#also gisu is both an octo and an eel mer

[razzle-zazzle]

Whumptober Day 14: feed me poison, fill me 'til i drown

Water Inhalation

2493 Words; Pearl & Seaglass AU

TW for drowning

AO3 ver

Raz swam down into the trench. Seemingly endless tunnels dotted the bottom, a deep and endless cave network that could swallow him whole if he got lost.

Raz was here on a mission, though, so he wasn’t going to get lost. Not without a fight.

He swam around the bottom for a bit, searching for a particular cave. He had no idea which one it was—but he was certain that he’d know it when he saw it.

No skulls loomed at him out of the darkness, though. No shiny white bones or carved slabs reading GET OUT. There wasn’t even a ball of sealight to mark one of the caves out from the others.

Just kelp. Lots and lots of kelp, all scattered around and rotting, even though it didn’t even grow here—

Wait.

Raz swam over to a particularly long strand of kelp, knots of varying sizes dotting its length. He couldn’t see where it was tied off—it stretched down into the gloom of the cave mouth it was near. And now that Raz was looking, this particular mouth was absolutely surrounded by kelp strips, all knotted in strange and incomprehensible ways…

“Oh!” His stripes lit up the gloom—Raz glanced around nervously. Nothing came out of the dark to grab him, but he’d have to remember not to talk down here.

Steeling his scales, Raz gathered up every inch of courage he had, and dove in.

+=+=+=+=+

Raz wasn’t sure how long he’d been wandering through these tunnels. A while, for sure. But he kept swimming down twisty tunnels, flashing a stripe every so often in order to keep track of the kelp strands. He should have brought some sealight. His eyes were good in the depths, but these caves had no light at all—only what Raz could provide by flashing his stripes incoherently.

Eventually, though, Raz noticed slivers of light floating up from one of the tunnels. Carefully, slowly, he swam towards the source, hoping it wasn’t some giant mutant anglerfish that lived in caves and ate mer.

Raz peered around the edge of the rock—

Sealight dotted the cavern at distant intervals along a net strung up across it, doing little against the gloom. Yet still, Raz could see that shelves had been carved into the rock, with weird-looking things in glass jars. Ingredients, he presumed. And there, in the center of it all, grabbing a crab from an old trap full of them, was the Sea Witch.

Raz had only seen her once, before, and that was from a distance. He had been following Dion, then, based on Frazie’s hints that his older brother would know where to find a Sea Witch.

Somehow, she looked a lot less deadly up close, sinuous tentacles working around her. Even as she turned to a cauldron—and wow, a human cauldron, Raz had been looking for one of those for his collection for forever—with a crab in one tentacle, there was another pair working a piece of kelp, a third grasping a jar, and the other four were working across the cavern floor, maneuvering her around with little effort. Her hands were occupied with a shell she was holding, claws tracing the edges of its layers.

Raz leaned out a little further. “Did Dion get those for you?” Crabs didn’t seem to be in high supply, down in the trench. Urchins, sure, but Raz hadn’t seen any crabs.

The Sea Witch startled, turning luminous yellow-brown eyes onto Raz. Instead of the sharp beak Raz expected, she had a full row of sharp teeth—moray? They weren’t uniform enough to be a shark’s. She even had facial fins—definitely not all octopus, then.

“Who—” Her stripes flashed a vibrant orange, lighting up dark violet scales.

Raz swam out a little further. “Dion’s my older brother.” He explained, curling his tail inwards in greeting.

All at once, the Sea Witch relaxed. “You must be Queepie then…” She tilted her head, “No—Pooter.”

Raz nodded. “I know, it must be so amazing, finally meeting me.” Raz shrugged his pelvic fins. “But I actually came here with a request.”

“No.” The Sea Witch dunked the crab she was holding into the cauldron. She unscrewed the jar and put whatever was in it into the cauldron, and magic shimmered across the opening. Raz couldn’t see what was happening in there, but she probably knew what she was doing.

“You didn’t even let me ask!” Raz swam further in, stripes flashing angrily. “You can’t just say ‘no’ when you don’t even know what it is!” He’d even brought some of his most valuable items from his collection in his bag, to make sure he could pay for the good stuff.

