#a mermaid who gave up her tail for humanity and the opportunity to experience the world. to meet people and have love | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

my-personal-domain · 11 months

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The old stories from the sea, mermaids and kraken. All real. They exist. An old arrangement was made for both races to stay apart. Land walkers sometimes see the ocean dwellers come up to the surface every so often. If humans try to hunt them, the merfolk will hunt them back.

The peace was kept until Lord came into power. The ocean dwellers started getting caught to be slaves or pets. It went on for years before some of the ocean dwellers realized who was behind the disappearances.

Warlock was once a high ranking member of the Temple. However, it was discovered that he was doing questionable experiments with ancient artifacts and dark eco which led to him being casted out of both the Temple and the Kingdom. He also made a secret project of breeding a hive, like the metal heads.

Warlock ran across Praxis and they got into a conversation about the disappearances and it went into how the King is handling it. Warlock saw an opportunity to get revenge on King Damas and continue his 'studies'. In exchange for supplies for his experiments, Warlock gave Praxis the information needed for an overthrow.

King Damas was about to contact the human government when Praxis banished him and any those loyal to him. At the same time, Jen disposed of Lord. Almost ten years later, things are getting real tense.

Jen managed to free all the stolen ocean dwellers within five years after she got away from Mother and Da. Thanks to that, a good number of ocean dwellers owe her. Even Baron Praxis was impressed (not that he would ever admit it).

Jen and Nick were on break from traveling and took a quick swim in the ocean. The warlock took this as an invitation to snag them.

Waking up a few hours later, they wake up in an underground caveren in the sea. They are bound by rope, surrounded by multiple items of old age. A short distance away is the 'dead' king Damas, bound by chains.

Using an old seal from Damas' line, he turned Jen and Nick into ocean dwellers. Damas watched the transformation take place. At the end of the forced change, Damas' allies found them and chased Warlock off.

Jen and Nick may be small compared to everyone else but they are relentless hunters. They also have retractable claws and stingers.

Nick managed to send out a message with an electronic he still had on hand to their AI. Tony made himself a new body and tracked the other two down.

The decision was made. Jen and Nick will travel with the group, learning how to be ocean dwellers.

They eventually come across a large group of teens, the children of the original rebels. With their help, including Ashelin from the inside, they make their way inside. Damas is ready to settle a score.

When the confrontation takes place, many remarks are thrown to where the whole picture is put together. Warlock makes his appearance and Baron realizes that he has been used.

Warlock used a different Artifact to shapeshift himself into a leviathan. A battle took place

The leviathan impaled Baron with the spear tip of his tail. Praxis died soon after firing his spear into Warlock's weak spot.

Damas retakes his place as King and makes Jen his queen. Nick marries the royal medic, Dolly.

Ocean dwellers lay eggs. They look similar to the egg of manaphy in pokemon. The color indicates the hair color. The inner pattern shows the sex. Swirl for boy. Speckled for girl. After the egg is laid, they are coated with pure salt to form a shell. Eggs are formed inside the carrier for three months, then incubate in the shell for nine months.

The line of Mar name all their main heir Mar. When they turn ten, they choose a new name. The heir's younger sibling/s have the option to change their name too.

For Jen's first pregnancy, she had twin boys. Mar and Ram. Ram got his name because it is his brother's name backwards. His egg came out backwards. Maria's egg, who came a year later, was a similar shade to Mar's. Hence why Jen gave her a similar name. Due to being an only child, Maria's egg was larger than the twins. That's when Jen decided no more kids.

Nick and Dolly have a son, Daktari. Said son will take on training to be a knight of the kingdom.

Warlock did leave one child behind. Erol. He found his father as he was entering his teen years. Warlock put Erol in charge of watching over the breeding program. When Erol's mother and stepfather found out, the redhead torn them to shreds. As Erol left, he missed seeing a red egg drift out of a carcass and went of in the currents.

When Jen had the twins, an unshelled egg came drifting in the current. They don't know how long it's been drifting and there are no sign of parents anywhere. It was a bright red. Adoption time. The hatchling was named Daxter.

When the kids are 17/16 years old, council member Veger broke into Warlock's lab in search for anything that could help increase his political power. In doing so, he accidentally released the Queen from her shackles. The Hive is free. Erol managed to implant himself into the Hive mind and become like a second in command. It is war.

Both land and ocean are working together the best they can. Land is working on shooting the ones crawling up the shorelines while the ocean wage the battle underwater.

The green Sage Brothers are Samos and Shadow. Shadow heard a little about the Stone that belongs to the royal line. He somehow got it in his head that he has to create the big sacrifice. Shadow tricked Jak into getting the Stone. When told to give it to the Sage instead of his parents, Jak realized he was tricked. Thankfully Daxter was right there and helped him get away from the madman. Shadow lost his position of a Sage for good.

The Artifacts that helped Jen and Nick turn into ocean dwellers in the first place merged into one. The artifact went missing afterwards. Daxter found it while searching out gifts for Tess. Good thing he was close to the surface when he activated it. And good thing that Mom told stories of the land, just in case.

Vegar kidnapped Kaj and infected him with an unstable light eco crystal. Erol kidnapped and tortured Jak with a dark eco crystal and Maria got kidnapped by the Hive. She got out with a nasty scar on her back.

Daxter, Jak and Kaj all dealt with stress when they got their girlfriends pregnant during the Hive war.

Daxter and Tess had a boy, Andrew.

Jak and Keira had a daughter, Mira.

Kaj and Seem had twins, Endri and Alora.

Keira found a mechanism in Warlock's lab that purposely weakened the Hive Queen. Jak and Daxter killed the Hive Queen. Kaj ended Erol. Maria ended Veger when he tried to intervene, wanting to claim credit.

Maria and Daktari ended up with twin girls one year after the war, Panyin and Banji

When the royal grandchildren reached 17/16 years of age, a calamity from the far past rose from the depths of the sea. The Dark Ones. They were long in hibernation until now. Another war approaches.

Mira, the royal granddaughter, nearly gets in in her head to take on the burden on her own. However, Andrew, Endri, Alora, Panyin and Banji stuck fast with her. The previous two generations also pooled in their knowledge and resources.

With all working together, the family managed to find the ancient defence systems and annihilated the Dark Ones. The world is at peace once more.

Please check out loveangel15 on Deviantart. Their mermaid work on the Jak and Daxter universe is where I based this AU off of.

#jak and daxter #mermaid

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rina-writes · 4 years

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Calm Waters (Part 2)

Part 1: x

A/N: Thank you for all the kind comments on part 1 :D Please continue to give me feedback on this fic as this is my first multiple part fic in a very long time haha

Summary: Grayson suspects that something fishy is going on and enlists his brother, Ethan, to track down everything they can find out about “Aurora”. During their search, they find out more about the real you.

Warnings: Same as the last one...mentions of abuse, captivity, and bullying. Also lots of fluff.

During the day, their tank opened up to the entire park aquarium, so they had a bit more room to swim. It still sucked in comparison to the ocean, but like you, they appreciated their freedoms. Nelson, Doris’ mate, made a figure eight with his nose when he saw you coming toward them.

You’re late.

You clutched your chest lightly.

I’m sorry.

Doris came up and tapped her tail fin three times.

Mate.

Nelson let out a squeaking sound that you recognized as his laughter, making you blush. You realized that Doris must have brought him up to speed about Grayson.

Dolphins thrived off of gossip. They spread it like wildfire and had great memories to boot. You tossed them their fish, and moved around the area to give the other dolphins there share as well. You made sure to give the new recruit some extra. You hadn’t give him a name yet. Dolphin names were quite difficult to understand, because they were in their tongue, and did not translate well into to sign language. You often gave them human name equivalents and you would use them in the shows. You would teach them the signs for their name, once you made up, so they knew who you were calling on during the performance.

Doris was your first friend, so her sign was three taps on top of your heart. Nelson, being Doris’ mate, got two taps on the heart and one on the stomach. You hoped to give the new dolphin something strong to uplift him.

You moved on to the hammerheads. They did not talk as much as the dolphins, but were always polite. They spun in counter clockwise thrice in order to say thank you and always asked about your day. Occasionally, Hunter, the hammerhead that was “rescued” when you first arrived would inquire more if you seemed sad, but sharks really didn’t like to talk about feelings.

You didn’t mind because it allowed you to think about Grayson more. How his finger tips were so rough, but his hands in general felt soft. How he laughed loudly, but then would always stop himself short before he would start to snort. How he lit up when he talked about his family, especially his twin brother. You wished you could see him again.

When the park was closed. You walked over to the shed that when you were in a good mood you called your closet. You hung up your uniform, and changed to your other pair of underwear. You washed the one you were wearing in a sink nearby with hand soap. You hung the underwear to dry in your closet and went to wash your mouth out. One of the scientist that would experiment on you would periodically bring you travel size toothpaste and a toothbrush. You figured it made them feel like less of a monster.

You stood in front of your reflective glass and looked at yourself. You looked different today. Your skin was more radiant and your dyed red hair didn’t look so bad. You realized it was because you were happy. You hid your toiletries and your drying underwear so no one would find it the next day.Then just before the top of your cell closed automatically, you jumped in. As you sunk to the bottom, you heard the top of your cell click. About three minutes later, you heard footsteps that walked by to make sure no one was upstairs. The steps stopped by your cell, the person most likely looking for you red hair. Upon spotting it, the person walked away. You looked up and to your surprise saw the gap on the corner of your cell was still there. It must not be noticeable from up top. You smiled to yourself as you curled into your ball. You didn’t have to rock too much to fall asleep as your mind was excited to dream.

The next day, you awoke as usual to the sound of the cover leaving your tank. You swam upward and pulled yourself out. You jiggled your legs a little bit and took a deep breath to let the air fill your lungs. After years of being under for 12+ hours, holding your breath was second nature. However, there was nothing like feeling air.

“Oh my god…” You heard from your right. That was the door that led to the roof.

You turned slowly, goosebumps appearing on your skin. Your eyes met Grayson’s hazel ones, and your jaw dropped.

You were too afraid of the conclusions that Grayson had made from seeing you crawl out of a tank that him seeing you half naked was not that big of a deal. Grayson started to back away, slipping and causing himself to fall on the ground. Your heart sunk to your stomach as you squeezed your chest to cover yourself. You couldn’t tell what worried you the most: the fact that you secret was out, the thought of what would happen to Grayson if your uncle found out, or, your own punishment that would be waiting for you. No, the worst thing was that now, the one person who you thought could understand you realized what you really were and you were going to die knowing you were a freak.

“I-I should have knocked…” Grayson stammered, as he tried to look away. “I had a suspicion you were living here, but I wasn’t expecting you to be naked.”

You were stood there, paralyzed by fear, holding yourself as you stared at him blankly.

Grayson did his best to tear his eyes away from you. There was a part of him that was terrified by what he just saw. He could hear his heart thundering in his ears and his legs were itching to run away. However, staring in to your eyes and seeing his Rory with an even more petrified expression, he just wanted to hold you. He wanted to protect you and save you, just like you saved him. His eyes wanted to continue to scan your body, for multiple reasons, but one in particular stood out. He angled his body towards the view that you admired each morning when you woke up. He stared straight ahead and signed.

“Your skin is so beautiful.” Grayson remarked, still avoiding your eyes.

Your skin? You looked down and suddenly remembered the one thing that marked you differently from “normal” humans. When your skin was wet, parts of your body as part of the drying process turned a turquoise blue color, that almost looked like gems. They kind of looked like the scales with reflective property that made them look like part of a rainbow from certain angles. Looking at it now, it was clear to you how the myth of mermaid fins came to be. They were irregular shapes all over your body from the tops of your thighs, the sides of your legs and even down the middle of your chest. You learned from the “experiments” that this attribute of your skin also helped you to rebuild more skin cells quicker.

