#oc:caprice

[awkwardgtace]

Protective Instincts

Heyy It's late but posting this cause I'm gonna be out of commission for at least a week. (Will of course love asks during this time) Idk what tw to put so please lemme know if there's blatant ones

Kyrie has been having a bit of a problem since he grew, so far he's ignored it while hiding it from Melody. Although that can't last forever.

Protective Instincts

Kyrie blinked as the world returned to normal. The strange dark shadows were gone.  The lights he’d been seeking out vanished. He was alone in the open water with a lot of fish around him. He hated times like this. Ever since he grew he had periods where the world went dark and he couldn’t stop himself from seeking out all the lights. He wasn’t sure what the lights even were. Some were mers, but not all of them.

He stretched, flicking his tail a few times. The fish around him swam off and he sighed. It  wasn’t like that would help much if he was about to start hunting. He grabbed some of the slower fish in a fist before figuring out his way home. At least he could claim that he’d left for a reason instead of losing himself to those strange instincts.

Kyrie took off towards the den he shared with Byssal and Pelago. They were probably worried about him. It made sense, these weird instinct driven times kept happening. So far he hadn’t gone towards Melody, but he didn’t know how long that would last. Eventually he might scare her and have to start all over with her… again. A whine escaped him at the thought.

“Kyrie!?” Pel’s worried voice shocked him. The small mermaid swam up to him, crashing right into his nose. He brought a hand up and cupped it around her. Carefully, he wrapped two of his fingers around her tail and pulled her away so he could see her. Her face was full of worry. “Where were you!? Byss and I woke up and you were gone. He went to check with Melody and Caprice to see if you’d gone there.”

“I woke up early and went hunting,” he chirped. Pel tried to squirm out of his hold, he didn’t stop her. She swam down to his other hand and let out a shocked chirp. He grimaced and let out a sad chirp of his own. “I got too much again, didn’t I?”

Pel swam up and settled herself on his head. She didn’t like to admit that his size had caused more changes than any of them expected. He wasn’t supposed to get this big. She just chirped a bit trying to reassure him, but there wasn’t much she could say to help. He swam forward, slower than before now that he had a passenger. She was cleaning out his hair, he missed the days her hands were massive compared to him.

As soon as he reached the cave a deep growl came from inside. Byssal swam out and barreled into his chest. He caught the smaller man with his free hand, ignoring the growls and struggles to get free. Kyrie let him go once he’d moved most of the way into the cave. He’d dug into the ground to make more space for them after he grew, the others used magic to fix the opening’s size. The parts he changed looked natural, it felt like his claws were built to make changes like them.

Byssal swam up to his face with a terrifying glare the second he was free. Kyrie had to force himself to stay still. His head was too high right now, Pel could get hurt. He carefully swam around the older mer and let himself float to the floor. It was always better like this. He tried to curl in on himself a little. As always he ended up with his tail fin hovering in the water across from his face.

“Where were you?” Byss growled. Kyrie brought his hand with the fish forward, opening it to reveal the catch he’d made.

“I went hunting,” he whispered. Pel always trusted him, Byssal didn’t. The green mer stared at him for a long time before letting out a heavy sigh. He grabbed one of the fish Kyrie brought. At least they weren’t Pel’s size this time.

“It happened again didn’t it?” Kyrie looked away. The quick movement knocked Pelago free of his hair. The mermaid floated down, settling on Kyrie’s open palm. She let out worried chirps, but he was tempted to lie. The looks of concern stopped him. All he did was nod.

“Oh guppy, you can tell us,” Pelago said. She swam up to his head again and started petting his nose. He was tempted to leave, but the two had settled in a way he’d have to use force to get around them. “We just want to help you.”

“Where did you wake up?” Byss sounded angry, of course he was angry. Kyrie had these… he didn’t know what to call them. The world turned almost completely dark, all he could see were shadows and lights. He swam around aimlessly sometimes with a goal of finding a specific light. He barely remembered what he did during those times.

“A few reefs out. It wasn’t as bad this time.” The mers that raised him gave him duplicate looks of doubt.

“Guppy, you were gone since the moon was high, it was just as bad as the others.” He shook his head, Pel swam back before it bothered her too much.

“No, I just took a while to get back. The sun hadn’t come up yet.” It was the first time he lied to them. He didn’t want them to keep worrying. Every morning they hounded him, worried he’d disappeared and done something he would hate himself for. They had to stop sleeping on his chest after the first few times. They’d just be woken up and left behind. At least he never hurt them. The relief on their faces told him the lie was the right idea.

“Maybe it is getting better. We should try and get Harmony to talk with us again. She might have an idea of what’s happening.” Byss chirped in approval at Pel’s idea.

Kyrie nodded along as the two settled near his hand. They’d eat what they wanted and he’d eat the rest. The issue of grabbing too much on a hunt was easy enough to solve at least. Although he hadn’t actually been hungry since he grew. Almost like he didn’t need to eat. Caprice had been curious about how Harmony eats trapped in the siren’s nest. Maybe she and Kyrie just don’t. Something else to make what they were different from others. The thought almost pulled another whine from his throat, but he held it back.

