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Published:
2024-11-21
Updated:
2025-06-08
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4/?
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Ghost Eyes Siren AU

Summary:

Carmelo, Rudy, and Emilio are all workers on a trade vessel. The country they live in is heavily involved with the surrounding sea trade. Sirens are a constant danger and threat. Stories of sailors being killed and eaten are all too common. Humans and sirens regularly engage in deadly battles. A good sailor never sails without earplugs. But not all sirens are so hostile. Some are actually quite silly. When there’s an imposter among your ranks, and nobody else seems to notice, what do you do about it?

Notes:

Carmelo is 19 so Tobias is 18, Rudy is 19, and Emilio is 20. I’ve changed Tobias’s, Rudy’s, and Carmelo’s original Ghost Eyes designs (I’ve changed them for other AUs as well. For funsies).

Chapter 1: Carmelo! Behind you! There’s a siren! Oh, shit, he doesn’t have earplugs in, he can hear it…

Summary:

Just Tobias being the silliest siren there ever was.

Chapter Text

Carmelo awoke to the sound of faint humming. Sweet and musical, it compelled him to rise from his bed. The window of his cabin showed darkness outside. The ship swayed gently beneath him. His legs swung mechanically over the bed, disregarding his blanket, and his feet touched the ground. He stood and teetered a little before he regained his balance. Fighting sleep, he shuffled to his cabin door and quietly pushed it open. The humming became clearer. It soothed any apprehension he might’ve had. He’d forgotten to wear his earplugs before he slept. He couldn’t care less now. 

He walked blindly through the dark corridor, bumping into the walls and brushing against others’ doors. Through mostly muscle memory, he found the stairs leading to the deck and climbed up then, gripping the railing for support. Cool sea air washed over him as he stepped onto the deck. The wood was rough against the bare soles of his feet. But the humming was clear and pierced the night like cannonfire. 

The music wasn’t something he could describe easily. It was low and sad. It filled him with nostalgia for his childhood, for everything he’d left behind, for what his life was like before the hectic schedule of sea trade. It made him think of old friends and his parents, of how simple everything used to be. It knocked down his walls and made emotions rise as a lump in his throat. It sounded like a love song and a funeral dirge at the same time. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard. He was awake, but fully entranced by the song. 

He turned his head to the source of it. Even the breeze seemed to follow the sound. There, perched on the starboard, was a person. They were cloaked in shadow, especially from the huge, flapping sales. They were looking out at the calm waves, and they were humming. 

Carmelo crept up to them quietly. Their legs were hanging off the side. Their hair was long and fell freely down their back in black, wet strands. Their clothes were soaked. By this point, Carmelo was right behind them. He tried his best not to breathe so that he could hear their song better. A plank creaked beneath his foot, and they turned around. 

Their eyes weren’t like any he’d ever seen before. The irises were dark like ink, but the snake-like pupil burned a bright blue. They hadn’t stopped humming. Carmelo wanted to ask them what their name was, who they were, but his voice wouldn’t work. He tried to open his mouth, but they held a finger to their lips and he shut it immediately.

Their dark hand drifted to his face. He dimly noticed unusually sharp nails at their fingertips. They rested their palm upon his cheek. He couldn’t have pulled away if he wanted to; their grip was loose but tense as though it would tighten as soon as he tried. The way they studied his face was strange. They constantly glanced at his dyed hair, their mouth tugging into a bemused smile. Though they also had a bright blue streak in their hair, so they really couldn’t judge. 

The humming was slowly dying down and getting quieter. Carmelo leaned in to hear it better. The person leaned away a little, almost surprised. They smiled again, showing a little teeth this time. Each tooth tapered down to razor-sharp points. The clawed nails pressed into his cheek a bit more. The humming stopped entirely. The fog over Carmelo lifted a bit, but it was enough to send clarity rushing back in. His vision came fully into focus, and he was stunned to find the face before him. He realized now how inhuman it looked. The teeth were too sharp, the eyes too bright. Starting from the stranger’s torso, instead of legs, a long, dark fishtail hung over the starboard. Fear bloomed in his chest. The night was too quiet. All sound was swallowed up by his racing heart. He cursed himself for forgetting his earplugs. He took a step back. Maybe if he ran fast enough, he could make it below deck-

The hand on his cheek moved to the back of his head and drew him in. The stranger kissed him, like the teeth of an orca closing on a shark’s liver. Like a wave, the fog crashed back over him so strongly his legs nearly buckled. He wasn’t scared anymore. He couldn’t feel much of anything besides a numbing tranquility. His head spun. He could’ve melted. 

The stranger was moving back. Carmelo followed, coming closer till he was leaning against the railing. The kiss broke as they slipped off the side of the ship. Carmelo reached out as they fell, but they were already gone, their tail slipping neatly out of sight beneath the water. It was too dark to see where they’d disappeared. 

