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0asterous0 · 3 months ago

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Prologue, Finale part.

"Grian runs in to find the girl and get her (and hopefully her mother) to safety." - Previous chapter.

TW// blood, gore, death.

He ran towards the explosion. He wanted so much to just stay away from all of this, but that’s a kid, either completely alone or with her mother wounded and unconscious. What kind of person would he be, if he just left in a situation like this? He didn’t care about people around who were running in the opposite direction, away from the trouble; if they could sleep after this, without a pang of guilt consuming them whole, Grian definitely couldn’t.

The second he turned the corner, he saw the entrance to the STARR labs, enveloped in flames. Come on, who attacks a blood donor lab? Some of these villains are just complete assholes, aren’t they? He briefly sees a little girl through the broken floor-to-ceiling windows, her leg stuck under the rubble, and runs towards her, quickly jumping in through the door that flew away from the hinges the moment the explosion struck.

“I’m here,” He says quietly, the moment he goes down on his knees in front of the poor girl, trying to take off the rubble. “It’s okay, I’m gonna get you out, okay?”

The little girl looks up at her, eyes full of tears, but still nods, trying to contain her sobbing. Gods, she was so brave right now, Grian hopes her parents are proud. The last rock is lifted off her feet, and he can see the damage done to her legs, one bruised and one dripping down blood, bend in a different direction. The second the girl sees it, she bursts into tears even worse than before. Right, it’s hard sometimes to comprehend the true damage if you can’t see it, but now that she has, she’s probably terrified.

“Hey, hey, shh, it’s okay, we can take care of it!” Grian says, trying to sound as calm and collected as he can. The last thing he wants is to scare her even more. Looking down at her leg again, he could tell that it was broken, so he needed to be as gentle as possible to avoid making it even more painful for her.

“Is your mom around here?” He asks, quickly looking around the room. There was smoke and rubble everywhere, but not a single other person. Maybe she was let inside, they were probably here for a blood test after all. But thinking about it, it was even worse because that meant she was closer to the explosion than he thought. The little girl refused to answer. No– it’s more that she couldn’t answer through all the sobbing.

“No!” Grian hears the scream of a man before he runs out of the door at the end of the room. His lab coat was fully ruined and there was blood on his temple, slowly running down his face. He looked terrified running away from something. Grian had a second to grab the girl and hide with her behind the giant rubble, before a sudden yellow light covered the whole room, immediately dying down. The man screams again, and a second later, Grian can hear a loud crash followed by a choking sound.

“P-pl..ea..se” the man struggles to talk.

Grian is scared. Something in him is telling him to look behind and see what is happening, but his whole body is shaking. He has a hand covering the poor girl's mouth to keep her quiet. He doesn’t know who is behind this attack, and unfortunately, there are a lot of villains who are not afraid to hurt a child.

“Where are they?” He hears a new voice, hidden by a voice changer. Surprisingly, he sounds very calm, but Grian can hear the venom in it, his anger and annoyance fully on display. There’s another thud, the man falling to the ground. From what he can imagine, he was probably held by his collar to the wall and now was dropped to the floor.

“I.. I d-don’t know.. What.. What th-they?”

“Stop playing dumb!” The previous calmness was nowhere to be heard now, the new voice rising in anger, turning into a shout. It sends shivers down Grian’s spine. “The suitcases! They delivered three this morning! They should be here, but they aren’t, so where are they?!”

Grian lets out a shaky breath and finally, risking everything, looks out from the hiding spot to see what is happening. As he guessed, the man working in the lab was now lying on the ground, almost in tears looking up at the other man while trembling.

Grian knows this villain. Standing above the scientist was a man with heavy muscles, mostly hidden by the black cloak running down his shoulders. The black and yellow striped costume’s interior was giving a slight glow, alongside the gas mask on his face, while there was running electricity in his hair to fully cover it in a yellow light. The sparks were flying all around the room, while his right leg was pushing down on the poor man's chest as hard as possible, causing him to cough in pain.

Static.

Okay, Grian, what do you know about Static? His mind supplies.

Static first appeared around five years ago; first as a vigilante, helping Boatem’s citizens with everything he could, from cleaning up the parks to stopping the street robberies even though he never worked under the law, which caused him to be the victim of police hunts for years. That was just over two years ago when his official status was changed to a villain after an attack on a public place.

Static is known for attacking mostly large companies. He does leave a lot of casualties behind, but it’s rarely lethal and never a direct attack on civilians, mostly because of his very destructive enchantment. That means that if he sees them, there is a big chance he will just let them go.

“I d-don’t.. I-I-I c-can’t,” The man is choking on his tears, looking up at Static petrified. Even Grian understood that lying in a situation like this didn’t make any sense. When dealing with villains, you always need to remember that most of them don’t show any mercy. The lightning around Static disappeared for a second. He slowly lifted his leg off the man's chest, immediately hitting him once again harder, but this time, he can hear the man screaming, surrounded by the yellow sparks. Fuck, did he just electrocute the man? It lasted for a few seconds, Grian desperately holding the poor girl in his hands who was shaking in horror, listening to the agonizing screams. It cut off as quickly as it started.

“Last chance,” Static’s voice sounded flat again, no emotion peeking through the gas mask covering his mouth. If the smell of this place was bad before, with all the rubble and fire around, now it smelled like a lump of overcooked meat– it made him shiver. “I can find out on my own, you know, you can’t hide them from me– so speak before I hurt you even more.” As if on cue, his electricity sparked once again, crackling across the room and missing Grian’s face by an inch. He jumped, his face hiding behind the rubble once again to calm down. That was very close.

“It’s in Falsewell! P-please, It’s in F-Falsewell!” The man screamed, and Grian shifted, his shoulders slightly dropping. That’s… That’s good, now that Static has information he will leave; that is what he’s after most of the time, right?

“Which lab?”

“B-18! I-It’s… the one in front of-of the historical museum,” Grian slowly relocated back to the corner, looking out towards the two men. He could see how the poor guy was still shaking, lying on the ground, now with his eyes closed. Static’s boot was still on his chest, and Grian could see that he was not planning to move anytime soon.

“What’s your badge number?”

“HC-24, I-I don’t know anything, I p-promise!”

“Dust?” Static asked, turning his head slightly left. A few inches and he would have looked directly at Grian, but that was definitely not the plan, he still didn’t know they were there, no, he was talking to someone. He could see from here a little device in his ear, the control over his powers was terrifyingly good if it didn’t get destroyed in this lightning show, so close to his hair which was constantly buzzing in yellow light. But that gave Grian another question. Who’s Dust? He never heard that name before, someone new around here? And Static always worked alone before, but suddenly he has a partner? That was… a problem. What was in those suitcases that they were after?

“No… No, n-no, please! PLEASE!”

“Oh, well,” Static started, turning back towards the man. He lifted his leg, putting it down next to the man, and squatting down to look closely at him. “It’s your lucky day!”

Grian didn’t have time to look away. Barely under a minute, the poor man lying on the ground gave a relieved smile just before Static grabbed his face by hand. There was no scream of agony, just a growing sound of electricity, and an explosion under Static’s palm. Being blinded for a second wasn’t enough– Grian wished he hadn’t seen the moment that blood with pieces of meat and skin and muscle was splattered around Static; the man’s body was still shaking, seizing with electricity while blood dripped down his fully exposed and shattered skull. The body twitched and writhed with the aftershocks of the very dead man’s adrenaline, and Grian nearly vomited at the sight and the smell of the burnt up bits-and-pieces of the corpse.

Grian has seen injuries before– he has seen death before, but nothing was as gruesome as this. He couldn’t let the child see it. No, no, no, she couldn’t see it, this would ruin her for the rest of her life. He needed to… To hide, yes. They just needed to stay there until Static left, and then he would get her out, and he-

For a second, their eyes met. Grian immediately retreated towards the corner, hiding deeper behind the rubble, and holding the girl by his side, trying to shield her. Just a few minutes ago he was sure that they were okay, but now after witnessing this, he couldn’t risk it. He heard the sound of footsteps getting closer to their hiding spot, and he could feel the girl trembling in fear, trying to say something through Grian’s hand. No, no, no, not now!

“You don’t work here,” Grian didn’t even notice that he had his eyes closed, before he had to open them, meeting face to face with the villain, who crouched in front of them. The same way he did with the man. No. no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

The child let out a quiet sob, shaking. Looking down at her, he could see a wet puddle growing around her. Gods, this poor girl. He wanted to cry with her. He should have just picked her up and run when they had a chance, she wouldn’t need to be here.

Static’s hand reached forward towards the girl, and Grain instinctively tried to shield her behind him. Fuck it, if they were dying here, he would at least try to protect her with his life– he would not go down without a fight. He just needs to… skin contact, right!! Grian, you spoon! He needs to touch Static’s skin and he can fight, but..

“I’m not gonna hurt her, calm down,” Static sounded peaceful, his glow around disappearing, only staying in his hair, which Grain knew was part of his costume to hide the identity. Grain observed him carefully, trying to find a hint of a lie in his voice, eyes, and body language, but Static looked… relaxed, as if he didn’t just take someone’s life. He was also reaching towards them with another hand, not the one still dripping blood, with remains of skin now attached to the black glove. He didn’t know what kind of reaction the girl would have if he did.

He saw a hand getting closer and closer, and he scanned from the skin, he just... He just needed to get in contact with his skin, and everything would be fine… He just... He couldn’t see an open skin anywhere but Static’s face above the gas mask, and he knew that reaching for his face would be a suicide. His hand touched the girl's broken leg, and for a second Grian stilled, forgetting how to breathe. There was nothing, and a second later, he saw lightning enwrap her leg before the girl let out a scream.

