Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"This makes me sick…" You muttered under your breath, covering the stench of blood with your hand.

"Stop whining and keep looking, MC!"

You rolled your eyes, swimming far way from the group. You really couldn't understand the reasoning of your people. Sometimes you even felt like a complete outsider.

You examined the remains of the ship from a distance, it looked like there still was a part of the kitchens unexplored, and you couldn't spot anyone else, so that was a win-win. You then proceeded to move the scattered pieces of wood and metal that blocked the way and look into the ruins of what had been a room. Then a distinctive smell hit your nose: human. So there was still one of them left, you hoped to be able to do this without throwing up. You got closer and closer to the smell until you were sure it was very near. You could have just used your song, but that would alert the others, and you weren't really fond of the public humiliation that was sure to come whenever you attempted to hunt.

There he was! He was looking at you with such big, purple eyes that your brain had stopped functioning!

Oh! Right, he was food, not friend. Even if you allowed him to escape, he would die here in the open sea, eaten or starved, or drowned. At least you would give him a quick death, afterward, you could give his meat to the orphans, that would make up for it.

"Hey! Human! Please cooperate." You whispered. "It will be quick and painless if you don't struggle, and the others don't see you."

He looked like the words hadn't even registered in his brain, his look was blank and he was just staring at–!

"I swear to Atlantis! Snap out of it, human! Yes, boobs, surely you have seen female body parts before." He immediately blushed.

"Of course I have! It's just that women usually wear clothes!"

"Cloths?"

"You know, things you put on your body, that cover you up."

"You mean battle gear? Is it that violent on land that you can't take it off?"

"No, we use it to keep your body warm, for example, or for fashion."

"Fashion."

"Yes! You change your appearance to attract a mate, or to tell others that you're an important person"

Then you remembered that you were supposed to kill and eat this human. It didn't matter that he was smiling kindly, or that he was saying all sorts of interesting things about the land, that you knew nothing about. It didn't matter that he had treated you with more civility that any of the other mermaids and tritons in your shoal.

"I have to eat you." You blurted out.

"What? No, no, no. Please have mercy, I'll do anything, please. I need, I really need to get back to someone. I promised. I can't die here!"

His eyes were now full of tears and his movements were frantic and terrified, he was looking around, subconsciously trying to find a way to escape. You glanced at the others, they were eating the remains of what once had been this human's crew and saving some of their meat, the water around them was red with blood and the air had a heavy smell.

"I can't, I really can't… There's nowhere you can go from here."

"Please, You can take me with you, right? You can take me to some deserted island, I'll survive, or whatever. Haven't you ever had someone promise they'd return, but they never did?"

You had. It didn't matter anymore, it was in the past, but you remembered like it was yesterday. You counted your options as you recalled that you had done this before, that it hadn't ended too well, but you would do it differently this time! You wouldn't make the same mistakes. Still, it wasn't fair not to warn him beforehand that this could end badly.

"Look. I can't promise anything. You may still be eaten by someone else, and they won't care about whether you suffer or not. But… I can try."

He smiled brightly, and your heart, traitorous thing, skipped a beat. You would most definitely not, do this! You scolded yourself, it would not happen. Period.

"Okay, what do I do?"

"Just… stay still. I know what I'm doing, so don't be afraid"

With that said, you knocked him out, covered his nose and mouth with one hand, and swam underwater as fast as you could, gripping his limp body with your other arm, at the same time as you whispered a song, that would keep his organs intact, it was commonly used for luxury food, but you had learned it for… other situations. Soon there was nothing around you but water, you were so deep down that couldn't see the sun, but you didn't hesitate, you kept going with firm determination. Down, down, down. Until you spotted a huge capsule that could easily fit hundreds of humans, the outside had runes carved on stone and plants growing all around. It was the air chamber.

You traced the patterns that would open the door and quickly went in. There was a lobby previous to the room itself, that would set the configuration of the room, allowing you to put specific amounts of air and water. That way both of you could be in the same space. You put the human onto an artificial rock in the center of the room and proceeded to wake him up.

"Wow! What happened?"

"I brought you to my air chamber. You will live here until I can find a boat or an island to drop you off, human"

"Yoosung. Kim Yoosung"

"What?"

"That's my name"

"Yoo... sung" The name felt weird in your mouth, it was different from the names mermaids typically had. Yet it sounded good, it flowed easily, the sound itself felt like a warm embrace, full of vibrancy and happiness.

"I'm MC, nice to meet you"

You looked for his gaze, only to find it at your chest yet again, you wondered what was it about that body part that made it so special to humans, and why they were so fixated with it. You had actually expected him to look at your grills or your tail, both were things that humans didn't usually have. Maybe they thought boobs were gross, they were, after all, swollen versions of the male counterparts. The child human you had brought here before hadn't seemed very bothered. So it was one of those societal norms that were learned later in life.

"Does the fact that I don't have cloths upset you?"

"Upset… is a way to say it, I guess" Yoosung smiled nervously.

"I can use battle gear if that makes you feel better"

"Well... it's just that women only usually show their boobs to their mate." Now it was your turn to blush. "I mean, if it's not a bother for you, maybe yes. I don't want to inconvenience you, you did save my life… haha"

He was too much! You wished for a second that he could stay with you, impossible as that was daydreaming a little wouldn't hurt. You couldn't do that, though, you had to get him far away as soon as possible, if you kept him close to you for too much it wouldn't end well.

"I'll keep it in mind for the next time." You finally said.

"Hey MC, can you sing for me?"

You knew he would eventually ask for something like this, merpeople were famous amongst many creatures because of your songs, however, you didn't expect it so soon. Truthfully you had all kinds of magical songs, at first they were only used for things like eating and mating, but society and magic had become much more advanced since then. You decided to go for a happiness song, it was simple enough.

The song started out softly, slowly as one note dragged onto the other, and then the speed increased, as the lyrics picked up energy and you sang a bit louder than before. Your body started moving without your consent, your emerald tail flowing up and down, glimmering, almost showing off. You felt the flow of your magic from the pit of your stomach to the point of your tongue, flowing freely, something on the back of your head said you were using too much energy, that your intent was dangerously strong, but you couldn't stop yourself. A song for happiness, a song that could make others happy. As you went on and on, your voice became more and more fragile, you just noticed the back spots covering your vision when you finished.

"MC? MC, are you ok?"

His words were of worry, but he was smiling and giggling like a little kid.

"I'm okay. You, on the other hand…"

He would need at least 30 minutes to go back to normal. It was just like you to get so carried away that you nearly passed out.

"Pretty, song. Pretty tail. Pretty girl" Yoosung muttered before he had a sudden outburst of hysteric laughter; he could barely keep straight. It was almost like you had gotten him drunk.

There were a number of things you could do at that moment, but only one of them that you felt capable of. You crossed your arms on Yoosung's rock, and dozed off to the land of dreams, with his giggles and nonsensical utter as a lullaby.

Some time later, you felt soft fingers petting your hair, and you leaned into the touch, practically purring. They stopped abruptly, and you groaned in protest. That's when it hit you. Where were you? Who was petting you? You rose, and glanced around, slowly recalling the past events, but a soft laughter interrupted your thoughts.

"Yoosung!"

"Hey! You're cute when you are sleeping!"

"How do you feel? Did you enjoy the song?"

"Ah! It was kind of weird, almost like it happened in a dream…"

You scratched the back of your head sheepishly. "Yeah, I got carried away."

He then grabbed your shoulders firmly and looked at you in the eyes, and you immediately blushed.

"Don't do that again, MC! You passed out, that can't be good for you!" Your blush deepened, and you now felt a little light headed.

"You don't have to worry so much about me…" You avoided his gaze, staring at the wall like it was the most interesting thing in the word, as your heart beat violently inside your ribcage, and your tail swung from side to side, nervously. You were about to free yourself from his grasp, when you felt his fingers touch your chin slightly, turning your face towards you and your whole body froze. For at least 30 seconds you stopped breathing altogether, only staring at his firm gaze.

