synopsis: kind of an au? reader took the fall for something she didn't do and gets kicked out of prince rielle's kingdom or smthn. azul takes her in and now they're bffs (and kinda want to date but neither of them are very good at communicating that until they do)
a/n: kind of worldbuilding??? in this au no one goes to nrc and it's not even mentioned, it's just sea kingdoms fighting ig. there's rielle's kingdom, another unnamed kingdom, and azul's coven and i barely elaborate on any of them lmfao also since idk anything about rielle most of this is just made up, nothing is really taken from canon on him for this one-shot
tw: mentions of sleeping drugs
Azul listens to your story, looking grim as you finish. You'd been accused of treason—letting a captured spy free before he could confess to any of his secrets and watching as he goes to take down nearly a quarter of your army with what he'd learned. Hundreds of deaths, dozens more injured, and all fingers pointing towards you.
You hadn't been the one to do that, of course. The Prince had.
You'd always suspected that his kindheartedness would get him into some serious trouble. Someone would take advantage of him while he was off in his fantasy world where everything is okay and everyone gets along and everything could be taken at face value.
Prince Rielle had fallen for the spies sugary words and heart-breaking story and found himself, against your advice, spending more and more time with the imprisoned spy. The spy had drawn Rielle in close with his web of lies, day by day, until he was able to convince the foolish young merman to set him free—and as soon as he had, he'd turned around and used what he'd learned before he was captured to deal a devastating blow to your kingdom.
In part, you understand why Rielle wouldn't want to be the one to have all of the blame dumped onto him—but why did he have to shove it all on you?
You'd laughed bitterly when Rielle conjured up a sob story about how he'd tried to get you to stay away from the spy, sobbing into his father's arms about how sorry he was that he'd trusted you.
When your verdict came in, you could only stare at Rielle while he looked down at his fins, unable to meet your eyes. He'd been your closest friend and the one who'd stabbed you in the back when things went wrong; you were happy to see the guilt eating him alive as your lifetime of banishment was announced. You'd supposed that he was to thank in part for not getting your lead lopped off, as you'd expected, because as much as he wanted to get away without any consequences, there was still something inside of him that didn't want you to die for his actions.
"I'm glad I'll never have to see your face again," you announce as a pair of guards begin to escort you out. "You're a coward, Rielle! I hope you figure out a way to live with what you've done!" you shout, watching Rielle's face crumple into tears as you're dragged out. A small jar is popped open beneath your nose and you inhale something mildly sweet before your consciousness slips away.
You're taken somewhere far, far away. When you wake up, you don't exactly recognize where you are, but you know the place—the wastelands, far away from the place you'd once called home.
Your arms are chained behind your back, looped together with the forearms pressed against each other; your tail is in a similar state, the fins pressed flat and your tail bent at an angle that makes it impossible to even float. You know that the bonds will dissolve after a few hours—magic, you think—to give the guards who dumped you here a head-start in case you decided to chase after them, but that's not what you've got on your mind right now.
You just want a bit of revenge.
When a pair of eels approach you, swimming around your immobilized form, you don't need to ask them who they are or what they want—you already know who they work for. You're calm as they approach, starting the conversation yourself.
"I'd be delighted if you could lead me to the witch," you tell them, looking up from where you lie.
"She's confident," says one of the eels, circling around you.
"Or she's just stupid," says the other one with a large grin. "Hey, can I eat her? I'm hungry."
"Let's hear what she has to say first," the first eel says, rolling you over so that you're on your back.
"I already know you work for the witch. If you didn't, there would be very little reason for you to be in a place like this. Now, can you bring me to him or are we just going to stay here while I wait for these things to fall off?" you tell them, shaking at the binds around you.
You can tell that the two eels don't take you seriously, but they agree to take you to the witch. It's a bit of an awkward journey there, with you still unable to do much other than squirm around meekly, but the two make the trip quick and you're grateful when you feel the binds slowly start to loosen.
The witch is an impressive sight. He's tucked away in a corner of his lair—if it could even be called that, because the place is gorgeous—scribbling away on a piece of parchment while the tentacles around him writhe in various directions, each one doing something different even though the witch himself isn't paying any attention to them. Before your eyes, potions are being formed and formulas are written faster than you've ever seen them done.
