Lucy had heard many legends of mermaids. Her own mother had told her stories of them and years later she would hear traveling merchants spin a few tales. Her father didn't believe in them, in fact he didn't believe in any of magical creatures said to live in Fiore. Not the merfolk or the water horses, not the giants or the manticores, not the sylphs or the phoenixes, not even in the genies and the dragons native tho their city. But her mother believed in them all, so Lucy believed in them too. But believing in something and actually seeing it right in front of you were two completely different experiences

When the princess first saw the mermaid, she was at a complete loss for words and her mind had gone blank. Was she real? Was there really a half woman, half fish, in this river? She first suspected that she had to be imagining things due to being over exposed to the heat. But she could smell the coppery scent of blood in the water and smell does not lie. The mermaid was real. Lucy was seeing real mermaid. One who was every bit as beautiful as she believed a mermaid should be. Delicately fair with a darling frame, and beneath her long dark eye-lashes we're the legendary blue eyes that shone with truth and purity.

"Please, please don't hurt me." Her voice was as cool and fresh as bubbles rising from the ocean. "I meant no harm, I only wanted to see what a human girl looked like."

The fear in her voice and the smell of blood quickly snapped Lucy out of her stunned state and she instantly sought to correct her mistake.

"Oh please forgive me!" She pleaded remorsefully. "I assumed that you were some filthy and perverse man, peeking on me. Here, let me help you."

Lucy stepped into the river and approached the mermaid with slow caution.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to fix your fin."

The maid from the sea didn't know what to think. She had been forbidden to even speak to humans, let alone allow one to touch her. She had also been instructed to never trust a human. That all humans were selfish, hateful, and wicked. That a human would only do her harm and this one already had. On the other hand though, she could see the immediate regret and incredible kindness in this girl's eyes. She sincerely didn't mean to hurt the mermaid and was trying to make up for it.

"You're not going to hurt me?"

"No. I promise." Lucy swore. "I'll just call my handmaidens over and they'll-"

"No!" She became scared again. "You can't tell anyone I'm here! It's bad enough I've let one human see me, if I'm seen by anymore I'll be in big trouble!"

"Alright then, I'll try to dress your wound myself."

Lucy tore the sleeve of her silken robe and used it to carefully bind her wound.

"This might sting a little." Lucy warned.

"I don't mind. I'm very pain tolerant." The mermaid assured her.

"I'm Lucy by the way. Do you have a name?"

"It's..." She hesitated for a moment before speaking. She really shouldn't be introducing herself to a human. Her brother wouldn't stand for it. However, she herself didn't see any harm in it. "It's Juvia."

"Nice to meet you. So where did you come from? And what are you doing here? I'm no expert on your kind, but from what I've heard you're supposed to be native to the oceans of the Verdenshav Kingdom."

"That is where I'm from."

"Well that's a very long trip and you're in a river. How did you get here from the ocean?"

"Merpeople like myself can travel to any large body of water in the world."

"Really?" Lucy said looking astounded. "So does that mean you can travel anywhere?"

"Anywhere that has a large body of water. This place particularly hard to travel to because there's very little water here."

"That's incredible! Amazing! I'd love to have that ability."

"Well it's not all that great. Because even though we can travel anywhere, we can't leave the water. This is only slightly different from using an enchanted glass or a crystal ball. All we can do is just look."

"Still at least you get travel. I'm not allowed to go anywhere."

"How come?"

"Because, nevermind. You wouldn't be interested."

"Yes I would."

"No you wouldn't. Believe me, nobody wants to hear about my problems because they've never walked a mile in my shoes."

"What's a shoe?"

"Yeah you probably wouldn't understand that expression at all. What I mean is, when someone doesn't have the same problem as you, they most likely don't want to hear about it. I'm sure your mother has told you all about that."

Lucy chuckled in a joking manner, but she didn't see Juvia smile. Instead she saw the mermaid's face turn melancholic and sad.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked. "Was it something I said?"

"My...My mother is not alive. She died when I was very little."

Lucy once again felt instant regret and compassion, but also empathy.

"Oh...I'm sorry." She said softly. "I lost my mother when I was young too."

"How old were you?"

"Seven."

"That's how old I was."

"How did your father take it?"

