— I want to do a mix of selkie, siren, and mermaid. The hero will be a merman, but with a power and a little bit appearance of a siren, and they can also shed their fishtail to turned human —
He was just a fictional character you see in a manga, a villain at that, and yet, like any other hardcore otaku, you found yourself falling head over heels for him.
Like the original version of the little mermaid, he was a very pitiful merman, falling for a princess after rescuing her from drowning, but unlike the little mermaid, he did not meet a sea witch who stole his voice in exchange to be human, he just casually shed his fishtail, hide it somewhere he was sure no one would find, and headed to find his princess.
You could never forget how hard you laugh when the princess shrieked at the sight of a naked man on the beach, for a princess like her who was never exposed to such a vulgar thing, it was too much that she fainted on the spot, and you found yourself smiling at what a cute couple they would be.
Eventually, after encountering him again and again, the princess found out that he was a merman that saved her, in order to pay him back, she invited him to a banquet in the castle, and you squealed at how adorable the merman was when he thought his feelings were reciprocated.
But things did not go so well as that banquet was held so that the people would know that their princess will be wedded to a prince from another country.
The author of the manga described that mermen were a creature with an alluring voice, attractive face, and well-built body, they also have an unwavering loyalty and a fragile heart, so what happened when a merman’s heart was broken?
They go feral.
The merman could not accept that his beloved was betrothed to someone else that he turned into a villain.
That night, he used his voice to lure the princess to the ocean, he was actually prepared to live with the princess on the mainland but knowing that those other humans would oppose, he was ready to live with her in the sea, completely disregarding the fact that humans could not breathe underwater.
So when the prince knew about this, he immediately goes to rescue the princess and killed the merman with his sword, and as the sword pierced the merman on his stomach, tears did not stop rolling down your cheeks when he slowly dissolved into seafoam.
What a shit ending it is.
That night, you went to sleep with a broken heart, thinking that if the merman were alive, you would definitely help him kidnapped the princess or better yet, be his mate, but reality was cruel, you knew he was just a fictional character that someone draws, so you decided to completely forget about him and find some others that could cheer you up.
That night, you had a dream — or so you thought.
You were lying on the sand, eyes facing up at the blue sky, basking under the sun as your eyes fluttered open to find yourself in a foreign beach you had not yet seen.
You were confused and scared, considering that you had no idea where you are, until you felt something slippery and soft underneath you.
Standing up on your feet, you realized you were lying on a fishtail, and you did not mean fishtail as in fishtails that you often see in markets, it was a massive fishtail with glimmering blue scales that you suddenly had an urge to try it on just to see how it big it was.
Maybe I could pretend to be a mermaid with this, a burst of laughter suddenly erupted from your throat at the thought.
You did not know what to do with the fishtail but considering you are in a foreign place and in need of a house to stay, you wondered how much would this thing cost if you were to sell it, so you decided to take it for now and headed to wherever your feet wanted to go.
As expected, walking bare feet on the sand was hard, especially when you are holding a huge fishtail in your arms, but what could you do? You needed money.
Eventually, your hardship was put to an end when you saw an abandoned-looking hut built right between the beach and the forest, and since beggars can not be choosers, you walked inside the hut and discovered that the place was not that bad if you put an exception to the moldy mattress, spiderwebs and trashes pilling up inside.
So accepting your fate, you put the fishtail away as you cleaned the hut.
By the time you were done, it was noon, and you were satisfied to see your new home.
You thought that it would be a pity to throw away the mattress so you decided to covered it with banana leaves that you found in the forest, though, it would be a lie if you were to say that you are okay with this sudden change of living.
However, when you heard your stomach growled from hunger, you did not really have time to indulge yourself in self-pity as you were now worried about food.
Unconsciously, your eyes made its way to the fishtail.
You knew, that fishtail was not fake, it was a real flesh fishtail and you wondered if it was going to be as good as fish, but considering that that fishtail was your only source of money, you decided to put aside the thought of eating it unless you are very very desperate.
You have seen people sharpening a long wooden stick to capture fishes but would that really work? You have never tried.
Well, let’s find some woods first, maybe I can make a bonfire? but how does one lights up a fire without the help of a lighter?
By now, you were so stressed that all you wanted to do was sleep so the hunger would go away, however, a gush of wind suddenly came over and you heard a laughter of a woman and a man, but ignoring the gender of the voices, what you cared about right now was the fact how could a voice could suddenly eased all your worries away? biting your lips, you decided to take a look.
You slowly peeked your head outside from the hut and sure enough, a man and woman were there laughing and giggling near the shore as they watched the sunset together while holding hands.
Normally, you would have squeal at the romantic sight before you, but when your eyes landed on their faces, all that excitement to squeal vanished in thin air as you realized that they looked really similar to the princess and merman you read in the manga.
The man turned to look at the woman and proceeded to say something which made the woman giggled at his words, after what seemed like eternity, they finally part and as they bid their farewells, you realized that the man has a webbed fingers, much like the merman in the manga, however, you decided to wait until he turned into a merman.
As soon as the man walked away, you followed him stealthily until both of you reached the place where you came from which surprised you when a thought crossed your mind.
Wait. . . don’t tell me that. . . that fishtail in the hut, your blood ran cold as you ran back to grab the fishtail you left in the hut.
A sigh of relief escaped your lips at the sight of the captivating fishtail covered in the sand was still there in your new home.