“I can see your heart’s desires.” The Sea Witch waved a tentacle dismissively, watching the steady shimmer of her cauldron. “I’m not turning you human.” Slowly, the shimmer faded, and she reached a hand in to grab the crab. The scent of boiled crab and saltback roe filled the cavern as she used the seashell to crack the crab shell open.

“But you can,” Raz confirmed. He closed his mouth, covering his teeth. “Pleeeeeeeease?”

“Absolutely not.” The Sea Witch sounded appalled at the very notion. “Your brother would kill me.”

“You don’t wanna stomp on my dreams, do you?” Raz held his fins flat and angled his face upwards a little, a pleading look in his eyes.

The Sea Witch huffed, “Sorry, kid, but it’s not happening.” The glow of her stripes wasn’t apologetic in the least.

Raz crossed his arms. “Well, if stomping dreams is what we’re doing, then I guess I’ll just have to stomp on your dreams of ever seeing my brother again.” He began to swim towards the cave entrance—

“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.” A tentacle grabbed Raz by the tail and yanked him back into the cave. He turned to face the Sea Witch with a toothy grin, his facial fins flared. “Are you blackmailing me?” Incredulity leeched off of her in steady waves, but her facial fins were just as flared as Raz’ were.

“That depends,” Raz flitted his tail. “Is it working?”

She stared at him for a long moment. Her tentacles lashed in place, little eddies forming on the cave floor.

Raz pressed his hands together, and flared his fins a little wider. “I mean, it really would be such a shame if our parents found out that their son was dating the Sea Witch.” Like he’d ever tell them—if his mother found out that Raz had even thought about coming out here, she’d have his head. But he needed that potion, dammit, and Dion’s secret romance with the Sea Witch was the perfect bargaining chip.

“Alright, fine.” The Sea Witch shoved him away, turning towards the shelves she had carved into the cave walls. “Grab whatever you think you’ll need and meet me at the eastern shipwrecks by high moon.”

Raz swam a quick circle. “Yes!” Finally! He swam out of the cavern on a rush of elation, not even caring if he got lost on the way out. He was going to become human!

+=+=+=+=+

Raz darted between old shipwrecks in the gloom, the moonlight unable to reach so deep.

Sneaking out had been hard, but not impossible. His facial fins twitched under his helmet, but he ignored the discomfort—he was about to delve into a world of unknowns, so he needed his helmet! Any good explorer would have one!

Checking that he still had everything in his bag, Raz swam towards the wreck that he was sure was the easternmost one. He passed a shark, and paid it little mind—even at his age, he was more than a match for it. Sharks only messed with mer if they were desperate.

The Sea Witch was already there, sorting through a satchel of her own. Hers was even wrapped in netting, with little shells tied to the threads.

Little shells of a very particular shade of blue…

“What’s your name anyway?” Raz asked. “It can’t be Sea Witch.”

“Gisu.” The Sea Witch—Gisu—replied. She finished sorting through her things, and turned to face westward. “It’s a long swim.” She cautioned. “If you’re having any doubts, turn back now.”

Raz curled his hands into fists. “I’m ready! Lead the way!”

Gisu regarded him for a long moment, then launched off of the deck. “Just don’t get lost.”

Raz hastened to follow, his tail pumping to keep up with her siphon bursts.

+=+=+=+=+

Gisu hadn’t been lying. They’d been swimming for a while, now, closer and closer to the surface as they went. By the time they stopped, the moonlight was already fading, the shallows beginning to feel the very beginnings of sunlight.

Gisu swam upwards, and Raz followed, his head breaching the surface. Unlike Gisu, who was blinking in the air, Raz’s goggles kept water against his eyes, allowing him to see the slowly lightening sky clearly.

He looked around, unsure what exactly he was looking for—

Raz let out a surprised whistle.

Land!

Actual dry land! That stood above the water! Raz had only ever heard of it!

They were kinda close—closer than Raz expected, honestly. He could make out ships at the shore, and even the boxy shapes of human dwellings.

Raz was so lost in his staring that he missed Gisu diving back down—she yanked him down by the tail with one of her tentacles, making his stripes flash in alarm.

“C’mon.” She urged, letting go. “Not much further.”

Raz nodded. He was really tired, swimming the whole night through, but excitement buzzed in his veins. He followed Gisu along, watching as the seafloor rose up below them, closer and closer without them needing to go deeper—

Gisu stopped. Raz bounced off of her, shaking his head reflexively at the impact.