You finally snapped out of your “deer in headlights reaction” and walked over to your closet and pulled out your uniform. You put on your clothes and waited for Grayson to say something. You attempted to look on the bright side. He didn’t gasp or take pictures of you like your uncle’s colleagues did. He seemed more embarrassed to see you naked. You weren’t sure if it was a compliment or insult.

For the first time in the 48 hours you knew Grayson, it seemed like he didn’t know what to say. He just stared at the view as if trying to gather his thoughts. As you got dressed, you took the opportunity to look at him. This could be the last time you ever got to see him. You wanted to etch his image into your mind.

Today, he was wearing a cap backwards with his uniform. He always had his lifeguard whistle around his neck, but today, he also had his red lifeguard towel draped over a shoulder. Around his waist was a fanny pack that matched his towel and he was wearing white vans to go with the uniform. He looked like a model, especially turning to the side like that.

“What are you thinking?” You asked, breaking the silence. You stood by the sink as you attempted to tidy up your hair. “Aren’t you afraid?”

“I wouldn’t say afraid...” Grayson said after a long pause. “I mean, I legitimately thought you were an angel when you saved me that night. How else could I explain how someone who was nowhere to be seen before it happened saved my life when I needed someone most.”

Grayson smiled and turned to look at you. His eyes seemed to reflect the orange and pink hues of the sun. He was the one who looked unreal.

“I guess,” Grayson said with a soft smile. “I should have guessed you were a mermaid.”

Your mouth got dry and you walked over to him. “I’m not a mermaid. There is a logical explanation for all of this.” You realized that saying there was a logical explanation for something did not make it anymore believable. However, you needed to buy time to think of something.

Grayson bit his lip. “I know you’re not Aurora.” Grayson said, sadly, looking up at you as he sat up with his legs stretched out. “Because there is no one in this town named Aurora. But I do know of someone named Y/N Y/L/N, who was said to be at boarding school, but is not registered at a single one in the country.”

It felt like the ground beneath you was shaking. You hadn’t heard your name in so long that it brought tears to your eyes. You eased yourself down to the ground and slowly crossed your legs.

“H-How much do you know?” You asked, finally.

12 hours earlier - Gray’s POV

Grayson waited by the gate of Pete’s Ocean Land until closing in hopes of running into Aurora before she left. He knew he was being annoying. After all, Aurora clearly stated she did not want to walk home with him. At the same time, he could see how happy she looked around him. He loved the fact that she was able to open up to him and everything he was able to learn about her. She was funny, charming, and a little weird, but in a good way.

There were a lot of mean rumors about her that Grayson assumed was started by some of the female workers. Things like she didn’t shower, she was poor, she talked to the animals, anything to explain why no one saw her outside of work. The threat of Aurora was that most guys admitted that there was a beauty to her that they couldn’t place. However, no one want to confess to liking the “freak show of the park.” So, the rumors piled up, and everyone kept their distance.

It wasn’t just employees either. Guests adored her character during performances, but still would treat her like crap when asking for favors outside of her job description. On Grayson’s first day, he even witnessed someone pretend to bump into her and toss her drink on to her and her food. She just sat there with a blank expression before she took off running. It was a little comical, like watching a cartoon. Grayson was ashamed to admit that he chuckled himself. Making fun of her was the norm and like everyone, Grayson just wanted to blend in. While he didn’t partake in her bullying, he didn’t do anything to stop it.

And then he was the butt of the jokes. A couple girls asked him out and suddenly he was the guy everyone was trying to put down. He was stupid to think that when they invited him on one of their late night adventures that it was an olive branch. They were all drunk, deriding him for not drinking with them. In order to prove himself, they said would have to stick his hand into this tank. It was supposed to have some monster. It was closed off, and not even people who worked there could see what was inside. They all had done it,they said, he just had to do it too. Everything told Grayson this was a dumb idea, but if it meant that the teasing would stop, he was willing to do it.

They pointed to a crack in the retractable cover that was quite large. As Grayson stuck his hand in he felt a push. He lost his balance and another push sent him into the pool. He was paralyzed by fear and the unknown darkness surrounding him.

He blacked out and then next thing he knew, he saw her. She was staring at him in the tank, and she was glowing. Her skin looked like aquamarine crystals, and her eyes were reflective. He assumed it was the oxygen slowly returning to his brain that made him hallucinate, but he couldn’t deny that even without the sparkle she was beautiful.

Now that he spent lunch with her, he knew for sure that she was the most beautiful person he had met inside and out. He was going to convince her to be his. He would protect her from all those assholes and he would make sure that she got out of this dump amusement park and doing what she really loved.

Except, she never came out. As the security guard closed up the park, Grayson asked if there were any workers staying behind.

“Nope.” The security guard confirmed in a gruff voice. “Even Pete’s gone home.”

Something didn’t sit right with Grayson. Because when he looked up at where the tank of the “mysterious creature”, the dolphins and the hammerheads opened up, he saw a man standing on top surveying the tanks. And that man looked like Pete to him.

When Grayson got home, he immediately enlisted his brother Ethan to help him research everything on Aurora. Ethan, Grayson’s twin brother, with shorter brown hair, narrow hazel eyes and a chiseled jaw, was only awake for four hours when his brother stormed in.

“You could knock.” Ethan groaned, pulling off his gaming headphones. He was only wearing a pair of red shorts when he swiveled around in his gaming chair. Today was Ethan’s day off from working at the bicycle store in town where he fixed all non-motorized vehicles. Ethan was hoping to enjoy it by sleeping in and playing games.

“Can you look up a girl named Aurora?” Grayson asked, about to sit on Ethan’s bed.

“Please don’t sit on my bed with your dirty clothes.” Ethan complained.

Grayson knew Ethan was just cranky about him ruining his afternoon plans. He figured he would be equally obnoxiously and just strip down. If you aren’t petty with your brother, then are you even siblings?

Grayson shrugged. “Fine. You’re lucky I showered after work.” Grayson stripped down to his boxers and socks before sitting on his brother’s bed.

Ethan had already begun typing, “Any last name for Aurora?”

“Nope…” Grayson said. “No idea.”

Ethan hummed as he started his search. He was quiet for a bit despite clicking on various links and searching for different keywords.

“There’s no Aurora who was born in the last 16 to 20 years anywhere in our county, or the nearby one” Ethan informed Grayson. “Did she just move here?”

“No…” Grayson shook his head, thinking back to this afternoon. “We talked about the park near our house and how one of the swings was always broken. There’s no way someone who just moved here would know that.”

“Well she’s definitely from our area. Is she our age?” Ethan asked.

“Yes.” Grayson confirmed. “18.”

The sound of Ethan typing filled he room. Grayson laid back on the bed and closed his eyes, trying to think of information that could help Ethan’s search. The last of the sun was peaking through Ethan’s windows and warming Grayson’s abdomen, making it harder for Grayson to fight back the tiredness of being by the pool all day.

By the end of the summer, he and Ethan would have enough to live anywhere. They were hoping to move to Los Angeles and now, Grayson wanted to take Aurora with them.

“Do you remember that girl Y/N Y/L/N?” Ethan asked, breaking Grayson from his thoughts.

“As in Peter Y/L/N? The owner of Pete’s Ocean Land?” Grayson asked, sitting up on his elbows. “Not really….”

“Remember like 5 years ago, her house burned down and her parents died in it? Then Pete adopted her and sent her to some cushy boarding school so she could have a new start?” Ethan backed away from the computer to gesture to a newspaper article.

“Not really...” Grayson said, sitting up suddenly.

Ethan slid over to unblock the monitor and Grayson leaned in to see to read. His eyes scanned the page with a furrowed brow.

Local Tragedy

The house of {Your Father’s Name}, brother of Peter Y/L/N, was caught on fire by which, police speculate, was caused by a cooking accident. The house was engulfed with flames, prompting the {Your Father’s Name} and his wife, {Your Mother’s Name} to toss their 13 year old daughter out the window, sacrificing themselves. Their bodies were not found, but firefighters claim that with the intensity of the flames and the rubble, it’s not surprising.

Y/N Y/L/N is currently in the custody of her uncle Peter who has decided to give her a new chance. “It can’t be easy for a kid to lose their parents. I can’t replace my brother, but I can give her the life I know he would have wanted her to have. I’ll make sure she has the best education money can by and the opportunity to have a normal adolescence.” Peter said to news on Monday.

Grayson sucked in a breath. “I don’t really remember this, but it’s terribly sad. You don’t think that has something to do with Aurora, do you?

Ethan nodded as though he was hoping Grayson would ask that question. Ethan opened another tab, and continued to flick through multiple tabs for Grayson to see. The first tab was some cushy boarding school Grayson had never heard of where Ethan had searched Y/N without any results. The next was another boarding school.

Ethan looked up over 20 boarding schools across the country, none with a student with the name Y/N Y/L/N.

“How is it possible that the only results for her are these news articles, but nothing about her at schools?” Ethan asked.

“Well, maybe she got a fake name to make sure that she wouldn’t get connected with the case.” Grayson suggested.

“Exactly. Like Jenna, or Kirsten or…” Ethan trailed off.

“Aurora…” Grayson continued.

“Exactly.” Ethan pulled up a yearbook picture of the middle school you attended. He found a few photos of you including you in your class photo and a few pictures of you in a musical.

“That’s her!” Grayson said, squinting. “Sure, she looks a lot older now, and her hair is that red color, but that’s definitely her.”

“Now, why would Pete lie about sending her to boarding school and force her to work at his amusement park?” Ethan asked. “I mean it doesn’t make sense, right? He could have just sent her to school and then had her work part time. No one would have found that strange.”

“Unless she couldn’t leave the park…” Grayson said mostly to himself. He grabbed Ethan by the shoulders.

“Dude, you’re scaring me, what’s going on?” Ethan asked, startled by the sudden movement.

“This is going to sound crazy, but what if Pete is keeping Aurora...err, Y/N, captive in the park because she’s different…” Grayson said, not sure how to find the right words.

“What do you mean different?” Ethan asked.

Grayson explained in detail what happened two nights ago when you saved him, including your bedazzled looking skin. He was impressed that Ethan didn’t crack a smile and only nodded to show he was still listening.

“To summarize,” Ethan ruffled his hair with a sigh. “You think Aurora is being held captive in a water tank where she can somehow breathe over night and has reflective scales on her body.”

Grayson paused. Was that really what he was saying?

“Yes.” Grayson confirmed out loud.

“You’re right that is crazy.” Ethan nodded. But he didn’t laugh. Nor did he dismiss it. Instead Ethan sat on the bed, coaxing Grayson to sit down as well.

“You know Travis?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, the owner of the bike shop?” Grayson asked.

“Yeah. Apparently, he comes from a long line of fishermen. Since our town is so close to the water, a lot of them would live here and then travel by sea to catch fish and sell them in other areas. His family believes in mermaids and they said…” Grayson cut Ethan off.

“Okay, I know my story is crazy, but I don’t think she has a fin dude.” Grayson said, putting up a hand.

“Wait for it…” Ethan said, “That’s the thing, they don’t have fins. Instead, their skin and hair blend in to the color of the bottom of the sea like chameleons. The only time you can see them is when they come up for air. Apparently, they do breathe air, but they can hold their breaths for crazy long times. The legend was that if one of these maidens fell in love with a fisherman, she would bring him all the fish that he needed. It was seen as a badge of honor because they only trusted men that were kind and good to the sea. There are other legends where they would cast doom on fishermen that brought harm to the ocean.”

“So you think Aurora...err Y/N is one of these water creatures?” Grayson asked. He let out a long sigh as he looked at his brother blankly for moment. This had to be the most ridiculous thing they had ever come up with and that was saying something. “I mean, it’s a little far-fetched don’t you think?”

“Sure…” Ethan agreed, nodded slowly. Up until ten minutes ago, Ethan and Travis only discussed the legends while Travis got high on his break. Ethan never expected for it to be the missing piece to a mystery involving the girl of his brother’s affection.

