Chapter Text
The kingdom of Tochi is a true treasure to those who inhabit it, and those who visit. Located along the shoreline of the pacific ocean, it is a gorgeous place filled with amazing people, but no people are considered more impressive than those living in the palace.
King Fukuzawa, a highly reluctant monarch, is world-renowned for his intelligence and diplomatic capabilities. His three adopted children are also well-known and highly regarded, even his eldest Ranpo who left the palace to become a detective. The entire family is adored for many reasons, but at the top of it all is the fact each and everyone of them is an ability user, with strong abilities at that.
Abilities are rare, so to have an entire family with them is amazing, blood related or not. In fact, many people in the palace are ability users from their doctor, to the highest ranked attendees, even down to the chef and his assistant. All of these people are like rare gems, kept safe in the palace.
Not that they need it, and not that they were even hired for these attributes. While he does have an impressive array of ability users in his home, the majority of the palace is made up of perfectly normal people. Even his army, while strong and feared, has only a few ability users and those few don’t really have battle-useful abilities.
King Fukuzawa is known for his care of a person’s soul, not their powers. It’s one of the many reasons he’s so highly adored by those in his kingdom and the kingdoms that surround them.
Except for one.
A kingdom that lurks beneath the surface, unseen yet unresting; the Suichu Kingdom, a beautiful merkingdom run by King Mori. The Suichu Kingdom is in fact close to Tochi, lurking in the depths of the ocean nearby, its location visible from the higher towers of the castle.
Not that you can see it from there, of course, but everyone knows it’s coordinates.
King Mori and King Fukuzawa used to be friends, very close acquaintances (suspiciously close, some used to whisper) until ten years ago when they held a vicious battle for reasons unknown to anyone but the two of them. Since that day, the two do not argue or battle, instead their mutual hostility is silent and dismissive.
The people of the Tochi kingdom aren’t allowed to sail their ships near Suichu’s location, and the merpeople of Suichu are not allowed to come onto Tochi’s shores or explore their town as they once had. Neither interferes with the other, but there’s an unspoken promise that if one were to enter the other’s territory, it would be death on sight.
Which is why the young Prince Atsushi is currently panicking.
Returning from a dignitary meeting with other countries in place of his father, he has had a peaceful trip on the ship to and fro, until an hour ago when a storm captured them off guard.
It’s his first time on a ship, and was his first dignitary meeting.
At least one of those went well.
As the second prince, and heir to the kingdom, he is to start going out and performing diplomatic duties around the world. He’s only been a prince for nine years, and only just finished his education, but because he has turned 18 he is expected to fulfill these tasks.
Figures his first time out would end in disaster.
He just hopes it doesn’t end in death.
The storm started out mild enough, but it has grown wildly vicious, waves crashing onto the deck and pulling their massive ship further and further off-course.
And right in the direction of the Suichu Kingdom.
He doesn’t know what happened between the two kings, only that as soon as he was adopted his first lesson was never to go near these coordinates .
Yet here he is, violently being pulled towards them as the men around him desperately try to regain some control over their ship.
It’s a futile effort, though, and soon enough they are being tossed around above the forbidden waters. Atsushi prays that the storm ends soon and they can get far away from here, or that the storm even continues to drag them further out, away from the Suichu kingdom, but neither seem to be the case.
As a kingdom, Suichu is large. Technically all of the ocean where they are falls under Suichu’s domain, but the area they are specifically not allowed would be where the royal city is. Where the merpeople’s homes and the palace dwell. It is a substantial size, as one would expect.
Which is why, despite being tossed and dragged all over, their ship remains in Suichu territory. This fact causes more panic in Atsushi than the storm they are desperately trying to survive, if he’s being honest.
A storm is unbiased chaos that passes through.
A storm ends.
A grudge is full of hate and only bows to defeat.
“Your highness!” A familiar voice, Atsushi’s attendant Kunikida, hollers over the roaring winds and sea, “Come in closer before a wave catches you!” He demands and Atsushi nods, letting go of the pillar he’d dug his tiger claws into before running towards the blonde man.
It’s too late, though.
Voicing the danger seems to have brought it to them, as a massive wave overtakes the deck and pulls the now dislodged prince down into the ocean.
The last thing he hears is Kunikida’s panicked cry before the deafening roars of the water drown out the world.
Poor Kunikida is such a righteous man, this will surely destroy him. Hopefully, somehow, Atsushi can survive.
Water quickly fills his lungs as the current pulls him deeper below the surface, a current too strong for even his ability to battle. He knows it’s useless, but he still struggles, trying again and again to escape the pull and fill his lungs back up with oxygen.
Atsushi can’t die yet . He still hasn’t repaid King Fukuzawa for rescuing him, he’s the heir now, Ranpo is never coming back to fill that role and he certainly doesn’t want his younger sister Kyouka to fill it either.
He can’t let them down!
