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“Ahhhh,” Floyd sighed, reclining on the beach, tail flat against the sand. “Now, these are the days I can truly waste away.”
The prince beside him rolled his eyes. “Because what else would you do in the oh-so-boring ocean?”
Floyd cast Riddle a glance. “Goldfishie, You know there’s nothing to do for a recluse in hiding! You’re the only contact I’ve had with another creature for running on four months now! Any creature that wasn’t destined to end up in my stomach, that is.”
Riddle sighed. Floyd was his only friend, his only escape from his strict mother who was an even stricter queen. If she found out he was fraternizing with anyone from outside the kingdom, let alone their “enemy” in the war, heads would roll. And not in the terms of Riddle’s own signature spell. So Riddle just brought out more takoyaki from his picnic basket and tossed it to the eel merman, who snapped it up from the air.
Floyd hummed happily as he chewed. “Mm. You know, this reminds me of an old friend.”
“Oh?” Riddle’s interest was piqued. “A friend, you say?”
“Have I not told you about him?” Riddle denied. “Ah. Well, can’t get around to everything, I suppose. Yeah, had an old friend a while back who was an octo-mer. I used to eat takoyaki right in front of him. Jade always said that perhaps I was going a bit too hard on him.”
“What happened to him?”
“…You know what beastkin do to any merfolk they get their paws on.”
Riddle shuddered. He did know, far more than he wished to. A traveling group from Sunset Savanna had passed by the Queendom several days ago with cages upon cages of merfolk trapped for entertainment purposes. He had only poked around at Floyd’s behest, as the whole trade sickened him, but his inquiries fell flat. For Riddle’s thaumarks, it was an auction caravan. They said their next stop was the Shaftlands.
Riddle prayed beyond hope that they never made it there.
Floyd rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, Goldfishie, didn’t mean to ruin the mood. I’m just worried about him. Azul used to be a big crybaby, always got picked on at school, before, you know… He was the only octo-mer, so everyone else was always making fun of how slow he was at swimming, and how he was chubby, and how he always inked whenever he cried…”
Riddle dragged himself forward so he could touch the edge of the water with his toes. The ocean was nice and cool to contrast the summer heat beating on him. “They sound like terrible people. No matter the circumstances, you’re lucky to have gotten away.”
Floyd shrugged, pushing himself up and curling around to lean his head on Riddle’s shoulder. “Me and Jade escaped the worst of the taunts. Azul couldn’t control any of it. It was just… how octo-mers are, you know? It’s just their biology. He always said… if he ever could, he’d want to be a human.”
A small laugh escaped Riddle. “A human? Why, pray tell, would he ever want to identify as one of our chronically insane and violently messed up people?”
“He thought you guys were the ideal ways of existing.” Floyd began to drum his webbed and clawed fingers across Riddle’s thigh. “You guys are naturally skinnier, you have legs instead of tentacles, so on and so forth… I wish he could recite his full list to you. It’s rather impressive.”
Riddle hummed, taking comfort from the steady beat of Floyd’s fingers against his leg. “Would you ever want to be human?”
Floyd considered for a moment. “If it meant to not be preyed upon and having to hide in fear and solitude every second… yeah, probably. Plus, you’re the first friend I’ve made since losing Azul, and you’d be here.”
Riddle didn’t voice his own fantasies. His imaginings of becoming one of the merfolk himself, freed from the shackles of his mother and his responsibilities. He and Floyd could escape together, exploring the ocean as they pleased, traveling far and wide with no restrictions but their own limits.
It was a scenario that would always stay a fantasy.
There were no magic spells or potions that could change one’s entire species.
Perhaps in the past, during the time of the Great Seven, there could have been a need for diplomacy and peace between nations. Maybe then, there was some sort of concoction that might allow humans to exist under the waves and merfolk to walk on the land. Unfortunately, if such a potion had existed, it was now lost to the sands of time.
A bell rang on Riddle’s watch, startling both himself and Floyd, who had begun to doze off. “Dammit, I have to return to the castle!” Riddle began rapidly gathering up his things.
“You’ll come back tomorrow, right?”
“I always do.”
Floyd smiled sadly, launching himself at Riddle in a hug, before turning to drag himself back into the rolling waves. Riddle stayed to watch him disappear below them.
Then he turned back to the castle. Back to his monotonously micro-managed life as the crown prince.
–
Meanwhile, in the Shaftlands, another eel was blinking awake.
