#And the drawing Rodentsuinte

[queenmuzz]

Deep Blue Sea: Chapter XIII (Final Chapter!)

A Farewell Duet

Read the Full Story on Ao3 Here

The impact of the water didn’t hurt as much as you had feared it would, you thought.  Nor did the chilliness of the late spring seawater seem to bother you.  Possibly it was because of the way you had fallen, without bracing for impact.  Perhaps the remnants of the adrenaline coursing through your system that dulled the pain and cold.  Or maybe it was the bullet that ripped through your spine.

Oh, that’s right, you were dying.

You were strangely calm about the whole ordeal.  There was no thrashing, no panicking, just you slowly drifting, limp in the calm sea.  If you opened your eyes you probably could have seen the rays of the full moon flickering through the slightly cloudy water.  No doubt there would be a tinge of red from the blood  pouring out of your body, so you kept them shut, to maintain the illusion that you were just drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

You idly mused at your life.  You’d been blessed, you’d spent your adulthood studying the subject you’d adored since childhood, you had loved your friends, your teachers, and your family.  It had been a good life, and you hoped you felt you had lived it to the fullest.

Of course, you had regrets.  You wished you had broken off your engagement, that you hadn’t strung Fredrick along.  You wish you stood up to your father, your mother when they put their aspirations on you.  You wished you had taken Sarah’s advice and just grown a spine (and perhaps it wouldn’t be severed right now, you morbidly mused).

And Vergil….  Oh Vergil.  Strangely, you didn’t regret ever meeting him.  You didn’t even regret not even freeing him the moment you met him. Nor did you regret falling in love with him.

No, you thought to yourself as the now familiar feel of burning lungs became louder, more insistent. Your main regret is that you never told him your true feelings.  You should have been honest, should have told him how much you cared about him, how much you… you loved him.

And now thanks to your meekness, he was most likely watching you dying.  

"Come on bro, we need to get out of here!"

"Not yet, not without her!"

"She bought you your freedom!  I'm not going to lose you again!"

"And I am not going to lose her!"

“VERGIL!"

You felt the water pressure change and arms snake around your waist, before cautiously hovering over your wound.

"It is not healing....why is it not healing?"

You wanted to answer him, to tell him that wounds like this usually lead to death, that you would have done it again and again, a million times to set him free.

You wanted to tell him you had lived, and were ready to die with no regrets.  

You wanted to tell him how much you loved him....

But alas, fate was cruel, and in your watery tomb, you could say nothing.  You couldn't bear to open your eyes to see the pain you were inflicting on him.

Gently, you felt your cheeks being held by webbed hands, and you were surprised by the warmth.

"Please...don't leave me."

And then.... a sensation on your lips.  Your oxygen deprived mind thought he was attempting to give you mouth to mouth, in a futile attempt to save you.... until you realized.

Vergil was kissing you.

It was soft, gentle, and as his hands dropped down to hold you, you could feel the faint trembles in his otherwise strong limbs.  He tasted of sea salt, of ocean air, fresh and renewing, and you felt like you could will this moment to never end.  

And then, your arms, fueled  by a sudden surge of energy, gripped his waist, pressing your body around him to embrace him, to never let him go.

And as you did so, you felt a warmth fill your limbs, tingles of electricity racing from your fingertips to your arms, your chest and down  your legs, to the tips of your toes.  You had never felt so vibrant, so...alive.  Is this what it was to truly be in love?  Your senses felt expanded, like you could hear the shiftings of the tectonic plates, the pulse in your heart, the crashing of waves on distant shores.

Ironic, you thought, to feel so alive when on the cusp of death.  To be in the arms of the man you treasured most above everything, only for him to lose you.

You felt his hands cup your face again  with angelic softness, and yet you could feel every ridge on those fingertips.  You swore you felt a slightly raised scar on the palm of his hand, one that healed over so many months ago.

"Open your eyes, Sifa."

