Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ To Wish Upon The Sea ❯ Manami : Shattered Beauty ( Chapter 1 )

Warnings: Violence, possible suicide and swearing. Some love scene stuff, the usual.

Notes: Naga are beings with human torsos and snake tails. They are mythological creatures who live in Patala, an aquatic region beneath the earth's crust. The Naga Apalala (leader) was said to keep dragons from harming citizens in the country side with charms and the families offered grain in return for their services.

Pairings: Hetero.

Summary: An abused girl runs into a sly Naga named Thanatos on a beach nearby her house. At first the task of helping this girl seems impossible, what with an estranged lover and parents stuck in their ways. Can someone really come through in a bad situation when they are from a completely different world?

XI.

To Wish on the Sea

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 1: Manami : Shattered Beauty

XI.

A body is slammed into the corner of a rigid, wooden table, making the form recoil and fall to the floor. The small, feminine form slowly rose to the ground in pain, holding her injured side with her left hand and looking down, long, black hair hanging sadly around her. As soon as she looked up, a harsh slap was delivered to her face, knocking her right back down to the cold, unmoving wooden floor. The girl made a small pained noise before a strong, masculine fist hit the ground beside of her, splintering off a few shards of the wood.

The female stumbled to her feet, a forlorn expression plastered to her face as she attempted to get away from her assailant, but it was short lived as her aggressor grabbed the sleeve of her periwinkle dress, ripping the sleeve off at the seams that connected it to her torso. Her foot steps could be heard as she ran across the hard wood floor and out of the door.

From then, she descended to the few wooden stairs that led up to her doorway and ran out onto the grass, hearing a harsh voice yelling obscenities at her from inside.

"You'd better not come back! And don't count on eating tonight!"

But she ignored this voice as she ran through the woods as fast as her little feet could carry her. The pinecones and harsh twigs stabbing into her bare feet, but she didn't care. The periwinkle dressed female could hardly feel the pain, compared to the rest of her injuries. Crystalline tears began to run down her face, flowing in small rivers. As her pace steadied, her foot caught under an exposed tree root and the small form went crashing to the ground.

Quickly recovering, she continued to run until she reached the end of the woods, and the sight beyond the woods amazed her. Pale blue eyes widened in astonishment as she took in the landscape before her.

It was a beautiful beach with white-sand shores and a few people here and there, carrying out in their daily activities. Being shy by nature, this female decided to stray away from the rest. She didn't want anyone to see her injuries or send her back home. A small, peaceful smile crossed her pale pink lips as she began to walk slowly down to the shore line.

Standing at the shoreline, she watched the waves roll in and out. A small hand plucked a large shell from the sand, throwing it into the water before her.

The clam shell sunk further and further into the depths and straight into a set of midnight blue hands.

"Hey!" A youthful voice said beneath the water. "I found the exact one! This is so awesome! I thought I lost it until now!" A small Naga clenched his prized shell to his chest.

This Naga was of a beautiful midnight blue, he had young features and large, bright, golden eyes that glowed against his dark skin. His hair was of snow white, and he had long, black horns that pointed straight back just above each pointy ear. He wore bindings on his biceps of each arm and a dull, dark grey shirt with no sleeves and a large sash over the neck area, same in coloration. Beneath it, he wore two flaps of material. One covered the front of his snake-like lower half; they were white in coloration, with green rims and a elaborate green embroidery on the lower half, where it went into a triangular point. These flaps were two feet long.

His tail was very beautiful and his scales shone in many hues and shades of blue, ranging from white to a dark black. His dorsal fin started just below the flaps and grew larger down his length, the fin overtaking it as it tapered off. After tapering off, the fin hung a good three feet past it, being a pastille blue in coloration.

"Yes!" The Naga cried out in happiness, glad that he finally got his possession back, but it was short-lived as it was hit out of his hands by a red, shimmering eel-like tail. "Eh?" He held out his hands, not seeing the shell caused golden eyes to widen. "Hey!" He called out in irritation.

