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He’d be fine on his own, that’s what he’d told the others. He was an experienced diver, exploring sunken ships was his job. At least it had been before he’d joined the hermits. Now though, carefully tucked into an old cupboard on a ship, so far beneath the ocean’s surface, as a lithe, scaled tale slipped past in the darkness.
Now he wasn’t so sure.
Grian waited several long breaths, waited until he heard a shrill, frustrated screech echoing from somewhere deeper in the ship. It was until then he waited in his hiding place before pushing the door open. He slipped out of his hiding place, swimming as silently as he dared, letting himself float away from the floor. His flashlight flickered but after a smack to the side of it he managed to get the torch working properly again. The way the beam of light trembled as he slowly brought it up to the door that thing had swam through, it made it undeniable even to himself that he was shaking. He let out a few carefully measured breaths as he weighed his options. The way he’d come into this room was blocked now, whatever had fallen down the vent behind him was very securely wedged in place. The portholes were far too small for him to humanely fit through, so that left the single door in front of him.
The same thing that strange, oversized fish had gone through.
If it really was a fish. Grian found himself half wondering if he hadn’t somehow run out of air and started hallucinating not long after reaching the ship. A glance at the monitor for his oxygen levels dismissed that theory though, he should be fine. So he was facing a mystery from the deep, some illusive source of an old mariner's tale. That was just… peachy.
Gathering up what courage Grian was pretty sure he didn’t even have, the diver ducked under the damaged door and swam out into the corridor beyond. Much like what he’d seen elsewhere in the ship it was all corrosion and sea plants clinging to the walls, the floors, wherever something could take hold to grow it was there. Colorful fish swam about without a single care in the world, as if some large predator hadn’t just swam by. Then again, maybe it didn’t eat small fish, maybe those stripy little ocean dwellers didn’t have as much to fear as Grian seemed to.
Shaking the through aside Grian swam through the next open doorway, taking his time to look around, to chase the shadows away with his flashlight. It looked like this had once been an office, there was a desk and he swam over to investigate. Opening a drawer on the left caused a cloud of dissolved paper pulp to float out. Whatever those documents had been was lost to time now. Opening a drawer to the right he saw a numbered key, the metal still holding some gleam even now after all this time underwater. He reached in and took hold of it, but before he could retract his hand something from further in the drawer moved. Before he fully had time to register what he was seeing it had hold of his arm, biting down hard.
Grian cried out in startled pain, twisting his hand back and trying to shake the creature off of him. He batted at the fish with his other hand and finally it released him, swimming away to hide somewhere else. Grian hissed under his breath, examining the wound on his arm. The fish, a barracuda it looked like, had managed to cut right through his wetsuit and left a nasty gouge in his arm. It was bleeding, his blood clouding into the water in little red curls and trails. Hissing at his increasingly bad luck Grian tucked the key away alongside the first, which he’d found in the vent before getting chased into it by, well, scary noises but those scary noises had been coming from a legitimately terrifying source so he wasn’t going to be too hard on himself for that.
With nothing else of any apparent use in the long flooded room Grian swam back out into the hall, carefully picking his path. He was more than a little unnerved, well aware he was leaving a bloodtrail in the water now. The end of the corridor was blocked by sand and dirt that had flowed in with underwater currents over time, there was no getting through that area, but it did also branch off to the left so he turned and went that way. All still while swimming as silently as he could, he half expected to bump into that thing as soon as he rounded the corner, but there was nothing there. Well, relatively. There was a stack of crates littering that part of the corridor, it might have been an issue if the ship had been above water but flooded as it was, Grian swam through easily enough. The wood of those boxes was old and the ocean had worn away at them, though they were still whole enough that he couldn’t tell what was or might have been in them. There was a door to either side but the hall came to a stop after that, leaving him more uneasy about where that creature had gone.
Trying not to let that thought linger too long without an obvious answer, Grian moved over to the door to his left, trying it, but it seemed that the corrosion of salt water had long since ruined the mechanism for the door and it wasn’t going to budge. With a slight shrug he turned and drifted to the other, trying it. This door squealed and protested being moved after what Grian had to guess was sixty or seventy years submerged in salt water but it opened nonetheless. Grian swam inside, scanning the room over with his light as he let himself float and drift in the still waters of the room. It appeared to have been a storage room, there were more crates, some barrels, footlockers and something wrapped in a tarp, maybe a statue or something of the like. Grian wasn’t going to go poking around it to find out, what he was going to investigate though, was a rather rusty looking safe.
The front of the safe held ever so proudly a combination lock. The safe had probably once been very secure, but years under water had done its hinges no favors. Grian pulled the pry bar from his belt and set to work, his wounded arm burned painfully as he forced the door to open the wrong way. The rusty old hinges crumbled under the force but it hadn’t been an easy task. Inside the safe Grian spotted yet another numbered key, he took that, it was labelled number 4, the one’s he’d already picked up being 1 and 3. Looking back into the safe he spotted gold bars and tarnished silver ones. He left those for now, there was no point weighing himself down that much when that creature was still roaming the ship somewhere.
