Once upon a mermaid

Summary: AU Shizuo is a soldier that gets deployed to one of the richest cities in the kingdom. While there, he starts hearing weird legends about dangerous creatures that roam the sea. Being who he is, of course he will not let himself be easily wallowed by the town superstitions. But what will happen when suddenly faced by this not-so-imaginary siren? Who is he and what is he searching for? Shizaya. Drama and Romance. T for sexual references and swearing.

Author's Note: Hey there minna! This is my first attempt at a DRRR! Story. I must warn you! The characters may be OoC. This plot bunny was born from one of my dreams and I couldn't stop thinking about it until I got it out of my head. Hopefully, it will not have too many chapters. Also, rating may go up if I deem it necessary, but must likely will remain T

Disclaimer: I don't own DRRR! nor any of its characters. This was created just for entertainment. Now, on to the story!

Chapter 1 v.2

Shizuo's POV

"Sir… Sir! Wake up, sir!" A rough and annoyed voice stirred me up from my sleep.

A groan passed through my lips as my consciousness slowly started to come back from the slumber realm. I became aware that the constant rocking of the car that lulled me to sleep in the first place had stopped. I stretched my limbs as far as I could in the reduced space and opened my eyes to regard the man in front of me. A look of impatience was what received my still dazed gaze.

"Honestly, after a trip in such an irregular path, how could anyone sleep that deep?" The man mumbled to himself, his unkempt mustache bouncing a bit. He turned away from the door of the car and climbed onto the back to get my luggage.

I frowned.

"Get yourself 15 years of sleeping in rock hard militia beds and tell me" I mumbled back, climbing down of the car and finally stretching properly. My back gave a pleasurable crack before I finally faced the town before me.

I must say that all the information about Sagena City that my friends and teachers tried so hard to prepare me with, paled in comparision to the actual thing.

"Big, my ass! This city is fucking HUMONGOUS!" I couldn't stop my jaw from dropping at the sight before me.

Sagena city was considered one of the biggest cities in the kingdom, and it owed its grandeur wholly to the sea that surrounded a good part of it. So logically, it was supposed to be crowded and busy at the sea market. But this was almost ridiculous.

Wherever my eyes darted, there where masses of people bustling around the crammed streets. Sellers, buyers and, in general, ordinary people just trying to navigate their way through the busy market, there were even soldiers doing their rounds added to the mix; the place looked like a total mess!

While my mind was still trying to wrap around the idea that all these people lived like this every day, so this must have been a NORMAL morning, my feet almost get run over by another ambulant seller that was trying to move his whole cart to an seemingly better spot. I barely got the chance to move a few steps away just in time.

Before my temper even flared up at the plain rudeness of the seller, I heard a slight chuckle beside me. "First time in Sagena, kid?" I turned to my left to see the same car driver that hauled me all the way to this God Forsaken city, looking at me from below with an arrogant gaze. I couldn't see it very well, but the man must've had a satisfied smile below that curtain of face hair. "Easily impressed guys like you get eaten by this city everyday. If I were you, I'll be careful".

I frowned again, forgetting my initial irritation at the seller and feeling how it started to get directed at the short man. "Cocky bastard" I murmured under my breath. I picked up my luggage from the floor and stood up to see the guy already on top of the driver seat, commanding the horses to get back on the move. The man turned back one last time.

"With any luck, you will not be eaten by a siren before you get a map!" He laughed at his own joke, striking the whip at the beasts one more time and disappearing from my sight and into the sea of buildings.

I stood there rooted for a minute, wondering what the obviously sadistic little man could have meant by that. I released an exasperated sigh before turning on my heels again to face the metropolis and starting the long walk to the military base.

"Fuck, I need a smoke".

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

By the time I arrived at the base, it was already past midday. After being scolded for my tardiness, I was guided to the room that was going to be mine. I was gladly surprised when I found out that the guy that shared the room with me was one of my senior classmates. His name was Tom. He was a great guy. Good company because he liked to talk on and on without waiting for an extensive response on my part, and a great friend because he could read my mood with just one glance and no further questions would be asked. We had established a good camaraderie during the military training.

