The Ereri Project!

Beach (Mermaid)

A/N: That's me at the top. I've been getting messages lately of people asking me how do I look like.

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Reader's P.O.V

You grew up inland with a poor family.

You'd heard stories and even seen paintings of the ocean since you were a child and have always dreamed about seeing it for yourself.

However, you were never able to express this interest as, for as noisy as your large family was, you were born without a voice.

You took the first chance you could get to go away from home. You were going to become a sailor on an expedition to The New World, you were glad that the captain wasn't especially picky about communication, he himself had quite a studder, all he said was you had to be good at following orders. No voice necessary.

Your mother, of course, cried when you left. Your younger brother and sisters all whined that you wouldn't be around to play with them anymore. But you were sure this was what you had to do.

You were sure the moment you saw the beach for the first time.

You were sure when you boarded the ship.

You were sure even when you finally lost sight of home over the horizon.

But then a storm rolled in.

You don't remember much. A lot of shouting and waves so high you were sure the ship would capsize.

And it did.

Only a week at sea and you were sure your life was over. Especially since you had no way to call for help.

You felt yourself sinking, not strong enough to keep yourself afloat among the waves crashing around you. Your mouth filled with saltwater and you've never thought your lungs more useless than they are right now.

Everything gets black and hazy around the edges as you stop fighting.

The last thing you know, and you aren't even sure if you really felt it, was an arm wrapping around your waist, pulling you toward the surface.

...

You open your eyes to the sun.

Your chest aches, and your throat hurts, and you feel stiff all over. You hear voices. In a language you aren't familiar with, but the person speaking sounds like he's whispering. You roll you head back and forth before trying to sit up.

A calm voice speaks to you and a hand rests on your shoulder to urge you to lie back down. You look up to see a beautiful young man looking down at you.

He has a kind smile, wide, turquoise eyes, and brown hair. You notice as a second thought that he's soaking wet and shirtless. He says something to you that you don't understand but you think it might be a question.

You hear a groan from another person and more speaking.

You look past the pretty young man to see another nearby, half in the ocean. He's also soaking wet and shirtless with black hair and narrow grey eyes.

He has a pearl necklace draped around his neck and you wonder for a moment why a man would wear pearls.

The brunette looks at the raven with slight shock in his eyes. He looks back at you. "I am sorry," he says, and you know it definitely isn't his native language because his drawl on the words is strange.

"I forget land-walkers speak in a different way."

You nod and try to sit up again, he doesn't stop you. "What your name is?" the brunette asks, he definitely never formally learned English.

You tap your throat and shake your head.

He gives you a strange look and the raven shakes his head. He taps the brunette's arm and tells him something in their language. "Oh, you cannot speak?"

I shake my head.

"I am sorry, I am called Eren. This is Levi."

As he says that, something near his feet -

You look down. He doesn't have feet. Your eyes go wide as you take in the long expanse of what looks like a fishtail. A mermaid.

You mouth falls open and you wish you could speak you ask what's going on. Eren notices the look on my face and looks down. "Oh, my tail," he says. "This is strange to you?"

You nod.

"I know land-walkers have stories of our kind so I did not think this would be so surprising."

Levi looks impatient and splashes with his tail to get Eren attention. He says something when Eren looks over and Eren smiles. He looks over at me. "Will you be alright?" he asks.

You nod, too mystified to try and ask where you are or where to find fresh water.

He smiles and says, "It was good to meet you," before diving back into the water.

He and Levi disappear and you stare after them in wonder. They come up once, a little ways away and Levi gives you a pointed look before kissing Eren. You grin and laugh.

He was impatient because he was jealous, you think.

When they dive back under, you stand on shaky legs and start walking away from the beach in search of food.