Fanfiction: Stellar Maris

Summary:
Being the bodyguard to the Crown Prince of Aquaria was usually quite a fun job. But ever since Phana came up to the surface the life of merman Kit changes forever.

Couples:
Phana/Wayo (2Moons2)
Ming/Kit
Forth/Beam

Word Count:
2521

Language:
English

Stellar Maris

“I can’t believe you talked me into this!” Kit stared at Beam with angry eyes. 

“Shush, don’t complain so loudly. Or do you want the guards to hear us?” Beam hissed while looking around to make sure they were still alone. 

“If Pha could just hurry up, for heaven’s sake.” This time Kit’s voice was less audible as he had no interest in being found out whatsoever. 

Just standing in front of the Royal Treasury was a risk. Neither Beam nor Kit had any business being here, but with Crown Prince Phana rummaging inside for god knows what, neither Beam nor Kit had much of a choice. 

They both were brought up together with the Crown Prince as his friends, confidants and also bodyguards. Kit had to admit that they definitely had counted on the wrong merman when they gave him the job, but despite his petite frame, he was one of the fastest swimmers in Aquaria and he also had by far the sharpest tongue. 

“How much longer will he take?” Kit grumbled again, hoping they could just disappear in a moment. “Do you even know what he is searching for?” He looked at Beam with an expectant glance. 

“I have no idea.” Beam sighed. “But don’t you think Pha has changed?” Beam asked his friend with a frown on his face. 

“What do you mean?” Kit knew exactly what Beam meant, but he was never someone who liked being looked into his cards if it could be avoided. Even Beam and Phana he always kept at a certain distance. A lot less distance then with anyone else in his entire existence, but you don’t survive for 100 years just by being gullible and trusting everyone. 

“Ever since our trip to the..” Beam just mouthed the last word, too scared to say it out loud. 

Beach, was the offending word, not a place where any merman in his right mind wanted to be caught. Ever since all three of them could remember there had been a strict law against coming to the surface of the ocean or to even approach a boat or even worse, the beach. 

Humankind was like a pestilence for all water creatures and they all knew what would happen if they would come across one. As children they had heard all the stories about mermen being caught and tortured by humans and just pure contact with this damning race was against everything in merman law.  

But Prince Phana was obviously different. He was a curious prince, always ready to learn more and to see what the ocean had to offer. When he decided to swim all the way up to the beach, Kit and Beam had just followed cautiously, too afraid what might happen if they got caught. Pha would be pretty much okay. He was the first and the favourite son of King Nun, who reigned over all seven seas and had done so for as long as everyone could remember. 

Nothing would happen to Pha if they were to be found out. But Kit and Beam? Sure, they were both the sons of two high ranking ministers, but they could be disposed of as quickly as someone could say kraken. 

Phana had stayed for a while near the cliffs of the sea, while Kit and Beam both stayed underneath the surface. Just when Pha hadn’t returned when the sun slowly started to disappear behind the land, both were brave enough to follow him. They were his bodyguards after all and if one thing would be worse than being found in human territory, it would be losing the crown prince in said territory. 

They finally found them near a group of young humans who were running around the beach like young seahorses. Their laughs were very audible and for a moment Kit and Beam just stayed next to Phana who was still hiding between the rocks. 

It was the first time for all three to see humans in the flesh. Of course there was artwork back home in Aquaria that showed what humans looked like. But they usually looked a lot more scary. They often had a lot of hair in their faces, looked mean and gruesome. Not someone you wanted to come across. But these humans… They literally looked like them, well, with the tiny difference that they had legs instead of mighty tails. 

Mesmerised, the three mermen observed the group of humans until everything turned pitch black around them. At one point the humans had started a fire. Again something they had just heard about in stories from the older mermen, but never had seen in reality. It looked a bit more intimidating and scary than the humans still laughing and shouting about. 

But after a while the humans had settled down around the fire and were eating. At one point someone got a strange kind of instrument out and started making music. Again neither of the three mermen had ever heard anything like it. They were all so enchanted by it that they didn’t even notice how they slowly came closer and closer to the shore. In the black of the night they didn’t have anything to worry about. 

A sudden splash destroyed the spell in an instant. A human had fallen from one of the rocks, just a few hundred metres away from the trio. A sharp yell was heard and suddenly all humans got up in a panic. 

“Wayo. Shit!” A very tall human was the first to start running, ready to just jump into the dark waves. 

“Ming, stop. You can’t just jump in there. The rocks are going to kill you.” The tall man stopped in his tracks. 

But Wayo….” He just shook his head and started running again. Some other humans were running towards the building on the other side of the beach. Everything just turned into a huge panic, with humans running around like a school of butterfly fish. 

“Come on, let’s leave. They will see us if we stay any longer.” Kit stated and Beam just nodded in agreement. 

“But we can’t just let him die. Humans can’t swim in between the rocks here. That’s why I chose this place. It’s safe for us as it’s deadly for humans.” Pha looked at his friends with big eyes. 

“It’s just a stupid human. Who cares if there is one less on the planet.” Kit snarled, he never had been the biggest fan of humans. 

“But…” Pha started again but another sharp yell disturbed him. Before Kit and Beam even had a chance to hold him back, Pha was gone like a flash, swimming to the direction where the human named Wayo had fallen into the waves. 

“Do we need to follow him?” Beam asked with a hesitant voice, which made Kit roll his eyes. 

“Of course, you dummy. We are his bodyguards?” With an annoyed sigh he disappeared under water to follow his stupid friend with Beam just behind him. 

In the end it just took Pha a minute to make it all the way to the drowning human. He caught him under both his arms and pulled him up to the surface. When Kit and Beam appeared next to them Kit noticed with a sigh of relief that the human was unconscious. At least they didn’t have to deal with a screaming human who just found out that mermen really existed and that he was just saved by one of them. 

