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When he was four years old, his brother had picked him up and held him close.

Tensei’s body had been shaking, his arms only stabilized by his grip on Tenya. He’d closed his eyes, pressing his cheek against the top of Tenya’s head. “I love you,” he’d whispered. “So, so much. And I want you to know you can always come talk to me about anything. I do not care if you think it’s silly or stupid or strange,” he kissed the spot his cheek had been sitting in, petting Tenya’s hair back down when a gentle current rippled it up. “I want you to know you can always tell me anything.”

“I will,” Tenya had promised. His voice had been so small, back then, fragile and young and just—

It had shown his age.

How unaware he was of the world, how unsure he’d been of his place within it.

The next day, their parents had started training Tenya to be their immediate heir. Despite the title usually going to the eldest, Tenya was told, it was going to be him. He would be a good heir, wouldn’t he? He would listen and obey and do what needed to be done.

Dutiful son that he was, he had nodded along.

His promise to his brother had remained in his mind, however, and he spent his free time with Tensei. He got along better with his brother than with their parents. Their parents seemed distant and annoyed a lot of the time and Tenya was always so worried they were angry at him. They treated Tensei with disdain. From a young age, too young to be involved in a feud like that, Tenya had known his brother had made their parents angry. There was nothing he could do about it, either. Even Tensei had told him to keep his head down and keep quiet – hush now, don’t cry, it’s okay, I swear! – but that hadn’t calmed the hurt in his heart.

The difference in how they were treated was unfair to whoever looked long enough.

When he was seven, they got a few new servants.

A young mother and her mate, their only son. He had dark eyes and dark hair and Tenya was immediately spellbound by him. Sero Hanta was a strange young mer, whose fins resembled ribbons drifting off his arms and tail. He was the same age as Tenya, too! He should have been able to play. It was hard to find playmates as a young Prince, but he took what he could get. Even the other royals were hard to come by – his parents didn’t want to visit the other Kingdoms too often, so his playing was limited to the few times a year another young royal would visit. Often it was just a King or a Queen on their own.

Tenya would bow and be polite and smile and show off, but he wanted someone to play with.

Sero Hanta, however, was his age and was in their Kingdom, so he could see him every day. Tenya knew Hanta needed to follow his parents around and that he was still a little too young to be on his own just yet, but so was Tenya. Maybe they could get Tensei to watch over them, so that they could play—

No, his father had said. There hadn’t been any hesitation in his voice, there had only been a layer of anger in his words. No, Tenya, you have your duties to tend to and the Sero family has theirs.

No, you are not allowed to play today. You need to have these laws and by-laws memorized.

No, you need to finish this historical research.

Understanding all of this is what will make you a great King, someday.

He was getting older now, old enough to question why Tensei had been pushed aside for him. They never gave him an answer, only gave him more work.

And so he had gone back to his research.

Quiet and alone.

When he was ten, Hanta’s siring parent had passed away.

She had gotten sick, somehow, and Tenya had snuck down to the kitchen to curl up next to Hanta. They weren’t the greatest of friends but they knew each other from living within the same palace. Tenya had curled the tip of his tail around Hanta’s, curled the tips of his fingers through Hanta’s, and kept him company until someone had come looking for him. His mother had been working in silence the entire time, her tail flicking agitatedly. She looked exhausted and scared, her hands trembling every time she picked up another ingredient.

She saw Tenya curled up next to her son and she paused.

Curling herself to fit into the same space as them, she kissed the top of Hanta’s head. It reminded Tenya of the way his brother did the same thing to him. “We’ll be alright,” she trilled softly, cupping Hanta’s cheek in one hand. The other she put on Tenya’s cheek after a moment of hesitation.

Tenya stared back at her, eyes wide, before he leaned into her hand. Imitating her, he trilled back. With a sob, she pulled both of them close. “Thank you,” she pressed a careful kiss to Tenya’s head, tucking it into his hair, where his circlet wouldn’t unsettle and come off completely. He nodded, curling an arm around her shoulder. His other arm went around Hanta – he had never stopped hoping that they could be friends. The only friends he’d managed to make were the daughter of Creati and the youngest son of Endeavor. Those two Kingdoms were the only ones that routinely brought along their children when they came to negotiate or celebrate anything. With a small sigh, Hanta had leaned into Tenya’s side, tucking his head under Tenya’s chin. If nothing else, he could try to comfort both of them.

His tutors had called for him, then, and Tenya had been careful to slip out a window. He didn’t want them to get in trouble for him wanting to make friends.

When he was twelve, Hanta had become a much more frequent friend.

He’d been deemed old enough to work so he’d been put into the roster of servants. His first duties had been to follow alongside the older servants and learn what to do from them. He’d shown up in Tenya’s chambers, following the head of their servants with a couple of items used to help cleanse a room. Tenya normally hated this step of his mornings – his parents had insisted everything be clean first thing when he woke up. That meant he had to get up, pull on his jewelry, tame his hair in what way he could, and wait.

His hair always gave him trouble. Despite how sleek and easy his brother’s hair was, how their parents could tame their hair, Tenya always had trouble with the texture of his. It bunched up and poofed out and he could never get it to lie as flat as theirs did.

No matter how many times he tried.

But this time, this time Hanta was here! Tenya smiled as they moved around his room, following the cleaning instructions his parents had set out. He waited until they were done, then pulled a note out that he’d written Hanta, sliding it into the cuff he wore when he thanked them for their duty. As polite as his parents had taught him to be.

The note had said he hoped Hanta was well.

He hadn’t been able to think of what else to write, other than that, and he didn’t know how to not make a strange impression on the other mer.

The next time he had seen Hanta, the mer had pointed to his cushions and smiled as they left the room.

Underneath his largest cushion was a note with a drawing of a fish. Hanta’s handwriting declared that it had reminded him of Tenya. The likeness was good enough that Tenya could identify the species of fish – a blue velvet Damselfish. They didn’t venture as low as Tenya’s chambers but they were certainly near where Hanta’s chambers were in the palace. Tenya had hidden the drawing in a part of his desk, humming happily as he curled up in a cushioned seat to plan out his next note to Hanta.

They continued passing notes until Hanta had been moved to train on something else in the palace.

When he was fourteen, his brother had arrived at the door of his chamber.

Tenya had sat up in bed, staring as Tensei leaned against the wall. He looked exhausted, staring into the distance and shaking his head. Tenya moved so he could meet Tensei’s eyes, watching as his brother let out a deep breath and slid down the wall. “I hope you find happiness,” he kept his gaze fixed on something Tenya couldn’t identify. “And I hope you find someone who makes you feel like they put the stars in the sky for you.”

He wrapped his arms around himself.

Through the years, it had been harder and harder to see Tensei being treated the way he was. Their parents showed clear favoritism, ignoring Tensei in favor of Tenya. Tenya had noticed every single time Tensei watched their parents with thinly veiled anger in his eyes. His brother spent most meals with his teeth clenched together, biting his tongue until blood welled up. There was something he hadn’t caught on to, something that had slipped behind the veneer of a loving family. He couldn’t put a name to it, couldn’t identify what had made his family fall apart, but he hated it nonetheless.

Tensei swam over to Tenya, drooping at the edge of his bed. “Please,” he took Tenya’s face in his hands. “Promise me you’ll find someone that makes you happy.”

“…Tensei?”

His brother looked away from him, pain flashing across his face. “Promise me, Tenya.”

The seriousness of his tone had Tenya nodding.

He hadn’t been able to find time to go see Hanta, lately, but he knew the other made him happy. Hopefully, that was what Tensei meant. He missed him – but he had been informed of his duties. Sneaking off to see a mer who worked around the palace wasn’t one of them. No matter how much his eyes seemed to glitter when he saw Tenya and no matter how much his laughter made Tenya want to cling to the sound.

Tensei spent the rest of the night, until Tenya fell asleep, sitting with him and just talking. About anything and everything he seemed to be thinking about.

But Tenya could still feel that something was being kept from him.

He was fifteen when Hanta’s singing stopped for a while.

It was startling to go past the kitchen and hear silence. Tenya stopped in place, his tail twisting in agitation. He had managed to find a way to come see Hanta almost every single day. Since he had promised Tensei he would be happy, he had found a route through the palace that allowed him to see Hanta almost every day. The other mer had noticed, greeting him with a smile and a flick of his tail. His mother would fondly roll her eyes, shaking her head as she continued working. Tenya’s delays never lasted long – he would stop to say hello, ask after their day, then continue on to his lessons.

Hanta had taken to singing around the time Tenya passed each day, his voice a quietly resonating sound in the less crowded part of the palace that housed the kitchens. His mother never joined him, though Tenya had seen her conducting with her fingers as she worked a couple of times.

But today, there was silence.

