Pearls

It was all thanks to his mother the seawitch. Her name was Ermalda, and she (so the story is told) went near the palace eighteen years ago and tricked the eldest prince into drinking a love potion. The prince and Ermalda then proceeded to have a baby together- but as the baby was born the prince had disappeared. All the merfolk knew that the disappearance of the prince and the seawitch’s son’s birth was way too coincidental. They put two and two together and deemed the poor child a menace to society. He was shunned. That boy being Marren. As for the prince? Only Marren and Ermalda knew what became of him. He was turned into an Anemone plant just outside of Marren’s cave.

Marren heaved yet another sigh as he swam deeper into the water- coming up to the caves where he and his mother had lived. He floated down to the lone anemone plant, “hi dad… today didn’t go so well either… everyone kept staring and whispering about me. I know that mom kinda tricked you into having me and you got turned into a plant… but I just wish you could speak back to me, even if it’s to say you hate me…” The lonely merboy blinked away tears and perked up as his mother called for him.

“Marren, how many times have I warned you to not go near Pearl City?” Ermalda scolded. Her grangly black hair strangely stuck close to her body- only the ends floating up with the water.

“Sorry… but it’s always so dark and cold down here, I just want to be… somewhere bright,” Marren spoke, grabbing the stirring stick and mixed the contents in the cauldron that his mother was brewing. Probably for some potion to trick yet another poor soul.

Her green hand brushed against her son’s pale one and she took over the mixing as she tossed in some of the underwater city’s prized pearls that only grew in that region, “you are born of royalty and of a seawitch, darkness and light is in your blood, but you cannot afford to be tricked by them and their bright colors,” she stated, her murky eyes glinting with warning.

Marren huffed, “don’t you trick people more than the royals do?” He questioned her, his own green eyes narrowing.

“I don’t trick. They come to me.”

“So you say…”

Ermalda shook her head and waved off her son, “I’m busy, so just go out and play or SOMETHING, okay?”

“Okay…” Marren quickly swam out of the cave’s mouth and rubbed his tired eyes. It wasn’t fair that he was treated like this in life. He had so much to offer and yet no one to even talk to. He did love his mother, she treated him with care- she just wasn’t the best person.

The surface was coming closer as Marren swam up to it’s bright light. There was a large underwater mountain that broke through the surface a couple of feet- it was also the home to his caves.

He burst through the surface and intended to hoist himself up onto the rock- but there was a shout of surprise. He also made a noise, not expecting someone to be there, nonetheless a human!

Said human rubbed his eyes and looked at the merboy with purple hair draped in front of his face. He said nothing at first but then he smiled, “sorry, I didn’t really expect anyone to suddenly come up here.”

Marren felt nervous. He didn’t know how to talk to this human- what if he wanted to hunt him? But what if he didn’t know what he was? So the merboy just bit his lip and cleared his throat, “oh… uhm, I’m sorry…” Dang. He was so awkward.

The human didn’t seem to mind, “nah it’s cool. So what’s your name o’ merboy?” He asked casually.

“Wait- what-” Marren gasped. The human knew he was merfolk! Well it made sense since there wasn’t a boat in sight except for the human’s paddle boat a few feet away.

“Haha! Don’t worry, I won’t do anything,” the human held out a hand, “I’m Killian Asterson. My father is the head of Asterson Jewelry. He actually bought this private island and made a deal with the royal merfolk.”

Marren blinked. He hadn’t heard of such a deal. He hesitantly took Killian’s hand, “what… deal? I didn’t know of it…”

Killian rose a brow but he shrugged, “well, my father came here a summer ago and went diving. He wanted to find these rumored beautiful pearls. So when he dived he went a little too deep and it would be too late. He would have drowned if it weren’t for the king and the queen. They were on a swim to check up on the pearl farms and caught sight of my father.”

