This was written by my friend Keithy and me! Hope you enjoy this :) this is only chapter 1! Chapter 2 will come soon
(Disclaimer: in this fic Keith is described to be mentally ill, as an explanation but not a condonation of his behavior. Thus the story includes some topics that may be sensitive; kidnapping, mentions of blood, and mentions of death, and stalking)
Keith watched from afar, dark and shiny claws digging into the coral he was hiding behind. If he was caught, surely the mermaids would kill him. But.. he had his large, pale violet eyes on a gem.
Lance. The prince of the mermaid society.. Keith was obsessed. He caught glimpses of Lance at first, but soon he’d found himself eager for more.
Lance felt someone watching him from afar. He stopped swimming for a little bit and looked around. There was nobody there. He didn’t see Keith……yet.
Lance let out a shuddering breath and continued to swim. Now he was very cautious about his surroundings. The atmosphere around him felt strange and dark. He had a bad feeling in his chest.
Keith took a deep breath, lacy purple gills fluttering as they filtered water. How could he, a siren, ever face this gem? He had claws, lance might be scared if those. He had fangs, lance probably wouldn’t like that. His tail and find resembled that of a shark, stained deep red.
Dare he do this? Sirens were supposed to use dark magic, right? Lance certainly wouldn’t like it, no, but.. Keith was in love with him. It was unhealthy, maybe, but he cared not.
Lance started to swim faster when he felt eyes on his back. He was gathering shells for the queen, since she was sick. When shells are crushed, they can be made into medicine for the sick. Since Lance was so focused on the eyes on his back, he dropped all of the shells. They hit the bottom of the ocean. Lance cursed at himself and bolted down to the sand.
Keith watched as the shiny pink scallop shells Lance carried slipped from the grasp of those long tan fingers. They sank down a few feet before settling in the sticky mud, silt and sand erupting in a cloud before immediately beginning to settle back in the bank.
Keith pulled his claws from the coral. He should go help. But lance would swim from him, surely. Mermaids didn’t like Sirens. Sirens didn’t like Sirens. Company was scarce, until he found his gem.
Lance got to the sand and coughed when he was covered by the cloud of sand. Sand got into his eyes and Lance tried to rub the sand out. He let out a deep breath to calm his nerves, and started to look for the shells blindly.
The water washed the sand out of his eyes and he could finally see. He gathered the shells into his arms and started to swim again. One of the shells dropped out of his grasp. Since it was the same color as the sand, he couldn’t see where he dropped it.
Lance started to panic and dropped to the area where he thought it landed. He looks around, feeling the sand with his hands. The intensity of the eyes on his back were getting stronger. He felt more vulnerable and scared.
Keith rubbed his hands together, and softly murmured an incantation.
Lance felt constrictions, like invisible ropes wrapping around him, paralyzing his arms and tail as he cried out for help, shells falling once more to the ocean floor.
Keith swam quickly, catching lance and cradling him before he could sink to the bottom. His breath hitched as he touched the smooth skin of lances torso, eyes meeting those gorgeous blue ones. What a gem..
Lance’s eyes widen and he tries to get out of the sirens arms. But the siren had a too firm of a hold on Lance. What was going to happen to the queen? All of the shells are gone now.
He gave up on getting out of the siren’s grasp. He looked at the siren with fear. A better question is, what is going to happen to him?
Keith stared in awe, gingerly running his fingertips up Lances chest, tracing the tones he’d admired for so long. He caressed lances cheek next, running his thumb along lances cheekbone, “Y-you’re so pretty..” He murmured.
Lance leaned away from Keith’s hand. He clenches his eyes shut. He turns his face away from Keith and his breath hitches in fear. “W-what do you want?” He stutters.
“no, no you don’t need to be scared of me.” Keith blinked and shook his head. His pupils were oddly dilated, small as if they were soaking up the brightest of lights. He shifted, lifting lance bridal style with the warmest smile he could form, “No, I’m going to take care of you. It’ll be okay.”
Lance gulps and his eyes were still wide. He looks into Keith’s eyes. All he saw was honesty in his eyes. He looks away quickly and looks at the sand at the bottom of the sea.
