#And his lore I cri I want him to be happy he deserves it ahhh

[kiiseru]

Maskless

[lady-divine-writes]

The Prince of the Sea and his Child of Fire - Chapter 10/15 (Rated NC17)

Summary: Blaine is a water sprite, prince of the undersea kingdom and sole heir to the throne. Five days away from turning seventeen and his big coronation, he decides to take a journey to the surface, to seek out a legendary flame said to be tended by an evil witch. Instead of a witch, he finds something else entirely ...

Kurt is a fire fairy, prince of a race of fire fairies and heir to the throne. Five days away from turning seventeen (on the night of a full solar eclipse when he will transform and become king), he sees for the first time in his life a water sprite - a member of a race that he's been raised to hate.

What will happen when these two mortal enemies fall in love? Is there any way for them to escape destiny and be together?

Read on AO3.

Chapter 10

The frigid breeze off the water stings Kurt’s wings, but he pushes on, even when he begins to fear that they will become brittle and snap. The farther away from the Eternal Flame he flies, the colder he feels, as if he’s losing all the heat in his body. He has heat of his own, of course, but it’s not the same. Fire fairies come from the flame. It’s their source of life. His mother always warned him to stay in close proximity to it.

He wonders how far away from it he can go and still feel its warmth.

He tries not to think about it. Instead, he focuses on Blaine swimming below him, his body cutting through the water as he zips beneath the surface. Kurt has not seen him like this before – his strong arms and legs propelling him along, the line of his back straight so he can slice through the swells. Blaine is handsome on land, but he’s powerful in the sea.

A sea that is no longer safe for him.

Kurt wraps his arms around his torso and shivers, but thoughts of Blaine’s body keep him warm.

Blaine stops swimming so suddenly, Kurt flies past him about a mile before he can stop. Blaine breaks through the surface and calls up to his fairy.

“I’m looking for a big sea turtle! Do you happen to see her anywhere?”

Kurt looks around him at the water as far as he can see. There are only a few animals on the surface, though it would probably help Kurt if he knew what a sea turtle looked like.

“How will I know a sea turtle if I see one?” Kurt calls back.

“She’s large and round, with a broad, flat shell,” Blaine replies.

Kurt turns a full circle, surveying the animals he can see. There are four that fit that description, but he’s not too sure about any of them, and he doesn’t have time to be wrong.

“Here!” Kurt flies down to Blaine. He grabs the sprite’s arm and tugs. Blaine lifts his arms up so the fairy can loop his around his chest and lift him into the air. Kurt flies with Blaine into the sky and shows him the lay of the water.

“There!” Blaine points to the east. “Right on the surface, bobbing through the kelp! There she is!”

Kurt squints, looking at the creature sitting amid a massive bed of brown plant-looking things.

“Got it,” he says, setting Blaine back gently in the water.

Blaine takes Kurt’s arm before he can fly away and runs his hand along the fairy’s pale skin.

“You’re cold,” Blaine says, pressing his lips to the back of Kurt’s hand. It’s a small dot of warmth on a frigid landscape, but it’s enough to make Kurt want to go on.

“Yes, I am,” Kurt admits, “and I’m not getting any warmer staying here, so let’s go get to that turtle!”

Kurt shoots into the sky and takes off in the direction of the massive animal before Blaine can try to convince him to head back to land.

Kurt knows at this point it wouldn’t take much convincing.

They reach the kelp and find the turtle sitting within the thick ropes, nibbling on the leaves and soaking up the sun, eyes shut in peaceful repose.

“Oh great and powerful maiden of the sea!” Blaine starts as Kurt hovers nearby.

“Oh for crying out loud!” Sue exclaims, turning her prodigious girth in the direction of Blaine’s voice. “Nearly a hundred years I’ve gone without having to talk to any of your obnoxious kin, and now – twice in the space of a few days! What the heck do you want now, oh Fallen Sea Prince?” Blaine jerks at her taunt. The sea turtle smiles. “Yeah, yeah, I know all about that. You’ve lost your crown to your best friend. Now what are you going to do?”

“Ho---how did you know about that?” Blaine asks, embarrassed that word of his shame has gotten around so quickly.

“I have my sources,” Sue says with a wink. “None of which I’m at liberty to confirm or deny …” But she didn’t have to. Blaine has always suspected that a fish or two in their kingdom were spies for Sue. One in particular - a bubbly clown fish called Becky - seemed to have a similar calculating look as Sue does in her eyes. “So, tell me - who did I wrong in a past life to deserve the punishment of your company?”

