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Kaeya couldn’t remember when he first had that dream. He could hear the sound of waves, crashing onto the shore. He could even smell the brine in the air, and feel the sand under his feet. He could hear the wind, rustling through palm trees and reeds that gathered at the edge of the sea - and, mixed with it all was a melody. It was sweet and mellow, seeming to resonate through his whole body and the world around him, full with a longing that made Kaeya’s heart ache. It felt as if it lured him towards the sea - as if once Kaeya found the source of it, he would be able to make it all better.
By a rock, Kaeya could see a splash of bright, warm color - vivid and shining with all the colors of the sunset. Reds, yellows, whites, oranges, and a bright, brilliant gold.
Red, like a flame.
He always woke up, sweat soaking through his clothes and his heart racing.
It felt as if the sea called to him.
If only he had just moved closer… if only he had just reached out and answered the beckoning.
Throughout his life, Kaeya tried to explain to others this enigma, but no one truly understood him. His parents thought it was the fanciful ideas of a youth who was too enamored with romantic tales of heroes and monsters. His siblings found him amusing - a young prince, with his head full of stories and no space for the real things he should be learning. From time to time, his family and his tutors would try to steer him away from the dreams - remind him that he had duties and obligations, but through it all - he couldn’t forget that splash of red, that song that made his heart clench and invited him closer.
Kaeya knew - deep down, he knew - that he would never be able to push that melody out of his mind. He had to prove to himself in some way, that this was all just a dream, even if it didn’t seem like there was a way to do that. He had to at least try - and then, perhaps, he would be able to have a normal, mundane life, without feeling the absence of the melody he had never so much as heard.
It was a moonlit night when Kaeya gathered his supplies in a bag and sneaked out of his room. There wasn’t a single hint of hesitation in his thoughts or actions. He had spent days, months, years with his mind at war with his heart, and now that he had made a decision, he was certain he would not look back. Even with money, food, and supplies to last him for some time, Kaeya knew this was a stupid idea, unlikely to lead to an outcome, but he couldn't live with himself if he didn't so much as try.
He knew the routine of the guards patrolling near his bedchambers and had meticulously calculated when he would have the opportunity to get away. Everything had been accounted for, but even the most watertight plan can can have hidden flaws and as much as Kaeya was careful, his older brother had always been an inconveniently perceptive man.
“Are you really going to do this?”
Kaeya didn’t respond, holding on tighter to his bag. His brother could ruin his plan right now. He could stop him from being able to leave, and he knew that if his father found out what he had attempted an escape, he would make sure to put his wayward prince on house arrest and make sure he was being watched at all times. Any hope of getting out, of seeking the creature of his dreams, could be ruined before he so much as stepped out of the palace walls.
“… You know, sometimes I wonder if that dream of yours isn’t a curse.” His brother continued, but his words ended up making Kaeya laugh despite himself.
“About the only thing I know without a doubt about this dream… is that it’s not a curse.” Kaeya spoke with conviction.
Maybe no one else would be able to understand it, but as much as he might seem insane, it felt as if there was no color that was as bright and vivid as the ones he saw in his dreams, no song was as enthralling as the one that still held his heart even as he tried to trudge through every obligation. His waking world was dull and Kaeya spent his days longing for the embrace of sleep, in the hopes that maybe someday, he would be able to catch sight of the one who sang to him. It defined him, as much as it tormented him.
“The guards would be sent after you as soon as morning came and the others realized you were gone.” His brother reasoned.
“So, I just have to make sure I’m far away before that.” Kaeya shrugged.
His brother watched him for a few moments with an unreadable expression before letting out a soft sigh, shaking his head.
“… You are never going to be able to let it go, are you.” It wasn’t a question.
“I need to know.” A simple reason for such drastic action.
“I suppose that… you should not let yourself be caught, then, isn’t it?” The answer caught him by surprise. He stared at his brother, but the crown prince turned his gaze away. “I don’t understand it… but if this is something you have to do, I won’t stop you.”
“… Thank you.” Kaeya whispered.
“Thank me when you come back… after finding what you are looking for.” His brother stepped aside.
The two of them knew that if he managed to evade the guards, there was a real possibility Kaeya would never come back, but he understood what his brother meant even without him saying it.
Take care. I’ll miss you.
Adjusting the bag over his shoulder, Kaeya gave his brother a brief nod before walking past him and making his way out of the palace as silently as he could.
