#edwardsuoh13

The story I’m about to tell you, begins deep in the Atlantic ocean, in the kingdom of Atlantia, where merpeople and other creatures of various shapes, colors and sizes resided. This kingdom, was ruled by king Antoninus, a sweet and fair leader that the merpeople loved. Because the king is charming, so are the residents of the kingdom. The citizens always had smiles on their faces, always helped each other and were in peace. But today, the villagers were all in an uproar. The townspeople were swimming about, adding more color and decor to the streets, creating wonderful delicacies and doing everything they can to prepare and participate in the festivities. For today, was the day that the king’s youngest sons would be coming of age. It was already sunset and the party would have to start soon.

  Up in one of the castle towers, in the prince’s bedroom, sat a young and beautiful merman with sharp features and shining olive skin. From his place on the bay window, he watched the entire castle staff bustle in and out of the palace to make sure everything for party was going in the right direction. The stray curl from his shimmering, auburn hair twitched. His golden tail flitted from side to side, his eyebrows were creased and he crossed his arms. Huffing, he thought to himself, Why does everyone have to make a big fucking deal about this? We’re only turning sixteen! We should be breaking through the surface and finally getting a look at the other stupid world.

  “Stupid Feliciano,” he muttered, glaring out the window as he caught sight of his older brothers. They’d seen the other world plenty of times, and had their first visits when they came of age! How come they couldn’t? Oh that’s right, his dumb little brother had to suggest having a party instead, because he was too afraid to go see past the water. “Damn it all. I could be doing better things right now.” He didn’t know what he could be doing, but it was definitely better than this. “This is all your fault, stupid Feli.”

  “Lovi, ve~” Speak of the devil and he shall appear. In the doorway of the room was a merman, quite identical to the one on the window. But instead of sharp, pointed features, he had delicate, soft ones.

  “What is it, Feliciano?” Lovino grunted as the smiling merman swam over to the window quickly and latched onto him. “I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday, Lovi,” pouted Feliciano. “We’re finally sixteen, after all….” Rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, Lovino turned back to look out the window. He muttered something about hating parties and how he really would be doing better things, and Feliciano’s face fell. These brothers loved each other with all their hearts, but the problem was always that they were polar opposites. Lovino, despite being cowardly, tried to be brave and was reckless. Feliciano, was cowardly to the point that he’d be able to swim 16 kilometers away within ten minutes.

  Lovino had a sharp tongue and loved to talk back, albeit he wasn’t as harsh to women. Feliciano was all-around sweet and hated to be disrespectful. There were quite a lot  more, but time would be wasted if we enumerated them all. “W-well, then how about we sneak out and go to the surface?” Lovino nearly fell of his seat as he spun around in surprise.

  “What?”

  Feliciano offered his brother a smile. Holding out his hand, he explained, “I know how much you want to go, Lovi. And even if I’m afraid, I want to spend our birthday together and I want you to enjoy it. It isn’t fair if I’m the.only.one making choices on our birthday, ve~” Lovino looked at his brother’s hand with suspicion. He wondered if his grandfather had tricked his brother into lying to get him to come down. As though reading his mind, Feliciano laughed at his brother. “It’s not a trick, Lovi! I promise! Think of it as my birthday present to you!” That statement barely made Lovino feel better, but still, he took his twin’s hand and together, they snuck out of the castle.

  —–

  “Lovino! Feliciano!”

  Lovino was surprised to see Alfred and Matthew, another pair of brothers, waiting for them miles away from the town, where most of the shipwrecks lay. He gave his brother a questioning look. “They’ve been to the surface before, so I wanted them to come along, ve~” was his brother’s reply. He sighed and moved to the two blonds. These brothers weren’t really from their kingdom. They moved from the eastern part of the Atlantic as kids, due to their previous kingdom’s terrible environment. They met the princes when the King had welcomed them to the kingdom, and have been playmates and friends ever since.

  “Hey guys–”

  “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DUDES!” Alfred yelled, interrupting his brother. He swam forward and crushed the two princes in a hug. Feliciano laughed and returned the hug, as Lovino squirmed in Alfred’s strong arms. “Can’t believe you guys are finally sixteen!” the blue eyed merman said, holding the twins at arms length to examine them. Lovino rolled his eyes and pestered them to get on with it and see the surface. In return, Alfred just laughed and took his arm, pulling him along as he swam upwards. Matthew and a hesitant Feliciano followed close behind.