When he moved to the opening, Tenya peered inside to see Hanta. He was working still, but his voice was silent. His tail moved, agitated, every time he had to turn from what he was doing. There were dark circles under his eyes and even the gleam of his normally shimmering scales was dulled.

Tenya moved inside, hesitating as he reached out, a hand halfway to Hanta’s shoulder when the mer turned to look at him. He was caught, then. Tenya finished the gesture, searching Hanta’s face. A shiver jolted Hanta’s entire body and he looked away, rubbing his cheek against his shoulder. “My mom’s not feeling well,” he muttered. “She could barely move this morning. I left her with the healers but I don’t – I think…” He seemed to collapse, starting from the point of connection between them. Tenya caught him, lowering them both to the ground slowly. Hanta clung to him, shaking, and something that Tenya was tempted to call whimpering escaped him.

If he lost his mother, this would be the second parent he had lost.

His heart pounding, Tenya brushed Hanta’s hair back. His lessons could wait for a little while. There was someone who needed comfort. If his parents wanted to argue against it, he could always tell them he was doing his duty as their heir. They needed their people to have a good opinion of them, after all.

Barely thinking, Tenya nuzzled against Hanta, trilling softly.

He’d meant it as a comfort, as a way to tell the other that he wasn’t alone, but his heart almost beat out of his chest as Hanta returned the gesture.

Oh, Tenya realized. This was what his brother meant.

Someone who made him happy.

He continued to sit there, stroking Hanta’s hair back and trilling for him, until Hanta’s crying stopped. Even after that, even after he seemed to have calmed down a little, Hanta clung to Tenya. “You have to be at your lessons,” Hanta muttered, still making no move to let go of him. “You’re going to get in trouble.”

“They can wait,” Tenya shrugged, shaking his head. “This is important.”

Hanta shifted in his arms, looking up to meet his eyes. There was something there, some spark of his usual self, and Tenya held his breath as Hanta’s face flushed. “You’re so strange sometimes, Prince Tenya,” he was staring at him, still, his mouth slightly open in an oddly appealing way. He leaned in again, pressing his forehead to Tenya’s shoulder, sighing. “Thank you,” he was almost addressing the floor beneath them, the tip of his tail flicking gently. “I guess I just needed…Contact. Someone who made me feel less alone – you kind of always have,” he pulled away but it was slow and reluctant. Clearing his throat, Hanta glanced up at Tenya again, a fraction of a smile on his face. “Thanks,” he said again.

“If you need me to do so at any time,” Tenya found the words themselves from him almost against his will. “I will.”

Hanta’s cheeks darkened, a tiny bit of laughter pulled from his chest.

Before he reported to his lessons, he had his personal healers seek out Hanta’s mother. The general healers were good at their jobs but the ones hired to tend to him were versed in stronger magic. His parents had made certain that he would have the best on hand – it had been explained as a result of his training. Training to fight, like he was, could be dangerous. His healers were practiced in healing battle wounds, in healing things that required a state of emergency. They healed things that could be deadly if left unchecked.

It had been some time since he had needed his healers on call for himself.

He felt no guilt about sending them for Hanta’s mother.

Later that night, he lay in his bed, his fingers pressed against his bottom lip as he wondered what kissing Hanta would be like.

Two days later, he heard singing again.

Having turned sixteen a handful of months back, almost half a year, Prince Izuku was being offered up for mating.

“You need to go,” his father told him. “For the sake of our Kingdom. A pretty mate at your side and the throne is yours. Ruling over two Kingdoms will be difficult but you will learn.” He turned back to his meal, ignoring anything Tenya might have said in protest.

Not that he would have.

He had long since learned that protesting earned him nothing. Not when it came to his parents. They ignored his protests with the adept nature of those who had always done so. Tenya simply nodded along to whatever they said, eating his own food quietly. His mother spoke up about something, some report that had been made to her about a possible threat from the Kingdom of All. Tenya kept his sigh internal and continued to eat his food, glancing down the table at Tensei. His brother had learned, in the same way Tenya had, that silence was the only way for peace to be kept around their parents.

For them, it was preferred.

They had already made up their minds that Prince Izuku would choose him. In their minds, it was a matter of dismissing why he wouldn’t. With the open call from the King of Yuuei, Tenya knew there was every chance that he would not be chosen.

His visits to the kitchens had become even more frequent after Hanta had curled against him. His mother had survived, thanks to Tenya’s intervention. The healers had caught the disease before it progressed through the rest of her body – had it been left to run its course, she would have passed. Hanta had become more open with Tenya as well. He would tease Tenya, laughing when he didn’t fully catch a joke or when he said something unwittingly hilarious. He had found out, not too long after, what kissing Hanta felt like. The mer had surged forward, kissing him quickly before pulling back again. Just enough to make Tenya feel dazed.

He had made up his mind to court Hanta. There was no other way forward, no other path to take.

Hanta was the person who made him happy.

And he had promised Tensei he would find them.

Even if Prince Izuku chose him, Tenya decided, keeping silent, he would find a way to sabotage it. For the sake of Hanta, whose scales glittered like black gems and whose hair fell in just the right way against his cheeks when he had it down. He would never find someone else to mate, would never choose anyone other than the mer he had already fallen in love with.

Setting his cutlery down, Tenya realized there was a note under his dish. He recognized Hanta’s handwriting. Glancing at his parents and Tensei, seeing his brother notice the motion, Tenya pulled the note out from under his food and tucked it into the cuff bracelet he wore. Courting someone his parents did not approve of would be difficult but he was willing to put up with anything if it meant he could have Hanta in his life. He did not know, truly, if Hanta felt the same for him. He hoped he did – and that hope often carried him through meetings with his parents. Hanta’s songs were about love, about being in love and finding love in the best ways and Tenya wanted to believe it was for him.

He hoped it was for him.

The note almost burned against his skin, underneath the bracelet.

When the meal ended and he was excused, Tenya rushed to the kitchens. He pulled the note out before entering, reading it quickly. Hanta had written a joke down for him, had drawn him a picture of the same fish he had once said reminded him of Tenya.

Pressing his back against a wall, Tenya felt his cheeks flushing. He pressed the note against his chest, humming quietly. Hanta had asked him, fairly recently, why he looked miserable during the meals he took with his parents. Once Tenya had explained, Hanta had looked upset. He’d vowed to try and make him smile more often. A couple of soft notes caught his attention and Tenya turned his head, smiling when he saw Hanta.

He was leaning against the wall, smiling. “You got the note, then?”

“You still say they remind you of me,” Tenya schooled his expression into a softer version of the almost manic happiness he felt. “I remember the first note you left for me.”

“Of course they remind me of you,” Hanta leaned in, nudging their noses together. He put a hand on Tenya’s chest, directly over his heart. “Fast-moving, dark blue – the only color on them that’s not found on you is the yellow stripe. That’s on me,” he tilted his body so that Tenya could see the yellow stripe that had recently shown up on his tail. “Perfect combination. They’re also really particular about their environment, so the comparison is apt—hey!” he laughed when Tenya reached out and tugged gently on his hair. “Ah, so rude!” he laughed again, his shoulders shaking with it.

“…I do not want to go,” Tenya sighed. “My parents are demanding that I go and seek Prince Izuku out as my mate.”

Hanta’s laughter died, his face dropping into a solemn expression he usually never wore. “And?”

“I will be going,” Tenya shook his head. “But if Prince Izuku tries to choose me as his mate, I will be backing out as respectfully as possible. I would rather go to seek out an ally,” he looked at Hanta, meeting his eyes. “I believe he is a kind person, a well brought up Prince, and a strong future ally. I will not be choosing him as a mate or letting him choose me.”

Something left Hanta’s posture, with those words. He smiled again. “Your parents are going to be so mad at you,” he shook his head.

“It does not matter,” Tenya thought of the years of silence they had forced upon Tensei. How his brother had faded from neglect and loneliness. Tenya was the only person who somewhat regularly spoke with him and even that was rarer than he’d like. Their mistreatment of him rubbed him raw and he was angry over it. “They can be furious if they wish to be but there are things I will not abide and forcing me to mate with someone I do not love will not go well for them.”

He hadn’t meant to, but he made eye contact with Hanta when he spoke.

Well aware of his feelings for Hanta, Tenya cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks heat up. “But I must go nonetheless.”

“Of course,” Hanta nodded. He removed the ribbon from his hair, tying it carefully around his neck. Shifting from one location to the next helped signify when he was on duty within the kitchens. He ducked his head back in, speaking with his mother quickly. When he came back out, he jerked his head for Tenya to lead the way. “I will be helping you choose what things you must take with you,” Hanta explained. “Orders from the King and Queen. Your trip is in a few days and apparently, they want you well-stocked.”

Tenya made a face, sighing. “Meaning they want half of my things packed so that I can be prepared to move in with my new mate.”