"Don't say that MC! I owe you my life, of course, I'm gonna worry about you! You wouldn't have let me live if you weren't a good person, so you can't die, ok?"

It took you a while to process what he had just said, and another while, to think about what you should answer.

"What's up with that reasoning?" You finally muttered. "But, thank you for being so kind to me"

In that instant, he seemed to realize what he was doing and he moved his whole body away from you with wide movements and red cheeks. You couldn't help but smile to yourself at his antics, humans were truly unique... Maybe if merpeople were willing to change their diet a little bit, things would be different; even if some humans were cruel, some merpeople were sadistic as well, as long as your governors were willing to negotiate, something could be arranged: a treaty for example!... Or a war. Was the risk too high?

A loud growl echoed to the room, and you immediately felt guilty. Of course, he was hungry, you should have thought of food first and foremost. What were you going to feed him anyway? For now fish would have to do. If there was still some of that preserved lava in there maybe you could even cook it!

"Wait here, Yoosung. I'll have something for you to eat in no time!"

Chapter Text

You swam for about 7 minutes before spotting a couple of fish ahead of you, you decided to approach from beneath, and then attack quickly. You felt the adrenaline rush typical of a hunt, your senses working at a 100%, every part of your body on high alert. Slowly, very slowly, you started to get close to the fish, when suddenly you felt the water next to you being massively disrupted: something big was near. You looked around in alarm, but when you spotted it, it was already heading towards you

The biggest shark you had seen in your entire life, was moving towards you at an amazing speed, with very clear intentions. You didn’t think about it twice, you sprinted, never looking back or wasting breath, just running for your life and complaining in your head about how the tables had turned. Soon you got to a very high cliff where there seemed to be a huge, vertical wall, and then ocean floor was much deeper than it already was; it looked like an unexplored area, but there was no time, you had to flee. Your eyes scanned desperately, as fast as they could, for an entrance, a cave, anything, you didn’t even have a spear with you since you had hoped to encounter just small creatures. Further down, there was a darker spot on the wall, most likely a hole and also your salvation.

The entrance was just big enough for you to squeeze inside, like a tunnel that was severely miscalculated, but the deeper you went the wider it became until you got to the end of it, where you could move comfortably. You took a moment to breathe, slumping to the wall behind you. You were startled as it lightened up with a blue-ish glow soon as your body touched it.

There were runes! Someone must have left them there, but as far as you could tell, they must have been mermaids and tritons who lived at least 500 years ago. It was all very rudimentary, and you could only recognize some symbols. You searched around with your hand to try and find one that triggered something. When you touched a particular place, everything lightened up.

There were thousands of lines of some kind of thing. A song, most likely. You wondered what it was supposed to do, attempting to decipher the language, but it was intelligible. You glanced around, and then looked up to the ceiling where you found a series of drawings that probably explained the effects.

Your eyes widened in surprise when you noticed. It was a triton and mermaid king and queen shaking hands with human governors.This was not a song, this was a treaty. More specifically the testimony that a treaty had once been signed between humans and merpeople, but when and how? You had been taught humans were not sentient, and when you had discovered the truth everyone had called you crazy and delusional. You had come to the conclusion that ages of tradition couldn’t be easily overrun. But this…

This changed everything.

You had to tell Yoosung! And bring him food also. Maybe you could come up with a plan to change things, reestablish the treaty. Stop the consumption of humans. Everything could be different from now on.

When you got back to the air chamber, dead fish in your hands, Yoosung was staring it at you with wide eyes and looking around guiltily, like a prey waiting to be found by a predator. Something was undoubtedly up, and you didn’t like it one bit.

“What did you do?” He flinched.

“Why do you assume I did something? You have so little faith in me!”

You rolled your eyes. “You look like a child who did something wrong”

“Well… I kind of did, but I’m not sure exactly what I did” His face turned pale and it almost seemed like he was going to throw up. That’s when you started to look around the endless shelves that covered the chamber from top to bottom and noticed some empty vials and glasses that you were sure were previously full and right that moment the situation wasn’t so amusing anymore. What on earth had he done?

“Did you consume the potions that were in there? What were you thinking? What is wrong with you?” You were about to scream with anger and worry.

“Well… It was kind of an accident, alright? I was looking for potable water and well...” Yoosung felt so stupid when he looked back at his mistake, he didn’t even attempt to justify his actions

“Lay down on the surface of the water and let me try to determine what the hell it is you drank”

You were practically shaking, most of the potions you kept around were stolen of bought on the black market, thus highly experimental and dangerous, not to mention the effects they could have on humans here speculative if not completely unknown. Furthermore, if he got sick you couldn’t even get him to a hospital because even if you managed to convince them to treat a human instead of just eating it, the consequences of having such substances could be dire. And you already had a reputation as an undesirable person, no one would even blink if you disappeared or worse.

Yoosung noticed your current state of alarm, so he didn’t protest any further, simply investing all his energy into containing his own nerves. You looked him from head to toe, you touched him and asked how he was, you listened to his pulse and his heartbeat, everything seemed normal. Until you noticed his neck and leaped backward, your eyes fixated on him. Gills? What kind of thing had he drunk? As far as you knew growing gills was… impossible. Or at the very least highly improbable.

“What? What is it? Am I going to die!?”

“No… Or at least I don’t think so…” He sighed in relief.

“So?”

“You have gills”

“What!? How? Where?” He attempted to sit up and you had to help him regain balance. He looked around his body to try and see what you were talking about.

“On your neck” You pointed at it bluntly, still perplexed about the turn of events.

He immediately brought his hand to his neck with a loud slap, and you jumped to warn him, but it was already too late. His eyes watered and his muscles tensed painfully, you could even see a little bit of trembling on his back.

“Yeah… be gentle with those”

“Warn me next time!” He was still struggling to regain his breath, and you winced sympathetically, that was not a fun experience at all. You moved towards him and gently removed his hand from his neck.

“Don’t touch it, just wait here”

You went through the numerous shelves that went to the top of the building, from your perspective they seemed to go on forever, that’s why you kept most stuff down here. One of those had to be a healing salve of sorts, it was a greenish potion made from local algae, designed to dull pain when in contact. Yoosung watched you with curiosity, trying to follow the direction of your eyes but not quite understanding what you were looking for.

“There it is” You muttered to yourself when you spotted it. “Now, I will apply this, so try to stay still”

Slightly. Just slightly, you squished it to carefully let out a drop. As soon as it touched Yoosung’s gills he stumbled violently, you tensed right away and ended up getting the gooey substance all over his face.

“What did I say?” You commented in an I-told-you-so tone of voice.

“It was really cold” He pouted.

“Okay, I’ll just-” This wasn’t a good idea. Still, you couldn’t leave him with his gills all irritated in an angry red color. “Can you move it with your fingers?”

“I can’t see my skin, so I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He said before adding hurriedly. “Of course I can try to, If you don’t really want to, MC”

“No, no, no. I can help you. I want to help, if that’s okay”

“Yes, please.”

“Alright…” You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding and got close to him.

You started out from his cheek, and with your fingers moved the potion downwards, not quite touching the intended area yet. Then you traced the side of his nose, and the border of his lips and your heart was beating so furiously you were sure it echoed in the room like a ceremonial drum. Meanwhile, Yoosung was completely paralyzed, unsure about what to do, as you practically caressed his face, his skin was heating up to the point that it was no different from the irritated parts around his gills. Soon you had a small mound of the substance, that you could move without touching his skin. Inch by inch, until everything was thoroughly covered, but now you fingers were a spec away from touching him, so you had to finish now. And then you felt them, just a little bit with the tip of your fingers, yet enough to make both of you inhale sharply and jump away.