"Hm?" Another Naga held the shell in his hand, examining it.

This Naga was older than his dark blue companion. He had the same black horns that pointed straight back, but his complexion was light skinned, contrasting with his jet black hair and piercing green eyes. He wore a golden headband with a colored stone in the middle of it. He also wore golden cuffs around his biceps that resembled the ancient Egyptians and a golden V-Shaped gold ban necklace that held another jewel in the center of it around his neck. Four jewels were on either side of his flaps of cloth, which had similar embroidery of the dark blue Naga's, except they were green with golden embroidery. He also wore arm bands, which started at his wrists and went back along his forearm until reaching his elbow. They were red and gold and tapered into a point at his elbows.

He had a muscular build and a long, lower half which shimmered in unearthly glows of red. His tail fin was half as long as his tail and a very light pink in coloration. The older Naga had dark, yet attractive features, bright green eyes that could slant themselves in order to look mischievous and the smirk of a con man. Below his smirk, lurked a small goatee, coming to a fine point.

He also had long, black hair that flowed all around him. His bangs stopped at his cheek bones and flipped out, curling slightly at the ends. A few pieces beside of his neck held slight flip to them, but they overall appearance of his hair was think and jet black

The green-eyed Naga put his chin in his hand, as if he were contemplating something with an eyebrow arched and a devilish smirk on his face as his eyes narrowed on sight of the shell. "What's this?" He asked teasingly. "Some kind of beautiful shell, I see. Who gave it to you? A girl?"

"That's not funny!" The younger Naga fumed. "Give it back!" The dark blue one attempted to reach for the shell, but the older Naga held it above his head in a joking way. He attempted to swim around the older Naga, but he just turned with him.

"Why don't you tell me, huh?" The black haired one asked.

"Come on, Thanatos! Give it back!" The little blue Naga yelled in irritation.

"Who's the lucky girl?" Thanatos taunted.

"There's no girl…" The white haired boy said to him.

Thanatos arched an eyebrow. "A boy then?" He asked casually.

This made the smaller Naga fume with even more anger; smoke could be seen coming from his ears and a vein was making its way through on his forehead. "WHAT!?"

"Oh, then it was a girl."

The smaller Naga sighed in defeat. "It was my friend, Lorka."

The black haired Naga froze in position. "Lorka?"

The smaller male swam up quickly and grabbed the shell, doing a flip through the water as he clutched it protectively to himself. The older Naga looked over his shoulder.

"It's truly touching what you'd go through for someone you love, dear little brother," he said.

"I don't love her!" His brother denied. "We're just friends."

"That's what you say but is it the truth?" Thanatos continued to interrogate.

"Yes, as a matter a fact it is," the dark blue one replied sternly.

Green eyes closed as the ever-smug look still hung about his features. "Dear little brother, you actually expect me to believe this theory?"

"I'm telling you big brother. It's the truth. What? Are you jealous because you don't have one?"

Thanatos looked dumbfounded for a few moments by his brother's remark, but soon snapped out of it and faded back into the close eyed smug expression he had before. "Jealous? Please. You're both young Nagas. I'm hardly into your girlfriend."

"I hope not. She's as old as me."

The elder Naga wrinkled his face in disgust at such a thought. "I'm far above ten year olds."

"You think it's funny now, but wait when you have a girlfriend," his brother waved his shell around in a ranting tone.

Thanatos again wore a temporary thunderstruck expression before readjusting his face to keep his façade, then laughing as if he had heard a truly hilarious joke. "What? You've got to be kidding, right? You're too soft, Thelios. I'm never going to get a girlfriend. They just bog you down. I'm single and loving it and no one's going to change that," he turned sharply, facing upwards towards the water's surface. "See you around Thelios, I'm going to sunbathe on the shore."

"Okay, watch out for the hunters!" Thelios warned from below as his brother swam off.