Marren nodded, “I know of those pearls…”

Killian smiled and continued, “they risked saving him and once on the surface they asked him why he was at this remote island. My father explained he was trying to find these pearls to use in his jewelry, he could make lots from it and he loved to create beautiful things from beautiful materials. The merfolk made an offer, they would give him pearls from all over this region where they grow by the thousands, as long as he kept this kingdom a secret and would protect them from other humans. Which would mean he would have to buy this island and move here to keep that promise. My father did and so here we are,” he finished and had a proud smile on his face.

Marren smiled as well, “that sounds amazing… to make such finery out of our pearls… I wish I could witness that…” he said softly.

“Is it because you can’t see with all that hair in your eyes?” Killian asked jokingly.

Marren spluttered, “What- no! I can see perfectly well underwater…” He awkwardly lifted his hand up to brush his bangs from his face and revealed his seafoam green eyes and black sclera, “I just have… scary eyes…”

Killian frowned a bit before he hummed and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a long silver hair pin, “I normally use this when I’m rowing so my hair doesn’t get in the way… but I think you should have it,” he reached over and gently pinned Marren’s hair back- keeping those innocent eyes out in the open.

The merboy’s cheeks flushed a bright purple and he bashfully looked away, “th-thank you…” he felt embarrassed being exposed like this in front of another person.

Killian smiled down at him and gently poked the other’s nose, “I have to get going, but will you be here tomorrow?” He asked.

“Same time…?” Marren breathed, his heart racing.

“Same time.”

“Okay…”

With that- Marren dove under the water and swam back to the caves, a big giddy smile on his face.
That night, Marren rambled to the anemone plant about the human boy he had met. “-he had this handsome smile! Honey golden hair! And his eyes? They were like caramel! It was so strange, he was so nice to me… he didn’t know about me- about our family. Should I say family? I don’t know… I wonder if we could be a family if you weren’t a plant…” With those last words- Marren went to bed.

The next day Marren pinned his bangs back with that hairpin and swam up to the surface.

“Well hello there merboy~” Killian greeted. He was lying on his side and resting his upper body on his elbow, looking at Marren.

Marren flushed again and he smiled softly, “hi… uh, I forgot to tell you my name… It’s Marren,” he informed him.

“Marren… a cute name,” Killian spoke nonchalantly, a twinkle in his eyes.

Marren admired how shiny Killian looked. He looked radiant under the tropical sun… meanwhile he felt like he was a stark contrast. Murky and muddled on a painting of rainbows.

Killian caught onto Marren’s mood swing and he rolled onto his stomach to get into the merboy’s face, “what are you thinking about?”

“Ah! OH- UHM, nothing… nothing important,” Marren stammered. He bit his lip, “so have you met any other merfolk yet?”

“Hmm, yeah I have. I’ve met the king and queen’s son and their two daughters. Also some random merfolk that were tagging along with them,” Killian answered.

“Oh, I see… did you hear about their eldest son?” Marren asked, preparing for disappointment.

“No, I haven’t. I didn’t even know they had an oldest son,” Killian frowned.

Marren nodded slowly, “well, eighteen years ago they had only two children. A girl who was still just a child and a son who was eighteen years old himself. Their son went out one night and never came home… so now the king and queen had a set of twins and they’re the last of the royal children besides the eldest daughter,” he explained. Technically not a lie. He just didn’t tell him the full story.

Killian held a hand to his chin and he nodded throughout, “that’s very unfortunate. Do they know what happened?”

“No, none of them do,” Marren said softly. It wasn’t a lie.

An awkward silence passed over them but Killian shook it off and poked him on the nose, “mm… you’re different.”

Marren blushed, “h-how so..?” He also didn’t know why the other poked his nose- this was twice now.

“I dunno, you’re just different. It’s a good thing,” Killian sat up straight, “oh right, I brought you something!”

“Me? You brought ME something?”

Killian grinned, “yeah, you said you wanted to see what the pearls are used for right? So I snuck into my dad’s workshop and got this ‘reject’ for you,” he lifted up a necklace. It was silver and thin, with one of the region’s beautiful pearls tied at the center. This pearl was an elegant mix of blue, green, and purple.