Red faces, pounding hearts and unable to look at each other, you filled the room with awkward silence, Yoosung had turned around and was now unable to look at you in the eye, and you felt terrible, you hadn’t meant to, you really hadn’t.

“Yoosung I- I’m really sorry. I didn’t- I’ll leave. Yes, You’ll be better if I leave. I’ll just-” You weren’t even making sense.

“No! No, you don’t need to go. It’s alright, I was just an accident” He was still not looking at you.

“I understand that you’re upset, really you don’t have to be polite…”

“I’m not! I just kind of... “ His voice had gone up, the next word lost in his lips. “It’s nothing! I just need to breathe and stuff” He almost sounded embarrassed. Why? If anyone should be embarrassed that was you! They honestly made no sense at all…

“Anyway, I’ll cook this for you while you ‘breath and stuff’” You made air quotations, though he was turned around so he probably didn’t see them. Hopefully, if your food was good enough he would return to normal. When in doubt, food is always the answer. Thus, you made it your personal challenge to blow him away with your amazing cooking skills!

You took the lava, you prepared the fish using a small dagger you kept around, and you seasoned it just the way you remembered you mother doing when you were little. This was going to be the best food Yoosung had ever eaten, you would make sure of it. Although you usually ate everything raw, you could certainly see the appeal in cooking. Especially while you thought about what you would do next, how you would help change everyone’s minds about humans.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure this is a good idea, MC?” Yoosung was hesitant, and still very nervous about having suddenly grown gills.

“Well, I doubt they’re just for show, still hold your breath and let’s see how you feel” You were hopeful that they would work, hanging tightly to the illusion of showing him every little thing you liked about this place.

He inhaled sharply, closed his eyes, and plunged into the water, until it covered him completely. Immediately a tingly sensation came from his gills when they touched the water, and his lungs didn’t seem to have the instinctual urgency to be filled. It was all in all quite bizarre. As long as he was consciously preventing his nose from trying to inhale he would be fine, he mused.

“How do you feel?” You asked from behind him. It was curious how your voice seemed so different underwater, it felt like on the surface he had only heard a small part of it, and now he knew what he was missing. It sounded more melodic, but also rough. 

“I’m not sure…” His own voice sounded weird underwater too. "I seem to breathe just fine."

You immediately lit up, thinking about all the beautiful things you could show him, that he would never get to see on the surface. All your favorite places, and the constructions of the cities, the way sirens wrote songs, and the way magic worked here! There were just so many possibilities. Maybe you could do a tour around one of those sunk ships that were around, some pictures and trinkets may be hidden there that were valuable to humans. You pulled Yoosung by the arm.

“Come on! I have tons of things to show you!”

“But, MC, aren’t we going to eat first?” He asked in soft, polite tone.

“Fine” You rolled your eyes dramatically and dragged yourself to the stove. Yoosung trailed behind you.

“How does this work?”

“Well, most people prefer to eat raw meat, but sometimes fish and other animals must be cooked to get rid of the sickness they may have” He tilted his head.

“Sickness…? You mean bacteria or viruses?”

You looked at him with a blank stare, silently pondering about all the things people had on the surface and the endless names they used that your people could benefit from, but never had taken the time to learn about. Everything they had and the things they described sounded incredible, almost surreal. Was it possible for such things to exist? You had heard about music that didn't need a singer and messages that arrived to far away lands in an instant. None of the things you had did that.

“Oh! I’m sorry, of course, you wouldn’t know what viruses are… It doesn’t matter anyway”

“Yoosung, do you think that you can teach me-” you cut yourself mid-sentence, embarrassed by the use of that word. You were not a youngling that needed to be taught! “-tell me, about the things on the surface?”

“Well, um… What do you want to know?” There were so many different things, Yoosung was just lost.

“I don’t know what I don’t know!” It was both sad and funny.

You both laughed at the phrasing, and the weirdness of the situation. As soon as you became aware of the feeling that was hanging in the air, born from every word and every look, your heart skipped a beat. It was so weird how you felt so comfortable with him, almost like you had known each other for years. His eyes sparkled and his whole body was relaxed and open, you had also lowered your defences completely, not even the shadow of a doubt crossed your mind about his intentions. Everything about him seemed so light and pure, that you were sure he couldn’t be lying.

“Now I’m going to use this preserved lava to heat the fish up” You stated, trying to change the topic at the same time as you put all your effort into not blushing.

“Don’t you add anything to it to make it taste better?” 

“Not really…”

“In the surface, we have all kinds of species and plants that we put in food to make it taste better. Up there it’s considered essential… Maybe one day you’ll be able to taste my food, I like cooking a lot, although sometimes I have to ask my grandma for advice.”

For a split second you felt kind of inadequate, but you brushed it off quickly, it was silly to dwell over every single cultural difference you found and much less something as silly as this. Eating humans, on the other hand, that was the definition of inadequate.

“Come on, hurry up and eat, so I can show you around!” he giggled softly at your enthusiasm.

“Yes ma'am” You huffed. He didn't need to sound so serious as well, it was almost like he wasn't joking at all.

As soon as he was done, you decided to head outside. There were so many wonderful things to show him! Maybe you could go see the more tame animals, or maybe you could show him pretty plants, or you could take him to the cave… what to do? It was a shame you couldn't show him the main buildings you used and the way you lived every day.

“Yoosung, what would you like to do first?”

“Maybe… We can see if there’s a way to get to land? I’m sorry, this has been great, but I really need to get back to my friends. I promised someone I would come back safe, they must be worried sick”

A knot formed in your throat, but you forced yourself to swallow it down. This wasn’t a surprise, you knew the human had to return to his home soon, you had gotten carried away and forgotten about what he wanted… still, maybe he could have stayed longer. How could you get him to land, anyway?

“I don’t know where to start....” They were the words of a lost person, but Yoosung didn't know the real reason behind it, and frankly neither did you.

“Maybe… Do you have a compass?”

“I don’t know what that is, but I do know where to look for it!”

“What do you mean?”

“We are going to explore sunk ships, come on, it will be fun”

Unable to contain you excitement over learning about all the weird things ships had inside, that Yoosung could tell you about, you were practically jumping into action. Yoosung, on the other hand, didn’t seem too convinced.

“Just the two of us? What if something dangerous happens?”

“Right!”

You turned back and went through the shelves looking for the parts of an old armor you were sure you had left here some years ago. It was made with a bright silver material, designed to blind the enemies with the reflection of the light, the helmet was a heavy piece of equipment that covered part of the neck as well as the face, leaving mouth and eyes on the open so you could sing and see properly. 

The top part covered the torso completely, fitting tightly against your own body, it was built with numerous layers that could bend with the body, without leaving the skin unprotected. It had been made taking into account how much slower it would make the wearer. The bottom was made in a similar way; however, it only covered half of your tail, only the essential to prevent fatal wounds.

Not used to wearing it around, you felt very restrained with it on, and your body felt heavy, you didn’t complain, though. Yoosung had no armor at all and that was much worse. You would have to protect him. You took the best and most sturdy of your spears and turned to look at him firmly

“Follow me if you want to live, human” You tried your hardest to make a deep firm voice, but the amusement still was clear in your tone.

“Scary!” He said that, but he looked more amused than anything else.

“Take this!” You handed him a medium length dagger with a very sharp edge, it was wrapped in a sturdy bag that also came with a circular string. “Put it around you and never take it off.” You got close to him putting the string behind his head and leaving it to rest on his shoulder, as the blade hung at his right side.

“I have never used something like this!” He eyed the weapon warily.

“Like this, see?” You showed him the basic movements, and he copied you. “It’s just in case, nothing will get to you as long as I’m around!”

“My hero” He tried to sound genuine, but you knew he was getting rid of the tension that had filled the air for a few moments.

