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Phil was certain that he could escape.
He’d kept up the pretense that he was fine with what was happening, fine with the fact that he’d been taken and turned into a siren-
He shook his head. No, he wasn’t a siren. The boys were lying to him about that. He knew they were.
He just needed to get back on land, or even on a ship.
His ship, the Angel, was gone by now, of course it was, he’d been down here for at least a few days, but he’d been captaining her through a large trading route. The sirens couldn’t have brought him that far away.
If he made it to the surface, he could find a ship and get away from here.
The scales on his legs and arms would disappear when he made it above water.
He knew that they would.
Phil glanced over at the stone wheel blocking the exit of the cave.
He just needed to get past it, and he could escape.
Of course, he couldn’t move it. It was heavy, and Phil still wasn’t used to moving in the water.
The way that there was resistance against his movements, and the comforting disconcerting pressure of the water around him, made doing anything beyond swimming around the cave very annoying and difficult.
As for it being heavy, well. Techno had told Phil he wouldn’t have a chance of moving it until he was fully transformed into a siren.
And considering they were lying about him turning into a siren, Phil was taking that as meaning ‘never’ and that they didn’t want him to be able to leave without him.
Which, unfortunately, made sense. Considering that Tommy and Wil were both still insisting on Phil being their dad.
He’d been going along with it, but it was disturbing, to say the least. They were not his children, no matter what they said. And the way that Tommy had apparently just decided to make Phil his dad, and this being normal for sirens, well. It was not the best situation for him to be in.
Techno was…different.
He wasn’t insisting on Phil being his dad. But he wasn’t trying to get his brothers to stop, either.
He was also keeping a very close eye on Phil.
Phil got the sense that Techno was waiting for him to do something stupid.
Which, he wasn’t going to, to be clear.
He was going to escape.
That was the smartest thing he could do, in this situation.
All he needed to do was slip out of the exit when one of the boys left, or convince one of them, probably Tommy, to take him outside, and then get away.
And then he’d be on land, and everything would be back to normal.
***
Phil was trying his best to ignore the temporary changes to his body. The scales didn’t matter, the ability to see in the dark didn’t matter, but-
One of the changes was…unnerving.
That first day, after he’d agreed with Tommy about being ‘part of the family’, Wil had given him some food.
Raw fish.
Phil had tried to insist he couldn’t eat it, but the boys hadn’t let him refuse.
In the end, Techno bluntly told him he wasn’t getting anything else, and that he needed to eat.
He’d taken a hesitant bite.
It had been delicious.
He didn’t like that it had been delicious.
Even almost a week later, even after eating more raw fish-
That first time haunted him.
Raw meat was not meant to be appetizing.
It was something visceral, in the back of humans’ minds, saying it was unsafe.
Phil didn’t know what to do with the fact that his mind didn’t have that feeling anymore.
He didn’t know what to do with the fact that when he’d tried to eat a bit of seaweed, stolen from one of the woven blankets, it had tasted like rot.
Apparently, sirens were carnivores. He wasn’t a siren, of course he wasn’t, but until he got above land, he was apparently stuck with their tastebuds.
He just needed to get out of here, get out of the damn ocean-
***
“Basically, the main thing that sirens can do is our song. It can be used for a lot of things, like hunting-“ Wil continued, smiling at Phil as he explained some of the biology of sirens.
He obviously thought Phil would want to know this, due to the fact that he was still keeping up the lie that he was fine with this.
And since Wil was still keeping up the lie that Phil was becoming a siren, he was doing this.
“That’s also what led to the stories of drowning sailors?” Phil asked, at the last second managing to gentle his voice enough that his anger wasn’t clear.
Wil tilted his head, his tail swishing in the water behind him.
“Yeah, but almost no one does that anymore. It’s too much trouble.”
Phil managed to keep his face calm and open, instead of the tight and furious expression he wanted to have.
“Makes sense, mate. Now, I think you were telling me about how tails work before you got started on the song? You didn’t actually finish.” He said, forcing a bit of amusement into his voice.
He was forcing the amusement into his voice. He did not actually find Wil’s tendency to go off on tangents amusing. Or endearing.
Wil grinned.
“So! Tails are pretty important, since it’s what lets us swim around, once you’ve got your tail it’s gonna be way easier for you to get around, and we can probably take you out into the reef-“
Phil perked up “The reef?” He asked, trying to sound like he wasn’t desperate to hear more.
He didn’t want to risk any of the sirens realizing he wanted to escape.
Wil hummed lightly, moving one of his hands through the water in a dismissive gesture “There’s a coral reef outside, it’s pretty cool, but back to tails-“
Phil tuned out the rest of Wil’s sentence, ignoring the small twinge of regret at doing so. The boy was so happy to be explaining this-
It didn’t matter, of course it didn’t. He wasn’t Phil’s son.