The fog hadn’t cleared. Carmelo stepped back from the edge. He stood there for a long time. The night sounds picked back up. The sails flapped, the breeze whistled, and the ocean frothed gently. Carmelo felt inexplicably drained. His feet dragged as he carried himself to the stairs. He stumbled below deck, holding the railings so he wouldn’t fall. He shuffled through the corridors. When he got to his door, he leaned heavily on it so it would give way. He closed it, not bothering to be quiet while doing so. He collapsed heavily onto his bed. He wrestled himself into the blankets and bundled himself up. 

He fell asleep much easier than he thought he would. He dreamt of murky water, low, sad music, and eyes that burned brighter than a flame. 

Chapter 2: Tobias Joins the Crew

Summary:

Rudy’s POV. Tobias sneaks his way onto the ship. His friends are pissed.

Chapter Text

The sun was shining pleasantly, bathing the deck in its warm light. The wind was swift and cooling and pushed the ship along briskly. Fluffy, white clouds dotted the sky in all sorts of shapes and sizes. The air smelled of sea salt. It would’ve been a lovely day if not for one little complication. 

Rudy had to help with getting the goods ready for trade, which meant going back and forth between the hold and the deck, carrying awfully heavy crates. They were getting closer to the port by the minute, and the wind wasn’t forgiving at all. As Rudy came up onto the deck again, he spotted Emilio. He put down his crate where it belonged and slipped away to come up beside him. They were near the mast, covered by its shadow. The sails flapped loudly above them and would do well to dim their conversation to others’ ears. One look and Rudy knew that he and Emilio were thinking the same thing. 

Rudy voiced it aloud. “What the hell is he doing here?” 

“I wish I knew.” Emilio glanced over at the problem. 

“What is he thinking?” 

“He isn’t.” 

Rudy turned his head to glower at Tobias, shifted to look human, happily swabbing the deck without a care in the world. He’d done something to his eyes. Contacts probably. Round pupils hid his normal snake-like ones. His hair was tied in such a way that it would cover his pointed ears. He didn’t talk much. It would reveal his sharpened teeth. But he otherwise looked like the perfect human. He was a little awkward on his feet, being unused to legs, but that could be passed off as clumsiness. 

That was one part of the problem. The other was Carmelo, who was also moving the crates. He’d been looking drained and tired lately. He had kept on staring out longingly across the water, sometimes for whole minutes together if he wasn’t shaken out of it. Now, he was glancing at Tobias with the same far-away look in his eyes. He looked confused and suspicious but in that foggy-minded way where you didn’t know why you felt so.  

“I’ll talk to him,” Rudy decided.

“Do it soon,” Emilio said. “Before he makes Carmelo throw himself overboard.”

Rudy thought that wouldn’t be so terrible. But he quelled the thought soon after. He got his chance around an hour later. He was down in the hold, when something caught his arm and pulled him into an open storage room. He panicked and lashed out wildly. His fist connected with something and he heard a pained noise. His arm was released. The door to the room closed, and the lamp flickered on. Rudy stumbled away and turned his head to look properly at Tobias, who had his hand pressed over his bruised eye. 

“Hello to you, too,” he muttered. 

Rudy stared at him, mouth open, trying to wrap his head around the sheer audacity of the person before him. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Depends on who you ask.”

“Why are you here?”

“I got bored,” Tobias said simply. 

“So you ran away??”

“Yeah.” Tobias looked around the little storage room with interest. He ran his hand along the wood walls. Rudy resisted the urge to throttle him.

“So, why was this your first option? You couldn’t have taken an underwater trip or something? Maybe visit a coral reef or whatever you do down there?”

Tobias frowned at him. “I’ve seen the reefs. They’re old news.”

Rudy counted to ten in his head. “It’s one thing that you’re here anyway. But what the hell do you mean by singing to one of my crew mates?”

“I needed a way in. It’s easier if you have someone who won’t rat you out. You and Emilio don’t count. You’d just throw me off yourselves.”

And that was because Tobias wouldn’t sing to them. It wasn’t that he couldn’t. He just refused to. 

They’d met him one day a few months back. The ship had docked at a port, so Rudy and Emilio could sneak away after trade and explore the town. After a bit of wandering, they’d found themselves at the coastline again, much further away from the ship. The sand was strewn with bits of glass and wood from past ships. Remnants of huge fishing nets clung to the rocks and plants. And tangled up in one of those fragments was Tobias, trying and failing to use his tail to thrash his way free. Rudy’s first thought was to run, to drag Emilio along if he had to. His next thought was noticing that the siren’s tail had been scratched up by the coarse ropes of the net. He knew he could’ve been killed. And he was dragging someone else down with him. But he still found himself crouching down beside the siren, pulling out his knife. Tobias had been too trapped to even attempt running away at the sight of the knife. Emilio held the ropes clear while Rudy sawed through them. And in a matter of a few awkward minutes, Tobias was free. He eyed them both warily before launching himself back into the water with a considerable splash. Since then, they’d seen him more and more, swimming along secretly beside the ship and roaming the trading ports in disguise. As they grew closer, they learned of his insatiable curiosity of humans and their ways. And that same curiosity had led him onto their ship now. 