You opened them and gasped.  Despite the darkness of the night, you could see everything for what seemed like miles, swelling surface above to the churned up mud of the sea bed below. But nothing mattered compared to the man in front of you.  He looked ethereal, and was so beautiful now that he was truly back where he belonged.  He smiled at you, soft and gentle, and it took your breath away.

Wait… your breath?

Your lungs had stopped burning from lack of air.  And really, the pain in your stomach from your wounds had completely vanished, as if it had never happened. You looked down, your hands cautiously creeping down your torso, expecting to come into contact with your own innards, but there was nothing, save for a blood soaked hole in your shirt.  Underneath was unblemished skin.

And below that, where your legs ought to be….were scales.  Pure white scales, with what was a mottling of sea green here and there, shiny and flawless, glittering like a scattering of polished jade.  And at the end, white tail fins, translucent like a bridal veil.

"What...what happened?"   You thought, but it came out in a voice in your head, almost like Vergil’s.

You could feel Vergil’s soft chuckle reverberating through you, “ Did I not tell you once that bonding with a merfolk had inexplicable powers?"  You felt his tail snake around yours, as he pulled you in for another kiss, this time with more passion, and you slung your arms around his shoulders.  He twirled you around endlessly as you both nuzzled each other.  You’d cry out of happiness right now, but the tears wouldn’t, or couldn’t flow.  A small price to pay for such bliss.

"I have longed for this day for what seemed like forever," Vergil spoke.  " I was brave enough to face the humiliation of captivity, and yet I could not confess my love to you, mira Sifa, except in half truths and deceptions.  Tonight, I have learned the folly of such things….I almost lost you."   He held you close in trembling arms, and you had never felt so safe, so free.

'I.. I feared'  he hesitated, 'that in order to save you, I would rob you of your choice…" To which you laughed and kissed his nose.  

“I’m here, Vergil, and I want to be here.  There is nowhere on earth or sea I would rather be, than at your side."

"Hey you two  angelfish!"  A voice rang out, drawing out an annoyed huff out of Vergil. I think it’s time we make like a shoal, and migrate out of here. Dante swam circles around you two, and made some sort of clicking at you that sounded kinda like a catcall.  " Lookin’ good, mudskipper!"  He smirked at his brother, "Verg, you certainly have mom’s way of reeling in a human…."

"Of course you would have to ruin a private moment."  Vergil gruffed, and you giggled bashfully.  You gave him a peck on the cheek, which was enough to diffuse the sour look on his face, and he pulled you in for another passionate kiss.

He sighed as he pulled away. "As much as I hate to admit it… He does have a point, we must make haste.  No doubt your actions will draw the attention of more humans-"

And then you heard the strangest sound, like a crumpling of metal, and then a resounding sound of thunder as something heavy crashed through the surface.  You gave an involuntary shriek, as both Dante and Vergil manifested their weapons, Vergil whipping you behind him as the large object slowed down, but continued to sink past the three of you.  As it passed, you recognized it as its lights flickered, then shut off.

“My car…”  

“Was your father attempting to kill us?” Vergil asked, obviously alarmed.

You looked up at the surface.  With your new enhanced senses, you could see much further, but looking through the surface in the middle of the night was beyond your abilities.  Still, you knew that it hadn’t been an assassination attempt.

“No, I think he’s trying to make it look like  I drove off the bridge… to make it look like an accident.” You clung to Vergil, conflicted if you should surface, to tell your father that despite what he had done, he was stil- no… no he didn’t deserve it.  You chose your path, and you would walk it, or swim it, to be more accurate.  Your old life was to be left behind, this was your new future, with the man you truly loved. “Let’s go,” you murmured as you held Vergil close.  “I’m ready to explore a whole new world, with you at my side…”

And with his hand gently guiding you to start swimming in a steady rhythm.  (It felt strange not having the legs to kick), the three of you began to swim into the deep depths, into a world that excited you to no end.

