Wah, it's been a busy week for me, and it's only going to get busier next week.

I'm just grateful that it's the weekend. Sleep... oh how much I've missed you!

Disclaimer: Hetalia: Axis Powers © Hidekaz Himaruya

ARIA OF THE SEAS

2. Eighteen

"Lovi, Lovi, Lovi!~"

Lovino woke to very high-pitched and very familiar squeals in the underwater cavern where he slept. My freaking sister, waking me up once again with her blabbering! "Fuck off, Feliciana! I'm trying to sleep!" He pulled his seaweed blanket over his head as he remained laying down in the cool sand at the bottom of the ocean. How dare she interrupt his beauty—er, manly—sleep!

She ignored his protest. "No, it's already almost noon! And Lovi, aren't you excited?"

He grumbled, reluctantly opening his eyes and warily scanning the small cavern littered with his treasure and belongings, before meeting the eyes of the energetic mermaid floating in the water in front of him: his annoying 16-year-old sister. There wasn't a point in trying to sleep any longer; once Feliciana started talking, she wouldn't stop. He lazily ran a hand through his short, tousled dark hair as asked, irritated, "What's there to be excited for?"

Feliciana giggled, her light brown hair flowing in silky waves around her and her hazel eyes blinking with innocence as she swam in small circles around her brother, the light blue scales of her tail catching and reflecting sunlight. She and Lovino were complete polar opposites when it came to personalities; Lovino often wondered how they could even be related. "Tomorrow's your 18th birthday, silly!"

Lovino scowled at her and chose not to reply, knowing all too well of the fact that he was turning 18 tomorrow. He didn't need his annoying little sister to remind him; how could he forget? It was going to be one of the most important days in his young life: he was going to perform his Harmony.

The Harmony was a ritual that all merfolk, when they turned 18, needed to perform in order to gain the ability to grow human legs whenever they wished. It was a quiet ceremony, involving the merperson to swim ashore in the middle of the night and sing a special song to summon a spirit that would, if pleased with the merperson's singing, give the said merperson the power to attain human legs and also a prophecy. If the spirit was not happy with the merperson, however, he or she would be doomed to remain in the water for the rest of his or her life.

Lovino had mixed feelings about tomorrow. On one hand, he was very nervous on the inside. Ever since he had been able to talk, his grandfather, King Roma, reminded him constantly about his approaching 18th birthday and his Harmony. Along with his duties as prince, there was so much stress, pressure, and expectation! He knew everything he needed to do for the ceremony, of course, but there could always be something that could go terribly wrong. Lovino knew he absolutely could not fail it—he was the prince and heir to the throne of the Kingdom, after all; what good would he be as king if he could not even walk on land?

On the other hand, he was excited. Passing his Harmony meant being able to grow human legs—he would finally be able to go onshore and explore the mysterious human world! Merfolk that did not have this ability were forbidden to venture onto land, as they would endanger the merfolk population if humans caught sight of them.

Ah, humans. Lovino had grown up learning that humans were dangerous creatures who treated other animals as inferior and test subjects. They were also extremely cruel, murdering others or committing unspeakable crimes without reason. However, the merfolk could not deny that they did have human blood in them. As well, they would not be able to sustain their population without them—humans had food, weapons, tools, and other resources that were scarce in the ocean. This was why passing the Harmony and learning to blend in and benefit from humans was so crucial for Lovino as a prince.

He and Feliciana had heard curious stories about the human world from older merfolk. Mathias told them about an edgy, fizzy drink humans called "beer" that he tried at a "bar" (a place where humans downed drinks that made you feel all "woozy", although Lovino wasn't sure what Mathias meant by that). Elizabeta told them about the beautiful, breathtaking stars in the night sky that made you feel so small. Roma told them about dazzling necklaces and gemstones humans made, cut and set perfectly in gold or silver.

Feliciana had been enthralled, absolutely adoring these stories. For Lovino, hearing these tales often made wonder how humans could be so heartless if the world they lived in and the things they created were so beautiful.

