day 5: medieval/fantasy au

Once upon a time, there was a prince.

He lived happily in a palace with his father, for many years. 

Once, his father took him to the sea. The young prince, while on a beach stroll, met a mermaid boy.

The boy was the most beautiful thing the young prince had ever seen, with a tail like blue velvet and a smile that made the sun pale in comparison.

The prince resolved to do anything within his power to keep this eighth wonder of the world by his side, and they were inseparable from that moment on.

But fate can be cruel, and the young prince's father was killed. It was framed as an assassination attempt, and the young prince was sent away to live with Duke Von Karma in the mountains.

The boy's heart was crushed, but life went on. He was training to become an artist, just like his father. 

That changed when one day, swimming near the border, he heard a peasant woman talking to her friend.

Did you hear? Prince Edgeworth has decided to name himself "Emperor" instead of "Prince," taking after Von Karma, before his downfall.

Oh I heard, all right. Have you seen the notices sent out? He's going village to village to "purge them of corruption." My brother lives in Benswane, and he said the Prince - sorry, "Emperor" - threw everyone who wasn't absolutely perfect in the dungeons. Some villages have all been thrown in the dungeons! And all in the pursuit of "justice."

That's awful. He wants us to call him "Emperor?" How about we call him "Demon Emperor," instead!

That is what we shall do. Ugh, I'm just going to leave this notice here. Good as trash, it is.

The boy swam up, once he was sure they were gone, to pick up this notice. What he saw on this scroll - good as trash, the woman had said - shocked him.

He saw the prince, the boy he'd fallen in love with all those years ago, looking for all the world the picture of cruelty. But he knew the prince better than anyone, and he saw the carefully concealed hurt behind those beautiful green eyes.

Just like the crabs that scuttled through his town, the prince had been put in a harsh environment and had been forced to form a shell.

Just like the prince had promised the day that they met, the boy swore that he'd find a way to rescue his prince, from the metaphorical tower. He saw the date the prince was to visit this village, and knew in his heart what he had to do.

The moment he returned home, he resigned from art school and immediately enlisted, requesting an espionage position. He passed every test thrown at him with flying colors, and was sent to transform and live among the humans, passing intel about the general attitude of humans toward the merpeople all the time.

Just after arriving, his mentor died unexpectedly and the boy was promoted to head of the spy network in the village. The very next day, the prince arrived.

Everyone gathered in the village square to see a resplendent golden stage with the prince at its center flanked by too many soldiers to count.

Stormy green eyes swept the gathered crowds, who were as silent as a funeral. He gestured to his soldiers to arrest anyone he found lacking, and they wailed and clutched for their loved ones.

Every time this happened, pain flashed in those green eyes the boy loved so much. To a casual observer (though here there were none), it may have looked like vindictive pleasure. The boy felt his heart ache for the boy-king that stood before him.

 When the Emperor-Prince laid eyes upon him, the boy was taken to the prince's chambers. 

That night, when the prince met the boy in hid chambers, everything was different. The prince clutched at the boy's shirt, sobbing into his chest, apologies and words of self-deprecation on his lips. He cried his heart out, and the boy just... held him. Supported him.

Loved him.

~~~

The boy traveled with the prince for a time, helping the prince temper his temper and discovering new things about him.

Like the way his mouth quirked when he was feeling smug, the way he would sway his hips when he thought victory was certain, and most importantly, the soft smiles he'd give the boy when they were alone.

Down in the sea, the boy had thought his life was complete. He had had loving parents, good friends, and he was safe. Here, he was far away from his parents, his only friends were relatives of his late mentor, and he was constantly under risk of being discovered.

But he'd look at the swoop of the prince's hair and his half-dimples, and oh.

Alas, but all good things must come to an end. 

The prince and the boy were nearing the end of their tour, at a small town deep into the mountains. The only way up or down were fairly expensive carriages.

The boy woke up, one day, in his room adjacent to the prince's, to find the prince gone and a note on his bed saying Miles Edgeworth chooses death.

The prince's retinue left the next day, in a solemn march of black hangings and gold accents.

The boy resorted to taking any job he could find to earn enough money. The townsfolk were kind to him, and in only a year he was down the mountain.

He returned to his town, and was met with the sight of the prince giving a speech. He stopped dead in his tracks, and the prince cut off mid-speech. He quickly recovered his composure, finished the speech, and met the boy in an alley.

The boy cried into the prince's shirt, tears of anger and shirt ruining the fine silk. The prince cried into his hair, tears of shame and sorrow soaking into the black locks. They talked long into the night, and began mending their fragile relationship.

Several years passed with them settling into this fragile rhythm and growing closer, even passing the point they were at before the abandonment.

The boy woke up, one day, in the bed he shared with the prince. The prince was cowered, in the corner, and a man was brandishing a knife at him. The boy, without a thought, leapt into action to protect the light of his life.

In doing so, he had to reveal himself as a merperson. The prince already knew, but his council was furious. The best compromise he could get was to send the boy back to the sea village and bar him from entering the castle again.

The boy found a child, and took her in. He was forced to remain on land and was stripped of his powers for revealing himself. He fell into a deep depression but the prince visited him often, even having a room at the boy's house.

He eventually had the ban lifted, and the boy advised the prince frequently, becoming his right hand. The boy drifted from job to job, feeling purposeless when he wasn't with the prince. Soon, the prince and his daughter were the only reasons he kept going.

After seven years, the prince persuaded the boy to let him speak to the merperson rulers to reinstate the boy. The boy didn't believe it would work, but watching the passion in the prince's eyes as he laid out each and every one of the boy's positive traits make him realize how deeply in love he was with this man who had become his world.

Against all odds, the boy was reinstated. He cried into the arms of his daughter and the love of his life, and the world was right again.

+++

The prince stood on a balcony, light breeze tickling his dove-gray hair. He stared at the stars, but he wasn't thinking at all about these celestial majesties. He was thinking about the boy.

His hugs, his hair, the way his smile made the prince feel like he was being filled with honey - all of that was on his mind. But what he was thinking of most was the way the boy didn't reciprocate.

He had his daughter, and she was all he had room for in his heart. The prince was fine with that. He really was!

He was forced to test this theory by the sound of the balcony door opening, then closing. Someone walks up next to him and leans against him, warm against the cold of the night.

Hello, Phoenix.

The boy yawns softly, and the prince snakes an arm around his waist. They stand like that for a while, until the boy pulls away and looks at him with the night sky reflected in his eyes.

The prince sucked in a breath. Is he imagining the way the boy's eyes flicked to his lips?

He is proved wrong as the boy leans in, and the prince's heart explodes.

He finally knows what kissing Phoenix Wright tastes like.