Stopping in mid swim, he turned around and shouted back to him. "Hey, no sweat. I know about the hunters," he waved. "See ya, kid," with that final statement, he disappeared into the light above.

Thelios sighed to himself, "and my parents worry about me being wild and never settling down."

Above, Thanatos surfaced and threw his head back, allowing his gills to take in some fresh air from the surface. Emerald eyes scanned the beach.

'Ah, the surface world. Dangerous, yet thrilling and mysterious.' He thought, before speaking. "Too bad the only news I ever get of this place is all bad news," he sighed in exasperation. "Isn't there anything good about this place?" He huffed as he pulled himself onto the beach to lie down on his back and begin sun bathing. "Guess I'll never know…" Thanatos replied with a tired air to his voice, and then he yawned, putting a hand over his mouth. "I'm kind of tired anyway. Guess I'll take a nap…" He murmured before drifting off to sleep, letting the sun bathe him with its warm rays.

XI.

The black haired girl silently walked down the beach, looking at the various sea shells lying around and examining everything around her. She had never been to the beach, and she had wanted these mental images to sink in, in case she wasn't able to come back in a while. After a time of walking away from the water, she decided to get close enough to let it touch her. The girl walked through the wet sand to get closer to the shore line. She could feel wet sand squish between her toes as she stepped nearer and nearer the water.

When the water rushed up the shoreline, consuming her feet with the cold and wet sensation, she let out an 'oh' in surprise at the feeling and drew back.

"Cold," she finally said her voice weak from not talking much to anyone.

The girl stood in her spot for a while, motionless and silent, her pale blue eyes were observing her reflection in the water. A deep frown plastered itself to pale rose lips as she put her hand on the ripped off seem of her periwinkle dress. A flashback of her assailant ripping the arm off of her dress ran through her mind, a memento of what happened only moments ago.

'I don't want to go back…' She thought to herself in dismay as she looked down the shoreline, spotting what looked like a drowned man lying in the sand.

"Huh? There's a man lying on the beach. I wonder if he's okay," the black haired girl said quietly as she ran over to the lounging Naga.

XI.

A dark shadow fell over the male's face and shoulders, sensing that someone or something was there, he slowly opened his green eyes, and then they shot the rest of the way open. Pale blue eyes widened.

The Naga got on his hands, drawing back like a predator, his face marred with feral anger as he drew his fangs and hissed like a snake, his forked tongue darting out and playing with the air venomously.

This made the girl stumble back and fall on her bottom in the sand. Fear ran through her body as her little heart beat rapidly within its confines. She balled her hand into a fist and drew it to her heart.

"Who are you?" Thanatos asked venomously.

"My name is Koetsu Manami…I-I'm sorry sir," the girl, now addressed as Manami spoke shyly.

"Huh?" The Naga looked confused, his snake tongue still hanging out for a few minutes before he spoke. "You're sorry?"

"Yes…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to scare you…" The girl swiftly turned her head away, not feeling worthy to look at him for the moment.

Green eyes blinked. "You're just a girl. How old are you?"

"Sixteen, but I don't look it," Manami admitted.

"Sixteen?" Thanatos managed to recover from the shock and pull his façade back together. "You look like you're twelve dressed in those clothes," he noted that her periwinkle dress looked more like a little girl's Easter dress than a sixteen year old's dress at all.

"I don't really try to stand out. I'm not that pretty."

"I forgot to introduce myself," the Naga smirked. "I'm Thanatos."

"Thanatos? That's a weird name," the girl mused.

"I don't think Manami is a common name, especially where I come from."

"Where you come from?" She cocked her head in interest.

"I'm not exactly human, you know," Thanatos arched an eyebrow.

Manami blinked. "Oh." She looked down at his tail. "Um…" She blushed and put a finger to her lips. "I didn't notice that before…Sorry."

"You're not too bright are you?" The Naga huffed in irritation.