Yes, tomorrow night Lovino would finally be able to satisfy his growing curiosity.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

After Lovino started ignoring her pointless chattering, Feliciana had gotten bored and decided to go to her cavern to do... whatever she had said she was going to do—he hadn't been paying attention.

Lovino was eating breakfast (consisting of tomatoes, a human fruit that was now being cultivated by merfolk underwater) when he heard Roma's booming, authoritative voice come from his sister's room. "Miss Feliciana Vargas! You are in deep trouble!"

Great. All he needed was another loud, nagging voice to disturb his peace. Lovino swam out of his cavern to see what was the commotion was about.

He was not surprised to his grandfather with a furious expression on his face, in all his wrinkled-skin, bristled-chin glory, pointing an angry finger at a cowering Feliciana in the corner of the cavern. His sister was much sneakier than her innocent features made her seem, and always managed to get away with things like having extra helpings during meals or spending money on extravagant things. However, Lovino had never seen Roma this infuriated before.

"You snuck out last evening! Don't try to deny it, Berwald saw you!" Berwald was the name of Roma's assistant; he was a solemn, expressionless merman who didn't speak much.

Feliciana shrank backwards, her bottom lip trembling. "But, Grandpa—"

Roma's voice quietened. "I do not want to hear your silly excuses. You were watching the humans, weren't you?"

Silence.

Lovino's eyes widened. He knew his sister was fascinated by the human world and that she would still have to wait two more years before her Harmony, but he didn't know she would go to such desperate measures to experience it for herself. There were many dangers of pulling off a stunt like Feliciana did.

"Were you seen?"

His sister's slight hesitation before crying out a stuttered "N-no!" only pointed to one answer. But before Roma could scold her for what she had done, Feliciana started yelling hysterically, defying her grandfather's words in a way that Lovino would have even admired, if his eardrums had not been subjected to his sister's shrill screams. "The humans can't be as terrible as you say they are! I saw three of them, with my own eyes! They looked happy... even friendly! They look and act almost just like us!"

Roma was livid. He equally adored both of his grandchildren, but when one was thinking and doing such naïve things that could get their people hurt...

Before the argument could proceed any further, Lovino decided to interrupt them, irritated by all the yelling and not wanting to see his little sister get punished. Roma was a kind and just merman when he was happy and relaxed, but when angry, he could get very brutal. Apparently it was useful back in the days of the wars, but now, it was just plain scary. "Feli won't sneak out anymore, okay? I'll make sure of that. Now can you both just shut the hell up? I don't want a headache when the day has just begun."

Roma looked unconvinced but slightly calmer. He finally turned away from Feliciana, who now appeared extremely relieved. "Oh yes, Lovino. We still need to discuss your engagement."

At the mention of this, Lovino groaned. Oh, yes. He was going to marry some mermaid princess from the West Atlantic that he didn't even know, for the sake of peace between the two kingdoms. The princess was probably a gruff mermaid with broad shoulders and muscular arms, considering how fearsome he had heard the West Atlantic merfolk were. Lovino grimaced at the mental image; he knew he was rather slender for a merman, so if his... future wife was more muscular than him, he would be too embarrassed to face her. He hoped she wasn't. "What about it?" he asked sullenly, his arms crossed.

"The marriage will be taking place two months from now," Roma told him matter-of-factly.

Only two months. Two months before he would have to abandon his relatively peaceful life. Two months before he would be marrying a stranger. I-it just wasn't what he wanted. Fuck anyone who thought he was cheesy, but he actually wanted to know and at least like the mermaid before deciding whether or not to marry her.

After hearing his grandson's complaints, Roma tapped his chin, looking thoughtful. "Actually, that can be arranged for before the wedding. I can ask the princess to come visit," he responded, winking.

That wasn't what Lovino wanted.

Ahaha, some of the parts in this chapter remind me of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. xD

Roma is scary when he's angry.