Title: The Little Mermaid
Author: Shadow/Phantomness
Pairing: Championshipping (Lance x Red)
Fandom: Pokémon
Theme: #23, Castle
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Warnings: AU, het

Down, down, below the surface of the sea, there lived a community of mermaids. There were six of them in all, all pale-skinned with rosy cheeks and darling features, but as per usual, none of them had legs – they were all slim with sparkling fishtails trailing below their waists.

The third eldest child was named Red, and she was anxiously waiting for her sixteenth birthday, for on that day, she would be allowed to rise to the surface and see the human world. She had, of course, heard the stories of her two elder sisters. The oldest sister had seen the sea and sky at sunset, and loved to go up every night to gaze at the spangled backdrop. The second eldest sister had swam to the coastline, to see the town, and she admired how the people walked around, and the lights twinkling from every window like precious gems at night, and listening to the noise of the town, for down at the bottom of the ocean all was quiet and there was no music unless the mermaids were signing or playing their instruments.

Red loved listening to the stories her sisters told her though there were many other things that she enjoyed doing too. She loved playing with the beautiful fish that swam in through the open windows in the Sea King’s palace. She loved tending her little seaweed bed, shaped whimsically like a leaping dolphin. She loved listening to her old grandmother, the Sea King’s mother, tell her tales about far-off seas, some where it was blissfully warm, others where it was cold and dark but oh, the precious stones and beautiful things one could find there!

She stayed close to home, enjoying the calm, clear water, but often, thought she would like to travel the world and adventure after she was older.

“Humans are so different.” Red remarked one day, busy stringing pearls onto strands of thin seaweed fiber. Her fifteenth birthday would be in a week, and she wanted to have her pretty jewels finished before then.

Her old grandmother nodded. “Yes, humans are very different. They would not enjoy living down here, for instead of a lovely tail, they have shapeless stumps they call ‘legs’. Also, they live much shorter lives than we do. A mermaid can live three hundred years, but a human? Not even a third of that.”

“Oh.” Red said, stringing a pale pink pearl.

“But you will see what their world is like soon enough.”

Red nodded, and admired her handiwork of shells and pearls. They would make a lovely coronet in her hair…

Soon enough, she was sixteen, and that bright, summer’s night, she rose up to the surface for the first time. The moonlight glittered off her coronet of precious pearls and beautiful shells, cowrie and cockleshells in pastel shades and silver-gray. It was a beautiful night with the moon out, and she enjoyed watching the stars for a while before she swam towards the mainland.

She saw the town, all lit up, and though it was nighttime and there were no people up and about, she still marveled at how different it was, with tall buildings, and the streets made of shiny pebbles, and little balls of fire in their lanterns.

It was very lovely.

Soon, she saw a figure approaching her. Red ducked behind a rock, and wondered. Soon, the person was near enough that she could see him.

He had long hair, red as blood, and wore some stuff that glittered and shimmered like the moonlight over his body. Red watched, entranced, as he knelt by the water and began to croon, and the fishes swam up to him as he fed them shiny red berries from his wicker basket.

How wonderful…

She watched as the man finished with his duties, and after he was gone, Red wondered who he was. He could not be human, could he?

He seemed like a merman in soul…

Duty done, Lance returned home. He lived in a little log cabin near the river that ran to the sea in Prince Brawly’s kingdom. He lived alone, for his mother had died when he was but a child, his father had said, a sad light in his great brown eyes, as he pulled at his bushy beard. His father had been a woodcutter, but when he was eleven, as he lay lying on his deathbed, sick with one of the fevers that routinely slept the land, worn down by grief and hard toil, he had told him a secret.

His mother had been not a human woman at all, but a seal that had come out of the water one evening. He had seen her dancing by moonlight with her six sisters, after they had shed their sealskins and taken human form, and thought her beautiful, and so he had hidden her sealskin, and brought her home to be his wife.

For many years she had lived with him, and borne him a son, but one day while he was out chopping wood, she had found her sealskin, and left her family behind to swim once more amongst the waves.

It was not as startling at it seemed, for Lance had always wondered why he seemed to be able to understand the whisperings of the forest creatures, and especially those that lived in the water. So he accepted it very well, and his father died peacefully.

After his father’s death, his mother, who had heard the news form the gulls, had come, and said that she was sorry, but she could not live with him. Lance had accepted this, and in return, his mother had given him three gifts.

Firstly, he could breathe water like the sea creatures, and not drown.

Secondly, he was given a coat of silver scales to wear that would protect him from harm, for there were many evil men.

Finally, his mother had looked in his eyes and told his fortune. He would find no mortal woman to take to his bed, but he would find true love.

Lance thought it was quite simple. Since he was not planning to marry, he took care of the stream and some of the fish nearby, as their warden, and he was happy, living amongst the wilds, instead of in a crowded city or stinking town. He was a good guardian, and the animals there loved him.

Several weeks passed. Every night, Red would watch the strange man, and every night, Lance would finish his duties. Then one night, when Lance was out with his basket in a little boat, a furious storm blew up. The seas tossed and turned and the boat splintered into pieces, and fearing that he would drown, Red swam to his side and steered him through the water until they reached the mouth of the river that led into the sea.

