Arbed House Headcanons

Mermaid's Wish Pt1.1

Japeth found a mermaid. A merboy, to be exact.

Mother proposed going to the town fair earlier that day, to which Rhian happily agreed. But Japeth hated the fair, teeming with people and bright colors. No. It just wasn't his type of place. He asked if he could stay at home and solemnly promised his mother that he'd behave and won't leave the house. But the moment he saw his mother and brother disappear around the corner of the avenue from the front window, Japeth slipped quietly out of the house.

He made his way to the beach not far away from their little house. The place is now deserted, for no one would come to the beach in such dreary weather. Tales of vicious sirens that would lure you with their songs so that they could steal your heart also kept playful children away from the coast. Of course, Japeth believed none of it. If he really did meet a siren, he would be the one to steal its heart first.

Japeth was making his way to his usual spot to think and skip stones or whatever when he heard a faint sound other than his quiet steps. He stopped and the noise stopped, too. He swiveled in the direction from which he heard the rustle. He didn't spot anyone, but he did observe a trace in the sand beside a cluster of large rocks, indicating that someone, or something, had been there just moments before.

Japeth's lips curled into a smirk as he started walking again, pretending not to have noticed the noise, when secretly he summoned his scims and they slithered slowly to the rocks at his command, not making the tiniest sound. Japeth adored this type of sensation: his prey thought they hid well and escaped danger when in truth they did not.

His scims reached the rocks, ready to pounce on whatever's behind them——

A startled yelp sounded, followed by one of the scims' wails. The scims dragged the person out from behind the rocks.

Japeth's eyes widened. It was a boy around his age with pale skin and raven-colored hair, but that wasn't what surprised Japeth. Instead of legs, the boy had a slender but strong, deep-purple fishtail, which is now thrashing against the sand. A ray of sunshine percolated through the clouds and lit up the boy's tail, and Japeth had to admit it truly was beautiful. His gaze fell upon the boy's face, meeting his eyes. They were beautiful too, a matching shade of his tail, only brighter and more vivid, beautiful eyes that are now glaring at Japeth.

The boy let go of the wailing scim he was biting and spoke, shattering the silence between him and Japeth.

"What do you want? Get these things off of me!"

Japeth ignored his demand and instead studied him up and down:" So are you a siren? Can you sing? I've never met a siren before." He curiously poked the edge of the boy's tail, and the boy swiped his tail away from Japeth, clearly offended.

"Don't be stupid." The boy scoffed. "I'm a mermaid, not a siren. And I don't sing. What do you want? I'll give you ten golden coins if you let me go."

Japeth let out an amused laugh and the mermaid glared at him again.

"I have no interest in your mermaid riches. How come you're here? Aren't you mermaids supposed to be staying in your underwater kingdoms and singing your cheesy songs and swooning over human princes?" Japeth taunted and enjoyed the sight of the mermaid fuming.

"I don't sing!" The boy's cheeks were flushed pink now. "I'll make a deal with you. I'll give you what you want, and you'll let me go."

"You're in no condition of making a deal with me." Japeth gestured to the scims binding the boy's arms and wrists. "Just answer my question. How come you're here?"

The boy pursed his lips and pondered for a few moments before finally giving up.

"Fine. But don't you dare laugh." He gritted his teeth:" I was... I was on a school trip, and I didn't want to be with my assigned buddy during free activity time, so I left him and explored on my own. I guess I went too far. I hurt my tail and got washed up on this shore."