Of course, Jade’s drowsiness didn’t last long, as the glass of his cage was rapped with an iron crowbar.
“Up, up!” The rough voice shouted, rapping again. “Today’s your big day.”
Jade curled back up into a corner of his tank, trying to make him self as small as possible. Today was the day he’d long been dreading. The day he would be put on auction for sale to the highest bidder. The day he would be poked and prodded like a specimen, an amusing fancy that merely existed to catch someone’s eye and encourage thaumarks to swap hands.
He looked down at his claws. Why had he been born like this? These stupid, webbed hands, the fins that awkwardly jutted out from his wrist, two sets of jaws for double the entertainment at gatherings. He’d made his way through at least four owners in as many months, each one harsher than the last.
The zebra beastkin, who had now awoken all the assembled merfolk, began to drag their tanks onstage. A gazelle beastkin distributed meager offerings of food of food between the ones who remained backstage. When it came his turn, Jade nearly jumped out of his cage grasping for the two strips of carp, wolfing it down in seconds. His stomach grumbled sadly; though it had been more than his last three days of rations combined, it was still far less than he could have desired.
Slowly, the tanks disappeared one by one, until only two remained. The peacock announcer’s voice only grew more and more self-assured and cocky with each successful sale, and considering who was in the other tank, Jade didn’t like the feeling of what he thought would happen next.
The gazelle stopped by his cage and reached in, grabbing him by the back of his hair and forcing a cruelly familiar muzzle onto his face. “You’re up next, little treasure,” it said, a sadistic grin on its face.
Jade would have retreated back to his safe corner, if only that wouldn’t have been far more painful than staying out. His tank barely had enough room to fit his upper body, leaving it always at least half coiled. The muzzle on his face barely stuck out, but still bumped against the glass sides when he wasn’t careful; it was only really there to make sure he didn’t bite at any customers while they were examining his tail and fins, checking his eyes and hair, making sure everything was in order for their purchase.
He finally felt the water begin to slosh around when the gazelle rolled him out into the bright sunlight. He heard identical wheels beside his tank, confirming his worst fears.
“And now, our final stock!” The peacock projected, tail elegantly folded behind it. “A two-for-one deal, we present the rarest beauties in all the seas! No one else, I repeat, none will be able to match this selection! Two of the most elusive breeds of merfolk, an eel AND and octopus! If that isn’t a deal, I don’t know what is! Inspections may be conducted now! Bidding starts at 25,000 thaumarks!”
Patrons rushed onto the stage to see Jade, the mesh wiring above his tank having been removed to allow the attendees to inspect him as they saw fit. Metal rods had been placed beside the cage, for the more cautious of the observers. A little boy ran up beside Jade’s cage and pressed his hands on the glass.
“Daddy! Daddy!” he cried out, his human fingers rapping the glass and making quite a racket. “Daddy! I want this one!”
A rage rose up inside Jade. He wasn’t “this one”. He wasn’t a commodity for land-dwellers amusement. Where were the fae now, huh? Abandoning their own side in a war they could spare plenty of resources in and still win. Leaving the merfolk to suffer against the tyranny of the beastkin and the humans.
A growl rose in his throat, but was quickly silenced by a hand grasping his arm suddenly. Jade tried to fight away, but the man was far too strong and held on tightly. A rush of cold air assaulted Jade’s right side as he was dragged up and half-out of the tank. The kid clung to the man’s side while the latter ran his fingers over Jade’s arm fins, sending a shiver down the eel’s spine.
The man gestured to the zebra. “Were they given monikers?”
The zebra nodded. “We give them all names. Of course, you have final say upon purchase, but we have been calling this one Jem.”
“Jem”. So close and yet so far. Jade was rather insulted by such an apathy towards a merfolk’s own sense of identity. It really was as though he were nothing more than lowly cat or dog in a human’s eye.
Jade was suddenly dropped back in the tank, just as two cold fingers clamped around his tail, making him wince.
“I must say, his scales feel ever so fine,” a lady above him remarked. “He makes a perfect decoration! Why, I have an aquarium that would be just complete with these two in it!”
The gazelle slid over to comment. “Well, no one has begun bidding yet, and it starts at only 25,000 for the both of them…”
The lady nodded, her triumphant eyes gazing upon Jade with such a soft ferocity he half expected to be turned to stone then and there. “Fine then. I bid 27,000!”
A response was quick. “I’ll do 30!”