Right now, he was more interested in either finding another exit, or where these keys went to. With any luck the keys would open a way out of the ship. He wanted nothing more than to be on dry land just then. He had no one to blame for being down here than himself though, so with a soft sigh he pushed away from the safe, drifting back up near the ceiling. He started back towards the door only to see a shape move past it. Long and almost ethereal, drenched in shadow and the hair on the back of Grian’s neck stood on end under his suit. That thing had moved from somewhere above the door to swim down the hall and Grian dared to approach the door, looking up at the ceiling of the hall he’d just been in earlier.
There was a massive hole there, leading to the next deck above. Well, that answered his earlier question he supposed. He also guessed he would be safer going where the creature had come from than where it had gone so up he went, swimming up to the corridor he’d yet to explore. There were more crates up here, like a bunch had been shoved into the end of this hall in a hurry… or perhaps they’d been dragged there by flowing water. It was hard to say for sure.
What he did know for sure was that creature was making strange calls somewhere on the deck below. It was like the notes to a song Grian had never heard, echoing hauntingly through the ship, something intensely dangerous yet strangely mysterious. Very sternly Grian squashed down the unnatural longing it instilled in his heart, the wish to follow the sound. The shadowy form still fresh in his memory, he didn’t want to face off with that thing directly. So down the hall he swam, hoping the noise the creature was making would cover up any sound he made. He didn’t dare mess with the doors though, he didn’t dare make that much noise. The hall came to an end at another, the door between them laying on the floor. With a quick glance both ways Grian swam towards an open room he saw at one end. It was dark but anything was better than going back anywhere near that thing. He wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or not when the sounds faded behind him as he went. He didn’t know if it had ceased following him, or if it had gone silent to sneak up on him.
He really, really hoped it wasn’t the latter.
He drifted into a large room, it was neatly decorated, a place once very fancy, had this been a passenger ship? This upper deck was giving that impression. The fancy molding on the walls was almost intact, still bright white with decorations of gold. The center of the room though, that was the more stunning thing he realized as he approached. There was a domed window 0ver a trio of statues, statues that were home now to a plethora of ocean plant life and happy fish. The statues looked graceful in their poses, one of which was reaching towards that domed window, something glittering in her hand. With a kick of his feet he was up at eye level with the statue, reaching up to take the sparkly thing from her hand.
It was a key with the number 2 on it.
Grian put that away with the others, wondering if that was all of them. He didn’t have long to contemplate though, as he heard that haunting call again and turned to glance back the way he’d come. In the darkness down that hall he saw a pair of glowing white eyes. Fear wracked through him and Grian scrambled to try and swim out of sight.
There was nowhere to go.
The room was circular, leaving him only able to swim around the statues, statues that now had long black stains running from their eyes, their graceful stance looking more desperate. All Grian could do was wait for the thing to approach and try to use the trio of statues as a blockade, to swim around and try to get back down the hall. He saw the unfairly graceful movements as the creature, with a human upper half and a long, almost serpentine tail with fan shaped fins glided into the circular room. It’s glowing eyes locking on Grian quickly, those eyes the only thing to stand out against a body that otherwise looked like it was made of condensed shadows.
For just a moment, Grian hesitated, captivated not by the thing’s voice but the mystery of it. For just a moment his ability to be afraid felt like it took a side seat to curiosity. He was entranced, watching the way the creature that was equal parts myth and reality cut through the water. Something else though, something struck him as he saw the thing in the dying light of his flashlight, the way the light played off the scales of the creature. Those dense shadows felt… wrong. It was that wrongness that reminded him he wasn’t safe, the creature was in arm’s reach and all at once Grian remembered his self preservation, that he was inches from a very gruesome death.
Grian kicked off, flipper wearing feet pushing water and propelling him to the side as he twisted. Grian shot back through the doorway as fast as his feet could send him, his arms pinned tightly at his side to reduce drag. Behind him that creature let out an outraged scream, one that made his ears ring and his head spin. The doors ahead were all closed, no safe way to easily lose the creature, however he spotted a vent high on one wall and sped towards it. He grabbed the lip of the vent and all but shoved himself inside, hoping he wouldn’t instantly be met with a dead old fan blocking his path, but luckily, it was unobstructed.
The vent went back down, which wasn’t ideal, Grian wanted to escape, not go deeper into the shipwreck, but with the thing… the… mermaid or siren or whatever that had been so hot on his heels, Grian had little choice. Down Grian went, kicking hard, swimming for his life in that tight space and hearing the protests of his pursuer behind him, the banning of it hitting the vent as well.
He didn’t slow, he didn’t dare, slinging himself out of the vent when he reached the next open one, out into a hallway he had yet to explore. His flashlight flickered so he slapped it a couple of times until it came back on properly. The hallway was heavily overgrown with coral and other plants, there were pale fish clinging to the shadows but most striking was a door that was locked firmly. Locked with four locks.
With a hesitant glance at the vent he’d just come from, Grian took the keys he’d collected and placed them in the locks. They fit, so he gave each a twist. Once all four were unlocked the lock in the center released with a clang. Grian swallowed against the rising lump in his throat before giving the wheel a twist. It was heavy, taking a bit of muscle to turn, but it did indeed open. Grian swam around the door, sticking close to it before entering the room. His flashlight played oddly with the uneven walls and ceiling, thick triangular shapes stuck off the walls, the ceiling. He frowned at it, not sure what they were about, swimming over to investigate some though, touching one of the triangles and seeing how it crumbled he realized they’d been a sort of foam.
