First and for most, I greatly apologize for this being late and a repost. For some reason, as I was editing the post, errors were popping up, so I had to completely delete it and start over. Please enjoy the Azul faithfulness.

Link to original post: https://old.reddit.com/r/TwistedWonderland/comments/xe5lzy/twstober_prompt/

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Princess Aria Oceana of the Coral Sea Kingdom watched her maids handpick the clothes that she was going to be wearing on her trip to Coral Sea West Castle, where her uncles lived with their wives and their own children. She hadn’t connected with her cousins in years since the accident, and even while still in her rehabilitation phase of returning to the royal line, she wasn’t sure that she had any business attending this family affair in the first place.

“Rielle, do we have to go to this family reunion?” whined Aria. “Most of them probably think I’m still dead anyway, so why bother?”

“You are my sister and a member of the royal family. Even if there are ill feelings, you will be respected. We are rebuilding this family, piece by piece, and you are one of the most crucial pieces of all.”

“Ah, okay, so I’ll be subjected to mental torture.”

“Aria, please…”

The princess deeply sighed. Ever since she and her brother reunited, he only asked to reconnect with his sister and nothing more. If this reunion was the way to do that, she wasn’t going to go back on her word. “I’ll go, but on one condition. I want Azul to come, too.”

“I do not see any issue with that just as long as he is free to come.”

“I will do the calling then,” Aria replied, finally grinning some.

​

Aria was very fortunate that Azul Ashengrotto had an open slot to come to the family reunion with her as Aria’s plus one. Not only her plus one, but he was going to be a part of the family soon as they were both of marrying age, so even Rielle came to realize that this would be the perfect opportunity to introduce them both to the rest of the family.

The horse-drawn carriage rode its way over hills and down plateaus all the way to West Castle. King Rielle, Princess Aria, and future Consort Azul were enjoying the green sights. Azul told Rielle that it was an honor to be invited to the event and that it would be a night to treasure.

“It will absolutely be a delight to have you join us, Azul,” the king said. “Aria has been looking the utmost forward to it.”

Aria flicked her fan open. “Dear brother, I am grown enough that I don’t need you to speak for me,” she clarified.

“Come now, sister, would you rather have me be overbearing?”

“Aria, let us have a pleasurable evening,” said Azul. He took her free hand and kissed the top of it. “For me to meet the rest of your relatives is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

“Once we are married, it’ll be a hundred or more in a lifetime, my dear octo-love. Speaking of which, they don’t know about your true form. Fear not, my brother and I will not say anything.”

“I was confident that you would never without my permission, and I am thankful for it.”

“I will give you a fair warning, Azul,” said the King. “It would be best to let them know of it sooner rather than later. However, we are respectful in not doing the work for you.”

The closer the carriage got to West Castle, the uneasy Aria was becoming. Azul had noticed the uneasiness when he boarded the carriage with her, and he thought it was appropriate to ask her when they got out of the vehicle and King Rielle was out of sight. He supported his princess by escorting her into the castle, arm in arm.

“There is something you need to know before we go into the ballroom,” she said.

“And that is?” Azul asked.

“My father’s siblings are all brothers, as you know.”

“Right.”

“But all of my cousins, their children, are all female. Hilarious genetics I would think.”

“You make it appear that’s an issue.”

“It’s not in hindsight; it’s just…”

“Aria…” Azul caressed her cheek. “Rest assured that whatever worry you have, it will pass without any occurrence at all.”

Aria lowered her fan, presenting a smile. It was a small one, but it was a smile nonetheless.

The ballroom was a grand affair for the Oceana royal family. The symbol of affluence stood as the giant aquarium tank at the left side of the room. Every two seconds, it would change colors, interchanging the typical rainbow colors everyone was familiar with. The guests, in which Azul assumed was to be the rest of the Oceana family tree, were busy conversing about things that the couple could care less about. Those useless ramblings ceased at the arrival of King Rielle Oceana.

Aria and Rielle’s aunties swarmed the King as if they were flies that had spotted abandoned picnic food on their neverending skytrip. Claustrophobic, Rielle tried to settle his uncles’ wives down by acknowledging everyone’s presence and asking how their trips were to West Castle. The King’s familiar speaking skills gave Aria and Azul the chance to escape to a more open area of the ballroom.

“So far, your brother is the most popular person in the Castle,” Azul said. “Granted, his position made this outcome happen, but nevertheless, that spares you from the crowd.”

“I suppose that is a blessing,” she responded, muttering.

Not too soon later, Aria heard someone call out her name. She and Azul both turned to be greeted by another couple, which consisted of a tall woman with blue and silver hair and a taller man with sea green hair. Aria squinted (as if that would’ve done anything), and how matter how she looked at her, the woman wasn’t easily recognizable. She was about to ask for the woman’s name until Aria noticed the moon pendant dangling around the woman’s neck.