You let him experiment around with various styles of swimming to see how he could get around faster, and then led him to an old ship that you used to visit a lot when you were a kid. It was the one you knew better and that made you feel safe. There were many curious thing in all of the weird places and hidden rooms, Yoosung was for sure going to like it!

“Woah! It looks really old, MC”

“I suppose? I really don’t know how long it’s been here”

You both stared at it for a minute or so. It was very big and all made of wood, there was also some metallic additions here and there, but you didn’t know the purpose. Around the middle of the ship there was a huge hole, where moss had now grown around the edges, this was likely  the place that had hit the ground when it sank. There were still some remnants of some old cloth that old ships usually had, tied to a pole. There was also a very rusty piece of cloth that had one displayed bright colors, you had always wondered about it.

“Hey Yoosung, what does that clothe mean?” You pointed at it.

“It means the ship was English. In the surface humans are divided into big groups called countries, each has specific symbols. England is one of those countries”

“Like a shoal?”

“Kind of, but much bigger”

“So what country do you belong to?”

“I’m from South Korea, we also say ‘I’m south Korean’”

“Complicated!”

“I guess a little bit" He laughed. "So, what shoal do you belong to, MC?” You turned your head so he couldn’t see your expression.

“I don’t belong to any shoal, they constantly outcast me because I don’t like killing humans” There was a mixture of sadness and rage in your voice, it trembled but it was also loud and firm.

“I’m sorry…” You shook your head no. It wasn't his fault anyway, why did he apologize?

He put his hand on your shoulder and then turned you around, your weight was easy to move since you were underwater. He was looking at you gently, his gaze focused only on yours, and you were sure this was your doom. You were helpless!

“Even if no one else thinks so, it’s admirable that you think for yourself, instead of just going with what the majority says”

You smiled at him softly, making sure the message of gratitude was delivered, and putting your hand on his wrist you dragged him towards the hole on the side of the ship. He trailed behind you curiously.

“Come on, Yoosung, no time to waste”

Chapter Text

You stopped yourself in your tracks before entering the ship. You could tell something was off, there was unresolved tension hanging in the air, an uneasy expectation of uncertain events yet to come. Like the dark clouds that promise an upcoming storm without revealing the details of the inevitable calamity. Everything was exactly like you remembered yet wrong at the same time; you scanned the exterior with your eyes every centimeter, every surface, every detail, it all looked normal and at the same time every corner seemed to scream in agony, in rage, something or someone that shouldn't have been, was. You couldn't stand it, you gripped your spear and turned on your defenses, it may be irrational but better to be safe than sorry.

"This place looks creepy" Yoosung's voice was soft, maybe he hadn't meant for you to hear that.

"We are probably imagining things, I've been here a million times, it's safe here” You were half trying to convince him and the other trying to convince yourself. “Let’s hurry, you search in the dorms in the first level, I’ll go downstairs.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “But do you know what we’re looking for?”

“...no.”

He sighed, looking at you like you were an overenthusiastic kid. You had to fight the urge to pout, you were not a child, damn it!

“It’s some kind of circle with a needle in the center that always points to the same direction, even if you turn it.”

“Alright, it shouldn’t be too hard to spot”

You lingered in silence for a while, not feeling at all comfortable with the idea of letting him out your sight, but you also knew he did not depend on you. You had to trust his ability. And you did, truly, you just didn’t trust the abandoned ship. It felt dangerous, like a carefully placed bait.  However, that didn’t make any sense, there was no one who knew about him, and even if they suspected something, they couldn’t have possibly known that you would be there right now. There was nothing to fear, you were just overprotective of him.

Although there was certainly someone… No! She wouldn’t come here, she wouldn’t want to talk to you. The notion was far fetched. Still.

“Yoosung, listen: if you hear a melody or music of any kind, you immediately stop doing what you’re doing, and you cover your ears. You don’t stop to think about it, do it right away”

“Okay. But why are you telling me this?”

You felt your whole body tense, and the flashbacks hit your head one after the other, everything that had happened. If it happened again you would probably go mad. You gripped his shoulders and looked at him, eyes widened and eyebrows puckered, your hold was tight and you could almost feel the small pulsations of blood pumping through his body, in sync with your own heart, which was loud in your ears and beating painfully like the hit of a heavy hammer on your chest.

“If something were to happen to you. If you died because of me. If anyone else dies because of me…” The sentence was left unfinished, hanging with expectations never met, just like the ones your parents had, to just do what everyone had been doing since always (although now you knew they actually hadn’t).

He drew you closer to him easily maneuvering your head so that it would rest on his chest, and he traced soft circles on your back, easing your stress, fear, and worry. Soon you were just laying limply against him, like it was the most natural thing in the word, like you belonged here. That sounded nice, to belong, to finally belong somewhere. 

You had never felt this way before, it was so new, so unexpected. He was warm, and bright, like no one else you knew, a novelty. A melody, soft, slow, affectionate, like spending the afternoon in bed, just talking and leaning towards each other; maybe you would be on top of him, your face would be buried in his neck, your tail would be curled around him, and he would be playing with your hair and telling you about humans. Perhaps he would be telling you about history, and an ancient tale of brave warriors that fought for honor, you would try to pay attention, fascinated, but your eyelids would be so heavy. Then you would fall asleep and he would find it endearing.

“MC! MC, are you okay? Are you listening to me?”

“Yeah!” You exclaimed, startled. ”Sorry, what were you saying?”

“I was saying, that I’m not going to die. I wouldn’t leave you alone, I’m happy when I’m with you, it’s like magic. Kind of like- Nevermind that! Let’s go inside!”

Kind of like what? You were curious now, but you wouldn’t press the subject if he didn’t feel like it. You both entered the ship in silence and started to search separately. You opened some of the drawers, you scanned the floor and the tables, everything seemed to be useless.  

Then it hit you like a fast train hits the road, it broke the silence of the air like a thunder and when your mind caught up with you, it was already too late. In hindsight, you should have put in practice your own advice. You couldn't move, and the realization clouded your mind with fear. Yoosung! You had to warn him somehow. All you managed was a piercing scream that tore your throat in half.

There was silence for a brief moment, and then all you could hear, see and feel was the song, a bittersweet melody that went up and down with soft ancient words. It was so beautiful, so absolute, it was everything; everything you needed, everything you were. You couldn't fight it, didn't want to fight it, you just needed to listen. Just listen. Nothing mattered, nothing was more important or relevant than the song. You had to stop doing everything else and give your complete devotion to listening, to worshiping the melody. The power hidden behind every word sent shivers down your spine, this was what god felt like. Yes, you had to be still, you didn’t want to move, just listen to god.

You blinked slowly, as your thoughts quieted down, there was no room for thought anymore, just the song, the melody. You didn’t need to move, you didn’t need to think, the song was the only thing you would ever need, you just needed to be good and listen. Then a voice rose above all the others, you could tell it was the most important so you gave it all your attention.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry it has to be like this, MC. But you're not okay. You are not sane. You can't take care of yourself, you have to be locked up. You need to be taken to safety. It's for your own good"

That awakened something inside you, a deep grief, a red rage, a sadness that didn't let you breathe. Everything was strangling you painfully, your neck, your stomach, and your chest were all on fire. You knew who she was, you had trusted her! That traitorous bitch! You remembered his smile still, his eyes filled with innocence, where you had seen a child she had only seen pray. But it hadn’t mattered what you or she saw because you were her friends, you thought she understood you. And Now she was here, again... Why!?

"How could you!? How could you!?" You screamed and tried with all your might to control your body, but her song was keeping you prisoner. You managed to get your hands to vibrate slightly, but that was it, everything else remained under her control, the mere thought made your stomach churn. Was this how you were going to go? On her slimy, putrid hands? How humiliating.