“What the hell?!” Grian screamed, jumping backward and taking the girls with her, as far as possible. “You said you weren’t gonna hurt her!!” He looked down at her, trying to see if it left any marks or burns, but he couldn’t see anything, other than the damage that was already done.

“And I didn’t, she just got scared,” Static responded, slowly standing up. “I numbed her pain, broken bones are very painful to deal with, especially at her age when they are so fragile. The ambulance will be around here soon, she will be fine.”

With that, he turned around and went towards the exit, the doors missing from the hinges. Grian’s blood boiled. He was the one that attacked the blood donor lab, he was the one that got civilians into trouble, he was the one who’s actions broke that bone– and now he’s trying to act as if he isn’t? As if the girl should be thankful that he helped?

“She was here with her mother!” He screamed at Static’s back, seeing him stop in place. Fuck, he shouldn’t have done that, right? He can just turn around and kill him, he said that he wouldn’t hurt her, not him.

“People are still inside,” Static countered, still not turning back and continuing to walk. “I told them not to leave before the heroes or police get them out, she’s probably fine.” With that, the form of the villain got wrapped up in the air in a lightning strike, disappearing from view. Right, he can control electricity and turn into it.

“You alright?” He immediately asked, looking down at the poor girls, who continued to sob. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, but instead of answering, she just burst into more sobbing, hugging him and hiding her nose in his shoulder. He let out a sigh and picked her up, holding her close to his chest. “Just… stay like this for a second, okay?”

He slowly left their hiding spot, trying to keep the girl's face in the opposite direction from the corpse, hoping that she wouldn't see it, and finally got outside. He could still smell the smoke, both from the reception that they just left, and the second floor– which he could see through the window– was still in flames, worse than the first. If Grian’s not mistaken, the second floor is where they keep all documents and blood tests. Static probably wanted to destroy something specific but found out that it wasn’t here anymore. He wonders what was in those suitcases that drove him to these measures. And who the heck was Dust?

“Let’s just… wait a little longer, okay? I’m sure heroes will be here soon,” On cue, from the corner of his vision, he saw something jumping onto the second floor from the roof, clearly in a costume; after that, an ambulance and several police cars followed.

Grian didn’t leave until a group of people ran out from the lab, one of them bursting into tears and immediately approaching the ambulance where the girl was seated. They wanted to take her to the hospital, but after telling them about her mother still in the lab, they decided to wait– and for a good reason, considering the woman approaching them had a gushing wound on her forehead, the red liquid running down to her eyes.

Grian wanted to leave, he wanted to hide from the cops as soon as possible; and now with heroes in sight, his anxiety was rising even faster. Which is why the moment mother and daughter were reunited, he turned away from his dark little corner and took off.

By this time the rain had already stopped, which was quite inconvenient. Like- how is it that it rains the whole day, but stops the moment something explodes and bursts into flames? Grian let out a shaky and anxious chuckle, finally approaching the apartment.

“Oh, no…” Grian mumbled when he finally looked down at his phone; he could spot at least 3 missed calls in the last hour from Ren, alongside many worried messages. It’s okay, Ren will understand.

“Dude! You scared the hell out of me! Where were you?!” Ren exploded the second Grian took a step into the apartment, making him sigh. Taking off the shoes and the coat, he immediately turned towards the bathroom, mumbling on his way as he knew that Ren was following him.

“I was walking back when the STARR Labs exploded, you probably saw it?” Opening the door, he went inside and dropped the coat inside the washing machine, then took off his shirt. It still smelled of smoke, rubble, and urine– and while he’s not the most hygienic person these weeks, even he can’t walk around with this on. Also, he’s pretty sure he will get fired the moment he shows up to work with his uniform smelling like this.

“Of course I saw it! I was here when the explosion went off, and I could see the smoke rising! What were you doing in the lab that had you caught in the middle of this?” Ren asked, crossing his hands, his dog ears nervously twitching.

“I wasn’t in the lab, I just..” Grian stopped in his tracks after throwing the shirt into the washing machine and looked up at Ren, before moving his vision to anything other than Ren. “I heard a scream... A little girl yelling for her mother, so I… I decided to help, and then couldn’t leave the lab, because the villain was right at the door…”

“You were in the same room as a villain?!” Ren exclaimed, his hands dropping down. He stared at Grian for a few seconds, before his expression softened. “You helped her?”

“Yeah…” He answered, unsure what to do with himself, but still met Ren’s eyes when he smiled at him.

“Of course you did, you have that in you,” Ren whispered. It sounded like he was… proud, which made everything inside him twist. He was a coward. The whole time he spent there hiding, not even trying to help the pitiful man who fell victim to Static’s hands. And even then, when the villain approached them, he couldn’t do anything but sit there and watch. What if he did hurt her? Would he just sit there, holding the corpse of the poor girl, seeing a mess of unrecognizable gore instead of a face like Static did to that man? He didn’t, but what if he did? In the end, Grain did nothing to protect her.

“I don’t think that’s right,” Grian murmured, avoiding Ren’s gaze again. He quickly moved around him and left the bathroom, the washing machine now on and spinning as fast as his day managed to spiral. Ren followed him back to his room.

“Oh come on, Grian, you know I’m right,” He said, overly enthusiastic. “I... Grian, listen,”

“I’m listening,” he responded, though he didn’t even look back, searching through his closet and grabbing the first t-shirt he saw to get dressed. As much as he loved being without the shirts, his wings out and breathing, the small holes on the back were enough to get them through and move around. Ren let out a sigh, and Grian heard a sound coming from his bed. Sitting on his bed, the other spoke up.

“I know that… something happened with you before we met,” He starts, and Grian instantly tenses. They never talked about Grian’s childhood, it was basically a taboo in this house, never to be discussed. Hearing Ren finally mention it… scared him. “And you don’t have to tell me anything, you know this, we talked about this before, but I’m not blind, Grian– I can see a spark inside of you.”

He can’t. There’s no spark inside him, and there hasn’t been one for a long time now. It all died years ago, the day he made the choice of a coward and ran away.

“But whatever happened scarred and scared you, that’s why you’re so careful right now. Sometimes I look at you and see the mischief in your eyes, but then you notice it too and try to lock it down, acting like helping others or having fun is the worst thing that might happen to you.”

It is. He does not deserve any of it. He couldn’t save the people he wanted to save the most, he was a coward, and if he let them down, how can he help others? People that he doesn’t even know. And how can he have fun, when he ruined the lives of so many? He should rot. They are probably wishing the same on him, after what he did. It wouldn’t be a surprise.

“You need to pick up the pieces of your life, Grian, and finally get it together because you will be so much happier when you look up and do something that you want to do,” Grian wanted to cry. Ren continued to talk and his voice never quivered, always the same determination, the same trust and belief, belief that Grian actually deserved to be happy.

He doesn’t know what his life would end up like without him. He never had a “lucky” life, but Ren? Sometimes he thought that Ren was the gift from above, and he wasn’t even a believer– it was just so surreal, that someone like Ren would stumble across someone like Grian, and instead of moving forward, approach him and offer him help. His roommate didn’t know anything about Grian’s childhood, didn’t know anything about his trauma; and yet, he stayed by his side. He doesn’t deserve a person like Ren in his life.

“Just… just think about it, okay? I know you’re not having the best days of your life, and I kinda understand why,” It was a cycle. It happened every year around February, it was only a matter of time before Ren noticed it. “But I… You need help, Grian.”

“What?”

How did they get here? Ren started this conversation by saying that Grian wanted to help others and that he should if he wanted to, so why… Why are they suddenly switching to this? He doesn’t need help. Help for what?

“You don’t feel well, Grian, It might not be me, but you need to talk to someone,” Grian fought every impulse of looking at him. Everything was telling him to do it, to meet his eyes and finally put an end to this, but he couldn’t. Not today.

Ren exhaled, and Grian heard the bed shifting. “As I said, just think about it– I’m gonna go make us some dinner, you’re probably very hungry,” Ren left the room as he said it, but before closing the door behind him, he quickly added, “Someone left that mail in front of the door today, by the way,” Ha? “I didn’t open it because it’s addressed in your name.”

With that, Grian was left to his thoughts. He let out a shaky breath and held back a sob, trying not to break down. Gods, why did it affect him so much? How did Ren know just what to say, to almost bring him to tears?

He turned around, facing the bed Ren was just occupying, and noticed a small box lying on top of it. He doesn't remember buying anything online, and even if he did, the box wouldn’t be delivered to the door– they would have gotten a piece of paper telling them about the package, and Grian would have needed to pick it up at the station. This was left by someone else.

Curiosity in him won, and biting down on his lip, he took the paper knife from the desk and slowly cut the top of the box. After dropping the knife to the bed, he opened the carton and noticed the pink.

Huh???

He dug into the box and took out a crop-top jacket: the wool was painted pink with a red heart in the middle of the chest, the heart outlined in black. Grian loves red, but he doesn’t think he has ever worn pink out of his work uniform– and screw that, why is someone leaving clothes at his door? Putting the jacket aside, the next thing he grabbed was the white pants, once again dotted with small heart patches around, this time colored in pink instead of red.

What the hell???

Is this spandex?? And here it was, on the bottom of the box, a black turtleneck made of spandex, with a black domino mask on top looking back at him. Was Ren pulling some kind of a joke on him? What does this all mean? There’s no way someone actually left this at their door and addressed it in his name.

He took out the shirt, ready to turn around and go to Ren to ask some questions when his eyes were caught by a piece of paper falling down, which was hidden between the domino and the spandex. He picked up the paper from the floor and opened it. A letter.

Listen to your friend and remember my words.

You know where the suitcases are.

Time is ticking.

- Oracle

P.S. You will need this soon, good luck!