I also made others not so worthy-of-mention friends within the base. There was this guy, Kadota, whose priority wasn't peering into the personal lives of others. I quickly sympathized with him.

There was as well the base's doctor, an obsessed and perverted guy by the name of Shinra. I would have already strangled the guy just to shut him up if only he weren't the only medical specialist at hand.

Finally, there was the base's nurse. She was a fragile-looking woman that couldn't speak because of some unknown reason. But heed me when I say fragile-LOOKING, because there was nothing fragile about Celty. I remember that one time during one of the morning announcements; one of the newbies was gloating about a date that apparently went just too well and didn't spare sharing any detail about it with his comrades. The praises he received went to his head pretty quickly. When Celty appeared before the announcements started, the fool made the mistake to offer Celty the "night of her life if she was willing". With as much as a little smile on her face, she approached the guy and I swear I had never seen a fully clad soldier flying such a long distance through the air. Not at least when it wasn't caused by me.

All in all, the first bad impression that I got from the city on my first day here started to fade away with my life as a soldier. But there was something that was still bothering me about that first day, and I only remembered about it until weeks later.

I was having lunch with Tom at the Dining Hall; there weren't many others beside us and the cooks. We were enjoying a quiet meal when a word from a nearby conversation caught my attention.

"-Siren's curse! There is no other explanation!" It came from the high pitched murmur of one of the women in the kitchen.

My eyes widened with recognition when I heard the word again. "Siren? That's what that guy said that time too…" I strained my ears to try and keep hearing the rest of the conversation.

"Hush!" Another woman from the same group exclaimed in a loud murmur. "If you keep repeating it, a siren will really come and snatch your son!"

The first woman tried to gulp back a sob. "What am I supposed to do? A siren must have already cursed him!" The voice was starting to crack at the edges, becoming louder with despair. "His fever is not going down and I've already tried everything! It has to be a siren's curse!" She spat the last words with venom in her voice despite the obvious tremble on it.

"I'm telling you to stop saying that! If it's really a siren's curse, you're only making it worse by repeating it!" I couldn't keep hearing the conversation because a hand was suddenly waved in front of me. I snapped back to face Tom.

"What?" I asked a little bit annoyed that my eavesdropping was suddenly interrupted.

"You aren't eating your food anymore, and you had a face like you suddenly chewed on eggshells, you okay?" Tom asked, genuine concern latched on his tone.

I immediately calmed down. "Yeah, it's nothing" I responded, disregarding the topic and returning to my food.

Tom watched me for a few more seconds before dropping the issue and resuming his meal. We ate in silence before an idea occurred to me.

"What is a siren?" I asked, seemingly out of the blue.

Tom snapped his eyes at me and the food that was on its way to his mouth fell from his fork and onto the table.

"What?" Tom looked flabbergasted.

"Siren" I repeated without changing my expression "What is that?"

Tom looked at me for a second, suddenly looking like I was trying to pull a prank on him. But his expression went back to incredulous when he noticed that I wasn't joking. "Are you telling me that you came all the way here to Sagena without knowing anything about the sirens?" His tone had gone up a few decibels, reflecting the emotion on his face.

I blushed a little at the comment, suddenly noticing that the food spilled on the table was more interesting that the utter disbelief in my companion's face. "Well… It's not like I decided to be sent here by my own free will… Besides, I've always hated history" I murmured, trying to defend myself.

A minute passed in tense silence.

I dared a sideways glance back at Tom, only to find him trying to contain his laughter.

A vein popped out in my head.

I closed my eyes, frustrated and embarrassed about the whole situation. I stood up and grabbed my dishes, making a turn to leave.