Ethan took a deep breath. “At the same time, it connects a few dots, doesn’t it? Let’s assume that Pete isn’t one of these creatures, then his brother probably isn’t either. That leaves Y/N’s mother. So, she’s one of the water creatures and her daughter becomes one too. Pete tries to convince his brother to put the ladies on display, his brother says no, and then he mysteriously dies. But, custody of the daughter suddenly becomes local news and Pete would look like a monster if he put her in a tank. So, he keeps her there, probably pimping her out to the government, while using her for free labor.”

“Because she can talk to the animals!” Grayson said.

“Okay...that’s a bit far-fetched.” Ethan said, putting his hands up in surrender.

“No come on.” Grayson explained. “People used to hear her talking to the animals.. Maybe that’s why she does all the shows, because they trust her.”

“Dude,” Ethan grabbed Grayson’s shoulders. “Do you realize how insane this is? If any of this is true, you’re practically dating a real life mermaid.”

“If it is true.” Grayson said, grabbing Ethan’s arms. “Then, I have to save her. I can’t let her suffer in that place anymore.”

“Well, we can’t just bust in there with the police.” Ethan reasoned. “At least not without proof.”

Grayson thought for a moment. The last time he went to find her, he went straight to the roof at the beginning of his shift. She was already there with her uniform on. He wondered if he got there just a bit earlier if he would be able to run into her. The morning security guard was really laid back, so as long as you were quiet, he would let you in. He was sure he could sneak in Ethan as well.

“We could go there tomorrow morning.” Grayson suggested. “See what time she arrives.”

“Yes.” Ethan said, slamming his a fist on his open palm. “Tomorrow morning, we’re going to Pete’s Ocean Land bright and early to see if she emerges from that tank. Or, maybe we just go late at night and wait it out.”

Grayson tapped his chin. This was the most insane thing he had ever done, but he was willing to give it a try. “Alright, let’s do it.”

Present moment - Your POV

You felt overwhelmed with emotion as Grayson explained the events that led to this current moment. Part of you was mildly impressed. To job to those conclusions you had to be just the right combination of observant, resourceful, and a little childish. You weighed your options. You could deny it, but there was so much of your story that you would have to build up. You never spoke to anyone before, so Aurora didn’t have a back story. There was also the fact that he saw you emerging from a tank of water with scales on your skin. You could pretend that you were just doing some performance, but that was even more unbelievable than his theory.

You let out a shaky breath. “Is Ethan here now?” You asked.

Grayson pointed with his thumb behind him to his brother who took a “mini-nap” and was now completely knocked out. You chuckled softly, a weak laugh, but it made Grayson smile as well.

“So uh...how crazy are we?” Grayson asked.

“All I can tell you is that you’re not crazy.” You said in a measured tone. “But you can’t tell anyone what you learned. Pete is not the nice guy everyone thinks he is and you two are in grave danger with everything you know.”

#grayson dolan #ethan dolan #dolan twins #dolan twins scenario #grayson dolan scenario #grayson dolan imagine #grayson dolan x reader #dolan twins x reader #fic-cw #r-writes-fic

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silverlysilence · 4 years

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Taliesin’s Apothecary & Bookery

Fairytales are often filled with mermaids and knights, dragons and pirates, all with happy endings. But then there are the fairytales filled with curses...

The chime above the door jingled, signaling the arrival of a customer.

Jack peaked up from the tome he was currently flipping through—ideally scanning the pages to past the time—to see a young teen no more than fourteen hesitantly walk into the dimly lit store. Huffing, blue eyes rolled before returning to the book before him. He needn’t bother with watching the newcomer to know the kid’s reaction. The boy would hesitantly poke around their various knickknacks, picking a few up before hastily putting them back when he read their tags before shuffling around to the book section where he’d pick up a few books to flip through. If he had any money on him—which was a good probability in the current times—he’d buy one or two of the books before dashing out before any of his friends could find him in such a place.

Nothing new there.

The clearing of a throat had blue eyes glancing up from his tome, a single white brow raising when the teenager in front of him fidgeted and wouldn’t meet his eyes. Well, this was new.

“Can I help you?” Jack lazily asked, propping his chin on his hand.

“Umm, I—um, I’m looking for—for a book. A specific one…on the occult,” the nasal voice mumbled lowly to the point Jack had to strain his ears to hear what the kid was saying.

“Kid, you got to be more specific than that, this is Taliesin’s Apothecary & Bookery, all we have are books on the occult," he pointed out in a bored tone, waving his free hand towards the two large bookcases filling the back half of the store.

“Ri-ight, um, Johnathan,” here green eyes darted to the nametag pinned to the grey waistcoat he decided to wear today and Jack tried not to flinch. He really should have picked a better name than that, but it was easier to go with something similar to his real name than something too different that he would forget to answer to. “I-I’m looking for ones about…dragons—”

“Straight back, at the very end, bookshelf to the right. Rows three and four,” Jack waved him off and returned to his tome once more. The boy hesitated but after a few awkward seconds, he walked off in the indicated direction. Only when his footsteps grew faint did blue eyes glance back up, a hidden longing shining in his blue eyes as he watched the teen search the rather limited selection of books.

A soft thump and the brush of fur against his hand had Jack looking down into acid green eyes. “So, it begins again, eh, Toothless?”

The black cat meowed, tail swishing as the two looked down the aisle at the young—gods did he look young—auburn-haired teen. “He looks younger and younger each time. And unusually whole. Think he’ll keep his leg this time around?”

A swat at his hand had Jack looking down at the growling cat.

“Yeah, I know, that was insensitive of me, but you can’t blame me. He’s lost that damn leg every single life, I’m just not used to seeing him without his prosthetic.” Toothless huffed at his pathetic commentary, turning his back to the white-haired youth. “Fed up with me, aren’t you? Sick of having only me for company for the last century, huh? Well, I’m sick of you too, and I hope I don’t see your smug little furry—or scaly—face for another century.”

While the words were harsh, the tone was sad and wistful. Something that seemed to piss off the cat as sharp little white teeth sank into pale flesh. Jack yelped, yanking his hand back and glaring into acid green eyes which were glaring right back. A yowl had the eternal teen wilting.

“You know what I meant. I want him to have a long and happy life this go around, dying of old—old—age this time. Not because he was stopping some damn demented dragon trying to create a hoard of worker bee dragons to cater to her every whim else they be eaten or going up against an armada with only a handful of people at his back only for them to die a heroic, young death. If he doesn’t do anything stupid, you’ll get to be with Hiccup again for decades longer with how long humans live these day. Just, maybe keep the leg, yeah?”

Toothless drooping, before batting his head against the teen’s still throbbing hand. Jack chuckled, giving the little purring demon a pet.

“Yeah, I’ll miss you too, you little black menace,” the eternal teen murmured, kissing the top of the cat’s head and picking him up to place on the floor moments before the sole customer staggered over to the register, two thick books clenched to his chest.

“All set?” Jack asked, taking the books from the boy. Being extra careful to prevent their fingers from brushing. He knew from past experience that wasn’t a good idea. It tended to trigger something in trigger something in the incarnation’s soul.

“Um, yeah…I found these books, but not the one I was looking for,” green eyes darted around, as if he was ashamed to be buying the equivalent of fairytales. Because really that’s what the damn things were, fanciful fairytales not worth the paper they were written on. No one believed in dragons and magic anymore and those authors who did were mere charlatans in it for the money. Still, with the boy looking elsewhere, it gave Jack the opportunity to slip The Book of Dragons into the tote without him noticing, subtler than the time he had to accidently knock the tiny auburn-haired boy over so he could slip the book in with the rest of his scatter belongings.

The eternal teen had learned from past experiences.

“Here you go. I hope you have a nice day,” Jack put on his best customer service smile as the boy returned the platitudes before rushing out the door. Never once did he look back, so he failed to notice the black cat slipping out with him and the broken smile. “Bye Hiccup.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Jack decided he deserved the rest of the day for himself. It was easy to flip the open sign to close and with a snap of his fingers, the lights were off and the door locked.

“Maybe I should take a vacation?” Jack muttered to himself, watching as this incarnation of Astrid threw her arms around the boy failing horrible at trying to hid his purchases behind his back and laid a kiss on his cheek. It would seem, in this life too, the shieldmaiden already had a claim on Hiccup’s heart. She had for the last six—seven?—incarnations but that was more his fault than hers.

Jack would never blame Astrid for loving Hiccup. They were always best friends no matter the life. Hiccup perpetually falling for the shieldmaiden each time until Jack step into their new lives. But as the more time past—the more lives they lived and he suffered watching them die one by one until the next cycle—the more Jack realized he was their curse. Jack had been immortal long before he met them but they were the first to be reincarnated.

He didn’t know how, didn’t when exactly he’d their cursed their souls to find their way back to the mortal plan. They couldn’t live in peace—die in peace and finally reach the Halls of Valhalla—because of what Jack had unknowingly done. The eternal teen wished he could break their curse but nothing worked and without fail, he’d stumble upon Hiccup—always Hiccup first—and years after their death.

Jack had thought by staying away, allowing them to live their lives without his interference that they would finally get to move on. It seemed to be working too. They no longer recognized him as their past counterparts had. Hiccup never had his memories, none of them did, but they always seemed to recognize him and over time, with some help from journals done in their own hand and his stories, they would remember. But not anymore. Now, he was just another face in the crowd.

Soon, Jack hoped, soon, they would finally move on to where he couldn’t go. An unreachable afterlife. But they would finally be at peace. They would finally be able to rest and he would continue on wondering the earth, alone.

#I gave you fluffy yesterday...#This in not fluff #HiJack #Jack Frost #Jackson Overland #Hiccup Haddock #Toothless #SilverlySilence's Fanfics #FanFic #Taliesin's Apothecary & Bookery

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metalotaku-da · 6 years

Text

Ryan and Lance week 5 mermaid au

i’ll probably do more of this later on ao3. but the first part is already 12 pages.

“Everybody up! We got to move now! Up! Up! Get your gear.” James yells tearing down the narrow hallway below deck. Slamming on the doors to the rooms to wake people as he passes. A few people falling from their bunks to the floor.

Ryan is up on his feet in no time pulling on his clothing quickly. Once his pants and shoes are on, he grabs a shirt off the wall and his camera bag from his cubby and heads into the Hall. Nadia is seconds behind him hoping on one foot at time to get her shoes on. “What the hell is going on. We just hit the hay a few hours ago.”

“3 hours and 38 minutes ago.” Ina says calmly leaving her shared room with Nadia.

“Ok yeah, well close enough. It's the middle of the night. What the hell is the emergency?” She huffed falling a few places behind Kinkade to give him the arm room he needs to get his shirt on. Even if he doesn't button it.

“Don't know we just need to be prepared.” Ryan answers pulling his camera bags strap over his head to secure it before digging out his waterproof video camera just as they get to the stairs to get on deck.

Once Ina is on deck with her own bag on and waterproof tablet in hand she takes a cursory glance at the sky and down to the horizon. “We have changed course and have increased speed since retiring for the night.” The three ignored the other crew members stumbling up behind them to head for the bridge.

“Why? I thought we were going to follow the current with the migrating shoals till we spotted a pod?” Nadia asked as Ryan continued to lead the way now filming as he went. His camera's auto balancer working perfectly as he ascended the stairs nearly two at a time with his long legs.

“About time you lot got here, hurry up and gather up cadets.” Iverson yelled as soon as the door opened. Already packed around the high-tech holo-gps table was captain Iverson, Sam and Coleen Holt their son Matt as well, first mate Adam west, navigator Veronica McClain, and their marine biology specialist Slav. The one who stood out the most to Ryan was their ships medic Coran also being at the meeting. That was never good. Before their trip could complete the trip to the table James comes bursting in behind.

“Everybody is up and getting to stations sir. All hands should be on deck shortly.” James Sames with a halfhearted salute to the captain who has a soft spot for his old military protocol.

“What is going on? Are we sinking or something?” Nadia asked annoyed at having been woken up so abruptly.