There was a coral reef outside. He’d seen one before, one much closer to the surface than this one had to be.
It had been maze-like, full of places for fish to hide. Full of places where Phil could hide.
He could lose them, out there.
He smiled slightly, letting Wil think it was because he loved him. He didn’t, of course. Even if- That wasn’t important.
If there was a reef-
His plan of slipping away from the boys had a much better chance to succeed.
***
The hardest one of the sirens to deal with was Tommy.
There were a lot of reasons for this, not least of which being that he was the one who’d actually dragged Phil down here, and- he wasn’t turning into a siren, but Tommy had still been the one who’d induced the temporary effects that mimicked it.
The fact that the scales were spreading up his legs and onto his stomach meant nothing.
But the main reason that Tommy was the hardest to deal with was how genuine and young he was.
If Phil had to guess, he’d place his age in human years around fifteen, and it was making it really hard for Phil to ignore him the way he could with Wil, and especially Techno.
The older two sirens would leave Phil alone, if he was really set on it. He didn’t make them that often, he knew that he needed to keep up the impression that he actually enjoyed being here-
But Tommy, he would just bother Phil until he gave in, and agreed to do whatever it was the boy wanted.
Which was why Phil was currently trying his best to keep multiple strands of seaweed from tangling hopelessly together as Tommy attempted to weave them into a blanket.
‘Attempted’ was really the only word for it, considering he couldn’t get farther than a few strands woven in before the remaining ones started to twist together in a way that ruined the entire project.
Phil had been pulled into helping him keep the strands from tangling, considering that Techno was gone and Wil was apparently working on composing a song.
Tommy groaned, giving up on his current attempt and unweaving it.
“I don’t know how Wil makes it look so easy, he’s the worst-“
Phil shrugged, trying to gather up the seaweed as Tommy discarded it.
“I’m sure he’s just had more practice, mate.”
Tommy rolled his eyes, before grabbing a strand of seaweed and starting again.
“Yeah yeah, I know Dad. But still, would it kill him to give me some tips or something?”
Phil, with the practice that had come from being trapped down here for- at least a month, if he had to guess, didn’t react to Tommy calling him ‘Dad’ with anything other than a small twitch of his mouth.
It could easily be mistaken for him resisting the urge to smile.
He wasn’t entirely sure it wasn’t. He’d always had a soft spot for kids.
He shook his head slightly, before focusing back on the conversation “Have you actually asked him for help, Toms?”
Tommy sighed as his current try at the blanket got hopelessly knotted.
“No, but he should just-“ He brought his head up, looking at Phil with pleading eyes “Can you ask him about it, Dad? He’s still so focused on ‘introducing you to our world’ or whatever, he won’t’ make fun of you.”
Wil was, in fact, still trying to give Phil all the information he could about being a siren. Phil, at this point, had taken to listening just because it was mildly interesting.
And he couldn’t stand the sad look Wil had given him when he’d realized Phil hadn’t been paying attention to one of his rambles.
He didn’t care about Wil, or the other two, they weren’t his sons. But any of them looking sad was enough to make Phil want- He didn’t like it when they were sad.
Not that he had ever seen Techno sad, instead always blank, angry, or fond, but still.
Phil looked at Tommy for a moment, before nodding “Okay, I’ll ask him, mate.”
Tommy beamed, before going back to his fourth attempt on the blanket.
Phil smiled, before catching himself.
Tommy wasn’t even looking at him right now, why had he done that?
It didn’t matter.
He looked over at the stone that covered the entrance to the cave.
He’d get out of here soon.
***
Phil groaned as he hit the wall. Again.
This was actually the worst idea he’d ever had, and he shouldn’t have agreed to it.
Techno looked at him for a moment, before sighing and swimming over. He held out a hand, which Phil took.
“We can stop.” Techno said, looking at Phil with an unreadable look as he pulled him back into what counted as a ‘standing’ position underwater.
Phil waved him off “No, no. One more round, and then I’ll be done, mate.”
On one hand, sparring with Techno was a good way to get a feel for how fast the sirens could move, and how strong they were.
It would help him when he escaped, which he was planning to do soon. He’d figured out enough of their routine for it to be viable, and he was a much stronger swimmer now-
Which wasn’t due to the way that he could feel the muscles in his legs hardening, the scales on top merging down into his legs. It was temporary.
He was a stronger swimmer because he’d been doing it nonstop for- however long it had been. He’d lost track, by this point. Couldn’t have been more than a few months.