Just from their swim to Keith’s cave, Lance could tell one thing. The Siren had a nasty case of Obsessive Love Disorder. It was easy to see and tell with all he kept muttering. He was in love with Lance, wanted to protect him. He was possessive too, judging by how firmly he held the trapped boy. And while it was by no means an excuse for his behaviour, it explained it.
After an hour of swimming, Keith guided them into a cave, smiling happily as he rested lance on a soft bed of sea mud and grasses in the back, “H-here, I made it just for you! Do you like it?”
Lance nods quickly, scared of his reaction if he made the wrong choice. “I-I love it! Th-Thank you.” He stutters. He gulps quietly and pushes himself to the top of the bed. It was soft.
Lance knew that Keith wanted to protect Lance but he felt scared and. He started to get claustrophobic but he didn’t know why. Of course Keith was very close to him, but that’s it. The area around wasn’t closed off, but he still felt claustrophobic.
Keith grinned proudly at the praise about the bed he’d made, but he noticed lances breathing falter and tilted his head, “Are you okay, gem?” he murmured softly, and the invisible bonds that constrained lance eased up until they disappeared.
Lance’s breathing got shallower and he scooted up on the bed more. “I-I’m fine.” He says and he lets out a shaky breath. His throat was hoarse and he gulped.
His hands were shaking and he holds his hands on his tail. He didn’t feel safe at all. He felt like Keith was going to attack him at anytime.
“You’re shaking.” Keith observed with a frown, “Are you cold? Would you like a blanket?” he sat down beside lance, gently rubbing his back with the intentions to warm him.
Lance jumped when he felt Keith’s hand on his back. He was certainly not shaking because he was cold. He was scared beyond belief. “Th-Thank you.” He says. Lance felt open and vulnerable, he didn’t like how he was feeling.
Keith grinned warmly and nodded, swimming over to the other side of the cave where a pile of his belongings lay. He returned with a large blanket woven from strips of cloth, grasses, and kelp, “Here you go, gem.” he whispered, carefully draping it over him before caressing his jawline, “Beautiful, gem.. do you think it might be alright if I call you Lance?”
Lance’s breath stuttered and he nods. Keith’s hands were so cold. Everyone else’s hands were warm and soft, but Keith’s were cold and rough. “Th-that’s okay.” He says. He gave a fake smile to Keith.
“Really?” Keith grinned, giggling happily, “Thank you!” he exclaimed, curling his tail up beneath himself to rest beside lance, “It’s getting late.. are you hungry?”
Lance’s stomach growled after Keith said that. He looks down at his stomach. He realized that he didn’t eat since the morning, and it’s almost nighttime. Lance nods and looks at Keith. “Y-Yeah.” He says, quietly.
Keith immediately got up, eager to cater to lance. He knew mermaids were herbivores, and Sirens were carnivores, so he wanted to be sure he knew exactly what to get lance when he went searching for food.
“Of course! What do you want? You can have anything you like, I promise” Keith was eager to please, fiddling with his hands as he watched Lance.
Lance thought for a moment. He still didn’t trust Keith, but he was very hungry. His all time favorite food was seaweed. He played with his thumbs as he said, “Is seaweed okay?” He asks, quietly. He was still looking down.
“yes! Of course it’s okay! You’re so sweet, asking that. So timid.. I’ll get you seaweed, Lance.” Keith nodded before darting from the cave, excited to make dinner for his beloved gem.
Once Lance knew that Keith was gone, he got out of the bed and tried to find a different way of getting out, unlike Keith did. He found a different way in the back of the cave. As soon as he got out, he bolted out of the cave and swam as fast as he could.
Keith, with the sharp senses of a true predator, looked up as the sound of swishing. Something was certainly passing over his cave in the deep red coral reef, what if it was dangerous? What if it was going to hurt or scare his precious gem? No, he could not have that.
So up the Siren swam, shark-like fin swishing side to side (as opposed to up and down, the structure of his spine in fact changed completely at his pelvis) and easily pushing and slicing through the current that Lance would have more trouble battling.