The room had been soundproofed, heavily so.
Turning away from the wall, Grian swam further into the room, his light playing off of a network of heavy looking iron bars, a door to match ripped from its hinges and laying on the floor. Inside that iron cell, that ran floor to ceiling, was another heavy, iron cage. It’s door too, was ripped open and inside that was the framework of… something. Grian swam closer to investigate, the stand was large, the supports were metal and as he examined the floor around it, coated in thick, dense glass, he realized what he was looking at.
It was a tank.
A sick feeling twisted in Grian’s stomach as the pieces of the puzzle fell together. Part of him found himself not pitying the people behind this though, if they’d known what they were transporting. Grian remembered how that creature sounded, how it moved, the darkness of it. Looking at the remains of the tank, he couldn’t help but feel the creature hadn’t gotten any justice, even if it had been the cause of the ship sinking.
Still, there wasn’t anything he could do about that now and he was about as far from an exit as he could be, he guessed. With a heavy-hearted sigh Grian exited the room once more, he went down the corridor and followed the bend, there was a hole in one wall, opening up a space filled with pipes. Laying on the sand by the opening Grian spotted a flare, which he picked up. Looking up through the open space Grian could see more pipes, but it looked like there was enough room to swim through. He turned away though, wanting to explore a little more but just as he did he spotted a shadowy figure pop out of the vent he’d come out of earlier.
Cursing his luck silently Grian turned off his flashlight, watching what little he could see in the dark. He could see as the creature paused by that now open door, those glowing eyes gazing that way. Grian couldn’t help but wonder if he would have been safe hiding in there as the creature didn’t seem to want to go in. It did however, turn towards Grian’s hiding place, letting out that long, haunting call. Grian decided it was best not to tempt fate by staying still, kicking off the sandy floor he swam up into the pipe filled, dark space between the walls. He heard as that haunting call turned into something more shrill, angry and sinister.
He wasn’t going to be able to escape it in the dark, more likely Grian might get stuck and be a sitting duck. Rather than bother with his flashlight though, since it didn't work well around the creature anyway, Grian cracked open the flare. A bright flash and red light spilled from the emergency lightsource and Grian could see just well enough to pick up speed, dodging around big pipes. The creature let out an outrage shriek, one so loud it made Grian’s ears ache and shook the very walls. He didn’t slow though, not with how close and how loud that had been. If he slowed down it was certain death and he knew that. Another angry screech, again the walls, the pipes shook, some coming loose, forcing him to twist around them on his way through. There was a loud bang from far above and by the time the source was in the flare’s light it was too late to dodge fully.
A heavy chunk of large pipe clobbered Grian, right against his mask before falling below. He felt something wet dripping down his face and he couldn’t tell if it was sea water or blood. Either way he couldn’t risk slowing down, so even dazed he kept kicking. More things were falling, the space was becoming a deathtrap with every angry screech so when Grian spotted another hole in the wall he swam for it with all he had, ducking out of the pipe access and back into the ship proper. The flare flickered and died out, leaving him to fumble for his flashlight.
The light from the dented flashlight on his shoulder was dim and he realized it wouldn’t last much longer. Part of him wished it hadn’t come on at all, not with the sight that awaited him. The room was filled with a scattering of human bones. Grian couldn’t even guess at the number of bodies, just that this seemed to be where that creature dragged unfortunate fools like him, and perhaps the ship's crew, to eat them. Wholeheartedly disturbed on a level Grian didn’t even know he could be bothered, a deep, stomach wrenching, bone chilling level, Grian swam for the first door he saw. He had to get out of the room, not caring if it made enough noise to alert that thing to where he was. He wasn’t hiding in a room full of bones.
He heard another haunting call from the creature as he turned the wheel on the door, the door groaning as he shoved it open. Another screech from the creature told Grian it had found him and he was off again, swimming with all his might, his body burning all over from the excessive strain, his lungs burning, a beeping from his equipment warning him his oxygen was getting dangerously low. He didn’t have a tank he could switch to so all he could do was swim hard and hope.
Down the hall in near darkness he went, running on pure force of will at that point. He hit a dead end, his heart raced with full panic as he realized he was cornered, but as he turned around he realized he was in an elevator car. Thinking fast he grabbed for the gate of the old fashioned lift and pulled it closed, looking up to see the shadowy thing, its glowing eyes, swimming fast for him, shrieking in protest as Grian backed further into the car.
He was dead.
He was as good as dead and he knew it.
Yet for some reason he reached up and hit one of the buttons on the panel.
Warm light bathed the car, the doors rolled shut. The protesting shrieking of the creature became muffled, the doors blocking the sight and the sound of it.
Confused, Grian looked from the doors to the light that was on above, almost falling down when the elevator car started moving. He stumbled a step, his brain taking a moment to catch on that he wasn’t in water anymore. The car was dry. He looked down, his scuba gear was gone. In its place was a fine suit, the uniform of a navy officer. He pulled back one sleeve, sure enough the gouge from earlier was still there, it was bleeding, though, it looked like now that he was out of the water it might try to scab over.
Just how hard had that thing hit him in the head?
