Part of your world - A Stydia AU

Chapter 1

I moved this from my one-shots to here because I want to make it into a multi-chapter story. Chapter 2 should be ready for tomorrow or the day after so put this story in your library if you wanna be notified.

Lydia knew she was pretty lucky. She was very beautiful, very smart, and most of all, she was princess of Atlantica. Really, she had it all. But something was missing, she could feel it. She didn't fit in. When all the other mermaids of her age got excited about the next celebration, Lydia prefered to go on adventures. Her only friend was a moorish idol named Prada. He was the only one who understood Lydia's curiosity for the human world. Merfolk were not allowed to be seen by humans, especially not princesses. All her life she had been protected. She knew it was because her father loved her, but she couldn't help but feel imprisoned. What the mermaid wanted to do was discover new things about that strange world that was so close but still so different. She collected human objects she found on the ocean floor and tried to imagine what they could be used for. The young girl knew that humans were dangerous, that's all she had been told growing up. But she didn't believe it. How could his father know they were dangerous, if he had never even talked to a human? Lydia and her father disagreed on many things. As the princess of Atlantica, she had a lot of responsibilities. She represented the royal family everywhere she went. The only duty she enjoyed was singing. Every year, she would have to sing in front of a huge audience with her sisters and she loved it. Her voice was as sweet as honey, silky and smooth and vibrant with emotion. All of Atlantica's kindom would come to hear her sing. She didn't really care about the audience. The most important part of it was singing. When she sang, she felt free. In addition, she liked to have at least one thing in common with her sisters.

One day, Lydia was exploring an unkown region of the sea with Prada. The mermaid and her friend had been forbidden many times to go this far but this time they had managed to sneak out unnoticed. Lydia noticed something shining on the floor, reflecting the sunlight in the most beautiful way. She got closer to see what it was and everything around her went dark. She couldn't see anything. She looked up and saw a huge shadow over her. At first she was scared. But then she understood. That shadow was a ship. A ship where humans were. Prada had understood too and tried to reason with Lydia. It was too dangerous, he said. The young mermaid knew he was probably right, but her curiosity was stronger than her concern.

She went to the water's surface and saw the most splendid ship she could have ever imagined. It was made out of dark wood, with white sails that moved smoothly in the wind. The ship was full of people, of humans. The girl had never seen any before. She was amazed. They weren't that different from merfolk after all. The upper half of their bodies was just like theirs. It was the bottom half of their bodies that was different. Instead of having a shiny fishtail allowing them to swim, they had two limbs. She had read about those. If she remembered correctly, they were called "legs". And when Lydia thought she couldn't see anything more beautiful than this vessel, she was proved wrong. A door opened and out of the cabin came out the most handsome human she had ever seen. He was tall and had messy dark brown hair that stopped just above his eyes. He had a very defined jawline and cheekbones and his nose was slighly turned-up. He was wearing simple clothes like all the others on the ship, but Lydia guessed he was someone important from how the others were talking to him. However, the human didn't seem to look down on them, his eyes were full of warmth and honesty. He carried himself with simplicity and smiled at everyone he crossed. Lydia thought he had the most lovely smile.

The mermaid stayed near the ship for hours. Prada left after a little while. He didn't want to leave his friend in danger but after watching the humans, he had deemed it safe enough. Prada was also curious, but he didn't have the same taste for mischief and was less brave than his mermaid friend. So he went home before getting in trouble. Lydia knew her father was probably looking for her, but she didn't care. She could have spent all her life just watching humans, especially that one. Since she had seen him, she hadn't noticed anything else. Even all the human objects present on the boat or the complicated mechanism used to naviguate the ship didn't distract her. She couldn't take her eyes of the human. From what she had heard them say, he was the prince of a human kingdom. He was royalty, and yet he didn't consider himself more important than his servants. Lydia thought that was a great quality and would have done anything to get to know him. Of course, it was impossible. He couldn't breathe under the sea and she couldn't go on the land. But she could always dream.

His name was Stiles and Lydia wondered if all human names were as original. She daydreamed about the prince, imagining herself as a human, dancing with him, walking on the beach. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice the sky getting darker and darker every second. The wind picked up, making the ship sway both sides. The humans seemed to notice. They started screaming instructions at each other. Lydia had never been afraid of storms. She had seen a few ones and simply found them beautiful. But then it hit her that while she wasn't endangered by the storm, they were. Humans couldn't breathe underwater! A lighning bolt hit the ship and the deck broke in two parts with a loud crack. She saw them run to different parts of the ship and lower small boats until they were in the water. The prince made sure every single one of his servants was safe in one of the boats. Unfortunately, as he was about to climb into one of the rowing boat, the rope that kept the boat near the remnants of the ship was broken and the prince fell in the water. He tried to hold on to a large piece of wood, but it kept slipping from his grasp. Lydia watched the scene with fearful eyes. She saw the prince struggle and knew she had to do something. She got closer to him and noticed he had already lost consciousness. She swam, following the sailors to the shore, pulling him with her, making sure his mouth was over the surface of the water. She could swim easily, even carrying him. Her body was made for the water, after all. But she made sure to stay a bit behind the boats. She wanted to make sure she left the prince somewhere the others would find him, but didn't want to be seen. Lydia had broken the promise she had made to her father to never approach humans but saving the prince's life was more important than anything to her.

She waited until the servants were gone until she pulled the prince on the sand. She couldn't get too far from the sea because she was scared of not being able to go back. She watched his chest rise up and down and smiled. He looked so peaceful, as if he was sleeping. She decided to wait until someone found him, or until he woke up. She sat on a rock and started to sing. It was a song she had written herself, about wanting to discover the human world. She was sure she was meant for it, now more than ever. Her voice was carried by the wind, and mixed beautifully with the sound of the waves. Lydia got so carried away in her song that she didn't notice him waking up. He opened his eyes slowly, not making a sound. He didn't want to disturb her singing. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. Her voice was feathery and melodious. She had her back to him and he couldn't see her face, only her strawberry blonde waves shining in the sun. Stiles waited until her song was finished. He found the lyrics very touching, although he didn't understand what other world she was talking about. She held out the last note a bit longer, letting her voice linger on the high sound. He waited a few seconds before opening his mouth to thank her for saving his life. She jumped at the sound of it and suddenly she was gone, in a splash of water. The prince wasn't sure but he thought he had seen a turquoise fish tail right before she had disappeared in the water. He was staring at the ocean, scared the girl had drowned, when he saw her again. She was far away now, but he recognized her fiery red hair. She looked at it him one last time and her eyes met his gaze, like a mysterious promise, before she vanished under the sea.