"Huh?" The girl's head snapped back up.

A clawed hand pointed to horns. "These aren't a common sight you know. Don't you get out?"

Blue eyes looked back down to the sand below. "No…I don't…Sorry."

A slight flicker of amusement crossed green eyes. "You seem a little sad about this."

"My parents don't allow me to be out by myself."

"There are usually tons of children on the beach," Thanatos put his hand down from its pointing position. "So, why aren't you allowed out? Sick or something?"

"No…I really should go," Manami began to rise and turn to leave, but her arm was grabbed by the strange being, causing a small gasp to be emitted from her mouth.

"Wait," Thanatos almost ordered. His tone commanding.

She winced at his voice, which was a powerful and firm one with underlying tones of sly and slightly wicked nature.

Upon grabbing her arm, he looked down to his clawed hand, which sat by a dark bruise and several cuts on her arm. "You're hurt."

A sad smile came from pink lips. "It's nothing. Really."

He turned her around. "You have these wounds all over your body."

"I just fell is all. Don't worry about me," Manami lied. She didn't want to get anyone involved in her situation. If she did that, then she would have ended up being beaten worse, or something much more sinister that she didn't want to think about.

"It doesn't add up. There's something seriously wrong here," Thanatos said under his breath, but kept the words low enough so that only himself could hear. This girl acted far too nervous around him for him to believe her weak excuse for a story.

"Nothing is wrong," Tthe girl continued to tell the Naga sweet lies, seeming innocent in tone. "Besides, I thought you were worried about people seeing you. You seemed really worried about me finding you."

"I usually don't run into humans, and when I do it's never a good thing. You're the only one I've met so far that isn't afraid of me. Why?"

"You didn't look like you would hurt me. I mean, you looked like someone who washed up on the shore. It was like you drowned or something. I went to check and see if you were alright."

The Naga blinked in confusion as a tingling yet sickening sensation rose in his chest at the thought of someone being close to him. "You actually care about me?" Thanatos let a small amount of kindness seep out. Too much for his taste.

"Why wouldn't I? You look nice," she smiled.

"Kid, you don't know what you're dealing with," the male warned, attempting to push her away with cold words.

She only cocked her head in response.

"I've got a reputation to uphold. So don't think I'm going soft on you for one minute," his features turned unyielding.

"Oh, I don't."

"Hmpf," he crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air.

"I don't really want anything from you," Manami said.

Thanatos turned his head, his features turning softer. "Don't want anything from me? What? Am I weird to you or something?"

"No, not at all," she responded quaintly. "I think you're really pretty."

"Pretty?" He arched a dark eyebrow. Thanatos hadn't even been called handsome, much less pretty. He didn't know how to take that comment.

"Yeah," she smiled as she walked over to him cautiously.

The Naga drew back a little as the black haired girl ran a hand over his flaps of material. "Your clothes are nice; you wear a lot of jewels and gold."

Tiny hands reach up to either side of his face and ran their fingers through silken jet black locks. Thanatos nearly flinched as his cheeks were tinted with a light and almost unnoticeable shade of blush.

"Your hair feels nice," the girl leaned forward, but it was too far and she began to fall into the Naga, he caught her before her body could touch his and held her at a distance.

"Hey kid," He warned. "Don't get too friendly."

"Sorry…" The girl looked sad as she began to turn away, but her hand was caught once again, making her head snap up. "Huh?" She said lightly with fear laced in her voice and winced at the touch.

"No…It's fine," she could hear a voice, commanding but not frightening. "Stay."

"Why?" Her unsteady voice questioned.

"Because…" The blush was still painted on his cheeks. "No female, my race or otherwise has given me such a compliment."

"Why?" The question still came.

"Because…Well…" He said awkwardly. "I don't treat people as I should."

