from the surface to the sea ~ a stydia mermaid au

prologue

Resolution. The quality of being determined or resolute, the way my tapestry will soon determine who I truly am completely, who I am and who I was.

The rite is nearly complete. My lower half is iridescent. Lines of colour run up and down and cross my scales, shimmering where they criss-cross. It's a unique pattern for a tapestry. Befitting the salvaged prince, they say.

And then orange flowers out of nowhere, interrupting the plaid pattern. The flower sinks like an anchor before it explodes in a shimmer of red and gold. Fire. An explosion. Leaving a symbol in its wake.

A sunken ship. Liberty. That's where I died. But how?

More colours appear now, circles, swirling and looping around each other, in the colour of the rainbow oils on the waves' surface. Like Carmine told me about. The ones she drew with her walker.

Walker. My tapestry explodes in colours again. Golden yellow and a light shade of red. Like the beach and...strawberries? Walker, walker, walker...

I wriggle out of the ceremonial wrap and head towards the surface. The petrified forest. I don't know why but I swim towards it as fast as my tail propels me, like I'm being pulled by an invisible force. That's where Carmine's circles are. That's where Iris will find me. Iris, who's Iris? Is that's Carmine's walker? Did I know him? Iris will find me and tell her.

I need to find her, not Iris, but I can't remember who she is. She is the strawberries on my tapestry, the flowers, the undulating reds across my scales like a fiery wave. I close my eyes and try to recall my previous life. Who I was. Who she was.

I can see the petrified forest. It's underwater now, but I am close enough to the surface to see it is dark, and the stars are out. Stars. She loved the stars. Carved into the bark in the forest are the circles, like my tapestry shows. A beam of light sweeps across the water. The lighthouse. Iris. Scott.

Scott, Scott, Scott. I can picture his face. I knew Scott. And Scott knew her. The girl with the red hair and the strawberries - it's strawberry blonde. Dancing. Under the stars. I squeeze my eyes shut and see her dancing. In the lighthouse. Her hair flying around her.

She turns around. A word slips into my mind.

Lydia.

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This was written for a prompt on stydia-fanfiction asking for a 'stydia mermaid au'. I always wanted to write one anyway. This story will be loosely inspired by Lorali by Laura Dockrill. I hope you guys enjoy it, and you can follow me on tumblr (raspberrylimonade).

I'm also active on twitter @ stlnskissmartin so feel free to talk to me there too.