He shook off the thoughts and tried to focus on the conversation Byss and Pel were having. It was hard, he was tired. If he wanted them to believe it hadn’t lasted all night he couldn’t sleep. No matter how much his eyes burned as he stayed awake. It was the fourth time this week, he had to be able to sleep soon. All he got was that they thought things could start to go back to normal.

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Kyrie’s eyes snapped open to a world of shadows. Two dim lights were on top of him, carefully he moved them to a spot out of the way. Then he left. There were dim lights all across his territory, but one was brighter than the others. The most important one needed him. He had to go to them. He swam low to the sea floor, running his hands along it. Just in case.

As he moved he noticed a group of lights. One was too dim. He swam up at full speed. The small group of lights were huddled together among shadows. He tried to grab the dimmest one, but it was hard. Shadows were in the way, they were solid. They were too important to break through. He had to squeeze his fingers into an opening. Finally he managed to get a part of the light between his claws pulling the light out.

“Let me go!” the light shouted. He brought them close, smelling them carefully. Definitely a light, but the smell made him sad. It also smelled of blood. He opened his mouth wide, he’d need to heal them. They had to stay safe. “Don’t eat me!”

He huffed, it pushed the light away a little. He didn’t eat the lights. He protected the lights. That’s what he was here for. He set the light on his tongue, careful of his teeth. He closed his mouth, seeking out the taste of blood on it. He tasted tears, he hated that taste. Soon enough he found the injury on the small light. They were squirming, making it hard to take care of it. He carefully put them between his teeth, finally making them still.

Kyrie licked the wound a few times before releasing the light. He pinched them between his claws again. He set them back with the group of lights he pulled them from before turning away. The brightest light still needed him. With a flick of his tail he was moving again, the lights he left were all the same level of dim. A safe dim.

Sand was kicked up by his claws as he swam. The brightest light was higher, but he wouldn’t go up until he had to. Other lights stayed low, he’d help on his way. He bumped his head on something ahead of him. Another shadow he couldn’t make out. The light he cared about was close, just above him. He dug his claws into the sand and started to drag himself up. He had to reach the light.

Once his head cleared the water his vision turned worse. The shadows were harder to tell apart. His light was glimmering. Another light was with her, a little dimmer. More like the ones he’d left when the brightest one needed him. He continued climbing up. Pausing to feel ahead of him. Making sure none of the shadows would be hurt by him. He couldn’t mindlessly break them, the lights needed them and sometimes they hid in them.

“Mel, are you sure you’re alright?” Kyrie rushed when he heard the dimmer light speak. He had to help.

“I… I’ll be fine. It was just another nightmare. Go back to bed,” the bright light spoke this time. He had to reach her. He kept his movements slow. Feeling the shadow he knew kept these lights hidden. He had to be extra careful of this shadow. The brightest light needed it.

“Mel, what happened? Talking about it used to help right?”

“I… I was back in that place. All the horrible voices and faces. I couldn’t move or think… I could swear it was real. I… Cap, what if I do go back there?”

“You won’t we took care of that, remember? The songs you wrote don’t have that weird magic tied to them. And I’ll shatter them again if I have to.”

“You don’t know that would work!” Kyrie pulled himself around the shadow closer to his lights. He heard noises that left him more concerned. He had to make sure they weren’t hurt. Heal anything that happened. “K-Kyrie?!”

“What do you want?” The dimmer light was mad. It didn’t matter. He just had to reach them. He ran his fingers over the shadow near them, it was empty. He could reach in. He squeezed two fingers inside hoping to reach the lights.

“Stop!” He froze. He couldn’t ignore this light’s demands. This light was special, different.

“Hurt?” he asked. The light used different words, it was hard to match them. He had to in order to protect them.

“She’s fine, go away.” Kyrie growled a little, he couldn’t help it. They were in danger and wanted him to leave. The glow of the lights weren’t injured, but the brightest one needed him. He was here for her.

“Protect you.”

Kyrie curled his tail around the shadow the lights were in. He rested his head on the ground, he could still see the lights. They were talking, soft noises he couldn’t hear well. The dimmer light left, it bothered him. The shadows would hide the light. Another growl escaped him.

“C-Cap is just going to his room. We’re safe,” his brightest light said. He didn’t believe her, but he wouldn’t break these shadows. These lights were special and these shadows too. He wouldn’t be forceful around them. He curled up around the shadow as tightly as he could. They’d be safe while he was here.

“Sleep. Safe,” he said. He could see the light moving around. She was doing something, it didn’t make sense. She should curl up. The light stopped and Kyrie chirped lightly. A small reminder of his promise to keep her safe. The dimmer light too, even if the dim light treated him like a monster.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kyrie felt rested. It was the first time in a while he felt like he’d actually gotten to sleep. His skin was dry, there was air around him. It made him groan. He tried to pull his tail closer.

“Kyrie stop!” Melody shouted. Kyrie froze. She shouldn’t be around him, that wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Slowly he opened his eyes and met the small siren staring at him with wide eyes. “Please stop.”

“...Melody,” he croaked. His throat was dry. How long had he been on land? It took him far too long to realize he was surrounding her den. He pushed himself away, his back landing in the shallows near Melody’s beach. His tail hung off the small cliff.

