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Author Notes: Heh, ‘twas a request that I finally got off my lazy ass and posted. I decided it should replace Amaranthine while I work on it. Anyway, ‘tis a merpeople/humans fic and the request was for a happy ending. And a happy end it shall have if you can get through the depressing ness in the beginning.
The title, Tamanna, is supposed to mean Desire or Wish in some far flung Arabic, not Egyptian. However, I also interpreted it meant Destiny and a few other things. Heck, the story sorta relates to it all, so hence the keeping of the title.
The tale is based on Hans Christian’s Little Mermaid since I’ve seen Disney’s LM some years ago and don’t remember it. Never watched LM II after Disney began to annoy me.
Enjoy!
Tamanna
The Vision
Once upon a time, when the world was relatively younger than it is today and human civilization was just flourishing, there lived a unique race of beings. There were many species and those that inhabited water were the mer-folk. They were the rarest and most beautiful jewels of the sea and they lived deep among the corals reefs that sprawled along the milk white sands in elaborate grottos decorated with delicate curved shells, fragile fans of coral and phosphorus glowing sea plants.
However, the most magnificent structure below the sea was the Royal Palace, an elaborate spiral structure made entirely out of brilliant white coral studded with twinkling sea gems, glossy shells and fans of delicate sea ferns. In it lived the Sea King, who had many children each more beautiful than the last and the fairest of whom was Seto, a cunningly delicate being. His hair was a deep brown like agate and stopped just short of his shoulders. He had pale skin on the human part of his body, which tapered into a fish tail of the most iridescent double shade of blue and white. It undulated in sparkles as he moved gracefully through the ocean. Besides that, Seto’s most alluring feature were his eyes. They were the color of the sea at dawn, a deep iolite blue.
Now after everything has been said, you might very well assume that Seto, the lord of a vast region and the most beautiful jewel of the sea, and the favorite of the sea king would have many mates and friends. Well, that was not true. In fact, Seto was one of the few that preferred solitude. Most of his time was spent within his castle, poring over scrolls and books. He didn’t seem to care for companionship nor intimate relationship with any of the other mermaids or mermen. He only cared for his books and his pet, a large purple and blue creature he called the Kaiser Seahorse. And that routine of life didn’t change very often.
Another misconception you might have is that Seto denounced the company of the mer-folk because he secretly desired the land above the waters where the humans lived. That he or any other merperson longed for a human companion is only legend. Unlike what one reads in myths and fairy-tales, merpeople did not care for the land above the sea. Seto did venture above water quite often with his Kaiser Seahorse, but only for a few precious moments. Though he did see a human sometimes, he just let them pass and held not a glimmer of fascination. In fact, he found their ‘legs’ quite unattractive and their bodies were often covered in some kind of second skin that looked very unappealing. Plus, they were often loud and boisterous when they skimmed over his waters on their long contraption which they called a boat.
What repulsed him most was their greed and disrespect for the ocean, which provided them with many things. He’d seen them spear fish simply to cut off a few parts and throw the corpses back into the water, he’d seen them defile the ocean in such sickening ways that he almost wished to turn the waves against them. If only he had that kind of power...
Seto sank lower, feeling the soft sands and cool water caressing his fins. He was currently stuck in the shallows with only a sparse forest of sharp rocks to hide behind until the barge passed. He pressed himself closer to the sandy floor as the sounds of the humans came closer. They were so close now, just barely avoiding the rocks. If they knew Seto existed, they would have spotted him instantly. And Seto had no quick escape.
The Kaiser Seahorse peered irritably at the humans along with his master. They certainly seemed to be taking their time wallowing across. The creature was in a convenient position to attack if needed and Seto was proud to command him, one of the strongest beasts in the ocean. Above him, the sky growled and spat forks of silver in her wrath. Thunder crashed furiously and the ocean waves leapt high in response.
Breathing softly, Seto spared one eye at the barge and the larger part of his attention for a possible opening to escape. However, something unusual happened just then and a human caught the mer-prince’s eye.
The human was clearly distinguished from the others. He was tall and his hair was a streaked brown that gleamed russet in the faint sunlight. He was clad in robes of blue with golden accessories. That was all Seto could see since the human’s back was turned as he stood proudly on deck with a clearly regal bearing.
Ignoring a warning growl from the Seahorse, Seto inched further to examine the first human who intrigued him so.
Only that blue clad human remained calm as the angry ocean waves shattered against the boat, sending most others into a panic. Thunder resounded once more; there was to be a great storm, this Seto instinctively knew. However, the human, instead of panicking like Seto had seen most others do, efficiently directed the bracing of his vessel from the storm. Then the rain began to fall.
Big, fat drops hurtled down from the sky and assimilated themselves into the ocean. They came in driving sheets as if another ocean in the sky was emptying itself on Earth. As it had a better defense and vision, Seto let himself be led by his Kaiser Seahorse. As his beast dragged him back to safety underwater, Seto still couldn’t help but wonder about that human, the first he’d ever given a second thought. Underwater was dark as night, illuminated faintly by the phosphorus species of plants. He saw the creatures of the water shivering in an unreasonable fear of the rainstorm and above him sailed the black shadow of the barge, toward more dark shadows.