“There is an emergency, but not our own.” Colleen said gently before Iverson could snap at her impatient.

“We got a call from a nearby coast guard vessel.” Iverson said looking around the table. “They intercepted a poaching vessel.” He paused. “In the middle of a hunt.” The room exploded with questions.

“Everyone quiet and wait. See if your questions are answered after he gets out the pertinent information.” Adam shouted over the group till the ceased.

“The coast guard was unable to engage the ship in time to prevent them from harming one of their targets. The good news is they seemed to be after live specimens. The bad news is, they were targeting mers.” Iverson gave a second for that to sink in. As that was exactly the target of their ship, but for research and study in the wild. James had been brought in specifically to collect video for a documentary for added awareness and generate funding for their ongoing research to the public. “And from what the coast guard described of the pod. And their doubt of their own observations. The pod that was attacked is believed to be subject group ap27v, Voltron.”

There was a clatter as Matt dropped his tablet. “Voltron? Poachers found and cornered our legendries?”

There was a groan from Veronica. “they aren't Pokemon Matt.”

“You right I could log on to pogo out here and catch something. They are rarer than Pokemon. They are like finding the lochness monster. We've only had the first-hand privilege to witness them 4 times in 4 years. And the handful of sightings by other vessels is shoddy at best. We can't even get close enough to tag any members.”

“To a seedy bunch of poachers, they probably didn't notice or care about how odd the pod was. They saw a small easy target of variety. Good easy money.” Ryan spoke up his mouth pulled slightly in anger. “It's just about a quick buck.”

Ina carefully placed a calming hand to Ryan's back. Knowing how much her friend hated poachers. Specifically, mer poachers.

“Yes, and we are going to take this opportunity to tag one of the pod.” Iverson said once Ryan was done. “After we have contained and corralled them. We have permission from the government to seize and relocate members of the pod as we deem necessary, though if that does not pan out.”

“What? Why? How?” Nadia asked in confusion. They hardly ever took in living specimens and the mers in particular we're highly protected under international treaties and the U.N.

“The pod's alpha male was severely injured by the poachers. The pod managed to free him, when the coast guard arrived. But there was a lot of blood. They don't know what other injuries we're incurred by the pod. But the male orca breed was observed to be missing an arm from the elbow along with other lacerations. He was also not swimming well on his own the pod was keeping him at the surface and pulling him along as they swam.” Colleen gave the run down from her notes on her tablet.

“We also want all hands-on deck not just because we are cornering injured mer to sedate for medical treatment. Possibly multiple. If it's not treatable on site, we will have to move pod back to the coast for rehabilitation. The unique make up and study of this pod has allowed is this opportunity. Even if our goal should be immediate release. If anyone mer won't survive their injuries above a 90 percent.” Iverson looked to Ina to make sure she made notes on her tablet. Which she was. As that call would most likely fall to her and Slav. “We are to collect them all, till they can be rehabbed and reintroduced.” he gave out a long sigh and then gestured to James to finish for him. Having been the one he first called when the transmission came over. And had caught the tail end and most unbelievable part of the report.

“The other reason is…” James looked around the table at everyone with the most serious of looks he could. “They had advanced weapons.”

“Well of course they did James. They are poachers of mer. Sure they have top of the line instruments of torture.” Nadia sassed at him.

“Yeah seriously.” Matt answered.

“No, the pod did.” James stated back. His tone and eyes showing the seriousness of the information and that he was not joking.

“Like they stole from the poachers?” Coran asked with a twirl of his mustache. Though his tone was curious his face gave way to his worry.

“A wet gun isn't going to fire.” Veronica pointed out.

“No.” James said again rubbing his eyes in exasperation. “Their own they made. The descriptions were vague. But...” He looked around the table at the shocked and agape faces of the team. “The pod got members of it on board the ship to free their member. They were witnessed dragging him over the side and engaging the crew of the ship with primitive projectile weapons. Including firing on the coast guard ship when they tried to corral the pod to hold for us.”

Ryan nearly dropped his camera at that information. Matt dropped his tablet a second time. “That's not possible.” Sam said in his shock. “mer have only ever been observed with basic tools, a coral club, or a sharp shell used for cutting a sharped bone spear. Maybe a shark’s tooth imbedded in a wood handle for the most complicated. You’re talking about…”

“This odd mix matched shouldn't be natural in the wild pod is…” Matt said. “Evolving. If not experimenting and inventing. Like…”

“Humans.” Ryan said in pure shock. This was new. This was ground breaking. This pod alone was unique and ground breaking based on no two subspecies was the Same. It was a mixed pod. and had funded this crew for many years now when they were first spotted. If they could get proof of this, show just how much more human these creatures were. They would not only stun and enlighten the scientific community but maybe even get more funding for protection for these creatures. Or communication. Ryan and Ina's own side project and theory. In attempts to learn their complex languages. “This is..”

“Amazing.”

“Exciting.”

“Ground breaking.”

“Dangerous is what it is. All you little nerds get the stars out of your eyes and buckle down.” Iverson said annoyed. “They attacked the coast guard, who was trying to help and only contain.”

“We will be engaging in a closer and more direct nature. If the reports on the weapons is true. They could use them on us, not understanding we are trying to help.” Adam tried to sober up the group of scientists. “So, we need to proceed with caution. We are headed just ahead of their last know location on the direction they were seen headed. It’s dark, and we have a lot of unknown variables. We have 7 different species of mer to prepare to Capture, subdue, and asceses. And they are already stressed, and in the middle of their fight or flight instinct, and possibly we now have the added danger of distant weapons. We need all hands-on deck sharp and alert. This isn’t going to be easy.” Adam relayed for the group.

“I’m not having anyone die on my watch. The rich bill payers don’t tend to like that. And it looks bad on my record.” Iverson had to get in the last word a wry smile on his face. “So get some coffee and get to your stations. We should be in the strike zone in an hour so long as they didn’t change directions. You are dismissed.”

James grabbed his team on the way out. “Kinkade, can you set anything up for night filming with Ina? I know it’s last minute.”

“It is, I have one camera we can…” Ryan started.

“I’ll have the program ready for it within the hour limit.” Ina answered.

“I’ll switch it to a mount with an auto leveler on the front of one of the go ships.” Ryan finished.

James jerked at that. “I don’t know if i want you on a go boat. That’s, that’s a risky spot if the information is true.”

“Uh griffin, this is like the kind of discovery that makes names. Gets you in a college textbook, maybe even a high school one.” Nadia quipped back. “If you don’t think Kinkade is going to make sure his camera is on the first ship to intercept the pod. You are delusional.”

“She’s right.” Ryan said with a smirk.

“I don’t like it. But if you are going to do it. I want you dressed in full gear. Your thick wet suit, the white one so we can see you if you go over.” James said with a sigh. “Ina, I want…”

“I’ll collect live feed from all camera’s Ryan sets up, and catalog as much data as I can from the feeds before bringing the mers into the slings. That way Slav has adequate data for tranquilizers based on preliminary data to lower risk.”

“Yeah that.” James said with a pout. “I’ll let you to get on what you need to do. “Nadia, coffees, for everyone. We meet back on deck once Ryan and Ina have all the gear they need. And we set up whatever they need help with. We are kind of useless till the mers on in the slings. Then we move fast. If… and only if we really feel they need greater medical care, will we transfer then to the tank. If that happens this trip is over, we head back immediately to the aquatic reserve facility.”

***************

“Alright we are close to the estimated area the mers should be in. keeps yours eyes peeled, and the sonar drones have been dropped along with two ariel drones with heat signature detection. Once they have been spotted, we will deploy the net boats to secure then and lead them back towards our main ship for tranquilizing and medical assessment. No sling leaves the water unless Slav or Ina gives the go.” Iverson said as he stood in his old military position in front of the crew on deck. “We need to look alive people and keep alert, we don’t know what to expect, this is anything but a routine bag and tag. Watch each other’s backs. The safety of this crew comes first.” Iverson then gave the floor to James.

“The pod we are looking for is the Voltron pod. It consists of a large alpha male orca whale type mer who was the one reported with the most severe injury. He is also the largest. He’s estimated at 30ft long. He’s been named Shiro. The female alpha is an 27Ft long oarfish type. She is the second largest in the group. Named Allura. Next in size we have a female coelacanth, the largest one ever recorded, and it’s just an educated guess based on photos at 15ft. She is the slowest and cataloged as shay. Then we have on second most dangerous after the orca. A bull male elephant seal he is 12ft long, and huge. One of the largest we’ve seen. We believe him to be Over 7,000 lbs. and if he feels like it, he can get around on our ship if we aren’t careful called Hunk. Third dangerous is a crossbreed. Mako, and bull shark mer cross breed. He’s 10ft long. Male. he’s got the speed of a Mako and the most aggressive in the pod. He’s also been recorded with a large black coral knife in every sighting. So, keep an eye out. He’s going to be the hardest to predict. The shark mers are usually solitary or pair. And this one is not. And is normally protective of his pod. Attacking ships that get to close. With the recent attack and alpha male injured he’s going to be worse he’s been named Keith. The smallest female is an octopus type. So, another who will be able to get around on deck easily. She’s also pretty young based on her size. She’s 9ft long if she’s streamlined. She has reach and can be kind of aggressive too. Matt stupidly named her Pidgeot, we call her Pidge. Lastly is a young male, who appears to be a lancetfish type, or at least a crossbreed of one. We just don’t know what with, or if he is a new species. He has a frill with barbs that can extend down his back. He will be the easiest to spot Out here in the dark, he has bioluminescent spots and stripes that flash. He’s just longer than the shark, 11ft and originally named lance. He’s also sometimes seen with a spear. Our goal is to collect them quickly with the least amount of stress. It’s going to be tough. But I know we can do this. These mers are counting on us.”

Matt took over next. “Alright I’m calling out teams for the net runners. I want you sitting pretty and waiting for the drop. Ryan will be joining one of the lead boats with his camera, so he’s just an extra body.” Matt then began calling out the four groups.

*******************

More ships, more humans. Why couldn’t they just leave them alone. The pod had had to slow down. When their leader Shiro had lost consciousness. Pidge had done her best to stop the bleeding from his stump of an arm, tying a band of seaweed around it. But while they had been resting trying to catch their breathes and gills at the surface the next boat of humans had shown. Larger even still than the first two. Then it had broken up into many. 4 smaller, louder boats had come towards them. They had tried to flee. They couldn’t dive with Shiro like this. He’d drown. But they weren’t fast enough pulling his large mass along with them. The humans in their unnaturally quick boats had gotten ahead of them. Encircling their family with a net. It dropped to deep for them to go under even if Shiro could dive and he couldn’t. Keith was becoming more agitated if that was even possible. Slashing at the net with his knife, his claws his teeth even. It wouldn’t break though. And with each passing wave the bigger ship drew closer to them. Allura drew her long body up protectively around Shiro at the sight. Shay holding his head. Pidge i tried tugging on the top of the net to push it down so maybe we could swim over it. We were having very little luck. Then in his frustration Keith slashed one of the hard jellyfish at the top of the net with his knife. It shrank in size and that part of the net dropped lower in the water. Pidge puffed up at the sight of it excitedly. And I flashed my tail. I waved Hunk over placing his hand to my throat I made the vibrations that went with my lights and the words with my hands, so Hunk would know what we wanted. Pidge making the Same gestures a few more with her tentacles pulling at the net Too. Hunk dove down just enough to build some speed then cleared the surface enough to land on the top of the net with his body. I took my last arrow from it’s hold and flashed at Keith. The two us began to slash the jellies on either side of Hunk to get the net to lower more. Pidge darted quickly to shay and Allura to help them guide Shiro out the deepest part above Hunk. I flashed another pattern to Keith, so he knew to go help them. Then i joined Hunk in swimming down holding the net.

********************

“Are you seeing this?” Matt said excitedly to James as they watched the feed from the boats laying and tying off nets while their ship pulled them in.