“Kyrie!” Her shout spurred him to move. He rolled to the side. The splash of his tail hitting the water was big enough to hit his back. He pulled himself into the deeper water with all his strength. He couldn’t stay here. “Wait!”

For the first time since he’d heard her song he ignored her call. Even before she sang he was always interested in her voice. Each word made him curious. He wanted to know what they meant. He shook off the thoughts and swam, he had to get away. He remembered seeking out the lights. She must have been the one he was after this time. 

It was hard to stay where he wanted as he swam. It was around the time other mers were out. He saw them and tried to avoid bothering them, but when he moved his tail it caused currents. The best way to avoid problems was to keep moving. As long as he kept his tail moving they wouldn’t be dragged out to the deep waters with him.

Kyrie knew he couldn’t leave things as they were. He needed help. The only person who could help him was the same one he never wanted to see again. Harmony. The massive mermaid made him angry. He didn’t trust her, even if the others said she was fine. She was the only mer with colors like him. The only one who could tell him why sometimes he could only see lights and shadows. Why some part of him needed to patrol the lights. And she was the one who wanted to kill his Melody.

“Guppy!” Pel called to him. He sped up. They weren’t coming to Harmony with him. He’d go alone… If he couldn’t control whatever was going on he wasn’t coming back. He’d find a way to trap himself somewhere that he wouldn’t trouble them anymore.

“Kyrie!” Byssal sounded angry. He’d probably thrown Pel as he swam past. It didn’t matter they’d find out what happened soon enough. They’d figure out where he was going. He flicked his tail hoping the new current would make sure both the older mers were gone.

The trip was faster on his own too. As soon as he cleared his own den he could stop holding back. The speed he could reach without anyone to worry about was a bit shocking. He’d never admit he liked the freedom in the open waters. Although it left him no time to think before he reached the entrance to the siren nest.

The entrance felt smaller than the last time. It hadn’t changed and neither had he. The place felt like it wanted to keep him. That he’d never be allowed to leave if he made the wrong choice. Melody’s face flashed in his mind. He had to do this. He needed answers so he would face the only other creature in the seas like him.

It was a tight fit at first in the entrance. He might have changed, Melody said his arms felt softer the other day. It was fine, he just had to use his claws to pull forward. Soon enough the cave opened and he barely fit himself into the spot with the false roof. He rushed to open it. Using his tail he pushed with all his strength into the hidden tunnel.

The tunnel itself made him feel sick. It was made of scales like his own. The last time he was here he’d only noticed the bones guarding the nest from above as they left. The place was surrounded by dead and each had his scales. He wasn’t sure there was a way out that didn’t use Harmony with his size. She had to lift him over the wall in the air. She’d grabbed him in a tight fist last time.

“I wasn’t expecting you to come back yet,” her voice echoed in the tunnel. As soon as he was in the open water her shadow hid all the light. Staring up he got scared. What if he got that big? Melody was so small next to Harmony. He didn’t want to be big like that. He would rather get smaller, his old size. That size could protect them all and he could hold Melody safely.

“I need answers,” he said. She let out some chirps that made him shake. He didn’t like her chirps, they felt foreign. Byss said she’d been abandoned for her colors too. There was time for her to learn chirps before those showed up.

“Why should I give you them?” The shadow above him disappeared. A strong current started to tug against him. He gave into it. Letting himself be pulled as the mermaid moved her hand to drag him close. He never wanted to act like this. He wouldn’t control people with currents he made. Not on purpose at least.

“Why wouldn’t you?” The current stopped. It left him floating above her. 

“There’s not much you should need to know until you come here.” He didn’t like how she spoke either. He couldn’t explain it, nothing was wrong. Just some things sounded odd.

“I am here.”

“When you’re here to replace me, little one.” He frowned, she definitely knew his name. It was like she didn’t want to use it.

“I’m not going to replace you.” He growled at the idea. He wouldn’t leave himself trapped in the siren’s nest so this mermaid could go free.

“You will. You’re next in line. Like I was. I’ve already decided where my scales will join in protecting the nest.” He floated down, a bit closer to her face.

“What… what does that mean?”

“That’s for later. If you want to ask questions, ask me. If I feel like answering I shall.” Kyrie whined. If he could get the answer to the shadows and lights then he’d worry about the scales protecting this place later.

“I… I keep waking up with the world dark. All I see are lights that I have to go protect. It was once a week at first, but it’s getting worse.” Kyrie swam to the side of her face letting himself float to the stones near her. He didn’t want to admit what sent him here. “I don’t remember exactly what happens. I wake up somewhere else. I know I was going towards one of the lights. Sometimes I know I did something to some while swimming around. I hear voices in the back of my mind when I wake up, ones begging to be let go…”

”It seems you’re drawn as I was. Those protective instincts of ours are strong. You should have control after a decade or two…” Kyrie flattened his fins against his head. Melody told him that word once. It meant ten seasons? No… it meant more than that. A lot more than that. Byss and Pel said something about years… each was four seasons. He shook his head. That didn’t matter; it was too long either way.

“That’s too long! I need control now!” He brought himself closer to her eyes. It was the first time he noticed the clouded portions looked almost bleached. Like the shells Pell would leave out in the sun too long. He floated away, nearer to her gills as he tried to understand her eyes.

