“Atchoo!” the man sneezed violently. He sniffed and looked up. “Is someone talking about me…?” he wondered aloud. He shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way. True to her word, Mirajane’s brethren called to him from the trees, calling to him whenever he took a wrong turn between the trees. They said to him, “seek the place where Gnome meets Undine,” cryptically. When he tried to ask what they meant, they giggled and retreated into their branches. Not having much of a choice, he continued on, wondering what it is that they meant.
“Gnome…Undine…” he muttered to himself as he walked. “I’ve heard those names before…” he muttered aloud, trying to place the names. “Ah, I’ve got it!” he said excitedly. “Rana had called me ‘son of Gnome and Undine!’ during our wedding ceremony!” The man felt pleased with himself for a few moments. Then his shoulders sagged. “…but what does that have to do with anything…it doesn’t make sense with what the Dryads are telling me…” he shook his head, confused. “How do I meet with myself?” He continued to ponder his thoughts as he stepped lightly over the entangling roots beneath him.
A haunting melody soon met his ears. “Is that…singing?” he asked aloud, increasing his pace. The alluring melody grew louder as he weaved between the dense trees. He could see the bright sunlight shining just beyond the trees before him; he was almost there…
The man blinked his eyes in disbelief. “T-that’s impossible…” he said quietly, awed. A vast expanse of calm water met his eyes, smelling strongly of the sea. He could see large, sturdy logs laying on the edges of the water, just out of its reach. A light breeze picked up, causing the scent of the salty air rushing against his face. It looked like a large lake, and yet; the man felt as he stood on its edge that he was in front of the mighty ocean. In the middle of that overwhelming feeling, he saw that of a lone figure outlined by the morning sunlight.
The person was too far away for him to make out the details, but he could see that it was a woman. She appeared to be sitting on some sort of structure in the center of her vast aquatic stage. He could just make out an orange shape placed daintily against her pale, river like hair. It flowed past her waist. Her ears were different from that of a human’s; they were shaped like fins of some sort. What astonished him the most; however, was that she had no legs. Rather, where her waist should have began to form a pair of legs, he noticed it continued seamlessly into a long, fish like tail. She was singing a sorrowful, haunting memory. He could not make out the words; however, and he attempted to take another step forward.
“That’s far enough, human.” A female, lilting voice said cheerfully behind him. He felt something grab hold of his shoulder. “It’s rude to sneak up on a lady, you know.” She continued. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see large bluish feathers holding firmly onto his shoulder.
“Meryl! It seems we have a visitor!” shouted the owner of the wing behind him, her voice sounding oddly lyrical. The lone figure upon the surface of the water reacted to her voice, diving deep into the clear water beneath. The man could make out her form swimming closer to the edge of the water where he stood. The grip on his shoulder relaxed slightly, and he took the opportunity to sneak a glance behind him. His eyes were met with light green ones in return for his efforts. He could make out the color of her hair as well, identifying it as a gentle shade of purple.
“Well, it won’t be long before she gets here.” The voice said lightly. Her voice appeared to have a constant lilt to it. “While we wait, we might as well get to know each other.” She mused aloud, spinning him around quickly, knocking his axe to the ground in the process. She bounced back, lifting the axe with one of her talons. “We can’t have you running around with dangerous objects like this, now can we?” she said as if scolding a child, and with a great flap of her wings she grew airborne.
The man was able to get a closer look at his captor. As he had suspected, her wings grew not out of her back, but formed near the beginning of her shoulders, replacing her arms and hands with large, powerful wings. She wore a light violet colored vest, which matched perfectly with her short miniskirt of the same color. The dark material that covered her small breasts matched the coloration of the choker she wore. Her hair was parted into two small ponytails. She had feathers growing down from her knees to her ankles; where humans had feet, she had large and powerful talons. Her ears, like many of the mamono he encountered before; ended in fine tapered points.
…are all Mamono related in some way? He thought to himself when he noticed her ears. Rather than miss the opportunity, he decided to ask. He had nothing to lose if he did, after all.
“Are all Mamono related to each other?” he called loudly enough so that the winged girl could hear him over her powerful wing beats. His eyes were focused upward, so he didn’t notice Meryl come up behind him.
“Did you say Mamono?” a quiet voice asked behind him.
The man jumped, startled. He took a step back and tripped over a root, falling down yet again. …Do the roots of this forest hate me? He couldn’t help but wonder. He rubbed his sore back, and looked up at the owner of the voice. Now that she was closer, he could see that she wore several pieces of jewelry; several chains with various jewels on the ends hung from her wrists and her tail. Towards the very end of it, he could see what looked like a large silver bracelet. He also noticed that she wore shells over her ample chest.
“Ah, yes, I did.” He said, dusting himself off as he stood up.