Azul, you learn, is kind, if only to get the story out of you. You're not unused to false smiles, and now that you have nothing to lose you set everything out on the table for him to see. While you don't know all of the details, you're somewhat aware from past conversations that Rielle once knew Azul—this could be the perfect opportunity for the two of you to work together to get back at him.
Azul watches you finish your story with a straight face. He can't make out a single emotion on you. He's impressed at how well you've kept it together, especially after everything your former friend had put you through.
You're easy to work with, he finds. You listen well and he never has to ask twice for you to do something. Best of all, though, is the fact that you're patient.
Azul knows that, while being an octopus has it's upsides, it does make moving around a hell of a lot harder, too. The twins can zip by anytime they like, watching him struggle to keep up, and you're certainly fast enough to do the same, but for some reason you choose to keep to Azul's pace. You've never pointed out how slow he is compared to the rest of you, only waiting for him to catch his breath and continue moving without showing any signs of being irritated at how long it takes for him to cover any ground. He's grateful for that, even if he never vocalizes it.
In all honesty, he was expecting you to leave after you'd begun to form a plan to bring Rielle down. No one ever stayed long—most people wanted to make a deal with him and then leave immediately after, so when you didn't even propose the idea of one or show any signs of packing up after a month of staying, he decided to ask you about it.
"When do you think that you'll leave?" he asks you one day. You look up from the manuscript you'd been studying on truth potions, giving Azul the side-eye before putting the parchment down.
"Do you want me to leave?" you ask him in return, watching the octopus flush.
"That's not what I—allow me to rephrase that," he says, clearing his throat. "What I meant to ask was if you ever had any intention of leaving? Not that I want for you to leave, of course, but other than Jade and Floyd, you've been with us longer than most mermaids have."
You give Azul a long stare, watching as his tentacles all shift nervously. After a second you answer, looking back to the manuscript. "Where else would I go? Remember, Azul, I've been banished—setting foot back in the kingdom would result in my imprisonment or death. You know what Rielle said I did. I don't blame the king for wanting a fair punishment for the deaths his son caused."
"Ah, right, your banishment," says Azul, flushing a bit darker with embarrassment—how could he have forgotten that?—before he peeks over at the manuscript you're reading over. "Is a potion of truth the way you're going to get Rielle to confess? That one will be costly, you know. None of the ingredients are easily found anywhere, not to mention that you're going to have to get close to the prince himself to administer it."
"I'll be adding an instant invisibility spell to it, too, so I can unveil myself when the time is right. I won't bother you with any of the gathering or making parts of this. I plan to do it all myself," you tell Azul, who's eyebrows shoot up.
"Are you quite sure about that? Something like this...it's not a beginner's spell, you know."
"Oh, I know," you respond breezily. "I might ask a few questions, but other than that I'll stay completely out of your way."
Azul doesn't want that, though. You're the most intriguing thing to come his way in quite a while, and it would be a shame to watch you do all of the work on your own. Not only that, but you're surprisingly good company—the excuses Azul has to come up with just to get a moment alone with you are quickly bordering on ridiculous. Now that you're going to be making a potion that's nowhere near your level of expertise, he's forming a plan of his own right now at this new revelation.
"How about I show you the ropes instead? You're a much better listener than either of the eels are, and I'm sure you'll be a quick learner. I'm offering to teach you myself with no extra cost," he tells you, barely suppressing a shiver with anticipation as your gaze turns towards him once more.
"No extra cost? My, that's something I didn't think I'd hear coming from you. Are you sure there's not some sort of underlying deal you're waiting to spring on me?" you ask, unable to keep a small grin off of your face. If it weren't for that, Azul would have believed that you really were doubting him instead of simply pulling his leg—well, tentacle.
"Is that a joke I hear? I don't think I've ever seen this side of you," says Azul. He's only half-joking, because part of it is true—he's never seen you at complete ease before, much less even smiling. You've been hell-bent on revenge against Rielle that Azul had never seen you outside of the work you'd buried yourself in, but he thinks that he likes seeing you like this.