At the sight of a blue shine in the water, Keith’s eye twitched and his heart filled with fear, anxiety. What could that be? Could his gem be swimming away from him? No, no surely not. Surely Lance was back home, waiting for the seaweed dinner Keith still had bundled in his arms.
From the force of the water that Keith made, Lance was pushed back and tumbled in the water. He hit a coral and his back landed in the sand. Lance coughed from the force of landing on the sand. He rolled to his side and sat up. Who could of made that current, how could it be so strong?
Lance looked up to where he was pushed and he saw Keith looking around, confused. From the fear of getting caught, Lance’s face contorted into a face of fear and anxiety. He scrambled up and he realized that he had a bunch of semi-deep cuts from hitting the coral. Lance winced and stopped in his tracks. He grabbed some seaweed from the bottom of the ocean, and wrapped some around his chest to cover the cuts. Blood was seeping through the seaweed, Lance cursed to himself at the sight.
Keith was immediately attracted to the movement. He could hear it, feel the vibrations through the water, but most of all? He smelled blood.
When he quickly arrived to the scene, he let out a short cry, bursting into tears that seeped into the water around them, “No! No, no, gem!”
Keith wrapped lance up in his arms, like a mother comforting a child that had scraped his fin or hurt his hands playing in the corals. Chests pressed together, arms around lances torso, a firm but gentle grip.
“N-no, what were you doing, gem? I-I have your food. Let’s go h-home, and I’ll feed you and you can sleep on your new bed! How does that s- suh- sound?” Keith pressed his face into the crook of his neck, heart beating fast from all this intimacy, even one-sided, with his gem.
Lance squirmed out of his grip and folded into himself. “G-get away from me.” He says and shook his head, as tears seeped from his eyes.
“I-If you love me, please, p-please go back without me. I need to go help the queen! She’s sick. She’s going to die if I’m not there.” He whispered the last part, wishing that none of this happened.
“Please, I’m begging you. Let me go back and help my mom.” He says and let out a sob. The thought of his mom, the queen, dying vanished in his mind. He didn’t want to even think about that she would die. Now, Lance was sobbing uncontrollably, the tears dropped from his eyes and ran with the current of the water.
“Wh- what? No, gem, you’re safe here! Anyone can gather shells, she- she’ll be fine! And you can come home and you can be happy, with me!” Keith’s mind buzzed, he had an aching migraine that seemed not at all ready to give him relief.
Lance shook his head and tears flew out of the corners of his eyes. “Y-you don’t understand! This is my mom I’m talking about! She’s going to die, and I won’t be there to say goodbye.” His eyes widen as he says the last part. He grabbed his face and gasped. I’m not going to be there when she dies, I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life.
“D-do you have a mom? Or a dad? If you do, you would understand how much they mean to me! My dad died a while ago. I don’t want the same thing to happen to my mom!” He shouts. As he said this, his breathing was growing irregular. A million thoughts were running through his head, making him mad.
“no, no.. I don’t have a family. I don’t have anyone-” Keith’s expression darkened as he pulled back his head to meet Lances eyes with a grim, cold, and lonely expression. But, as he met those blue eyes, his expression lightened into a warm and happy grin, “except now! Now I have you!”
Lance’s face turned into full on fear. “You’re crazy! Get away from me.” He says and started to swim away. He swam as fast as he could. Tears were streaming down his face.
Lance’s tail got caught in a seaweed. He tries to pull away from the seaweed but his tail was stuck. The seaweed was wrapped around his tail.
Keith screeched in fear, chasing after his gem. His heart hurt, lances words haunted his head. You’re crazy! Get away from me!
Was he crazy? All he wanted to do was protect Lance, keep him safe and love him.
As Keith reached Lance, he took his wrist, “No, no, come home, I’ll f- fix up your chest and- and we’ll be happy together!” he wrapped his arms around lances waist again, crying into his shoulder.
Lance shook his head, his tail hurting, the seaweed digging into his tail. “I-if you love me, please let me go. Go back to the cave and live a happy life without me.” He says and winces at the pain radiating from his tail.
“no, no I won’t be happy without you…” Keith whispered, but contrary to his words he used his claws to cut the seaweed from lances tail and began to swim- down at first, but then the opposite way of his cave, and released Lance.