Grian reached up, fingers brushing under a hat as he felt his forehead, his hand came away slightly bloody. So it had hit him pretty hard, yet he hadn’t been caught by that creature, he was riding up a suddenly new looking elevator in a ship that was sunk at the bottom of the ocean and he was dressed differently but still wounded. When the elevator doors opened Grian took a confused step out onto the deck, frowning as he looked around the no longer flooded halls. The ship looked like it had sailed out of the shipyard a week ago, no hints of wear or damage. He could feel the sway of it, realizing the ship was afloat.
“Sir? Are you alright sir?” Someone asked, their voice was unfamiliar.
Grian turned to face the other person, a man in a sailor’s uniform from seventy years ago if not more, much like the age yet not old suit Grian himself was wearing. He really didn’t know what to say, still confused and with a splitting headache to go with it.
“Oh goodness, sir you’re bleeding! Did you hit your head? Here, I’ll take you to the infirmary.” The sailor said, flitting about Grian before taking his hand and leading him down the hall.
Grian didn’t argue, or try to make conversation. He had the head injury to explain away his confusion but considering what he’d seen below decks he really didn’t want to come off as not belonging. He didn’t want to get locked up in the brig or thrown overboard so for the moment he’d play along. He wasn’t sure how he’d ended up on the ship before it sank, how that was even possible, but that was his best guess as to what happened. Besides, the other option he had left to consider was a bit more morbid and he wasn’t quite ready to assume that’s what happened.
After all, there was a living myth that had been chasing him around for the past few hours. What in the world wasn’t possible at this point?
Like the rest of the ship, the infirmary looked wellkept, new even, despite being decades out of date. He didn’t comment on that though as a nurse fretted over his injuries. The disinfectant burned but not as bad as the salt water had, and soon he was getting bandaged up.
“How on earth did you manage to bang yourself up this badly?” The nurse asked as he fashioned the bandage in place.
“Hit my head on a pipe.” Grian shrugged and the nurse sighed.
“You’ve got to watch where you’re going in the engine room sir! I swear those low hanging pipes are going to be the death of half the crew at this rate. There, you should go rest sir, we’re low on some supplies so you’re just going to have to live with a headache for a bit.” The nurse said sternly.
“I’ll be fine, thank you.” Grian assured her before he stood, making sure to pick up the hat he’d been wearing when he was brought in.
He wasn’t sure how none of these people had caught onto the fact he wasn’t part of the crew yet but he wasn’t going to just ignore the stroke of seemingly good luck. He headed down the hall, trying to shove the headache aside as he debated again how the hell he was in the past. He passed a mirror and took that chance to look at himself, he was dressed as a decorated naval officer, though he didn’t have the slightest clue what any of those badges ment. He hoped those meant he could get where he wanted to go though. With a soft sigh Grian carried on.
Navigating the ship was an interesting challenge, he’d already been through many of its corridors, but there’d been areas impassible, now however he had to follow the intended walkways of the ship, no holes, no swimming through vents. On the other hand though, there was the occasional sign labeling what was down each hallway. Not that he expected the mermaid’s holding tank to be listed, or even the soundproofed room, but he held hope he could find it.
After a bit of wandering around he found his way into an office he was sure he’d been in before, the furniture was no longer a mess, set up neatly as one might expect. Grian strode into the room like he belonged there, since there was no one around he decided to snoop. He sat at the desk, opening the left drawer. Inside was a stack of papers, the lettering on them crips and easy to read. He picked them up to quickly skim over them and after a few pages he found something that made his stomach twist.
There was a report about ‘special cargo’ and the dietary requirements of it. Another page listed out the importance of keeping the doors locked, of wearing earplugs when dealing with the ‘aquatic find’ but worst of all was the suggested use of electrical charges through the holding tank to subdue the creature. A disgusted noise escaped Grian’s lips and he could read no further, shoving the papers back in the drawer.
Remembering where he’d found a key though, he opened the other drawer and sure enough, there was a key laying inside. With a slight nod to himself Grian snatched up and pocketed the numbered key before slipping it into a pocket. He closed the drawer and stood. Just as he headed back for the door it opened again, someone else stepping into the room.
“What are you doing in here?”
“Oh, sorry. I struck my head earlier and I’m a bit out of sorts.” Grian offered with a wave of his hand.
“Well, this is my office, were you looking for me?” The man asked, a little more gently.
“No, just a little turned around. I’ll be out of your hair.” Grian assured, stepping past the man.
“Well be careful sir, your quarters are the deck above.” The man said and Grian gave a wave to indicate he’d heard before vanishing through the door.
Grian hurried down the corridor as soon as he was out of sight. He didn’t want to be around when the guy noticed the key was gone. Considering some of the places Grian had found the keys he worried he wouldn’t be able to find them again, but with one in his pocket, as he walked down the still brightly lit hallway, his head throbbing just enough to remind him he was alive, he couldn’t shake the feeling he was in the past with a purpose. That horrifying yet graceful creature he’d seen, a creature that didn’t belong trapped on a sunken ship, yet for some reason was still there, so long after it had sunk. The evidence these people were carrying it somewhere on purpose. None of it sat right and even if the creature would still want Grian dead he wanted to help.
He didn’t quite understand why, but really, what else did he have to do right then.