****

Sarah leaned back in the cool summer darkness, her sandaled feet resting on the sand, the rest of her laying on a quilted blanket.  She was all alone on the beach, with only the distant crash of the waves on the sand audible from quite a distance away, even over the sound of the portable radio.

"In business news," the radio announcer reported, "Shares for fishing giant Mundus Incorporated are nearly down fifty percent after reaching a record high of $79.15 a share three months ago.  Investigations into alleged attacks of terrorism have been started, with two of their flagships, Shadow, and Nevan being reported as being capsized in what sources say are planned attacks.  Authorities have been investigating to see if said attacks are related to the sinking of the Phantom that happened over a year ago.  Thankfully, no casualties have been reported, but the toll on the company has been devastating.  In tonight's business panel, we'll be bringing in some experts to discuss whether Mundus is suffering a run of bad luck, or...something more sinister.  We attempted to reach out to the Founder of Mundus, but we received  a reply from his lawyer, requesting privacy for him and his family, as they deal with the loss of th-"

Sarah abruptly switched the channel to a station playing something a bit more upbeat.  

Three months, that's how long it had been since the accident that had claimed her best friend’s life.  Sarah still hadn't fully processed the revelation that one morning, two weeks before she was going to be the maid-of-honour in what was about to be the social event of the summer, she received a phone call from Doc's mother. One of the smartest, kindest, most empathetic people she had ever met had driven off the railing of the suspension bridge that Sarah could see glittering over in the distance.  The police had deemed it an accident, caused by a freak blowout of a tire.  There had been rumours that alcohol had been involved, but Sarah dismissed them outright.  Doc was far too responsible to ever drive under the influence, but there was that niggling worry that her body had never been recovered, only her car, sunk into the bottom of the bay.

And while it hurt to lose her, Sarah knew her pain couldn't compare to what her friend's fiance and father were feeling.

Fredrick had come home, after nearly a year away, shaken and sobbing.  When she had seen him at the memorial, the grief and guilt was obviously apparent on his face.

"I should have come home sooner, I shouldn't have left her alone all this time..." he'd confessed, and Sarah felt sympathy for him.  He was a good man, and perhaps he and Doc would have made a good married couple, given enough time.  She recalled the last phone call she had with her friend, a week before her death.

"Are you excited?  Just a couple of more weeks to go!"

"Yeah," she seemed tired, and a bit out of it, but with all the last minute preparations going on, that was to be expected. "I just have one more plan I have to put into motion, and I'll be ready."

"Oh?  Spill the beans!"

"Sorry, Sarah.  This is something of a personal nature.  Maybe later, when all is said and done, I'll let you in on the secret."

And now she would never find out.  

If Fredrick was devastated, Doc's father was destroyed.  He'd moved among the guests like a shambling corpse, pale and almost lifeless.  He'd not even been able to deliver a short eulogy for his daughter, and had to be prompted to just greet the guests.  To be fair, he'd just lost the light of his life, the one thing he'd treasured over anything in his life.  The man was a bit controlling over his child’s choices, that was true, but there was no doubt that he loved his daughter, and that her death had killed something in him.

Sarah looked at two large bottles of sparkling wine that were embedded in the sand.  One was unopened, and the other was half empty.  They'd been intended to be a wedding gift for the lovely couple, but Sarah hadn't felt it was proper to give them out, so they'd stayed there in her cupboard for the past three months, waiting for a special occasion.

Her best friend's birthday seemed to be the moment Sarah was waiting for.  Ordinarily, she'd have gone to the cemetery, and poured one out for her friend, but it felt like an empty gesture, especially since the grave was unoccupied.  So, it seemed fitting to take the offering to the one thing her best friend loved the most: The ocean.  