“Cousin Aquatica?” she asked, gasping. Aria was relieved that it was her. Out of all of her uncles’ children, Aquatica was the eldest, she was Aria’s favorite cousin. Despite only being two years older, Aquatica had always been the mature granddaughter of King Eron. During the grandchildren gatherings, she was always the one to bring situations to order, especially if fights were to occur among the girls (Rielle was too “busy” to hang around with the girls). Aquatica was also the one to teach Aria everything she knew about sea fashion.

“Oh my gosh, you do remember me!” Aquatica pulled Aria into a hug as if both of their lives depended on it. Aria was more than relieved to know that her favorite cousin still cared about her. “You have no idea how much I missed you! So much has happened since I last saw you.” To prove that, she gestured to the man standing next to her. “This is Oilios. We were married last year.”

The husband bowed before the King’s sister. “I’ve been told so much about you, Your Highness. It’s an honor to finally get the chance to meet you in person.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Aria replied, trying to curtsy in return.

“Oh, Aria, please don’t stress yourself.”

So Aquatica was aware of her bad leg. Aria figured that would’ve been the case. “I’m fine. Really, I am. Believe me when I say it was worse years ago.” She then waved to Azul. “This is my fiancé, Azul.”

Aquatica’s eyes beamed. “Finally! We add another A-name to the family. You’re going to fit perfectly with us.”

“Princess Aquatica…” Azul deeply bowed to her. “It is an honor to make your acquaintance.”

She blushed. “My, my, what a gentleman. Aria Oceana, you are the luckiest mermaid in the entire Coral Sea Kingdom.”

Aria blushed, too. “I guess I am.”

Azul kissed the side of her head. “Don’t be so modest, Aria. You are the Princess Royal after all.”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Aquatica cupped Aria’s hands in hers. “My dad has been urging me to come and find you. He really wants to see you.”

Aria’s eyes widened. “Does he really? Does Uncle Bai want to see me?”

“Of course. He hasn’t seen you since you were thirteen years old. What uncle doesn’t want to see his niece?”

“I just got here…” Her face began to pink, so she took out her fan and flipped it open to cover the lower half of her head. “I didn’t even eat yet, so…”

Azul massaged her upper back. “You go see your uncle, darling. I will get you something to eat and drink in the meantime.”

Aria wanted to ask if Azul was sure, but looking into his assuring eyes, she nodded and agreed to join her cousin and cousin-in-law. He told her that it would only be for a few minutes, and Azul made his way to the banquet table.

He organized Aria’s dinner plate with freshly seared chicken, roasted broccoli, and a spoonful of white rice. This should be enough for the first plate, he assumed. Before going to sit down, he prepared a plate of the same thing and poured two glasses of water for each of them. Azul found an empty table with set utensils and organized Aria’s spot for when she would come back. He was content with merfolk watching for the next few minutes, but he also wondered how Aria’s interaction with her uncle was going.

“Excuse me?” a fluttery voice rang.

Azul side-eyed to the left as he sipped his water. There stood a younger girl with starry purple hair and green eyes. Perhaps she’s another cousin, Azul thought. She also looks as if she hasn’t passed middle school yet. He placed the water glass back onto the table and turned in his seat. “Hello there. Lovely evening, is it not?” he politely said.

“It is,” she replied. “Say, were you invited here alone?”

“Is someone asking?”

The young lass chuckled. “I am.”

Azul cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “If I said, yes, how would you respond?”

“What’s to respond? A too handsome stranger shouldn’t be alone or with anyone less than worthy of your time.”

“Oh? Is that right?”

“Do you always ask questions?”

“It depends on what the statement given to me is. Who might you be that’s conversing with me.”

The girl curtsied and answered, “Harmonia Oceania, daughter of Prince Aqour and Sapphire of West Castle.”

“It is an honor to be invited to your father’s palace.” Azul slightly bowed, face fully in Harmonia’s direction.

“As you should. West Castle is the most glorious of all of Coral Sea’s palaces.”

“So I’ve read. Your aquarium is nothing I’ve seen on land before.”

“That’s because it is nothing that land dwellers have ever seen before. Only the lucky merfolk get to witness it.”

“Consider me lucky then. Do you have a favorite fish in the tank?”

“If you were to dive in, I definitely do.”

Azul immediately smirked.

“What’s so funny?”

“Funny? Funny?” Azul cleared his throat again, and his eyes sank down. “It has become clear to me that you have no idea who I actually am.”

“Excuse me?” Harmonia gritted her teeth at the statement.

“My name is Azul Ashengrotto, fiancé to Princess Aria Oceana, future Prince Consort of the Coral Sea. Emphasis on the word fiancé. That word means that I am to be married.”

“I know what fiancé means.”