Marren gaped at the necklace. He felt so flustered and covered his cheeks with his hands, “I… I don’t know what to say…” he breathed.

Killian snickered and reached over, gently placing the necklace around his neck, “it’s fine, you don’t have to say anything. It was just a reject that would have been trash anyways,” he shrugged.

“Still… thank you…” Marren murmured, shyly smiling down at the pearl. He bit his lip. Killian still didn’t know what he looked like from his waist down. He would probably be disappointed if he knew that he wasn’t one of the gorgeous, majestic, and exquisite merfolk that he had met before. Whilst they all had flamboyant tails he was burdened with inky tentacles.

Killian wiggled his eyebrows, “but of course~” he teased.

These conversations with Killian was making Marren’s heart race even faster than before. He bid his goodbyes and swam back down into the depths.

For the next couple weeks Marren would swim up to meet with Killian almost every day. Sometimes they would talk for hours and others only a few minutes. But it didn’t matter, what mattered was how Marren felt for Killian. He finally found someone he could talk to. Someone who would listen. Someone who would respond. It made his gloomy days soften into light.

On such a day, Marren did his usual work. Helping his mother prepare her potions, tidying up his cave, and shooing away predatory fish. Sadly he wasn’t what the predatory fish liked to eat and were in fact afraid of. Did I write sadly? Who knows.

After everything was taken care of- Marren swam to his usual place, however Killian wasn’t waiting for him. In fact he wasn’t even near their special place at all. In the distance he spotted a white party boat with Killian sitting on the edge of the dock surrounded by merfolk.

They looked like they were having fun. There was music, and laughing, and Killian… enjoying himself. Without Marren. The poor boy felt sad. He should be happy that Kilian was making friends… but how can he when he was always alone and now he wasn’t even informed of the party. He felt… alone.

With that final thought- he scowled and dove down into the waters- tears bubbling around him and floating upwards. He didn’t want to be hurt so he decided he wouldn’t face it.

Days had passed and Marren had not once come up to their special spot. Killian was getting worried. He sat on the rock for nearly three hours before he heard a soft splish and he turned- seeing the prince and princess at a bit of a distance away.

“What are you doing at this rock?” The princess had asked.

“Do you not know where this place is?” The prince inquired.

Killian blinked at their ominous questioning but he sighed softly, “well… I’m just waiting for someone. It has been a few days now since I last saw him…”

The princess blinked and glanced at her brother, “what do you mean? Who is this person you speak of?”

“Yes, who? Because the merfolk of Pearl City know not to come over here,” The prince added.

“Well… he’s…” Killian didn’t really know how to explain Marren without sounding like a total lovesick loser. Wait- love? He shook his head from the thoughts, “he is the sweetest boy I’ve ever met. He has this pale pearly skin, pretty violet hair, and shining green eyes, his name is Marren,” he gushed. The way he spoke of Marren would make the boy sound like one of those very special pearls that Killian’s father had searched for.

Sadly, the prince and princess did not share the same idea about him. They frowned and scowled before they looked at each other, “you don’t know about Marren, do you?” The princess questioned.

“He is an abomination, born of deceit and lies,” the prince spat.

Killian frowned, “what do you mean..?”

“His father was our older brother, his mother? The seawitch who tricked him and killed him,” The twins said in unison.

“I… I don’t believe that…” Killian whispered. There’s no way someone as sweet as Marren could ever be from that woman.

“It’s true. Well, we’ll see you around,” the princess mused and nudged her brother before swimming away.

Killian didn’t know what to think. He shakily took a breath before he climbed into his boat and paddled back to shore.

The prince and princess scoffed as they watched the boat leave and glanced down to the caves at the base of the underwater mountain. They waited until they spotted Marren swimming out of the cave with a forlorn expression on his face.