He could breathe water, yes, but his coat of mail was heavy, and the water dragged him down. In addition, he was tired from a day’s work, so he was grateful for Red’s help. He thanked the little mermaid, who blushed prettily, surprised that she was speaking to a human!

“What is your name?”

“Oh! I’m Red.”

“I’m Lance.” He said.

Red smiled. “I’m pleased to meet you.”

“I am pleased to meet you as well. You have a lovely tail.”

Red blinked at that. Most humans thought fishtails were ugly. Hers was silvery in hue, with splashes of crimson here and there, but…

“Are you a mermaid?”

She nodded.

He smiled. “I have never seen a mermaid before, though my mother said that they did exist.”

“You know about mermaids?” Red asked, surprised.

“My mother was a Selkie – a seal-woman.”

That made sense! No wonder Lance had such an affinity with the water. So if he was half-human, than he was somewhat like a merman.

That fact made Red feel much better. Surely talking with a Selkie child – her father would not mind in the least. And if Lance could breathe water, perhaps she could bring him to visit the Sea King’s palace one day!

“Friends?” She asked, holding out her hand.

“Friends,” Lance agreed. “I am very glad for your help, Red. I might have drifted out to open sea without your help. You are very brave.”

No one had ever called her brave before, so Red just smiled.

When they reached the shore, he entered the forest and bid her wait. Soon, he returned. Lance had brought her some delicious things to eat that she had never tasted before – human food, she guessed – and then, he said good night to her.

From then on, the two friends spent many nights together. Red told Lance about all the beautiful things below the sea, and Lance told her of the lovely sights on land. Sometimes, but not very often, they would swim together. However, he was only half a seal, so he was nowhere near as graceful as Red was in the water.

Sometimes, Red’s sisters would come along, and they would explore in the shallower areas, the little tide pools full of brightly colored crabs and sea stars, and he would sing while she would twist jewelry out of pretty pebbles and shells.

One night, Red was swimming up to the streambed, ready to spend time with Lance, when a sharp pain shot through her body. She stared in disbelief, and there, she saw many men, or so she guessed they were men, real human men, with sharp pointed sticks in their hands and a large net.

“You were right, Brad!”

“I always thought there was something fishy about my cousin.” The leader chortled. He was a heavy-set man with close-cropped brown hair, in a leather vest and trousers and heavy boots. “Of course, I didn’t know he was playing with all those sea girls. He needs a real woman to set him straight.”

“You think this one is still a maid?” Another man gave a coarse laugh.

“She won’t be once we’re done with her.” Another man leered as he waded into the stream. Red tried to swim away, but her tail still hurt, and there were more men waiting with nets…

What was she going to do?

Where was her friend?

She cried out as one grabbed her. He leered at her, close enough for her to see snaggled yellow teeth, but that was when he fell over, metal protruding from his chest.

“What is going on?” Lance asked.

He had a bow and arrows in his hands, Red thought, detached. Lance did not wait for a reply. Three shots felled three more men.

“You are an abomination!” Brad shouted. “How dare you consort with these sea witches?”

“Said the one who was trying to rape her in the name of God,” Lance said dryly.

“Well, so what if I was?”

“You men are all alike. That’s why I will never become like any of you.” He said. “Now leave.”

With a shout, Brad drew his sword and charged forwards. Lance sent an arrow straight through his right eye, into his brain, and he crashed into a tree.

The others had fled.

“Are you all right now?” Lance asked, as Red nodded mutely.

Those… men…

Now she understood why Lance lived alone, why his eyes went slightly flat and cold every time he talked about men. He knew he was different, as she did. But Lance was already moving, and he turned to his friend with a sad expression.

“Red, they will come back. I cannot fight them again. I would lose.”

“You are going to leave.” Red said sadly. “My friend…”

“I have no choice.” He sighed, a sorrowful sound. “It would be too dangerous for me to stay here. More of them would come.”

“Then you can come with me.” Red smiled. “I’ll take you down to my father the Sea King’s Palace, and the humans will never find us there!”

“Would he accept me?” Lance asked. He gestured at his legs.

“You did save my life.” She said practically.

Lance could not argue with that. So Red led him first to a glittering cavern studded with gems beneath the surface, past several muddy whirlpools – she had to pull Lance out of one – and then through a maze of beautiful sea-trees.

There, ahead of them was the Sea King’s Palace.

The King greeted them cordially enough, and when Red spoke of how Lance had saved her life, he smiled and waved his magic trident, and lo and behold, his human legs were changed into a beautiful fish-tail, with scales a dark red they were almost black, and he became a handsome merman.

Red clapped her hands in delight, and as the Sea King watched them, he smiled, for it seemed as though his daughter had found someone to love.

They were still young, but soon…

For now, he watched them get settled in, and wished for the best.

End Fic

Started 8/10/07

Completed 8/12/07

Edited 1/3/10

YIPPEE! SUMMER FINALS ARE OVER!

This is based on Hans Christian Anderson’s version, NOT Disney. I’m rather not too fond of the Disney version – or Disney movies, because the heroines are always weak and helpless and sometimes, really stupid. We did a rather interesting analysis of Disney in folklore class. Frankly, I think he hates women… since an early sweetheart spurned him! But I don’t like Little Mermaid that much, so I’m twisting it! *Cackles*