Hi can you do Risa and goldfish? Thank you very much.
Okidoki, let's kick this DNMermay Event off~ 🪼 thanks for the ask!!!
The little princess first learned of mermaids from her tutor of the sciences--which, looking back, would have made anyone question either the truth of his statement, or his credibility as a science educator.
But the princess of the castle by the sea, with her strong sense of wonder, held on to his tales with pincer-like grip, and in their every class on marine life, she would have more questions to ask about the mysterious merfolk.
Do they eat fish? Do they have noses if they breathe through gills? Can they touch jellyfishies without getting a booboo? Is their hair made of sea grass? Do they like chocolates?
Her tutor's favorite one was whether merfolk drink water or breathe them. Consequently, it was also the question that opened the floodgates of possibilities for her, so to speak.
"So I can also become a mermaid?!" The princess jumped out of her chair and looked up at her tutor in utter disbelief.
"Oh--sorry, your highness, that's not what I meant to say," the tutor gently corrected, surprised that this was the conclusion of the little girl from what he had just said.
"But I can be a mermaid too if I had that, right?"
"You misunderstand, your highness; humans cannot become mermaids," the tutor sat to level with the little princess and smiled as he added rather softly, "At least not truly..."
"Oh. But the magic pearl necklace thing gives mermaids their gills, right? And then they breathe underwater?" There was not a hint of wavering in the princess' resolve; he knew she can be rather passionate about things she really wanted, so the tutor tried further to calm her.
"Well, yes, it's kind of like that in simple terms, but--"
"Then, if I have a magic pearl necklace, I can become a mermaid too!"
"Err... haha," the tutor chuckled at how relentless the little lady was, and he sighed as he patiently explained, "it's not something you can just find anywhere. You see, princess, merfolk are born with their life pearls. If you take the pearl from them, they will not be able to live underwater anymore."
"Hmm..." the tutor paused as he considered seriously whether to put forth the idea playing in his head. But it could teach the princess a thing or two about more than the physical world, so perhaps... "but there are certain uhm... exceptions."
"Exceptions, like special rules. Sometimes, you can be given a magic pearl even if you're a human."
As the tutor anticipated, the little princess' eyes popped out of their sockets, "Really? How?"
"You have to be a friend of the sea."
"Ooohh--But, how do you become one?"
"Hmm... Princess, what would you do if you saw a real mermaid?"
"Ah--of course, of course! I'm sure you will but..." the tutor's tone took on a rare firmness and solemnity as he asked the princess again, looking into her eyes, "as princess, you can do anything. If you lovr them, you can build a place for them to stay here in the palace, or even in town so more people can see the pretty mermaids!"
"Yes, and so you can come see the mermaids anytime."
The young princess' eyes filled with wonder upon learning of the power she held, but quickly, her expression was replaced with confusion.
"But how will they get home?"
"Hmm? They don't need to. You shall give them everything they need, won't you?"
"Of course! But... if we get the mermaids to live here, we will have to get them all!"
The tutor was taken aback, and his instinct was to jump into correction, had the princess not added, "Because then, they will miss their families and friends that we didn't get. It will be sad."
The tutor sighed and chuckled in relief. He felt bad for doubting the little girl before him. "Ah. Of course. Yes, it will be very sad... but once they are here, you can borrow their pearls and be a mermaid yourself!"
"Oh, but that won't do!" The little princess sighed and rested her little head on her hands, "Hmm... no. Maybe I will just dream of mermaids. I can't become one, and I can't play with them here..."
The tutor smiled, assured of the heart of his passionate but kind little student. He patted her head gently and said with quiet excitement, "Or maybe we can go on a field trip."
To the little princess' surprise, the tutor took out a necklace with a shell that shone in very colorful lights. Cradled in the middle of the shell was a beautiful pinkish-brown pearl.
"Is that a magic pearl?" The princess gasped.
"You're a friend of the sea?!"
At this, the tutor responded with a wide, wide smile. Oh, the sea is so much more than a friend to him. And perhaps, it shall be too for the princess.
Little Princess Risa petting a jellyfish. Because she can.
(ngl im just winging this so the drabble may or may not be canon to the AU HAHA)