“You need to leave,” Rudy insisted. “You literally cannot stay here. Someone is going to find out somehow.”

“They won’t if I’m careful.” 

“It doesn’t matter how many of those damn illusion spells you use! People aren’t stupid.”

“They’re not spells-“

“I don’t care. Honestly, I should just kill you now. I should cook you and feed you to the crew. I think I could get away with it.”

Tobias frowned. “Don’t do that. I met a weird fisherman who said sirens tasted awful.”

That was so not the point. Tobias was immovable. Rudy couldn’t help it now. Whatever happened was out of his hands. 

“You’re on your own,” he said. “Just don’t make it so damn obvious. No human ever looks that happy scrubbing the deck.”

“Got it.” Tobias moved past him and opened the door. 

“One last question,” Rudy said suddenly.

“What is it?”

Rudy turned around and looked at Tobias judgingly. “Carmelo? Him?”

Tobias’s eyes widened. And then he scowled. Rudy could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears. He tried and failed to smother his own smug smile. 

“Shut up,” Tobias muttered. He left and shut the door harshly, leaving a smirking Rudy behind in the little room. 

 

Chapter 3: Tobias is Found Out

Summary:

Busted!!!!

Notes:

Frequency messages are kind of like a dolphin/whale thing. Each family has a different call that only they can distinguish and make sense of.

Chapter Text

“Jane!” Luther cried, flinging the doors to the bedroom wide open. His wife was seated on the bed, and on the floor were a few of the kids; Wolfe, Amelia, Axel. No doubt, she had been regaling them of her past escapades. But now was no time for stories. 

Jane rose up from the bed, brow furrowing at Luther’s haste. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s gone.” 

Jane froze. The kids looked back and forth between her and Luther. He noticed Axel trying to make himself seem smaller. It wasn’t easy to do at his big age of nineteen. 

“What do you mean?” Jane asked slowly.

“It’s Tobi. He’s gone.”

Jane cursed and followed Luther out of the room. Wolfe and Amelia peered suspiciously at an anxious Axel. 

“He probably went back up to the surface again,” Luther said. 

“Of course, he did,” Jane muttered. “How long has he been gone?”

“Maybe a few hours now. I hadn’t seen him at all since morning.”

Jane let out a rough sigh. “He wasn’t out for this long, last time. And when he came back…”

He’d came back covered in scratches. He’d swum into the house with pained, limping movements of his tail. When questioned, he said he’d just gotten caught up in a net. He wouldn’t say anything more. It wasn’t too long ago. Maybe a few months. Luther suspected something else had happened. And that something might’ve been what drew Tobi out now.

“He’ll come back,” he said, trying to believe it.

“He better. Or maybe not if he doesn’t want to be grounded for life.” Then Jane took on a weary expression. “Y’know, we’re gonna have to tell Lucas and Suzie.”

Luther groaned with the realization. “Fuck, now I’m actually gonna kill him.”

 

They sent Tobi’s biological parents a frequency message. By the time they showed up, Tobi still wasn’t back, so Luther couldn’t say just kidding! Go back to your weird on-the-run life. They wore long, flowing cloaks to disguise themselves, although Luther personally thought they just drew more attention. 

They all sat down around the dining table. The smooth, rock chair felt uncomfortable to sit on. Luther looked his brother in the eye and tried to get his mouth to work. When the words didn’t come, he turned imploringly to his wife. 

Jane sighed and looked at her sister and said, “Tobias ran away this morning. We don’t know where, but we think he went to the surface. He hasn’t been back since.” 

A tightening of the mouth. Lowered brows. Strained glances exchanged. Tensed shoulders. But no further reaction. Luther had been waiting anxiously for the ball to drop. For yells and harsh words and possibly threats of violence, and then actual violence. None of that happened. Somehow the silence was way worse. 

“How long has he been away?” Lucas asked. 

“A few hours now.”

Suzie spoke up. “You never realized he was gone?”

“No.” Luther was plenty mad at himself for that. “We found out just before we called you.”

Suzie rose up from her chair. Luther tried not to flinch. She called Jane away and they swam to another room. Luther sent out a silent prayer for Jane. 