“Yeah I am. And as cool as it is, to see their tools and problem-solving abilities in person. They are going to get out and we are going to need a new plan to catch them.” James complained. “Can we real the nets in any faster?”

“A little.” Nadia “But we can pull it.” She snapped her fingers. “See if Iverson or Adam can reverse direction. Put tension on the net make it narrower.”

“On it.” Sam said with a smile calling up to the bridge.

They watched the net jerk on the video feed just a few seconds to late, most the mers getting clear outside the net, the seal getting the net pulled out from under him like a rug falling to the outside of it. But under him was an unbroken buoy. Once his weight was removed it added to the lift of the net. Leaving only one mer the lancet trapped inside. His weight to light. Flinging out of the water and a few feet back from the net seemly stunned for a minute before he dived under. The shark disappearing from the surface along with the octopus and seal.

“So, we got one at least. Even if his pod flees I don’t think they’ll go far, do you?” Nadia asked.

“We don’t know how they will behave. Oar and lancet leave week and injured behind. Sharks eat them. So, we don’t know what they will do. This pod already defies all we know about mers. Anything could happen.” Ina said looking at an underwater feed of the scene.

*********

I swam up to the net and watched sadly as Keith once again frantically attacked it with everything he had Hunk pulling on it and pidge trying to analyze it. I have them a sad smile and at them to go. I was trapped. Shiro was injured. They needed to flee before the human’s big ship was to close. Keith shook his head and tail violently in the water eyes sad and terrified. It’s ok I signed him. Along with escape. Later. Shiro. safe. I reached my hands through the net Hunk and pidge each taking one. Hunk let out a mournful wail into the water. Pidge signing, they will come back. For me. Not leaving. Back. soon. Keith reached threw the net to grab my head and pull it forward pressing the bridge of his nose to the top of my head, so I could feel the small pulses. Back. safe. Not leaving. Not alone. I flashed my lights back. Love. family. Safe. ok. Go. go. Go. I fight. We pulled away from each other and the net. I watched my pod swim away. To safety to freedom. Then turned to face the big human ship. I had lost my arrow. Only had the bow left draped across my chest. But I still had my teeth, my claws and my barbs. I would fight. To give my pod time at least to get away.

********

“Ryan did you see….” Ina asked after having witnessed the underwater scene thanks to the lights of the ship coming closer to the net and mers.

“Yeah I did.” He said his own small feed on this tablet of all the camera’s. His words tinged with sadness.

“But they still left him.” Nadia said sadly.

“I… I didn’t think they were going to after that.” Colleen said a hand cupped over her mouth. The small group on deck watching as the sad lone mer began to frantically move about the shrinking space shoving at the enclosing net. Bright lights on his body flashing randomly. Suddenly shining like a light bright with its paper pulled back to just some twinkling lights. Or pulsating down his body. Intermittently when a boat would get to close he’d flare his spines and flash his teeth. His world slowly shrinking.

“Saddle up team. We still have a job to do. I know it’s hard. Ina assessment.” James sadly got them on tract.

“Subject named lance, untagged, estimated length 11ft long male lancet. Coloring brown, blue white. Gill breather self-pumping. Estimated weight 225-250 pounds Warm blooded. Scale density estimate 6mils back. 2-3 stomach area. Appears to have several fresh lacerations, and a piece of harpoon embedded in his back just under his dorsal ridge between his shoulders. From his movements I believe it to be embedded in the skins connective tissue. I don’t believe it’s in his spine. Due to agitation level, he needs to be tranquilized through the softer underbelly before slinged. Or he could break off spines in it with his thrashing. Or dig the harpoon in deeper putting his spine at risk.”

“Good call.” James patted her on the back. “you’ve got the assessment Slav. Start working on some tranquilizers for him. We’ll hit him once the net is tight enough to control his movements more.”

“on it. right away.” Slav called to him with a thumbs up. Loading the cartridges from his station near the platform.

“Ryan can you get back to the ship? I’d like to get more shots from the platform when we bring him up. If that’s alright.” Matt asked. “his lights and the display look controlled a little bit. And maybe we can get a better identification on his subspecies.”

“sure.” Ryan said. His boat already heading back to the main ship as the others helped guide the mer closer as the net closed in.

The slings were dropped down just before the mer was corralled above it. a mere 10ft ring. Not even enough room for it lay flat at the surface without touching the back of the ship and the net behind him. His thrashing becoming worse. They didn’t have a clear shot though for the tranquilizer. And then the creature started ramming the net. Getting a few spines stuck on the netting. Tearing a few of his fins. As the sight of the pooling blood building in the water, Ryan had had enough of the mer’s fear in his viewer. He grabbed a rope off the deck floor and tied it to this belt. Then set down his hand-held camera. Only his small go pro still clipped to the front of wet suit.

“Kinkade what are doing?” James asked once he saw Ryan set down his camera. Then he saw the rope a second of shocked panic before he rushed his friend. “don’t do something stupid Kinkade!” however Ryan jumped into the net with the panicked thrasher mer before James could get to him. He grabbed the rope to tie off to the deck though to keep him with in reach. “Ryan! You idiot!”

“what is he doing?!” Nadia screamed running up to James to try and help him pull Ryan back towards the ship. Ryan popped up at the surface directly in front of the mer it had turned at the splash.

The creature charging him as Ryan held his arms to brace himself. The mer grabbed his arm unable to get any moment built to throw him. Ryan bit his lower lip hard to hold in his own yell of pain as the mer clamped down hard on his forearm. Its sharp teeth piercing threw the thick wet suit and into his flesh. Claws cutting deep into the suit to shred it. but the thick fabric giving his arm some protection. His pain almost drowning out his friends shouts of fear and worry from the ship. But Ryan could feel the mer’s full body tremble threw his arm clamped tight in the creature’s mouth. Like it was to afraid to let go. But didn’t have the energy left to tear his arm from him. Barely had the strength to flail it’s tail about. It is catching and pulling on the too close net. Ryan carefully and slowly brought his free hand up to the side of the mer’s head and neck the back of his hand brushing the area up and down. Just like he had recorded the sea lion mers in California do to their young. Fingers and nails curled away from the mer’s face and sensitive eyes. The mer flinched at the touch but opened his eyes to look up in shock at Ryan. Mouth still clamped tight. Then Ryan opened his mouth and began to chuff, moan and warble the tune he had heard and memorized from watching the recordings over and over again with Ina to catalog. To his and everyone on the ship’s amazement the mer froze at first and just watched. After a few seconds with the growing silence of the people around them, the only sound from the machines. the mer released the hold on his arm with his teeth. Ryan didn’t stop his ministrations or the sounds he was making, keeping his eyes locked with the mer.

“what the hell is he doing?” James whispered to Nadia hoping she had a clue. She shrugged in response.

Ina however answered. “it’s a call sound sea lion mers in California use to calm their young. Along with the hand motion. It was used by 87% of the observation group. With very small variables in the sounds. It also included the hand motion and touch.” She kept her voice low.

“he’s not a seal type mer.” James grit out. “why would he take a risk like that? How does he know it’s even working? That it’s not just confused at the dumb human touching him and is going to snap any minute.”

“there is a seal in their pod though.” Matt whispered back joining the group by the rope to quickly tug him back should the mer snap out of his trance. James just rolled his eyes.

“can anyone get a shot with the tranquilizer?” they heard Adam ask as he joined them down on the deck. Iverson must have sent him down after seeing the shit show it was turning into.

“no! god no!” Nadia growled out. “trying to get him killed. It takes a minute to work. In that time, he could rip Ryan apart.”

The group watched as the mer brought it’s face closer to Ryan’s before clicking its teeth hard enough for the sound to echo around. Its mouth shaking and teeth rattling. The lights on it’s tail starting to pulsate is a slow soft pattern lighting the waters. Its brows started to scrunch up mouth pausing when Ryan kept up his tune. The mer jerked it’s head up sharply lowering its self in the water before grabbing Ryan’s hand that was on his neck and pressing it in the Same position to the exposed column of his neck with the back of his hand. The mer’s grip nearly bruising on his hand despite it being much slimmer and smaller than his own. The action so fast it freaked out Ryan’s friends jerking on the rope pulling the two a little closer to the ship positioning them over the submerged sling before they realized it wasn’t attacking Kinkade. The mer then repeated the light pulse pattern and the clacking of its teeth.

“I’m sorry.” Ryan whispered careful not to move to much and startle the mer. “I don’t understand.” He kept his eyes locked with the mers. Though he could feel the vibrations threw the hand pressed to the mers throat. The mer stopped again before it looked even more frustrated. It dropped both of hands and surged forward. To grab his head. Pressing the bridge of his nose to the mer’s forehead. However, that didn’t seem to sway the crew on the ship.

“no!” James had shouted at first pulling on the rope again at the initial surge with his team. Once he realized the mer wasn’t trying to rip Ryan’s head off, the group relaxed a bit again. “oh my god. I’m going to kill you when you are back on this deck Kinkade!”

Ryan ignored his friends to carefully place the back of his curled hand to the mer’s face and neck again. Making the calming seal song again. The pressure on his nose growing a bit as the flashing became faster and once again a bit frantic. Claws of the creature digging in ever so slightly to his scalp before backing away. The mer was trembling again.

“Ryan, Ryan you need to get out of there. It’s not working anymore. It’s going to attack.” James said to his friend bracing himself on the lip of the deck to pull as soon as he needed too.

“he won’t. some one get me a fish. Slav put the tranquilizer in the fish.” Ryan paused in his tune to instruct the others. He poured as much calm certainty into it as he could into his words. Though he was fairly certain the mer wouldn’t. it was just frustrated and scared. Slav stumbled on the deck in his bid to do as asked. The pulsating stopped the water going dark for a few seconds before it started again at something more reminiscent as a throb if Ryan had to put a word to it. the mer took one hand off his head releasing some the pressure on his nose to press the hand once again to the mer’s neck. As it tried to make clicks and sounds it wasn’t capable of producing. Ryan stayed still in the water and repeated the seal song again while they waited for the fish.

The human was singing Hunk’s song. It knew seal. It knew at least some seal. But he couldn’t make the Same sounds. He tried, he tried so hard to get the human to understand. The human who didn’t attack him even when he had lashed out with the last of energy to bite him. The human who was telling him it’s ok. You are safe little one. He didn’t understand. The humans never talked to them. They made loud indescribable noises. Angry ugly faces at them. Some smiled and waved their arms. But none ever spoke to them in one of their languages. Till this human. This human who couldn’t understand him. As he begged for help. Begged to be freed. The other humans around them had their eyes locked to him, but they didn’t attack. Unsure if it was because they worried of harming their own or that he would attack the strange human if they did. None of it Matter. This human spoke like Hunk. Hunk who was so mournful at having to leave him behind. But Shiro and the pod needed Hunk. They’d come back for him once it was safe. Just like they had for Shiro. This human was trying to make him feel safe. Even if he was anything but. He’d hold onto the that for as long as he could. Till these humans cut him to pieces or jabbed him with their barbs that made their kind sleep. That’s all that was left to do was wait. And hold onto this what little bit of peace this human was offering him. Letting him pretend it was Hunk singing to him and consoling him.

My eyes catch movement behind the human. We’ve drifted closer to the big human ship. The human bumping into the ridge that sits in the water. Another human was leaning over to hand the seal human a fish and make some noises at him. The seal human took the fish with the hand I had injured. I could see and smell the blood flowing from it. mingling with the water and my own. All my injuries from the previous humans starting to burn and ache the more tired I got. It felt like torture. The seal human slowly moved the fish between us to just in front of my mouth. He stopped speaking while pressing the fish to my lips.