“Then control it.” She blew out a sigh. The water from her gills pushed him away from her. Harmony flattened her ear fins blocking him from returning to the spot he’d been in… Unless he chose to sit on her fins at least. “Controlling it isn’t always the same, I can’t tell you the steps to take.”

Kyrie let out a whine mixed with a growl. He needed to control this. He had to do better before he scared Melody more. He couldn’t risk her hating him. Harmony twitched her fins. Another sigh sent more water towards him, but he kept his place. He’d get answers. He’d keep Melody, Caprice, Pelago, and Byssal safe.

“I had to accept that I couldn’t always hold what I would protect. My predecessor kept me still until I’d learned to control myself.”

“Predecessor…” Kyrie hadn’t heard that word before. The way Harmony spoke sounded mixed with human languages as she said it. Kyrie yelped as her shadow engulfed him. Impossible fingers wrapped around him and pulled him to her face.

“The one before me would hold me like this as I struggled to reach my charge. Or place me under the weight of his tail. At times he held my tail with his teeth right at the fin.” Kyrie shivered, imagining her teeth on his tail fin made him nervous. She kept her hold on him as she moved. 

“I don’t want that!” His complaints were ignored. She let out a whine that made him freeze.

“Neither did I. He took the measures to stop me once my eyes were injured. He told me the lights had burned my eyes from being too close. I was much smaller than you and my charges were much larger. The light was too bright. Those spots show complete darkness, more complete than I thought there could be.”

Kyrie couldn’t think of anything to say. She didn’t sound disinterested or bored this time. There wasn’t confidence in her words, just some kind of pain. She let him go, the water blew past him again. He swam up to her face, but she didn’t look upset. More… resigned.

“You may need to accept you’ll fail before you’ll learn control. That you won’t be able to protect all that have fallen into your charge under the siren,” Harmony said. Kyrie shuddered. She reached up and touched the remains that rested the closest to the surface. “One of the ones before had that same issue. They never learned true control.”

“I won’t fail. I’ll keep my pod safe,” he growled. He wouldn’t let the others be hurt, or stay hurt. He’d learn control, he was strong enough to stop this.

“You will.” Harmony sat up, covering him in darkness again. “Just as you fail to register what draws you to the siren. You say she’s your destined, one of those who raised you have said it. Siren’s don’t sing for their own mates. Their voices will never draw you in for themselves. That's why they always traveled in pairs.”

Kyrie growled. Harmony was lying. Melody was meant to be with him. Her voice made him positive. He’d already been curious and drawn to her before she sang. It wouldn’t change now and he knew what sirens did.

“Doubt me all you want, but I’m speaking the truth. You were drawn to her before you heard her song, correct?” Kyrie let out an affirmative chirp. It just proved that his love for her was strong. “That was because you’d found your charge. Had you never met her you would have been drawn here instead.”

“You’re lying! I love her!” He growled and flexed his fingers. He expected the massive mer to grab him and punish him. Instead she just blew water towards him. It made him spiral down into the nest. From there he was faced with how small he was next to the only mer he had ever met with his scales.

“You may love her, but there’s no promise you belong together. Question me, doubt me, even attack me if you like. It doesn’t change the truth. You exist to guard merfolk with one as your main charge. That one happens to be this siren, otherwise you’d be here. You two aren’t destined.”

Harmony didn’t move her hand towards him. Kyrie saw tears of his own traveling up towards the massive mer. She spoke weirdly again, but that wasn’t what mattered. She had to be lying. If she wasn’t… Melody might leave him. She might hate him and never give him another chance. He might scare her for good. He didn’t want this mer’s help anymore he just… he had to see Melody. First he just had to leave.

Harmony felt as Kyrie swam back into the tunnel he’d entered from. She waved her hand towards the tunnel hoping it would show him the path out. She returned to where she always rested and closed her eyes. I’m sorry little one, she thought, it’s best to move on now. Before you’re trapped alone in your grief as I was. Tears slipped from the massive mermaid’s eyes as she allowed memories she buried to surface once more. Memories from when she’d just become big enough to hear the ocean’s voice.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kyrie swam blindly once he’d managed to escape the siren’s nest. He couldn’t return to his den, the others would ask questions. He couldn’t go to Melody, he’d scared her again. He had to get somewhere far from everyone until he’d learned to control himself. Then… then he could go home. If Harmony was right it was better he stopped seeing Melody. He was just keeping her from finding her real destined.

A prick on his tail fin made him shudder. He stopped and pulled his tail forward, shocked to find small pale hands with white claws holding on. He held back a whimper as he stopped moving his tail. The mer tightened their hold as they were thrown up. Kyrie’s eyes widened when pale skin and a long white tail floated above his fin.

“Caprice?” he whispered. The human eyed mer stared at him before releasing his hold and pointing to the surface. Kyrie grimaced, but listened. He grabbed Caprice in one hand gently before bringing them both above the deep waters. The glare from the smaller man had his heart racing. Melody probably never wanted to see him again.

“Finally found you!” Caprice shouted. Kyrie wilted under his gaze. “I’ve spent all day looking for you.”