"Alright, I'll take you up on that offer. I expect to learn a great deal from the witch himself," you tell him, giving him another little grin.
"I suppose this would make you my unofficial apprentice, then?" asks Azul, almost hopefully.
"It seems that it would."
From then on, you almost never leave Azul's side. You follow him to nearly every room, always ready to help, always ready to learn.
Time flies by much faster when Azul is with you, he finds. You make everything seem just a little brighter. You must have already cast some sort of spell on him, because he's not sure when the last time he laughed so hard he was sure he'd drown was, or when he'd ever felt this good in his abilities as an octopus after you'd lifted his spirits during a bad day.
Azul's life becomes less of a chore. Every day he wakes up expecting something vibrant and new, because that's all it's ever been since you've gotten here. You make him feel a little less alone, he confesses one night, while the both of you are staring up at the night sky above you. You'd managed to find a nice place close enough to the surface to make out the stars without having to breach the waves, and now you were laying flat on your back with Azul next to you, tentacles all spread out like a starfish.
You'd told him that he's the first merman you'd trusted since everything with Rielle. You hadn't thought it would be possible too, but Azul listened as you say that you're glad you became his apprentice—and his friend.
Unofficial apprentice, he reminds you cheekily.
I'm getting better. You'll have to watch out, because I might just surpass your own skills, you respond snippily. Azul had chuckled at that.
Before he knows it, nearly a full year has passed of you bring Azul's apprentice. He knows that soon enough you'll have everything that you need to make your potion, send it off, and leave, because that's all you ever came for in the first place, and the anxiety that comes with that knowledge gnaws away at him until he can no longer sleep comfortably at night.
The dreaded day arrives when you come rushing towards him, two bottles in hand and a smile plastered across your face. Instantly, Azul's heart sinks.
"I've done it! I've finally done it!" you exclaim, showing Azul the potion of truth and of instant invisibility.
"That's—that's wonderful!" he stammers, trying to make his grin seem genuine.
"All this time...after all this time, he's finally going to pay for what he's done," you say, eyes shining.
As you ramble on, Azul feels the desperation start to claw at him. He cant stop himself from asking the damned question. "When will you leave?"
"As soon as possible. I want Rielle to suffer the consequences of his actions as soon as I can get there. Today—no, tomorrow! I need some time to prepare for my trip."
"I suppose you'll need some help packing your things up," says Azul, voice going a bit flat at the end. You look over at him, brows furrowing.
"What would I need help for? I appreciate it, but I'm packing very lightly—the trip can't take more than a day, and once I'm freed of all charges I can always restock inside of the kingdom."
"Ah, that's right. I'd forgotten that you'd left all of your belongings inside of the kingdom. You'll have everything you need there, then? Should I throw all of your things here out or would you rather I did something else with them?" Azul asks sourly.
He feels like a child when the realization dawns on you, watching you chuckle as the blood rushes to his face.
"Oh dear, you didn't think I was leaving forever, did you?" you ask, reaching forward to hold one of his hands.
"Well, your banishment would be lifted. Why would you live here when you could go back to your old life?" he mutters bitterly, eyes flickering away from yours.
"And why would I want to go back to that?" Azul's eyes widen, shooting back up to you. He hadn't heard you correctly, had he?
"That's—that was everything you knew," he says, nearly a whisper. You shake your head, reaching up to push a couple locks of silvery hair away from his face.
"That was. But the point of me wanting to make these potions and have Rielle spill his secrets out in front of everyone back wasn't to get my old life back—I just wanted him to own up to what he did and pay for what he had me go through. Besides, I've found something worth staying for," you tell him, watching the gears in Azul's head turn.
"What did you find?" he asks you shakily.
"You," you say, brushing your thumb over his cheekbone. It hits you all in an instant that while Azul is a friend, you're willing to push that into something more.
When Azul places his hand over where yours lays, looking halfway between smiling and crying, you lean forwards and press a kiss to his cheek, running your hand through his hair as he shakes in relief.
You're not together yet—not officially, anyways—but it feels just as natural as swimming does to you. It feels right, and by the way Azul leans into you, pressing his face against the dip between your shoulder and your neck, he feels the same.