"Oh, MC, I know you are angry, but your feelings are irrational. I will take you home and keep you safe from yourself." Her voice was condescending, she thought this was the equivalent of talking to a baby, you could tell she thought you were sick, yet ironically, her own voice had an insane edge to it. I was the voice of someone who refused to see facts.

"You bitch! How dare you!? How could you!?" In your mind, you were trying to get your body to trash around, but in reality, you were completely still. The helplessness of the whole situation was very infuriating, you were so angry you wanted to cry.

“Shh, don’t speak” Your mouth slammed shut. “Good girl. Now I want you to be pliant so I can carry you in my arms”

No no no no, this was not- you didn’t want this, this would be your end. You had to break free of the song, you had to fight, you had to move, you were going to die. You swore to every deity you knew to come to your aid, but you were on your own. Your tense muscles all relaxed as she got closer and closer to you, but your mind was thrashing violently with all your might.

You thought she would pick you up, but instead, she slipped her arms around your waist and buried your nose in her neck. You felt sick, but there was nothing you could do, you could only stand there and stay still. You wanted to run away and hide.

“Be a good girl now, I will take care of you, I will cure you with my song. You will be healthy again, eating humans in no time, just count on me”

“No” Your voice came out like a broken whimper, the smallest slip of resistance, a spec of all the fury you felt inside. “Don’t wanna...” 

You were beginning to feel desperate, to lose all hope, when you heard his voice and you wanted to explode with relief. Yoosung! Yoosung! Your voice wouldn’t come out, but you tried to call to him with your eyes.

"Let her go or I will cut your throat" He had the dagger you had given him earlier pressed against her neck, and her right arm twisted on her back. His voice sounded so confident and tremendously dangerous, a small part of you felt a little scared of him, of seeing him like this. When you saw his eyes and noticed the way he looked at her you felt cold all over, you would be sure to not get on his bad side in the future. You hadn't expected him to act like this in any kind of circumstances, but as long as she got away from you, you didn't mind at all.

She pushed you away at the treat, and you still couldn’t control your body so you just laid there, limply. This was the worst day of your life! From the corner of your eye you watched him slide the knife from the front of her neck towards the side, towards her gills, and if they could your eyes would have widened the size of the sun because that was violent, even when it came to someone like her!

“Open your mouth just one time and it will be your last one” He wasn’t shouting, in fact, he was almost whispering in her ear, taunting her, daring her to even move an inch. At first, she looked angry, now that she had a blade against a very sensitive part of her body she was paralyzed with fear. “I could kill you right now...” He seemed to be seriously considering it, and you willed the smallest bit of control you had regained to getting back your voice.

“No, Yoosung, please. She isn’t worth it” He looked at you, registering your current state.

“You are lucky I don’t have time for this” He let go of her arm, and immediately afterward hit the back of her neck, leaving her unconscious. “MC, are you okay?”

“Yoosung”

As soon as you called for him he swam towards you and carried your body bride style. He brushed a lock of hair away from your face and caressed your cheek. You felt yourself blushing profusely.

“MC, are you okay? How do you feel? Will you be able to move? Is there something you need?” He was worried, worried about you… You almost couldn’t believe it.

“You saved me”

“Of course I did! I care about you! When I saw what she was doing… I don’t know what came over me… You don’t hate me, now that you saw me like that?” Now he sounded so vulnerable, compared to how he had acted just minutes ago, so much so you would have thought it was a completely different person.

“Don’t be stupid! I could never hate you, much less hate you for saving me. You are the only one who cares… You are special, Yoosung”

“Special?” The question felt like he had never even considered that word to ever apply to him. “Do you really think so?”

“I know so!”

“I’m so happy… like I said before, you make me happy, MC” He looked at you with tenderness and then you felt like the whole word had become a better place just because you were with him.

Chapter Text

“Hey… I don’t want to be nosy, but… who was her?”

“I guess there is no harm in telling you” You knew this conversation would happen, but you guessed it wouldn’t be so soon. Would this change his opinion of you too much? Not that you cared! You didn’t care! Nope. Not at all. “You know how we eat humans?” Yup, great start.

“Yeah”

“Even though it’s pretty obvious you are sentient creatures, and sometimes we understand what you tell us? Don’t you find it odd?”

“It’s kind of gross”

“Yeah, well… Some of us have been trying to change this system, but since we’ve been eating humans for so long, the alternatives seem… untrustworthy, scary” You struggled to find the right adjectives to describe it. Truth to be told it was all pretty irrational. “And since our king doesn’t like humans, that is reason enough for many to not bother”

“But you don’t eat humans, MC”

“Yeah, like you said it’s gross… I’m not the only one who thinks it’s wrong, but there is also another problem. We have many mouths to feed and little food… the voice I was born with means I have to hunt, but I still refuse to” You didn’t dare to look at him in the eye anymore, he probably thought you were selfish, would that be far off from the truth? Was this all because you wanted to help, or just for your own enjoyment?

“That’s why people don’t like you” He seemed hesitant, unsure about what to think.

“Yes… and no, there’s something else” You tensed up your shoulders, this was the part you were most ashamed of. You knew it hadn’t been entirely righteous of you, but you also knew your reasons were valid. “Yoosung?”

You looked at him and felt lost. He was intrigued and a little bit weary of the truth that was to come. He had trusted you with his life without knowing the kind of person you were, and now that you were telling him the truth he didn’t want to regret his choices.

“Please don’t hate me after I tell you this. Please try to understand” Of course if he hated you it wouldn’t be because he was a bad person, you knew that; however, you still hoped he wouldn’t judge you too harshly on this.

“What?” He was confused as to why you could even think he could hate you, even if you had made some mistakes, hate was such a strong word.

“I mean… I will just tell you. A few years ago we were hunting a ship and there was a human youngling, he was just a child, and I… I took him with me”

“What!?” He repeated the question, this time with shock written all over his face.

“I took him with me. I fed him, and taught him everything. He was so amazing! He learnt at such a fast speed, and he was always so curious! Humans are just so fascinating! You’re special!” You remembered it very well, his face, his voice, everything you did together, even if you hadn’t been able to show him anything outside the air chamber, you had always tried to bring new things for him and teach him everything.

“Not all humans are great, MC” You didn’t really understand what Yoosung meant, everything you had seen humans do was pretty amazing. He had to have a reason for saying that anyway.

“Well, I guess so…”

“Did you say I was special, before… just because I’m human?” The question caught you off guard, as if there had been some unspoken agreement not to say that, not to go there. It broke something inside you, the certainty you had towards your own feelings seemed to waver. Why did you feel affectionate towards him? You didn’t know him, you had met him less than 20 hours ago. Were you that lonely, that you would hold on as tight as possible to the smallest form of sympathy?

“What are you saying, Yoosung, of course not!” All of this made you extremely uncomfortable, you didn’t want to talk about it, you didn’t want to think about it, it was stupid. It was just because you liked his eyes. Yeah, he was pretty cute, that had to be the reason.

“Yeah, sorry. Anyway, what happened?” He noticed your discomfort so he didn’t say anything else. You continued the story.

“I… I needed to get supplies, I knew I could take long, but I didn’t want to leave him alone for so long, he could injure himself, or drown, anything could happen! So I went to the person I trusted the most, a mermaid I grew up with and shared everything with… and she told the authorities” You looked at the unconscious mermaid behind you, with a mix of anger and regret, a part of you still missed having her as a friend.   “When I was getting back some royal guards escorted me for a trial, it all happened so fast, you have to understand I was enraged with worry, no matter what happened to me, I wanted him to be safe!”

“Oh...” He already had a good guess of how the story ended.

“He was eaten, Yoosung… He was so young, so precious. No one else saw him like I did, to most, he has just a piece of meat, to others a waste of food that could have fed our own. There weren't any charges because my dearest-” You used heavy amounts of sarcasm “childhood friend claimed I was crazy. Seems like she actually believes it”

“Hold on, the girl you were talking about  is her, the one that was saying you were crazy and had to be locked up?”