Grian doesn’t remember how long he stood there, rereading the letter over and over again, trying to wrap his mind around it. He wasn’t sure it was from Ren anymore. Time is ticking. Remember my words. The stranger. Of course. Grian knew that there was something strange about that man in the morning, but he didn’t think that it might evolve into something worse. The suitcases? The ones Static was after? Did they want Grian to intervene? But why?

Grian sighed, sitting down on his bed and looking back towards the new clothes. Something was telling him that he was about to get into something much bigger than he ever wanted to. And something was telling him that his boring day-to-day life was about to become much more interesting.

_______

'-.° Masterpost - Next Part °.-'

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frozenjokes · 4 months ago

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worst mumbo jumbo rescue mission ever

Of all his petty pastimes, Grian took a great bit of pleasure from ignoring his friends’ calls. It varied from person to person; for people like Jimmy, Grian loved to push his luck. Jimmy knew he was being ignored, Grian had admitted as much on multiple occasions, but this just fueled the fire of Jimmy’s determination, calling over and over until Grian picked up, only to say he’d misclicked and hung up again. But finding a balance was a tricky thing, because Grian actually did want to talk to Jimmy, very much so, so the game was simply a matter of pushing Jimmy’s buttons just enough, but not so much that the other would refuse to talk to him.

He did this with most people; Pearl, BigB, Joel, and Scar was no exception, especially now when the two of them were in an awkward state of mild irritation almost constantly, even despite Grian’s attempts at smoothing out some of the bumps.

Ah, yes.. the bumps..

Grian had quite a few things he wanted to say to Scar, but he had convinced himself he needed to put things back to normal before opening up a potentially sensitive conversation- for goodness’s sakes, Grian was already losing the battle for Scar’s heart to a fucking mermaid- and it wasn’t even that Mumbo was a bad guy or anything, but he wasn’t human! Grian hadn’t even considered that as an option, but apparently Scar liked the idea! Maybe! Honestly, Grian had no idea what was happening. Not that this was any different from a typical day with Scar. (That was actually something Grian quite liked about Scar; the constant shenanigans, making an adventure out of what would otherwise be an average, boring day. Scar knew how to have fun better than anyone Grian had ever known.)

However, opening his big mouth and telling Scar exactly how he felt was a task that loomed heavy on his shoulders, so intimidating, he was currently preferring the looming dread of watching Scar try and fail to flirt with a fish for fun.

Grian wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that. Jealous, decidedly. On both counts if he was being honest with himself; Mumbo and Scar seemed to be entertaining themselves with playing around and talking nonsense, perfectly happy with each other’s company and without Grian’s. To be fair, they had been doing this from the start while Grian fished at the edge of the clearing, but now Grian was anxious and wanting attention very badly and the two of them were too busy frolicking and bothering Etho to pay him much mind. In fairness, Grian could do something about that by bringing a swimsuit, but.. Well, Grian was allergic to solving his own problems. He’d need something mildly catastrophic to kick his ass into gear, as was typical. It would be great if he could force himself to do anything ever before the world crumbled down around him, but ah well.

Speaking of Scar and people calling him and Grian hanging up on said people even when he wanted to talk to them; Scar was calling.

Grian hung up. Scar called again, and again Grian hung up. He figured he could probably get away with that six or seven times; Scar was persistent as he was lenient.

‘Emergency.’ Scar’s text came through. Grian picked up the phone the next time he called.

“You need to come to the beach- maybe- I don’t know. Etho’s- do you remember when I told you about his magic half-mermaid kind of friend-?”

“Are you okay, Scar?”

“I’m okay. Mumbo’s gone.”

“Mumbo’s- what?”

“Etho’s half-mermaid kind of friend stole him- just- picked him up out of the water and left- no-“ someone interrupted Scar, Etho maybe, but Grían didn’t hear before Scar continued, “Etho’s half-mermaid kind of friend’s wife took him. It’s not as bad as it could be, maybe, but Etho’s really- we’re trying to figure it out. We’re trying. Do you have a boat?”

“A boat?” Grian half-scoffed, overwhelmed by all the sudden information, “Where does this guy live?”

“Island- It’s not on any maps. Magic island. Also Etho’s half-mermaid kind of friend might be a serial killer. We have to go!”

“I- okay, that’s a lot, Scar. I don’t think it’s a good idea to-“

“Do you have a boat?”

“I don’t have a boat. I never had a boat. If I was fishing on the ocean I was part of a crew, not-“

“I’ll have to rent a boat then. Okay, thanks Grian. I’m guessing you don’t want to come, which is fine by the way, I’m not expecting much- that sounded passive aggressive. I mean it. Etho thinks it’ll be dan-“

“Scar.” Etho interrupted so loudly that Grian heard him over the line, “You are not coming. I will not see you dismembered, I swear it.”

“Dismembered??”

“He’s being dramatic, Grian.”

“I do not know how to get it through your head that I am not exaggerating- I am not exaggerating, Scar!! You are not going!!!”

“If I’m renting the boat I’m going. You can’t rent a boat by yourself, you can’t talk to strangers without shriveling up, so I’m doing it.”

“Scar-“ Etho’s voice was strangled, but their bickering was starting to fade into background noise as Grian attempted to process what the fuck was going on. First. Most alarmingly??? Etho was friends with a serial killer(?????) And now said serial killer friend had Mumbo?? But it might not be that bad. Maybe? But Scar’s insisting on going to the serial killer island to get Mumbo back??????????

Scar was going to die before Grian could tell him he wanted to give this a proper shot. BAD FIRST THOUGHT. Scar was going to die Period and that was Bad because Scar Was His Friend and Grian didn’t want his friends to die. Complicated relationship issues aside.

Honestly, most days Scar seemed more likely than average to die to some fantastical accident of his own design, but Grian wasn’t sure if he could wriggle his way out of being violently dismembered by literal magic wielding psychopath(s). Magic. Fuck. That was still a hard pill to swallow. Etho being a mermaid was manageable, even the form changing wasn’t the most difficult thing to accept, but the idea of ‘magic’ like Scar had explained it to him- limitless and powerful and dangerous- it was something Grian had trouble imagining was real. But Etho must have seen it. Etho was forced to live with that guy for years, he must know. What was his name again.. Joel..?

And Scar wanted to go there, to that island, likely to give that guy a piece of his mind. There was no way. There was just no way.

Someone needed to look out for him. Grian was too much of a control freak to let Etho do it alone.

“Gem- I have a friend who owes me a favor. I’ll ask her, and you two can meet me at the docks. I’ll text you the address, Scar.”

“You’re coming?” Scar’s joy was overwhelming in all the best, warmest ways, and Grian didn’t think his heart could handle too much more of that, lest he get addicted to the feeling.

“I-I don’t know. Depends on the boat. You might need a driver, and Gem wouldn’t be so lenient as to let two people who’ve never manned the wheel to go out onto the ocean alone. How far is this place? What kind of boat are you thinking?”

“It’s not far, probably thirty minutes with a shitty motor,” Etho tripped over his words, speaking faster than his own tongue could keep up, “But neither of you are going. I could make it on a dinghy if I had one. It’s a nice day, the water won’t give me trouble.”

“Well you have a car ride to convince Scar not to go,” Grian conceded, gruff, “Otherwise you’ll have two idiots on your tail.”

“You can’t,” Etho’s voice broke, silencing even Scar on the other line, “I’m serious- this is serious. I don’t- I don’t know if being my friends is enough to save you from him. I don’t know what he’ll do. He doesn’t like humans, and he won’t like you, especially with what I’ve come to do. I already messed up with Mumbo. I won’t put anyone else’s lives at risk.”

After a small pause, Scar spoke, gentler in the wake of his high energy. “It wasn’t your fault, Etho. You had no way of knowing. If it were me, I wouldn’t have thought anyone could take Mumbo down.”

“I should have left.” The words were so quiet, Grian barely made them out over the line. “Please. Please don’t come with. Just let me fix this.”

Scar released a long breath, the superhero facade fading in place of something far more down to earth, reasonable, a tone of voice Grian didn’t hear often. “I don’t want you on the water alone. You can talk all you want about us putting our lives at risk, but the ocean is just as dangerous. If you set out in a tiny boat and something goes wrong; you slip, capsize, or the weather turns, you can’t swim. I don’t even know if you’d make it back in the boat if you fell off it. I know you’ve hoofed it out here alone for a long time, Etho, but those days are over. You’ve got people that care about you now, and if you end up drowned in the middle of the ocean before you can come home again, that’s no good. I won’t have it.”

“I’d never forgive myself if one of you got hurt. Or worse.”

“Then we won’t get hurt,” Scar said it so simply, so confidently, but continued quickly before anyone could say anymore, “Text me the address, Grian. We’ll see you there.” Grian didn’t get to respond before Scar hung up. Christ. He sure didn’t envy what that car ride between Scar and Etho was going to be like.

Well. As much as Grian agreed that Scar had a point about Etho, making empty promises wouldn’t prevent anything. Grian at least would do his very best to ensure nothing bad happened to any of the three of them.

…

Etho, predictably, did not end up convincing Scar to stay. He looked properly miserable, hunched and haggard- Grian had never actually seen him with his hair down, not counting the mermaid form at least, but it was tangled and matted looking, thematically framing his masked face and downturned eyes.

Etho hadn’t said a word since he and Scar had left the car, not even hello, but given the state he was in, Grian wasn’t too bothered. He was more preoccupied with Gem fretting over the boat and nailing directions into his head, as if he didn’t know how to drive a pontoon, really. But regardless, he let her explain away, redirecting the conversation to less boring chatter until both Scar and Etho looked like they were about to explode into a thousand bloody anxiety-ridden pieces. Listen, Grian couldn’t just send her on her way when she was doing him such a huge favor, so they were just going to have to cope. Mumbo’s life wasn’t in danger, so the only time-sensitive aspect of this journey was the ticking time bomb of Etho’s guilty conscience. Grian was sorry, but he was going to have to wait.