“Huh, a human who knows the word ‘Mamono’?” the voice above him called down. She sounded uncertain. “You must have imagined it, Meryl. There’s no way a human would call us Mamono.” She flew over head, and slowly made her descent next to her aquatic acquaintance.
“It’s true.” The man insisted. “If you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask the Dryads?” He gestured to the nearby trees. “I’m sure they would vouch for me.”
“Eeeh…” she said, looking him over carefully. She lifted a wing in front of herself. She looked over him carefully as her companion waited silently. She seemed to be probing him with her emerald eyes.
“Well,” she said at last, “you seem like a nice guy, so I’ll believe you.” She released the axe from her grip, letting it settle against the floor. “My name’s Solana.” She said cheerfully. “And this here is my friend Meryl.” She gestured towards the water dweller with a tip of her wing.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, human.” Meryl said, tilting her head forward softly in greeting.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” Solana apologized, looking at his axe. “I thought that maybe you were after Meryl for her blood.” She glanced away from him uneasily.
The man was shocked to hear this. “Why would I want her blood!?” he exclaimed loudly.
“Eh?” Meryl and Solana replied at the same time.
“Don’t you know about the properties of a Mermaid’s blood?” Solana asked him disbelievingly. He shook his head in response.
“Eeeh….so there’s still ignorant humans in this world.” She said a little more cheerfully than before. “Well, since you seem like a nice guy, I guess I could tell you.” She folded her wings in front of her. “You see, Mermaids have really long life-spans, even among us long lived Mamono.”
“Huh?” the man cut in. “What do you mean, ‘even among us long lived Mamono?”
“Mamono live far longer than any human, didn’t you know that?” she responded, puzzled. “To know the word ‘Mamono’ but very little about us…you’re a strange one, human.” She grinned. “But, I don’t dislike that.” She puffed up her chest a little, spreading her wings. “Well then, let little Solana here teach you!” she said with a wink. “We Mamono live long lives, far longer than any of you humans, who would be lucky to even see a century pass from beginning to end before croaking. We Mamono easily live several centuries, even more than that if we’re careful about our health.” Solana motioned towards Meryl again. “Meryl, like any other of the Mermaid Clan, live even longer than that. She’ll be able to last centuries longer than any of us other Mamono; and still look not a day older than a century!” Meryl blushed at this, embarrassed.
“So what does wanting her blood have anything to do with that?” the man asked. He was troubled; however, by what she already told him. He was worried about the idea of Clarine far out living him; afraid of breaking his promise to her and leaving her alone.
“Well…” she paused, and then continued on normally. “You see, their extremely long life spans can be attributed to their magical blood; If anyone else were to drink it; they would easily share the long lives of the Mermaids.” She lowered her head, saddened. “…because of this, some humans have taken to hunting Mermaids for their blood, taking it by force if need be.” She lifted her head again, cheerily. “But you’re a good human, right? You wouldn’t do something like that.” She said, clapping him on the shoulder with her wing.
“Ah, of course not!” he said. It was the truth; he knew that even if he acquired some of Meryl’s blood by force out of desire to stay Clarine’s side, she would only be saddened by his violent course of action. I’ll…when the time comes, I will just have to find another way to remain by her side. He thought to himself.
“By the way, Solana,” he asked politely. “Is there any other way to extend one’s lifespan? Or is a Mermaid’s blood the only way?”
She seemed to think about it for a moment, although it was Meryl who answered first. “Why is it that you want to know?” she asked gently.
The man was caught off guard. The entire time she had let Solana doing the talking, nodding gently in agreement at certain points of her narrative.
“Well…” the man began to explain. “I wasn’t aware that Mamono had such long life-spans…I had thought Rana was a special case.” He quickly explained who Rana was, before Meryl had the chance to ask. “And…well, I was starting to worry about the day Clarine and I would have to part ways…and I was hoping to figure out a way that I could extend my own life to the length of her own. I promised her I wouldn’t leave her behind anymore.” He lowered his head, frustrated and worried.
Meryl slid up to him, putting her hand gently on his shoulder in comfort. “Who is Clarine?” she asked with that same gentle manner as before. The man lifted his eyes, and saw the compassion reflected there in her own.
“Clarine is my wife,” he responded. “She is a Mamono, just like the two of you.”
Solana and Meryl both shouted their amazement at his declaration, talking wildly amongst themselves.
“I-Is that really so hard to believe?” he interrupted.
“Of course it is!” Meryl and Solana replied simultaneously.
“Most humans call us monsters, and look down on us.” Solana declared.
“They hate us, and fear us.” Meryl added.
“So of course it’s strange to hear a of a human who loves a Mamono!” they finished simultaneously yet again.
“A-ah…” he mumbled, flustered. It really threw him off when they spoke together like that.
“So then, where is Clarine?” Solana asked.