His heart ached. Was he really going to give up his gem? His beloved, precious gem? Yes, he had to. His gem would be happy, then. Without him.
Lance looks back at Keith and then swims to the palace of the mermaids. He gathers shells and them bolts to the palace, ignoring the pain and the blood falling from his wounds into the water.
Once he got to the palace, his tail gave out and he fell to the floor of the palace. The merpeople watched as he tumbled and landed on his stomach. They all gasped and swam towards him. Words were said like, “Are you okay, my prince?” “Do you need a medic?” “We will help you, my prince.”
Lance just groaned and laid the shells gently on the floor. After that, he passed out from the loss of blood and exhaustion.
Keith hovered close behind lance, sure he had released him but he hadn’t swam from home for no reason.
As lance settled in the mud, he whimpered. I could’ve prevented that, if he’d have come home with me I could’ve fixed him up.
He hid behind the gates of the kingdom. If he went in there, surely he’d be killed. However, he did swim up over the wall a mile over, settling himself into the prince’s private garden, and closing his eyes as he tried to recover from all that had happened. It was suicide. He had no food, surely he’d perish.. but that was alright.
When the prince woke up, he was in his normal bed. His room was full of blues and whites. He sighs and looks up at the water, that was shining from the sun above. A nurse came into his room and he looked at her.
“Are you okay, my prince?” She asks. He nods and looked at her, completely serious. Usually, he was full of jokes and smiles. “Take me to my mother.” He said, with no tone in his voice.
The nurse’s eyes widen and she nods. She grabs a wheelchair, a wheelchair that remains suspended in the water. The nurse put Lance into the chair and moved him across the ocean floor to Lance’s mother.
Once they got into the room, his mother was pale green looking, and every breath she took, her whole body would shudder. Lance’s eyes widen and he covers his mouth. “M-mom?!” He says and grabs the bag of crushed seashells on the table next to her bed.
The water around them made the shells soft when they were crushed. His mom looked up and smiled at Lance. “We’ve been looking-“ Her sentence was cut off when her body shook with coughs. Lance’s eyes filled with tears and put some of the crushed seashells into his hand.
“You have to eat this. I know it will taste awful, but it will make you feel better.” He says and put his hand towards her mouth. His mom opened her mouth and she let the crushed seashells go into her mouth.
After the seashells were swallowed, she let out a sigh and smiles up to her son. “Th-Thank you Lance.” She says and falls asleep. Lance let out a breath that he was holding. She’s going to be okay.
Keith watched as there was movement in lances bedroom, visible from the large bay window he had to overlook his garden.
It’s just a nurse he sighed in relief, curling up where he lay in a patch of soft grass. He had dark rings under his eyes, he hadn’t slept. Now, in decoration on his pale skin, he had deep red cuts on his chest- self inflicted. Another side effect of Obsessive Love Disorder. He had low self esteem, and he had to punish himself for upsetting Lance, for upsetting his gem.
Keith shook his head free of self-torturous thoughts, watching the window as he waited for lance to return. Probably visiting his mother.
Lance got back from visiting his mother, the nurse helped him into his bed again. The nurse looked at Lance and saw the blood on the seaweed. “You need to let these air out. I’m going to take them off ok?” She said, softly.
Lance nods and continued to look at the ceiling. He winces when she pulls the seaweed from the wounds. Since the seaweed help to heal wounds, the wounds were half healed. They were still deep but the blood was gone.
The nurse threw away the seaweed and walked out of the room. Lance was still looking up at the ceiling. He was so mentally and emotionally tired. He closes his eyes and falls asleep.
Keith waited an hour before he swam up, slowly nearing the window. He trembled as he gazed in at lances cozy room, lances soft cushy looking bed, and the gem sleeping soundly in it. He wanted so bad to be in there. He wanted so badly to lay there beside him, kiss his face, stroke his hair, wrap his arms around that tan-melding-to-blue waist. He wanted to be happy, that would make him so happy, but.. it was too late for that now.
Lance, in his sleep, covered himself in the covers, up to his shoulders. Everyone was asleep by now. Above the water, the sun was down and the stars came out. Lance was sleeping peacefully, nothing bothered him because he was a very heavy sleeper.
