#risa11

The two watched the trio of kids play together at the playground.

“Riku…You really plan on going overseas again?”

The younger twin eyed the older with a look of worry.

“The two of us agreed to this arrangement once he’s old enough.” Riku replied, looking at a certain child on the swings.

“I still worry, you know…” She sighed.

“But anyway, what about the father of your children?”

For a moment, Riku caught her rolling her eyes.

“He’s busy as usual.” Risa replied with a sigh mirroring her sister’s.

Okidoki, let's kick this DNMermay Event off~ 🪼 thanks for the ask!!!

The little princess first learned of mermaids from her tutor of the sciences--which, looking back, would have made anyone question either the truth of his statement, or his credibility as a science educator.

But the princess of the castle by the sea, with her strong sense of wonder, held on to his tales with pincer-like grip, and in their every class on marine life, she would have more questions to ask about the mysterious merfolk.

Do they eat fish? Do they have noses if they breathe through gills? Can they touch jellyfishies without getting a booboo? Is their hair made of sea grass? Do they like chocolates?

Her tutor's favorite one was whether merfolk drink water or breathe them. Consequently, it was also the question that opened the floodgates of possibilities for her, so to speak.

"So I can also become a mermaid?!" The princess jumped out of her chair and looked up at her tutor in utter disbelief.

"Oh--sorry, your highness, that's not what I meant to say," the tutor gently corrected, surprised that this was the conclusion of the little girl from what he had just said.

"But I can be a mermaid too if I had that, right?"

"You misunderstand, your highness; humans cannot become mermaids," the tutor sat to level with the little princess and smiled as he added rather softly, "At least not truly..."

"Oh. But the magic pearl necklace thing gives mermaids their gills, right? And then they breathe underwater?" There was not a hint of wavering in the princess' resolve; he knew she can be rather passionate about things she really wanted, so the tutor tried further to calm her.

"Well, yes, it's kind of like that in simple terms, but--"

"Then, if I have a magic pearl necklace, I can become a mermaid too!"

"Err... haha," the tutor chuckled at how relentless the little lady was, and he sighed as he patiently explained, "it's not something you can just find anywhere. You see, princess, merfolk are born with their life pearls. If you take the pearl from them, they will not be able to live underwater anymore."

"Oh..."

"Hmm..." the tutor paused as he considered seriously whether to put forth the idea playing in his head. But it could teach the princess a thing or two about more than the physical world, so perhaps... "but there are certain uhm... exceptions."

"Expections?"

"Exceptions, like special rules. Sometimes, you can be given a magic pearl even if you're a human."

As the tutor anticipated, the little princess' eyes popped out of their sockets, "Really? How?"

"You have to be a friend of the sea."

"Ooohh--But, how do you become one?"

"Hmm... Princess, what would you do if you saw a real mermaid?"

"I would love them!"

"Ah--of course, of course! I'm sure you will but..." the tutor's tone took on a rare firmness and solemnity as he asked the princess again, looking into her eyes, "as princess, you can do anything. If you lovr them, you can build a place for them to stay here in the palace, or even in town so more people can see the pretty mermaids!"

"I can do that?!"

"Yes, and so you can come see the mermaids anytime."

The young princess' eyes filled with wonder upon learning of the power she held, but quickly, her expression was replaced with confusion.

"But how will they get home?"

"Hmm? They don't need to. You shall give them everything they need, won't you?"

"Of course! But... if we get the mermaids to live here, we will have to get them all!"

The tutor was taken aback, and his instinct was to jump into correction, had the princess not added, "Because then, they will miss their families and friends that we didn't get. It will be sad."

The tutor sighed and chuckled in relief. He felt bad for doubting the little girl before him. "Ah. Of course. Yes, it will be very sad... but once they are here, you can borrow their pearls and be a mermaid yourself!"

"Oh, but that won't do!" The little princess sighed and rested her little head on her hands, "Hmm... no. Maybe I will just dream of mermaids. I can't become one, and I can't play with them here..."

The tutor smiled, assured of the heart of his passionate but kind little student. He patted her head gently and said with quiet excitement, "Or maybe we can go on a field trip."

To the little princess' surprise, the tutor took out a necklace with a shell that shone in very colorful lights. Cradled in the middle of the shell was a beautiful pinkish-brown pearl.

"Is that a magic pearl?" The princess gasped.

"Indeed, it is."

"You're a friend of the sea?!"

At this, the tutor responded with a wide, wide smile. Oh, the sea is so much more than a friend to him. And perhaps, it shall be too for the princess.

Little Princess Risa petting a jellyfish. Because she can.

(ngl im just winging this so the drabble may or may not be canon to the AU HAHA)

reference:

Pride 2026 – “June of fluffy Feverwhump”

These wounds won’t seem to heal, this pain is just too real

“It must seem amusing to you, Elm Root.”

Said Elm Root couldn’t have cared less about the emotional turmoil of the unstable artwork that cursed the Hikari family with its permanent, implacable corruption but still had the sense to understand that his presence could mitigate some of it, at this moment. He approached in slow steps, ignoring the tiredness that had initially led him towards his own bedroom for a good night’s sleep and unfortunately made him cross paths with Krad in the process.

“You do witness, century after century, how nothing ever truly changes…”

Krad’s entire figure radiated the same pain as someone who had lost a limb and was left abandoned there, mutilated and unable to function, torn by pain and humiliation. His bones protruded, painful to look at, eyes lacked their usual cunning shine… He looked… broken.

“Perhaps you do not realise, but your face always changes, you know?”

With anyone else, Elm Root would have illustrated his words by brushing bangs out of his face in a mockingly tender gesture, but bringing his hand too close would have been too risky; instead, he sat down next to him, facing the window like he did.

The features of his Master had grown distant on the familiar face, changed alongside generations. So many decades ago, just seeing Krad’s face would clutch at his heart, but now… And the features remained faithfully engraved in the artwork’s heart despite all living traces having been lost to time.

“I did not know you were this superficial.”

He got it, he got it. He knew that this strange, ethereal being, despite apparent confidence, buried an endless craving for completion, for someone or something to fill the gaping, infinite craving in his chest, a role no one but his reluctant other half would ever be able to take. Every new body brought new expectations, whether in the Hikari himself or, sometimes, in sudden surges of hope, in the phantom thief’s change of heart – a change of heart that never happened and grew more distant with each confrontation.

The Niwa curse seemed perfectly fine with missing his other wing, instead choosing to replace it with pillaged art and spreading despair amongst artistic souls.

“Do you want me to say he will return to you? That he will come and comfort you, tell you he wants you again and bring the refinement you’re so desperately lusting after?”

“Your empty words do not matter to me, Elm Root.”

“What if I truly mean them?”

He absolutely didn’t, smiled at his interlocutor nonetheless.

“What could an artwork like the Black Wings desire but perfection? How could ‘Dark’ live in shallow incompleteness?”

Krad’s inhuman eyes slightly widened, seductive words making their way through his mind to touch him right where he needed them. Hope was a foolish emotion that defied all laws of reason and could resurface even when it seemed entirely lost: if Elm Root found anything amusing in this world, it had to be the way he could influence anyone – and anything – with ambiguous honesty, merely toying with hope.

“He desires you, his other wing, more than anything in this world.”

The artwork didn’t lower himself by asking if he was serious, didn’t know him well enough to guess on his own. Instead, he stared, life flowing back in his body, that already seemed to regain some energy. He was surprisingly easy to understand.