“She’s with Mirajane and Anya.” He stated, then added hastily “Anya’s our daughter.” The look on Solana’s face made him shiver. “S-she’s adopted!” he added, before the misunderstanding went any further than that. “Clarine and I were just married yesterday; it’s far too soon to have a child ourselves…” he trailed off, thinking about last nights events, his face crimson.
“Ah, Meryl! Look, he’s embarrassed!” Solana pointed out mercilessly.
“It’s not nice to tease him like that, Solana,” she chided. She looked back at the man, and added. “I am afraid I do not know of any spells that would aid in your search. Magic is not my forte. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any help.”
“No, it’s fine.” He added, sighing to himself. Maybe Rana knows a few spells? He thought to himself. Well, even if she doesn’t, I’m sure she would have at least a single spell book or two.
“So then, what brings you to our neck of the woods, anyways?” Solana cut into his thoughts with her cheery voice.
“Oh, that’s right!” he said, and pointed to the axe as he spoke. “I came to find the dead trees that Mirajane said was around somewhere in the forest. The Dryads along the way kept saying to me ‘seek the place where Gnome meets Undine.’, although I didn’t understand a word of it.”
Solana and Meryl exchanged glances, and then laughed together harmoniously. “I see, I see!” Solana chuckled to herself. She raised one of her wings high into the sky as she gestured to the lake behind her. “Well, what better a place does ‘Gnome meet Undine’ than alongside a portion of the sea!” Meryl nodded her head enthusiastically.
“…….” Silence. The man met their enthusiasm with utter silence. “…part of the sea?” he asked. Meryl and Solana both nodded their agreement. “Right here.” Another pair of nods. “In the middle of the forest.” Again they nodded.
“…You do realize how strange that sounds, right?” he said, and flopped down onto the ground. “A part of the sea…in the middle of the forest!” he exclaimed to no one in particular.
“For a sorcerer, you seem pretty surprised.” Meryl added.
“A what?” the man asked, confused.
“Aren’t you a sorcerer?” Meryl asked, equally confused. “The ring you’re wearing…” she pointed to his wedding ring.
“Oh, this?” he said, raising his hand. “This is my wedding ring.” He flexed his hand so that she could see it more clearly. “I’m no sorcerer. I’m just your ordinary, boring human being.”
“….That’s odd,” Solana added. “I could have sworn…” she flexed her wingtip in a small circle.
Meryl caught the gesture and nodded her agreement. “I thought I saw it too…”
Surprisingly, the man remained oblivious to this exchange. “So…why is a part of the sea here? In the middle of a forest?” he asked.
“It’s because Meryl’s boyfriend is a sorcerer.” Solana said lightly.
“He is the one that transported a part of the ocean here, to this remote forest.” Meryl added helpfully.
“That’s…amazing…” he said to himself and to her, stunned beyond his own comprehension. “How did he manage to pull off such a feat? And why here?”
Meryl and Solana’s expressions clouded over.
“Meryl…was being targeted by a group of humans, who wanted her Mermaid’s blood.” Solana said quietly. “There were too many of them, and they had myself and Meryl surrounded.”
“He…” Meryl began, then faltered. “He cast a spell, draining all of his energy, to lift a portion of the sea and send it as far away as he could. It-…we, ended up here, in this forest. The saltwater of the sea killed several of the trees that grew where we appeared; Mirajane and the other Dryads were really mad at us for a while.”
“You can say that again!” Solana added, shivering. “I thought she was going to pluck out all my feathers!”
“Mirajane did…?” he trailed off, thinking.
“Of course not!” Solana added quickly. “I just thought she would, because she looked so angry. But once we explained what happened, she went all gaga when she heard about Meryl’s boyfriend.”
Figures…
“When did this all happen?” the man asked curiously.
“It happened about a year ago.” Meryl and Solana answered at the same time.
About a year ago…around that same time, I arrived in this world; it was also when I met Clarine…and didn’t Mirajane tell us that Priscilla passed away a year ago yesterday? The man shivered unconsciously. Something doesn’t feel right, here… But no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Giving up on it for now, he instead asked the question that had been nagging at the back of his mind.
“So then, where is Meryl’s boyfriend?” the man asked calmly. “I’d like to meet a fellow human who doesn’t hate Mamono.”
The pair exchanged looks, then turned away from the man.
”I...-we…we don’t know where he is.” Meryl muttered at last, staring off to the side longingly at the patch of sea. A tear rolled slowly down her cheek.
“The spell…the spell he used was a powerful, but unpredictable one.” Solana continued where Meryl left off. “It could have sent us anywhere; the middle of the desert; on top of mountain; or even in the middle of the Goblin’s capital city of Orelia.” She shrugged her shoulders. “We’re lucky we ended up where we did, out of harm’s way. We don’t even know where we are, or how far it is that we’ve traveled.”