"He's gone too. He died along with her."

"Then you're...Oh my God, you're an orphan."

"Mmm-hmm." Juvia nodded sadly.

"Oh you poor thing. And here I am spending everyday complaining about what's wrong with my life when you've probably been alone all your life."

"Oh I wasn't alone." Juvia said perking up. "I had my brother and my sisters. There are five of us, and after Mom and Dad passed away, we looked after each other. What about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"No. But sometimes I consider my hand maidens my sisters."

"What are those?"

"Well technically they're supposed to serve me, but they're so much more than just servants. They're my confidants, the people I can really be myself with, I talk to them about everything."

"Servants? Does that mean you're royalty?"

"Regrettably, I am the Princess of Lazan City."

"No kidding, I'm the princess of my kingdom too."

"Seriously? And you're allowed to go this far from home?"

"Of course. Now that I'm seventeen, I'm free to visit the surface world whenever I wish."

"My father would never allow such a thing. Ever since I was a child, he and everyone else have been constantly fussing over me. Always terrified that something awful is going to happen to me. I mean, I appreciate and understand the concern but, I'm not made of glass, you know?"

"At least your people care about you. My people are always laughing at me and making jokes about me."

"What?!" Lucy was utterly shocked. "How can they do that? You're their princess. Why if anyone in the city dared to ridicule me, they would have their tongues cut off."

"Goodness!" Juvia gasped. "Isn't that a bit rash?"

"Yes but that's not the point. As a monarch's daughter should get automatic respect and curtesy. No offense, but what's wrong with your people?"

"They don't like me because I'm so different. I'm always dreaming about the above world and seeing what's up here, learning about it. Maybe someday finding peace between humans and merfolk. But everyone else thinks that's stupid."

"What does your family think about it?"

"My brother and sisters don't understand me but they're not mean about it like everyone else. My brother Gajeel and I will sometimes bicker on the matter. not because it makes me different but because he's worried I'll get hurt."

"I can relate."

"I can't really blame him though. He was only fifteen when Mom and Dad died, after that he had to grow up early, become king, and take care of us. He's had to make a lot sacrifices, and put away many dreams. That's what Levy always told us."

"Who's Levy?"

"She's his wife and my sister in-law. I'm glad he married her because she's the only person who understands my fascination with your world. While Gajeel and everyone else believes that humans will just cause harm, Levy has more faith in them. She thinks that we can learn from them."

"Does anyone ridicule her for that?"

"If they did, Gajeel would hurl them into a whirlpool. He'd do the same for me if he knew about it. I choose not tell him though, he already has enough on his mind."

"So what exactly do you all do down there?"

"We swim, we explore, we laugh, play games, hold grand events. But our favorite thing to do in the whole world is to make music. In fact my Gajeel is the best musician under the sea, music was his first love and no one is better at it than him."

"What about you? Can you make music?"

"I've been told that I'm a good singer. Gajeel always says that I have a gift and he never let's me forget how important it is to care for such a gift. Do you all up here like music?"

"We do but our favorite pass time is art."

"What's art?"

"You don't know what art is?"

"Nope."

"You mean you've never heard of painting? Or pottery? Or sculpting?"

Juvia shook her head.

"Oh wow! You really need to get out more, and that's coming from me."

For the rest of the afternoon, Lucy and Juvia just talked and talked. Soon they became very good friends.

"I have to go now." Lucy said when she noticed that dusk was slowly approaching. "If I'm not in the palace before dark, my father is going to kill me."

"I should be going too." Juvia said. "If I'm late to the concert, my brother is going to kill me. But it was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you too. Maybe we can meet up here and talk again?"

"Maybe. I'll see if I can make it tomorrow. Same time?"

"Of course."

"Alright. But remember, you can't tell anyone about me. Promise?"

"I promise."

"Goodbye Lucy." Juvia waved to her, before diving back down into the river.

"Goodbye Juvia." Lucy waved back, before calling her handmaidens to dress her.

"Princess that was a very long downtime." Aries said. "Much longer than usual."

"Yes it was." Aquarius added. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes. I am well." Lucy assured them. "I just really enjoy admiring the river. It's quite beautiful, you know."

With that said, the princess, her handmaidens, and her royal guards returned to the palace.