Anyway. On the other hand, he had lost every spar so far and he was really starting to feel the bruises up and down his body.
He did not think about how there were a lot less bruises than there should be.
Wilbur had explained sirens were a lot harder to hurt than humans.
Phil swam back over to the opposite side of the room. They were doing this in a room that was empty, and apparently was usually used for when Tech wanted to train his brothers in fighting. Though, before Phil had come here, it hadn’t been used for a while.
All of the sirens were better fighters than Phil, even if Techno was the best out of them.
This was honestly infuriating. He wasn’t a bad fighter. He’d been a sailor, he’d won his fair share of scraps. But being underwater, and the different ways he had to move- Well, it made it impossible for him to fight how he was used to.
And while he didn’t expect he’d have to fight anything, or anyone, to escape, it was better to be prepared.
He brought his arms up, ready to block Techno’s first hit. He always started with an attempt at punching Phil in the chest.
Phil couldn’t tell if the predictable first move was for his benefit or not. Techno was a good enough fighter that he should know to vary his openings.
Techno came at him, already swinging, and Phil managed to block it and push himself to the side. He tried to kick out at Tech, aiming for his stomach, but-
This was what kept tripping him up.
On land, or on a ship, kicking someone was easy. All he had to do was bring his leg up, and hit them.
But in water, his balance was shot, any momentum translating into the rest of his movements.
So, when he went to kick at Techno, he tried to keep his other foot on the ground. This did not work, for many reasons. He wasn’t even touching the ground, to begin with.
The force behind his kick sent him up through the water, causing him to miss his target.
He frowned, before hastily moving back from another swing of Techno’s arm.
He’d been aiming for Phil’s head, that time.
Phil kicked his feet, darting forward as fast as he could with his arm pulled back-
And managed to punch Techno in the arm, the quick recovery apparently enough to catch him off guard.
That was the first time Phil had managed to get a hit on him.
He only had a moment to experience his triumph before he felt Tech’s tail slam into his side, and he went tumbling back through the water, hitting the wall. Again.
He let out a breath, just floating there for a second. Techno swam over, a frown on his face.
“You need to stop trying to kick me.”
His face went blank for a moment, before a small, fond smile appeared on his face.
Oh no.
“Though, that’ll be easier when you have your tail.”
Phil sighed, before finally righting himself in the water.
Every time Tech got that look on his face, it was always followed by reference to the damn charade that Phil was turning into a siren.
He still wasn’t sure why the boys were keeping it up, at this point. He was sure none of them knew that he was planning to escape.
By this point, he was pretty sure even Techno thought Phil was perfectly content with being here.
He wasn’t, of course. He wanted to get back to land, or a ship.
Even if-
Phil shook his head. It didn’t matter that he genuinely liked the sirens, at this point.
He wasn’t their father, or a siren. He didn’t belong here.
***
He was going to escape tomorrow.
Phil knew that tomorrow would be a day where Techno went out to hunt, early enough that the other two would still be asleep. Usually, Phil would pretend to be asleep until Tech left.
Usually. Tomorrow, he was planning to act like he’d woken up early, and dart out when Techno opened the door.
He was sure that Techno wouldn’t realize what was happening until it was too late.
But he still had to get through tonight.
They’d already had dinner, which was becoming less and less unnerving to him as time went on.
He knew that wasn’t a good thing.
He needed to get out of here.
Regardless, he only had to make it a few more hours, not counting when he would be asleep.
Tommy was making another attempt at weaving, which was going significantly better than it had a while ago, considering Phil actually had gotten Wil to give his brother some tips.
Techno was sitting in the corner, his tail lightly moving back and forth as he polished one of his knives.
Wil was humming as he floated in the middle of the room, the melody changing every few minutes as he worked through different versions of the song.
Phil was just…watching them.
He was escaping tomorrow.
He was leaving tomorrow.
It’d been months of him being here.
For all that they weren’t his sons, no matter what they said, he’d still gotten to know them over the time he’d been here.
He’d still grown to care about them, in a way.
He was going to leave tomorrow.
And he wasn’t going to regret it.
But tonight?
He was going to enjoy the boys’ company, and hope that they weren’t too hurt by him leaving.
***
His plan had worked. It had actually worked-!
He’d done exactly what he’d planned, swimming out of the cave before Techno could stop him, and losing him in the reef.
And now-
Now he was heading for the surface.
Once he was out of the water, he’d go back to normal.
He knew he would.
He had to.
Phil’s eyes widened as he spotted the hull of a ship above him.
He swam faster, pushing himself to break the surface as soon as possible. He didn’t want to risk the ship passing him by, and-
And he knew that if he took too long getting out of the water, Techno would find him.