“I have another question to ask you,” Blaine says.

“Obviously,” Sue remarks with a dramatic roll of her black eyes. She catches sight of the fire fairy hovering above her head and smirks. “Ahhh. So this is about him, huh? Your little porcelain prince?”

“P-p-pleased to make your acquaintance,” Kurt stutters, rubbing his arms to ward off the cold.

“Oh, you presume too much, little fairy,” she says, turning her attention back to Blaine. “What do you and twinkle toes want? I was hoping to nap for about fifty years, and you guys are kind of harshing my mellow.”

“My father has declared war on the fire fairies,” Blaine announces.

Sue scoffs and shakes her head. “Well, it took him long enough, I suppose,” she says, her voice more sad than sardonic, and Blaine knows he’s come to the right sea creature.

“The thing I don’t understand is why. He found out about us …” Blaine’s eyes find Kurt above his head, shivering violently. He frowns with worry at the bluish tinge to the fire fairy’s skin “… and he got angry, but why the full-scale invasion? Why this need to be rid of them?”

“Yes.” Kurt risks lowering himself so his voice can be heard. “What have we done that he feels the need to destroy us?”

Sue’s large eyes look up at the fairy, then down at the sprite.

“You don’t know?” she asks Blaine, who shakes his head. “And you don’t know either?” she asks Kurt, who shrugs with his arms still wrapped around his body. Sue blows out a breath. “You two are so vain!” the turtle scolds. “So vain and so selfish! And so ignorant! You are both princes of your kingdoms, about to be kings!” She stares at Blaine significantly. “At least, you used to be. And you know nothing about your history!”

“I’ve tried asking my mother!” Kurt cries in his defense. “Over and over! I’ve courted the depths of her anger and still I tried! But she will not tell me! There is no lore in our tomes, no other fairy who’s lived long enough to have seen it first hand! So how am I to find out!?”

Sue rolls her eyes up to Kurt, looking thoroughly unimpressed by his claims.

“And you, young water sprite. Have you asked your father, the Great King of the Sea, why this feud between your kingdoms has lasted so long?”

“No,” Blaine admits. “I have not.”

“And why not?” the turtle asks.

“Have you met my father?” Blaine counters with bitterness in his voice.

The turtle looks on him with remotely sympathetic eyes. “Fair enough.”

“But that is why we have sought you out, wise turtle!” Kurt tries. “To find the answer and stop this war!”

“I’m not sure the answer I have is going to help you,” Sue says. “In fact, it might make things worse.”

“How can things possibly get worse than all-out war?” Blaine asks, staring up at Kurt with deeper and deeper concern.

Sue sighs, paddling back and forth with her front flippers, stalling as she considers her answer. She’s usually not a creature concerned with delicacy. But this is a matter that even she agrees may require some.

“Your father, Malek,” she says, “and your mother, Elizabeth, were once much closer than you two could ever imagine.”

“How d-do you m-mean?” Kurt stutters, flitting over to a patch of sunlight, searching for warmth.

“The King of the Sea, and the Queen of the Fire Fairies are, alas, related.”

Kurt’s head snaps down as Blaine’s head snaps up, wide eyes locking.

“So, his father and my mother are … brother and sister?” Kurt asks.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that, fairy,” the turtle replies.

“My name is Kurt,” Kurt offers.

“Like I care,” Sue says. “Anyway, a long time ago, at the beginning of all things, your mother and Blaine’s father were one. As a single entity, your parents were all that is good in the world. They were love and hope and creation. They had power, yes, but they were fair-minded and just …” The turtle pauses to sigh. “And beautiful. So, so beautiful.”

“What … what happened to them?” Blaine asks, wishing he could hold Kurt close since he expects the worst from the sea turtle’s tale.

“The same thing that happens to all perfect things in the history of forever. I should know …” She tosses her head back with conceit. “The gods grew jealous of them, as gods tend to. Never happy unless they’re miserable, gods are. They lied to your parents – told them one was planning to break away from the other. Overthrow them. At first, Malek and Elizabeth didn’t believe it, so in love with each other they were. But slowly the voices of jealousy picked them apart, and they believed the lies so completely that they tore themselves in two. Malek’s hate became all-consuming - so large that it took the entire ocean to contain it. And Elizabeth’s hate burned within her until it spilled over and threatened to set everything ablaze. They created this world. It depends on their maintaining balance. If that balance is hate or love, it means nothing, just so long as one does not become more powerful than the other.”