Gem did leave eventually, Grian slipping in a word or two about his friends being in a bad way, desperate for a fun couple hours, and she seemed to understand, waving them off and wishing them a good time. Thankfully, neither Scar or Etho heckled him for the delay, so they were on their way in no time.

And suddenly, Etho wouldn’t stop talking. About the island, about docking, about the rocks he was sure Grian would crash the boat into, about the currents, about the waves. Honestly, the more Etho talked, the more Grian was sure he wouldn’t have made it on his own, and that was just about the water.

“The island is worse, much worse. It’s swampy, the terrain can be treacherous, and I doubt either of you would make it through alone without getting snapped up by one of the gators. It’s alright though, I know where all of them live, and honestly, that’s far from our worst problems. Joel used to live on that island alone, but now they’ve gone and made him a partner in crime, and given I know nothing about her, she’s arguably more dangerous. But she doesn’t use magic.. at least not much, so that’s something in our favor. You might be able to hide from Lizzie, but you won’t be able to from Joel-“

“Wait, seriously? Lizzie and Joel? And they’re married?” Grian cut in, unable to help himself. Etho side eyed him, looking irritated, but Grian continued, “I know a Lizzie and Joel. What an odd coincidence.”

“Oh really? That’s so weird!” Scar added, vindicating Grian in the face of Etho’s sour disdain, which was split on both of them now.

“Great. Whatever. But Joel can feel your footsteps through the ground, and even your weight on the trees- he knows exactly where everything is all of the time, and his reach goes far if he pays enough attention. We can’t have him knowing either of you are there, so you’ll have to stay on the boat.”

Etho continued to ramble on, Scar interrupting to argue from time to time. The stress of the two of their bickering started to weigh on Grian until he had to ignore them all together, focusing instead on the noise of the water and the wake of the pontoon. He heard a thing or two about Lizzie; large, dangerous, the definition of a predator. Not to run from her or do anything else that might set her off. Apparently she was some kind of fish creature, almost a mix between mermaid and human, which didn’t bode well for the Grian and Scar in the boat. Not that Scar was very happy about being confined to the water, but in this case, Grian was definitely on Etho’s side. He was in no hurry to meet this Joel fellow, and Scar’s argument for coming in the first place ended at getting Etho where he needed to go safely

However, despite all Etho’s dramatics, Grian found he wasn’t over exaggerating about the water. It was almost supernatural how rough the waves began to get once the fog of the island was in sight, sharp rocks peeking out from just behind the haze. Grian was determined not to let his strain show even as he struggled to keep the boat under control, but it was very safe to say that he was listening a lot closer to Etho’s instructions.

Etho was nothing less than neurotic about exactly where and how Grian laid anchor, not too close, not too close, which was quite frustrating and even more stressful, but eventually, still white knuckling the wheel, the anchors were set by Scar, and the boat rocked silently over the rocky waves while the three of them released too-long held breaths.

Grian turned off the motor, standing up on shaky legs where he might get more air, and backpedaling slowly to the other side of the boat to lean on the railings. Woof.

And then the boat stopped rocking.

And then the boat rocked hard, Grian nearly toppling over the railing with a shriek, stopping only because he bumped into a hard, wet wall. He felt breathing at his back, stealing the air from his own lungs before a hand fell across his shoulder and light hair flew across his vision, sloshing even more muddy water into his face. She was so tall that she could lean all the way over him and meet him eye to eye. They were yellow. Huge. Curious. She opened her mouth to reveal equally yellow teeth, and Grian was sure she intended on swallowing him whole.

“Well hello there!” Scar’s loud cadence spooked Grian so badly that he jumped, his head colliding hard with Lizzie’s and both of them reeling in silent surprise and pain. Scar, however, was not perturbed, speaking just as brightly as he might have to an old friend, “Why, look at you! You know I heard great things, great things, but nothing could have prepared me for the sight of you in person. Goodness me, you’re positively stunning. Jaw droppingly gorgeous, if you don’t mind my saying so, wow.”

Lizzie seemed to falter, mouth hanging open in her confusion as her attention shifted securely on Scar, though Grian felt no more safe with her clawed hand so close to his throat.

“Who.. How do you know me? No one knows me- they’re not supposed to anyway.” Lizzie’s gaze flicked past Scar to Etho, who was currently cowering and half soaked from their rough docking, balled up on the floor. Scar followed her gaze, frowning only briefly before his entertainer’s smile returned, radiant as if he were the happiest man in the world.

“Why, I heard about you from Etho, of course! We’re friends, good friends, and when he called me to meet him on the beach, he was just so overcome with emotion- ‘The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen,’ that’s what he said to me. He wished he’d had the nerve to tell you, but your stature and radiance were just so intimidating- he couldn’t bear it! And here he is now, reduced to nothing in your presence once more.”

Lizzie made a face, and Grian spotted a glint of sharp teeth just above his head. “That can’t be true. Etho doesn’t like me, wanted to keep his friends all to himself. Doesn’t like to share.”

Scar hummed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “Yes.. Yes, he can be selfish. They say our worst qualities befall us when we’re under a lot of pressure, and in your presence, he was simply so flustered that he couldn’t help but get off on the wrong foot. He wanted to come here to apologize, to bring his friends so that they could see you too, give him courage. Of course, that didn’t work out for him, did it. And look, poor Grian too. You’ve done him right in. Come, come, they have no manners.” Scar reached for her hand, Lizzie flinching at the touch of his fingers, but to Grian’s great horror, Scar was persistent, taking the hand that had previously rested on Grian’s shoulder in two of his own and guiding Lizzie forward, “I won’t leave you on the edge of the boat now, no, no, that won’t do! Why don’t you sit?”

“Oh, I guess I could..” Lizzie’s whole demeanor had changed, suddenly nervous in light of this unexpected encounter, “Are you human? Joel doesn’t like humans very much, he says they crash their ships into his island from time to time. Not very smart.”

“Oh, no, no, I’m not human. My friends? Arguably. But I’m a magician. I can do magic.”

At this point, Grian had no idea where this was going, and most of him would rather throw himself off the boat and not find out how this all backfired horribly, however that would draw a lot of attention his way, so instead he just.. slowly.. sat down. (The other, extremely small part of him was a little turned on.)

“Magic! What kinds? Joel can do magic too, and so can I! Not as cool as him, though. Can I see? Can you show me?

“Of course! Allow me to show my hand!” Scar made an incredible spectacle of himself, hiking one of his legs up on a seat then swinging his arm back, slowly pulling a small deck of cards out of his back pocket. Grian was sure he saw the light in Etho’s eyes die.

Scar fanned out the deck and began his trick, flourish after flourish accentuating his ‘magic.’ He walked Lizzie through the entire thing, holding her rapt (if not a little confused) attention. She picked a card, and Scar made a spectacle of not seeing it before shuffling it back into the deck, then presenting it in a grand motion.

“Is this your card?”

“Whoa! Yes! How did you do that??”

“A magician never reveals his secrets,” Scar winked, but Lizzie looked more confused than anything.

“That’s not true? Joel shows me things all the time. He talks about his magic constantly, teaching me all sorts of stuff.”

Scar laughed, unaffected, “Well this magician doesn’t.”

“I-Okay,” Lizzie seemed to accept this with some hesitation, but she quickly shook it off, fins raising along with her expression, “What else can you do?”

“Oh, that’s it.” A stark moment of silence followed those words, but Scar’s confident demeanor remained, “Cool, isn’t it?”

Lizzie glanced at Grian, then at Etho, looking awkward. “Uh, yeah. It’s cool.” It took all of Grian’s self control to keep his head out of his hands.

“Anyway!” Scar jumped up, making Lizzie jump in turn, “I believe you’ve made a new friend today, one of Etho’s pals, correct? Selfish, selfish thing that was of him to be so rude, not share his friends. It’s a good thing we’ve come across you, impressive as you are! I haven’t seen Mumbo- that’s his name- in ages! Is he still around?”

“Mumbo.. She did say that.”

“Who?”

“Mumbo did.”

“I’m confused.”

Lizzie didn’t seem concerned with entertaining Scar’s confusion, continuing on, “Well she’s settling in well, a delightful little thing, really, very good friend material in my opinion. Joel’s got those spells that break language barriers, so talking with her was great! We even got to sing, isn’t that fun?”

“Mumbo sang with you..?” Etho spoke up for the first time, but cowered again when Lizzie turned his way.

“She did,” Lizzie replied coolly, “and I bet she likes me a whole lot more.”

No one wanted to challenge that. Lizzie seemed to take this as a win, tail swishing and chest puffed out triumphantly.

“I’d love to see him- uh- Mumbo, if he’s still around,” Scar tried, a hopeful look about him, only bolstered when Lizzie brightened.

“Alright! Let me just run and find Joel!” Lizzie hopped to her feet, practically dancing across the water.

“Ah- No no! Not necessary!” Scar tried, but Lizzie was already skipping away.

“It is! I have no idea where she’s run off most of the time, but he’ll find her right away!”

Grian saw Scar open his mouth to say something, but he faltered, something about his posture slackening. It was uncanny, seeing him try and fail to speak, almost like something had crawled into his brain and switched the wires around. Grian squinted, eyes watering against some kind of disturbance in the air before he followed Etho’s eye to Lizzie, humming as she skipped into the tree line.

Etho set his jaw, tense. “This isn’t good. I don’t know if it’s worse for me to try and intercept him or stay here. I don’t want either of you to be alone.”