  “We’re fairly close to an island that I really love visiting,” Alfred said as he started to swim faster. “It’s mostly because of the warm and dry things, but it’s the view that takes it all away.” They were swimming faster and faster by the minute and Lovino could feel the water getting warmer, his surroundings becoming brighter and soon he could hear the sound of seagulls.

  The breakthrough felt better than anything he had ever experienced. The feeling of the evening sun on his skin, the water slipping off his body, the scent of the salty sea air that nipped at his cold skin and the feeling of his wet hair clinging to his face, all felt so different and yet so good. Lovino tried to take everything in, but was soon pulled away by Alfred. “Hey! Stupid bastard, let go of me!” In return, Alfred only laughed and begged Lovino to let him show him the island. The younger was reluctant.at first, but Alfred continued to pester him until he hit him on the head and agreed.

  Lovino hated to admit it, but Alfred was right, the island was breathtaking. As they reached shallow waters, Lovino could see the evergreen leaves, the colourful flowers and the wide array of plants, accented by the orange and pink rays of the sunset. As he swam closer and dug his fingers into the sand, he felt the warmth and dry roughness comforting and almost mesmerising. Lovino sighed and opened his eyes to find Matthew showing a rather frightened Feliciano a plant that grew close to the shore. He smirked. Feliciano is such a scaredy cat, he thought.

  “Where’s Alfred?” Matthew asked as Feliciano suddenly became fascinated with the plant. Lovino’s eyebrows furrowed, and he looked around. There was no sign of the quirky merman anywhere. “Alfred?” He called out. “Alfred! You dumb bastard! Where the fuck did you go?”

  “I’m right here,” a voice called. They turned around to find Alfred near a fairly large cluster of rocks. Alfred then turned to the ocks and started knocking on it. “Artie? It’s me, Alfred. Come on out dude!” Lovino tried to ask what the actual fuck he was doing, but then the earth started to shake and the rocks started to split open. Feliciano shrieked and quickly moved to an equally frightened Lovino for cover, while Matthew looked more shocked than anything else. Alfred, on the other hand, wasn’t fazed at all. Not even when glittering smoke emitted from the cracks that had appeared on the rocks.

  When everything stopped moving and the smoke began to fade, Lovino saw a fairly lean man with creamy skin, sandy blond hair and strikingly green eyes emerge. He was beautiful and different from all the other merpeople, with legs instead of a tail. Even so, Lovino didn’t think much of the man’s beauty, considering that he was more occupied with trying to keep his eyes away from the man’s bare body. The one thing that attracted more attention than the man’s obvious beauty (and near nudity), were his huge eyebrows. “Dammit, Alfred,” he cursed, glaring at the still smiling merman. “You know I loathe it when you make a huge ruckus, bloody wanker!” With a shrug, Alfred threw his arm around the pale skinned man and laughed. “C’mon Artie! Ya know you love me! And besides, I wanted you to meet Feli and Lovi! It’s their birthday,” Alfred said as ‘Artie’ tried to squirm out of his grip.

  “Hello, Arthur,” Matthew called, swimming closer once he had realized that there was no danger. “Ah, hello, Matthew,” Arthur breathed as soon as he escaped Alfred. “Have you been well? Alfred doesn’t answer me when I ask about you anymore.” Matthew chuckled and responded with glee. Lovino only watched with confusion and a hint of impatience. Was this Arthur really so important for them to meet that Alfred had him practically scaring the shit out of them? Feliciano, meanwhile, still cowered behind his older twin brother. Clearing his throat a little, Lovino rose an eyebrow when the trio of blondes turned to them.

  “Oh, pardon me, my name is Arthur. Arthur Kirkland. And you are?” he spoke, a thick accent evident. Lovino glared slightly and opened his mouth to speak, “My name is Lovino Vargas, prince of Atlantia. And the idiot hiding behind me is my younger brother, Feliciano.” Arthur didn’t look very fazed. His large eyebrows twitched at the mention of prince, but otherwise seemed calm.

  “Ah, I apologise, your highness. It has been a long while since I have gone past the sea and into the ocean, let alone the kingdom,” Arthur said, bowing to show respect. “You must be the friends Alfred mentioned. He did say he was acquainted with royalty. I assume you are the pair who will be celebrating your birthday today?” Lovino felt wary of him, after all, he didn’t have a tail, and yet he claims to have been underwater before. Feliciano, on the other hand, had already deemed Arthur as safe, and went closer to the man.