“Yes, unfortunately” 

“No wonder you hate her so much! And wait, what do you mean eaten? Exactly what happened!?”

The words were all stuck in your throat, it was not a pleasant topic but you understood his curiosity. “He died when they took him out of the air chamber, then his meat was given to those that helped in my capture as a compensation for their efforts” You were trembling as you remembered those moments, they had used three singers at the same time to hold you back and still you had fought as hard as you could. It had been all in vain. You knew drowning was a slow, painful death, and he hadn’t deserved any of it, it was your fault. There was no use in feeling bad now, however.

“Hey, Yoosung, before you were saying that I reminded you of something”

“Oh! Well, I have a cousin back home, she is the one I promised to go back to. Sometimes you are just like her”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you are kind just like her. I’m studying in the university so that I can take care of injured animals, and make her happy” You could see the affection he had towards her clear in his eyes, and in that moment you knew you wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. You would get Yoosung out of the water as fast as you could, you would keep him alive. “She always tries to make everyone happy, so I want to return that to her. I want to make her happy.”

“I’ll get you back on land, I promise. We can move towards the ground, and there it is more likely we will come across a ship.”

“Okay, with the compass I can tell you where to go” A sunbeam came from above and brushed his brown hair, and you suddenly wanted to touch it, though you wouldn’t in a million years say it out loud, that would be weird.

“Did you find the compass?”

“Yeah, I found one upstairs, let’s go get it”

“What do we do with her?” You pointed at the limp mermaid behind you. He stared at her as he counted the options you had in his head.

“We can just leave her here, she wouldn’t know where to find us, right?”

“Right, but we should get some sleep first, I'm exhausted” You yawned right on cue.

"Yeah, need I some sleep as well"

“Jumin, I’m counting on you to find him, please. I don’t… I can’t-” His voice failed him.

Jumin pulled him to his chest and tried to comfort him, he was not very good at this kind of things, but this was V, he was an exception.

“I cannot guarantee that  we will bring him back, but I can tell you that if he is alive we will find him.”

“I’m sorry for burdening you like this…”

“It’s not a burden, I will not be piloting the ship myself, only assigning functions”

V laughed softly, but did not pull away from the hug yet, he just needed to breathe for a few seconds. In and out 1… 2… 3… hold, and release. He needed to get the RFA in order, tell everyone what had happened, or at least a version of it. He couldn’t tell them everything, he couldn’t risk their safety like that.

“We actually received coordinates with the approximate location in which they lost signal, my private helicopters will work together in a very exhaustive operation. If he is still out there, somewhere, we will know”

“Thank you, thank you so much”

Zen woke up that morning feeling like a giant truck had run over him multiple times. His shoulders hurt, his neck was sore and there was a constant pounding in his head, and before you ask, no he hadn’t consumed any alcohol the night before. He checked his calendar and sighed heavily as he brewed himself some coffee, he would definitely need it if he planned on getting through the day. He had so much work to do and so much stress.

Everyone in the RFA was very worried and busy at the moment, next weekend the official summer party would be held and Yoosung was still missing. V and Jumin had been looking independently for any leads as to what could have happened to the ship he had been in, but it seemed like it had just disappeared. The reports indicated there had been a storm unexpectedly, but he didn’t know if he believed that. Climate didn’t work like that, storms didn’t just appear all of a sudden.

Helicopters were currently on the way to see if there were any survivors and although all of them were still hoping he was alive somehow, the odds were against them. How can anyone possibly survive in the middle of the ocean, without any food or water?

Rika had been very worried when she had gotten the call from Yoosung’s parents, they had been called as the closest relatives alive, and in turn they had informed her, since they knew Yoosung and Rika had become very close. Honestly, Zen was a little worried about her, no one had talked to her since the news arrived aside from V, and he had only logged in the chatroom a couple of times. He felt like the main act was going on behind the scenes and he was on stage, improvising.

He put a bit of sugar in his coffee and drank a little sip, instantly feeling better. It was so infuriating to just sit there while Jumin used his money to try to find Yoosung, V and Rika didn’t talk to anyone, Luciel attempted to hack into the ship’s radio and Jahee helped Jumin. He was the only one focusing on himself.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by the loud ring of his phone.

“Hello, Zen here”

“Zen” It was V! He sounded like he had just run a marathon.

“V! Are you alright? What’s going on?”

“Rika is dead. She killed herself”

“What!? Why would she do that? Did she say anything?”

There were a few moments of silence, where the only sound he heard was V’s heavy breathing at the other side of the line.

“I will tell you the details later. Please trust me”

“Of course, you must need time to calm down” He bit his lip, still trying to process the news. Rika killing herself. It all sounded so far fetched. V must be devastated, they were so in love after all… and just as they were preparing the wedding. How tragic.

He received a message from work asking if he could arrive early for an interview with a famous magazine. Even if he felt like half the man he usually was, he still couldn’t leave his fans hanging. Duty calls. He answered yes before hanging up with V and then proceed to get dressed. He put on some tight leather pants and opened the first three buttons of his white shirt, maybe he would not be as charming as always, but he still had to look the part.

A dark cloud in the sky broke into tears with a loud thunder that silenced his thoughts for an instant, and heavy rain started coming down. A storm during summer… how odd.

Chapter Text

The air chamber

Various Objects

Chapter Text

The day had come and gone, but the oceanic kingdom was still alive and vibrant. The deep darkness of the water was abruptly interrupted by a faint glow that concentrated around a single area, to the uninitiated it would be a complete mystery, but once you paid attention you would realize the cause was a conglomeration of small bio-luminescent creatures. The top favorites in the illumination department for mere-people were bacteria, since it could be placed in a specific location and would stay there afterwards most of the time, not to mention it was the easiest to find; however there was a also small colony of glowing sea worms that had been brought so they could grow around the place.

On the outskirts you could find the toughest mere-people. Warriors, strong specimens, or really old individuals who weren’t considered vital for the shoal. Tall, and abstract structures rose everywhere, reminiscent of the shape of corals; in them you could see holes and caves were mere-people usually slept and kept their belongings.

However, she was currently much closer to the beating heart of the shoal: the residence of the king and queen, and around them, kids and the individuals who were most important for  survival. Amongst them, Doctors. The Merman she had sought had a reputation for pragmatism, and a dry personality, which was obvious considering the sober appearance he had given his residence, and the monotone voice in which he was answering her.

“Are you certain this is happening? There will be no refunds in any circumstances” He looked at her straight in the eye, and she wasn’t sure how long ago he’d blinked.

“Doctor! Don’t treat me for a fool, I know her, I can’t bear to see her immersed in delusions any longer!”

“It must be very hard for you” Had that been sarcasm? She wasn’t too sure.

“You must come with weapons, she will not come willingly, I know her” she repeated her early statement, breaking down in tiny sobs, meanwhile the doctor watched, stone faced, from the other side of the room.

“You are also aware that she will most likely be locked up, and severely punished as this is a recurring crime”

“I know what I’m doing Doctor, I can’t let this continue, I can’t let her go on like this”

The man sighed heavily, traces of his personal opinion creeping up from the corners of his mask of indifference, he clenched his hands tight to stop himself from fidgeting, as he bit his tongue.

“Is it really such a problem, miss? She stays away from us, she doesn’t make public impact of any kind, she pays taxes even in distrust for the institutions, and never uses any of the public services unnecessarily. Maybe it’s you who needs help. You must move on with your life.”

She leaned towards him flashing her fangs, the pretense of innocence finally dropped.

“If you won’t do your job, I will find someone else who will. Take it or leave it, doctor.” She punctuated every word with controlled anger.

