Fishtail: A Neji Hyuga Story (Naruto fanfic)

Chapter 2: Forget-me-not

A/n: Play Enchanted by Taylor Swift for a better reading experience.

     The sea was calm. It usually was, unless there was a storm or an earthquake. The water at the depths of the ocean was much colder and harsher than it was above. Areayis had never swum up for too long.

There I was again tonight

There she lay on the seafloor, her hair dancing in the water and her tail digging into the sand. Her pink, gold, and purple scales glittered like stars, or at least how she imagined the stars looked.

Areayis had never seen the surface. She had gotten close to it but had never broken the water's surface, as it was forbidden. Some nights she swam as close as she could, but all she saw were blurry dots of light instead of stars.

"Princess," She turned around to see one of her attendants, a graceful nereid with flowing, seaweed-like hair and a shimmering, serpentine tail, gliding around a pinkish-orange coral.

"Yes, Thalassa?"

"Please, my lady, do not venture too far. The waters are dangerous tonight, the Prince will be worried," Thalassa urged, her voice soft and melodic. "I'll fetch your dinner, Your Highness. I'll only be a moment."

"Of course, Thalassa. Thank you, I'll be here watching over these nests." Areayis responded with a smile.

She watched as Thalassa swam away, soon met by another nereid, Thalassa’s husband who served as one of her guards. ‘Someday, I hope I love someone that much…’ Areayis closed her eyes for a moment as she softly flipped her tail. 'It's cold.'

Forcing laughter, faking smiles

"Dear Princess," a soft voice called out to her. She turned to see Selene, a delicate, bioluminescent sea sprite with wings made of transparent, shimmering fin. It had been a long time since Areayis had talked to another of her kind. All this time, she had only been able to talk to other sea creatures.

"What is it?" Areayis asked.

"Oh, nothing dear... it's just you seem so lonely," Selene said, her voice tinged with concern.

'Oh...'

Areayis forced a laugh, smiling at the kind sea sprite. "Not really... I mean, I have all of you with me. I'm home. Why would I be lonely?"

Same old tired, lonely place

Selene looked convinced, or maybe not, but Areayis knew she was lying. She was lying to herself. She had been lonely for so long that the emptiness gnawed at her.

She could only sigh. Just then, Thalassa came swimming back frantically. "Areayis! Oh Areayis! Part of the escort group who went to check the surroundings has wandered close to the place where the pirates are!"

'Oh no!'

Areayis knew they could be in danger, and the others wouldn't rescue them because if they did, there wouldn't be enough left to guard her. She didn't waste any more time and quickly swam towards the area. Her guards followed her closely, their faces tense with worry.

Walls of insincerity,

Usually, humans fished in their seas peacefully, but sometimes there were pirates who pillaged. They raked up the corals by the reefs with no regard for what they were destroying.