A scale for love.

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A peaceful day of summer brought warmth and a wave of soothing cool wind, yet no one dared to stay close to the seaside. Everyone knew the Merpeople would come out and bath in the warmth of the sun, though no one knew why they wanted to feel the warmth on their sensitive skin. Deep down in the sea where the dark and cold water stood, hid the entrance of one of the many cities of the Merpeople. The cold surrounding the entrance often came in the city making the Merpeople shiver, most of them were hidden in their houses to save whatever warmth they could, the others were outside bathing in the sun's warmth. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't stay too long under the sunlight, their scales would start to peel off if they stayed over three hours under the sun. Many had taken advantage of this centuries ago, they would steal them and sell them to those who sought immortality. It was later forbidden, it still didn't stop some to illegally take and sell them. It was one of the reasons Merpeople were wary, it was also why no one dared to stay close to the sea side whenever they came to bath in the sun.

Deep down stood an ancient city, it was abandoned centuries ago as people started to seek Merpeople in the water in hope to steal their scales. Almost everyone knew the location of said city, a new city was builted away from wandering eyes. It claimed the name of the ancient city, where the name of the specie was born. The old Mer stood, a few buildings worn-out by the time yet it still stood tall. Merpeople came to the old Mer to wed. An old legend told the story of two Merpeople in love who consumed a scale from their beloved so they had a part of their beloved with them at all time, little did they know that by doing so it would bond their souls together. This old tradition was used during weddings, the couple would find themselves expecting soon after the wedding, or so the story told. Unfortunately by doing so, it also meant the couple could never get with another as they shared a special bond. During the old times when arranged marriage were tradition, many called it a curse as they could never break free from the loveless mariage.

Many stories like that followed, lots of them were written down and hidden in books in the decaying library of the old Mer. It was forbidden to go there, yet you could find a Merman reading there every day. The light falling like a veil over the old Mer, over the roof-less library, lighting up a small part inside where the Merman sat. The light falling on his (s/c) tail, forming an halo of light over his (h/c) hair, hiding his eyes as his head was lowered to read and avoid the light falling in his eyes.
He sat there for hours, quiet, the muffled sound of pages turning echoing. He had very few moments where he got company, it was mostly fishes who were swimming around, others it was a silver tailed Merman who came to fetch him and bring him back home, to the new Mer. (M/n) never understood why the older Merman did so, sometimes he thinks it's duty, sometimes because his mother could have asked, and at occasions maybe it was because Sumi cared. He never got a clear answer so he dropped it long ago.

(M/n) found himself frozen when he realized that he had read everything, some had been read multiple times, and that he had to go up in the Neko's village to buy new ones. He didn't like going up there, it was suffocating because of the clothes, the sun was harsher on their skin and because Nekos hunted Merpeople.

Yet here he was, going up once again. His fingers clenching his necklace as he got out of the lake. It was secrets well hidden, how Merpeople were able to have legs and being able to breathe normally out of water, but also how they were able to get in the village without being seing coming out of the water. Merpeople always used the lake in the forest surrounding the village, it was calm and often empty of life so they were never caught. (M/n) pulled the hat down, hiding his lack of cat ears and pulled up his jacket to hide stray scales on his collarbone. He checked his pockets one last time to make sure his tickets were there and started his walk towards the village. It was a small pretty thing, the village that is. As he came into the village he saw the book shop along with the bakery, it was a place he never dared to get in.

The small bell of the book shop rang as he opened the door, his eyes lighting up as he saw a fresh arrival of new books. The owner saw him and waved as he recognized him.
"Nice timing kid, those are the newest books out. We got some a bit older, like a month or two if you are willing to check them out."
"I'll check them out then."
The owner smiled as he gestured to a desk with boxes labeled three months old. He found himself lost in the books for hours, it wasn't until he heard someone raise their voice that he snapped out of it. (M/n) grabbed four books, those which had caught his eyes, and walked towards the owner. The old man gave his books in a bag as he took the tickets (M/n) handed him, they bid goodbye and with that (M/n) was off. That was until he accidentally bumped into someone, the two falling to ground, the books falling along. His (e/c) met surprised green as his books were handed back to him. Their hands touching slightly for a second, and he knew it wasn't going to be the last time they were going to see each other.

- - -

Hi, hello, heya.

I was too excited and wrote this instead of my other story, my bad.
Hopefully it was good enough, it was surprising fun to write !

Updates are a bit of a mess right now so no real schedule is followed so please be patient.

Anyway hoped you liked it and see y'all next update 🐍