Turning down another hall, keeping an eye out for any office of anyone official looking, Grian kept moving, hoping to find what he needed. He stepped into another office, the man behind the desk was asleep. Grian crept in, looking things over as he went. The glint of gold caught Grian’s attention, just under the edge of a stack of papers. Carefully Grian pulled the key free, it was the next one he needed so quickly he pocketed it, looking at the sleeping man who was still out cold, maybe even a little drunk if Grian was to hazard a guess. Like a phantom, Grian slipped back out of the room, feeling emboldened with two keys. Just down the hall Grian poked his head into another office, it was empty like the first and Grian set to searching the desk. Not finding anything right off he ran his hand along the underside. His fingers brushed against something that felt like a key and with a bit of fiddling he got it off of the hooks that held it. This one wasn’t one of the numbered ones though, still, he pocketed it.
He slipped out again, hurrying down the corridor. He stepped out onto the deck after a walking a bit more. The sky was gray with clouds but they looked calm. There were sailors milling about, a few nodded to him as he walked by. In the center of the deck there was a raised area and on closer inspection he realized it was the outside of the domed window he’d seen before. The trio of statues sat below, leaving Grian a little confused just what kind of ship this was supposed to be.
With a small shake of his head he headed back inside, looking around for the way down. He found his way to the elevator again and with a press of the call button it was arriving for him. He stepped on, going down just a single floor. Part of him expected riding the elevator down would drop him back in water, in a ruined sunken ship deep below the waves, but it did not. The doors opened to the same well lit, new looking ship as he’d been in a moment before. He walked the hall like he was meant to be there, not pausing long enough to make smalltalk with anyone he passed. He found another office and entered. There was no one inside, much to his relief, a glance around and he remembered the floor littered with bones. The thought made him tremble but he shook the uneasiness aside, searching the office. Whoever this office belonged to had to be important because he found the rest of the keys he needed within. Pocketing those and feeling a breath of nerves prickling up, Grian turned back for the elevator.
He didn’t have a lot of clues to work with on where the soundproof room was, considering how he’d navigated the ship before, how much he’d spent swimming in fear, so it seemed best to just start at the bottom and work his way up. Grian closed his eyes as he felt the elevator descend through the ship. The ship that was such a strange mix of luxury ship and military ship, perhaps it was meant to be disguised as a luxury ship, that might explain things a bit. When he heard the doors open Grian looked up. Hee stepped into the corridor, looking around, slowly it clicked that he’d been here, much of the area buried in sand and covered in underwater foliage. Rounding the corner… there it was.
The door that needed four keys.
With a steadying breath and a silent prayer to any god that might be listening, Grian made his way over. He hoped there was no alarm in place as he unlocked the door again. The door opened much easier this time, though it was still heavy. Quietly Grian slipped into the room, the soundproofing was almost more unnerving with the room partially lit. The light was shining down on the tank and Grian found himself scanning the walls for any cameras or sensors, but he didn’t see anything. Slowly, he approached the tank, there was a familiar shape there, but only the shape was familiar. It hit Grian hard as he realized that while he was looking at the same creature, it wasn’t nearly as terrifying. The tail was a deep blue, the fins a bright red, the human half, fair skinned and blond, soft purple eyes squinted against the harsh lights.
Grian tried to shake his shock, not sure if he should be more or less surprised by how absolutely beautiful this being was. Grian fumbled with his collected keys, anxious to get through the cell open. Then the cage, which the mermaid, or siren as the paperwork had said, had clearly heard. Grian could feel those eyes on him and when he glanced at the tank again the siren had moved, his blond hair flowing waitlessly in the water, betraying the movement the now still as stone being had made. Slowly it swirled in the water around him, framing that unfairly pretty face. Purple eyes, fin wrapped ears, a face so human on a being so clearly not. Grian found himself entranced all over again, yet with so much less to fear, with that cloying coat of shadows gone.
The siren moved again, graceful yet cramped, the space he occupied painfully small compared to the rest of him. Grian couldn’t imagine his tail being folded so much as anything other than an agonizing position to be stuck in. Shoving aside the sound of his heart beating in his ears for a whole new reason, Grian hurried over to the tank. There was one last lock, the one holding on the lid and the last key he’d found fit perfectly. Grian pushed the lid open, and as soon as there was enough room the siren lifted himself up, letting his tail find a new position with a sigh of relief.
“You’re… not one of them. I’ve seen you before though.” The siren said, his grasp of language so crystal clear it startled the hermit a bit.
He turned to face the other, wanting to answer but getting distracted by that beauty all over again. That blond hair now plastered all over his head in the most adorably awkward ways. Those eyes seemed to glitter as they inspected Grian, looking over the bandages on Grian’s head before staring closely at his eyes.
“You’re… the diver, how-”
“So you remember? The ship being sunk and uh… chasing me?” Grian asked with a sheepish smile.
“Sorry about that, once one of my kind snaps like that… there’s no coming back from it, not normally. It's all hatred and rage and a lust for the blood of those that wronged us. I’ve… I’ve lived it so many times now, I hate it. I don’t want to kill these people over and over, losing myself to the monster-” The siren started to ramble, his tone one of misery.
Grian reached over, gently resting a hand on the siren’s arm, calming him, drawing silence. Those purple eyes fell to Grian again, tired misery in them that twisted Grian’s heart like a wrung out sponge.