“33!”
“36!”
“41!”
The shouts echoed louder and louder, drowning out the rest of the sounds. Jade was given something of a respite– the only people interested in him were collectors, most of which were now arguing over price. But those who came only for sport were now focused on the one in the tank beside Jade.
It pierced Jade’s heart to see his childhood friend trying desperately to shy away from the attention and touches. Azul was far more of an oddity on the market; Jade had seen a couple other eels like himself, but never had he spied another octo-mer. Now, the people who wanted to try and get as much time with the rarity as possible before final bids were settled were taking the opportunity to have their way.
Azul’s webbed hands were passed around like Spelldrive cards, inspected and stroked as a precious pearl would be, all while Azul tried to no avail to regain ownership of his own arms. Many people were fascinated by his tentacles, feeling how slimy they were, watching how they suctioned to the walls or their fingers, how they would sometimes unconsciously wrap around the metal rods they dropped in. But the point of greatest concern, at least as far as Azul’s self-confidence and past trauma went, was the way that the patrons would constantly squeeze his sides or cheeks, and then remark, “Oh! He’s so chubby for a merfolk!” “My daughter would just love a squishy playmate like him!” “If could have him, I’d have to make sure he eats enough to be this round for my guests!”
If looks could kill, there would have been a massacre that day.
Instead, all Jade could do was seethe in silent agony as he watched Azul desperately try to hold back tears, lest he accidentally ink and begin a whole new flurry of awestruck examinations. Jade’s teeth ground together while his second set clicked incessantly, and he nearly drew blood with how tight his fists were clenched. Any background noise was lost now, all Jade could think about was the way his best friend was being toyed with, being demeaned, being abused–
“120,000 THAUMARKS!” A voice rose above the crowd.
Jade had to cover his ears to block out the sound of a megaphone-amplified voice booming over the crowd. The gasps and whimpers he heard around him confirmed that others were having the same problems.
A silence struck the crowd.
“Quoi? I believe bidding is still open. It would be most ungracious to refuse a legal bid, non?”
The sweet, accented voice broke though Jade’s mind. The sound soothed his aching ears, even as more grumbling ensued. As no one had nearly enough thaumarks to make a counter-bid, the crowd slowly dispersed, leaving only Jade and Azul in their tanks, three shocked beastkin upon the stage, and one blond stranger standing in the dirt in front of the benches.
The stranger cleared his throat. “You are the mer auction caravan traveling throughout the Shaftlands, correct? I’d like to take these two off your paws.”
The three exchanged a glance, shrugged, and began to roll the tanks off the stage, following the human who had now “purchased” the two merfolk. Azul curled in on himself the whole trip, head buried in his arms and tentacles folded underneath him. Jade wished he could reach out to his friend, but any word or sound made and it earned a stab from a harpoon.
Eventually the rumbling slowed as Jade and Azul were left behind a large cart. Thaumarks changed hands, and then the human tipped his hat up, watching the three beastkin walk away, before calling out. “Ruggie! Leona! I found some!”
One beastkin, this one a hyena, lazily sauntered out from the trees. “Got there late, as usual?”
The human gave a small laugh. “Ah, Monsieur Dandelion, this time I did try to hurry.”
The hyena rolled his eyes, but took Jade’s tank by the front and dragged it into their caravan wagon, whereupon Jade found an awe-striking sight.
Three rows of merfolk tanks were arranged, one panel lining either side, each strapped down so as to not topple over. The occupants of said tanks generally looked… contented, if not plain happy. Some were dreaming with smiles on their faces, some were lazing about, others were chatting comfortably with one another, but not a single soul looked as one typically would in an auction caravan.
Being rolled toward the front of the wagon, Jade received a few lazy waves and grins, eyes following him the whole way until he stopped just in front of a door, which the hyena opened to reveal a musclebound lion beastkin asleep on the coach’s bench.
“Leona!” The hyena called, poking the lion incessantly until he blinked awake. “This’s the last of the Shaftlands haul. Anywhere else or are we home free?”
The lion shoved himself up, scratching his neck with a tired glance at the hyena, then pulled out a checklist from his shirt pocket. “The Queendom, the Shaftlands… nope, we’re on our way out.”
“Hear that, people?” The hyena turned back. “We’re heading to the ocean!”
The cry echoed throughout the wagon. “WE’RE GOING TO THE OCEAN! WE’RE GOING TO THE OCEAN!”