The man was confused. “What do you mean? Can’t you leave the forest and get a bearing of your location?”
Solana shook her head solemnly. “Meryl…she can leave the water, but…” she fell silent, and gestured towards her lower body. “As you can see, we wouldn’t be able to get far, and we’d have to worry about her drying out…” She shook her head once more. “I can’t just leave her behind while I go off to who knows where!” Solana said distraught.
“It’s already been a year…” Meryl cut in suddenly. “I don’t even know if he’s alive or dead…If I could look for him myself, I would, but…”
The man sighed, and sat down on the grass cross legged. “The hunters that came after you…Meryl, they wouldn’t hurt another human being, would they?”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe that they would…they were people from his village, after all...they depend on his magic; he would be much more useful to them alive than dead.”
“Then that means he’s still alive, right?” he asked gently.
“Yes, but-” she began, but he cut her off.
“Then that means he must be out there looking for you.” He said firmly. “If you can’t go looking for him, then you should wait together with Solana here for him.” He grinned. “I’m sure he’ll find his way here soon, isn’t that right Solana?”
“A-ah, yes, of course!” Solana replied excitedly, caught off guard.
“See? Even Solana believes he’s out there looking for you.” He rose to his feet, dusting himself off. “So you shouldn’t be so worried.” He looked at her kindly. “You believe in him, don’t you?”
“Of course.” Meryl replied firmly.
“Then I’m sure he’ll come find you.” He said with conviction. She met his words with a smile.
“Thank you…” she whispered.
Solana stretched her wings widely, and odd look on her face as she looked at the man intently. “hmmhm…” she mumbled with a grin. “You have quite the way with words there, human.” She said as if implying something. “ I bet you won over your wife like that, eh?” She said, still grinning, and nudged him on the shoulder.
The man blushed, embarrassed. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he sputtered. Solana laughed.
“There’s no need to get embarrassed! I’m just teasing!” she replied, still snickering. He ignored her, looking over at the dead trees piled on the shore of the ocean.
“I take it these are the trees that were killed?” he asked, pointing towards them. “I guess I should get to work on getting them out of here…” he said. The two nodded their confirmation that they were indeed the trees he was looking for.
“Thank you, Meryl.” He said to her. “I appreciate you’re help.” He looked at Solana then. “You as well, Solana. I owe you my thanks as well.”
“What do you mean?” the two asked, yet again at the same time.
“You’ve made me realize that going after immortality using Mermaid’s blood will only bring sadness to those involved, even if I were to obtain it willingly. At the same time; however, you’ve made me realize I don’t need to rely on it.” He pointed towards the portion of the sea that lay behind them. “If there are sorcerers who are powerful enough to lift the sea, then surely there are spells that can extend ones life without inconveniencing someone else.” He smiled. “I’ll find those spells, and someone strong enough to cast them on me.” He lifted his axe from the ground, saying as he did “and if there isn’t a sorcerer strong enough, then I’ll just cast it myself!”
Solana and Meryl exchanged glances with each other, and then smiled at the man. “Well said, human!” Solana exclaimed.
“I know you can do it.” Meryl encouraged.
“We’ll be rooting for you, so don’t let your Clarine down, okay?” Solana said to him.
The man smiled in response once more. “You got it.” He said, and left to go survey the fallen trees.
“Hey, Meryl.” Solana addressed her close friend.
“Yes, Solana?” she asked in return. “He kind of reminds me of him, you know?” she said quietly, watching the man slowly grow further away as he walked along the shore.
“Yes, he kind reminds me of him as well.” Meryl said equally as quietly. “…Do you really think he’ll come find us someday?” she asked uncertainly.
“Well, the human certainly seems to think so.” She replied neutrally. She then turned and smiled. “Who else would know a human better than another human? If one of his own says he’s looking for you, then I’m sure he is.”
“…Thank you, Solana.” Meryl said softly.
“Thank me? For what?” Solana replied, confused.
“…For staying with me, and for believing him.” She said after a moment.
“Hey, don’t forget he saved me as well.” She returned.
Meryl chuckled. “I can’t believe you tried to take them all on at once like that! Saying things like ‘Get any closer and I’ll claw your eyes out!’ and ‘One false step and your friend gets it!’”
The two laughed themselves silly at that.
“Hey…” Solana asked after a while, once her laughter died down.
”…Do you think they’ll make it? That human and his wife, Clarine.” Solana asked.
Meryl smiled softly. “I think they will, Solana.”
Solana also smiled. “I’m glad you feel the same way, Meryl.” She lifted her wing and put it around her friend’s shoulders. “It won’t be easy, but I think he can do it.” She grinned. “We’ll just have to put our faith in yet another human being again. Who would have thought?”
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