“You don’t have to go through that again, after all, isn’t this time different already?” Grian asked with a confident smile and something lit up in those eyes.
“Yeah, yeah! This is already a diversion from how it normally goes! You’re not normally here.” The siren said, hope flooding his voice.
“I’m going to get you out of here. With any luck, no more blood has to be spilled. So when do things normally start over?” Grian asked, watching the way the siren bit his lip in thought.
“Normally, after everyone is dead and the ship is sunk, when I try to leave, the moment I swim out of the broken hull, that’s when I end up right back here. Myself again, no longer a creature of revenge… but, back again. It’s like waking up from a nightmare, only to be back at the beginning of the nightmare.” He explained.
“But somehow I triggered it instead?” Grian pondered aloud.
“I think so, the last thing I remember is you closing the elevator gate and then… I was here again.”
“I think that Elevator is actually our best shot of escape, I know which deck is closest to get you to a railing. Will you be okay if I throw you overboard? It’s a bit of a drop.” Grian admitted.
“I should be fine, what about you?” He frowned.
“Hopefully when I help you I get to go back to my own time, to my friends.” Grian explained but the thought of never seeing the siren again stung more than he would have expected.
“Do you have a name?” The siren asked, drawing Grian from his thoughts.
“Grian.”
“I’m Zedaph, if this all works, I promise I will never forget you.”
“Same, I’m not sure I could if I wanted to.” Grian smirked.
Zedaph laughed softly and it was the lightest, sweetest sound Grian had ever heard, he was fairly sure. Just that little sound made his heart do some sort of dance in his chest. That little laugh died out quickly though, much to Grian’s disappointment, those purple eyes falling on him again. Zedaph reached out a hand, gently pulling the hat aside to look at the bandages again.
“This is my fault.” Zedaph noted but Grian shrugged.
“You said it yourself, you weren't yourself. Don’t worry about it.”
“No, I think I will, here, step closer.” Zedaph ordered and curious, Grian did so.
Zedaph leaned in, resting his head against Grian’s, humming a soft, low melody. It was soothing, beautiful, radiating through Grian to his very core. His eyes fell closed and he felt Zedaph’s lips brush across his forehead and when the siren pulled away and the song faded, the pain was gone.
“How…” Grian blinked, meeting Zedaph’s gaze.
“There are many old secrets in the ocean, you just have to listen to what she has to teach.”
“I’ll take your word for it. For now, we should probably get moving before we get caught.” Grian sighed, not wanting the conversation to end already.
“It’s not like they can hear us. The captain won’t be in to taunt me again until morning, telling me how he’s going to send me inland on a truck, to live in a lab.” Zedaph grumbled, wrinkling his nose.
“So… that’s why you attack when you do.” Grian said gently and Zedaph nodded.
“Two days from now is my last chance before they reach port. It’s always the same, they never remember, but I do. They bring food in, the one time they dare open this tank. That’s when I take them all down, it’s horrible… the screams, they still haunt me.” Zedaph’s eyes squeezed shut and he covered his ears.
Grian gently wrapped his arms around the Siren in a gentle hug.
“It’s not going to happen again, I promise, no matter what it takes this curse is getting broken.” Grian promised.
Zedaph all but melted in Grian’s grasp, making him wonder, with all of the loops, just how long it had been since Zedaph had known kindness. Since someone had shown a soft side, offered an ear to listen, a shoulder to lean on. With his gaze on the door, Grian quietly held the siren as long as he needed, letting him soak in a bit of that soft warmth for the first time in who knew how long.
“I’m sorry…” Zedaph said after a while and Grian hugged him just a little tighter before letting go.
“There’s nothing to apologize for… sometimes humans can get really cruel, but that just reminds the rest of us how important a little kindness is. Now come on, it’s time to get you out of here.” Grian said and Zedaph nodded.
Grian looped his arms under the siren and with a heave lifted him out of the tank. He wasn’t all that heavy but he wasn’t light either, his scales made his tail a bit slick and hard to hold onto. Zedaph wrapped an arm around Grian, folding his tail and grabbing it behind Grian’s back so he wasn’t dragging the floor. With that they were on the move. Grian shoved the door open the rest of the way again, having not let it latch, and he ran down the hall. They made it to the elevator without passing another soul but when Grian pressed the call button the car took its sweet time coming down. It made Grian more than a little on edge, if there were people riding down… but there weren’t, it was thankfully empty. Grian stepped on, making sure Zedaph was safely cradled before pressing for the deck he knew they needed.
Slowly the car rose, Zedaph tilting his head at the arm above the door that slowly indicated which decks they were passing. It was a long, tense ride, Grian swallowing against the rising lump in his throat, nervous of the elevator stopping on any other floor, of anyone catching them, but it didn’t. The doors opened on the deck they needed, the gate was already pushed open as the doors rolled open, the nurse from earlier standing there waiting on it. Grian cringed, that had been exactly what he was afraid of. The nurse looked up, saw the siren in Grian’s arms and his eyes got as big as saucers. The man stumbled back, sputtering in pure shock. Clearly the nurse had no idea about Zedaph.