  “Yes! That’s us, ve!” The auburn haired man squealed. “Hey, where’s your tail? You’re a merman too, right? How come you have legs?” Arthur looked appalled at the questions directed to him, but put on an unfazed expression.

  “Feliciano!” Lovino hissed. He moved closer to the group and grabbed his brother’s shoulders. “It’s quite alright, your highness,” Arthur said. The green-eyed creature then turned to Feliciano and gave a polite smile. “I’m not a merman. I am a siren.”

  Arthur explained how sirens had the ability of magic and weren’t as accepted in the ocean. He mentioned that Alfred was the first merperson and creature to ever stay with him as a friend. Matthew then chose to “whisper” how Arthur was the only reason Alfred ever actually went to the surface. The pair of blondes blushed and Alfred glared at his laughing brother. “A-anyway…. My, those are nimbostratus and cumulonimbus clouds. That must mean a storm is on the way,” Arthur observed. “You must Hurry and return to the kingdom. You might have been gone too long–”

  “Aw, but Artie–”

  “No ‘but’s, love. The princes need to go–”

  Lovino rose an eyebrow at the pet name the siren had called Alfred but decided to interrupt. “Like hell am I leaving!” he exclaimed. He shook his head and crossed his arms. “I just got here, and there is no fucking way I’m going to go that dumb ass party! I’m not leaving and you can’t make me, bastard.” Arthur turned a reprimanding gaze to the prince. He opened his mouth, ready to lecture the glaring merman about safety when the sound of something exploding interrupted him. The group’s attention turned to the source of the ruckus and found a ship sailing fairly close by.

  Lovino had never seen such a vessel before and was fascinated, as colorful lights and loud sounds came from it. “Damn,” he heard Arthur curse. “It’s the bloody ‘Pearl of Castille’.” Lovino honestly didn’t know what that meant, but the vessel looked absolutely interesting. So without a second thought, he swam away from the group who shrieked at his irresponsibility, and towards the wooden contraption. The closer he got, the bigger the ship seemed to get. It looked like the sunken ‘carracks’ his older brother, Luciano, would talk about and show him when they would sneak out of the castle. When he was just less than a dozen meters away from the ship, he could hear music and the loud thuds of the dancing mens’ boots.

  “Lovi!”

  “Lovino don’t get too close!”

  “Dude, it’s dangerous!”

  “Prince Lovino!” He swivelled to find Arthur swimming towards him at a rapid pace, with Alfred trailing close behind and a slightly farther Matthew and Feliciano. Arthur looked absolutely panicked. “It is not safe! Please come here!”

  Lovino, being the stubborn little prince that he was rolled his eyes and swam faster. Soon, he was right beside the ship, ears nearly losing their ability to hear with the loud laughter of men, crescendo of the colorful lights and terrible singing. The young merman felt his body rush with excitement and felt the need to see more than just the ships build. He scanned the vessel for anything he could use for leverage to see more, and found a makeshift ledge with what looked to be an open space. He could hear Arthur and the others getting closer and decided to jump at the chance and reach for the ledge.

  It was fairly high up and it took a few tries, but Lovino was finally able to grab on and haul himself up. When he had situated himself comfortably, he peeked through the open space and marveled at the number of humans in the ship. Many of the were drinking and laughing, others dances and sang, while some just stayed back enjoyed watching the others. But no, that wasn’t what Lovino found intriguing. It was the man with the dark skin, dark hair and mesmerising green eyes. He laughed with another man and a boy-ish woman on the boat and seemed to give off an air of cheerfulness. The merman couldn’t take his eyes off of this human.

  “Oh, Antonio,” Lovino heard the blonde guy on the handsome creature’s side sigh. “Mon ami, sailing and exploring is fun, but when do you plan to finally find that bride your kingdom needs, hm? After all, you are no longer just a prince.” The gorgeous man in the middle sighed. He gave the blonde man a dismal look and shrugged.

  “I haven’t found the one yet, Francis,” came his reply. “If I’m going to get married and have a queen, I want someone I know I love and loves me back.” The man called Francis sighed and ran a hand through his long blonde hair. He looked at Antonio with disappointment. “You could always marry, then take in a ward or something.” Antonio looked disgusted at that and didn’t reply. The boy-ish woman on his other side, however, seemed to find it highly amusing, and let a weird laugh loose. “He’s not you Franny. Besides, only someone as dumb as you would be able to call that love.”