He was definitely still looking for Phil.
Techno cared about him, after all.
Phil shook his head, dispelling all thoughts of the boys.
He was getting away. He didn’t need to think about them, now.
His head broke the water, and Phil couldn’t help himself from grinning. He was just far enough away from the ship that the crew would be able to see him, but close enough he could get to a rope from them in just a few moments.
He opened his mouth to yell for help, but-
All that came out was a weak keening sound.
Phil blinked in surprise, before trying again.
Still just the high pitched keening.
What was-
Oh no.
His voice had changed to carry underwater.
He couldn’t speak above it anymore.
It was fine, it’d be fixed once he got out of the water-
But he wasn’t able to yell for help.
Or explain what was happening to the sailors.
It was fine, he just needed to get their attention-
Surely they’d realize he needed help.
Phil started to splash the water in front of him, trying to create as much noise as he possibly could without the use of his voice.
It worked, one of the sailors catching sight of him, his eyes widening before he turned to call to someone else.
Phil wasn’t close enough to hear what they were saying, but-
They’d seen him. He was going to be saved-
The sailor turned back, a harpoon in his hands.
What was that for-
He aimed it, before throwing it at Phil.
He froze.
They were-
He was going to die-
A hand gripped his ankle, pulling him underwater just before the harpoon would’ve hit him.
Techno’s other hand grabbed the harpoon as it hit the water, before pulling both it and Phil down into the water.
Once they were about thirty feet deep, Techno turned to Phil.
“Are you okay, Dad?”
It was the first time Techno had called him dad.
Phil didn’t-
This was permanent, wasn’t it?
He actually was turning into a siren.
He was pretty much already done turning into a siren, actually.
He brought a hand up to his face, already knowing what he’d feel.
Fins along the side of his face, and scales trailing down his cheekbones.
He hadn’t noticed them. He hadn’t even noticed them. There weren’t mirrors in the cave, or anything reflective, of course there wasn’t, despite what Phil could see there was barely any light-
And he’d been avoiding everything to do with the changes happening to him. It hadn’t even occurred to him to check for anything on his face.
He’d looked like a monster to the sailors.
He was a monster. He was a siren. Or at least, almost a siren.
Techno was starting to look worried, and Phil realized he’d never replied to him.
“I’m fine, mate.” He said, his voice flat.
Techno frowned, before saying “Are you sure?”
Phil sighed, his shoulders dropping.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Let’s head back.”
He couldn’t escape. It wasn’t even an escape, not when he was actually turning into a siren.
And…
He did care about the boys.
Techno gave him a small smile, before turning to swim back.
He didn’t look back, trusting Phil would follow.
And he did.
***
Phil passed out for three days after his escape attempt, not that he meant to.
When he woke up, he had a tail.
The same dark green color as the scales, though there was also traces of a lighter green, winding down his tail.
He couldn’t bring himself to care, or get upset.
He was a siren, now.
There was no going back.
***
The boys only let him hide in his room for two days after he got his tail.
He’d been eating, so they hadn’t done it earlier, but he’d honestly expected them to drag him out the first day, especially Tommy.
They hadn’t, though.
Instead, towards the end of the second day, Wil had shown up in the doorway.
“Can you…come talk to us?” He said, his voice unsure in a way Phil had never heard it.
He frowned slightly, before getting up.
“Sure, mate.”
He followed Wil out to the main room, seeing that Tommy and Techno were waiting as well.
Techno looked slightly exasperated, while Tommy looked upset.
What was going on-?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you weren’t happy-“ Tommy burst out, his tail lashing through the water.
Phil didn’t even think before cutting off the boy “I’m fine now, Toms. It-“ He took a breath “You saved my life. I’m not upset about it.”
Tommy blinked, before smiling at Phil.
Out of the corner of his eye, Phil saw Wil’s expression flip to relief.
“Did you…think I would be upset?”
The part where he had been upset up until he’d stopped being in denial went unsaid.
Tommy shrugged, and Wil nodded.
Techno sighed “I told you. He’s fine with it.”
Phil nodded, before glancing around at the boys.
He was a siren.
They cared about him.
He cared about them.
And…
And he got what Tommy meant, now, about them looking like family.
Phil took a breath.
“More than fine, really. You’re my sons, after all.”
Tommy beamed at him.
Wil grinned, swimming forward slightly to wrap the tip of his tail around Phil’s.
And Techno looked at him with both mild surprise and love.
Phil smiled back at his boys, at his sons.
It’d taken a lot for him to accept it.
But now that he had…
He didn’t think he was ever going to regret getting thrown overboard in that storm.
It was what had led him to his family.
To his sons.