It's New Year's Eve and this year things will change. The ocean's getting darker. The deep sea creatures are out for a hunt.

-

The Pacific Ocean

1990s

Kaito was only two miles away from the shore when his pursuers caught up with him. He could see the land and smell the sweet smell of spices, when he was dragged below the surface, back home.

Back to the prison cell that the palace had become.

"We got him your majesty."

The guards pushed his head down, to make it look like he showed respect towards the ruler on the throne.

"Thank you, Azula escort your brother to his rooms please."

Kaito begrudgingly accepts Azula's hand as she leads him farther into the palace. They stay in silence till they have arrived in front of Kaito's rooms.

"It was stupid what you did. You could have died, and for what? A myth, a legend? A hope for something else? Say it would have worked, what than?"

His sister is right, of course she's right, she's always right. Especially when it concerns the monarchy. 

"I know, but I still wanted to be able to tell myself I tried at least."

Azula is slowly steering him towards his bed to sit down, and Kaito easily let himself be led.

"Brother, I understand, please believe me when I say so. But dreams can be dangerous especially in places like the palace. You can't run off and hope everything will turn out right. Mother won't allow it and neither will I when it's my turn to reign. If you have a plan and prove she can maybe be swayed to let you try it on some deserted island, but before that you won't be allowed to leave the palace. The guards will stop you, and this time they won't hold back."

She stands and leaves the room without looking back, leaving Kaito's mind in more disarray than when he attempted to flee. 

-

It's in the dead of night, that Kaito awakens with someone hovering over him, weapon raised to hit him.

The yells dies in his throat as his sister's face appears and hands him the spear.

"I gave the guards a different route, they won't notice that you're gone till tomorrow noon. I won't lie for you, but I will try to give you as much time as possible. Now go and find something more than the ocean."

Azula leaves as silent as she came, and Kaito hurries around his room to get some base necessities before slipping out of his room through the window.

It is as easy as Azula had promised to leave the palace grounds and actually swim in the ocean. The freedom is something Kaito thought he had already forgotten, but the water still sings to him and with a powerful thrust of his tail he propellers through the water.

Once more he's a mere two miles from the coast when he feels the warriors, his mother send to collect him, come closer. But this time he will make it.

Already he's in shallow waters, and the scales protecting his tail and body are drying in the air. 

He'll make it, he has to make it. For himself, for Azula, for the others that were kept prisoner under the sea.

A mile and a half, Kaito can hear the sounds from the guards telling him to stop.

A mile, the sun shines on his scales and they disappear in soft puffs of smoke.

Three quarters of a mile, the yells of the guards behind him tell Kaito they can feel the change soon.

Half a mile, his tail is twitching and not as strong at it usual felt.

A quarter of a mile, Kaito's tail is fully disappearing and morphing into two separate parts. 

A hundred yards, the guards are returning back to the palace. A possible mutated body not worth the possible punishment of letting the prince reach solid ground.

The sand under his not-tail made him shiver, before he buried his not-fins deeper into the sand and let the new feeling wash over him. 

He made it, he had reached land and his treacherous body had changed to accommodate him

Kaito fell asleep before he had properly left the beach, laying down after the first row of dunes.

-

"Kid, hey kid wake up. You'll miss the fireworks if you stay asleep."

"Avery, I don't think he's here for the fireworks. If he was he would have brought some clothes with him. After all it's a little too cold to go skinny dipping in the ocean."

Kaito opens his eyes to see two man with long hair standing over him. The one who was called Avery extended his hand to pull him to his feet, his auburn hair tickling Kaito's wrist.

"Do you have a place to go, kid. If not join us for the New Year's festivities, meet the family.?"

The unnamed man extends his hand to introduce himself as Alvar. Kaito does the same, though he doesn't tell them his last name, nor that he came from the ocean.

He doesn't need to, these two men reek of darker magic than even he does. They know he's not from here.

-

January 27, 2023