The prince snapped his fingers and a few of their followers swam up to them with ropes in their hands and an evil glint in their eyes.

Without warning- the group ambushed the poor Marren and tied him up, dragging him to the surface, “now we can be free of your curse, nephew,” the princess hissed harshly.

Marren’s eyes were wide with fear and tears built up as he was shoved up above the surface by many of the merfolk’s hands and he was thrown far onto the shore. With how he was tied up there was no way he would be able to wiggle and roll down back to shore. He was seriously going to die.

The group left a few hours ago. Marren accepted that this was the end. His skin had dried up so much that the ropes were cutting him up- like he was a sushi spread. He was bleeding and in pain and he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. His only solace was that once he died his body would dissolve into a puddle of seafoam… and at the center of the puddle would be a pearl. His pearl. His soul pearl.
I’m going to die…

I am going to…

Die…

“-arren!”

What?

“Marren!”

That’s my name…

Painfully, Marren opened his flaking eyelids. His vision was unfocused but he felt that he was being carried, “nnh…”

“Marren..? Marren can you hear me..?”

Why was that voice so familiar? Marren swallowed the lump in his throat and squeezed his eyes open before his vision slowly returned.

Above him, holding him, was Killian.

“Killian..?”

Killian looked relieved that Marren was responding. He had just finished cutting the ropes off his body and he frowned seeing the state he was in. He was feeling way too soft- like he was turning into a gooey substance, “Marren what- oh crap- you’re a fish- water!” he quickly raced to the ocean with Marren in his arms and carefully he dropped him in the salty waters. He watched with worry on his face as Marren slowly regained his solid shape and the wounds on his body stitched up itself.

Marren gasped as his body hit the water and he let out a pained noise- holding onto the other’s hand. His body burned. It ached. But it eventually dulled and faded now that he wasn’t on the brink of death.

Killian gently lifted Marren’s upper body out of the water, “are you okay?! Who did this to you?!” He questioned, his voice heightened with anxiety.

Marren processed what he had said and before he could think he gasped and he covered Killian’s eyes with his hands, “don’t look!”

“What-”

“I said don’t look at me!!”

Killian frowned at how scared Marren sounded. He gently held onto Marren’s wrists, “Marren… I don’t care about what you look like. You’re- you’re precious to me,” he whispered.

Marren teared up, those salty tears sliding down his healing cheeks, “but… I’m ugly,” he choked out, “I’m a disgrace… my mother- she-”

“Shh.. shsh… I know,” Killian moved his hands and hugged Marren tightly, “I know who your mother is… but that’s not you. You are the most beautiful, kindest, most adoring person I know, and… I love you.”

Marren’s breath hitched. His eyes widened and he felt the tears fall down harder, “I… you love me..? You think I’m beautiful?”

“I do… and I love you so much… even if we didn’t know each other for more than a couple months- I can’t help for what I feel for you…”

The tears couldn’t stop flowing and he hiccuped, “I love you too…” he stammered out, he hugged his one true love back tightly.

“Now then… who did this to you?” Killian asked again, but more serious.

“The… the twin prince and princess…” Marren whispered, swallowing the lump in his throat he looked away, “they were so happy to get rid of me…”

Killian frowned, “they have no right to be like that… it’s not your fault how you came to be…” He assured him, kissing his head.

Marren sniffled and looked up at him, “I… okay…” he breathed, his cheeks were flushed and he bit his lip nervously. He didn’t know what to do now.

Thankfully Killian did- and Killian leaned down and captured those beautiful lips with his own. Their first kiss was sweet, it was heartfelt, it was perfect. Marren closed his eyes and clung to the human that won his heart. Finally he felt like he was whole.

Their kiss didn’t last longer than ten seconds- but it was all that they needed. Killian rested his forehead against Marren’s, “mm… well, I should be going… I wish I could bring you with me…”

Marren laughed softly, “it’s okay… I have to go to the caves anyways,” he spoke. “I’ll- I’ll miss you.” He averted his eyes and his arms tightened ever so slightly.