“But … that’s going to change when my father attacks!” Blaine exclaims. “Neither the sprites nor the fairies will win!”

“Meh,” Sue says, dismissing Blaine’s concern with a shrug.

“How do we fix this?” Kurt asks.

“You can’t,” Sue says. Kurt gasps and Blaine glares, but the sea turtle only rolls her eyes. “I’m sorry, but you can’t. You can’t fix your parents. And as soon as those two unleash their fury, that will be the end of it.”

“The end of the water sprites and the fire fairies,” Blaine moans. “We know.”

“No, I mean the end of it all,” Sue says. “The whole gall-darn world.”

“What?” Kurt cries. The end of the world? Of everything? No! He can’t even picture it.

“Yup. You’re going to have to start over somewhere else, on a place where fire and water can live together in peace, the way your parents did long ago.”

“You’re lying!” Blaine spits. “You’re playing games with us! If this battle means the end of the world, then why the hell are you so calm!?”

“Because, to be honest, I really don’t care,” Sue admits. “A sea turtle’s life is usually 100 years. I’m well beyond that, my tiny friend. If this is the end, that’s okay. I’ve lived long enough. I’ve had a good life. At least if I’m dead, then I might finally get some peace.”

“Where is this place?” Kurt asks, glowing red with shame at considering leaving his kingdom – his mother and sisters – to their perilous fates. “This place where Blaine and I can be together? Where we can start over?”

“Well, well, well.” Sue looks up at Kurt with a new-found respect in her cynical eyes while Kurt hides his from Blaine’s expression of shock. “Someone has a backbone now, don’t they? There is a field not too far from here, covered in white flowers made of both fire and water. They are always there, but they only bloom during the eclipse. They will release their pods into the night sky. If you catch one, it will carry you away to a star where the two of you can begin again.”

“You’re lying!” Blaine growls angrily. “There is no such place! You’re toying with us for your own amusement! I was stupid for thinking you’d actually give us a real answer!”

“You probably were,” Sue says, unfazed. “Believe what you want. Like I said, I couldn’t care less. I’m not the one about to lose the love of my life.” Sue looks at Kurt with oddly imploring eyes. “But take heed, little ones. Your time on this planet is growing short, so whatever you’re going to do, do it fast. As for me, I must bid you both adieu. I’m not particularly eager to see how this all turns out.”

Sue moves her flat fins, swirling the water in a whirlpool around her. It picks up speed, pushing Blaine farther and farther away. She ducks her head beneath the surface and disappears below the kelp. The water stops spinning, the kelp becomes calm.

And she does not resurface.

Kurt looks down at Blaine, the sprite’s golden eyes seething at the spot where the turtle had been.

“B-Blaine?” he calls softly.

Blaine doesn’t look up. “No,” he says. “I don’t believe that’s the answer. Running away? There has to be something else we can do.”

“But, what?” Kurt asks, berating himself silently for even considering it – escaping to a place where they could be together, like in his dream, at the price of leaving everyone else behind to die.

What a shameful king he’s going to be.

Kurt needs to find a way to get Blaine back on his throne. He deserves the station more.

“I don’t know yet.” Blaine looks up at Kurt, his gaze softening when he sees a frightened Kurt trembling in the air above him. “My father stopped listening. Why don’t we try your mother?”

“No!” Kurt cries. “No, Blaine! She’ll kill you if she finds out about us!”

“I’m sorry, Kurt.” Blaine reaches out a hand even though he knows he can’t risk touching Kurt while the fire fairy is so cold. “But it’s a chance we’ve got to take.”

 ***

Rachel’s arms grow heavy from exhaustion as she dances, her movements slowing, the fire flickering weakly. But she has to keep going. She has to keep moving, keep singing. She pictures her brother and her mother in her head, twirling around on the wind, their effortless grace and beauty, the way they can turn the fire colors and make the flame bend. The mulberry leaves sit in the grass where she left them shortly after Kurt and his water sprite left. All she would have to do is retrieve a couple and toss them in the flame and her brother would come home. She knows it, but she refuses. She is not so much of a selfish, silly fairy as others think her. She knows exactly what is going on. She understands why her brother left.

Their kingdom is in danger, and Kurt went off to do the right thing.

He is acting like a king.

It is time she started being a better princess … and a better sister.

Rachel doesn’t blame him about the water sprite, either. The one thing she has always dreamed of is falling in love. Not a simple love. Those aren’t any fun. But a complicated, twisted, painful, all-consuming love. Something you burn to have. Something you would happily suffer for.