“Very well, I trust you can find the exit on your own. By the way part of my job is not wasting the kingdom’s resources in pointless tasks.” She trembled in shock, before advancing towards him with her hand high in the air, ready to slap him; when suddenly security swarmed in around her and restrained her, kicking her out. She had no intentions of giving up yet though, if bureaucracy wouldn't help her she’d find someone else who would.

The next day at midday you and Yoosung were gathering resources for the trip, food, potions and that kind of thing. You were trying to teach him how to hunt fish, but he was hopeless at it, his movements were still a bit clumsy and he made too much noise. You gave him a spear, which he could use from far away, but he wasn’t good at predicting where the fish would be when the spear got there. Thus, he was hereby restricted to gathering shells and edible algae.

Eventually you headed back to the chamber with your hands full, but you quickly noticed the lack of animals and creatures around. Wordlessly you motioned him to stay still and quiet, while you approached very slowly. From far away you realized the boulder had been destroyed and broken into pieces, you froze instantly. You focused on your sense of hearing, trying to find out if there was still anyone inside, the biggest challenge was ignoring the loud rush of blood flowing through your veins and the constant beat of Yoosung’s heart, now faster than usual. There was only complete silence, but that was not a guarantee.

You paid attention to the speed and direction of the currents of water, but it didn’t seem they were disturbed recently.

Finally you decided it was safe enough to enter. All the shelves seemed to be intact, the only difference was that the runes that had been holding the air in place had been erased, it was just a normal cave now. This wasn’t at all a good thing: government officials, or even her , would have taken the illegal potions as evidence against you for the king’s court. They hadn’t stayed to wait for you either… this was a warning.

Yoosung’s hand on your shoulder shook you out of your amazement. He looked as scared and shocked as you felt, for a few minutes you didn’t know what to do next, and the air hung heavy. The answer then came to you like the first lightning that announces a storm.

“We have to leave now! Let’s… let’s pack.” You promptly started throwing everything into a bag.

“MC… please don’t just say that. What’s going on?”

“I… I’m not entirely sure myself. It’s possible whoever did this is trying to warn me about someone else… or about themselves. I can’t wait and find out. I just can’t risk anything happening to you.” You were starting to get frantic, throwing the vials into the bag.

“But by leaving you are just giving them what they want! Where are you going to live anyway?” Yoosung started pacing too.

“Let me worry about that. As soon as you’re safe on land you can forget all about this.” At this, he suddenly stopped, grabbing your shoulders and turning you around to face him. He took a deep breath to calm down before talking.

“Don’t treat me like a child, please. You don’t have to protect me, just teach me what I need to know to defend myself underwater. And-” he paused, trying to find the right words. “And let me help you in return. I know you don’t need it, but I also know it will be easier to solve this between the both of us.”

It dawned on you that even if you had realized humans were sentient, you had always underestimated them subconsciously, and considered them soft and defenseless. You hadn’t really stopped to ponder what the real difference was between a human woman and a mermaid. Even with Yoosung you had been infatuated and not  taken into account he was a real person, and an adult, not just ‘the’ human. You wondered weather you had been concerned or condescending.   

Noticing your distress he tried to hug you, but you needed to sort out your thoughts and feelings first, you needed a second to breath. You still took his hands between yours to show him that it wasn’t his fault.

“You can trust me MC, the same way I trusted you not to kill me. I mean, you don’t have to tell me but-”

“I’m sorry Yoosung, you’re right I haven’t been completely fair to you. The truth is I don’t have a plan. The plan was to handle it all myself, and  if you change your mind or something happens, I will still do that. But, otherwise, I’m thankful you want to help, and I'll do my best to let you” You looked around tiredly. “But we still have to leave.”

He chuckled. “I guess I should trust you on that one”

“You should” You smiled and proceeded to continue packing. You hadn't told him about the peace treaty you had found, and now you weren't sure what you wanted to do about it.

Saeyoung felt like he was in a dream, or a dream within a dream where its plot is you have to wake up, but you haven’t realized that after you do that you will still be dreaming; and then, when you exit both dreams, you are not sure if you are awake or asleep. Or maybe like when you’re deep in thought staring at the ceiling and when you realize how much time has passed, your brain can’t register it. It was also like reading a textbook and getting to a conclusion the author thinks obvious, but it doesn’t seem to make sense.

One day everything is fine, no storms, ship on course, arrival date, all as expected, and the next they had vanished into thin air. It was stuff for conspiracy theories. Either the government has artificially altered the weather or they had been kidnapped by sea monsters. Maybe there had been a wormhole that transported them to a parallel dimension where things made a spec of sense.

He read his computer screen for the umpteenth time and analyzed the data. It wasn’t realistic to blame human intervention. But it wasn’t realistic to blame anything else, he felt his leg start to tremble restlessly, the seconds of the clock came, each louder than the last one, he was so helpless, so useless in this situation, was Yoosung even still alive? What if he had told him not to get on that ship? The ocean is vast and unpredictable, never safe, never completely safe, no one around him ever was. Why was he even making people trust him? How could he be so selfish?

Useless,

Toc,

Selfish,

Toc,

Blame,

He threw the clock across the room onto the wall where it shattered into a million pieces and fell to the ground. The silence made it easier for him to quiet his mind. He couldn’t just sit around and blame himself all day, he could though, get on Jumin’s ship and help find Yoosung.

Or at the very least find answers.

Chapter Text

12:00 pm (GMT + 9)

Having traveled all afternoon, aided by song magic to speed up the water currents in your favour, Yoosung and you arrive at a safe house which served as a small trading port for all kinds of potions and beverages. Some of them illegal. You are greeted by Jun, a friend of your father and a half shark merman, with a sickly thin figure, but sharp teeth and quick reflexes. He doesn’t ask any questions, he just lets you in and tells you to take a rest wherever.

Yoosung finds a corner and you cover him up with some animal skins. Meanwhile you try to find your host so you can talk business. The place has the opening of a small cave, but goes deep underground with thousands of traps and passages, of which you only know the basics. The idea is that if there’s even a raid authorities might come in, but not get out. 

Before you can wonder for too long, Jun startles you, appearing right next to you though one of the passages.

“I want some of his blood” He says, going straight to the point.

“Absolutely not”

“Then you have nothing I want” His statement is decisive, but his voice is monotone and soft in volume.

“Don’t be difficult. There must be something I can do for you, ‘errands’ maybe?”

“I need only a small vial of his blood”

“I said no. Don’t think I don’t know what you can do with that sort of thing”

“I would never betray your trust like that” He deadpans, he knows you know he doesn’t mean that. You click your tongue in annoyance. “Fine, whatever, there’s some ingredients I need you to acquire possibly by violent means. That would be enough to pay for your stay until tomorrow when the sun is at its highest point. You both will leave afterwards.”

“That’s…” It wasn’t enough by any means, but it was clear negotiations were over. “...acceptable”

“You’re an undesirable person. It’s not beneficial for either of us if you stay here. Come with me, you should start your errand now” You cringed internally, Yoosung had fallen fast asleep, and the truth was you were exhausted as well, you had been hoping for a small minute of rest but you didn’t voice it aloud. Complaining wouldn’t help, things just needed to get done.

Jun gave you a sharp dagger and a special armour designed to conceal identity. It was much lighter than regular armour and covered the entirety of the body. It’s advantage beyond the obvious was the higher speed and agility it provided, since it was designed for shark mere-people, who tended to fight in a much more physical and close up manner; however, it didn’t take into account singing as a way of fighting.

Afterwards he gave you a small pendant with a mirror, you looked at him quizzically.

“It serves for communication. Say my name and I will be able to talk to you” You inspected the tiny artifact, it was unlike anything you’d even seen before.

“This isn’t song magic”

“It’s human magic. Highly rare and valuable. Do not lose it, I will get it back when you’re done” Did humans have magic? You hadn’t heard anything about it before, and he didn’t give you the chance to ask as he used a map carved in one of the walls to tell you where to go, and motioned you to leave.