“Exactly,” Hanta’s tail drifted against his own, the tip of it curling around Tenya’s for a moment.

The morning of his trip, Tenya woke up to Tensei slipping into his room.

“I have arranged our guards,” he spoke quietly, years of silence having trained him carefully. “We leave soon. I have been told to make certain you are ready to go.” He sank to the floor as Tenya moved around the room, picking up pieces of jewelry and setting them back down again. He wanted to look like he was prepared to follow the ruling of his parents but also send the message that he was not interested in Prince Izuku. He eventually settled on his choices, staring at himself in the mirror and frowning.

A ruby pendant sat in the curve of his breastbone, matching his eyes perfectly. The matching circlet sat unenthusiastically in his hair.

His rings, two of them, curled around the thumb of his left hand.

To a passing glance, he looked prepared to meet a future mate. To anyone looking, he would look ready to make that decision. From the look on Tensei’s face, however, he knew he wasn’t fooling his brother. “Red eyes,” Tensei leaned over Tenya, resting his chin on top of his head. “From somewhere distant in our family.” He scoffed, meeting Tenya’s eyes in their reflection. After a moment, he smiled, patting the side of Tenya’s head, sighing as he stayed where he was for a few minutes longer. Due to the separation their parents had put on them, they had gotten less time to spend together. Maybe it was because they had decided their eldest wasn’t good enough. Maybe it was because he looked too much like his brother and they didn’t want him to behave like Tensei.

Their parents had told him he was the exact image of his father’s father. Over the years, Tenya had come to quietly doubt their story.

In a house of secrets, finding the lie was easy.

“We should go,” Tensei held Tenya’s gaze for a long moment. “Come on.”

Their guards were all friends of Tensei’s.

After their parents had pushed Tensei aside in favor of Tenya, the only friends he had been able to make were the guards they had set up around him. The four guards traveling with them were all those who were friends with him, those who would rather cut off their own limbs than tell the King and Queen something that had passed between the brothers in confidence.

So Tenya listened.

Tensei laid out what had been done to him, the isolation and manipulation and the hatred.

And Tenya’s anger grew.

Tenya watched as Prince Izuku approached him.

His hands clenched into painful fists, his nails biting into the flesh of his palms. No, he thought. No, do not choose me. He thought of Hanta’s laughter, the way his eyes lit up when he was pleased with something. Prince Izuku spoke, however, and relieved all of Tenya’s fears. Prince Shouto was his decision – Shouto was a good choice, in Tenya’s opinion. He was strong and kind, though not always immediately sure of himself. He was quiet, with a rebellious streak buried deep. He and Izuku would get along well, Tenya knew.

They kept staring at each other, their gazes missing by mere seconds. Tenya almost wanted to shout at them both, turn their heads so that they would see each other. Princess Ochako caught Tenya’s gaze for a moment and sighed, shaking her head. She saw it too, he had to assume. When he glanced at Prince Izuku, at Prince Shouto, then back to her, she nodded.

Tensei stayed close to Tenya the entire time, ruffling his hair and laughing whenever their current companions told a joke. He could be polite while Tenya agonized over how to tell his parents he would be courting Hanta. He hadn’t been lying when he told Izuku that he thought of Hanta as above him. The mer was sweet. He took care of everyone around him, made certain the younger servants got fed and checked on. He wasn’t the type to let something go wrong or let someone get hurt just because he felt bored or annoyed. Hanta was strong and compassionate and funny and Tenya was never going to be in love with anyone else.

He watched as Izuku bowed to them and swam away, coming to a stop beside Shouto.

Smiling, Tenya turned fully to watch them.

They would hopefully be happy together. There was something about the contact between the two of them, something that already seemed like they were connecting. The two Kings announced that Izuku had made his decision and the room was filled with annoyed responses. In the corner, Tenya noticed, there was a mer looking angry. Not just annoyed or upset like some of the others – actually furious. The expression smoothed over quickly, however.

Turning to Tensei, Tenya glanced back at the mer in the corner. “Who is that?”

“That?” Tensei glanced over as well. His smile dropped a fraction. “That is Prince Kai. From the Kingdom of All. He rarely gets portraits done, barely ever seen outside of his Kingdom.” He put his hand on Tenya’s shoulder, reaching forward to cup his hand around Princess Ochako’s shoulder as well. “Both of you, come away where he cannot see you. I do not believe that is a kind expression on his face.”

Tenya followed quickly, Princess Ochako moving to catch up to him.

Shortly after that, the rest of the guests were dismissed. They were extended an invitation to stay, along with Princess Ochako.

Oh, gods, that was an alarm—

Tenya stared up at the ceiling, watching the lines of bright green and light blue crackling across the structure. His mouth hung open, Tensei gathering him close. Ochako was still with them as well, Tensei curling a protective hand around her back. He had both of them, they would both be safe.

The magic felt like Prince Izuku.

Tenya watched, rage flowing through him, as Katsuki snarled and snapped and paced.

Someone had taken Prince Izuku. Some creature had come in, attacked the Prince, and taken off with him. Two guards unconscious – luckily not dead – and a missing Prince. Katsuki seemed to be raging over a multitude of things. Tenya was not certain if it was the fact that Izuku was missing or if it was over the guard who had been hauled back inside the palace. The red-haired one was the worse off of the two and Katsuki had nearly screamed when he’d seen him.

The Prince’s cousin came through, stopping to speak with Katsuki, glancing at Tenya afterwards.

When he left, he looked determined.

“I’m going to go after him,” Katsuki’s voice was quieter now, his tail lashing about. The movement of it was the only thing that told the truth of his anger at the moment. “Sorry about fuckin’ leaving, we’ll be better hosts later when our only Prince isn’t missing,” he bared his fangs in a directionless snarl, his hands clenching into fists. “Hitoshi is grabbing Prince Shouto and then we’re going. I have been told to tell you to either go home or stay inside where it’s safe.” He looked at Tensei, who nodded.

Tenya moved forward, shaking his head. “I am going with you,” he held his head up high. Ignoring Tensei’s obvious panic, he shook his head. “I have to,” he told him. “Prince Izuku is one of the few who will be able to help us.” He took his brother’s hands, holding them tightly for a moment.

“Our parents will not be pleased,” Tensei offered it up as a token protest and they both knew it.

“I have not a single, simple ounce of attention to pay towards their displeasure,” Tenya scrunched up his nose. “They have tried to keep me from you because you fell in love without their permission. If I continue the same way, they will do the same thing to me because my life will follow along the same route. Hanta is – Hanta is one of the most important people in my life,” he met his brother’s eyes. “So please, Tensei. Tell them I am joining the search for Prince Izuku. Tell them I am staying out to help them locate him. Do not tell them I am not his choice. They had already planned on his choosing and the result of it. They had planned to move me to Yuuei to be his mate.”

Tensei looked disgusted, baring his teeth in anger. “They will never hold such sway over you,” he pulled Tenya closer, kissed the top of his head. With a sigh, he pushed Tenya towards Katsuki. “Go, both of you. I’ll distract our guards. For all that they are friends of mine, I know there are some orders they cannot ignore without a price paid.”

Turning and swimming away, Tenya glanced back at his brother.

He was watching them go, looking almost lost as he did.

Looking away, Tenya followed Katsuki. “Where are we going?” he asked the blond mer, swimming in time with him. “Are we meeting up with Hitoshi and Prince Shouto?”

“Not yet,” Katsuki flicked his tail aggressively, sending him hurtling forward. “We’re going to go out to a different point in the ocean. Hitoshi will meet us there. I don’t know how fucking comfortable you are with having legs but it’s easier for us to join up with them that way. If someone is watching us, connected to the surface, they won’t know we’re involved until we get there. He’s going to get us a boat, we’ll have to have legs for that part, but—” he looked at Tenya, his eyes a shade of red similar to Tenya’s own. Outside of himself, this was the first mer he’d met with red eyes. “But we join him a little later and we might have an advantage over someone.”

“Understood,” Tenya nodded.

They traveled in silence after that.

When they found Hitoshi, in the boat he’d gotten, it took them a second to help Tenya aboard. There was a blond human who looked half-terrified and a great deal intrigued. Something about him felt unusual – Tenya had seen humans from afar, before. His parents had not often allowed him to leave the boundaries of their Kingdom, but he had been allowed to patrol with his guards a few times. His head guard, a mer named Hikiishi Kenji, was deemed good enough to be his main protection. She had brought him along on those patrols and kept him close.

She had pointed out a cluster of humans, telling him to stay away from them. They’re dangerous, he could hear her saying. Do you hear me, Prince Tenya?