The ocean…? Jade wondered. Isn’t this supposed to be some sort of auction caravan? Why are we going to the ocean? Especially with two beastkin on board!
The lion (Leona, Jade supposed) stood up slowly and pushed past the hyena (who must have been Ruggie from the human’s words earlier) to take Jade’s tank in his paws and lift it onto a shelf to the left. A few moments later, when Azul was dragged in, Leona did the same, putting him across from Jade.
The human joined the two beastkin in the corridor, moving over to Jade and reaching into the tank. Jade growled, still unsure whether to trust them.
“Now now, Monsieur Anguille,” He soothed. “I only want to remove that horrible muzzle.”
Jade stilled. The human gently undid the ties around the back of the eel’s head, and the hard metal slipped off easily. Jade touched his face in wonder. He felt freer than he had in months, even still trapped in his tank.
Ruggie called out to his companions. “We’d better clear out, before someone comes calling.”
Leona nodded, heading back to the front of the wagon while Ruggie moved to the rear. Jade heard the snap of a whip from the coach’s bench and they were off, the caravan bouncing along the unpaved forest road.
The human, who had stayed by Jade, kneeled down so they were at eye level. “I’m sure you must have questions. A caravan from Sunset Savanna wanders in, taking merfolk from auctions and delivering them back to the sea, où il appartient. It’s not the thing I’d look down at you for doubting.”
After a small hesitation, Jade spoke. “Who are you?” He half expected to feel the sting of a harpoon, though logically he knew it wouldn’t come.
The human smiled, tipping his hat. “Je m’appelle Rook Hunt. A humble human from the Savanna rescuing merfolk like you from an abominable trade. You are?”
“…Jade Leech,” he supplied.
Rook smiled. “You don’t have to be so tight-lipped, vous savez. You’re safe now. And soon, you’ll be free comme un oiseau, along with your friend.”
Jade’s face twisted into confusion, which Rook saw. “I tend to observe closely. Your rage at his situation was clear.”
Though his biggest fears had been assuaged, a question lingered on Jade’s mind. “What do you get from this? A human, maybe I could understand, but two beastkin?”
“Ah, it is a long and tragic tale,” Rook leaned back, shifting so he was sitting instead of crouching. “The honorable Roi du Leon was a prince of Sunset Savanna. He saw firsthand the cruelty exacted upon the merfolk trapped there in le château, and so he slipped away in the dead of night, grabbed two of his like-minded amis, and off we went.” Rook paused, giving a small smile. “That is the abbreviated version, at the very least. Monsieur Dandelion and I had our own reasons for joining, but I shan’t trouble you with our own problèmes.”
Well, Jade had gotten what he asked for. Though inquiries still swirled though Jade’s mind, he was content for the moment.
Several hours passed, or it seemed to, with nothing but the occasional light floating in from either Rook or Ruggie opening the front door to make conversation with Leona. Until finally, when Jade was just starting to nod off from drowsiness, the caravan stopped and Ruggie threw open the back door. “Rook, help me here! We made it!”
“Ah, enfin!” The human exclaimed, as he rushed to the back of the wagon to begin taking down the tanks. Leona came down from the coach’s bench to assist.
After a few minutes, Ruggie finally made it to Jade’s tank, while Leona took Azul’s. Ruggie, who was clearly not as strong as the lion, dragged the tank by its corners, leaving Jade mostly blind by the front. From what he could see through the hyena’s legs, dozens of glass tanks lay overturned and empty on the white sand around them, with trails of water leading straight to the ocean. Rook stood by the shore, waves lapping over his leather boots, staring at the rolling waves.
He glanced over as Jade and Azul were left nearby. “Well, go on now. You’re free.”
Jade hesitated, but only for a moment. He slammed himself against the side of his tank, easily tipping it over and letting himself tumble into the surf. Azul, meanwhile, took the pacifist approach and climbed out, something Jade rather envied him for being able to do. Jade cast a last glance at Rook, who smiled in return, tipping his hat once again.
With that encouragement, Jade dragged himself into the sea, feeling the salty waves roll over his scales as he took off, finally able to swim freely and unrestricted for the first time in months. He wheeled about, relishing in his speed and mobility, before turning back to Azul.
“I think we both know where our first destination is,” his friend quipped, a smile finally upon his face.
Jade nodded. He took Azul’s hand, and together they sped off into the dark waters, hope washing over them like the tidal waves.