“And now for our Midnight Good News!” the chipper voice of the DJ exclaimed as the music ended. “We at 94.3 always like to end your day with a spot of goodness, to remind you that despite what the Newscasts say, there’s a big wide world of happy endings.  So tonight we bring you the heartwarming story of the crew of the Deep-Water Sub MINO, ‘Marine Investigative Nautical Observatory, and its sister sub, the TAURUS ‘Trawling Armoured Underwater Reef Unassisted Submarine’.  For six terrifying hours, the crew of four scientists were stranded 13 thousand feet underwater, their engines stalled by a plume of superhot volcanic water that erupted unexpectedly.  Just when it seemed that oxygen was running out, the engines seemed to come back online, and they floated back to the surface in a record one and a half hours.  What’s even more amazing, when their engines were subsequently checked, it appeared they’d been rendered nonfunctional since about the original eruption, the hot water had deposited a rock hard crust on the propellers, rendering them useless.  Chief Engineer  Dr. Nicoletta Goldstein theorizes that they got lucky, and floated by a larger, but more gentle eruption of hot water that floated the subs to safety, but as there seemed to be quite a lot of damage to the measuring tools, so it’s just a wacky guess at the moment.  We’ll have the Doctor on tomorrow  morning’s show, sharing her extraordinary adventure.   That’s it for tonight!  From all of us at 94.3, we want to wish a happy ending to your day.

Sarah chuckled, her friend would have definitely loved that story.  Adventure in the deep sea was right up her alley , she thought as she turned off the radio, and took yet another swig of the bottle.   It was now midnight, and it was time.

On unsteady feet, she slowly got off the blanket, and made her way across the silk soft sands toward the shoreline.  On the horizon, the city's lights twinkled, reflecting off the gently swelling water, creating another skyscape of stars.  It was the start of a new day, and aside from the painful memories, it was shaping up to be a wonderful one.

Despite the summer heat, the water was chilly as she walked into it, until the waves reached her knees.

Pulling off the foil, and using her swiss army knife, she yanked  out the cork and after the initial stream of gas poured out, she paused, raised the bottle, and took a deep breath.

"Happy Birthday, Doc."

And with reverent steadiness, she poured the bubbling contents into the water, where sweet mixed with salty, where the fruit of the vine mixed with the blood of the earth, where an invention of man mixed with something that had been there since nearly the dawn of time.  And as she did so, she sent a silent prayer to her friend's spirit, hoping that the wind and the waves would transport her message.

With her little ritual complete, she walked back to the blanket she, where she would sleep off her hangover.  She might have not been as attuned to the ocean as her friend, but the gentle swell of waves had always helped her fall asleep.

One final swig of her bottle, and Sarah rested her head on a rolled up sweatshirt, and watched the stars.

Strange, there must be a party nearby or something, because above the gentle sound of wind and waves, she could hear an enchanting song coming through.  She couldn't make out the words...perhaps opera?

Isil shem’ore

Isil lin’ore

Mira pharar, mira ofar, mira kanar,

D’rashana karif’ore

Isil dilshonin sa oplalim

Sa kintal o sa polim

Sa racarto shipal o sa whelik

Nekalin parand’ore fa pishim

Ah, mira sifa, mira sifa

Winik fa pishim lin’more.

And then the song repeated, but this time another voice rang out, sweet as the wine she had just drank.  This time, she could make out the words, layering as the man's voice finished a line.

Isil shem’ore

To you I sing

Isil lin’ore

To you I give

Mira pharar, mira ofar, mira kanar,

My blade, my love, my soul,

D’rashana karif’ore

To bind myself to you

Isil dilshonin sa oplalim

I would traverse the briny depths

Sa kintal o sa polim

Brave the ice of the north,

Sa racarto shipal o sa whelik

The blistering Sun of the South

Nekalin parand’ore fa pishim

Anything to win your heart

Ah, mira sifa, mira sifa

Ah, My Beloved, My Beloved

Winik fa pishim lin’more.

Will you give your heart to me?

Strange, Sarah thought as she drifted off into sleep, the second voice sounded so like her best friend....perhaps it was the alcohol, but it was comforting to think that her friend was still out there, with her own happy ending.