it was a mermaid.

The little boy blinked, approaching the mermaid with the slight tilt of his head. The mermaid stilled, the sniffling coming to a stop and rubbed their face quickly.  Then they turned to face him.

He was met with an intense pair of large hazel eyes, her pointed fin-like ears wiggling ever so slightly in his direction. Her teal green fin was a sharp contrast to the faint blue-green glow of the water that covered her up to her waist. But her eyes seemed luminescent in the lighting, her scales framing her face in faded edges. Long tawny hair with golden strands like the sun made her hair sparkle whenever she moved. Similar aspects were spread to her eyebrows and lashes where water droplets remained.

"You're a mermaid," he stated bluntly with awe, tilting his head. He approached her slowly, his hands raised as a means of caution.

But, instead of shying away like he thought she would, she merely blinked up at him. It was only when he was close enough did he kneel down where she was sitting near the edge of the pool. Now that he was this much closer to her, he could see the golden flecks in her skin. He's never liked girls, but she was a mermaid so she wasn't a girl... right? But, the only word he thought that fit her was that she was beautiful (if he was using that word right). It was like one of those fairy tales he had read about had come to life.

"What's your name? What are you doing here?" he asked, deciding to sit down.

Her mouth opened, but instead of a voice like he expected to hear, he heard a melodic noise that resembled a voice. And then he watched as her eyebrows knit together in surprise and frustration. Her hand shot out from the water, startling him with a squeak when chilly water slicked his skin and a slowly warming hand grasped his.

'Can you hear me now?' she asked, her voice girlish, but not shrill or too raspy. In fact, it was clear and crisp like the sound of crystal.

He stilled immediately, realizing that he was hearing her voice inside his head. Eyes growing wide, he gave a meek nod. "Y-Yeah," he stammered, trying to calm his fluttering heart in surprise that her voice was in his head. "H-How are you doing that? Can't you talk?" It was like magic.

She shook her head. 'I don't have a human voice like you do. But by touching you, I can talk to you.'

"How come?"

Another shake. 'I don't know.' She frowned, a near pout appearing on her visage. She reminded him of one of those paintings he had seen in the hotels of the mermaids and oceans that were almost too fantastical to be considered real.

"Well, how'd you get here?"

She lifted her gaze to him. 'I swam here, but I got lost. There's a pathway underneath that I can swim out of, but it's dangerous. So I'm waiting.'

"Why's it dangerous?"

'Bad humans. The water is too clear and they'll see me.'

The small boy took her hand in his and squeezed. "That sucks. I wish I could get you out so you wouldn't just be sitting here waiting."

The mermaid didn't look afraid anymore like she had been seconds ago at the mention of 'bad humans' and the tension eased out of her shoulders. Looking closer, he guessed she was younger than him with her guard dropping. 'Thank you, but I can wait.'

"Well, I'll wait here with you then!" What a brilliant idea.

Alarmed, she turned to him. 'Won't your family be worried?'

She was surprisingly smarter than she looked for a mermaid. How much of humans did she know? Actually, how old was she? Should she be here by herself?

"I'll be fine," he replied quietly.

The boy was relieved she didn't press on the manner and instead said, 'I'm Katelyn, but… I don't like it much so everyone calls me Katie.'

It was almost strange to hear such an ordinary name from someone so extraordinary.

"I'm Keith; nice to meet you, Katie," he gave a toothy grin with some of his teeth missing. Looking at her now when she faced him, he realized she was around the same size as he was, if not a little smaller thanks to the length of her tail. His eyes were drawn to the flickering colors in her scales that went to the deep teal to the light pastel green.

He blushed when he heard her giggle. It was musical and he could probably listen to it all day. Was it normal to like someone's laugh?

'Your thoughts are leaking through,' she hummed in his mind and his cheeks burned. 'Just imagine a wall and I won't hear your thoughts anymore.'

He nodded at her instructions and he heard her sigh. 'You're a really nice human, Keith. Thanks for staying with me. You didn't have to.'

"I want to," Keith said with a nod. "It'd get so boring with nothing to do."

She seemed thoughtful and grinned. 'I know a way to, you wanna come?'

Keith turned to her, blinking. "What're we doing?"

'A swim!'

He nodded and stood up, separating from her to pull off his white t-shirt and black sandals. He was wary about jumping into a glowing pool of ocean water but he slid himself precariously in. His breath hitched when her hands grasped his, to angle herself in front of him.

'Just keep holding my hand, okay? And you'll be able to breathe underwater!'