"Ah! No, Shizuo! Wait!" Tom rushed, not being able to contain the amusement on his tone. He grabbed me by the end of my shirt while I was leaving. "Forgive me! I was just… Shocked! That's all! I wasn't laughing at you!" I turned around to assess his expression. Even with the smile still plastered in his face, I could tell that he didn't mean to mock me. I sighed and caressed my temple before answering.

"Okay, care to explain me now?"

"Uh sure, but I think it would be better if we got out of here first" Tom answered, giving the room a glance before setting his eyes back on me.

I did the same and I could see that the women that were speaking before were now glancing our way with distrustful eyes. I turned back to Tom and nodded my response, quickly grabbing our dishes and setting them on the sink in our way out.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Tom guided me through the town all the way up to the beach surrounding a good two-thirds of the city border. No wonder the city owed its prosperity to the sea.

"So," Tom started, clearing his throat after an especially salty breeze passed between us. "What do you know about sirens?"

"Ok, first of all. Are we talking about the same creatures as in the fairy tales?" I couldn't stop the incredulous intonation of my voice. "Like, mermaids living in the sea, with beautiful voices, singing to sailors and making boats sink if you approach them or whatever?"

Tom chuckled at my tone. "Yes, I think we can say we are referring to the same creatures. However…" The tone of his voice suddenly became grim. "I don't think they are as harmless as they seem in your fairy tales"

I remained silent, waiting for him to elaborate on the topic I was so curious about. The beach was long and the sea was at peace, the only sound accompanying our stroll was the sound of the waves and the sand underneath our feet.

"Ok, so…?" I spoke, my anxiety getting the best of me. "What's the difference?"

"The main difference with the ones you know and the ones from Sagena's legends should be that these ones seem to hunt humans" The words sent a strange shiver down my spine.

"Hunt... Humans?" I repeated in disbelief.

"As you heard" he continued. "I've never seen one since I was assigned to this city, whatsoever" Tom shrugged. "But all the citizens seem to have this strange obsession that everything that goes wrong with their lives is the sirens' fault"

"But that's plain stupid!" I exclaimed out loud.

I could have sworn I heard a tiny laugh somewhere behind me. I turned around immediately, but all that greeted me was our footprints in the sand.

"Yeah, you may be right" Tom continued, not noticing my slight distraction from our conversation. "But they are the ones who have lived here for decades. It's not like you can go and tell them that what they believe in is stupid. They must have their reasons to believe in such an improbable thing as the siren's curse"

"Sirens don't even exist in the first place!" I retorted, back into the topic. "How can they believe in such nonsense?"

"I don't know Shizuo, I'm just telling you what has been told to me since I decided to come here" Tom said suddenly sheepish.

"I know. Sorry Tom, I didn't mean to blame it on you. It's just that…" I scratched the back of my head. "Ever since I came here I've been hearing this shit about sirens and curses so..." I apologized.

"No harm done!" Tom said with a smile. "You can believe whatever you feel like, anyways"

"Do you believe in it?" I asked with curiosity in my voice.

"Well! As I was telling you, these people have been living here for far longer than I have, they must have their reasons. As for me…" He suddenly turned around, expression serious. "It's not like I blame all the bad things in my life to them, but you will never see me taking a swim in this beach!"

I laughed at the serious tone that Tom was using.

"That's fair, I think" I responded with a smile of my own.

"No, seriously!" Tom whined, feigning terror. "One of the very first stories they told me when I got here was that these sirens look like the most beautiful creatures in the world, but they can cut your throat open with only their nails if you let your guard down!" And he feigned trembles run all over his body as he kept telling me more of these sirens' creepy stories.

Just before leaving the beach, I turned around one last time and faced nothingness once more.

"What's up?" Chirped Tom in a better mood than before.

"What-. No, it's nothing" I responded quickly, going back to town "I know I heard someone whisper 'Interesting…'"

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

OtPr: Awww! This is the first chapter! How was it? You liked it? Hated it? Whatever feel free to leave your comment! And~ If you feel that I have to improve anything, or see an error in my grammar, please be a dear and let me know! Next chappy should be up next week! Reviews make me very happy! Until next time!