Tenya stared at the human, introduced as Neito, and took a deep breath. “Who—”

“My old neighbor,” Hitoshi shook his head, pushing Neito towards the room built into the boat. “He’s an asshole and he insulted my mate but he’s apparently trying to help us right now. Neito, go make sure we’re heading in the right direction still.” He turned back to Tenya, sighing. “He’s not so much dangerous as he is annoying. Trust me, I’ve heard the worries about humans interacting with merfolk. It can be bad and I know it can be terrifying but trust me,” he smiled and it was more of a menace than an expression of happiness. “If he tries anything, you’ll be able to keep him from telling on us.”

He rocked back on his heels, resting his arm on his knees.

Tenya reached out and pulled gently on the fabric covering his new legs. He’d had them, before, mostly because Tensei had insisted he learn how to form them. It had been several years, now, but he remembered how they went. The fabric was the unusual part – his experience with legs had been underwater. Stay in the form for a few minutes before switching back.

“You’re alright?” Hitoshi leaned his head down, meeting Tenya’s eyes. “Besides, I tossed his phone into the water. Unless he leaves our sight, he won’t be able to communicate with anyone.”

Nodding, Tenya shuffled around until he was on his knees. “I am fine,” he swallowed, running a hand along his neck. No gills. That was going to be the strangest thing to get used to. He stood up slowly, gripping the railing of the boat. The ocean was beneath him, roiling and reaching up for them with every move they made. The water occasionally splashed onto the deck of the boat, across Tenya’s skin.

This was the furthest he had ever been from home.

Shore was ahead.

Tenya peered into the distance, narrowing his eyes on a spot he could barely pick out in the dark sky. The wind was whipping around the boat, his hair rising around his head. There was something out there, something he could barely see but he could sense it. Slantwise and true, he could taste it in the air. Katsuki was standing near him, leaning out further over the railing than Tenya was, his feet braced on the very edge of the boat. Just barely, off on the horizon, Tenya could see a bright orange light. From where he stood, it looked to be a large fire.

Behind them, in the cabin, Hitoshi was discussing something with Neito. He had apologized with almost every breath he took since he had learned more about them. The longer he was around them, the more Tenya felt like he was familiar in some way.

Shouto was on Tenya’s other side, his hands curled tightly around the railing. He looked out over the water, towards the shore, but unlike Tenya, he seemed to be unfocused. There was something about the expression on his face, something that said he was only barely paying attention. Tenya almost wanted to sit him down, for the sake of their old friendship if nothing else. He looked as if he might pitch over the side at any second. Izuku’s circlet was around his left wrist, his fingers looped over it, pressing the metal of it against the metal of the railing.

Looking closer, Tenya saw something flash around his wrist. “Prince Shouto,” Tenya frowned, turning further to look again. Shouto had half-turned his head when his eyes rolled back and he dropped like a stone.

Tenya got to him first, throwing an arm around his waist and lowering him to the deck. Shouto’s head tilted back, his entire body unresponsive, but Tenya could see his pulse jumping in his throat. “He is still alive,” he told the others, supporting his head to finish settling him. “I saw something – on his wrist.” Tenya moved back when Katsuki pounded a fist quickly on his knee. He rubbed a hand across his face, taking a deep breath. “Something bright.”

Lifting up Shouto’s wrist, Katsuki checked it over, pressing his fingers into the skin. “This,” he turned Shouto’s wrist towards Tenya, showing off a bright green stripe. Just at the edge of it was the light blue of Izuku’s magic, the same color Tenya had seen when the other Prince had activated the alarm spells in the palace.

“…That is a soulmate bond,” Hitoshi’s eyebrows rose as he crouched down next to them. “Which would explain why he was able to give us our heading.”

Tenya sat back on his heels again. He was just beginning to get a glimpse of the world outside his Kingdom.

If he’d been less prepared, he might have shrunk back by now.

There was ash everywhere.

Hitoshi put out a hand, holding Tenya back as he studied the ruins of the building. “Izuku was here,” he muttered. “I can tell. His magic is in the air. I don’t know where he’d be right now, but I can tell he was here.” He shifted on his feet, crouching down. Pressing his fingers to the dirt, he closed his eyes. “He and others – here, come on,” he grabbed Tenya’s hand, dragging him further in. They both hit a wall at about the same time and Hitoshi put a finger to his mouth.

A cluster of humans passed by them, not looking at them even for a moment.

“The boss is going to kill us,” one of them spoke quietly, tucking something into his jacket. He was a short man with dark hair – he would barely have come up to Tenya’s waist if they had been standing next to each other. “Letting them get away like that? Both of them were important. Boss is going to kill us and then he’s going to bring us back to let his father have a go.” A couple of the others agreed quietly, a man with light grey, almost silver, hair turning his head to shush them.

“Then perhaps we ought to get out of the way of the fire investigators before we get implicated in anything,” he almost snarled the words out, lifting his chin. He shoved his hands in his pockets and kept moving.

“It is good that we know where to look,” one of the larger men scoffed. “That stupid little idiot, Jin. Positive ID, plates managed to get caught on a camera he overlooked when he was taking the others out. Bubaigawara, yeah?” he looked towards the thin man walking next to him. If he hadn’t heard them speaking with each other, Tenya might have assumed they were businessmen. That was probably what they were relying on. Kenji had told him about them before, her disdain for humans who dressed in expensive clothing and showed off their wealth obvious.

The silver-haired one snarled.

In the seconds before he whipped around to see them, Tenya had Hitoshi’s wrist in his grip. He threw up the biggest glamor shield he could muster, holding steady as the entire group turned. “I thought I sensed…” the silver-haired one narrowed his eyes, taking a few steps closer. He waved a hand through the air, magic sparking around his fingers.

Tenya bit down on his tongue, trying to keep his surprise from resulting in a sound punching out from his chest.

He pulled Hitoshi closer, meeting his eyes as he leaned against him. Hitoshi nodded, keeping silent, and he braced Tenya against his arm. The group of men – mer? – had settled in for the moment. They were talking about various things, things Tenya could only barely keep his attention on. He had to keep all of his focus on the shield, keep them hidden. There was no doubt about it – these men were well-trained. In a fight, they would win. Tenya had been trained to fight but there was a limit to his skills and taking on a group of nine would be too much.

The longer they stayed there, the more the corner Tenya and Hitoshi were hidden in was glanced at.

It was a waiting tactic, a method of discovery through means of waiting out the prey’s patience. Waiting out their courage. Tenya refused to be prey to these monsters – they were discussing Izuku and another mer, one they’d had in captivity. They discussed the people who had come to rescue them. Another person was spoken of, someone who had apparently disappeared.

Almost an hour had passed like that.

Tenya was shaking by the time they were out of sight. By the time they were out of hearing range, he was almost collapsing, his legs shaking. Hitoshi caught him, slinging his arm over his shoulder. “C’mon,” he muttered, dragging him onward. “I saw something, I wanted to check on it.”

Following along, Tenya leaned against him willingly, his eyes half-closed. He hadn’t used his magic in one burst for that long before. Several smaller bursts and strong spells, yes.

Hitoshi dragged him to something sitting on a table. He pushed Tenya into a seat before fiddling with the oddly shaped object, narrowed eyes filling with anger the longer he did. “The system is damaged, the sprinklers went off…Come on, come on, please tell me—Shit,” he paled, his breath coming out in a harsh pant. He tapped something, moved the object under his hand, before looking towards something tucked under the table. Tenya was too tired to even try to keep up. He just watched as Hitoshi grabbed the handful of papers that appeared, sliding back under Tenya’s arm and taking off running. “We need to get back to the boat,” he panted the words out. “And we need to go now.”

Tenya caught a glimpse of the papers.

On them, in bright colors, was the image of Prince Izuku. He was pressed against glass, facing down a man with red eyes. Tenya reached out and traced his fingers over that one, frowning, before he huffed and took a deep breath.

Not the thing to focus on now, but those eyes seemed familiar. Maybe the same color as his own, maybe not.

He was not certain.

Seeing Prince Izuku again was a relief.

He seemed to be healthy and safe. He was pressed against Shouto’s side, the mer who was apparently a missing Prince leaned against Izuku’s other side. The three of them were talking quietly, Shouto feeding his betrothed every few sentences. Tomura – Tenko? – seemed content to be still and in contact with others. From what Tenya had heard, he had spent almost their entire lifetime in captivity. Two-thirds, specifically, a little over. He could not imagine living a life of a worse loneliness than the one he had grown up with.

The man he had seen in the image Hitoshi had retrieved was there as well.

He was sitting off to the side, a variety of weapons laid out in front of him. His hands were steady and sure, polishing and sharpening each one in turn in between bites of food. Chizome, Tenya reminded himself. That was Chizome. He had been forced to work for Prince Kai against his will. He had been there for almost as long as Tomura-possibly-Tenko had been. He had been planning with Jin for the last six years, coordinating schedules and days, until finally everything had lined up just right.