It took Grian a second to blink away his daze, but he shook it off quickly, “Well, if we damage this boat it’s going to wipe my savings and put me way into debt. As far as I’m concerned we only have one option here, especially if this guy’s got a temper.”

“Well..” Etho looked nervous, biting his lip under the mask, “Dare I say your life is more valuable than this boat.”

“This has already gone to shit. If I’m going to be in that much debt I’m better off dead.”

“I- hey, I don’t know about that.”

Grian grunted, noncommittal, “I’m barely making rent as it is. Let’s just get this over with.” Grian made his way to the gate at the front of the pontoon, rolling up his pant legs then deciding better of it, biting the bullet and jumping into the water. It was damn cold, up to his knees.

“You’re making me nervous, Grian. You didn’t have to come- actually, we could probably still leave. You two just go home, I’ll stay. Well-“ Etho stopped, mumbling to himself- “He’s got quite a bit of range. I don’t know..”

“I’m here for Scar. He needs to survive this so I can pussy up and tell him what’s what. Oi. Scar, come on or you’re paying for the boat.” Grian splashed him, Scar jumping when the water slapped across his legs where he was spacing out.

“What? We’re going?” Scar didn’t hesitate before hopping the railing, no thought to the splash he’d create that, inevitably, drenched Grian. A little flustered, Etho was in seconds later, scrambling ahead of the both of them toward the shore.

“Watch where you step. I’ve sprained my ankle about a hundred times out here, and this is the most hospitable part to dock up. This entire place is a nightmare.” Etho looked onward, mumbling something Grian didn’t catch before pushing forward. Scar followed close behind, Grian taking up the rear with a hand firm across the satchel he’d brought along to take with.

Grian had expected muck and mosquitoes and horse flies and frightening noises from unknown directions, but he had not expected the island to be beautiful. And not the naturalistic type of beauty that came with every remote piece of nature, though that was certainly present. High rock walls surrounded them on either side, filled with intricate engravings and statues carved painstakingly into the stone, impossibly complex and beautiful. There was no exact path- the terrain wasn’t even crushed down like a high traffic area would be, but the artwork left a path to walk, almost like it was meant to be seen by crowds of hikers and tourists, guided subtly from statue to statue. It gave the impression of a long abandoned series of shrines, overgrown and beautiful, but at the same time every vine and bit of greenery was so meticulously placed that it couldn’t have possibly happened by accident.

“This is insane,” Scar breathed, and Grian had to nod his agreement. Etho shrugged, turning to glance back a bit awkwardly.

“All of the outer spaces are decorated in one way or another by now. Joel works from the outside in, typically. It’s pretty cool.”

“Joel does this? All of this?” Grian asked, surprised when Scar nodded, though Etho answered.

“Yup. He says this is what he was made for, in a very literal sense. He terraforms everything, it really is incredible. It’s a shame there’s no one else around to appreciate it, though, I guess he’s got Lizzie now; she’ll see it all soon enough. You know, if I wasn’t shitting myself over the two of you being here, I think I’d really like to show you the whole place. There’s just so much..” Etho trailed off, but the pause was more thoughtful than stressed, “Stuff I’ve made as well. Contributed, at least.” Etho stopped with a short gasp, tripping and landing hard on his knees. “Joel-“

Grian didn’t understand until he saw the root around Etho’s ankle, three others constricting his free ankle and wrists before Etho could pull away.

“Nice of you to introduce me,” Joel growled, Grian knew it was Joel right away, he knew because it sounded uncannily like him- what the hell-? Where- Where was the voice coming from-?

The only thing that kept Grian from running right there was Scar’s hand on his, yanking him forward. Grian startled, whipping around to see who was behind him, but there was nothing there, no disturbance in the earth or anything. He nearly snapped at Scar before the other inclined his head, and Grian saw glowing yellow eyes from the shade of the tree line above them. Oh.

Scar smiled at him, like nothing was wrong, like everything was going to be okay, and Grian envied his confidence. Or at least his ability to hide his fear, to talk on his feet.

It occurred to Grian he should probably be paying attention to what Etho was hurriedly saying to Joel, but he didn’t get the chance before Scar interrupted, speaking as if he was addressing a crowd.

“Joel! We’ve heard so much about you, not great things, I don’t intend on lying to you, but goodness, I was not expecting all of this art! Beautiful, truly, you are a talented-“ Scar didn’t get to finish, one of the decorated rock walls careening forward and nearly crushing him where he stood. Scar startled out of the way, staring in wide eyed shock at the place he’d stood just seconds before. For that reason, he failed to see the statue across from him slide off its stand, building speed before slamming into Scar’s side and sending him flying into the wall opposite. Grian screamed, running toward him before he could think not to. Etho might have yelled as well, but somehow the small snicker under the noise stood out louder.

Grian didn’t process much else before a hard weight slammed against his shoulders and back, so fast, he didn’t even have time to break his fall with his hands. His ribs cracked against the dirt, at least he was pretty sure it was his ribs, he couldn’t breathe regardless. Had he hit his head as well? Served him right, doing the one thing he was told not to. But the weight was gone as soon as it had come, dust spraying Grian’s face in the wake of Lizzie’s footfalls.

“Joel!” she shrieked, and again Grian felt a certain disturbance, though his eyes might have been watering from the dirt. “Why- Why did you do that?”

“What.” Joel deadpanned, interrupting whatever he and Etho had been arguing about in the perifere.

“She hasn’t done anything wrong. She didn’t even crash her boat! They parked it very nicely, didn’t hit any rocks! I watched!”

“They’re all trespassing. If Etho wants to bring his friends, he can watch them die.”

“I didn’t want them to come!” but Etho’s plea fell on deaf ears.

Grian released a short, strained breath, narrowing his eyes. He still couldn’t see Joel and didn’t know where his voice was coming from. Etho was staring pretty firmly to his left though, so that had to mean something. Grian moved slowly, pushing himself up just enough to reach for his bag.

Grian was distracted by Lizzie peeling Scar off the ground, alarmed to see how limp he was in her arms, but Grian breathed a long sigh when Scar groaned. Softly, Lizzie began to sing.

“Come on, Lizzie, he’s fine.” Joel grunted, ducking out from behind one of the rock walls and slithering into the open, but Grian was having trouble focusing, trouble seeing. Joel was a mermaid, Grian had almost forgotten that’s how his pact with Etho worked, but despite having his contacts in, his eyes just wouldn’t focus, almost like he was stuck in a dream. It must have been Lizzie’s song- something about it causing this effect, similar to how he’d used to think mermaid song worked, though, Grian didn’t feel compelled to be eaten or anything. He saw Scar relax in her arms, the spell affecting him as well, but the connection was weak enough that Grian felt he could fight it, closing his eyes tight and shaking the fog away. He had to do something before this got out of hand, but when Lizzie started to speak, his focus started once more to wane.

“She’s been nothing but delightful! She’s not even human! He can do magic just like you can though it’s- well-“ whispered, she added, “He’s not very good..”

Joel scoffed, “Humans are liars.”

“This one’s good!”

Grian’s fingers, moving slowly, just barely brushed the barrel of his concealed pistol when the sun caught something bright and red in the stream behind Joel, but even the next moment when Joel whipped around was too late to stop the massive mermaid from lunging forward out of the water, barreling into Joel and sending both of them rolling. Joel screamed, and Etho yelled in turn, finally able to break free from Joel’s hold.

“Mumbo!” Etho yelled again, cradling his shoulder- when had he gotten so badly injured? Grian hadn’t been paying that much attention, but he was shocked he missed the blood seeping through Etho’s coat- What had Joel done to him? Grian scrambled to his feet, pistol now freely in his hands, but he couldn’t shoot now, not when Joel and Mumbo were so hopelessly tangled. Grian nearly dropped his gun when Lizzie wailed, rushing forward to intervene, but again with his eyes firmly shut, he managed to shake the spell. Etho didn’t seem to react to Lizzie’s song at all, at least not in this form, but Mumbo certainly did, stopping in his tracks and idling so still, Lizzie had no trouble pulling Mumbo off, holding him limp in her arms.

“Why- Why did you do that? Not friends, Mumbo, we don’t eat friends-“ Lizzie spoke in a rush, but Mumbo’s fins were so still, he didn’t give any indication he’d heard.

“Something’s wrong with him,” Etho heaved, the words coming through pained. There was another growing patch of blood that Grian hadn’t noticed before on his shirt, bleeding down his side, reminding Grian exactly what he needed to do, the opening he needed to take before it was too late. “Wh- Grian, where did you get a gun-?”

Grian glanced back at Scar, currently struggling to sit up from where Lizzie had dropped him. He was okay. He would make it out of this okay.

Grian fired five shots. Three made their mark.

Joel fell backwards, the scream so like his friend’s that it set the hair at the back of Grian’s head on end. But maybe that would have happened regardless, with anyone. Grian had never shot anyone before. He’d shot fish if necessary, but this wasn’t the same, even with his own life on the line.

“Etho-!“ Grian didn’t expect Scar’s shriek, not nearly as shrill as Lizzie’s but somehow more bone chilling. Scar ran past Grian in a blur, but his entire world was moving slower than the rest. Etho was on the ground, bleeding heavily from his stomach- chest, maybe, Grian couldn’t tell. When Scar, limping, finally made it over and lifted Etho upright, Grian saw three bullet holes dotted across his front.

What-

Out of the corner of his eye Grian saw Lizzie holding Joel tightly, the other trying weakly to push her away, mumbling something Grian couldn’t hear. Lizzie looked up at him, eyes wide and terrified, fins flat against her body. Then, out of the dark, Mumbo looked up, fins catching a dapple of light before lowering. He looked frightened. Grian wondered if he remembered the gun, if he now connected what it could do. What Grian had wanted to do. He found himself struck between Mumbo and Etho- what could he do? There was a first aid kid in the boat, but Grian didn’t know if he could get it fast enough, or if that would even be enough- how had this even happened in the first place?

