Stranded

Hello everyone! This is my first story, I hope you all enjoy it. I'll admit that this first chapter isn't anything amazing, I always find it hard to write the first of anything simply because you need to go into background information and describe everything, which isn't one of my strongest points. It's also relatively short, but I promise, chapter 2 is where it will pick up :)

I'm going to start off with an M rating just to make things easier and to be safe. In later chapters there will most certainly be strong sexual content, so beware if you're underage.

This story is going to be a Phantom of the Opera tale with some elements of The Little Mermaid, so it's obviously AU. The idea was inspired by one of my favorite stories, Phantom's Beauty by Lady Rosesong (an excellent read, check it out!), which is also a cross between Phantom and a Disney story.

Chapter 1

"I appreciate you all coming here, especially on such short notice." The man speaking cleared his throat, glancing out over everyone that had gathered in the grand hall in the center of the kingdom. He was obviously an aging man, for his face was wrinkled, his hair graying. However, where there should have been old and frail legs, was instead a powerful, navy blue tail.

In fact, everyone in the room he was in possessed such a tail, although colors and sizes differed greatly from person to person. These were the famous merpeople, the ones that sailors told tails about. No one believed such tails, except perhaps die-hard sailors, but the stories were infamous nonetheless.

"My watchers have just informed me that a ship is heading this way." A murmur spread through the crowd- of both excitement, and fear. In the back corner of the room, a small head popped up, and what was once boredom in her eyes was replaced with extreme interest.

"While I have made clear that all of you must stay away from the surface all the time, I must stress the importance of staying hidden now." The king's eyes- for he was clearly the king of these people, what with the crown and his powerful aura- drifted to that same back corner of the room, watching the small girl there with interest. "All I am asking is that everyone stay clear of the surface for these few weeks. If one person, just one person is spotted, then our entire kingdom is in danger. We all know that we are one of the last merpeople colonies, and we must protect ourselves as best as we can."

The meeting concluded after a few questions. The figure that had been hidden away in the corner of the room dashed to get away from the great hall quickly, swimming to the outskirts of the kingdom.

She had been right… the thing she had spotted on the horizon was a ship! Her father had clearly stated that no one was to go to the surface, ever, but Christine was not one to follow this rule. She was fascinated by the dry sand on the beach of the nearby deserted island, and she loved to lay out on one of the rocks and bathe in the sun.

Everyone in the kingdom knew of humans, but almost none of them had actually seen any. That, unfortunately, included Christine. As much as she wished that she could see a human, even speak to a human, she had never even seen a ship on the horizon.

Until a few days ago.

And although her father had just made an announcement to stay away from the surface, Christine found her tail moving gracefully through the water, pushing her up towards the sky.

Christine Daae was the only daughter of the king and queen of the merpeople, therefore making her princess, and the only chance of carrying on the noble line. Her parents had wanted more children, however, one day Christine's mother had been near the surface and had been spotted and killed by humans. Her father's heart had never completely recovered from the act and he began hating humans even more than he had before, forbidding anyone from going to the surface, ever.

That never stopped Christine, though. She was just as curious as her mother had been, always hoping for a glance of a ship, or even better, a glance at a human.

She looked extremely like her mother. She had deep brown hair that hung down to where her tail began at her lower back, and that remained in tight curls all the time. Her eyes were big and a startling blue color. At times, she found that her father could not look at her because of the resemblance to her mother. It was at times like that when Christine would head to the surface, to get away from everyone and try to stop her heart from missing her mother so much.

Her chest was covered by two shells that were big enough to cover herself decently, although unlike humans, nudity was not something merpeople worried about. They were much more laid back and just enjoyed spending time with one another and around the beauties of the sea.

However, unlike all of the other merpeople, the nobles possessed a special skill. If they wanted and needed to, they could replace their tales with legs, effectively turning themselves into a human. It was a trait they had so that if their kingdom was ever in danger, they could grow legs and travel across land to another sea, and begin a new kingdom. While they could switch between being human and being a merperson, neither Christine nor her father had done it. Christine knew that the first time you switched was extremely painful, and that it could sometimes be difficult to switch back. So, as much as she desired to see a human, she would rather see another one and not herself as a human.

As Christine's head neared the surface and finally popped out of the water, she gasped. The ship was much closer now. Before it had been just a dot on the horizon, but now she could see the colors of the sails. As she reluctantly turned away from the ship to glance about half a mile behind her at the deserted island, she could only assume one thing. The men on the ship were going to try to get off at this island, clearly thinking it to be inhabited and full of supplies.

It may not be their intent, but Christine hoped it was. She could easily hide behind one of the rocks near the edge of the island and spy on the humans. She was sure that one glance at them would quench her desire to see one, and that perhaps she would be able to follow her father's orders better.

"How long have we been on this damn ship? Three months? Did the captain not say that we would be on the ship for perhaps two months at the most?" Erik Destler ran his hand over the good side of his face, letting out a big sigh. "It's been too long since I've had a good woman on her knees in front of me…"

The man beside him chuckled and nodded. "Aye, me too, lad. But you can barely make out the outline of that island up ahead… surely there will be plenty of woman there willing to spread their legs for you."

Erik sighed again, turning away from the edge of the ship and walking towards the center, beginning to climb to the crow nest. "I hope so. And when I find a good woman, she's not leaving my bed until we set sail again."

Again, the man's best friend on the ship chuckled. "I hear ya. Hopefully we should be down to Africa soon to pick up those supplies and all that gold, and then we'll be back on our way to New York."

Erik said nothing in return, simply nodded, and continued on his way up the net to the lookout. He didn't doubt the fact that he would be able to get a woman in his arms once he reached this island- after all, he knew that the visible side of his face was extremely handsome. And if they were still reluctant, Erik had plenty of tricks up his sleeve that would make woman scream in pleasure. Yes, he was looking forward to docking.

The wind whipped across his face, blowing his black hair about, giving it a tussled look. The stark white mask that covered one half of his face stayed firmly in place, for it was designed to stay firmly in place against his face. As he reached the top of the net and climbed into the crow's nest, bright green eyes surveyed the horizon and the upcoming island. He believed he saw some splashing near the rocks that was close to the island, but he passed it off as a diving bird or some fish that had gotten too close to the surface.

Arriving at the island could not come soon enough.