Grian didn’t waste that moment of shock, stepping off of the elevator to break into a run, charging towards the open door at the end of the hall, to the open deck beyond. One foot in front of the other, long strides, short breaths, he charged towards the rail. There was a shout from somewhere, then another, then Zedaph started singing, the crew going silent, still, looking dazed. That gave them all the time Grian needed to reach the rail, to lift Zedaph over it, for the siren to leap from Grian’s grasp. Zedaph dropped like an arrow, slicing into the water just as cleanly, a splash and he was gone, his beautiful voice gone with him.
Leaning heavily on the rail Grian waited, he waited to be snapped back to his time, to be returned to what he’d left behind. He could hear angry muttering, he could hear shouting, he could hear footsteps behind him. He closed his eyes, surely, any second now, he’d be popped back into his time, he’d return.
He didn’t.
Someone grabbed him roughly, turning him round. He was face to face with a man he could only assume was the captain. That man looked furious. He looked grian up and down, that rage boiling over.
“I don’t know who you are, how you got on this ship or where you got that uniform but you are impersonating a military officer. Not only that but you just cost my crew a fortune, a life of fame, worse, you just threw away the greatest discovery of marine science of our lifetime. What in the name of all that is good and evil do you have to say for yourself?” He demanded.
“I just saved you and your crew’s lives. That siren could have broken free at any moment. It was going to, it was going to kill you all and send this ship to the bottom of the ocean. There are just some things humanity isn’t ready to discover yet.” Grian said firmly, unwavering in his conviction but still hoping the timeline would correct itself at any moment.
“Foolish, idiotic even. If you are so protective of that overgrown fish, then why don’t you join it?” The captain snarled, stepping back.
There was a pistol and a sword on the man’s hip, but it was the sword he reached for. Someone still had a hold on Grian’s arm, iron tight. Grian’s heart caught in his throat, silently begging fate to let him fade back into his time like he’d come to this one. That sword gleamed in the lights of the ship, becoming a blur. Grian cried out in pain as the blade bit through his skin, cutting through flesh like it was nothing, scratching against bone it kept going, only to be ripped away again. Grian coughed, spitting blood, struggling to draw in a breath, he blinked against the sudden tears in his eyes just in time to see the blade darting in again, he felt it pierce the other side of his chest, biting through him mercilessly, pulled away just as viciously. He wanted to cry out, but he couldn’t draw in breath, he felt like he was drowning without being submerged in any water, his own blood filling his lungs. He saw the captain again, a face full of cruelty and rage, something that somehow, was more horrifying than even the thing Zedaph had been in the sunken ship.
That blade whipped in one more time, cutting through Grian’s throat, as if to make certain he wouldn’t survive. With that, the crew threw him overboard. Grian felt the wind at his back before he hit the water, he hit it hard, if he hadn’t already been breathless it would have left him that way. Slowly he sank into the water, his heart struggling against the sudden damage, he felt his own heartbeat growing weaker as he wasn’t able to breathe. The ocean was quickly growing dark, from his fading vision, or with clouds of his own blood he had no idea. The one thing that stood out against it though, the one thing his mind was able to catch, was Zedaph, swimming just above him, chasing after him. Arms outstretched, face filled with panic and fear.
The creature he’d run from, the siren he’d saved.
It had cost him his life, yet strangely, Grian thought, as he felt his mind begin to slow, he was okay with that. The crew may not know what fate was going to befall them, but Grian had spared them of it, but more importantly.
Zedaph was spared the fate of being a monster, trapped in a time loop, where no hope could be found. That, that alone, was worth dying for…
--
Water lapping at stone, stone that was hard against his back. Gentle arms wrapped around him, desperately tight. A beautiful song, broken by heartbroken sobs. A sob, a whimper, a crack and a squeak and the song resumed. Until another sob broke it again. It made Grian’s heart ache to hear, but he couldn’t quite respond yet. Slowly Grian blinked his eyes open, the reflection of water, water lit by a source he couldn’t see, danced on the stone ceiling of a cave. The light was a soft blue, as Grian turned his head the light came from the water, or rather he guessed, the glowing plankton in the water. Turning his head the other way he was greeted with a mop of blond, the face of it’s owner buried against Grian’s now bare chest.
Weak, shaky, Grian lifted his arm, gently wrapping it around Zedaph. The siren fell silent, his back was dry under Grian’s hand, he’d been out of the water for a while. Slowly Zedaph rose his head, meeting Grian’s gaze, eyes going wide. He sat up fully, tears welled, that beautiful face screwing up as another sob shook him.
“You… you’re alive! I thought they killed you, I… I… It wasn’t working-” Zedaph broke into sobs, tears streaming down his face.
“It did though, I’m right here. I guess we’re even now, huh?” Grian rasped at him, giving a little smirk.
“You died! Your heart stopped and I… I didn’t know if I could fix that. It hurt so much. I’ve never been so scared. I brought you here, unable to hear your heart and mine felt like it was going to rip apart.” Zedaph wailed, burying his face in his hands.
“You did it though, I’m alive now aren’t I?” Grian asked, slowly pulling himself into a sitting position, bringing his face that much closer to Zedaph’s.
“I was so scared, I’ve never feared for the life of another so much… I… I…” Zedaph’s words seemed to fail him as his hands fell from his face and he almost jumped at how close Grian was.