He didn’t need to look back to know his brother watched until Kaeya vanished from sight.
There was once a time when humans knew of mermaids as more than just legends, more than folklore, but those times had long been forgotten; remembered only by the merfolk who hid in the depths of the waters.
For as long as he could remember, Diluc had been taught of the dangers that humans presented. Greedy creatures, hungry for power and magic. Diluc understood, and he had heard of how their numbers thinned after humans started hunting them for their blood, for their flesh, for their magic. He knew it was to keep themselves safe from humans that the colonies now hid in the depths, where sunlight barely reached.
Diluc wasn’t made for cold waters, though - he was meant for warm coral reefs and colorful fish playing around him. He was made to bask in the sun, and it felt as if, when he stayed in the depths for too long, the chill of the water tried to pierce into his heart. Even while he knew that going closer to the surface was dangerous… he couldn’t resist it. The cold depths felt more bearable when Diluc held in his heart the memory of the light and the warmth of the sun. The pressure felt less crushing, even if only for some time, when he could still remember the feeling of the breeze in his hair and the sun on his scales, and once it started to fade, he would sneak closer to the surface once more.
It was in one of those times that Diluc saw him.
He had taken to stretching out over some rocks in an abandoned stretch of beach, underneath a cliff. It wasn’t just difficult to see there for humans - they couldn’t reasonably access it without dying - so it made for a peaceful retreat where he could enjoy the sun as long as he paid attention to any sign of passing ships. It felt as if he was alone in the world, and Diluc cherished the moment to gather himself, to enjoy the moment of peace outside of the darkness of the depths.
It was on a day like that, when Diluc had disobeyed his father yet again, that he spotted something off in the water.
His earfins flickered, his gaze following a small figure that was being dragged by the waves, further and further into the depths. It was struggling with the water but the sea was relentless, the current dragging it away from the beach. It was no surprise that something like that had no chance… just another land creature, made a victim of the ocean.
However, something sparked in him. A nagging feeling that, against every rational instinct, made Diluc dive back into the water and make his way to the figure just as it sank under a passing wave.
The figure, he found, was a human. A child, who seemed to have given up struggling as he sank deeper into the waters - and for a moment, Diluc caught a peek of blue eyes with diamond-like pupils, filled with fear just before the lack of oxygen made him lose consciousness.
Diluc acted without thinking. He held the boy tightly and swam to the surface, trilling anxiously as he tried to make the human open his eyes and look at him - but the child was exhausted and had swallowed too much water. He was still alive, but left to his own devices, he wouldn’t stay that way for long.
Diluc knew that he should have let go, and swam back to the depths. A child being there meant that there would be more humans appearing soon in search of him, so Diluc should leave his luck in the hands of his own kind. However… he couldn’t bring himself to do it. As Diluc held him close, the child seemed to radiate a kind of warmth that scared off what chill still clung to his heart. Diluc felt alive.
The child was his. Diluc couldn't tell how he knew, but he did.
Ignoring the logic that told him to let go, Diluc swam towards the shore, carrying the boy as well as he could to the shallows. His tail dragged on the sand, the waves helping push him to the beach, and only when he was confident the boy wouldn’t be taken back into the water did he let him go, pulling back to look down at the small being he rescued.
The child was unconscious and shivering with cold, but he was alive. Brushing the boy’s blue hair off his face, Diluc let out a soft breath, taking in his delicate features with curiosity and concern.
The music in him responded to this boy.
He let out a chirp, leaning in to nuzzle into the child’s cheek - and as he heard him let out a quiet noise, Diluc didn’t even feel the expected instinctual anxiety at the thought of being caught. Diluc almost wished the boy would open his eyes and look at him with those diamond shaped pupils again - this time, with clarity and awareness. Would he feel the same thing Diluc did, or would he be scared by a creature like him?
Reluctantly, Diluc drew back, keeping his gaze on the small boy for a moment longer before slowly pushing himself away.
One day, the boy would find him. One day, he would feel the same pull that Diluc did. He wanted to believe that he would - if they were made for each other, he would.
Once he was back into deeper water, Diluc dared to resurface and look back towards the beach once more. He could see a group of humans rushing out of the tree line towards the still unconscious child. If he had stayed for longer, he would have been found by them when he was still trying to leave the shallows. Faintly, he could hear the humans calling out.
“Kaeya!!”
“Your highness!”
He had done his part. The only thing he could do now was wait.