“And what are we doing now?” Kit almost shouted at Pha. Nevertheless the Crown Prince of Aquaria was still holding a human in his arms. An offence so bad that swimming up to the surface was child’s play in comparison.

“Let us bring him to the shore. I am sure his friends are gonna find him there.” Pha answered while studying the face of the boy in his arms with a strange look. 

“Okay, okay. Then let’s hurry. I am not hanging around long enough for his friends to decide that the three of us are the perfect dinner.” Kit hissed, which just made Pha roll his eyes. 

“Humans don’t eat mermen.” He stated with his focus still on the boy in his arms. 

“Well, they don’t know we exist. I am sure if they would, we would be already hanging over this fire of theirs roasting to a lovely crisp. So come on. Let’s make a move.” Kit shooed Pha and Beam to start moving again. 

They swam to a less lit up stretch of the beach, where they were almost in darkness. Being mermen came with the added bonus of being able to see in the dark after all. A few metres away from the beach line they stopped. 

“Awesome. How are you planning to get him on land, if none of us three can actually walk?” Kit asked, his annoyance level reaching new heights. 

Pha and Beam started to look around. 

“Could we use this?” Beam held up a big piece of driftwood. 

“Beam, he is not a pinata. I don’t think there will be seaweed falling out of him if we just hit him hard enough.” Kit snarked. 

“Okay, then what do you suggest?” Now it was Beam’s turn to hiss. 

But while Kit and Beam were still changing words, Pha slowly swam closer to the shore. He had the boy under one of his arms and swam as far to the beach line as he possibly could. Unfortunately that was still not close enough for him to just lay down the boy and disappear. The water was still too high and the human would just drown here. He still hadn’t regained his consciousness and Pha had no idea what to do when a human didn’t respond. 

Pha took a last deep breath and then started pushing his own body and the human forward with his one free arm, literally crawling on the sand now more than swimming. His strong tail helped push his body further and further. 

This was a risky move. If a human would now find him, he would be easy prey. It would take him way too long to make it back to the saving water. But he just couldn’t let this boy die. He just couldn’t. With a few more strong pushes of his tail, he finally made it far enough to put the head of the human on the safe sand. Carefully Pha pulled his arm from underneath his head and laid it softly into the sand. The moon was rather bright today and the water droplets shimmered in a very beautiful way on the pale skin of this boy. The dark hair was plastered to his forehead and with a light touch Pha brushed it out of his eyes. 

Eyes that slowly opened again, Pha noticed in horror. Saving a human was one thing. Being seen by one is totally different. But still, for some reason he couldn’t stop watching the face of the human. 

Suddenly a shell came flying from the seaside, hitting Pha in the head. 

“Ey, you idiot. Make a move or do you want us all to end up as human food.” Kit yelled loudly while giving Pha the most evil stare he could manage. 

Pha took one last look at the human in his arms, but when he felt the little body slowly moving, he decided it was best to follow Kit’s advice. With a few pushes and now both arms free to support his weight, it didn’t take long for Phana to finally reach the safe water again.  

But instead of just swimming away, he waited in a safe distance from where he put the human on land. 

“Phana, what are you waiting for? Let’s go back to where we belong.” Kit hissed, but Pha didn’t even seem to listen. Just when a group of other humans made their way down the beach he finally turned around and sped into the black night. 

The opening of the door next to him, brought Kit finally back from his trip down memory lane. Pha appeared next to his two friends, with a huge smile on his face. He winked at both of them, before pretty nonchalant disappearing into the big labyrinth that was the king’s castle. 

Kit and Beam had no other choice to follow their leader. Just when they reached their secret hideaway, a little cave in the royal gardens, where they had been hiding ever since they were little merboys, Kit felt safe enough to breathe normally again. 

“Can you please tell me now, what all this was about?” He asked his best friend, who was grinning like a Cheshire cat, but still remained silent. 

“Hey, you arsehole. We just helped you break into the Royal Treasury. Don’t you think we at least deserve to know for what we just risked our necks?” Kit crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

“What would you say if I tell you that I am planning to go on a little field trip?” Phana asked with a smug grin. 

“Field trip? You mean like visiting the Pacific or something? Oh. we haven’t had a holiday for some time.” Beam clearly perked up with the prospects of going on a nice vacation, but Kit stayed sceptical. 

“Holiday” might not be the right description. I mean more of a study trip. A little trip to learn more about Earth.” Now Beam was more confused than ever, but Kit finally had the dreadful fear he knew what Phana was talking about. 

“Pha, why did you break into the Treasury?” Kit asked him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Because we need a certain thing for this trip.” His unwavering grinning was driving Kit insane. 

“You didn’t…” Kit all but gaped at him. 

“Oh, I absolutely did.” Phana opened his hand and in his palm there was a green shimmering stone on a weaved algae band. Automatically Beam reached out with his hand to touch the precious stone in his friend’s hand, but Kit just slapped it away. 

Kit had seen these kinds of stones before. Every member of Aquaria knew about them. They were old and very holy. No one knew where they came from but they were pretty much pure magic. If worn around the neck, it would turn every normal merman into a human. With all the downfalls. Not being able to breath under water, not being able to swim like an arrow and not being able to see in the dark. Yes, you got legs in exchange for it. But who needed legs, when you had a first class tail. 

“You can’t be serious, Phana. You know that these stones are forbidden and have been for years and years now. And that’s for a reason. It’s way too dangerous for you to use it.” But Pha just smiled again. 

“Right, my lovely Kit. You are absolutely right. It is way too dangerous for me to use it by myself. That’s exactly why I didn’t just steal one…” He opened his second hand. “But three. You are coming with me.”