“If you do, why do you have the audacity to approach me as if I’ve been arranged to court you this evening? I haven’t an invitation to do such a thing nor would I accept it if I was given one. Your ignorance of my person is not even the slightest bit amusing considering it was your father who invited his niece to this gathering this evening. You must’ve known that she would bring her betrothed plus one, and you must’ve known that someone’s unmarried partner would make an appearance for you to sneakily steal them away like a sea snake in the night.”

Harmonia’s face paled the more Azul spoke.

Azul cockily smiled, watching her mask melt off her face. “Tell me this…What makes you think that the fiancé of your most famous cousin would ever exchange where his heart lied?”

“Who cares?” she snapped. “You know how deformed that girl is?”

“Deformed?” Azul replied, aghast.

“I haven’t the slightest idea why the common merfolk still have their eyes set on Princess Aria. She limps. She can’t even see out of one eye, and don’t get me started on that scar. I came over to see if you were actually blind or if you were after Cousin Rielle’s position. If you can’t even see how cute I am, it must be the first assumption.

“Oh, we are testing eyesight, I see? How about this? I will offer you a thousand thaumarks right now if you can guess what I actually look like in my true form.”

“Are you serious right now? You’d look the same with a…purple tail maybe? Perhaps ice blue?”

Azul stared at Harmonia, his eyes still as boulders on a windy day. His throat couldn’t handle the silence, for he began to chuckle. That chuckle slowly grew into a cackle. He hunched over, his arm holding his chest to tame his aching lungs. Harmonia felt heat under her skin. Not angry heat, but heat that should be feared. The future Prince Consort cleared his face of laughing tears and regained his composure. “My apologies, dear lady, but your ignorance amuses me to the highest degree.”

Before Harmonia could say another word, Azul casually turned, got out of his seat, and marched his way up the stairs. At first, none of the other party attendees took notice of his departure. It wasn’t until Aria, who she, her uncle, and cousins were returning from their private conversation, spotted Azul climbing over the water tank’s railing when she let the whole room know what was going on.

“Azul, what in the name of the Sea Witch are you doing?” she screamed.

“I beg your pardon, everyone, but there is something that everyone here should know. Some of you may have seen me in my sea form, but there are still some who have not seen what I look like. I assume that most of you will be attending the wedding of me and Aria this upcoming summer, so before I scare everyone on the day of, I would rather show everyone who I really am here in the present. For any distress I will cause anyone here today, I beg for forgiveness now.” Azul pushed himself away from the rail and let his human body fall into the tank, causing the party to scream out of shock.

They were in for a bigger surprise as Azul’s body began to switch from his human form to the sea form he dreaded for many years. Slowly, each of his eight tentacles slithered out to attention. The confused look on Harmonia’s face quickly changed to horror at the sight of the purple and gray octopus mermaid behind the thick glass.

Shaking away the rough sensations, Azul glared Harmonia straight in the eyes and asked, “Do you still want me to yourself? Do you seek me for your selfish pleasure now that you’ve seen what I really am?”

Harmonia couldn’t get a sound out of her before she passed out onto the carpet. Her parents shrieked her name as they ran to her unconscious body.

Azul was done, and he charged for the surface. He coughed the water from his mouth and gagged. It didn’t take him until he spoke underwater when he noticed that it wasn’t salt water in the tank. No wonder there weren’t any usual sea fish in it. No wonder there wasn’t any coral in it. Was it worth it in the end?

As Azul returned to his human form and climbed over the railing once again, he was greeted by a few maids, King Rielle, and Aria with their arms full of thick towels to dry the poor octo-mer.

“You you you you you cuh cuh cuh could hah have warned muh me…ah ah ah about the fruh fruh fresh water,” he stuttered.

“No mermaid is idiotic enough to jump into an above water tank,” King Rielle hissed. “This is not a swimming pool, Azul!”

“What were you thinking?” shrieked Aria.

“I…” Azul’s head was light the more he tried to speak. The maids did their best to stand him up on his two feet, but his muscles were giving out.

“Take Azul to the guest room. He needs to be warmed and dried immediately.”

And he couldn’t remember anything past that.

​

Azul reawoke in what felt like clouds. The sheets that dressed the bed in the guest room was paradise in comparison to the ballroom air. The first thing he did when he opened his eyes was to breathe deeply. It felt odd, like his body was reminding him that he was indeed alive.

He felt someone sitting to his right. He turned to delightfully meet eyes with his beloved. Aria’s face had relief painted all over. She lounged over and hugged her fiancé as if it was the end of the world.

“You scared the living daylights out of me, Azul.”

“I’m sorry, Angelfish. I couldn’t go on without doing that.”

“What was going on? Why did you feel that you had to put yourself at risk like that?”