“Grian!” Scar screamed, and Grian’s first impulse was that he was angry, that Grian had done something irredeemably horrible and had no idea what it was. And then someone slammed into him, something dark and sharp and snarling. And still, Grian’s mind was so behind itself, he was still wondering what he’d done wrong as Mumbo’s sharp teeth snapped at his face.

Belatedly, Grian had the sense to fight back, instinct carrying him further than his shock-addled mind, but his pistol had been knocked out of his hands, he had nothing to defend himself. Teeth fastened themselves in Grian’s shoulder, and for the first time he screamed, clawing helplessly at Mumbo’s eyes. The pain was worse when Mumbo released him, Grian tasting his own blood as it splattered past his own mouth. He shoved his hands between his own face and Mumbo’s, but Mumbo was so strong, he was so strong, Grian couldn’t stop his teeth from landing in his wrist, but it didn’t stay that way, released quickly in favor of snapping at Grian’s throat.

And then the ground collapsed underneath him, and all Grian could taste was dirt. He thrashed, but the ground didn’t give. He tried to scream, but there was no air. The feeling was more hopeless than being torn apart by Mumbo, and more than ever, Grian was sure he was going to die. And then he was moving, the whiplash nearly tearing him into unconsciousness.

And then he was above ground on his knees, the change so sudden that he fell forward, but when he tried to catch himself, pain like electricity lit his veins, his arms collapsing. Another pair of hands caught him, steadying him, but not without leaving bloody handprints on his arms. Scar. Scar was here. He.. wasn’t wearing a shirt.

“Put.. your clothes back on.”

Scar might have laughed, but Grian was too dazed to tell. A glance to the left revealed Etho, along with exactly where Scar’s shirt had gone. He was laying on his back, eyes shut tight with a hand over Scar’s shirt against the bullet wounds, and Grian couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. Shakily, Grian raised his hand to look at what was wrong, but Scar took his forearm before he could see it.

“Don’t worry about it, you’re okay.”

Grian didn’t feel okay. The fear in Scar’s tone only served to heighten his stress. He felt lightheaded.

“It’s a damn good thing I carry this shit on me now,” Joel grunted behind him, making Grian jump, but Joel didn’t pay him any mind as he slithered past. “Out of my way.” Joel pushed past Scar, who looked very much like he wanted to argue, but graciously stayed quiet. Joel settled himself beside Etho, ignoring them wholly.

“I think.. I’m going to pass out,” Grian mumbled, hardly aware of anything outside of his sphere.

“Lay down, G, I think you’re in shock. Stay awake, you’ll be fine.” With a little force, Scar laid him down, though Grian whined when his fingers grazed his shoulder. “I’m going to try and curb the bleeding there a bit. You’re okay. Almost looks like a big cat’s got you, that’s pretty awesome. You know big cats are responsible for the largest portion of zookeeper injuries and deaths? I think. They’re up there at least. Either way, it’s a pretty awesome way to go in my opinion. Or to lose a couple fingers, uh- but it’s fine. You’re just fine.” Grian didn’t get the chance to process that before Scar was pressing his palms against Grian’s injured shoulder, pulling a strangled scream from his throat, but Scar was persistent, cooing and talking low until Grian calmed down.

“That’s right.” Joel mumbled, gruff. Grian wasn’t sure if he was talking to him or Etho.. probably Etho, they were supposedly friends after all. God, this was stupid. Grian was going to take a fat fucking nap after this.

“Hey.” Scar’s voice took a hard edge, and Grian startled when he opened his eyes to see Joel looming over him. God, he was frightening looking, massive with that gray skin and dark eyes. At the back of his mind, Grian wondered if he looked like his Joel as a human.

Joel was still coated in the blood from his injuries, but he wasn’t moving like he was injured. “Move.” he grunted, but Scar didn’t budge, “Move. You’re in my way.”

“Don’t go,” Grian heard the words leave him, felt his breathing quicken, but the ground beneath betrayed them, rippling in a wave that set Scar off balance, tumbling backward with a sharp yelp. Grian tried to get up, get away, but suddenly he was being held firm by roots around his arms and ankles, fighting only serving to send shots of pain up and down his both arms.

“Ungrateful,” Joel huffed, but Etho appeared behind him, looking about twice as haggard and bloody.

“Be gentle, please,” Etho sighed, a deeply tired, deeply resigned sound.

“Maybe if he didn’t want to get maimed he shouldn’t have shot me. I didn’t even do this. And he really scared Lizzie too, I’ve never seen her so upset. He should be grateful I’m doing this at all. He nearly killed you.”

“You were trying to kill him,” Etho replied flatly, but Joel only huffed.

“If you’re bringing people here now, I have to make sure they never want to come back. It’s nothing personal. Though, this is kind of ruining the point. They were meant to run on home, lightly bruised, but now look at them. What a mess.”

“Trying to crush Scar with a boulder would not cause light bruising. I wouldn’t be surprised if you broke bones the way you hit him the second try.”

Joel only responded with a noncommittal grunt, removing a handful of some kind of powder-herb mix from a pouch on his side. Grian coughed as some of it fell near his face, but most of it went to his shoulder, a breathy scream leaving Grian’s lips as it started to eat away at his skin.

“Come on, it doesn’t hurt. That one won’t even scar, probably.”

“It doesn’t feel good,” Etho insisted, but Joel waved him off. “You’re such a fucking asshole,” Etho mumbled on, but Joel didn’t acknowledge him.

“Now this is going to scar.” As the stinging at his shoulder started to ebb, Joel repositioned to Grian’s arms. With a quickly building sense of dread, Grian realized the root fastening his right arm still was positioned quite a bit further up than the other. For the first time, he lifted his head to see. The sight of bone in multiple areas was enough to make him light headed, another breathy yelp forcing itself from his throat.

“You are so annoying.” Joel growled, the roots on his limbs doubling, as well as a new addition over his chest.

“Calm down, Grian, it’s okay. Just stay still,” Etho urged, but Grian’s mind was all static.

“It’s okay. Grian, it’s okay.” Scar’s voice cut through the haze after some amount of time (seconds, minutes, hours?), and Grian felt his hands, distinctly textured by scars. He felt his own hand, tingling in the aftermath of the healing. Something was wrong.

“My- My hand-“

“I can’t grow your fingers back, at least not with this spell. Unless you want to ask Mumbo for ‘em back, though I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” Joel grunted, but Scar quickly started talking over him.

“Hey, you know we’re kind of matching! It’s a small miracle I still have all my fingers, but do you know how many times I’ve been bitten, scratched, stung, bitten, goodness some animals just have a taste for human hands. You could say a snapping turtle got you! A huge one, like an alligator snapping turtle! Have you seen one of those? They’re awesome. People’d be surprised you got away with just your thumb and your pointer- well, a bit of your middle as well, but-“

Even healed, Grian couldn’t help the sob that escaped him, the pressure and the stress crashing down in one crushing blow. Etho mumbled something to Joel and the roots quickly subsided, Scar swooping in to scoop Grian off the ground. He was afraid to look at his hand. He was so afraid.

“Why did he do that? Why did he attack me?” Simultaneously, Grian loathed and couldn’t care less how pathetic he sounded, beaten down and whimpering. He just didn’t get it. He didn’t understand. Most of all, he didn’t expect Joel to answer.

“She’s got some influence over sea creatures I think,” he muttered, scratching the back of his head, “I dunno. Whenever she’s swimming around she’s always got a dozen or so fish around. I was a bit worried I’d be influenced as well, but I think I’m immune? Might be a different spell to keep us from hurting each other though. A couple of mine don’t work on her either.”

“I never felt anything,” Etho pinched his brow, looking thoughtful, “Don’t see why I’d be immune since your spells don’t transfer over the soul bound.”

“Huh. Don’t know then. She definitely doesn’t know- I don’t think she even knows she’s doing anything at all.”

“I felt.. something..” Scar mumbled, like he was unsure if he was welcome in this conversation, but when no one stopped him, he continued, “I don’t know. I have these little gaps in my memory when she would get upset- when she was singing, too. On the boat I think I nearly went overboard. I was so out of it. I just kinda wanted to be near her, y’know?” And Grian remembered it, eyes squeezed closed. The song. It was the song.

“Hey, you know Grian was a little spacey too,” Etho turned, but despite still being shaken, the bit of normal conversation helped a little to ease Grian’s nerves. Slowly, he shook his head.

“Not like that, not for me. I felt.. something.. but it was more like an itch at the back of my brain. I could ignore it.”

“Oh! Maybe that’s ‘cause you’re gay!” Scar lit up, clearly convinced this outburst made the entire interaction make sense. Thankfully, after a few moments of confused silence, Scar continued, “Well, humans have a different idea of how mermaid song works compared to how it’s really like, so maybe Lizzie’s like the human version of a siren. If the power is meant to affect people who are specifically attracted to women, that could be what it is. I like women, Grian’s gay, and Etho hates everyone, so as far as spectrums go it makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“Okay, I don’t hate everyone.”

“I.. guess so..?” Grian wasn’t sure if he was entirely following, but given that he’d just endured a somewhat traumatic experience, he wasn’t exactly thinking at full capacity, “It doesn’t make much sense to me why a siren’s song would only attract people with an affinity for a specific gender though, at least from a biological standpoint. Why not just.. everyone?”

“My Makers work from a cultural point of view, as far as I can tell,” Joel mumbled, thoughtful as he lost the gruffness to his voice, “They may have been inspired by human media. Generally, I wouldn’t expect any of their creations to make sense. They work carelessly.”