Kyrie just whimpered which received a burning glare.

“I went all over to find you. I even went to Harmony and she said you’d just left.” Caprice let out a sigh, Kyrie was tempted to run. The smaller mer’s face softened before he continued. “Melody started crying the second you left this morning! She’s convinced you hate her. You have to go talk to her. She's been sitting on the beach waiting.”

“...I…,” he tried. He didn’t know what to say. That he’d put her through so much only for her not to belong with him. That he wasn’t destined to be with her after all. He let his head sink into the water. Caprice swam closer and planted his hands on Kyrie’s nose.

“Did she scare you?” Kyrie jumped, the look was different than he expected. It was hard to make out so close, but… concern was all he could see. He offered a negative chirp. “Then go talk to her.”

Kyrie nodded, slipping under the surface again. He hesitated when he caught the scent of blood. He took a closer look at the human turned mer. The white tail was covered in small scratches with hints of red. The pale skin of his human half was peppered with marks of blood. One set of marks he could see was clearly the bite of a large fish or mer.

“You’re hurt,” he whispered. He felt a tug in the back of his mind. He pushed it away, focusing on the man in front of him. Caprice shrugged. A clear attempt to brush off his injuries. Kyrie cupped his hands around the smaller mer.

“There are bigger fish than I learned about out here. I’m fine,” Caprice said. His voice was garbled in the water. Kyrie let out a small chirp of worry. Caprice started to fidget in his cupped hands.

“...Can I fix it?” Caprice stiffened, but gave a slow nod. 

“Might as well…”

Kyrie swallowed before opening his mouth wide. He grabbed Caprice in one hand, guiding his tail into his mouth. Caprice curled up until Kyrie was able to trap him behind his teeth. A warm feeling spread in Kyrie’s chest as he started to swim towards Melody. The rumbling sound he made around her sometimes started up from his core.

Caprice said something, but the noise from his chest blocked the other out. Kyrie just focused on a stable swim as he coated the other’s wounds. He half expected another taste along with the blood, one he hated. He tried to shake off the feeling by focusing on the human half once the tail was done. By the time he was near his den the wounds the partial human suffered were well taken care of. 

Once he opened his mouth Caprice swam out and faced him. That pull in his mind died out once he saw all the marks of red gone from the pale skin and white tail. Kyrie chirped happily as he reached towards the smaller man. Caprice dodged his hand and swam towards. Kyrie started to follow, but the partial human pointed in the direction of Melody. With a single nod Kyrie left.

He swam high, near the surface, as he traveled. It was past noon, the smaller mers were hidden near the sands. A part of him wanted to swim low and run his hand through the sand. It felt familiar too. He closed his eyes, the night before flashing in his mind. Lights all around while he swam near the sands until finally he reached the beach he knew well. He opened his eyes just before he hit his head on the land he had to climb up.

Kyrie stared up towards the surface. Caprice said she was hurt, but maybe she was just scared. He pushed the thoughts away. At the very least he had to tell her that… that he might have been wrong. That he loved her, but someone better for her was probably out there. That she might have a human she belongs with…

With a heavy heart he pushed himself to the surface. As soon as he met the air he found his siren. She was hugging one of her knees to her chest with her head buried in her arms. His shadow covered her quickly. He didn’t know what to say. How to apologize for scaring her. How to explain what Harmony said about his instincts and her voice. How to tell her… to tell her he might have been wrong.

“Go away,” she said. He jumped, barely holding in a whimper. She did hate him. Caprice was wrong; she was crying because of her fear. “I don’t need one of you to tell me he hates me. Just go away, either he tells me himself or I’m not moving.”

He moved closer, trying to see something to tell what she meant.

“Of course he hates me now. I did something to make him show up here in the middle of the night. He should hate me and never want to-” He chirped in worry, bringing his hands around her before she could finish. Her head snapped up so fast he thought it could hurt her. The brown eyes he loved were glassy, slowly filling with life as they stared at each other.

“You didn’t call me,” he whispered. She climbed to her feet and buried her small fingers in his skin. Sometimes he wondered if she’d hurt him doing that if she had claws. He wouldn’t care if she did. “I have instincts… make me want to protect. This time it was you… I just had to protect you.”

“I… I didn’t call you? I didn’t do some weird siren thing again?” She sounded excited. He let out a small whimper before nodding. Now she could be scared. Instead she tried to wrap her arms around his finger. He chirped curiously. “I thought I made your eyes look like that again. Protective instincts I can work with.”

“You’re not mad?” He didn’t remember much of how he acted. Most times he didn’t, but this time it involved Melody. He must have done something cruel again. She pressed her face into his finger and shook her head no. He chirped a few times trying to understand. “Wasn’t it like the beach?”

“Sort of…” He whined, but she tightened her hold on his finger. Kyrie leaned down and pressed his nose into her side. He didn’t expect how quickly she moved to hug his nose instead. He loved her, he didn’t want to lose her. “Your eyes were empty again. You tried to grab me, maybe Cap too. This time you listened. I told you to stop and you talked to me. If you’re like that I can handle you showing up when I have nightmares.”

“Nightmares?” He nuzzled his nose into her. That was a word she told him once, but he couldn’t remember what it meant.