When the merman locked eyes with him again pulling away enough to look at the fish and sniff it before locking eyes with Ryan again. Ryan smiled at the mer sniffing the fish exaggerated the noises a bit of it. and pressed his lips around it like he was eating it before pushes it back at the mer till the mer took to understanding the gesture of him wanting the terrified thing to eat the fish. The mer closed his mouth around it and Ryan pulled back that hand once more. Giving the mer some space as it moved away a bit to hold the fish and bite of cHunks chewing and swallowing it much slower than Ryan expected. Once the mer had finished eating Ryan once again continued to caress the mer’s cheek and sing to him till he slowly drifted off in his arms. The tension of the team around him dissipating with each in the creature had sagged till, he could hear the collective sighs.

“Jesus Christ. Raise the sling. Please somebody.” James said with a head falling back sigh. “on three we hoist this idiot back on deck.” He said to Nadia and Matt who waited for his countdown to pull Kinkade back on the deck. Once he was within reach of the rail Ryan grabbed it with his good hand to help pull himself up.

Adam was there drag him over and start cutting away the shredded wet suit around his arm. Coran coming up behind with his medical kit ready. “do I need to tell you how much trouble you’re in now or should I wait?” Adam asked.

“wait.” Ryan answered with a snort.

“yes at least until I finish treating this wound. Though it’s not nearly as bad as it could’ve been. You are one lucky duck there Kinkade.” Coran said getting to work cleaning the wounds for bandaging.

“I call dibs on strangling him first.” James said. “that was immensely stupid.

“it worked.” Ryan answered.

“it did. That video will help with proving our theory on communication skills and intelligence of mers.” Ina said looking at Ryan’s go pro.

“yes, because your theories are worth dying for.” James spat back. “whatever. Get cleaned up and below deck Kinkade. You’re off this deck till Iverson or I say otherwise.” Then he stormed off.

“give him a few hours. He’ll calm down.” Nadia said with a smile and a shrug. “you scared the shit out of him. He was worried you were going to die. And he’d have to watch.”

“probably would’ve blamed himself too. Since it’s his operation.” Matt said.

“yeah. I owe him an apology coffee.” Ryan answered. But he wasn’t looking at any of his friends. He was watching the mer being taken out of the ocean and moved with the crane to the holding tank. His mouth fell into a heavy frown.

“the mer tired himself out. Even if we treated his injuries and released him now. His pod is to faraway. He’d be stranded alone, and likely wouldn’t make it unless his pod found him. It is better to contain him, treat him and allow him time to rest.” Ina informed him.

“yeah, plus what good is it to release him to catch him again. We need to get the rest of pod for treatment too. Specially the orca.” Nadia said. “they kept one of the drones on the pod as it left.” She informed him at the look of confusion.

“he’s not trapped.” Ryan said with a breath of relief.

“no. he’ll be ok.” Matt said with a pat to his arm.

“and so, will you lad. Now that you are all treated. Better listen to the deck master’s orders. Chop chop below.” Coran teased helping Ryan to his feet with Matt. Matt grabbed the camera Ryan had dropped and took it with him to walk Ryan back down to his room.

#ryan and lance week #voltron #mermaids #mermen #Lance #ryan #kinkade #mermaid au #kinkance

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ryik-the-writer · 6 years

Photo

May Day Menergerie for @nropay!! It’s also a remix to my Mer!Rumple series based off @foxmurphey’s artwork. It’s not nearly as long as I wanted it to be but I did my best to accommodate all you asked for. I hope you like it and Happy May Day!

A03

-,-,-,-,-,-

“Come on Papa!” the little merman called out to his father who immediately held a finger up to his lips.

“Quiet Bae,” the older merman warned gently, glancing around the empty clump of beach. Looks were deceiving however, as he had learned the day he first met Belle.

He and Bae had first met Belle one day when she had stumbled onto the beach. It was a bit odd to see a human in this section of the beach. No one ever came to the small cove the mermen had called their home for a little over a year now. It was too far from the loud docks and eateries the humans thrived on, and the waves were too low to satisfy the ones who brought their giant boards.

Rumple, despite both his and his son’s curiosity, had made them move on, and considered leaving the town once and for all. The day Belle had fallen off a boat and nearly drown had been the point that everything in their quiet, inactive lives changed. Upon taking her back to the cove to recover, Belle had taken to their existence surprisingly well. Rumple had been weary at first, having had a bad experience with a human in the past and not knowing if Belle was trustworthy. He had to protect his son after all.

But Belle had proved herself an unofficial mermaid in no time, and soon she was a permanent part of their lives. She went on adventures with them, helped them nurse the injured birds and sealife back to health, and brought them treats during each visit.

“There she is!” Bae said excitedly, gliding to where Belle was setting up on the beach. She heard Bae and her face nearly split in two.

Rumple felt the familiar flutter in his chest at the sight. His son must have sensed it, as he glanced back and gave his father an all-knowing smirk.

“You like her, don’t you papa?” Bae had asked him one night as they watched the waves descend.

“Of course,” Rumple answered safely. “She’s much different than other humans.”

“No,” Bae scoffed. “Really like her.”

Rumple knew what his son meant and knew that he did indeed feel something for Belle. How could he not? She was so caring, so intelligent, and just saying her name filled him with a deep-seated adoration for her.

But soon, reality would sink in, and he was reminded that he, a merman, could never be with her.

However, he refused to think about it and instead focused on the present, and in the present Bae was gliding into Belle’s lap, so comfortable in her arms, as he searched eagerly through her bag for today’s treat.

“Bae, manners,” Rumple reminded his son as he glided to Belle’s side.

“It’s fine Rumple,” Belle chuckled as she ruffled Bae’s waves of curls which were starting to grow over his eyes.

Bae was in his fifth year now, and still had the innocence and wonder of a young one. Unlike his father, he didn’t have a blemish on him, a reminder that the world had been good to him. The fin of his seaweed-green tail was still intact, and would hopefully remain that way for the rest of his days.

Bae gasped in delight when he found Belle’s treat.

“Gummy worms!” he exclaimed, ripping the package open with his sharp teeth. He had been weary to eat the sugary insects the first time Belle had brought them to the mermen. Worms were a last-result meal for merfolk, and were often dangerously pilfered off the hooks of fishers. Once Belle told them that these kinds of worms didn’t crawl back up, they instantly rivaled with pudding as their favorite snack.

Belle managed to fish out a few before Bae dug in and offered one to Rumple. His fingers graced against her palm as he took it and they gave each other a shy smile.

“Belle?”

Belle nearly chocked on her candy and frantically looked around for the source of her name. By the time she turned back around, Rumple and Bae were already swimming safely to the cluster of rocks just off the cove, just close enough that they could hear the greetings of the new humans.

“Papa…” Bae’s tiny voice squeaked.

“It’s okay son,” Rumple whispered as he and Bae ducked behind the rocks. Belle didn’t betray them, he told himself repeatedly. She couldn’t have. Someone must have seen her. That by itself was a problem, but they’d get to that later.

“Stay down,” he told him gently, peaking out from behind the rocks to see three humans carefully making their way down the sand dune.

One was an obvious male and was carrying a load of supplies. The other human was wearing a flowing skirt, but their hair was short and black, something Rumple wasn’t used to seeing on a human female. The last human was small, about Bae’s size, and had long blond hair that bounced as she ran into Belle’s arms.

Belle glanced to the rocks as she picked the child in her arms, giving Rumple an apologetic half-smile before turning back to the humans.

“Mary Margaret, how did you know I was here?” Belle inquired to the dark-haired human as the blond one squirmed from her arms. Mary Margaret and David were visiting Storybrooke for Emma’s summer vacation. Belle was supposed to be entertaining them, but when they had announced that they were going to go see the sites she took the opportunity to visit Rumple and Bae.

“Your car was around the corner, we thought we’d come see what you were up to.” she explained as she took a few of the blankets from her husband’s arms and spread them over the sand. “Oh it’s beautiful out here, and so quiet. I see now why you keep sneaking away—Emma, sweetie, don’t go out too far!”

The little blonde glanced back at her mother before skipping through the low waves.

Mary Margaret sighed as her husband finally dropped their things. “Kids.” She chuckled.

Belle nodded absently, annoyed that her friend would just show up but more worried about Emma as she got closer to the rocks. The tide was too low. If Rumple and Bae swam away now, they’d be seen, and she knew from years as Mary Margaret’s friend that she couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.

Rumple kept a hand on Bae’s shoulder as the little splashed further into he water.

The merman looked over to assure his son that everything would be alright but found the boy staring at the little girl with wide-eyed wonder.

“Papa, what is that?” Bae whispered.

Rumple followed his line of site to the human child as she splashed further into the water.

“A human, Bae.” He answered quietly. “Just like Belle.”

“But…she’s so small.” Bae said.

Rumple looked the small human over. “She’s about your age.”

“Wow.” Bae said, his voice rising slight from the awe.

Rumple and shushed him, glancing up to find in horror that the little human was staring directly at them. Behind her was Belle, wide-eyed and pale. The child’s parents were too busy setting up their things to take notice of the wonderous event happening between their daughter and the creatures of legend.

Emma however didn’t seem afraid. She didn’t try to alert her parents of them. She simply raised her small hand and waved at them.

Rumple stayed completely still. Even if she was just a child, new humans were still untrustworthy. And loud.

“Bae, let’s move.” Rumple whispered so quietly he wasn’t sure if the words had come out at all. He looked down at his son to motion him away, but found Bae crawling closer to the human. Rumple glanced frantically back at Belle.

Belle calmly waddled out to the rocks where Emma was, turning a reassuring smile to the parents.

“Hey,” Belle greeted when she climbed onto one of the rocks.

“Look Aunt Belle!” Emma shrilled. “Fish people!”

Belle shushed her, glancing back long enough to make sure David and Mary Margaret were occupied.

“Yes sweetie,” Belle nodded, softening her voice for the five-year-old. “Their called mermen.”

“Hi mermen!” Emma greeted so loudly Belle’s heart nearly stopped.

“H-hi.” Bae greeted, more awestruck that fearful. His pale cheeks turned a tinted pink when Emma giggled.

“Their friends of mine. But there also my secret.”

Emma turned away from the petrified mermen long enough to give her god-aunt a pointed look. “Mama says it’s not right to keep secrets.”

“You’re mom would say that,” Belle sighed, rolling her eyes before she got explained the situation in a way a five-year old would.

“Sweetie, do you remember when I went on that fieldtrip with you to the aquarium?”

Emma nodded, her eyes fixed on Bae.

“And you remember that whale we saw in one of the tanks and how sad you said he looked?”

Emma looked at her aunt, wisdom filling her big green eyes.

“The whale was sad because the scientists to put him in the tank took him from his home. If someone finds out about Rumple and Bae…that could happen too.” Belle said, her eyes meeting Rumple’s worried one’s.

Emma turned back to the mermen, her eyes searching them.

“Which one of you is Bae?”

Bae raised his small webbed hand.

“Good,” Emma said, crossing her legs on the rock. “We’re going to be friends.”

“W-we are?” Bae squeaked.

“Mmm-hmm,” Emma nodded. “Best friends.”

Rumple and Belle exchanged surprised looks at the little girl’s gumption. Belle had to hold back a smirk.

“Belle, Emma?” Mary Margaret’s voice echoed to the rocks.

Belle stiffened, remembering the situation at hand.

“So you promise…to keep your new friend safe?” Belle asked.

“Yeah,” Emma agreed with a toothy smile.

Rumple sagged against the rocks in relief. Another day, another disaster averted.

Bae smiled in return, intrigued by this smaller human.

“We better go,” Belle said, noticing when both Bae and Emma’s faces fell.

“Agreed,” Rumple nodded. “Thank you, Belle.”

Belle smiled before picking up her god-niece and waddled back to shore.

“Mama I a new friend!” Emma exclaimed, causing Belle to wince. So much for keeping secrets.

“That’s nice sweetie. Come here so I can put more sunscreen on you. You’re turning brown already.”

“Aw mama!” Emma whined as her mother smeared the thick paste on her shoulders.

Belle chuckled and looked back at the rocks. She could see the torn fin of Rumple’s golden tail peak out from the water as he and Bae swam away. She sighed, exhausted but optimistic for the future.