  “Shut up, Julchen.”

  “Your highness!” Lovino nearly fell off of the boat when Arthur suddenly hissed in his ear. The siren gripped his arm and hissed again in a panicked whisper. “We must leave, right this instant.” The merman prince glared at him and pulled his hand back, effectively escaping Arthur’s gold, but hitting it on the ship’s wood. Lovino winced but tried to have the upper hand by trying to appear normal. “I am the prince, asshole. You can tell me what to do and what not to do.”

  “Prince Lovino, please this is highly dangerous–”

  “Fuck danger, I want to stay.”

  “But you don’t understand, sire! These men are not humans you want to meet! They are a threat!”

  “Then go ahead and leave me here, dumb bastard!”

  “I’m not going without you!”

  “Then too fucking bad.”

  Arthur looked royally pissed and tried to reason with the stubborn prince, but Lovino was adamant. The wind had seemed to pick up, but neither noticed with their arguing. The blond had nearly resorted to just pulling the younger back into the ocean, but before he could do that, a voice had interrupted. “Ohonhon, what do we have here?”

  Both heads snapped up to find Francis leaning over the boat’s edge and looking at them. “Well, it’s been a while Arthur, but how did you get on the boat? And who is this pretty little thing beside you?” Lovino was so stunned at being caught, that the words hadn’t registered properly. He just sat there staring at Francis with surprise. Arthur, on the other hand, glared right at the other blond and took hold of Lovino’s arm. He hoped that Francis wouldn’t notice Lovino’s tail, and concentrated on letting magic flow through his arm and into Lovino’s.

  “What made the sound, Franny?” came the female voice of Julchen. Arthur and Lovino felt panic coarse through their bodies and Lovino tried jumping off the ledge when Francis turned to his friends for a second, but was held in place by Arthur. “Stay still, and play along.” Lovino glared at Arthur again, and opened his mouth to repeat how he didn’t have to listen to him, but then he felt something warm spreading across his arm, down to his torso and then to his tail. He jerked in surprise, and nearly fell again when he saw his tail starting to disappear and get replaced with a pair of legs. “Oh come on, Francis. I doubt Arthur is actually on the side of a boat with a mysterious man,” came Antonio’s accented voice, sounding like it was closer than earlier. By then, the merman’s tail had vanished completely.

  “Oh!”

  “Hello there, Carriedo,” Arthur said. Lovino looked up and found the trio he was spying on earlier, all looking down at him and Arthur. Julchen was giving him a rather confused look, as was Francis, but he didn’t seem to think moments like this were rare. But then there was Antonio. He looked at Lovino with a look the merman couldn’t comprehend. The dark skinned man had his sparkling eyes locked on Lovino’s, and the merman was so caught up, he couldn’t tear his gaze away. After all, the curiosity in those deep green eyes were far too beautiful to let go of.

“I was just here to steal some more of those lovely tea leaves you always seem to have when I see you–” he heard Arthur say.

  “Hm, what was that?” Antonio murmured, barely paying the siren any attention.

  “So, my friend and I will be on our way.”

  Then suddenly Antonio’s attention snapped to the blonde. “Woah, hold on a minute!”

  “Sorry, we can’t,” Arthur said, smirking. He looked at Lovino and gave a small glare that made Lovino give in and nod. “Cheerio, old chap.’ And with that they dove underwater. “Hey, hold on a second! They just jumped into water!” As soon as Lovino felt the water encase him, another warmth spread out through his body and he found that he once again, had a tail. He felt Arthur let go of his hand and turned to ask how the hell he knew those people, when he was tackled into a group hug. “Lovi, ve!” cried Feliciano. “Ugh, get off me!” Lovino shrieked.

  “Wait here,” he heard Arthur say.

  “No! Artie don’t go back up there!” Alfred lunged at the siren and held him in a protective hug. Arthur sighed and gave a small smile to the merman. Lovino looked over and took notice of how he still didn’t have a tail and breathed just fine underwater. Sirens are so weird, he thought. “I’ll be fine, love,” Arthur said in a soothing voice. “If I don’t go back up, they’ll be curious and we wouldn’t want that. I’ll be back very quickly, I promise.”