As he continues his fruitless struggle, a cold hand suddenly wraps around his arm and pulls him below the raging currents, to a calmer lever of the sea. Turning his head he stares in horror at the merman now in front of him. From his hair, to his eyes, all the way down to his ink black tail, he is the epitome of darkness. He’s the first merperson Atsushi has ever seen and undoubtedly will be his last.
“You’re a fool.” The man says, his voice shockingly clear, “A human cannot fight a storm.”
Atsushi wants to argue, to beg for his life, to do anything but all he can do is glare as his body grows weaker from the lack of oxygen.
“There’s still fight in you, I can respect that.” The merman’s cold eyes look over Atsushi and then around them as if calculating something, “You won’t survive before arriving on the shore without some oxygen.”
No shit. Atsushi thinks bitterly.
“I suppose I have no choice,” A second cold hand comes up to cup Atsushi’s face, “I’ve never done this spell before so don’t haunt me if it doesn’t work.” He warns, and before Atsushi can even register his words, a pair of lips are on his, roughly prying his open as oxygen whooshes into his lungs.
The merman pulls away and Atsushi can...breathe.
Almost like an oxygen mask has taken the place of the merman’s lips, and the confused prince can do nothing but stare at the creature dumbly.
“Don’t just float there gawking like an idiot,” The man huffs, his own cheeks a slight shade of red as he tugs Atsushi’s arm, “That has a time limit after all.”
Of course it does.
A renewed determination takes over Atsushi, who begins looking around to try and figure out where to go, and the merman smirks, “That’s more like it. Now come.”
Just like that, Atsushi is being violently dragged across the ocean depths by the strange merman. The speed they move at is dizzying, covering god only knows how much distance in mere minutes. Just as Atsushi thinks he might puke and possibly break whatever spell was cast, the merman is suddenly shooting up towards the surface, a now limp Atsushi dangling behind him as they finally come up for air in peaceful waters.
Atsushi tries to speak, to thank him, but all that comes out is a cacophony of wheezes and coughs.
“You’re brave for something so fragile,” The man muses as Atsushi struggles to get his lungs in order, “My name is Akutagawa, I am a prince of the Suichu Kingdom.” He watches with disinterest as Atsushi continues to spit out saltwater and gasp for air, “You may introduce yourself when you’ve regained your bearings.”
Atsushi looks at Akutagawa weakly, his wet clothes now feeling like a hundred pounds, “I’m…Atsushi. Prince of the Tochi Kingdom. I know our kingdoms are enemies but please…spare my life.”
Akutagawa looks at him with a mixture of annoyance and confusion, “I do not care about those sorts of things. I follow through with my actions.”
“Thank you.” Atsushi smiles tiredly, fighting to keep his eyes open.
“If you pass out, however, I’ll leave you here to drown.”
“ What!? ”
“I don’t waste my time on the weak.” Akutagawa explains, “Now stay awake and get on my back. You’re too limp to drag above the water and I’m not using that spell again. It’s far more disgusting than I anticipated.”
Atsushi nods and floats behind Akutagawa, wrapping his arms around the merman’s neck and resting his chin on the back of his head to keep his own face above the water. “Thank you.” He mutters and Akutagawa simply grunts in response before swimming towards land at a much more bearable pace than before.
No words are spoken after that, and Atsushi definitely doesn’t pass out for the rest of the trip. If Akutagawa notices such an event that didn’t happen, he makes no moves to wake him, until they are close to land.
“I’ll leave you on that pier.” Akutagawa says, the sound and vibrations of his voice waking Atsushi.
“The pier…?” Atsushi asks in a daze, before noticing where they are, “The pier! Yes! That would be great!”
“Can you climb up the ladder?” Akutagawa asks once they reach their destination.
Atsushi takes a moment to try and sit up, but his body is still too weak and he topples off of Akutagawa’s back and into the water beside him, now frustrated, “Probably not.”
Akutagawa scoffs, “Maybe you aren’t as strong as I thought.”
Atsushi scowls, “Not all of us are some overpowered merman! I’m very strong for a human!”
“Such a low bar.” Akutagawa muses, “I’ve brought you this far, though, so I’ll see to the completion of this task.”
Before Atsushi can ask what he means, the merman is gathering him up in his arms and tossing him into the air.
He lands on the pier, now winded.
“If you can’t survive from here, you were a waste of time.” Akutagawa says and Atsushi crawls over to the edge of the pier to look at him.
“I owe you my life.”
“Rest assured, I don’t want it.”
Atsushi twitches, “That’s not what I meant!” He grumbles to himself before sitting up straight and looking Akutagawa in the eye, “If there is ever anything I can help you with, you need only ask.”
Akutagawa stares at him for a long moment, before finally speaking up, “I have no use for help from a human.”
With that, the merman turns away and dives back into the sea, his long tail splashing far more water than necessary right into Atsushi’s face.
He wipes it out of his eyes and looks out, seeing his ship coming into view.
They made it out.
Everyone is safe.
He can hear the faint sound of voices calling his name and cheering in the distance as his exhaustion overtakes him and he passes out.