“Where is Mumbo?” Scar interrupted before Joel could say any more, apparently having moved on to the next issue while Grian still sat reeling about being attacked in the first place.

“Off with Lizzie I’m sure,” Joel shrugged, but his fins twitched, lowering, “He’s been trailing her since we got here, she only lost him in the trees. But you’ll be leaving now. I’ll have no more of this.”

“What! No!” Scar shot up, undeterred even when Etho started gesturing frantically behind Joel to stop. “We came here to get him back! He’s under some- some spell!”

Joel groaned, throwing his head back, “This is why I wanted to scare them, Etho, look, now they want to stay.”

Grian shrunk away when Scar bristled, “No! We aren’t leaving! Not before-“ he didn’t get to finish, the ground trembling underneath Scar before it shot upwards, launching him in the direction they’d come. Scar landed hard on his back, somersaulting backward onto his stomach with a groan.

“You will leave, and you will not come back,” Joel growled, eyes dark, even as Etho hurried to Scar’s side and helped him to his knees, “I suggest you do it now before I break your ankles and make you walk.” The silence was long as Etho supported Scar while he stood, legs shaky, but from what Grian could tell, still mostly uninjured. But even helping Scar, Etho was looking back, fixing Joel with a look that held a lot more meaning than Grian could parse from knowing only their brief history.

“Don’t look at me that way.” Joel grunted, breaking the silence.

“Fine.” Etho returned the gesture coolly. Turning away. But Scar replaced Etho’s eye with a fiery glare of his own, frightening Grian into speaking before he could continue to argue.

“I want to go. I want to go home.”

And thank god, thank everything, that was enough. Scar deflated, giving Grian a deeply sad, deeply defeated look. Scar hadn’t believed things would end this way. He’d really, with his whole heart, believed he’d be able walk in and make this work. Talk his way through, bring Mumbo home. Scar didn’t take well to failure, he tended to push and push and push- Most days, that stubbornness ended in a new scar, but even then, he’d still be smiling.

Scar approached him, still limping, but he was gentle when he took Grian’s good hand, squeezing. “Let’s go home then.”

When Grian looked back, Joel was gone. Etho, ahead of them, gestured to follow.

The walk felt long and cold. Grian hadn’t remembered it being cold; too wired, too nervous, but now he was shivering, glued to Scar’s side under the guise of helping him walk, but the both of them knew who really needed the support.

“Are you hurt, Scar,” Etho muttered after a while, breaking the steady silence.

“I don’t think so, not too bad. I think I pulled a muscle, but I’ll stretch it out later. Shouldn’t be much more than sore.”

“That’s a damn miracle.”

Scar brightened a little, never one to let a conversation die, “Most frequent comments I get on my videos are that I’m indestructible. Well, that’s not true, most people are surprised I’m not dead yet, but it’s in the same vein. My life is a miracle, I’ll tell you that.”

“I’d say so. You don’t know when to stop.”

Scar was quiet for a moment, but shrugged Etho off, shaking his head, “We’ve all got flaws.”

“You’re not coming back, Scar,” Grian muttered the words, more conviction in them than he even knew he could muster in this state.

“No,” he sighed, “I’m not.” Scar closed his eyes, nearly toppling over Etho when the other stopped suddenly, stiff and alert. “What? What is it?”

“I hear someone. Lizzie- I think it’s Lizzie.”

“I don’t-“ Etho shushed Scar harshly before he could continue talking over the noise, Etho creeping forward in the wake of the heavy silence. Grian didn’t particularly want to follow and find out, but his crutch did not share these reservations, Scar staying close behind.

“Come on,” was the first thing Grian heard from Lizzie as the trees started to thin out, the clearing to the muddy beach opening up, “You need to go. You need to go home.”

“What is it, what is she doing?” Etho nearly bumped heads with Scar when he turned to ask, Scar laughing in turn, quietly startled. Grian, meanwhile, was staring straight ahead. Lizzie was there, standing on the water next to their boat and struggling to get Mumbo up and onto it. They were damn lucky this was a pontoon; Mumbo would have capsized anything smaller, but that didn’t mean he fit, either, not that he looked like he particularly wanted to be on the boat in the first place, shimmying off even after Lizzie got him laid nicely across the floor.

“Mumbo, no! Be good, won’t you? You can’t stay here!”

Instead of answering Etho’s question, Scar pushed ahead suddenly, pulling Etho back before emerging out of the treeline. Etho gasped sharply as he stumbled and fell onto Grian, but there was nothing either of them could do.

“Lizzie! Mumbo! Hello! We were just leaving, what a coincidence it is to see you here!”

“Oh!” Lizzie turned around, and to Grian’s great relief she looked pleased to see him, if not a little tired, “Hello, Mysterious Magician Man! It’s good you’re here- I’m trying to send your friend home, but he’s being stubborn with me.. I don’t..” Lizzie bit her lip, “Something’s wrong, I think. I don’t know why.. I didn’t.. I don’t think she should stay here. She won’t even talk to me.”

“Ah, yeah,” Scar shrugged, arms loosely behind his back, “That wasn’t any good, was it.”

“No.. I just don’t know why. I don’t want her to hurt anyone else.” Lizzie looked dejectedly down at her feet, Mumbo swimming in circles below her.

“I think she really likes you,” Scar conceded while walking closer to the water, “You were right, more than any of us, certainly. Do you mind if I come and see him?”

“Please do.” Lizzie’s shoulders sagged unhappily, but she stepped back as Scar started wading into the water. Perhaps predictably, Mumbo followed her under the surface, and Lizzie ended up backpedaling in circles in an attempt to get Mumbo to stop.

“Mumbo!” she cried, though there was laughter there, Lizzie dancing around on her toes while Mumbo breached the water playfully around her. “She’s so sweet,” Lizzie sighed, bending over and plucking him out of the water like he weighed nothing. “It’s really too bad I can’t understand what’s happening with her. She’s not even acting like a person, not even talking. C’mon, Mumbo, you can tell me what’s wrong.” Lizzie held him out, but he remained limp, only staring blankly.

“Hey, Mumbo! It’s Scar! Why don’t you come home, buddy?” Scar called, waving, but when Mumbo looked his way, there was no reaction, no recognition. Grian couldn’t help but dread how powerful that spell was, even when Mumbo was exposed to it for so little time. A couple hours at most, surely.

“Maybe she does have extra influence over sea creatures,” Etho mumbled, watching just as carefully as Grian was, “But mermaids have incredible hearing, too. I’m sure any mermaid could hear those screams in a mile’s radius, especially if they’re sensitive to the frequency.”

“She might still be upset, too,” Grian mumbled, “If part of the spell is sensitivity to her emotions, that could be why Mumbo’s attached at her hip.”

“Well if Joel wants us to go so badly, he’d better dispel it.” Etho huffed, but there was something under that, something hurt that Grian didn’t want to touch with a six foot pole.

“Lizzie, drop the mermaid. You’re going to get bit if you don’t.”

Grian nearly shrieked at the sound of Joel’s voice behind him, Etho startling in turn. He was right there, right in the stream behind them, somehow silent in his approach.

“I- Oh!” Lizzie looked up, not nearly as distressed as the rest of them. In her arms, Mumbo relaxed, content as ever. This did not change when he was unceremoniously dropped, sinking in the shallow water and returning to swimming in lazy circles. Then suddenly, Mumbo stopped swimming, emotion returning to his fins as they flared back to life. There was anger there, or fear maybe when he realized who was above him, but when he had seemingly decided fleeing was his best option, he saw Scar, rearing up and out of the water in his surprise.

“Hi, Mumbo!” Scar waved despite the two of them only being a few feet apart, nothing less than positively delighted. Grian could see the stress in Scar’s muscles as he restrained himself from running over and swinging Mumbo around in a crushing hug. Mumbo, however, didn’t seem to quite return the sentiment, whirling between Lizzie and Scar with an expression of great alarm, fins flared and quivering more intensely than Grian had ever seen.

“Stop! Stop it- Stay away!”

Dead silence.

Mumbo looked confused at the change in atmosphere, Lizzie looking delighted while Scar was gaping. Mumbo had spoken in his own language; Grian had heard the whistling, but above that-

“Ah! Thank you, Joel!” Lizzie waved to the brush, but when Grian turned around, no one was there. He bit his lip, slowly moving forward out of the undergrowth with Etho at his side.

“What.. Did he do..?” Grian asked, tentative as he revealed himself, only further stressed when Lizzie startled, all of her fins flattening in an expression of great fear. But it was Mumbo’s turn to startle, looking back and forth from Grian and Lizzie, eyes wide.

“Joel has tools to cross language barriers,” Etho mumbled, speaking slowly, almost warily, like he thought someone was trying to sneak up on him, “I don’t know why he’s cast this spell, but..”

“Obviously it’s so we can talk with each other!” Lizzie piped up, clearly sharing zero of the reservations the rest of them had.

“This is.. extremely odd,” Mumbo said, and while his voice was notably lacking the same tone the rest of them spoke with, his hesitance was clear in his body language. He strayed toward Scar, fins still flared protectively, but neither Scar nor Lizzie seemed to pay that any mind.

“You’ve got a British accent! Why do you have an accent?” Scar threw up his arms, like this was the craziest thing he’d experienced all day, “It’s been 90% Etho and I teaching you English, why are you British?”

“I- I do not know what this means.”

“Do mermaids have accents?” Grian asked, unable to help himself from humoring the thought- out of all the things for Scar to say when he got the opportunity to speak to Mumbo without barriers for the first time. That was so him, wasn’t it.

“Well..” Etho rubbed his chin, “They do, kind of, but we so rarely travel that you almost never run into different accents and dialects and languages. I used to sound a lot more like Joel, though. My accent has shifted a lot since I’ve moved.”