“Right.” Gisu said, pulling out a jar. “Eat this and say the incantation thrice: ‘Shed my scales and cut out my gills, to land I go to escape my ills.’ Think you can remember that?”

Raz reached for the jar. “Of course! C’mon, I’m so excited!” He was so close. He was so agonizingly close that he felt he might burst if he didn’t become human right now. “Shed my scales and cut out my gills, to land I go to escape my ills!” He repeated.

“Alright.” Gisu handed over the jar. Raz wasted no time in unscrewing the cap. “Before you go, there are some things about humans you might want to know. I’ll be coming with you, but it’ll be good to know the basics before—”

Too late. Raz was already eating the contents—he could taste some kind of roe, but he couldn’t identify the rest of it. It kind of reminded him of seal—something mammalian, then? Whatever it was, it was delicious.

Gisu watched as Raz finished off the contents of the jar. “You weren’t supposed to eat all of it…” She mumbled.

Raz froze. “I’m not going to die, am I?” That’d be a stupid way to go.

Gisu clicked, taking back the jar. “No, but the spell will hold for a lot longer. There was enough in there for seven days. Don’t die while I’m gone.” She mumbled something about hard-to-get ingredients and swam off into the depths, but Raz was already pressing his hands together.

“Shed my scales and cut out my gills,” He started, “to land I go to escape my ills!” Warmth exploded in Raz’ chest. “Shed my scales and cut out my gills, to land I go to escape my ills!” The water around him began to bubble, the warmth in his chest spreading out into his arms and tail—

“Shed my scales and cut out my ills, to land I go to escape my ills!”

Raz tumbled tail over head as the magic washed over him, hundreds of tiny bubbles surrounding him as he changed. His scales disappeared with an itchy feeling, his facial fins melting into a shell-shape under his helmet.

Wow, okay, that’s a lot more comfortable. Of course it was more comfortable—his helmet had been made for human use.

There was a kind of distant shlurp sensation as his tail shrunk back into his body, shedding scales that glowed in the water around him before melting away. Raz imagined that it must hurt, the shifting of his bones—but he didn’t feel any pain at all. Just the warm bubbly feeling of Gisu’s magic crawling all over him. His dorsal fin melted down into his back, the webbing between his claws receded, his gills squeezed shut—

His pelvic fins flared out to his sides, fluttering rapidly. A new sensation emerged, stretching out into the water. Raz stared as his emerging legs—legs! He had legs!—grew flat protrusions at the end, as five wriggling toes sprouted from the ends of his new feet.

His neck squeezed, a little, his cervical gill covers melting over the gills underneath. The water was suddenly so much darker. Were human eyes this bad?

Raz opened his new mouth with a gasp—

Water rushed in, and instead of flowing out through his gills it kept going down. Raz choked, flailing in panic. How did he forget that humans breathed air?

Surface. He needed to surface!

His sense of up and down had disappeared, replaced with a growing sense of panic as he flailed unfamiliar human limbs. He needed to surface!

“Hel—arglubblgbg.” Okay, wow. He’d read that humans communicated entirely through sound, but that was weird—Raz flailed, choking on even more water. Not having stripes to flash meant he couldn’t say a thing until he managed to surface—

Raz hit the seafloor, the sand squishy against his back. His human back, scale- and finless—

I’m not going to be human long if I don’t make it to dry land!

Raz planted his hands on the sand and pushed. He launched upwards, feeling the pull of a wave—

Air!

Raz flopped onto damp sand, his body convulsing as his lungs tried to eject the water in them. He coughed, the feeling unlike anything he’d ever felt before—and absolutely awful. No wonder humans didn’t like swimming.

By the time he finished hacking, his throat was raw, the feeling of something still stuck in it lingering. But no amount of coughing would erase that feeling, so Raz settled on breathing deeply while waiting for it to leave.

Raz let himself fall back onto the sand, staring up at the sky through his goggles. The sun had crested the horizon, the last of the darkness lingering at the very west edge in a tiny sliver.

Raz had never imagined that sunlight could be so warm. His bag was cold beside him, even though he was just as soaked as it was.

Exhausted, and with the waves tickling his feet, Raz let his eyes close.

Seven days. He had seven days before he turned back. Seven whole days of exploring. Seven whole days that started now.

He could afford a little nap, first.