“It was a bad dream… I wasn’t me again, someone else was controlling me. I was singing, Cap said I woke up screaming. Then you showed up and your eyes looked so empty I thought… I thought I…”

Kyrie pushed Melody with his nose knocking her off her feet. She grunted, but he moved to flatten her against the ground. His cheek covered her, but he made sure to keep her face clear. He chirped a few calming sounds to make the tears he knew were starting disappear. He would keep her from the nightmares too.

“Melody is Melody and safe. I’ll keep you safe,” he mumbled. She laughed, making his cheeks grow warm. “I’ll keep nightmares away.”

“I think you will,” she whispered. “I felt safer after you showed up, although I felt guilty too.”

She pulled her hands free, using her small fingers to draw on his skin. It made him shudder. He loved his tiny mate… He had to tell her they weren’t destined, that she might belong with someone her size. Someone who doesn’t scare her. He let a bit of time pass before picking himself up. He folded his arms in front of himself then hid his mouth behind them. He stared down at Melody, dreading her reaction.

“What… what if I was wrong?” he asked. She tilted her head. It was hard to admit it. “About being destined. What if… we aren’t?”

“Destined?” she said. He chirped to confirm, but she kept a confused look for a little bit of time. Her eyes widened and her small lips formed an ‘O’ before she spoke. “Oh right, the merfolk form of soul mates… I mean does it matter if we aren’t? Honestly I’ve always believed in love at first sight, but I think you choose your soul mate, or I guess destined. Maybe no cosmic being says we’re good for each other, but what do you think?”

“...I love you and want to be with you and near you.” The smile on her face made the rumbling sound in his chest start up. He kept forgetting to ask Byss about that. It didn’t matter. Melody smiled wider every time it started.

“I love you too… and I want that too. Isn’t that enough?” He nodded. Melody walked over and slid down to sit next to his arm. “By the way, the cops finally finished with that guy you saved us from. Apparently he kept a copy of the song I recorded before everything… Do you want to hear it?”

Kyrie gave an affirmative chirp. The way Melody dropped things always made him feel better. He knew she would still think about it and they’d talk about it, but for now he could just smile with her near him. He’d accept if she found her real destined someday. If it made him lose himself he’d get Harmony to stop him. However she had to.

Melody played for a bit on her tiny box that she called a phone. After a bit the speakers Caprice set up for times like this started to make music. It was more like what Melody played when she was working and all he could do was watch. He jumped when he heard her voice. It sounded different. It caused a foreign, but warm feeling to bloom in his heart.

“Apparently any version of my singing had to be wiped. The closer to when I turned twenty the stronger the songs were…” she said, her voice was shockingly quiet. “I used to hate what happened, but I don’t anymore… I like that I can sing just for someone so important to me.” She ran a hand over his skin. “That I met you, Byssal, and Pel. Besides… I think we are soul mates, destined, whatever you want to call it.”

Melody stood up and walked away to face him. That warm feeling in his heart turned into a fire. He couldn’t stop himself from chirping, the calls he knew should call his mate. She stared at him and he could feel how much she loved him. This wasn’t like the other times she would sing around him. It was softer, warmer, kinder, and amazing. The other times it was all consuming and demanding, this time it just made his love stronger and made her shine.

“I think you’re right,” he whispered. He lifted his head up intending to kiss her. He loved feeling her body against his lips. His own smile was wide as he brought his lips near her.

“Wait, Kyrie, show me your teeth,” she said. He whined, but did as she asked. He could feel her tiny hands on his lips as she walked towards his left side. A shiver ran through him when she touched the gums near his teeth. “Hold still.”

Kyrie whined, but did as she instructed. Rather he tried to. The second she climbed onto his lips he shivered again. Melody grumbled, the song from the speakers petered into silence. It took her a few tries, but eventually her touch disappeared. Kyrie pulled back before she said to, hoping to know what happened.

Melody was holding a scale bigger than her head. The color was a vibrant shade of violet. His head filled with pain as part of his actions came back. A smaller mer that he grabbed and stuffed in his mouth. Healed, but terrified. He leaned forward to get the scent. An explanation or apology had to happen. The scent struck his heart with fear.

Without a thought he tried to hide himself in the sand. He didn’t want to see that color, smell that mer. He couldn’t see them again. Never again. Melody’s hands on his arms kept him from running and hiding completely.

“Kyrie, what's wrong?  Did I hurt you?” she cried. He shook his head. He couldn’t speak, all that would come out were whimpers. He felt her small body pressed against his arm. He cupped a hand around her, hiding her from anyone who could arrive. He didn’t want those mers near her. They might hurt her… they might think she was dangerous too. “Whatever it is, I’m here for you. I don’t know if I can help, but I’ll try.”

After a few more whimpers he whined out, “That scale is from a mer in my first pod.” Melody tensed against him before burying her face in his skin. Kyrie pressed his fingers against her back, adding as much pressure as he could. She was safe and they couldn’t leave him to die again. He’d make sure it stayed that way.

