Wicked Witch of the West Side Cliffs

- O N E -

"Are you ready, Sir?" one of the servants asked before opening the door. His hair was red and spiked. Denki let out a small sigh and nodded. He opened the door to guide Denki into the bedroom. "Congratulations on your marriage," the servant muttered, taking his leave. 

"From this day forward, you and I are married," Prince Bakugo, soon to be King Bakugo, turned on his heel and grabbed Denki's throat, slamming him into the door that just closed. "But make no mistake. I am going to make your life a living hell. You are more disgusting to me than the dirt I walk on. The fact that I should have to lower myself to marry one of your kind," Prince Bakugo spat on the ground. "Humiliating." 

Prince Bakugo released Denki and let him fall to the ground. Denki grabbed his neck and massaged it, trying to catch his breath. "Don't speak to me. Don't look me in the eyes. If I enter a room, you leave it. And if you try to tell anyone about this, I will set out to slaughter your family and this futile peace attempt will end," he pointed at Denki and turned around to the bed. "Sleep on the floor," he demanded, getting under the covers. 

Denki was relieved that they would not be consummating their marriage and moved to the corner and huddled up. He hugged his knees and rested his face in between them, trying his best to fall asleep. 

...

"You don't look so good," the redheaded servant knelt down before Denki. He lightly tapped his shoulder to wake him up. "Are you okay?" Denki, fearing for his family's life, forced a smile and nodded. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" Denki shook his head. Not physically, anyway, except for the strangling portion. 

"This is technically your room. I doubt they'll give you anything to do as far as management goes. If you need anything, anything at all, just talk to me, okay?" he assured. "My name is Eijirou Kirishima." 

"Thank you," Denki nodded. 

"Would you like a tour of the castle? Or would you like to wander it yourself?" he asked. 

"I think I'll wander it myself..." He couldn't entirely trust Eijirou yet. Even if he seemed nice. 

...

The castle was big and hard to navigate. Denki kept looking over his shoulder, trying to avoid his husband as much as possible, and no one dared to look at him. He held his head, covering his black streak, and stared at the ground as he walked. He felt so small, insignificant, he just...wanted to disappear. 

Taking a turn and exiting the castle, he wandered the path, heading toward the setting sun. It was a beautiful sight, right over the cliffs, so he smiled slightly and made his way. He didn't know, of course, about the legends. He didn't know about the witch that lived by the west side cliffs. He had no way of knowing. No one talked to him. So, he ignorantly walked that path. 

Standing at the edge of the cliff he smiled, examining the view. It was so pretty here. It really didn't look the same anywhere else. A sharp gust of wind caught him off guard. He struggled to keep his balance and fell forward. He caught himself, instantly relieved, and took a step back, but it was too late. The very edge of the cliff broke, sending him down into the roaring water below. 

Denki closed his eyes, not wanting to watch himself fall, when something slimy slithered around him. Right around his torso and maybe even his arm and leg. He opened his eyes to see a purple-haired male...with the lower half made entirely of octopus. A merfolk? He'd heard of them before. Weren't they supposed to be fishes? He'd never seen one. 

"If I hadn't been here, you would've died," his voice was tired more than anything. Perhaps slightly annoyed as well. He was wearing a mask that covered the entirety of his face, with just two glowing eyes staring back at Denki. 

"Thank you...for saving me," Denki finally managed to speak. He was too captivated by the beauty of this stranger's mask, combined with the view of the sunset, both of these things made his day a hell of a lot better. 

"You don't seem surprised or even scared," the merfolk moved his octopus arms (holding Denki) and placed him on one of the nearby rocks. The less pointy one, of course. 

"Oh, I'm terrified," Denki laughed, holding his chest. "I thought for sure I was going to die there." 

The octopus arms slid back from the rock and under the water. The stranger crossed his human arms and tilted his head in confusion. "I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about me," he pointed to himself. "You don't seem to be afraid of me." 

"Why would I be afraid of you? You just saved my life. If anything, I'm more interested about who you are. I've never met a merfolk before," he grinned, leaning too far forward and nearly falling into the water. One of the octopus arms grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him onto the rock once again. 

"You must not be from around here." 

"Oh," Denki looked at his hands and sighed. "Yeah, I was just married to Prince Bakugo yesterday and everyone has been avoiding me. Wars don't disappear overnight. Everyone would rather see me dead." 

"Was it intentional then?" he pointed to the cliff. "Should I have not interfered?" 

"No! I wasn't- no!" Denki waved his arms around wildly. 

"I see." A gust of wind came at them once again. The merfolk used one of his octopus arms to hold his mask in place, and another one he gave to Denki to grab so he wouldn't fall. 

"You're really kind," Denki noted, hugging the arm for dear life. 

"I've been called many things but kind is not one of them," he let out a small laugh. 

"My name is Denki," he introduced himself. "What should I call you?" 

"Ah," he moved his human arm to scratch the side of his face underneath the mask. "You can call me Shinso."