Moving to be able to see Chizome’s weapons, Tenya counted how many there were. How many of them he would know how to use.

He had been right.

Even half-asleep, exhausted from an overuse of his magic, he had been right. Chizome’s eyes matched his own. The second person he had ever met with red eyes. Tenya chewed the last bite of his food, turning his head when he saw movement to his right. Jin offered up the plate of pancakes again, an eyebrow raised. “I can tell the signs of magical exhaustion when I see them,” Jin moved to stand next to him, doling out a few more pancakes before setting them down again. “Eat lots of calories and it’ll recoup faster.”

Tenya nodded, already digging into his food. It was unlike what he ate at home, oddly textured, but he was enjoying it. When he finished those, he noticed Chizome had been staring at him. “Ah,” Tenya bowed his head. “Forgive my rudeness.”

“Why were you watching?” Chizome tilted his head, sliding all but one knife away. He picked it up, tested the edge, the got to the task of sharpening it.

“I was wondering how many of your weapons I knew,” Tenya set his plate to the side, taking a deep breath. It felt like if he were to eat any more, it would spill out his gills. “All but the one with the long wire between the two handles. I think I know what it is used for, but I do not know how to use it myself.” He stared down at his hands when Chizome’s eyebrows rose. “As I said, forgive me being rude and staring. I suppose I was testing myself.”

Chizome waved him off. “Not rude. Makes sense, actually. I am one of the ones you don’t know. I have weapons. Staring at me while I have them out is probably just common sense.”

Tenya continued to watch him, watch the way he took care of his weapons. He was not just some stupid thug, there was a level of intelligence there. Something about him seemed so familiar and Tenya could not for the life of him place why. Chizome was familiar and yet he had no memory of meeting him. There was something he knew in the older mer and he did not know why. “I do not think of you as a threat,” Tenya said after a while. “You helped a new ally of mine. You got him and his cousin to safety after years of planning,” he sat up straighter. “I am grateful, not suspicious.”

With a laugh, raspy and unused, Chizome shook his head. “Odd young Prince,” he muttered.

It was a stark contrast.

Earlier, not too long earlier, Tenya had seen Chizome laughing and explaining the knives he carried. What each of them was for, how to pull each out from their sheaths. Why he carried each one where he did. It was all geared towards someone who had once been a guard. He had been whole and alive and making jokes like he knew how panicked Tenya was.

And now there was a hole in his gut, blood spilling out into the ocean.

Prince Shouto had mentioned a cave, they were close to the Kingdom of Endeavor, they were close to someplace safe they could lay Chizome down and work on healing him. He may have once been a mer but it was seeming like the ocean had abandoned him for his time away, his magic refusing to do anything other than sit sluggishly in his veins. Tenya pressed his hand harder against the wound, imagining that he was holding his organs in. If he stopped pressing, if he let the pressure up for just a moment, Chizome might die.

Please, Tenya sent up a silent prayer to any of the gods that might be listening. Please let him live.

Chizome had gotten injured while protecting them. This was something that had been done to try and keep them alive. If Tenya failed to help him, failed to keep him living, he would be dishonoring everything his brother had ever tried to teach him. About kindness and repayment and caring for others. Their parents had tried to convince him that there were only a few he needed to care for but Tensei had gotten there first.

Hitoshi was pumping Chizome with healing magic as they swam, all of Tenya’s energy focused on keeping him from bleeding out.

It felt more like a useless effort the longer they tried.

Shouto helped them drag Chizome into a cave on the outer edge of Endeavor, settling him in the sand before practically throwing himself back into the water. He paused to say goodbye to Izuku, both of them blushing, but Tenya barely paid attention to that. He hovered his hand over Chizome’s mouth, trilling quietly in fear as he realized he barely felt anything.

When Katsuki hooked his hands under Tenya’s arms, he barely had the strength to protest. He certainly did not have the strength to fight back.

Tenya drooped against the wall of the cave, watching as Hitoshi was led away as well. Izuku dropped to his knees, replacing his cousin and Tenya. He had a hand pressed firmly to Chizome’s stomach below the hole, the other hovering over his chest. Tenya could barely keep his eyes open, let alone remember the healer lessons he had been given. Hand on chest for…Heart function. Keep a hand below the injury to help encourage the wound to close.

His eyes drooped shut and Tenya passed out.

When he was awake again, there were more people.

Queen Rei and King Enji, he recognized both of them. Their eldest as well. By the looks of things, he had not been unconscious for long. Tenya struggled to sit up, staring at the cluster of people around Chizome. King Enji had his hand pressed flat against his stomach, channeling heat-fueled magic into the wound to encourage regrowth of the flesh. Queen Rei had both of her hands on the sides of Chizome’s head.

Just beyond them, Tenya could see Izuku and Shouto. Katsuki sat by Izuku, petting quietly at his hair.

Hitoshi was watching over all three of them, perched on the edge of the solid ground. Tenko was in the water, stretched out between the wet and the dry.

Tenya closed his eyes again, taking a deep breath before letting himself lie down.

The healers could do nothing to help.

Tenya wanted to rage, wanted to scream and fight and –

He pressed himself back against the wall. Those instincts were unhelpful. They accomplished nothing.

He watched, instead.

Tensei had arrived.

Shooting up, Tenya landed on his knees, waiting to catch his brother’s eyes. He had not been able to give an explanation when the others had asked why he was so worried over Chizome. There had been nothing he could say, nothing to excuse his panic. He had no clue and he could not expect the others to have any idea either. Tensei might know, however. He’d always had an odd way of knowing what Tenya was thinking.

His brother, however, stopped dead before he could get closer to Tenya. His eyes were pinned on Chizome, his breath hitching a couple of times before his next exhale. He had stumbled, something Tenya had never seen his brother do before.

Izuku stood and rushed over to Tensei and Tenya watched as his brother nodded a couple of times. His eyes were wide and his expression was one of fear-tinted hope. He was watching Chizome. He knew Chizome, Tenya realized. He didn’t know how – Oh. He felt stupid immediately, watching as his brother nodded again. Chizome had been a low-ranking guard. His brother had fallen out of favor for taking a lover of the wrong status, someone far too low ranking for their family to abide.

Izuku approached Tenya.

“I need to speak with you,” he told him quietly. Tenya stood up and followed Izuku back towards Tensei. “When we met, at my choosing, before all of this happened,” he looked between them. “You said there was something you wanted to discuss with me.”

Tensei was nervous, his behavior giving him away. “Tenya,” he practically hissed his name out, his eyes closed as if he could block something out of his mind. “You aren’t my brother. I have hinted at this before, I have almost flat-out told you.”

“Yes,” Tenya watched Tensei closely. He frowned, reaching a hand out to Tensei. “I have told you before, you are still—”

“You’re my son,” Tensei spat the words out, refusing to meet Tenya’s eyes. “I went with you to Prince Izuku’s choosing because I wanted to find a time to tell you that my parents have lied to you for your entire life. You are not their son – they called you theirs because they felt disgraced and dishonored by my choices. By the choice of who I love. They stole you from me and kept me bound because they wanted to teach me a lesson. I never knew what happened to him, after that.” He lifted his head, looking over at Chizome again. “Your father is dying because of what has happened to him. I can feel his magic all but gone. Whatever else is happening, a mer without magic is…”

“A mer without magic is going to die, no matter what,” Tenya whispered, staring at Tensei. “He’s my father?”

“Yes.”

Fury roared through Tenya. His entire life, lied to and ignored when he asked questions. His parents – his grandparents – had taken him from his true parents simply because Tensei had misbehaved, in their eyes. At a loss for words, Tenya moved over to Chizome. He should have known. He had recognized that their eyes matched. That Chizome had been a guard.

He should have known.

Pouring magic through his hands as he moved, Tenya dropped to his knees beside Chizome. Besides his father. He slammed his palms against Chizome’s stomach. A mer with no magic would die. A mer with no magic left could be saved if there were someone of the same bloodline, someone who shared magic with them, who was willing to pour some into them. He was almost certain he was snarling, half-feral, but he did not care. When his arms started to shake he simply pushed himself harder. Tensei was his birthing parent.

Tensei was the one who had always talked to him, had treated him with love and care. Even if they actually had been brothers, that was who had raised him. Tenya’s grandparents had done their best to erase that truth but it had always shone through in the end.

He could tell he was snarling, now.

Chizome, who had looked so lonely when left to his own thoughts. That had been part of why Tenya had spoken to him, that morning. Besides the odd urge to stay near him, Chizome had looked all alone. Like Tenya had grown up, that same loneliness echoed and mirrored. Tenya’s magic flared and grew, surrounding the two of them. Dark purple – he really should have known – billowed out from his hands and he could distantly hear something cracking against stone. Chizome gasped and arched, his magic bursting to life in a flash of blood-red. He slammed back down and Tenya commanded his magic to heal whatever damage that would have left.