Carrying it bridal style, you turned around and headed to the man with a grin on your face, all of a sudden, the fishtail that was only a burden to you in the beginning does not feel that much of a burden anymore.
You panted as you stopped a few feet away from the man, and judging by the anxiety that exuded from the man, you knew he was on the verge of crying at the thought of his fishtail was stole by a stranger as he dug the sand with his sharp claws and webbed fingers.
” Um,” you tried to make a sound, trying to grab his attention. “ You there!”
The man turned his head at you, glistening eyes widened as he saw that his fishtail was in your hands, his chin wobbled and fresh salty tears rolled down his scaled cheek causing you to feel that you had just stolen candy from a child which made you felt extremely guilty.
You rushed to him immediately, hoping that it would at least ease his sadness.
As you were only a step away from him, you realized that he has an ocean blue scales stuck under his eyes and fins with the same color on each side of his head, telling you that he was not a human.
The merman looked at his fishtail in your embrace and immediately wiped his tears away, he looked at you determinedly as his pupils turned vertical, and you held your guards up as you realized that he was going to use his siren voice to persuade you to give his fishtail to him.
“ Fair maiden,” his voice, soothing and deep, making your heart warmed but other than that, there was nothing. “ Would you be willing to give my tail back to me?”
You pouted, hugging the tail tighter as if it was your own life. “ Nope!”
The merman faltered at your rejection, seemingly to be surprised that his magic did not work against you.
He gulped, eyes turning back to normal. “ Then, what do you want?”
You giggled, grinning at the merman. “ Marry me!”
The situation suddenly turned quiet as a seagull came, giving both of you a squawk as it passed over as if sensing the tense atmosphere around you and the merman.
In a second as the seagull disappeared, the merman flushed at your proposal of marriage like an adorable virgin that you knew he is, but thinking back, you were rather hasty on proposing, you did not even have a proper house to live in and food to eat, how can you afford to take care of this man?
I'm not like the princess, you thought sullenly, mouth dropped to a frown.
The merman must have sensed your sadness for he immediately regained his sense back, thinking that his silence has upset you.
“ I-I'm sorry,” he muttered slowly. “ I. . . already have someone that I love. ”
I know.
“ But even so, I still love you!” You professed loudly. “ Even more than the princess!”
His face flushed at the mention of the princess and you almost squeal at how cute he was that you squatted down to hide your blush.
Seeing that, he immediately squatted down with you. “ A-Are you okay?”
He’s worried? Aw, such a pure heart!
“ You're so cute and nice,” you decided to face him despite the blush on your face. “ I love you so much that it hurts. ”
The merman's eyes widened at your response as if he could not believe it as he unconsciously touched his scaled cheek.
You immediately knew what he thought by that simple gesture; in the manga, he asked if the princess liked him and the princess responded with you are cute, but it would have been better if you don't have those scales and fins, then people won't be so suspicious of you, and the merman was in despair that he even scratched his scales and ripped his fins away to the point that you were begging him to stop.
Now that you knew you were somehow transported in the manga, you realized that the plot had not reached that part yet, therefore, it must mean that they had just met.
You immediately threw the fishtail aside, grabbing the man by his cold cheeks, feeling his hard scales on your palms, eyes staring straight into his. “ You are pretty and perfect just the way you are, if a person told you otherwise, then it means that person doesn't love you enough to accept your flaws and imperfections, and you shouldn't let someone like that lowered you down, you are better than that!”
The merman was out of words at your speech, thinking that if you had just stalked him today and heard the answer of the princess to him; he should be disgusted, he should be afraid, but he can not deny the warmness that was spreading in his chest and the tears of gratitude that almost left his eyes.
When he heard those cruel cruel words leaving the princess’s plump pink lips, he felt like crying on the spot, but he held himself from making the princess felt guilty, even if it means he has to endure the pain of his fragile heart being ripped to pieces by her words, but here you are, a stranger whom he just met calling him pretty.
“ Thank you,” the merman sobbed, blinking as pure white tears trickled down his chin and slowly turning into sea glass.
You sighed in relief, pulling away from him before handed him the fishtail on your side.
“ I'm sorry, you can have this back. I realized that I'm being too impulsive when I propose to you earlier,” you smiled sheepishly, putting the fishtail on his hands. “ I shouldn't have threatened you like that. ”
“ N-No.”
At this point, he did not even know if he was saying no to the threatened you part or the impulsive part, but it was not like he had a change of heart or anything, he just could not bear to break your heart if suppose you are really truly in love with him.
He thought that you were a bad person, he really thought you were, now he felt guilty.
“ Your,” he uttered, shyly avoiding your gaze before peeking through his thick eyelashes. “ Your name?”
“ (Y/n),” you smiled at his cuteness. “ By the way, can I hug you?”
He was obviously startled by your sudden request but fortunately, he did not reject you as he wrapped his arms around you, and you immediately hugged him back, all while snuggling into his dress shirt that the princess prepared, truly, to be able to hug your favorite character like this felt so good.
” I love you so much. ”
And before you knew it, your body had dissolved into seafoam.
It was too sudden that you did not even have time to react, and the next thing you knew, you were in your bed, eyes looking wide at the ceiling as your alarm clock made a loud noise to tell you to get ready for school.
“ A dream?” you muttered, feeling disappointed. “ But it feels too real. ”
Sighing, you wrapped yourself in your duvet, nonetheless, you were thankful that you did not have to sleep in the hut.
Part One —