Not Our Plan

Chapter nine

She had huge blue eyes, skin with a greenish tint to it, a blue tail, nothing covering her chest whatsoever, long blue hair, and she was wearing a sly smirk. Her face was heart-shaped, giving her a sweet, innocent look, if it hadn't been for her smirk. "You must be the prince," She purred, holding onto his hands tighter. "The one to save Elizabeth."

Ethan tugged his hands away with wide eyes. "Uh... Yes..." He mumbled. "Sorry, my hands hurt so I kind of need to..." He avoided her chest and dipped his hands back into the water again.

"Do you wish to hear a song?" She bit her lip. "I have some friends, yes I do. We can all satisfy you... With our beautiful music."

"N-no thank you." Ethan looked away, blushing. There was a girl with nothing to cover her up sitting in front of him, obviously trying to seduce him. He wasn't feeling aroused. If anything, he was feeling awkward.

"We'll sing for you anyway." Another mermaid had popped up beside her friend, and soon there were three in front of Ethan. He shook his head. "No thank you, ladies. Please, I'm just going to go." He went to move away, but all three mermaids grabbed his arms. "Don't go," One whined. "Just listen."

"Let- Let me go!" He struggled, but they took no notice. Instead, they began to sing, all the while tightening their grip on his arms.

The song was beautiful. It was the best thing he had heard in a while. But he wasn't falling for it. He didn't want to listen to their music. He only wanted to get away.

"Get off!" He screamed, interrupting their song. "I don't like you!!"

They stopped singing and stared at each other. "Why isn't it working?" One asked. They were just as confused as she was and turned their glare onto Ethan. "Why isn't it working?" They chorused, their grip on his arms now painful. Ethan felt tears dripping out of his eyes again. "Please, get off! Please!" He cried.

Much to his surprise, they let go of him and he fell backwards onto the grass. Once out of their grip, he scrambled away from them.

"Wait!" The one he had first met called. "Are we not pretty enough?"

He felt bad. He was making these women feel insecure. He shouldn't have, but he looked back at them and shook his head, licking his lips. "No, of course not. You're all really beautiful, honestly. I'm just not attracted to you three."

"It's because you have Elizabeth." One of them sighed, tucking her green hair behind her ear. "Isn't it?"

"No." Ethan answered honestly. "It's not because of Elizabeth. I'm not attracted to women at all, actually."

The three of them erupted into giggles, but it didn't feel like they were laughing at him. It felt like they were laughing at the irony of the whole situation. "You're not attracted to women?!" The one with brown hair said between giggles. "That is so hilarious!"

"I'm not teasing you. I really have no feelings towards them at all." Ethan replied, but he had a small smile on his face. Blue haired cackled, throwing her head back. "Of course you don't!" She shrieked with laughter. "Look at you! How could you be a straight man at all?!"

Ethan giggled too, looking down at the ground. "I have no idea how I've been convincing people for this long." He admitted. "If they found out, I'd be outcasted from my kingdom."

"Fools, all of them." Brown haired replied dismissively. "There is nothing wrong with liking the wrong gender. Why, Rose here likes females herself!"

"Yes, I do!" Blue haired said. "And I'm not ashamed of it. But you have no idea how hard it is, being a creature that is born to seduce men when all you want to do is kiss a girl."

"Must be terrible, but how do you know? You only know these two, right?" Ethan asked curiously, stepping closer. Rose shook her head. "No, there's actually a whole town underneath this little pond. Daisy and Poppy," She pointed at the other two. "Like men, but I'm in a relationship with a woman currently. I just... I cannot believe I've been stressing about doing this for three years, and it turns out that you don't even like us. You, sir, are a fool." She teased, still smiling. "But who am I to judge?"

"Thank you..." Ethan murmured. "Apart from John, you three are the first to accept me. Thank you so much."

"Go get your future wife!" Daisy said. "And tell her you're not attracted to women! Get her! Don't thank us, honey!" She blew kisses. Poppy was still giggling, but she nodded her head, her brown hair falling in front of her eyes. "Have fun!" She sang. "Go break her heart, love!"

Giggling, Ethan walked away.

<><><><>

Liz was scowling. She had seen the blonde find his way over the wall, and then he had gone to talk to the mermaids. She had expected, and hoped, that they would drag him into the water but to her disappointment, they had let him go. He also seemed to be talking and laughing with them.

The mermaids never laughed with her.

Despite living in the castle for six years, Liz had never made friends with any of the mythical creatures that lived with her. She knew they were there. Numerous occasions she had gone into the garden and had seen the mermaids swimming in the pond, but they only giggled and dove underneath the water whenever she approached them. She had only seen the fairies in the kitchen twice, and every time they shrieked and hid themselves.

I'm not going back.

She had no one. So she decided, within the first few months, that she could live just fine in her chambers. It was equivalent to a full sized house, so she was fine in there. Food appeared on her table, as did anything she needed to continue her carvings.

I'm not going back, I'm not going back.

But she was still so lonely. No matter what, people disappointed her, people treated her like shit. No matter what, she was always the damsel in distress. No matter what, her father had control over her.

I'm not going back, I'm not going back, I'm not going back, her mind was chanting, making her want to scream. She looked out the window again and hissed in anger as she saw the prince making his way towards the castle door.

"I am not going back." She whispered.