“I remember that! Your accent used to be so strong!” Scar jumped up, so expressive that Grian couldn’t help but laugh.

“I am extremely overwhelmed.” Mumbo cut in, clicking in quick intervals under his breath and glancing around.. Yeah, maybe this wasn’t the most Mumbo-friendly conversation they were having. Behind him, Lizzie was looking similarly out of her depth. She seemed like she was looking for something to say, brightening a little when Scar spoke, and cowering whenever Grian talked. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak, meek in comparison to her previous energy.

“I think I should go..”

Everyone in the clearing relaxed at the sentiment, but apparently Scar did not get the memo, “Awh, no! You can hang out- look at this, all of us, this is great!”

“No.” Mumbo said flatly, having zero reservations about shutting Scar down. “Leave. Forever.” Lizzie looked hurt, which almost made Grian feel bad, though Scar had just as little trouble speaking his mind as Mumbo did.

“Well.. Maybe for now, that’s for the best,” Scar waded past Mumbo, who at first hurriedly moved out of Scar’s way, but when he saw where Scar was going, his alarm kept him following close behind, breathing down Scar’s neck with a wide eyed fear. Grian himself gaped when Scar moved to take Lizzie’s hand, and Mumbo looked just about ready to shit himself. “But you should visit! I’d love to see you again. You’re not stuck here like Joel is, right? Do you have a phone? I’d love to stay in contact.”

“You- Scar!” But Grian did not get to finish.

“Oh, I don’t! But Joel does! Would that be okay?”

“Oh,” Scar laughed, a devilish kind of thing that suggested he was going to do horrible things with this information, “I would love nothing more.” Missing the Intention entirely, Lizzie rattled the number off, Scar pulling a pen out of nowhere and writing it on his arm. Horrendously, Scar kissed the spot he’d written the number, and Grian was seconds away from strangling him when Scar waved goodbye, making his way to the boat to climb on. “Can’t wait to see you again!”

Lizzie blinked, suddenly unsure what to do with herself, fiddling with her hands in a flustered sort of way. At this point, Grian’s head was entirely in his own hands.

“Uh, yeah! You too!” With that, Lizzie took off on the water, hopping to shore and fleeing back into the swamp. Scar watched her go with a small smile, everyone else looking on in varying degrees of horror and confusion.

“What do you think my chances are?”

“She’s married, Scar!”

“That is not what I asked.”

“Was that human courting?” Mumbo asked, making Scar laugh.

“I hope not,” Etho grumbled, Grian refraining from saying any words before he regretted taking part in this any more than he already did.

“Am I learning things about humans or am I learning things about Scar.” Mumbo’s question was followed by silence.

“I don’t know,” Etho said, Grian nodding his agreement.

“No idea. Are mermaids monogamous?”

Mumbo’s fins fluttered, maybe surprised by the question, maybe amused, “Not necessarily, but we’re going to have problems if Scar’s after that —-“ the last word failed to translate, probably because there was no English equivalent, but Grian got the message regardless, especially with Etho snickering next to him.

“Okay, okay, I’m not looking for a long term gig here, I’m just interested in flirting with pretty women, there is nothing wrong with that.” Scar put his hands up in a great defense, batting at the air like he was deflecting judgment, “If Lizzie happened to sing me into a bout of accidental mind control and did as she wished with me, well, I can’t say I’d be any bit upset at all! I’d be eager, even. Surely someone else here is on the same page. Come on. Grian? Come on.”

“No. Absolutely no way, Scar.”

“What if it was a really attractive fish man?”

“I do not want to be mind controlled!! Ever!!”

“Don’t say that..” Scar made the saddest looking face, like this was the most devastating thing that had ever come out of Grian’s mouth.

“What?” Grian couldn’t stop himself from laughing, “Were you planning on using your secret mind control on me? Just waiting for permission?”

Scar scoffed, “I don’t need mind control, you’re needy enough as it is.”

“I am not needy.”

“You whine for-“

“Enough! Enough.” Etho cut in, fingers in his ears for emphasis. Grian rolled his eyes, to which Etho pushed him, and laughing, Grian pushed back, dancing out of the way of Etho’s second retaliation, only to be nailed in the face with a ball of mud.

“Stop- Stop fighting!” Mumbo was quickly between them, fins flared and anxious, but Etho shook his head, keeping his good nature.

“It’s fine. This is how humans play sometimes.”

Mumbo stopped, looking a little bewildered, but slowly his fins lowered, like he was connecting the dots slowly but surely. “Oh. This makes more sense. It is not easy to tell. Humans are violent and loud.”

“It’s really hard to tell,” Etho agreed, “A lot of really upset and really happy faces and sounds are exactly the same. I would assume play first, though. Ask if you don’t know.”

Mumbo was quiet for a moment, processing. Grian realized it must be difficult for him to keep up with a faster paced conversation, even if he was hearing it in his language; beyond the simple language barrier, there was so much context and slang and missing pieces Mumbo still had to parse on his own.

Finally, Mumbo spoke, “It is so nice to be able to talk like this.”

Grian made a small noise of assent, Scar nodding in his enthusiastic agreement, “It’s great! I know you probably had a pretty shit day; ours wasn’t great either, but sitting here, all together.. I don’t know. It all just feels worth it to me. I want to tell you things before I can’t anymore! I want to explain stuff- I want to do couples things! I mean- I don’t know if we’re together or anything, everything has been super unclear in general, but I really like you! I’d love to kick it casual style with you- not anything serious really, and if you’re not interested, that’s of course okay- Gosh I’d love to kiss you, is that crazy? I want to so bad! Do mermaids kiss each other?” Scar rambled on and on, but Grian had stopped listening, mind caught on the whirlwind of today, rubberbanded back to the anxiety and stress and horror and hopelessness. He did not feel good. This did not feel ‘worth it.’

He couldn’t stop looking at his hands. The tearing on his left wrist that had scarred somewhat, but his right hand was so far gone, the aftermath of being bitten and maimed clear all the way up to his elbow. It still felt tingly and numb. All of it, horrible.

Grian didn’t know if he would ever forget that. His hands being the only defense between Mumbo’s teeth and his own throat.

He hadn’t noticed the clearing grow quiet. He hadn’t noticed when Mumbo was suddenly so close, Grian nearly screaming when he looked up and saw Mumbo sitting there, too consumed in the spiral of his own mind. But Grian’s fear was obvious enough. Even Scar looked ready to hop off the boat to make sure he was okay.

“Did.. I do that?” Mumbo asked, and even void of tone, he was quieter than usual, fins laid back. “I don’t remember you. I remember blood. I hurt someone.”

“You really went after Joel,” Etho tried, but his heart wasn’t in it, too quiet, too awkward, “Bit him a couple times, got him good.”

Grian didn’t have the will to lie. “You tried to kill me.”

Mumbo stared for a long moment, processing maybe, or feeling something else. Grian didn’t really know. Too sad. Too tired.

“How do I make it better.”

Exhausting. A question like that was utterly exhausting. “I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I just.. I think I need to go home. I need to be alone for a while. Or maybe.. You guys can talk. Keep talking. I’ll nap on the boat.”

“No,” and it was Scar this time, calling from his place at the stern, “Let’s go home.”

“Humans talk too much,” Mumbo seemed to agree, turning around and swimming back toward Scar. “I will go home as well. It’s been too long. Too long on the surface is bad for me. Physical. Mental. Touch your human friends, forget me for a little while. Be good. Love well.”

Grian frowned, stung despite the sweetness. “I don’t.. You don’t have to go, Mumbo.”

“I will come back. I need some time. To feel safe again.” Mumbo glanced back toward the island, then ever-so-briefly at Etho, but even the small stutter of anxiety in Mumbo’s fins was enough to make Etho shrink away.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I really didn’t know, but even then I should have- I shouldn’t have-“ Etho didn’t get to finish, cut off by Mumbo’s approach, who apparently had far less issue touching Etho than he did Scar and Grian. Firmly, Mumbo took hold of Etho’s hands.

“I made my decision. You would not have changed it. Next time we might choose differently. What’s done is done. Go home, see your human. Love well.”

“Love well..” Despite hearing the words in English, Etho spoke the mermaid language to himself, quiet. “That’s how you say it.” Mumbo blinked slowly, flicking his tail.

Almost unconsciously, Grian tried to repeat the words himself, but he couldn’t snap, couldn’t recreate the clicks on his right hand like he was used to doing. It was a moment of distress; feeling his missing digits, knowing the motion like the back of his hand, but failing to make the noise.

Well.. Maybe he didn’t know the back of his hand anymore. He looked down at his wrists, frowning at the dark scars twisting through his skin. They weren’t attractive things, pinching and warping his forearms.

When he looked up, Mumbo was staring. “I hope you come back.” And that was a small comfort, knowing he’d be missed. Grian was never sure these days with Mumbo had Scar, if they really cared to want anyone else. They didn’t need anyone else, did they. Grian wouldn’t have even come here to rescue Mumbo if he’d had the choice. As it stood, he wished he hadn’t.

But.. well. As Mumbo had said, what’s done is done. Grian would have time to think bitterly later.

“I will.”

Mumbo gave a flick of his tail, acknowledgment, Grian was pretty sure at least, before diving back into the water, swimming away. Apparently mermaids didn’t linger on goodbyes, or even say farewells at all. (Or maybe they did, and Grian just didn’t know what it looked like.)

Silently, Etho took Grian’s left arm. Grian let him walk him to the boat, letting Scar pull him up. Scar offered to drive, but even beyond having to put in the effort to teach him, Grian just wanted to take care of it. To watch the water ahead, and think of nothing else.

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