  When he said soon, he really meant soon. The group watched him break through the surface, only for him to be thrown back into the water by a large wave a second later. “Arthur!” Alfred immediately swam up to the siren’s aid and was sson followed by Matthew. Feliciano didn’t want to be alone with just Lovino, so he swam up too, and dragged Lovino with him. “There’s a storm,” Arthur breathed. He looked panicked again, but Lovino thought that may just be his eye playing tricks on him. “The ship was struck by lighting and is on fire.” As if to add emphasis to what was happening multiple splashes of water were heard and the group found the ship’s men falling into the water. Lovino looked up and found a blurry mass of red, orange and yellow, that was the ship. “Francis!” Arthur swam towards the blonde man who had just landed in the ocean. Alfred frowned but followed. Soon, another splash was heard and Julchen was there, with a buff guy holding on to her protectively. Matthew and Feliciano swam forth to help them. Lovino, meanwhile, was struck with the realisation that Antonio must be around there as well. He swam around and looked at the mens’ faces but couldn’t find him. Oh shit! He might still be on board! he thought. Lovino didn’t know much about fire, but from what his older brother, Marcello, said, it was deadly.

  Without any further thinking, Lovino swam up to the surface and scanned the burning ship. It was hard to look for the man, what with the waves throwing the merman about, the strong onslaught of the  rain and the heat and smoke coming from the fire. And then he saw him. Antonio clung tightly on to a stretch of rope. “Antonio! Over here!” He turned to find a very freaked out Julchen on a smaller boat, with an unconscious Francis on her shoulders and the rest of the men. “Swing and jump down here!” She ordered. Antonio nodded and made to swing, but an explosion erupted and he was thrown into the waters. The golden-eyed merman didn’t even hear Julchen’s scream. He immediately dove underwater in search of the man and found him drifting a few meters away, unconscious. He started forward, and grabbed the drowning man by his torso and hauled him up. He broke through the surface and tried to keep Antonio afloat. The rain was getting stronger and the only thing Lovino could see was the burning ship. He shook his head and started to drag the passed out Antonio to the island, deeming it safer there.

  ——

  “Lovi!” Once again, he was tackled by his three mermen.

  “Oi! Get off me bastards and help me make sure he’s okay!” he yelled. The three boys backed away and Arthur moved to help him. They were able to drag him just by the shore, with his lower half getting lapped at by the waves. It took a while for Lovino to get to the island, since he was carrying an extra weight, and by the time he got there the storm had died down. “You should have listened to me, Lovino,” Arthur muttered darkly. He watched Lovino move closer to Antonio and caress the inert man’s hair.  “If you had listened, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  “Is he dead?” Lovino asked, ignoring Arthur’s last words. The siren sighed and looked between Lovino and Antonio. “No. He’s weak, but alive,” he said, keeping his eyes on Lovino’s expression. “Lovino–”

  “He’s beautiful,” Lovino breathed. He smiled and held Antonio’s face in his hand.

“Come vorrei stare qui con te Cosa darei per restarti accanto? Vorrei che tu potessi Sorridermi

  Arthur watched in awe as Lovino’s deep and calming singing voice had caused Antonio to stir. “Lovi loves to sing,” he turned and found Feliciano swaying to his brother’s singing. “He doesn’t think he’s very good, but everyone in the castle becomes quiet when he sings because they love his voice.” Arthur nodded, absentmindedly, and returned to watching the pair. There was a certain look in Lovino’s eyes. A look that Arthur had become all too familiar with. He’s seen enough people broken because of that sort of expression, hell he’s gone through it himself. But he did not want to see another go through it. “Mi porterai dove vorrai E del tuo mondo parte faró Accanto a te sempre cosí Solo con te”

  Antonio’s eyes were half-lidded and Lovino smiled. He really was alive. Antonio, though only barely awake, looked at Lovino and smiled. The merman felt his cheeks redden and his heart pounding in his chest. “Bonito…” Antonio murmured.

  “Antonio!”

  “Antonio! Mon ami!”

  Lovino snapped his head up to see two figures coming towards them in the distance. Julchen and Francis. Arthur grabbed Lovino’s arm and swiftly pulled him back into the sea. Still in a daze, all the young prince could do was stare into space. He hoped he’d be able to see Antonio again. And he hoped he’d be able to do it soon.