Killian smiled and poked Marren’s nose, “okay, I’ll meet you tomorrow. I’m going to go have a word with my father about certain royals,” he mused, kissing Marren’s forehead one more time.

With those goodbye kisses Marren dove back into the ocean. He excitedly swam up to the anemone plant and settled down beside it, “oh father- Killian, he loves me back! I’ve found someone who loves me!” He teared up, “though I almost… died. I would have turned into seafoam… your siblings tied me up and threw me on shore. I couldn’t move. I was so scared… who knows though. Maybe you would want me to die- I wouldn’t blame you…” a tear bubbled out of his eyes but one tear strangely floated down to anemone.
As soon as the tear touched the plant there was a bright glow. Marren gasped and shielded his eyes- the lumiance blinding him. Then the harsh gleam faded and Marren felt his heart stop.

In front of him was a man with lavender hair, a toned body, and a glimmering golden tail. The male made eye contact with Marren and he immediately started to sob pulling the boy into his chest, “I am so sorry.”

“Wh-What..?”

The man pulled away and looked at him with such a bittersweet expression, “Marren, I am your father,” he spoke, his eyes warm and full of love.

The boy couldn’t believe his eyes. How was his father here? So he asked: “How are you here?! I thought you were- I thought you were a plant and-” Marren stammered.

“Shhh, I know I know,” his father gently cradled his face, “I can explain everything, but first I want to tell you that I was listening. Every time you cried to me, every time you gossiped, I heard all of it. I just want you to know that I love you and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Marren felt his heart swell, “you… you care about me? You don’t hate me?” He asked, his eyes wide and full of hope.

“Of course I don’t! You’re my son- and I’m so so sorry I couldn’t be there for you all these years,” his father hugged him again, “in truth, I fled the castle. I came here and asked Ermalda if she could help me have a child… I didn’t really want to have a royal life. I’m not even sure if I want a wife, I just knew I wanted to be a father... “

“So my mom… she didn’t trick you?” Marren furrowed his eyebrows, “then how did you turn into anemone..?”

“Well, after I went to her and asked her to help me have a child she said that she couldn’t create one out of thin air and that we would actually have to… you know- make a baby, but since neither of us really liked each other she used a spell. Similar to a love spell but not, the consequence would be that I would be turned into a plant until my son had fallen in love to make up for the fact I didn’t have love.”

Marren smiled softly, “that is such a relief! All this time- I thought I was born of trickery… and hate. I didn’t know what to do with myself… I felt like such a sham…” he sniffled and held his hands to his face, ''Neptune I’m so happy…”

His father chuckled and ruffled the boy’s violet hair, “would you come with me? Stay with me at the castle. I promise you I WILL bring honor to your name and my own. I will set things straight,” he vowed.

“I don’t… I don’t know, but I will try for you…”

Marren promised, his smile turning bright with each passing second. The ocean waters felt so warm and seemed so clear. Marren had reunited with his father and everything was going to be perfect. The kingdom would see.

After the long lost prince had returned with his son, he made it clear to everyone that should they bad mouth his family they would face punishment. The king and queen welcomed Marren in without hardly any hesitation. They were wary at first but were happy to have their son returned and now they had a grandchild.

The eldest princess was a little worried as she knew that just a few words couldn’t erase years of shunning, but Marren forgave her and told her she wasn’t at fault for just wanting her big brother home.

Meanwhile the twins weren’t happy at all. They didn’t know their big brother- only stories, and they were cruel. Heck, they tried to murder Marren. Which they were heavily scolded by their older brother. He was furious with how his son was treated- but he understood why with the terrible stories.

Castle life for Marren wasn’t as grand as he expected, but he had his father and his grandparents- and every day he would swim up to the surface… to that special rock where he would meet Killian and they would talk and play and swoon as the hours went by. For Killian had found his most precious pearl, and for Marren?

He had found family and self worth.

THE END.