That left him alone with his brother. Lucas sat with ramrod posture, looking severely down at the table. He seemed more weathered and beaten down than the last time Luther saw him. Being constantly on the run did that to you. 

“Don’t freak out,” Luther said. 

“Why would-“

“You look like you’re going to freak out.” 

“I’m not. I’m not mad.” 

Just disappointed. It wasn’t said out loud. He acted so much like their mom sometimes. Except that unlike their mom, he lied through his teeth. Lucas was internally fuming.

“This isn’t the first time,” Luther admitted. “But he was never gone for this long.”

“He shouldn’t have gotten out in the first place. You and Jane shouldn’t have allowed it.” 

“We didn’t allow anything, dipshit. That’s why he snuck off.”

Lucas glared at him disapprovingly. Resting on the table, his hand curled into a fist. “You don’t discipline them. They think they can do whatever they want.”

Luther’s voice rose as he said, “You know damn well they don’t.”

“You’ve been too lax with them, Luther. You aren’t raising them right.”

By now, Luther had gotten up from his chair. “You can’t tell me how to raise them.”

Lucas was up, too. “I can! I trusted you with raising my children-“

“They are not-your-children!” The silence after that was suffocating. Lucas’s face was twisted with rage. Luther couldn’t back down now. “You don’t have the right to call them that anymore. You gave that up when you left us with them ten years ago.”

Lucas’s hands were trembling very slightly, like he was holding himself back from lashing out. His brows were furrowed very low over his eyes. His face was red and his teeth pressed tightly together. Luther knew they mirrored each other, two fragmented and skewed reflections.

At that moment, Jane and Suzie returned from the separate room. Luther and Lucas swam apart, avoiding each other's eyes. The two sisters didn’t seem to be in the best mood either. They were angled away from each other. Jane’s face was pinched in the way it became when she was upset. 

Suzie said, “We will assist you in finding Tobias.”

Lucas almost looked like he wanted to ask, We will? But then he and Suzie looked at each other, and a silent understanding passed between them. 

“Yes,” Lucas agreed, too readily to be unsuspicious. Luther eyed him for a moment, then shrugged off the feeling. His brother would always be weird. 

Lucas and Suzie took their leave. They would stay at a nearby reef, hiding in plain sight while helping with the search. With them out of the way, Luther turned and went to find Axel and Wolfe and Amelia. They were still in the bedroom. The other two had Axel cornered and were interrogating him unceasingly. Axel looked hounded. Luther came up to them, looked Axel in the eye, and said, “Start talking.”

“Yeah,” said Amelia, “or this guy gets it.” And all of a sudden she turned on Wolfe and wrestled him to the ground. They got so carried away sometimes. 

Axel began to spill. “I swear, I didn’t know where he was going! I found him sneaking off in the morning. He promised he’d bring something back for me if I didn’t tell.”

“What-You kids are nineteen, and you act like toddlers.” Luther sighed and dragged his hand down his face. “I never should’ve let you take a gap year.”

 

Chapter 4: World Building!!!

Summary:

Urux asked some good questions about sirens’ abilities so I will be explaining them here.

Chapter Text

Sirens don’t only make humans feel “in love”, or “obsessed”. They can induce other emotions such as fear, anger, worry, shame, etc, even physical feelings. Each siren specializes in a specific sensation. I’ll also talk about what each character’s singing voice is like:

 

Wolfe: countertenor, brightness and playfulness, humor, incites friendship and being childish

Amelia: mezzo-soprano, brightness and playfulness, humor, incites friendship and being childish

Harmony: contralto, coldness and the feeling that something is lacking, incites insecurity and conflict/argument

Tobias: tenor, longing and loneliness, incites the need to pursue and fixation/obsession 

Mattias: tenor, exhaustion and resignation, incites fatigue and sleepiness 

Kaitlyn: mezzo-soprano, warmth and care, induces feelings of home and being surrounded by loved ones 

Axel: bass, humor, being fed up, induces feelings of exasperation, argument 

Gunther: bass, caution and accusation, induces paranoia and wariness 

 

 

 

Luther: tenor, lightheartedness and indulgence, induces being laid-back and complacent 

Jane: mezzo-soprano, daring and adventure, induces being reckless and fearless  

Lucas: baritone, anger and blame, induces shame and fear 

Suzie: contralto, rage and weariness, induces shame and resignation   

 

 

Kiraba: soprano, persuasion and indulgence, makes people want to give in

Mr. Edburt: bass, power and control, induces fear and submission 

 

As for mimicking other sounds/voices, it’s a high-level skill that only older sirens can sometimes master. Jane and Lucas can both do this, as well as Kiraba and Edburt.

Surviving a siren’s song leads to confusion, fatigue, and different feelings depending on the siren’s specialty. In Carmelo’s case, he’s a little “lovesick”.