章 2: The First Step To Freedom

Lyre lay in his room after that. His bones were shaking, and his teeth seemed to chatter.

His eyes were puffy, and his entire body was covered with wounds. The poor undeveloped merman seemed to be in an entirely different world from his.

And that world was that of pain.

The door to his room opened, and his immediate elder brother came in.

He was dressed in a red flowing gown, with his green hair tied up in a ponytail; the tips were braided to keep the hair in place.

His green eyes, which were so much like his hair, glanced around the dark room until his eyes lighted on the bundle on the bed.

"Why are you acting like a mermaid?" His eyes narrowed at his youngest brother, who seemed to want nothing but to burrow his body into the mattress.

"Leave."

Lyre's voice was low as he tried not to show the pain he felt deep within him.

The older prince's eyes grew red as his anger went up a top-notch. "You dare speak to me?"

And immediately, Lyre knew he had done wrong by speaking to his brother.

He wasn't supposed to speak so as not to contaminate his brothers.

"I'm sorry, brother!" He hastily fell from the bed, despite his pain, and still knelt on the floor, with his hands joined in front of him.

His knees were hurting him so much, he felt like fainting from the pain. However, he still has to appease his brother.

Among the other princes, his immediate elder brother was heartless. He doesn't do things half-heartedly.

And —

Lyre was raised in the air. The green crackling smoke wrapped around his neck, as it took him up in the air.

"Bro—"

Lyre tried to speak, but the eldest prince closed his hands, and the tightness of the smoke increased.

"You will learn not to speak, you cursed thing." His brother narrowed his eyes at the youngest brother as he continued to twist his hand.

Lyre's face was ashen white, and his breath seemed to have stopped. However, the brother wasn't bothered.

According to their mother, they need to treat him this way, to help liberate him from the dark side.

And that dark side was something Lyre doesn't understand.

The helpless prince doesn't know why he was hated by his family, yet he never stood up for himself.

"Disgusting." Lyre's brother threw him to the floor, and he fell with a thud.

He didn't try to rub his neck as he coughed. There was no need for that if it will make his brother more infuriated.

"Do you think acting like a mermaid is what a merman does?" The prince gave Lyre a disgusted glance.

His eyes took in his shapely body and the sparkling gems in his hair. Although the gems have dulled as they all wanted, it is still there.

"We don't hate you, Lyre." The prince circled his fallen brother. "We only want what's good for you."

Lyre didn't say a word as he silently curled into himself. His eyes were now a dull silver as his pain took much of his rationality.

"This is to help you become a merman, Lyre. You must be like us."

However, Lyre wasn't listening. All he was patiently waiting for was when his brother will leave.

Only then will he cry in peace without his brother viewing it as another weakness of his.

"Don't you like the red-haired mermaid who loves visiting you?" The prince asked in a small voice.

Lyre didn't reply.

Not that he doesn't want to, he did. However, replying to his brother will mean more punishments on the way.

"Have an enjoyable night." The prince finally said when he noticed he couldn't get a rise out of his brother.

Lyre didn't say a word until his brother left; he didn't rise until he was certain none of his brothers was coming in tonight.

His father is another tale altogether. And he wants nothing to do with his coming.

Lyre slowly rose from the floor. His bones were aching him like they always do at night.

This was the routine in his life ever since he turned Fourteen, and mistakenly blotted he finds the guards handsome, and the mermaids ugly.

Since then, his family has been on their so-proclaimed righteousness of trying to fix him.

"I'm leaving," Lyre said to the room as he stood to his petite height.

He glanced around the room with his hands balled as he decided to leave this place before his family finally kills him.

It was true they claimed that life offshore was hell. It did not deter him.

To him, it was better to die offshore than to perish here.

And he realized in due time, his family will kill him not only for his feminine looks and character but for his excuse for power.

He only knew how to make things pretty, much to the anger of his family.

Lyre slowly limped to his cupboard and got the blue seal his grandmother gave to him before she passed away.

That was the only thing Lyre took as he left the room.

He didn't go through the long corridors for fear of being caught. The young prince turned a corner and went through the dark tunnel.

His bones were aching as he transformed into a beautiful merman with glistering tails.

The young merman waded through the murky tunnel until he reached the end. He turned once more to look at the castle before he swam forward.

This was just his first step. Evading the guards at the end of the dark tunnel was another hurdle.

Yet, the prince wasn't afraid of that. He has taken the first step toward leaving the palace of pain. The next step is to leave the entire Kingdom.

And that's what he planned to do. Even if it will cost him his life, he was determined to die trying.

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章 3: How do humans swim with their tails?

Lyre swam forward as his eyes kept on darting around. His eldest brother was supposed to be patrolling here, and that's why he was extra careful.