[that-kookie]

More sketches, this time my Ordinator OC, Caprice 💫

[that-kookie]

OC Assosiation Game

Thank you for tagging me @gingernutbiscuit! I love what you did for Nils ❤️

I'm going to go wit Caprice since she's been here for a bit + I a little cartoony sketch to go with it :D

CAPRICE

Seasoning - safran & spicy pepper

Weather - very windy coastal weather during sunset

Colour - orange/yellow or gold

Sky - starry night sky during the new moon

Magic Power - telekinesis - moving objects with one's will

House Plant - a monstera

Weapon - a steel short sword and a shield

Subject - science. She'd be the one student who asks lots of questions to the point the professor gets a bit annoyed and tells her to wait after class

Social Media - Instagram and Twitter - following new scientific findings and fashion/designer accounts. Plus a blog where she'd write a journal of any research she's conducting and argue with people in the comments

Make-up Product - scented oils and eyeliner

Candy - strawberry lollipop,  salted caramel

Fear - fearless

Ice Cube Shape - full cube

Method of long-distance travel - some kind of a mechanical vehicle

Art Style - technical drawings, blueprints

Celestial Body - Mars

Mythological Creature -  a mermaid with dark scales with a golden shine

Piece of Stationary - a sharp mechanical pencil

Tagging anyone willing to try! :) More Caprice stuff in the #OC:Caprice tag ✨

[awkwardgtace]

82). "You know I trust you, right?" With Melody and Kyrie (Knight AU) ? l love them :D

Anon thank you so much! I continued from the cave in for them it seemed like a fun choice! Thank you so much for sending it in!!

Truth of Trust

Kyrie held back a groan as he woke up. Another nightmare of how that cave in could have gone wrong. He hoped they’d stop if he could check on Melody, but that was still a while away. Byss and Pel had to get a lot of materials to repair the crack in his armor. That mixed with Melody’s injuries being a lot worse than they seemed meant no news. He pulled himself to a sitting position.

He knew he was lucky giants didn’t have to eat or drink often. It would be a lot harder to deal with times like this. He bent forward, stretching his arms towards his feet. He froze up when he found a small form standing in the clearing of his home. If he’d just grown he might have thought it was Melody, but it was clear Caprice was the small person standing there staring at him. The small man had his jaw set with his arms crossed. Kyrie felt like he’d been caught doing something wrong.

“Caprice?” he mumbled. The brunette nodded his head and stepped closer. Kyrie would prefer not to move, but he couldn’t hold this position very long. He sat back up, staying as hunched over as he could.

“You don’t seem injured, that's good,” the small mage said. Kyrie nodded. “I… Melody’s doing better. She can walk around, just shouldn’t do too much. The medicine we have is making her a bit out of it though.”

“I’m glad she’s doing alright…” Kyrie tried to keep his smile small. Caprice had always intimidated him. It took him longer than Melody to bother calling Kyrie anything other than sir knight. As far as he was concerned any progress in being trusted by the mage was ruined by his secret.

“I… I need someone to watch her. I have to take care of something and we can’t rely on Nutmeg’s size staying stable enough to keep her home.”

“Pel and Byss aren’t anywhere nearby. I could try and find th-”

“I came to you, not them.” Kyrie winced at the harsh tone. “She wants to see you and she said she’ll get here on her own once I leave. I… I need you to keep her safe while I’m gone.”

“I can’t leave here. Pel’s not around to spread the enchantments or the illusion either.”

“I’ll bring her to you. So will you keep an eye on her?”

Kyrie hesitated, but eventually nodded. Caprice seemed to soften just before digging his hands into his bag. The mage pulled out two bottles, but it wasn’t possible for Kyrie to tell the contents. He dumped some of one on the ground then dumped the other on himself. Kyrie widened his eyes when the small man disappeared. It was the first time he’d seen a transport potion actually used. The bottle Caprice emptied on the ground must have been to bring the twins back to him. He kept his eyes on the empty spot as he climbed to his feet, wary of being too close when they returned. A flash of light occurred in the spot just as he started to take a step back.

Kyrie hesitated when he saw Caprice supporting Melody. It felt easier to just stay still and wait, but he couldn’t. The longer he stood the more likely the illusion keeping him hidden would break. He moved quickly, first to his knees then lying on his stomach. He folded one arm under his head using the other to circle around the two humans.

Melody pulled herself from Caprice and walked towards Kyrie. She sent him a big smile that made his heart pound. He smiled down at her, relieved to see her up and moving again. Despite both the twins saying it was a boulder from the cave in, he couldn’t believe it. He would have smelled blood if it was from that. Plus he saw her hit the ground from his shove.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. Mel don’t forget what I’m doing,” Caprice said. The mage dumped another potion on himself before either could respond. He was alone with Melody now, something amazing and terrifying.

Kyrie couldn’t think of a thing to say. Melody didn’t try to talk, she usually did. Instead she started to walk around. It seemed almost like she was dancing. He’d always thought there was a grace to her movements, but she’d never believe him. Grace may not be the best word, it might be care. Either way it reminded him why he loved to be near her.

“Caprice panicked when he came to get me,” she said suddenly. Kyrie jumped, frowning when his movements made her stumble in her near waltz. “He thought I was overreacting about your size because I hadn’t met a giant before. He forgot about the one he and I met. Although it might have just been someone who looked like my brother with me.”