She owes Kurt more than she has ever given him. He has always been patient with her, unerringly kind, even when she didn’t give him any reason to be. If their mother finds out about Kurt leaving with his water sprite, she might hurt them.

She might even kill them.

Rachel wants to stop, wants to rest for a few moments, but the fire is dying, and if it goes out entirely, their mother will see. Rachel’s bleary mind comes up with a desperate solution. If Rachel could fuel the fire with her body, with her own internal flame, she could keep it lit long enough for Kurt to return.

She just has to be strong and not succumb to the flame.

Fire fairies come from the flame, and it’s to the flame they all return.

 ***

Elizabeth gazes out the window of her palace, down to the water’s edge where her son and daughter diligently tend the Eternal Flame. There isn’t much time left for Kurt, and soon, there won’t be time left for Elizabeth at all. She’s not sure how she will tell her children this. Maybe she shouldn’t. Maybe she should quietly return to the fire when the time comes and let life continue on without her.

But now is not the time to think about that.

She sighs into the night, lets the sparkle from her own inner fire add to the landscape of stars. The fire’s pinkish hue licks at the sky, setting the surface of the water aglow. It is spectacular – so spectacular. She envies her son and daughter – their beauty and their youth. She envies Kurt most of all – at the beginning of his journey when hers is so close to an end. The only thing that he doesn’t have, that he desperately wants, is freedom. If he was any of her other children, she would let him go, let him be free to follow his whims and find love. An immense and incredible love like the one she had before … a long time ago.

As much as she hates to keep her eldest son a prisoner to their traditions and customs, it’s unavoidable. Elizabeth is tired, and regardless of the flame’s magic, she is growing older. An eternity in existence is too much, too long. She feels her own fire dimming as sadness clouds her heart. Soon, there will be little left of her but a memory.

A memory and her children.

Elizabeth gazes at the fire Kurt tends so well.

“The flame is beautiful tonight,” she says to her attendants, watching the flame dance where it hovers out of reach of the water. “But it seems so lonely … so sad.”

Elizabeth peers into the dark, trying to find her melancholy child whose sorrow influences the flame. The hue of the fire comes more clearly into view. That which she at first thought to be pink is actually red.

It’s red, and it’s crying.

“What?” Elizabeth leaps from her window and flies to the cove. She finds the fire burning on its branch, all alone. “Kurt?” she calls into the inky darkness. “Rachel? Darlings?” She spins in place, waiting for them to appear, but there isn’t a sign of her children anywhere. She puts a hand out to try and speak to the flame, see into its memory, but the flame begins to sputter.

Then suddenly, it burns out.

In its place lies a fairy - still and cold.

Elizabeth gasps, throwing a hand to her lips.

“No!” she sobs, each tear hitting the water and forming ripples, the sound echoing around the cove like the herald of an oncoming storm. “No!”

A legion of fairies answers her cries, flying down from the palace with weapons drawn. They fill the trees surrounding their grieving queen.

“What is it? What’s wrong? Your majesty? What has happened?” A chorus of tiny voices rises up around her. Cries start as more fairies crowd around and see the body of Rachel lying on the branch. “Oh no! It’s the princess Rachel! She’s dead! Rachel is dead! Where is the prince? The prince who will be our king? The prince is gone! Someone has killed the princess and kidnapped her brother!”

“Find him!” Elizabeth yells up, as if summoning the stars in the sky. “Find Kurt! Wherever he is! Whatever it takes! Bring him to me!”

“But where is he, my Queen?” one guard asks.

“Where will we begin to look?” pipes in another.

Elizabeth scans the ground, the sky, the water’s surface still upset by her tears.

The water - churning in the cove now that the fire has gone out.

No one but the water sprites would benefit from the loss of the Eternal Flame, or the death of their princess … and possibly their prince.

“The water sprites must have done this,” Elizabeth roars, turning to the body of her daughter lying before her. “They must have! We have no other enemies among the creatures of the earth. They’ve murdered my precious daughter and taken my son! And now they must pay!”