After that unstable sentence was uttered, Thanatos could see that blue eyes were staring at him. He looked back at these light blue eyes, which almost looked like glass mirrors, but seemed to have the power to bore into his soul and read his emotions. This made him nervous, to know that someone seemed to read him so well and had not known him for more than an hour.

"Okay! So I'm a jerk! But I've got my reasons!" He admitted, feeling as if he'd go crazy if she kept staring at him like that.

"Can I touch your scales?" She asked calmly, not questioning any of it.

"What?" Thanatos didn't get her train of logic.

"If you don't mind. If you do, then I won't."

"Why would you want to do something like that?" The dark haired man asked in his trademark devious and cold tone.

"Because…" Manami said shyly. "I think they're pretty."

"Huh?

"They are red, but they shine white, silver, purples and yellows. They have every color but blue and green. They look like glass."

"Sure," he said nonchalantly, shrugging as if he could care less. "I don't see what it would hurt."

Manami walked into the water, feeling the cold surround her legs as she waded deeper and deeper in until she reached a portion of his tail that curved above the water. She sank to her knees, letting her periwinkle dress float about her and ignoring the stinging of the salt water in her wounds as she ran her hands smoothly over Thanatos' scales.

Green eyes looked at her in contemplation. 'What's up with this kid? She comes up here with bruises and cuts…From a fall? Well maybe she did…I mean…Should I be so skeptical as to question something I really know nothing about? Whoever she is, she seems to like me. She called me…pretty. Usually I get called a jerk or worse. Hmmm…Maybe…if she takes an interesting in me, I'll get something I want. I can get knowledge of the human world. This way I won't have to go onto the land and risk getting caught by the Naga Hunters. Yes…This will be just as planned.'

He smiled maliciously to himself as his plan of action began to work itself within the depths of his mind, causing the cog wheels to turn in repetition.

"Wow…" Manami looked at reflection in his red scales. "And what lovely fins," a small hand ran itself across the base of his spiny fins, but his tail moved away, robbing the hand of its touch.

"Not a good idea, kid. Unless you want to get stabbed."

"Oh no…Not at all," Manami shook her head.

"Can you come back to this spot tomorrow?" Thanatos was serious.

"I might be able to. I hope you won't be mad if I don't."

"Just try, alright."

She nodded. "I'll try."

He gave her a false grin. "Alright then. Night or day?"

"I think I can sneak out at night," Manami replied.

"That would be good for me as well," the Naga agreed, knowing that everyone would be asleep and no one would question him.

"Good. I just hope I don't get in trouble."

"I'm sure your parents won't mind."

Manami looked sad for a few moments, before responding. "No…Of course not…"

A red, snake-like tail wrapped around her snugly, pulling her up to his face.

"Manami huh?" He questioned, looking regally down on her.

She nodded.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes?"

"Can you teach me about the humans?"

"About the humans? I thought you didn't like humans," she told him.

"Oh you've got it all wrong. There's more to your kind then just those who hunt creatures of the deep, right?" He lied.

"Yes, there are all kinds," she beamed.

"I would like to learn about them," Thanatos replied with false interest. 'I sure would…So I can destroy the hunters for what they've done to me.'

"I'd certainly like to know about them."

"I'll tell you about them."

"Especially the hunters," Thanatos noted.

"Huh?" Manami was confused. "Why them? Don't you hate them?"

"I'd like to know what I should be aware of. I don't want to end up dead," he noted. "You wouldn't want me to die…" He neared her face at a dangerously close distance. "Would you?"

"No...I like you."

"Like me?" Thanatos still wasn't used to that compliment.

"Yes," she smiled desolately. "I like you."

Green eyes stared at her for a few moments, and yet the smile never waived under his skeptical gaze.

'This will be easy…Almost pathetically so.'

"I'll help out all I can."

"Good then," Thanatos stated. "I'll be at the short at midnight."

Manami nodded in affirmative. "Is there anything you want me to bring?"

"Nothing as of yet. Just bring yourself."

TBC