No longer a child but there was the urge to have both of his parents.

Tenya could have sobbed in relief when he felt Chizome’s heart beating faster. Tensei’s magic surrounded them both, his hands laying overtop of Tenya’s as he gave his support. This was his family, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. And now he had them back.

He poured his magic into Chizome until he knew his father was stable. Until he knew Chizome would not sink back towards death again.

Letting it die down, Tenya opened his eyes.

Chizome was staring up at him, looking winded and exhausted. “You look…So much like your brother,” he huffed after he said the words, his eyes slipping shut again. He had to be tired. His magic had just woken back up after over a decade. Tensei had his head pressed against Tenya’s back, his breathing telling Tenya that his other father had passed out as well. Feeling dizzy, Tenya leaned back into Tensei and joined his family.

He drifted off.

When he woke again, still exhausted, Chizome was awake as well.

Tensei was no longer in the cave. Neito had been left with them, Chizome informed him, while the others had headed back to Yuuei. According to what Chizome had been told by Tetsutetsu, the guard from Yuuei, Queen Rei would be back soon with Tensei. As they spoke, Neito crept closer, keeping mostly silent until he was sitting at Tenya’s side. He had his knees to his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs.

He did not look a well-kempt as he had when he had left home but he looked happier.

Besides, Tenya realized. He was staring at Tetsutetsu in a way that reminded him of the way he stared at Hanta. His hands were clenched in the fabric of his shirt, keeping himself grounded in some way. With a quiet noise, Tenya reached over and patted gently on the top of Neito’s head. The human had done well on their trip, had gotten better than what Tenya had been told he’d been like before. They sat together in silence for a while, Chizome watching both of them with a frown on his face. Tetsutetsu sat down near them as well, putting himself between them and the edge of the water.

“There is a Prince, an injured mer, and a human,” Tetsutetsu explained, his voice a touch on the rough side. “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t sit here. Doesn’t matter that you’re not part of the royal family I serve.”

“Thank you, then,” Tenya bowed his head.

Chizome hummed something, turning to stare directly at Tenya. He said nothing.

Time passed in an odd way, all four of them staying mostly silent. Occasionally they spoke, their words drifting into nothing until they were silent again. For Tenya, it was that he was trying to figure out how things were supposed to go. He had never before questioned that his parents were his parents – he had been told they were and he had not bothered to think about it. Now that he was thinking about it, he could see where the truth had shone through. His eyes, the same color as Chizome’s, had not ever been seen anywhere else in his family.

He looked more like Tensei than either of his parents.

Looking at Chizome’s hair, Tenya could see that the texture of it was like his own. Wavy more than curled but heavier than Tensei’s hair. Tenya had lived his entire life with reprimands for being ungroomed but he had never been able to get his hair to behave like the hair of the two who had raised him. Reaching up to tug on his hair, Tenya shook his head. He should have thought about it earlier, should have taken the pieces and put them together. Tensei had always treated him more like a child than a little brother.

Tensei had been obvious and clear about his position in Tenya’s life from the beginning, once he looked back at the clues.

Tenya took a deep breath, pushing down on the rage building in his chest. They were the current King and Queen. It would take a lot to go after them with that, even if he had both of his parents with him as he did. Steps to take, plans to follow, things to do. He would need to lay it out in front of witnesses because otherwise – otherwise he might just disappear. Tenya froze in place, turning that thought over and over again. There was nothing to say he would not simply become their next target. Over the years, servants and low-ranking nobility alike had disappeared.

Oh, gods.

He covered his mouth, eyes wide.

How many people had they forced into disappearing? How many people had done something they did not like and simply vanished after?

How many people had they killed for saying or doing something they did not like?

The water rippled off to the side and Tenya had never been so grateful for a distraction in his life. Looking over, he watched as Queen Rei, a few of her guards, and Tensei all re-entered the cavern. Chizome tried to sit up to stare at them all as well, but Tenya reached over and pushed him back down with a hand on his shoulder. The older mer stared at him, something in his eyes, his gaze dropping to Tenya’s hand.

“My apologies,” Tenya inclined his head for a moment, looking back towards Tensei.

Tensei, still speaking with Queen Rei, was in the process of pulling a tunic-style top on. Neito’s face was a burning red, his eyes pinned on a far wall.

Human sensibilities were so strange.

Queen Rei said something and Tensei nodded, turning to them and hesitating before walking over and dropping down to sit in front of Tenya. “So,” he held his breath for a moment. “That—that was never how I wanted you to find out.” He pressed his lips together, then shook his head. “Tenya, I never wanted you to find out like that. I wanted to tell you when there was a calm moment, when my parents could not interrupt. I wanted to explain everything that happened, how it happened and why. I wanted you to know that I did not want to—” he closed his eyes, shaking his head again. “I did not want to give up. Give you up.”

He opened his eyes again, tears welling up.

Tenya reached out and took his hand, squeezing it gently between both of his. “It’s alright,” he took a deep breath, let it out slowly. “Not alright, but acceptable. You have told me what they did to you, what they said to you. I know what happened to you because they were angry at you.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Tenya could see Chizome sitting up. He struggled a little but made it on his own, one hand drifting close to where he had been injured. He was staring at both of them.

“Chizome,” Tensei kept his gaze on Tenya, his expression shifting towards nervous. “This is Tenya.” He turned his head, closing his eyes. “He’s your son.” He opened his eyes and Tenya saw the tears that had been building up fall down his cheeks. Tensei went to wipe them away, his hands shaking and unsteady. “We were together and then my parents…” he smiled, the expression more of a reflex of training than anything else. “Well, you know what happened.”

Chizome nodded, swallowing in a way that Tenya could tell was nervous. He reached out and curled his hand in the fabric of the shirt Tensei wore, dragging him closer. Tensei went willingly, moving to help Chizome, to avoid putting pressure on his wound.

Not that it seemed to matter to Chizome – Tenya’s father pulled Tensei across his lap, moving Tensei to straddle across his thighs. “I remember,” he lowered himself back down, careful and slow, and pinned Tensei in place with an arm wrapped tightly over his waist. “I thought they were going to kill you. If I’d stayed, I think they would have. I…I was figuring he couldn’t have been theirs,” Chizome’s laugh was a half-dead sounding wheeze, his face drawn in an expression that told Tenya he wanted to scream. “He had to have been yours, I was just – unsure if that meant he was also mine. When did you know—”

“Long after you were gone,” Tensei curled himself around Chizome, burying his face in his chest and clutching his claws in the fabric of Chizome’s shirt. “Tenya was born and they decided to raise him as their son. Disinherit me, practically disown me, take our son and claim him as theirs.”

Red flickered to life around Chizome’s hands.

The mer himself looked surprised that his magic had reacted to him in such a way, his eyes wide. “We’ll deal with them later,” he muttered, burying his fingers in Tensei’s hair. “That doesn’t mean I’m not pissed at them but we have bigger problems to deal with right now, I can tell. You had that look on your face when you walked up from the water – I still remember what your stressed-out face looks like. Tell me what’s happening.”

It wasn’t a question.

Tenya could hear the care in Chizome’s voice, see the way he held Tensei against him. There was strength in his grip but no force. If Tensei had wanted to get up, he could have simply pushed Chizome’s arm aside and moved.

“The King of All, the one who goes by the name One.” Tensei sighed. “He is making threats.”

“That creep,” Chizome muttered.

Tensei rolled his head to the side to look up and meet Chizome’s eyes and Tenya smiled at the way they looked at each other. The traditions of their Kingdom were useless – all they did was keep happiness at bay. “He is Prince Kai’s father,” Tensei continued. “And he is making threats against the other Kingdoms. Endeavor, where we are now, is getting the worst of it. King Enji has been arranging to have his children out of the Kingdom so that the royal line may survive if a war occurs. Queen Rei has been helping them find mates or friends to leave with.”

“Thus Prince Shouto finds a new mate,” Chizome nodded. “And the fact that Prince Shouto’s mate happens to be his soulmate is seen as a happy bonus.”

“Precisely,” Tensei moved a touch, seeming to press himself further against Chizome. Tenya cleared his throat, trying to ignore the fact that his cheeks were burning. These were his parents. He had not seen his grandparents show affection to each other like that before – more often than not, they seemed to hold little regard for each other. No hatred and no love, just neutral disinterest. “Ah, sorry Tenya,” he grinned, an actual smile, for the first time in Tenya’s memories. There was no sorrow behind the expression, no loneliness pulling at him. “But yes. Prince Shouto and Prince Izuku were being betrothed so that Prince Shouto would be safe and have an excuse to be elsewhere. If Prince Izuku had chosen someone else, the King and Queen would have found someplace else to send Prince Shouto.”

“Playing chess with your children as the pieces,” Chizome turned his head to look at Queen Rei.