[nosafeharbour]

The Sorrow of Werlyt thoughts/reactions (5.3)

I don’t even know where to start... I am just afk in a beautiful Garlean seaside town, next to Gaius, watching Raen kids run around, while a soft sad Praetorium theme plays... hghghhhh?? [cries into hands]

I can’t believe I finally get to be that person who has one of their favourite NPCs stay on the overworld between patches. My time has come. I deserve this

- I love Cid and I love Severa and everyone’s blend of “exasperated fondness” and “slight apprehension” to Cid’s excitement over his new project was so sweet. The G-Warrior?? Cid you absolute nerd

- Cid kept doing a >:) face which I can only assume was /taunt... I love... this excitable salty lad

- [eats up any mention of Azys Lla or playing of Azys Lla music with a spoon]

- THE G-WARRIOR WAS REALLY COOL AND SEXY AND I’M JUST REALLY HAPPY. The fight itself was cool, I failed it twice before I beat it. I’m glad it was a little tricky, or at the very least had enough real mechanics to get your head around

- Regula... :’( He didn’t really get mentioned much outside of the fight, but I suppose it’s to be expected for a somewhat minor character (in the grand scheme of things), and since he dies in optional content they can’t dwell on that too much either.

- The snippets of his dialogue, the “my visage born in ceruleum flames!” (or whatever) line, the CERULEUM TIGERS... I love and miss Regula so much, I can’t believe I got more content for him in the year 2020.

- The cockpit shots with the extremely anime angles, the cute Cid and Gaius video feeds, the silly voice lines (Cid going “That sounds awfully familiar...” after the “G-Warrior, engage!” line made me laugh), the Primals remix of Ultima. Simply perfect. I cannot understate how much this was just simply, the best

- Anyway, come for the mecha, stay for the crippling Gaius and Raen feelings

- I was so blown away to arrive in Terncliff... a whole area? And it’s beautiful! Seaside town! The music being a remix of the main Garlean motif and Penitus/the Praetorium theme is so beautiful. I guess the latter really is kind of being woven in as Gaius’s theme now? After it was incorporated into The Burn, and now this.

- Running up to the first NPC I saw (the widow sat on the bench) and realising she was a Raen, combined with the music, made me tear up. Then seeing Raen kids running around? There’s only so much my heart can take. This is what I’ve yearned for all this time, and it’s better than I could possibly imagine. Having wanted any kind of alternate Raen lore all this time and deciding that Albi’s dad was from Ilsabard/was Garlean means this has all been hitting so perfectly.

- I’ll wait until we see more locations in the future before deciding if Albi’s dad is definitely from Terncliff or not (they mentioned it was reasonably far south to Werlyt) but I’m already so drawn to this area, either way. The detail is so moving, they’re really setting up more major lore than I anticipated. I really thought it would just be beat Sapphire Weapon and be done!

- Terncliff even has a Triple Triad NPC haha jfc

- Gaius... I don’t even know what to say any more I just really, really love him :( This big multi-faceted tragic asshole

- I was NOT expecting to come out of this really loving Valdeaulin this much, he just seemed like the “obligatory asshole I’m meant to hate” after the first Werlyt quest, but now he’s very nuanced and sympathetic. It’s adding back some of the Ala Mhigan/places-Gaius-had-a-hand-in threads that were lacking last time, giving Gaius some more angles in general, and... SUDDEN DUSKWIGHT LORE. Raen and Duskwight handshake over finally being seen. Thank you for my life, Werlyt

- The fact that Valdeaulin is the one who essentially saved Gaius’s life after the Praetorium is really interesting and also oh boy that will surely spark some fun fan content ya feel

- I’m even more sympathetic and attached to the Raen kids, the Echo between Rex and Ricon was really lovely, and then the stinger with Alfonse and Allie... ahhh... they were a bit cheesy in the first quest but they feel a little deeper now

- This Valens van Varro... god... damn. The animation and characterisation from his scene were really over the top

- I’m so happy that Gaius and Valdeaulin stay in Terncliff after you’ve finished the quest :’( I was happy with how much gpose I made up for this time after I felt like I rushed the Ruby Weapon quests, but knowing that I can swing by any time makes me so glad

- God I have so many Albael thoughts [head in hands] I love how my first Werlyt thought dump for 5.2 was like “hmm I don’t know what kind of relationship these two have” and now 6 months later I am simply in hell

- Sapphire Weapon bust as quest reward :) It can match my Ruby one... maybe one day we’ll get a Gaius minion but this is more than fine

- I wonder what the next quest will entail? It was easy to assume Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond... but the green-coded pilot ended up being a red herring. Not only did he instead pilot Sapphire, he is now dead. I was struggling to think what Emerald Weapon might look like between it’s theming (underwater or earth themes are already taken!) plus an appropriate Legatus to take after. I wonder if they’ll shake up the formula a bit.