He nodded, skeptical, but followed after her when she tugged him down. It took some adjusting but he found he lost his breath quickly in surprise by how beautiful things were down beneath the water. But the breathing she said he faithfully believed he could do didn't seem to work and he choked on the water instead. Frantically, he tried reaching for the surface when she appeared in his line of vision and her hands grasped both sides of his face to kiss him.

Suddenly, he could feel air flow flowing into his body the moment he opened his mouth.

'Hold your breath and I'll give you gills.' He obeyed, taking a gulp of air when she pulled away. He almost lost all of his air when her teeth grazed his neck on the left and right side, just below his ears. After a moment had passed and she appeared in his line of vision again, she gave an eager nod and grin.

He tried to breathe and was dumbfounded when he could legitimately breathe underwater. Eyes brightened at the realization and he laughed, his voice distorting and sounding different than what he was used to.

She swam around him in a vortex of water and spinning him. There was a curious but pretty jingle that sounded like she was laughing too. His eyes could barely keep up with how fast she swam around him until she slowed and remained in front of him.

Her hands, now that he looked, were webbed between each finger and had a slick feel to it when she reached out to hold his hand. But now that he was here, he was wondering how he could talk to her.

'I can hear you fine, Keith,' she giggled in his mind too. He watched her smile. 'Come on! I wanna show you something!'

He nodded and swam with as much power as he could to keep up. It looked like he was easier to pull underwater since she helped him along with her hands grasping his. He observed going under the rocks overhead and down below where strange glowing crystals illuminated the rest of the way down and it went deep in a pentagonal-like shape. He could see other caves leading to different directions that weren't as well lit. If he didn't have Katie, he realized he'd get lost.

'What's the glowing rocks?'

'Those are something the Old Ocean made for us,' she answered. 'It's a blessing that can only be made where the land meets the sea and lets us join you on land.'

'What does it do for me since I'm on land? Oh! Can it do anything for me?'

He watched her shake her head. 'I don't know. It's the first time I've ever seen them and so close to where you live.'

They swam for a few more minutes and the lights from the crystals began to dim. She made noises that sounded like clicking and something low in pitch. Turning through the pathways, she guided them to a cavern. She rotated in place and touched both her hands to his.

'Wait here. Watch, okay?'

She pulled away when he nodded and her arm that had a corded bracelet of pale green began to glow like the crystals. Her voice rang softly, a melody he's never heard before echoing off the walls.

While it was pretty to look at her, his eyes grew wide when he saw all of the walls glow brightly of murals that depicted the sea and the people who worshiped it. A story unraveled before his very eyes of a fisherman falling in love with a mermaid and she came to live with him in the town Keith lived in now. But it wasn't meant to be and the mermaid's husband grew afraid, afraid of his mermaid's power. This led to the townspeople taking her away despite her pleas to stay with him. She died, alone, and in a place far from the ocean. The husband lived but regretted his decision. He left and hadn't returned since.

Her song ended and Keith would cry if he was able. Instead, his voice soft, spoke sadly, 'Why was that story so sad?'

She swam down and held his hand again. Oh! He had spoken without her touching him. Did she hear him?

'The story is true and this place serves as a homage to all the mermaid's and Merman's like them who found love but the humans broke their hearts. One day, I want to fall in love with a human and prove this mural wrong.'

It was cool of her to think of something like that. Love was something Keith wasn't sure he'd ever understood since all he had was his brother.

Still, he squeezed her hand. Her attention turned toward him and his locked with her eyes. 'I'll make sure to protect you if you ever come to the surface. So if you fall in love, you won't be alone.'

Her hand lifted to her mouth and she giggled, something that was like a crystal wind chime on a nice day.

'Is that a promise?'

'Yes,' he nodded. 'I promise. I will protect you, Katie, no matter what.'

Her head tilted to the side and her grin grew. 'Then I'll protect you too, Keith.'

'Wait, what? Can't I just protect you?'

'No, cause I gotta protect you too. Because if no one protects you, who'll protect me?'

Keith was stumped. He couldn't help but agree.

'Okay, we'll protect each other then. Watch out for each other's backs.'

'Good!' She swam forward and when she got close enough, instinctively he closed his eyes. However, he was surprised by the touch of her forehead touched his so that when he opened his eyes, large hazel eyes met his. 'I promise to protect you as long as you'll protect me.'

He grinned when she pulled away, their hands interlocked. She blinked, puzzled, and then beamed.

'It's a promise.'