Tenya did as well, studying her face. He had seen her, as a child. Fairly often, actually, now that he thought about it. She had brought Shouto with her when she could, though he had also known her other children were there as well.

Shouto had been the only one his age, he had not paid attention to the older ones. He had been taught never to bother anyone who was not his age.

Queen Rei knelt down next to Tenya, reaching out to cup Neito’s cheek. He was still curled into himself, his knuckles white as he tried to keep himself from panicking. “My children deserve better than to be played as pawns in a game we are likely going to lose,” she chose her words carefully, arranging the hem of her tunic around her knees. She wore a longer one than Tensei did, the symbols of the family she had come from embroidered in the fabric of it. Tenya recognized a few of them – historical research as a lesson had to come to be useful somehow. “Natsuo refuses to seek a mate, as does Touya.”

“And you’re worried about keeping them safe,” Chewing on the inside of his lip, Chizome met her gaze. “Kingdom of All is still a lot bigger than Endeavor, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Queen Rei nodded.

“Wouldn’t even be much of a war,” he reached over to a blank spot in the sand, digging the tip of his finger in. “All attacks, takes out Endeavor’s guards and soldiers. The Kingdom of Endeavor falls within a month – I’m working off the numbers I remember, so forgive me for that.” He tapped the sand out from under his nail, off the tip of his finger. “And then your children are exposed and in danger. The two of you would not be allowed to live.”

“Precisely why we seek to send them to their safety,” she looked at the crude drawing Chizome had made, sighing. “And you are correct. Their numbers outpace our own. We cannot hope to fight back and win, not unless we are able to get agreements made across more of the Kingdoms. Some of them are willing but they are further away.”

“Unable to break through what would shortly become fatal territory,” his voice was shaking, just a touch. “So you are preparing for what happens when the worst hits. You’re protecting your children and therefore the legacy of your Kingdom.” Tenya glanced at his fathers, at the way they leaned into each other, and nearly startled when he realized Chizome was staring directly at him. “You do what you have to do for your loved ones, for your children. You keep them safe, even if that safety comes at the price of your own blood.” He hesitated, continuing when Tensei hid his face again. “Even if you’re not sure what the price is.” Chizome buried his fingers back in Tensei’s hair, holding him closer and sighing. “So the Kingdom of All threatens from one side and the only ally you can cultivate without risking your own safety before a war breaks out is Yuuei.”

Tenya sat up a little straighter. “In the matter of cultivating allies,” he cleared his throat, taking a deep breath. “There are only a small number of Kingdoms that resent attempts at keeping the peace. Hikari, All,” he met Queen Rei’s eyes. “Ingenium. My grandparents, the current King and Queen, have rejected peace treaties for as long as I can remember.”

With a small noise from the back of his throat, Tensei sat up, bracing his hands on the sand instead of on Chizome. He lifted himself off his lover – his mate, Tenya decided, for all that they were not officially mated – and took a moment to arrange himself carefully. “My mother and father are happy with the ways things are. They seek power and renown and have such deeply held disdain for anything that would take even an ounce of either from them. My chosen mate,” he laced his fingers together with Chizome’s, his jaw set. “Was not good enough for them. A lower-ranking guard when they had wanted me to mate with someone at least of a low-ranking nobility. Someone titled.”

“…Hitoshi’s grandparents too,” Neito spoke up for the first time in a while, dragging Tenya’s attention away. When he realized they were looking at him, including Tetsutetsu, he blushed once more. “I grew up next to him – he and his dad were my neighbors. On land. Hitoshi is Prince Izuku’s cousin, titled nobility. His dad, Shouta, is Prince Izuku’s uncle through Queen Inko.” He looked up, meeting Queen Rei’s eyes.

“Oh, that is useful knowledge,” Chizome reached out and patted carefully at Neito’s ankle. “Good, kid. Anything else?”

“I, uh,” Neito nodded, closing his eyes. “Hitoshi was telling me about this. His grandparents tried to have him killed. They ordered him dead to punish his dad. His dad mated with a guy named Hizashi – Yamada Hizashi. He’s a Siren and they apparently didn’t like him even with that information. I just spent a long while on a boat with Hitoshi and the others, this was what we talked about.”

He covered his face, shifting so that his legs were beneath him, seiza posture perfect. Tenya had been only vaguely paying attention to the information about Hitoshi’s grandparents. He had been more preoccupied with keeping Prince Shouto sane, keeping him safe. From the dragging connection of the bond, he had been nearly manic at some points. Tenya reached out and put a hand on Neito’s shoulder, encouraging him silently. Neito let one hand drop from his face to cover Tenya’s, seeming to pull strength from not being alone.

“They were angry about his dad not being mated to someone rich and powerful. About him mating with someone ‘common’ so that they couldn’t sell him off to the highest bidder,” Neito opened his eyes and for a moment, just a moment, Tenya thought he might have been looking at another mer. Neito’s eyes had been impossibly blue, the sort of blue only a mer could have.

The sort of blue lit up from within by a magic core.

Neito had no magic in him, not from what Tenya could feel.

“It’s less of a war from one full Kingdom,” Tensei ducked his head to meet Neito’s gaze. “And more a matter of King One finding those in every Kingdom who would support him no matter what. Those who would commit treason of the highest order.” He paused, blinking a few times. “I—”

“Prince Fumikage,” Tenya couldn’t help it, could not have kept his interruption inside if his life had depended on it.

“Tenya?”

“When I was a child, Prince Fumikage and his regent came calling,” he stared at a spot on the wall, trying to pull the memory out from the depths of his mind. “They spoke with his regent, I spent time with the Prince himself. His parents were slaughtered. He has lost his parents, his uncle from his father’s side. He spoke of his uncle disappearing so long ago that he had not even been born yet,” Tenya directed his attention back to the conversation. “His father used to mourn his uncle. They had never been certain where he went.” He sliced his hands through the air, shaking his head. “But the important thing at this moment is that his parents were killed. And after that, your parents kept them from returning.”

Tensei’s eyes were wide, horror etched into his expression. “They—”

“The highest treason was already used to undo the protections of Kurai. The Queen and King were spoken of with high regard, looked upon as kind and attentive to their people,” Tenya swallowed nervously. “So if they were deemed to be in the way of King One’s plans…”

“They were killed like King All has plans for the rest of them,” Tensei breathed the words and looked sick.

Chizome pulled his hand back from Neito, taking Tenya’s hand. “Go.”

“…What?”

“Go,” Chizome said it again with all the gravitas it required. “You have made friends of Prince Izuku and Prince Shouto and at least something of an ally of Katsuki and Hitoshi. You have enough of a warning and enough knowledge to do something about this. Go help them now, give them backup. I have a feeling Prince Kai isn’t going to easily forgive the fact that Izuku and Tenko got taken away from him, from his stupid little experimental lab. Your magic, if it’s anything like Tensei’s, is based in speed and defense. Now go,” he pointed towards the opening of the cave. “We will make certain Neito gets home safely.”

Tenya nodded, already standing and moving to the edge of the water. He stripped out of the tunic he wore and dove in.

Pulling his magic out, he took off through the water before any guards could even catch up.

He got there in time to help.

Prince Kai’s men lay dead from his hands, their blood spilled to defend the entirety of the royal family of Yuuei.

There was nothing in his actions that Tenya could bring himself to regret.

Coming home again was difficult.

Tenya and Tensei swam together, refusing to move more than a few feet apart. Chizome was not with them – they had sent him ahead. Their guards had arrived and they had needed to go with them so as not to alert the King and Queen of Ingenium. There had been plans made in Yuuei, discussions had and allies strengthened. Their guards were not Tensei’s friends this time – they were those Tenya had grown up being told to be quiet by. Those who had little regard for a child their monarchs had told them needed to be ignored.

Ahead, Tenya could see their palace. He hoped news traveled slowly.

The death of the King of All might not have reached Ingenium just yet. He glanced at Tensei, at his carrying father, and he reached out to take his hand. They were about to make a dangerous move on a much bigger board than just their own Kingdom. If it were done incorrectly, so many would suffer.

The risk was less than the reward if they were successful.

If successful, they would build a defense for the entirety of their Kingdom and more besides. There would be two less violent warmongers amongst the royals of the oceans. Looking back on his life, it was easy to see it now, easy to see where they had lied to him and manipulated him. Where the historical lessons he was given had been skewed in favor of All’s plans. Tenya took a deep breath as they swam through the front gates of the palace, being taken directly to the throne room. His grandparents were there, were waiting for them. The guards around the room looked almost blank, their faces kept emotionless as they all stared straight ahead.

“Tenya,” he had fallen into a bow at Tensei’s side, both of them waiting for the King and Queen to allow them to raise their heads. Tenya rose first, meeting the King’s eyes. This was not his father. This was not the one who had sired him, that was not the one who had carried him.

