Marine AU - Our beloved mother

Illustration for an Hannibal AU co-created with gabrielsangel
King Jack and his sons. He never accepted the death of his beloved wife, Bella (her real name was Phyllis, anyway), and sometimes he finds comfort in imagining that she is still with him and gives him advices... creating very awkward situations for his sons.


"To say that Will never got along with his father was a lie. The love between them was strong, as it was with him and his brothers, but where as his brothers only teased him for being the youngest, Will never had to look over his shoulder for them. They gave him privacy, his father always seemed to be watching him with a close eye.

Not just him, of course, but as he was the youngest, and the one everyone knew had a fascination with humans, Will always gained most of the king's attention.

It was not without cause, of course. The whole ocean knew what happened to their queen, the woman the king loved more than life itself. Humans were the cause. A bunch of fishermen had cast out a net that had entangled not only a school of fish, but three little mer-children who'd been playing nearby. The queen had rushed forward and broken them free, but her tail had been tangled in the net and she'd been pulled from the sea.

The kingdom mourned for months. The king barely said a word to anyone. Will and his brothers took solice in one another's company. Will, being the youngest, had spent the least amount of time with his mother… but he did remember her. How gently she'd held him, how soothing her voice was and, like his father, how powerful she was. A grand mermaid, loved by her people, feared by her enemies, respected by all. Even Warlocks, who normally took every effort to avoid merfolk-unless hungry, were known to pause in her presence and speak with grace to her. 

Time had passed and while no one had "moved on" from her death, Will and his brothers', as well as the kingdom, had continued on with life, keeping their queen in their hearts and minds, but not letting the sadness hold them back.

The only one who constantly thought of her was the king himself. And while he stayed strong, he'd taken to a rather unusual practice of believing she was still there. Whether in spirit or essence, his sons' were unsure, but it wasn't exactly easy to address. Of course, they knew their mother was watching over them, but it was hard to see their father speaking to someone who wasn't there in person.  Some of the sons wondered if they should speak to their father about it, but, from what Will had heard, that had often lead to lectures in which the king was address a portrait of their mother as though she were in the room with them, wait for a response and then turn back to his son for input. As a result, they'd accepted their father's actions, but often felt embarrassed for their mother, whom they knew would find such an act foolish. In fact, some of the boys wished her spirit would return to knock some sense into their father, but this was a thought they kept to themselves."
 
-gabrielsangel