Something in those purple eyes seemed to click, something in that pretty head of his but before Grian could ask the siren moved. He moved closer. Before Grian knew it Zedaph’s lips met his own, met with an intensity, an urgency that almost startled Grian. His eyes fell closed and he wrapped his arms around the siren though, holding Zedaph close as he returned the kiss, melting into it as something in life finally felt right. Since that first moment, drawn to Zedaph but afraid of him, of finding the real him, of freeing him, suddenly it all made sense. Grian’s heart felt like it’d been to war and back again in just a few hours, perhaps it had, but that moment made it all worth it. Zedaph’s fingers trailed through Grian’s hair, the urgency melted to passion and Grian matched it warmly.
When the kiss came to its end, their lips parting, leaving Grian a bit breathless, Zedaph had finally calmed down. Grian reached up, gently caressing his face.
“It’s okay, I’m not going anywhere.” Grian promised.
“Not even your own time?” Zedaph asked gently, almost like he was afraid of the answer.
“Evidently not, I’m meant to be here I guess.” Grian shrugged.
“Maybe it’s selfish… but I’m glad.” Zedaph admitted.
“Nah, I really didn’t want to say goodbye.” Grian chuckled, his voice was still rough, he wondered if it was going to stay that way.
“I guess you didn’t have to, after all.” Zedaph laughed, the sound was much more tired, chasing stress out of the poor siren’s body.
“Thanks to you.” Grian smiled before looking down at his chest. There wasn’t a scar from either stabbing left behind.
Grian marveled at that a moment, running his fingers over the smooth skin there before bringing his hand up to his own throat. There though, he did find a scar, he’d always worn a turtleneck sweater anyway he thought, but this scar was pretty high. Perhaps he’d grow a beard.
“I tried my best…” Zedaph said gently, noticing that Grian had found the scar.
“You did more than I could have asked. I was fully accepting that I was going to die back there, just sad that you had to witness it.” Grian shrugged, only to get tackled to the cave floor by the siren, who clung tightly to him.
“If I hadn’t seen, I couldn’t have saved you.” He protested quietly and Grian hugged him tight.
“But you did. It’s okay now, Zedaph, the nightmare is finally over.” Grian said, gently kissing Zedaph on the top of the head.
--
Grow a beard, that’s what he’d decided to do to hide his scar, as he looked at his grizzled old reflection in the ocean now, Grian was fairly sure that was the right idea. The beard suited him well now, even all white and gray as it was. It matched well with Zedaph’s scales, how they’d aged. The once deep blue had turned mostly silver, the bright, vibrant red fading to a soft yellow. That fluffy, short blond hair that flowed and bounced underwater in the cutest way had long since lost all it’s color, leaving the siren to look more and more ethereal as he’d gotten older.
Sometimes Grian felt a little guilty, for stealing Zedaph’s youth, after all, the siren had admitted once that if a siren fell in love they would lose their immortality, if they fell in love with a human then their years would be cut just as short as that human’s. Remembering back to how distraught Zedaph had been when he’d thought Grian had died though, well, when Grian had died… perhaps it wasn’t something he should feel so bad about. After all these years, Grian wasn’t sure he could go on without Zedaph himself. His old heart might just give up without the wily siren.
Zedaph, who laid beside him, soaking up the sun and generally enjoying life as he so often did, became a sudden blur. He vanished under the water’s surface with barely a splash and not a word of warning. Grian let out a soft sigh, he knew well what that meant. He and Zedaph had lived on this island peacefully, alone, for many years until others arrived. A band of misfits that Grian couldn’t quite turn away. They were familiar in the strangest of ways, reminding him of something he’d left behind a long time ago. So when they’d wanted to stay, and seemed agreeable enough sorts, he’d let them. Not a one of them knew about Zedaph though, they all just thought Grian was some lonely fisherman who kept to himself. A self proclaimed hermit.
Of course, after his escapades through time, Grian had decided not to tell these people his name, just to be safe. He’d instead asked them to call him something else. With Zedaph safely out of sight, Grian was far from surprised when a voice called out to him.
“TFC! We’ve got a new hermit in our midst, come meet him!” Xisuma, a name, a face, a voice, that felt like he should know it but he’d never quite placed, called out to him.
Grian stood, answering to the nickname he’d given himself and taking his grizzled old self over to meet this newby to their home.
However when he laid eyes on that newby he felt like he’d been punched right in the face. Suddenly all that familiarity of the people around him finally snapped right into place.
Standing in front of him, beside Xisuma, was a young man with sandy blonde hair, dark eyes and the reddest of sweaters, a turtleneck.
“This is Grian, he’s a diver.” Xisuma introduced cheerfully.
“Yeah, recovering stuff from old shipwrecks is kinda my thing.” young Grian chuckled.
“Ya don’t say… I used to do a bit of that myself, dangerous work.” Grian admitted, still a bit stunned as he looked right at his younger self.
“Dangerous? I mean, yeah if you get cocky or don’t check your gear, but if you're careful it’s fine.” Young Grian said dismissively, much like Grian expected.
“Fair enough, there’s important things to find, sometimes more than you can know.” Grian said, feeling almost cryptic.
“We should get out of your hair and there’s others to go meet, we’ll see you later.” Xisuma said, turning on his heel and Grian watched as his younger self followed after.
That younger self who’s fate Grian knew all too well, after all…
It was his own.