They had spent his entire life lying to him.

No more.

“Yes, father?” Tenya was almost proud of himself for the fact that his disgust did not show in his voice, in the way he held himself. Calling the King his father was a lie, was a thing that once he knew of it he could never do again. Not without being horrified.

“Prince Izuku has been brought to safety once more?” He looked down at Tenya, ignoring Tensei’s presence. When Tenya nodded, he smiled. “Excellent news! When is your mating ceremony to take place?” he leaned forward, waiting, but Tenya shook his head. “Tenya, what do you mean by this?” He slipped from his throne, moving towards Tenya. He grabbed Tenya’s hair and Tenya had a moment to think about how often they had to have done such a thing to Tensei. “I thought we had come to an agreement – Prince Izuku will be your mate. You will court him and make him carry and you will have him live here. His Kingdom does not mean as much as ours.”

“Tell me,” Tenya reached up and took his grandfather’s hand, peeling it back until he heard something crack and his grip loosened. “Why do you think allowing King One to take over the Kingdom of Yuuei is a good idea?”

The throne room was silent.

The guards – Tensei’s friends, Chizome’s magic had been trained until he could send messages with it – all were watching now.

“You had best respect your parents, boy!” His grandmother snarled the words out, her hands tight on the edge of her seat. “We raised you, taught you, fed you, allowed you to –“

Tenya felt a snarl building in his chest. “You mean when you stole me from my actual parents?” he heard a couple of the guards gasp, saw one of them with wide eyes. “Tensei is not my older brother – you stole me from his arms just after he bore me into this world. You chased off the one he chose as his mate and you pulled me from his grasp before you disinherited him. The title of King is, according to your rules and decisions, supposed to pass down to me because you could not choose your son’s mate for him. Tensei is my father. It was only after you chased my other father from the oceans that you found out he was already carrying.”

Tensei leaned up, daring to make eye contact with his mother. “And if you had wanted him gone and for me to never see him again, you really ought to have killed him like you threatened to.”

On cue, then.

He almost laughed as the bright, bloodied red of Chizome’s magic crawled across the walls. He was at the base of the palace, hidden there by Hanta and his mother, broadcasting the happenings of the throne room to the entirety of the Kingdom. He had been from the moment Tensei and Tenya had crossed over the threshold of the palace. Hanta had been happy to help once Chizome had managed to get Tenya in contact with him to explain.

“Can you hear their anger?” Tensei gestured out the window, towards the overlooking view of the Kingdom outside. There were flurries of merfolk, anger boiling through the water. Tenya clenched his hands into fists.

“That is the sound of our people,” Tenya added. “They are furious with how you have treated them. With how you have treated us. With the peace treaties between other Kingdoms being denied. What should be public knowledge is now, once more, public knowledge. They know, now,” he held his head up high. “And you will not get away with your plans any longer.”

The King and Queen stared at them.

With a scream, the King darted towards Tenya, hands raised to lash out at him. There was a moment of fear, something inside of him terrified that it would all go black, but—

The King choked.

His hands fell to his throat, his tail thrashing as he scraped at something around his neck, digging into his gills. Behind his head, something that looked like ribbons floating free and away from them both, Tenya could see Hanta. His eyes were narrowed, his teeth bared in anger. Tenya had never seen Hanta angry before – sad, hurt, worried, happy, everything but angry. Right now he was fury incarnate, his dark tail lashing, his knuckles white, the ribbon seemingly pulled from his own arm fins. Tenya darted around his grandfather, ignoring him, and put his hands on Hanta’s wrists, catching his attention. Hanta seemed to be stuck outside of his own mind for a moment, his eyes coming into focus slowly.

He let go.

The King did not move again.

“Sorry,” he swallowed, his head dropping so he didn’t make eye contact with Tenya. “He was just – he attacked you. My apologies, your highness.” He pulled his hands back, clasping them together in front of himself.

“Hanta,” Tenya reached out, cupping his hand around Hanta’s cheek and pulling him closer. “None of this was to simply steal the throne for my parents,” his free hand made contact with Hanta’s hands and the other mer laced their fingers together. “You addressing me by an official title, recognizing me in front of others as a member of the royal family – no, I do not want that.” He searched Hanta’s face, feeling his own heart racing. “Tensei is the one who carried me. Chizome, the one we had you help, is my sire. I only wanted their happiness to be assured, to pull my grandparents off the throne to keep the peace between Kingdoms.”

His breath catching, Hanta nodded. “They’re historically pretty notorious for refusing peace treaties,” he paused. “Oh. Oh – they were trying to help incite a war?”

“Very much so,” Tenya nodded as well, curling his hand so his knuckles could stroke across Hanta’s cheek. “Chizome was a low-ranking guard when they met and he got Tensei carrying. They rejected Tensei’s choice, refused to let them be. My father wasn’t high ranking, did not have enough to his name.” he thought it over for a moment – his choices made his relation to Tensei obvious. “They fell in love despite everything.” He had to tell him, didn’t he? “My decisions mark me as Tensei’s son, if you would have me.”

Hanta froze, his tail falling still.

For a moment, Tenya thought he had ruined everything. That he had been wrong, that Hanta only thought of him as a friend and nothing more. That there would be no future between them because he was someone who held power over Hanta.

Like the sun breaking through the clouds, however, Hanta grinned. “You’re really smart,” he laughed. “But you’re kind of dumb sometimes.” Reaching up with both hands and curling them in Tenya’s hair, Hanta dragged him close and pressed their lips together. He didn’t let up until they both needed to pull back to breathe a little – there was only so much their gills could do. Even for Tenya, with rib gills as well as the ones on his neck. When the kiss broke, Tenya found out that his hands had traveled to Hanta’s hips. They were pressed so close that nothing would be able to fit in between them.

Tensei was across the room, having the guards take his mother outside. She would be taken in front of their people.

The popular opinion would tell what was done with her.

Newly eighteen, Tenya watched as his parents were officially put on their thrones.

Tensei held Chizome’s hand the entire time, their magic sparking in between them. Chizome looked nervous but pleased to be with Tensei, if the way he held him close was any indication. Tensei laughed as Chizome leaned into him and said something, both of them flushing brightly. After the entirety of his life spent watching Tensei’s misery grow, it was a relief to see. Tensei deserved to be happy. Chizome, Tenya had found out, had gone through an amount of misery equal to his mate’s.

They both deserved to be happy.

Their mate marks, dark lines that connected them, their magic interwoven so tightly that it had been a novel concept, being that connected – it was a sign of something good. All of it was a sign of the storm being over. There was destruction, things needed rebuilding, but they were alive to do so.

A hand on his back made Tenya turn, Hanta leaning in before he had even fully turned. His mate was wonderful as well.

To be certain of no power imbalances, Tensei and Chizome had given the Sero family titles and quarters near theirs and Tenya’s. Hanta’s mother had protested at first, startled at the idea of suddenly being nobility, but they had explained further. The Sero family could act in any capacity they wanted. If they wanted to continue cooking, they could. If they wanted to move out of the palace, they could. It was not simply a decorative title – they were truly and fully nobility now.

Once Tensei had gestured at Tenya, who had been so nervous his eyes were pinned to the floor, and explained that the change was so that there was no chance of the power balance being incorrect, she had accepted.

She had approached Tenya afterwards and pulled him into a tight hug. “I remember you coming to cheer Hanta up,” Sero Yua smiled at him, petting his hair back into some semblance of tidy. “When Akari passed. You cuddled up to him and kept him company for so long that your tutors and nannies were frantic in their searching. After that, Hanta never stopped talking about you at home. Every time he saw you, he would look forward to seeing you again,” Yua’s smile grew, fond and loving.

Because as long as Tenya had been in love with Hanta, Hanta had been in love with him.

“And yes, Prince Tenya,” Yua’s smile grew a little softer at the edges. “I am aware I have you to thank for the fact that I continue to live. The healers available to those not of royal blood are decent but not as skilled as the ones you sent for me when Hanta came to work crying.”

Tenya bowed to her, dropping his forehead to her hand. “I could not sit idly by and let the mother of the one I love die like that,” he looked over at Hanta, who was speaking in excited movements with Chizome and Tensei. Seeing him like that, lively and active and happy, was wonderful. He wondered if he were dying, his heart was racing so fast. It would be a happy death, if he were to die right then. Hanta was beautiful. Everything about him – his wit, his eyes when he got excited about something, the way he spoke with his hands and his tail – everything was gorgeous in a way Tenya had never noticed about anyone else. “If you would excuse me,” he bowed to her again.

“Go,” Yua dragged him down to her level to press a kiss to his forehead. “Go make yourself and my son very happy.”

Their mating ceremony was in a month.

Tenya intended to listen to Yua’s advice for the rest of his life.