Before you left, you decided to say goodbye to Yoosung. He was still asleep, so you wondered whether you should wake him up or not. He looked really peaceful and young, like someone life’s hardships hadn’t hit yet, but that make you remember his reaction when that woman had been controlling you with her song. There was clearly more to him that met the eye, in a good way. It had become clear recently that he cared deeply for people and was always willing to help without hesitation.

It hit you that you had been standing there for a while just watching him sleep. Very creepy, maybe it was better if you left now, but before that you had to make sure he knew you left willingly and would be back. You searched through your bag, which lay discarded in a corner, until you found a small scale that you had shed from your tail a while ago and wrote in it with sharp rock.

‘I’ll be right back’ Followed by your initial and a smiley face.

Thusly, you put a luminescent worm on top of your helmet and headed outside.

5:00 am (GMT + 9)

“Hey!” Yoosung slowly started to stir up. “Wake up!” Before he could react, a hand slapped his face, making him spring up.

“Wha- What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“Trouble” Jun answered him, his face was far from the familiar emotionless expression Yoosung had seen when he first met him, in fact the merman was visibly agitated. Yoosung felt himself start to get worried, so he instinctively looked around for MC, finding a scale next to him. ‘I’ll be right back’  

“What-”

“She wrote that message more than four hours ago. Something went wrong.”

“Why did she leave anyway? We were both exhausted”

“There’s no time for explanations, take these earmuffs and get ready to look for her.”

“Right.”

Yoosung took with him the bag with your things and cleaned up as much as he could, since he didn’t know what was in each of the vials it was safer to take them all in case they were needed. The spear, thankfully had a case in which it could be carried without hindering movement too much,  and while he didn’t know how to use it, maybe it could be useful to you. He glanced at the armor you had brought with you from the cave, but ultimately decided to leave it, thinking the weight and size far outweighed any potential benefits it could have, not to mention it didn’t fit him so he couldn’t wear it either.

As soon as he was done, Jun appeared seemingly out of  nowhere and dragged him towards the exit. Jun sped up in front of him, and it was clear he knew exactly where to go, meanwhile Yoosung's swimming abilities couldn’t be compared to those of a merman, so he lagged behind. He was going to speak out about it, when he spotted a shiny object in the distance.

“Wait, um- look there” He said, calling out to Jun.

“What? Oh!” Both of them sped up towards the object. “It’s the mirror I gave her” Jun sniffed around as he took the mirror. “The water currents washed up the blood it was stained with not too long ago.”

“You can tell? Just like a shark!” Yoosung asked, marveled.

“I am half shark after all”

“So, can you tell if there’s another source of blood nearby?” Jun wordlessly tried to smell again, concentrating on the location of the smells.

“There's another source, about 10 minutes away from here. Let’s go” This time he grabbed Yoosung by the elbow, helping him go faster.

They went through the ocean, swimming through vast nothingness, and Yoosung once again felt like the water was completely outside of human domain. It was a place where people couldn’t move as much, see as much, or even use fire to warm up. Without outside help he would’ve surely drowned within a few minutes of the ship capsizing. It was scary and beautiful at the same time, to think there was still so much left to be discovered and understood.

Soon they were swimming downwards towards a suspicious looking mountain with a luminescent worm sadly curled up on top. A little digging soon revealed you curled up and wounded, you were breathing heavily, but breathing anyway.

“MC! Are you okay?” Yoosung rushed to your side and gave the bad to Jun, who quickly started looking for healing salves and leather bandaids. Most of them had been actually made and sold to you by him.

“Yoo.. sung? Jun?” Your voice was weak but the fact that you were still awake was clearly a good sign. You slowly sat up, ignoring Jun’s disapproving glare. “Carefull. I was hiding. They’re still here” They both headed your advice, putting on the earmuffs. Jun, who was the most experienced in underwater medicine started to heal you, while Yoosung made sure they weren’t ambushed. Meanwhile you handed Jun your 'errand' as you had been able to get it before being attacked.

You had a few tranquil moments of sunrise, before Yoosung gripped your shoulders without any forewarning. He lifted one side of the earmuffs to talk to you.

“That- that looks like the shadow of a ship to me” He pointed at the distance and you followed with your gaze. You gaped for a few seconds. There was indeed a very distinctly shaped shadow on the water, and contrasted  a lot with the first rays of sunrise. 

“Yoosung, this is your chance, lets go!” You exclaimed, looking up at him

“Right this instant?”

“Yes!”

Jun turned around to see what you were talking about and saw the ship too. He frowned, but nodded, encouraging you to go catch up with it. In your current state Yoosung helped you swim as much as you helped him, and both of you slowly went upwards.

Just when you thought everything was going to be fine, a heavy body crashed towards you from behind and sent you spiraling backwards, while you tried to regain your senses, Jun rushed to help out. He gained momentum and then flipped to hit the attacker with his tail. In front of you Yoosung avoided capture using his legs as an advantage, since mere-people usually didn’t take them into account.  You swam up to him and took the spear from its case. You weren’t in a condition to fight, but you weren’t going to give in anyway, besides you felt more confident knowing you weren’t alone.

Around you there were two mermaids and one merman, all armed, but also injured. Jun looked you in the eye, and you knew he had deduced you had been fighting with them earlier.  You got ready for a confrontation, and yet your enemies weren’t coming. Instead, they had surrounded you, from afar. They were close enough to be heard, but far enough that you wouldn’t be able to attack then very fast.  Your eyes widened as you realized they were about to perform a song, a three part harmony to be exact. It was a simple arrangement that allowed two voices to strengthen the magic of a main caster.

An idea crossed your mind then, it wasn’t guaranteed to work but it was better than nothing. You lifted one side of the guys’ earmuffs and immediately intoned a flat note. Jun caught up and sang a lower note, Yoosung didn’t know what was going on, but decided to do the same as you two. Neither Yoosung nor Jun had magic, but you figured they didn’t need to. Music was never isolated anyway, their voices would hopefully, modify the sound in the same way a cave would amplify it.

Around you the other song was starting too, and your stomach cramped as you immediately recognized it. It was the same song that woman had used in the abandoned ship. You sang even louder and more passionately when the possibility of her getting what she wanted crossed your mind. You would never allow it, never again. You started to sweat and your pipes were sore, but you kept singing anyway.

They sand and were mildly affected, but no more than you. It was a tie, you had to change the melody if you wanted to win.

You thought about a simpler time. When that woman and you had been small girls playing around and chasing each other. You brought to the forefront of your mind that feeling and searched in your memories for a song that could represent it.

It had to be a nursery rhyme. That would be perfect. You started to sing one of the most popular ones, and Yoosung immediately joined in, clapping. Jun wasn’t too sure if he should trust your judgment on this, but joined in anyway. The magic was definitely stronger, but not enough. It was then when you remembered singing it to that little human boy, and how he had died because of her. Your voice started to deepen down and major notes turned into minor, it was dissonant with Jun and Yoosung’s but that went well with the theme and the feeling of the magic.

All three attackers flew off propelled by the strength of the magic clashing. Jun followed after one of them to find out their identities, but you were starting to see black spots everywhere. You had used up the last of the strength you had. Yoosung went up to you to help you up, but then realized your injuries were far more serious than he had expected, magic or not, a salve wasn’t going to do much for you. You needed human medicine, and with murderous mermaids after you it was clear to him what the safest course of action was.

He was asking you something, but you couldn’t quite understand what it was. He apparently answered his own question as he took you in his arms and swam up towards the ship, that wasn’t too far away yet.

Somewhere else, a new era of the underwater black market had started. The woman finally decided to leave her birth name behind, to claim a brand new, fitting one: The Governess. She was going to make sure sick, delusional people like you weren’t allowed to slip through the cracks anymore. Everyone would receive the treatment they deserved.