If she brought Emma out here more often, she and Bae could make friends while her and Rumple spent a bit more adult-time with each other.

She really didn’t see the harm in that.

#maydaymenagerie #may day menagerie #may day menagerie 2018 #rumbelle #rumbelle au #rumplestiltskin #belle #baelfire #emma swan #swanfire #salt water #mer!rumple #ryik's fics

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arielle0808 · 7 years

Text

A Sea of Salvation

Here comes the second story of the Mermaid AU series! You can read them independently :3

I really hope you like this one. You can also read it on AO3

Thank you for reading <3

Fuck. He had done it again. He had disappointed the Saviour. Saeran went out to the sea near the Mint Eye building and threw a pebble to the water.

“Fuck!!” he yelled.

He needed to be better. Mommy usually told him. He was useless, he was rubbish, he was disgusting. The Saviour had given him the opportunity to achieve redemption and he was screwing it, and it was only his fault. His and that liar of his brother’s fault, of course. He could only feel hate and desperation and he screamed almost in pain as he let himself fall on the shore, grabbing his hair with his hands.

“Are you okay?” he heard a tender but shaky voice next to him.

He turned to find a pair of soft green eyes looking at him with a mixture of worry and fear. Her light brown and silver hair fell down her back and chest, hiding her breasts, and she leaned on the pebbles of the shore as if she belonged to that place. She startled when Saeran’s piercing green eyes looked into hers and blushed. She stretched a hand to move the locks of hair which were almost falling on his eyes and then he realised. A silver tail spread out where her belly finished, instead of her legs.

“A mermaid?” he whispered. When she was about to touch his face, he took her wrist and brought her closer to him, making her gasp in surprise and fear. Saeran smirked. “This will please the Saviour,” he said, standing up and lifting her by the wrist, making her cry out in pain.

“Please, don’t,” she exclaimed, fresh tears starting to roll down her cheeks.

He took her in his arms, fighting against her, who cried for mercy and asked him to take her back to the sea. He let her fall on the floor and tied her hands with his chocker, taking her up again. The mermaid was helpless.

“Please, let me return to the sea. I can die out here,” she asked between sobs.

“You’re going to meet the Saviour,” he told her. “She may want to experiment with you, and if you’re lucky, you’ll be saved too.”

She started to cry louder. Her cry was like a sad song which made Saeran’s heart feel heavy on his chest.

“Shut up,” he said, putting a hand on her mouth.

He made the mistake of looking at her eyes. Tender eyes full of fear, sadness, and begging him to take her back to the water. They were already leaving the beach when Saeran stopped walking. The mermaid looked around her, nervous and scared, and held Saeran’s t-shirt fearing what may come. She looked up at him again, as if asking him what he was going to do with her. With her that had only gone to him after hearing him scream and cry, and had been the first person that had worried about Saeran.

“Fuck,” he whispered, turning around and going back to the beach.

She gave him a look of confusion, but didn’t dare to say anything. Saeran took her to the sea and let her on the water, removing her bondage.

“Now, go away before I change my mind,” he said, noticing that the mermaid was still looking at him and that made him feel something strange and uncomfortable in his chest.

“Thank you,” she whispered and swam away in a gentle move of her tail.

Thank you? Had she thanked him for not kidnapping her? That was a strange creature indeed. He wanted to know about her. She was not human after all.

He arrived to the building, the lower part of his trousers wet as a result for taking the mermaid to the water, and earned a few curious glances from the rest of the members of Mint Eye. He went to his room to check on that girl whom he had sent to Rika’s apartment. She was now at the home of that man whose cat he had taken a few days ago to make him come to the party. That V traitor had made a fuss of it, but no one listened to him anyway, so who fucking cared? Nevertheless, he found himself thinking about the mermaid and started to make a research on them. Apparently, they were solitary beings -ha? How curious, just like him –and never settled in a place, but travelled around the seas and appeared from time to time on desolated beaches. That made sense, no body went to the beach he had been to when he found her. He bit his thumb. If that information was true, that mermaid was just like him. He heard a faint meow from under his desk and look at the white cat, annoyed. Would the mermaid know about cats?

The mermaid thought about the human at the beach. His eyes reflected pain and despair, but there were no traces of evil in them. Why had he done that? She knew humans are by rule heartless and scary, but that one seemed to be... kind? It was written in his eyes, in his painful expression, in the way he had taken her as if he was more scared of her than she of him, but he had had to do it. What would happen if she tried to go to that same spot on the beach the next day? He had taken her by surprise, but he wouldn’t to that a second time, so she could defend herself. She knew several tricks with her tail that could leave K.O. a killer whale, why not a human? She nodded to herself. She could go and make sure to find out if that human was evil or not. If he was, she would forget about him. If he wasn’t... well, the chances of being friends with him were small seeing that they belonged to different worlds, but at least she wanted to know what the reason why he was so miserable. Yes, she could do that.

Saeran went to the beach at the same hour the next day and left the cat near the shore, hiding himself behind a rock. The silly cat seemed to be scared of water, so it would move away and Saeran had to return it to its place. What a pain. It was moving away once more when they heard something on the shore that made the cat turn its head to eye curiously at the water. It was the mermaid. Saeran stood behind the rock, spying on her as she crawled near the cat with curiosity. The cat looked at her, and smelled the finger she stretched out to touch it, meowing. She petted it, making it move away since she was still wet.

“How long are you going to stay staring?” the mermaid spoke up. Was she talking about Saeran? “Mermaids have a pretty good hearing, you know?” she looked towards him.

Saeran went out from behind the rock and approached her with an annoyed look, making her move closer to the water and away from him.

“Don’t call me if you’re scared,” he told her.

“I’m not scared,” she replied, giving him the most defiant look she could. He sat on the shore, his bare toes touching the water. “Why did you let me go yesterday?”

“That’s...” Saeran hesitated, remembering the way her look had made him feel. “That’s none of your business.”

“It is, since it’s about my life,” she replied.

“It’s not anymore.”

She hesitated.

“Are you going to hurt me?”

“No,” Saeran answered.

She approached him.

“Why were you crying yesterday?” she asked, her voice softer again, like the day before.

“Why should I tell you?”

“Why did you come again?”

“Why did you?” he replied. “I’ve been coming to this place since I first came to live at that building over there,” he said, pointing at it.

She looked up to see it and looked back at Saeran.

“I wanted to see you,” she replied.

He startled and looked away from her, trying to conceal his blush.

“Liar.”

“It’s the truth,” she replied. “Why would I come back, then?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I asked.”

“I knew you were nice,” the mermaid smiled. “You’re cute when you blush.”

“What the fuck?” Saeran stood up. “Stop talking non-sense.”

The mermaid frowned.

“But it’s the truth.”

“Stop saying that!” he exclaimed. “You’re a liar too. My brother is a liar, the Saviour too, V, everyone! It’s all lies!!”

He let himself fall on the pebbles and grabbed his hair, repressing a scream. Here it came again. This shitty feeling of anger, wrath and loneliness. Why would he trust anyone? He started to feel the need to take the medicine to Paradise to ease his mind, but he couldn’t move. His body didn’t answer. Fuck. Fuck. Why couldn’t he move? He felt something warm on his arm.

“How much did they hurt you for you to say that?”

Was that mermaid pitying him? Of course, he was pathetic now. Useless and pathetic, as mommy used to say. He looked at her but startled when he only saw sadness in her eyes. Didn’t she pity him? Why was she feeling sad? Why did it seem she was sharing his feeling?

“I know a song that can sooth you. Do you want to hear it?”

He did want to, but his throat felt dry and he couldn’t even nod. She started to sing and he instantly felt more relaxed. It was like magic. He lied on the sand as the mermaid caressed his hair and sang, and started to sob quietly. When his sobbing stopped the mermaid’s song did too.

“Mermaids’ songs have settled purposes, and one of them is making people calm,” she said.

Her voice alone calmed him anyway, he wanted to say, but he felt if he spoke up everything would disappear. It was the first time in his life he had felt careless. He looked at the mermaid.

“Are you lonely?” he asked.

“I am,” she replied. “Are you?”

He nodded.

“I need to go,” he said, standing up and taking the cat. “Come again tomorrow.”

“I will,” she chuckled.

Saeran blushed and started moving away, but turned around almost instantly to face her again.

“What’s your name?” he asked her.

“Mermaids don’t have names,” she replied.

“Oh,” he hesitated. “Ok, mermaid,” he said, turning around and going back to Magenta, where he wouldn’t stop thinking about that nameless solitary mermaid.

#mystic messenger #saeran choi #saeran x oc #angst #hurt/comfort #mermaid au #elizabeth 3rd #mysme fic #saeran fic

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youcancallmecirce · 7 years

Text

Elemental, Chapter 3: Merman

So, I can't leave this story alone. It's like I'm reading a book, and I really, really want to know what happens next--except that I can't, until I write it. So. Have a third chapter in as many days. I can't promise to keep up this pace, and in fact, I can pretty much promise that I won't. But I hope you enjoy it while it lasts!

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 On AO3

Marinette blinked. “Half…fish?”

Adrien’s eyes slid closed, and he took a slow, deep breath through his nose. “Plagg, I swear, I am going to abandon you to the Nereids.”

“No you won’t.” Plagg shrugged. “You were going to spend all day swimming around it. I saved you from yourself.”

“Wait-wait-wait, ‘half fish’? As in—”

Adrien opened his eyes and sheepishly held up one hand, displaying the pale green webbing stretched between his fingers, as well as the narrow fin along his forearm, and hoping fervently that she wouldn’t be repulsed. “Merman.”

Marinette’s eyes went round, riveted on his hand, and her mouth formed a perfect O of surprise. Then her eyes moved slowly down his arm to the bend of his elbow, and then up, up to his shoulder, to his face. She saw now the details she’d missed in her initial panic: the sheen of iridescent scales at his jaw and down his neck, the delicate points of his ears…the pronounced points of his teeth.

She felt a frisson of fear dance down her spine, until his eyes caught hers, and she saw in them the same gentle spirit that had always been there.

“Merman,” she breathed, wonderingly. He still looked like himself, but he was also very clearly something exotic, something other. Somehow, because of that, he was even more beautiful now than she’d ever seen him before. And considering how brain-meltingly attractive he’d been to begin with, that was saying something.

She raised her hand to touch him, but stopped with her fingers hovering just centimeters from his skin, blushing hotly. “May I?”

He nodded mutely, pulling her closer to help support her in the water with a hand at her elbow, and she saw with a feeling of relief that he was blushing, too. Somehow, that grounded her, and her fingers shook only a little as she ran them down the webbing between his splayed fingers. He shuddered at the touch, though, and she withdrew her hand quickly.

“I’m sorry!”

“It’s alright,” he said, his blush deepening. “I’m just, ah, not used to being touched. Go ahead.”

Marinette frowned at that, but took his hand in hers, and ran her other hand over the fin on his arm, pressing the jade green spines down along his skin. “You’re warm,” she said, in some surprise. Every fish she’d ever touched, on the rare occasions when she’d been fishing, had been cold and a little slimy.

He chuckled. “I’m not actually a fish. I’m warm-blooded, like you.”

“Oh.” She touched the iridescent scales on his arm along the fin, noting the way they faded from green, at the base of the fin, to almost clear further out, where the scales gave way to normal skin.

“I guess this is your first time, meeting one of my people?”

She jerked her hand away, blushing again, and nodded. “There aren’t many mermaids in Paris.”

He laughed. “No, I bet there aren’t. It would be fishy if there were.”

“Oh my god,” she groaned, swimming backward a bit, and he released her. “Did you just pun? On purpose?”

“Is there any way to do it, except on porpoise?”

Plagg snickered, but she groaned again. “Ugh. That’s it. I’m leaving.”

“What? Oh come on, Marinette, don’t you like puns?” She heard him swimming after her, and he caught up with her easily. “We can’t be fronds, if you don’t.”