A pang struck under his forehead. Azul took two deep breaths before he returned to speaking. “It was Princess Harmonia. Your cousin? She wouldn’t get my message about not being interested in breaking off our engagement. Apparently, she didn’t know that I was an octo-mer in the first place.”

“I clearly saw that from her fainting. You nearly knocked out the entire family.”

“Well…” He shimmied in the sheets, pulling his arms out from under. His right hand stroked Aria’s face softly. “It was better to let them know now before they riot on our wedding day, don’t you think?”

“Riot? They didn’t riot at all. In fact, they were worried about you.”

Aria’s response sparked some energy back in Azul’s body. “Is that the truth?”

“Well, Uncle Aqour did ask Rielle if what you did was a prank. He thought that you had some transformation magic to switch bodies or something. When Rielle explained everything, Uncle Aqour was actually very interested. ‘It was about time we added octo mermaids to the line,’ he said.”

“Huh…” The tension released from Azul now. “I wish I could be told that in person.”

“With pleasure.” Aria slid herself off the bed and went to the bedroom door. She opened it, and called for her brother.

King Rielle, now dressed more casually, entered the bedroom, also sighing in relief to see Azul awake and healthy. “Good morning, son.”

With the window shades opened to the pitch black sky, Azul was aware that the greeting was a joke.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better. Please tell me I haven’t slept for a week, your majesty.”

The king chuckled. “No. It’s only a few hours. I sent the maids to fetch you some dinner and tea. I told the others that you may not be back for the rest of the evening, but I would tell them your progress once you woke up.”

“I greatly appreciate your sentiment, your majesty. I’m really sorry for acting a fool this afternoon.”

“There is no need. In fact, my brother was telling me everything about what led up to your decision to embarrass yourself.”

Azul’s heart sank. “Did he?”

“Yes. Harmonia fortunately also woke up from her fainting stupor. His wife was making it clear that a man doesn’t do something so extreme just for sport in front of his future family. She realized how unpleased you were, which meant her daughter did something to upset you. Harmonia confessed to trying to seduce you today, and I have to say, in regards to fighting back her seduction, what you did was incredibly clever.”

Aria giggled. “It was. Aunt Sapphire claimed that you stole the show and made the whole reunion better than it was already going.”

Azul rolled his eyes. Was that going to be his legacy now? The son-in-law who nearly got himself killed in fresh water while in his sea form? Was he going to be the laughing stock Prince Consort?

One of the maids knocked as she was carrying a tray of the aforementioned dinner and tea. “Mister Ashengrotto,” she said. “I’m relieved to see you up and with color in your face.”

“Thank you very much,” Azul replied, regarding both the statement and the delivery of the food.

It took a few to realize that the maid had two teas and two dinner portions. When Aria was setting up the dinner on the bed, Azul took it that she was also not going to return to the ballroom for a while.

“Will that be all, your majesty, or should I inform the cook of another order?”

“Unless Azul has something else to say, it won’t be necessary.”

Azul waved his hand in refusal. The maid curtsied and briefly exited the room.

“Well, now that we got you all settled, I must deliver the good news. Aria, you call me when something happens.”

Aria “yes”ed her brother as he departed from the room as well, the door shutting behind him. She stashed her dinner on the side table and gripped the tea cup in her pale hands. “Alright, now that we’re alone, I think we should talk.”

Azul stuffed a piece of chicken in his mouth and replied, “I figured you’d say that.”

“So the whole reason for you risking your neck was to prove a point?”

“So you’re not mad that some other girl was trying to flirt with me?”

“At you, absolutely not. From how the timeline of events panned out, you clearly had no interest in cheating on me.”

“Well, even if I did, there is no other woman in this world who could compare to you anyway.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Your cousin clearly was interested solely because of how I looked as a human. Based on that and no other information, she assumed I was a normal mermaid just like her. How typical of an assumption. From there, I had to make it clear that if she had any chance of winning my heart over you, she had to meet or surpass your standards. When she fainted from seeing my real form, I knew that there was no other woman in your family or in the world who could trick me away from your love, Aria. It took me so long for me to even tolerate that disgusting body in the first place. How could I ever find myself in the comfort of someone else when my devotion belongs to the one who showed me the light?”

“Azul…” She leaned over and planted a kiss on her beloved forehead. “That was such poetry…”

“That was not my intention. I was speaking the truth and nothing but that. Hopefully after this, the whole world would understand that my heart only belongs to one princess in this world, and then, it would belong to only one queen.”

“Azul…I knew from the start you’d never abandon me like that. Because you are the man who every other has to climb in order to steal my heart. Do you think any other person wants a damaged princess as a wife? Someone who’s blind in one eye and has trouble swimming?”

“If they don’t, they are the foolish ones.”

Aria chuckled. “I suppose I’m still a very lucky unfortunate soul, right?”

“Not unfortunate, Aria. You are special. Neither I nor you should forget that.”