  Arthur had escorted them to the palace personally, despite all the wary looks he received. After seeing that expression on Lovino, he wanted to make sure the prince didn’t do anything too rash. He even stayed when Lovino fought against his furious grandfather.

  “YOU WERE NOT TO LEAVE THE CASTLE! EVEN IF IT WAS YOUR BROTHER’S IDEA YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER!”

  Lovino flinched but fought back. “HE SAID IT WAS HIS PRESENT TO ME! IT WOULD’VE BEEN RUDE TO SAY NO.”

  “WHAT DOES IT MATTER IF YOU’RE ALWAYS RUDE ANYWAY?” Lovino glared at his grandfather’s words. “FELICIANO IS FAR TOO INNOCENT TO BE SUCKED IN YOUR REBELLIOUS WAYS, LOVINO. BE A BETTER INFLUENCE. YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE BETTER PERSON AND SAID–” At this point, Lovino wanted to cry. Once again, he was being compared to his adorable, sweet, innocent little brother. Charming Feliciano, is once again, the good one and him, the bad. And for this to happen on his birthday….

  “Grandpa!” His brothers hissed, all in unison. Still his grandparents payed them no mind. “Hush, all of you–and don’t give me that face Luciano! You’re just as bad as Lovino.” Lovino watched his brother grit his teeth and turn away. He turned back to his glaring grandfather and straightened his posture, balled his fists and yelled, in his loudest voice, “I WISH YOU DIED INSTEAD OF MAMA AND PAPA!”

  The room grew deafeningly quiet. His brothers, Arthur, Alfred and Matthew were stunned into silence. His grandfather, looked more hurt than he had ever seen him. Good, Lovino thought. It’s about time you were the one who got hurt. But the pain on his grandfather’s face lasted for just a while. Soon it turned into rage and Feliciano had whispered a frightened, “L-Lovi~”

  “You ungrateful brat,” King Antoninus raged. “After everything I’ve done for you! You repay me by wishing I were dead!” King Antoninus swam towards Lovino. “So be it! From this day forth you are no longer my grandson! You are a disgrace to me, to your brothers to the kingdom and to your PARENTS!” The tension in the room grew, and soon Luciano was yelling at his grandfather, Marcello trying to hold him back, as his other brother Angelo held a crying Feliciano in his arms. Lovino felt his body freeze. He felt his heart stop and his blood run cold. He could deal with being called a disgrace to the kingdom, and to his grandfather, after all it was nothing he hadn’t heard before. But when the mention of his parents and brothers came, he broke down.

  He knew he wasn’t the best. Heck, he was the worst. Nobody wanted him. Who would even want a selfish, dumb, arrogant, rude and ugly merman like him anyway?

  His grandfather’s face seemed to soften a little as Luciano tried to come at him. “Lovino?” Matthew place his hand tentatively on his shoulder. Only now did the young prince realize he was shaking. Only now did he feel the warm tears slipping down his cheeks. King Antoninus seemed to see them as well. “W-wait. Lovino, I didn’t–”

  “You shity excuse for a grandfather!” Lovino cried as he swam as quickly away as possible. He could hear his name being called and Luciano still screaming at his grandfather, regardless he kept swimming. If anything, he swam even faster. He swam as far as his tail could get him and he let the tears continue to stream down his face. Eventually, he couldn’t swim any further and soon came to a stop in a familiar area. Damn, I’m near that island….

  Lovino cursed his grandfather under his breath as he lay on a slab of rock and wept. He cried and cried, glad that no one was there to see him do so. Well, he was wrong, actually. A hand landed on his shoulder and he screamed with fright. “Whoa, it’s alright, it’s alright,” came Arthur’s accented voice. “It’s just me.” Lovino glared and told him to go away. Arthur laughed and said, “The one thing we have in common, Lovino, is that we are both stubborn. I’m not leaving.”

  Lovino glared again, although there was less fight in them, and muttered. They sat in silence for a few moments, before Arthur spoke. “What do you wish for, Lovino?” I wish I was  free human instead of an underappreciated merman. he thought. But instead he said, “What the fuck are you going on about?” Arthur smiled. He launched into a recap of how sirens can do magic and how sometimes, they feel generous enough to grant wishes. “But,” he added, when Lovino started to look hopeful. “It comes with a price and you have to really mean the wish for it to work.”

  “You’re seriously going to give me a wish? No matter how stupid?”