above and beyond

Chapter 3

Gloria finds something to cover herself with, washed up not far from where she did, and wonders if this was an afterthought from Nessa, who may have realized that sending her ashore with new legs and nothing to wear might not have been the best idea. Either that, or she is just incredibly lucky, but either way, she manages to sort of fashion it into something resembling an outfit, while she stumbles along the beach, slowly mastering the art of walking.

It is while she is practicing that she hears someone call out, and turns around to see if they are calling to her. In the distance, someone is running towards her, calling and waving, and from this distance, he almost looks like Leon. However, she can almost immediately tell that it isn't him. His hair is too short and, once he gets closer, he seems to be younger, closer to Gloria's age. The resemblance is still very apparent, and she wonders if he knows the prince.

"Hey!" the boy says, once he is closer to her. "Are you alright? What are you doing all the way out here?"

Reflexively, she opens her mouth, but no sound comes out. That's right, she remembers, she can't talk anymore. She shakes her head, gesturing to her throat, and the boy squints for a moment.

"Oh, are you...oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize," he says, looking guilty, even though he has nothing to feel guilty for. "Did you wash up here or something? Or are you lost? Do you need some help?"

Even though she doesn't know the first thing about him, she does know that she's going to need some help if she's going to get anywhere like this, so she nods. He brightens and says, "Alright, then you can come home with me! My name is Hop!"

She can only nod again, not able to tell him her name, and is surprised by how easily he agrees to help her, without knowing the first thing about her. Not only that, but she is struck by how much more he resembles Leon when he smiles, bright and eager. As soon as they get to his home, she'll see if he has anything she can use to write, and then she can properly thank him for his kindness.

"Do you know how to write?" Hop asks, as if reading her mind. When she nods, he says, "Great, then we can talk like that!"

As she follows him along, a large castle comes into view in the distance. Or, at least, she thinks that's what it is, because it is somewhat similar to the castle that they have underwater, where the royal family lives. Gloria has picked up information here and there throughout the years, be it through stories that she's heard, listening to humans on ships, and getting close to the shore, when she's feeling really daring, but everything is still somewhat unfamiliar to her.

For the most part, life on land seems like a distorted version of her life underwater. Buildings are different, with more structure than what she is used to. Her people have homes, places to sleep and keep their things, but overall, most time is spent outside of those walls. Here, it looks like every building is built to be stayed in, if she had to find some way to describe.

She wonders which house is Hop's as they keep walking along, but then the castle comes closer and closer, until suddenly they're right at the gates, and guards that she didn't notice following them step closer to let him in.

"Welcome home, Prince Hop," a guard at the gate says as they pass through, scrutinizing Gloria as she steps closer to him.

Prince Hop. Well, that would certainly explain the resemblance to Leon, and why he is leading her through the castle gates when he's supposed to be taking her home. He lives here! Leon must be his older brother or something! Gloria can't help the excitement that overtakes her then, and she thinks that this must be some sort of fate. What are the odds that Leon's little brother would be the first person to find her, and the one to take her in? She really must be meant to be here after all.

~X~

"Her name is Gloria," Hop says, "and I really need you to help me out on this one, Lee. Everyone's saying I'm crazy for bringing some mute girl I met on the beach straight into the palace, but...but she's not bad! I know if you vouched for her, everything would be just fine."

Gloria stands close to Hop, hardly able to believe that she is already in the same room as Hop. She'd written notes to him as soon as he'd given her paper, and though it feels strange, writing with their pens and on their paper, she gets used to it pretty quickly, and the language and letters are all the same. She tells him her name and that she washed up on the beach, but lies and says that she doesn't remember where she comes from or how she got there. Naturally, most of his guards and attendants think she is very suspicious, but Hop has defended her tirelessly, and now has called in his older brother to help.

And Leon is looking right at her and smiling. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Gloria!"

She nods, suddenly wishing very fervently that she could speak. When she'd agreed to the terms of the spell, she hadn't really considered how difficult it would be to win him over like this, and already she has so much she wants to talk to him about, so much that she isn't sure she would be able to put into writing. And she can't even tell him the truth about her.

She just has to listen to him talk back and forth with Hop about her false circumstances, and is jolted out of her thoughts with Hop says, "She's a lot like you, Lee! She just washed up and can't remember how she got there, you know? I mean, it's different since she can't remember much of what came before that, but still!"

"Yes, but as I've been trying to tell you all, I remember one thing! I remember a beautiful woman saved me! She carried me to shore and watched over me until I woke up," Leon says, and Gloria can feel herself growing hot all over. "But that's not even the best part! The best part is, she was-"

"A mermaid! I know, Lee, you've told everyone about your crazy dream a million times now!"

"Doubt it all you want, Hop, but it wasn't a dream. She was real. She's probably down there under the ocean, daydreaming about me as we speak. It's tragic, really, that we were brought together for such a short time, while our worlds will always separate us!"

Gloria can hardly believe what she's hearing, and it takes all the control she can muster not to grab the nearest sheet of paper to tell Leon that he's right, but that she's right here, that she got tired of daydreaming about him and grew legs to come up and find him. Instead, she just smiles when Hop looks at her and shakes his head. "A mermaid! Lee expects us to believe a mermaid saved him. Say, Gloria, you weren't brought here by a mermaid, were you?"

She ponders this for a moment. Technically, she was. Nessa was the one to help her get these legs, and she was a mermaid up until she washed up on shore as well, so no matter how she looks at it, she was brought here by a mermaid. She gives him a teasing smile and nods; he and Leon both stare at her in disbelief before laughing.

"Look at that, Hop. Hasn't even been here a day and she's already having a go at you! I like your new friend," Leon says, giving her a bright smile.

He likes her, just as she is now, and he hasn't stopped thinking about the mermaid who saved his life. If only she could tell him that they were one and the same; then, getting him to fall in love with her might not be so difficult a task. But once she gets him to kiss her and gets her voice back, once she knows that she can stay for good, then she will be able to tell him everything.