Out of the kingdom, he swam forward. However, instead of wading straight, he dived into the water and swam under a whale he saw.

"Hello, big boy." He smiled at the porpoise.

The porpoise only turned to look at him with an eye of disinterest before he continued with his night hunt.

Yet that didn't deter the young prince. He waded so fast that he was swimming directly under the whale.

And almost immediately, he heard the sounds of the mermen under his brother as they glided forward.

"I thought you claimed you saw a merman here?" Lyre's eldest brother asked as he swam forward. His eyes darted around the place.

"Yes, my prince." The merman, who saw Lyre when he dived in, spoke as he glanced around.

There was no merman in sight.

Aside from the few fishes and the big lazy whale who was only looking at them with disinterest, there was no sign of a merman.

Lyre, who was under the whale, had his heart beating so loud, it felt as if his poor heart was about to leap out of his chest.

He silently swam forward as he tried not to make a sound and prayed the whale won't swim faster.

His bones were aching to him, and it has been a long time since he swam.

His body ached him so much he couldn't rise from bed, for the morning routine of swimming among the younger ones in the kingdom.

"Let's go." The eldest prince started moving forward, and further from the whale who was covering his brother.

Lyre made no sound, and neither did he attempt to leave the whale. He stayed under the porpoise until all the merman has gone farther.

"You can now leave, merman. Your smell disgusts me." The whale frowned, "go your way, I need to hunt."

He was pissed with the merman.

"Please, do you know the right way to leave this place? I need to go offshore."

"Offshore?" The porpoise was alarmed. "Why will you go offshore!" His voice rattled.

"Yes. I want to go offshore. Please take me offshore," Lyre pleaded with the whale.

The whale sighed, "Why was I unfortunate to meet you?" He sighed as he swam forward.

"Please, help me." Lyre helplessly glanced around the place as he kept a lookout for his eldest brother and his men.

"Follow me." The whale said as he started swimming forward.

"Thank you." Lyre smiled as he followed the whale out of the kingdom, and to a land unknown.

**********

"You can leave through here." The whale said when he reached their boundary with dry ground.

"And what else?" Lyre glanced around at the tall trees and wondered what those things were.

"The human Kingdom isn't far from this place. Continue going straight, and you will find your way." The whale was impatient to continue what he was doing.

He was hungry, but there was no way he can leave the helpless Merman out here, alone.

"Thank you." Lyre got off the water and discovered something. "Where is the water I will swim on?" He asked the whale when the sand touched his tail.

It felt so damn uncomfortable and made the Merman almost want to scratch it.

However, he didn't.

The air around was unfamiliar to him, yet, it wasn't suffocating.

"I don't know. You are the one to discover how you will do things!" The whale shouted before he dived into the water, leaving Lyre on the surface as he tried to figure out his right from his left.

"So, what?" Lyre glanced around the place as he thought of how to swim towards those tall trees.

However, something happened that caused him to shout.

His tail disappeared, and in its place were two things that looked like his arms. But they were oddly shaped.

And between his legs was another thing he hasn't seen. It was a bit longer than his fingers, but not as long as his hands.

It was unlike the legs they ambled with, in the sea. The legs they has were three, and they were bigger than this. And they were never white.

Their legs under water have the same colour as their tails, and it was enough to hold them.

However, he only has two oddly shaped ones.

"Shit! What's this!" He shuffled forward as if he were expecting his new body to change.

Yet, it didn't change, much to the awe of the little merman who has never been offshore ever since he was born.

"What's happening?" He crawled back to the water, and immediately his body touched the water, his tails came back, and his legs disappeared.

"My tails!" He gasped as he hit his tail on the water.

"Where are those white things?" He asked himself as he came out on the land. And just like before, his tail vanished, leaving those strange things in their wake.

"Is this how I will get to those things?" Lyre tried to rise on both feet thinking it was the same as the legs he had back in his Kingdom, but he wobbled to the ground.

"Ouch!" He cried out in pain.

His body was already sore enough.

Lyre glanced at those two things. "Is this what the humans swim with?" He wondered as he glanced around, seeking water, however, his eyes took in the sands everywhere.

"Oh, I know! The humans the whale spoke of, Must swim on the sand!"

With those thoughts, he tried to swim on the sand but ended up with more bruises.

"Gods! What's all this?" Lyre cried out in frustration.

He glanced around at the vast ocean and the land where he longed to go.

Lyre wanted to swim so deep into the forest that his family won't be able to find him. He wanted to go there, and never return.

However, he doesn't know how to go there.

He wanted so badly to do that, but he does know how to.

"Gods!"

He felt like kicking the sand in frustration.

"Oh, my. What a beautiful lady."

Three men approached Lyre from behind.

Lyre's long hair and fair skin made it difficult for them to know he was not a female. He was as petite and pretty as a female.