Seto frowned. The one aboard giving commands looked intelligent enough, so why would he order the vessel in that direction? Seto watched the shadow of the craft meet with the other sharp shadows. There was a sickening crunch and muffled shrieks. The barge’s wooden frame was breaking up and churning debris, obscuring the water further. Splinters and metal bits were sinking fast, heavy masts and canvas followed along with a vat of foul pollutant that thickened the water and immediately strangled the small creatures that were caught in its wake.
Disgusted, Seto decided not to spare another glance at the contamination. He had enough of these humans and their incompetent ways. As he flicked his tail and turned to go, his Seahorse beast growled intently in one direction. Seto could also see it; a small glimmer of phosphorus fern. Upon a closer inspection, it was not a fern at all. In fact, it was not even of the ocean. It was enormous, oddly shaped and instead of a faint brown or gold, it glowed a bright white with a corona of blue.
“Magnificent.” Seto whispered to himself. The young mer-prince found himself magnetically drawn to the terrestrial creature. It was large and sinuous like a sea serpent as it coiled about under the waves. Its strong jaws emitted a low rumble that Seto could feel down to his very bones and its eyes were a fathomless blue ringed in silver, so powerful that even the Kaiser Seahorse humbled himself in the beast’s presence. Two enormous fins fanned from its back, propelling it leagues upwards with each mighty stroke until it was more than a smear of light against the dark navy backdrop of the ocean. One lone star against an endless universe.
As if the silver trail it left behind was a life line, the mer-prince rushed madly after it. Sea landscape was a blur as Seto rushed upward, abandoning all thought except the deep desire for the creature. The force of the longing itself dragged him toward the shallows and the light that filtered through the thin water and the light of the silver beast nearly blinded him. Unseeing and nearly mad, the merman broke the surface gasping for air like a human. The rough sand and sharp rocks cut his delicate skin, opening red welts against the pale flesh, but he hardly noticed. He was next to the silver serpent, which was now fanning its fins to command the air as it did the water. His vision was suddenly a whirl of bright color due to wonder of what he had just witnessed and the admiration of the beast next to which he, the favorite prince of the ocean, suddenly felt so insignificant.
And somewhere, sometime in passing, the silver spirit of water and air slightly brushed his cheek with the tip of its fin.
Seto would have liked nothing more to stay and contemplate the marvels that existed in the world, but he had no time. The serpent’s fins were growing lax and were dragging it through the air rather unceremoniously instead of the grace he’d witnessed at sea. All at once, before he could even summon breath to gasp, the beast fell, tumbling on the shore and losing its brilliant light.
Seto followed immediately, cutting through the dangerous and insensitive water whetted rocks leaving a trail of his own blood in the shallow pools. Pulling himself on to the sand, the mer-prince darted about for the lost beast. Somewhere in his chest, his heart rose in a feeling unknown. Seto felt he now understood what humans felt when their ships were about to be sacrificed to the ocean. It was a deep panic unparalleled. A cold fear clenching around his heart.
Try as he might, he never did spot the white beast with blue eyes. However, in the spot where it had fallen, there lay another creature. A tall human clad in blue and gold with russet hair and tanned skin. Seto gazed fixedly upon the human’s face for the first time and a sense of familiarity nearly overwhelmed him. Where had he seen him before? The human took a long shuddering breath and his eyelids twitched. Though he didn’t know how, Seto was sure those eyes would be blue; blue as the silver serpent’s eyes. Indeed they were as they gazed up, disoriented.
Seto stared back into them, a sudden pity rising inside him. How beautiful was this human and how close he had been to death. Seto wished for him to stay on this plane of the universe for just a little while longer. The merman uncoiled his iridescent tail and stretched a soft hand out. He traced the contours of the human’s chiseled face; the soft lashed eyes, defined cheekbones and smooth velvet lips. Seto leaned forward, his own mesmeric mind guiding his hands to rest on either side of the human’s face.
He could feel warm breath caress his cheek and became aware of another pair of hands resting on his arms, almost pulling him forward. And closer he went until a new sound cut the atmosphere. It was harsh and garbled, but Seto recognized it as human language. They fell on his ears like barbaric distortion, but one word came out smoothly and mellifluously like a clear stream. “Seth!”
The human’s eyes blinked and Seto immediately realized the danger. He was right in the open for the humans like a free fishmeal. Immediately horrified with himself, he pushed the blue clad man’s face away none too gently and slid back into the shallow waters. With several flips of his tail, he swam until he came to an acceptable distance. From his perch far way, he spotted the shore and several other humans supporting the one he had followed. The human shook his head and stared out to the ocean and shook his head again as if he was trying to clear it. Obviously, he had no idea what he’d seen or thought he’d seen.
Suddenly weary, Seto turned and let himself sink back into the salty calm of the ocean depths. He skimmed over the reefs, examining the intricate coral, trying to curb the desire raging within him and ignore the ache in his heart that came from a deep sense of loss.