Diluc had heard from other creatures that mermaids were tragic beings. Ruled by emotions and magic, susceptible to a longing that couldn’t be satisfied. At first, he thought that his desire to be closer to the surface was such a feeling - something that he couldn’t have, yet yearned for anyway.
He hadn’t expected the emptiness in his chest that came with the knowledge that, somewhere, there was a human who had made him feel alive. the desire to know that he felt the same way ate at him.
As was bound to happen, Crepus discovered that Diluc had been going to the surface. He scolded Diluc about it, reminded him of the dangers that the surface presented to them - and as soon as the merfolk who kept watch on him got distracted, Diluc swam away, making his way back to the rocky waters where he felt safe enough to come up. There was the hope - unspoken, but burning in his chest - that he might see the human boy once more, but the waters and the beach beyond were deserted.
Humans tended to be wary of the ocean. It shouldn’t be a surprise.
The next time he managed to escape to the place once more, there were signs of fishermen having been there earlier - but nothing of that beautiful blue haired child.
He wasn’t there the next time, either.
It was silly to keep hoping he would find him. He had been drowning that day. It was far safer for a land creature like that to be away from the ocean, just like it was for a mermaid to be hidden in the depths. Nevertheless, there was a longing, a loneliness that weighed in his heart, and the feeling felt as if it echoed in the air and in the waves, the melody of the world around him tinted with the ache Diluc couldn’t explain.
He sang. He sang out his longing, his desire to find the boy again. The wish that the boy would think of him, that the boy would feel the same wanting he did.
And yet, time passed. Days turned into weeks, that turned into months, and then years - and through it all, Diluc would still go back to that rocky, inaccessible beach, hoping that by some stroke of luck, he would see the boy once more. Diluc's song mixed with the crashing of the waves and was carried by the wind, but even when he had seen a few humans on the beach… they were never his human.
He hadn't come to find him yet, but maybe next time. Or the next one. Or the one after that…
Kaeya had planned his escape for a while. There was a beach that was mostly abandoned not far from where the palace was that was at most frequented at times by fishermen. As a child, he had strayed from the maid and his siblings when they went for a walk and found his way there, and even now the place was wonderful for a runaway prince. Shielded by tall, rocky cliffs and with a reef that, on low tide, blocked the passage of ships, it was not likely that someone would try to sail out through there. Much less Kaeya - not after he had almost drowned in his last time visiting this place.
There was a dinghy waiting for him in the sand, the result of a deal he made with a few fishermen. He would sail past the reef while the tide was high and meet up with a small fishing vessel away from shore. It wasn’t a particularly elaborate plan, but it didn’t need to be - Kaeya just had to get away from his country for the time being, and he would figure out a path to search for the person in his dreams.
Pushing the dinghy out to sea made Kaeya think of when he had last been there, as a child - running through the beach’s clear sand towards the sea that seemed so calm and inviting. He had been young and naive, then - dreaming of adventures and travels - and Kaeya couldn’t help but laugh a bit to himself with the realization that he hadn’t truly changed after all that time. He was still dreaming of travels and adventures, but he was finally taking the initiative to make it come true.
As he paddled away from the beach, it felt as if Kaeya could hear the melody that haunted him between the sound of the waves, a wordless invitation into the unknown he was throwing himself into. With the moon high in the sky, there was a calmness to the situation that seemed to go directly against his racing heart and bubbling excitement.
Kaeya thought he had prepared himself well. He had read everything he could get his hands on, and listened closely to the conversation of fishermen whenever he had the chance, but having book knowledge and practical knowledge were different things. Rowing towards the reef was easy. Getting past it was not.
He didn’t notice the boat had gotten caught in a current until he struggled to paddle away from the cliffs. Panic sparked, but it was already too late to do anything. He leapt out of the dinghy, but as it crashed into the rocks, Kaeya was pushed into the depths by the waves. He felt as if he was a child once more, back to the same helplessness he had been in all those years ago.
Arms wrapped around him, a body pressing close to his and pulling him to the surface. Drawing in a desperate breath, Kaeya opened his eyes, and it felt that time stopped when he did.
Red, like a flame. The same vivid, beautiful red that Kaeya only saw in his dreams.
“Finally… You are here…”
The fishermen would never find the runaway prince beyond the reef. Debris of a smashed dinghy told of the desperate plan he had resorted to, and the end that he had met.
To Diluc, the depths of the ocean had never seemed so warm and welcoming. He was with his guiding star - and the only thing they needed was each other.