“You’re terrible,” she huffed, panting with exertion.

“Terribly funny.” He frowned, then, and swam in front of her. “Hey, wait a minute. Why don’t you let me bring you in?”

She bristled at the implication that she couldn’t do it herself, and scowled. “I can make it in on my own.”

“I know you can, but do you really want to?” Her frown eased, and he forged ahead. “You’ve been treading water for a long time, and practicing your magic before that. I know you’re exhausted. Please let me help you?”

Her legs were aching, and even the thought of fighting the surf all the way back was enough to make her feel weary. “Alright.”

He grinned at her, and she felt the force of that smile down to her toes. Had she ever seen him really smile before?

“Here, just hold on to me, and I’ll have you back up there in no time at all.”

He held his arms out like he was waiting for a hug, and her eyes widened in dismay when she realized what she’d actually just agreed to. With a gulp, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and felt his left arm wrap around her body, holding her close. She had only a moment to process that, though, before they shot ahead. She tightened her hold on him and closed her eyes, trying not to think of anything at all.

Adrien held his arms out to her invitingly, and her eyes went wide for a moment before moving to wrap her arms around him. He wondered at her reaction, until he felt her slick skin press against him down the length of his body. Then he understood.

At that point there was nothing for it but to wrap his arm around her waist as clinically as possible, and carry her back to the beach.

He’d never done anything like that before. There were just as many humans in his home-city of Meriton as there were mer-people in Paris, and to all of the humans he’d met in Marseille he was just as human as they. The need, the opportunity, had never arisen. Now, the experience was both far too brief and far too lasting.

Adrien’s mother had disappeared when he was still very young. His father was a reserved man, dedicated to his work, and he had withdrawn further after losing the woman who had apparently been the love of his life. Most of the others in his life were his father’s employees, and though he saw both Nathalie and Gorile as a part of his family, they insisted on maintaining a professional distance. The only one he’d known who had ever shown him any physical affection was Chloé, and her clinging attention had had only been stifling.

Marinette’s touch felt different. She wasn’t being paid for her interactions with him, like Nathalie and Gorile. She wasn’t hoping to gain something from their acquaintance, playing on his wealth and fame, like Chloé. To Marinette, he was just Adrien, and he knew from her wide-eyed blush that she was just as affected as he.

When she’d gently stroked the membranes of his hand, the sensation had rocked him. He’d been able to control his reaction after that, but each touch of her hand was no less intense than the first had been and he’d felt them to his core. Those sensations, coupled with the unveiled wonder and appreciation and unconditional acceptance in her gaze, had nearly undone him.

Somehow, he’d forgotten all about that in the teasing that followed. In his desire to help her, he’d given no thought to what that help would entail. Now, moving through the water with her arms around his neck and his hand on the curve of her hip, he could think of nothing else. Her body scalded him where they touched, in spite of the coolness of her skin, and her breath felt like a caress on his neck every time she exhaled. He never wanted to let her go, while at the same time, he could not wait to reach the shore so that he could re-establish the space between them, and regain his equilibrium. He was afraid of his reaction to her, afraid of the strength of his attraction. He needed time, away from her, to process it.

Fortunately for his state of mind, it took only a few minutes and very little effort for him to make a swim that would have taken her three times as long. When he felt his fin brush sand, he stopped and pulled his arm from her waist to rest his hand gently at her hip. “Is this close enough?”

“Yeah, this is fine.” She let him go and swam backwards, toward the shore, until she could touch the bottom. “Aren’t you coming in?”

“Er, yeah, hang on a minute.” Adrien’s hands went to the long leather thong around his neck, and pulled it off over his head to un-loop it from around his ring. He stopped, though, with the ring only half way on, and looked at her in acute embarrassment. “Ah, maybe you ought to go on without me.”

“Oh—kay.” Her brow furrowed, either in confusion or concern; he wasn’t sure which. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine. I just, ah, I need my legs back and I’m not—I mean, my pants are—gods, this is awkward.”

“Oh.” Marinette’s eyes lit with understanding, and she flushed crimson right to the roots of her hair. “Oh! You’re—you aren’t wearing any—um, right. I’ll just…I’ll be going.” She took a step back, buffeted by a rolling wave, and then stopped, flicking her eyes downward.

He smirked, in spite of his own discomfort at the situation. “There’s nothing to see at the moment.”

“No! I wasn’t—well, I did, but I didn’t—oh, bloody hell. I’m leaving. Now.” She took a few awkward steps back, still blushing furiously, and then turned with a wave, calling back over her shoulder, “I’ll just—I’ll just see you later!”

He waited until she was completely out of the water before replacing his ring on his finger, allowing the magic to remold his body into that of a human male in a flash of green light. To his chagrin, his, ah, interest in her was far more evident in this form than it was with his tail, but it couldn’t be helped. He stayed where he was, treading water, until she waved from the beach and disappeared from view on her bike. Only then did he move in to the shore, to pull on his shorts and gather his own things.

“So, I think that went well.”

Adrien glanced at Plagg, who had appeared at his elbow, as he struggled to pull his shorts up over his wet skin. “You would.”

“She didn’t freak out over you being a fish.”

“I’m not a fish.” He grabbed his towel and began rubbing at his hair, drying it.

Plagg shrugged. “Nuance. And you’re avoiding the point.”

He tossed his towel over his shoulder, slid his feet into his sandals, and glared at Plagg. “What is the point, then?”

“I’m just saying, she’s a human, and she knows that you’re not a human, and she isn’t freaking out.”

“I know she’s not freaking out, Plagg. But maybe I am, a little bit. Alright?” He ran his hands through his wet, disheveled hair. “Just, get in the ring, please, so we can go back.”

“Don’t forget my Camembert.”

“You are so weird.”

“I’m serious.”

“Elementals don’t eat. Why do you eat?”

“Try me.” Plagg crossed his arms over his chest, and looked pointedly at Adrien. “I will abandon you to your fan club.”

Adrien shuddered. “There’s no need to be cruel, Plagg. You’ll get your dumb stinky cheese. Please get in the ring?”

“Fine.”

Plagg got in the ring.

“Tikki, I’m freaking out.”

“Don’t freak out, Marinette! What is there to freak out about?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Marinette threw her hands in the air dramatically, and plopped down on the side of her bed. “How about, the guy I’ve been practically in love with now knows that I’m a mage and, oh by the way, he’s also actually a merman? Like, how does that even work?”

“Marinette—” Tikki began, but Marinette just kept right on talking.

“Or, what about the fact that my best friend is a natural-born investigator and she is going to KNOW something is up and how am I going to keep this from her? I mean, it’s one thing for her to know about my magic, but this? It’s not my secret to tell! And I know he must guard his as closely as I guard mine! She’s going to find out, and then she’s going to say something to him, and then he’s going to hate me and oh my god, what if there’s some kind of treaty between his people and mine? I’ll be violating some kind of international code, and I’ll be arrested and—”

“Marinette, stop!” Tikki got in her face again and squeezed the end of her nose, causing her to stop her tirade and close her mouth with a snap. “Deep breaths, Marinette. You need to relax, and take one thing at a time.”

Marinette blew out a long breath, and smiled weakly. “You’re right. I can handle this. One thing at a time.”

“Exactly. Get through your classes first, and then we can deal with the rest.”

“Class!” Marinette shot up in a panic, and began scrambling to gather her things. “Merde, Tikki, I’m going to be late!”

“At least today is one of your later days,” Tikki giggled. “If this was a Workshop day, you’d have missed it entirely.”

“I know, but I’m still running late! Bye!” She flew out of the apartment, down the stairs, and to the bus stop on the corner, where Alya was sitting with her phone in her hand.

“I’m here! I made it!”

“You’re ridiculous.” Alya looked up at her with sparkling eyes, and tucked her phone into her bag. “You didn’t even have time to brush your hair, did you?”

Marinette winced, and Alya winced with her. “Ah, no. I think I’m lucky that I got the shower.”

“Want me to do something with it? I’ve got a couple of hair ties in my bag.”

“Yes, please,” she replied, nodding fervently. “It’s going to make me nuts if it stays down like this.”

“You got it.” Alya stood and shouldered her bag, nodding at the approaching bus. “After we get on the bus.”

They stood quietly with the two other passengers waiting for the bus, and climbed on when it had stopped and the doors hissed open. They found a pair of unoccupied seats near the front, and once they were seated, Alya turned without a word and began finger-combing Marinette’s hair.

Marinette sighed happily, enjoying the feel of Alya’s against her scalp. “I should have you do that way more often than you do.”

“You always say that,” Alya chuckled softly. “You know, we should have a sleepover this weekend.”

“What?” Marinette turned to look at her friend as if she’d gone crazy. “We live in the same apartment.”

“Yeah, but when was the last time we did the whole sleepover thing?” She put her hand on the top of Marinette’s head and turned her back around. “We could put on our favorite PJs and stay up all night, watching movies and eating pizza and playing dumb games.”

Marinette laughed. “Make those video games, and I’m in.”

“You got it, babe.” She stopped to dig around in her bag, and produced two black hair elastics. “What do you think, M, pig tails?”

“Sure, why not?” She grinned as Alya split her hair into two sections, and began wrapping an elastic around one. “It’ll be just like we’re in collége again, what with the pig tails and the sleepovers.”

“Yeah, but just think, M.” Alya gathered the other section into a neat tail and tied it back as well. “This time, we can invite boys!”

“Oh, no,” Marinette protested, flushing. “Aaal-yaaa, no!”

“Alya, yes! I’ll talk to Nino, and you can talk to Adrien. It’ll be awesome!”

“No, I’m serious, Alya.” She put her hand on Alya’s arm, pleading. “Don’t talk to Nino yet. Not until I get a chance to talk to you again, later.”

“What, did you run into Adrien again this morning?”

“I did. And I will tell you all about it, I promise, just wait until later, okay?”

“Alright girl, settle down. I’ll wait.” She frowned, searching Marinette’s expression. “You’re okay, right? Like, he didn’t do something to—”

“No! No, nothing like that. I just—I actually need to talk to him again, and then I’ll tell you everything. Deal?”

Alya nodded, satisfied that Adrien didn’t need pummeling. “Deal.”

The rest of the ride passed with idle chatter about classes, coursework, and harmless gossip. They parted ways at the campus bus stop with a smile and a wave, and Marinette headed to her first class of the day.

It was Thursday, which meant that she had two long classes back to back and then she was done for the day. Normally, she would spend her afternoon studying, or working on a design project, but today she was hoping to spend it with Adrien, asking questions and filling in some holes. To do that, though, would mean getting in touch with him to see if he could meet her.

Marinette stopped outside her classroom, propped her shoulder against the wall and pulled her phone from her bag, staring at it as if it might bite her.

She had his number, of course. He’d gotten to be good friends with Nino in the two years since they’d all started their studies at AMU, and the four of them—Marinette, Alya, Nino and Adrien—often did things together as a group. But she had never communicated with him directly, or tried to hang out with him apart from the group. Even after their encounter that morning, texting him felt like a big step.

Still, it was necessary. She blew out a breath and brought up his contact information, pausing only for a moment before tapping the icon for a text message. Once there, though, she froze. What should she say? ‘I need to talk to you’ sounded dire, and ‘can you meet me for coffee’ sounded like a date. Wasn’t there a happy medium in there somewhere?

She turned, resting both shoulders against the wall behind her, and let her head fall back. How could a girl ask her crush to hang out with her, without making it sound like a date? Was that even possible?

Her phone chimed in her hand, startling her from her thoughts, and she jumped.

She straightened from the wall and opened her phone again, and found that Adrien had beaten her to the punch.

Adrien: Hey! We didn’t really get to finish talking earlier. Would you want to get coffee this afternoon?

She giggled, grateful that they were apparently on the same wavelength, and sent her reply off quickly before heading in to class.

#miraculous ladybug #AU #mer!Adrien #mage!Marinette #elemental mages #mermaids #callmecirce writes #I can't stop writing #help

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