Keith saw better now that it was dark, and it helped ease his migraine. He reapproached the window, carefully unlatching it and slipping inside to the safe warmth of lances room. He circled over top of Lances bed, before he settled down on the edge.
Lance moved in his sleep and laid on his back. His arms were holding a pillow and hugging it close to his chest. His head was turned to the side and his hair was moving slowly with the water.
Keith reached out, gingerly caressing lances hand, up his arm, then to his face, and finally his hair. Precious. He wished he was that pillow. Maybe he could lay there? Maybe he could sleep now?
Lance was having a nightmare of what happened. His body trembled slightly and his breathing got irregular. He didn’t wake up though. His hands clenched at the pillow slightly and held the pillow closer to his chest. He whimpers quietly.
Keith gently hushed him, swishing his tail until he hovered over the mermaid in bed. Carefully, he cupped lances cheeks. “Hush, hush.. you’re safe, I’m keeping you safe.. It’s okay now.. I’ve got you..” he murmured, leaning down carefully to kiss lance’s forehead.
Lance woke up, his eyelids fluttering open. He looks up tiredly. “Huh?” He says, barely awake. His eyes widen when he sees the familiar eyes. He opens his mouth to scream, but Keith put a finger on his lips and give Lance a warm smile.
A tear rolls down Lance’s cheek and Keith wipes it away with his thumb, gently. Lance looks at Keith in fear.
“shh, it’s alright. It’s me, your Keith. I’m keeping you safe. Don’t cry, did you have a nightmare?” Keith tilted his head curiously.
Lance hiccuped and nods. His cuts stung. The water didn’t make it any better. “W-why are you here?” He whispered.
“Because, I love you, and I wanna take care of you.. keep you safe.. you’re so precious, gem..” Keith ran his thumbs along lances cheekbones, smiling happily, “Lance, I mean. I suppose I can say both now.”
Lance shuddered at the touch and leans back from it. He never got touched like this before and he didn’t want it to happen like this.
“No, you don’t have to be scared, see?” Keith rolled off lance, settling beside him on the bed and on his side, “You’re home, you’re happy, so we can be happy together now!”
Lance scooted away from him and one of his cuts rubbed against the sheets. He put his hand on the cut and yelped. His eyes closed in pain and the cut got red from irritation.
“Shh, shh.. would you like some more seaweed for that?” Keith placed his hand atop lances, affectionately bumping his nose against lances cheek.
Lance made a quiet strangled sound. He was too scared to say anything. He ate some of the crushed shells that the nurse gave to him to heal his wounds. The sun was starting to rise, making the water turn lighter.
“P-please go. I won’t tell anybody that you’re here. I won’t get you in trouble. Just please, please leave me alone.” He says and scoots away from Keith again.
Keith’s eye twitched, before his expression changed. He looked devastated, heart broken. “B-but.. you’re happy now, right? You’re home..”
“Th-this isn’t right. Y-you kidnapped me.” He says and looks at Keith. “I’m sorry.” He says softly and looks down.
“I- I want to protect you!” Keith felt tears soak his eyes, the fresh water making them shine, “I.. I love you..”
Lance felt bad, you could see that he felt bad in his eyes. He didn’t like making people feel bad. His eyes went back up to Keith and sighs. “I-I’m sorry.” A tear dropped from Keith’s eyes and Lance unconsciously wiped it away with his thumb. He pulls his hand away quickly and his eyes widen.
Keith’s breath hitched, and he leaned his face desperately into the touch, craving more and more of that. It was the first time anyone had touched him like that, and it was from his gem.. precious, his precious gem. He craved more.. but he doubted he’d get any more. “I love you.. I do.. d-don’t you love me?”
Lance’s hand that touched Keith was shaking. “I need some time alone. You can come back in a few days. I just…..need some time alone.” He says and covers his face with his hands.
Keith recoiled as more tears streamed from his eyes, the fresh water dissolving into the salty sea water. “You don’t.. love me, do you?” he slid out of the bed, and lance could see the gashes he’d given himself. He shook his head, “I’ll- p-protect you from outside” he whispered, heart aching as he burst out the window.
