Lanette

Chapter ⊰1⊱

"Cathel! Cathel! Please tell us another story!" said the young mermaids while swimming towards me. They are mermaids who are curious about the life in land. They are asking me to tell them another story about my journey and stuff I learned in land.

I sighed. "Fine....I'll tell you another story." I replied

"Yay!" shouted the mermaids.

Once upon a time there was a young mermaid who was curious about the life outside the ocean. She then used magic to turn her tail into legs and goes to the shore. Because she wasn't used to walking, she kept tripping.

She then bumps into someone. It was a prince, but, of course, she didn't know that.

The prince then helped her get up and asked "Are you alright?"

Somehow, she understood it and nodded.

Suddenly, a butler came running to the prince and saw the girl "What are you doing?! Why aren't you bowing?!" he shouted.

The prince imediately answered "Its alright". The mermaid just stared blankly at the both of them, confused as to what they were talking about. 

Prince? Disrespect? What are they saying? Who is this prince he's talking about? She thought to herself.

The prince noticed the confused face of the girl. "Do you have a place to stay?" he asked.

"A place to stay?"

"Yes, where you live or a place to sleep for the night?"

She was about to say 'yes, the ocean' but realized that she can't reveal that she's a mermaid so she shook her head.

"Oh.... ok then, Aren, prepare a room for this girl"

The butler was about to protest but he couldn't disobey the order of the prince and instead, asks "Are you sure, sire?"

"Yes" The prince answered.

The butler nodded and followed the order of his master.

That night she slept at the palace. The next day she went to the shore, she already wanted to go home.

"People in the land are strange. They eat fishes? I want to go home" She said to herself.

She jumped to the sea and turns into her mermaid form.

The prince who was looking for her saw her in her mermaid form. "H-huh?" He confusely said with a shock look on his face.

The mermaid runs back to the shore and tries to erase the prince's memories but she couldn't because she wasn't used in the new environment. She then remembered that she can only use magic if she's familiar or used to the place.

She decided to just reveal that she was a mermaid and ask the prince to keep it a secret. Luckily, the prince agrees to not tell anyone.

As time passed, the memaid and the prince got closer and finally, falls in love.

They were very happy, but happiness doesn't last forever and other rulers soon found out that she was a mermaid and attacked the kingdom to capture her.

She decided to erase everyone's memories to protect the prince and his kingdom. After that, she left the land and returned to the sea with her heart broken.

"......THE END"

"Awww come on can't you tell us another one?" they asked.

"NO"

"But why?" they asked.

"Its getting late now your parents might be worried. Especially you, Ariel."

She flinched. "What? Why me?" she asked.

"Uncle will be mad if you return late" I said.

"But Cathel....." she complained.

"But what? Do you think uncle will let you go out again if you return late?"

She became silent. "No..." she answered.

"You're right. Now, you should all go home" I said to all of them.

"Alright...." the young mermaids sadly said and left.

They enjoy listening to my made up stories and they believe that I just made them up. But, what they dont know is that they were true stories that I experienced.

"Cathel" someone called me.

I turned around to see who it was. It was Triton, my uncle. "Yes, uncle?" I replied

"You told them another story?" he asked. I stayed silent. "Why do you keep telling them about your stories back in land? You still haven't moved on?"

I glaared at him, signaling him to stop but he continued. "They don't remember you anymore yet you still keep your memories of them. You keep reminiscing the past.  You're just hurting yourself----" he wasn't able to continue what he wanted to say when I spoke.

"Stop"