“He didn’t seem scared,” Kyrie whispered. He chose to ignore the lookalike comment. She’d know if it wasn’t him, illusions didn’t work against her. She hummed a bit before facing him with a big grin.

“He was staring at your leg for ten minutes before you sat up. Although he did move past the size quickly. He had different complaints.” She spun around before staring straight up at him. “The stupid giant acted like I wasn’t there to get his help. Talking about the others. Then he said my name all weird. Like he was going to call me Cap and changed his mind. He should know it’s fine by now.”

Kyrie couldn’t stop himself from laughing as she mocked Caprice. She didn’t even try to get his voice right, just speaking with a lower tone. He heard her laugh with him. He stopped and just listened to the laugh he enjoyed. It was so free. He knew there was a lot she hid about herself even now. The laugh was like a beacon of hope to him, a promise of survival.

“The medicine Caprice has me taking almost makes me feel like I’m walking on air,” she said. “It makes me want to use my wings.”

“You have wings?” he asked. She turned away from him. “Did you grow them after Pel left?”

“I don’t have wings.” He wanted to ask more, but the way she emphasized I kept him silent. There was something she couldn’t or wouldn’t say. Regardless he’d never push her. He brought his hand a bit closer to her, leaving plenty of room for her to return to her walking.

“Well, I can always hold you in the air.” She didn’t turn to look at him. When she finally turned her smile seemed strained. “Melody, I don’t mind if there are things you can’t tell me.”

“Thank you.” Her voice was quiet enough he almost missed it. They watched each other in silence again, Melody staying still. Eventually she offered him a real smile before beginning to walk next to his hand.

She returned to the pseudo waltz as she walked. Eventually starting to hum with it. Despite his attempts to focus on now, to just be happy she was here, alive, and healthy, tears slid down his face. She kept up her wandering without looking his way. He preferred it, she’d been almost killed because of him.

“You know I trust you, right?” she asked. It caught him off guard, the serious tone didn’t match how she’d been acting. Melody leaned her back against his hand. She wasn’t out of it at all, he could see the change. “I’d hoped acting silly might make you calm down. It wasn’t working. Honestly I feel more like when I steal some of your drink at the tavern.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. The tears were falling constantly now. All he wanted was to go back and stop himself from pushing her. To use another way to protect her. He could have grabbed her and held her. He could have done something different.

“Did you know my armor has some spells to see how I get injured. Cap and I change out the enchantments and prepared spells if we see something leaving me vulnerable.”

“So Caprice knew… that’s why he was scared. You both sh-”

“Nope. You did hurt me, I can’t lie about that.” He grimaced. The tears cascading down his cheeks made him feel guilty. He shouldn’t get to cry over hurting her from his own choices. It was just like his nightmares, one day he would go too far. “You pushed my stomach not my chest and caused a pretty awful bruise. Cap thinks something inside had been hurt a little, but the healing in the armor took care of it before I could feel most of it. Then I hit my head when I landed after your shove.”

“Melody you couldn’t speak. When you got home you couldn’t walk there’s no way that-”

“A. Boulder. Fell. On. Me.” He bit his tongue to keep himself from speaking again. When she spoke like that he knew better than to even risk interrupting. If he did he’d be lucky if she even spoke to him again before a week passed. “It landed squarely on my chest and crushed my ribs. If the healing hadn’t already been working because of your shove I would have been hurt a lot more.

“Plus, anything else probably would have killed me. If your armor cracked before the cave-in separated us then you would have pulled me closer. If you kept me close we would have been lucky to both survive, even if you blocked it or were careful when your armor cracked things wouldn’t be smooth. Kyrie I trust you. This isn’t the first time you saved my life and I know it won’t be the last.”

Melody stood back up and started to climb on his hand. He tilted it to make it easier, reluctant to fight her while she healed. She curled up on one of his fingers so he couldn’t curl it over her. He couldn’t believe her, but he’d seen her lie. She wasn’t this good at it. He risked pulling his hand closer to himself.

“I still hurt you,” he said. 

She raised an arm up to the sky. After a second she made a grabbing motion. She did that a lot, just holding her hand out. Usually he’d grab her hand and hold it for a few seconds. Right now all he could manage was bringing his thumb close to her. That small small hand grabbed his thumb like a lifeline. It almost felt like she was relying on him to keep her there.

“And I’m alive because you did,” she said. “Kyrie, I can’t make you believe me, but I know you wouldn’t hurt me on purpose. I’m going to keep trusting you. Plus Cap and I can work with Pel for better protection in my armor from your strength. That way if it ever happens again you won’t even bruise me.”

“I don’t think you should trust me,” he whispered. It was the first time he tried to voice his thoughts. “I’ve had so many nightmares where I hurt you. I just… if it ever happens, really happens, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“You’d do everything to find a way to help me after, and I’d tell you how to do it. When Cap gets back I’ll have him show you the history spell we put in the armor. It can prove you weren’t the reason I got hurt so badly.”

“How can you act like this so easily?”

“Because it’s you.” 

He let the words hang in the air, slowly moving his thumb to be able to see her better. He didn’t have an argument, he didn’t have ways to make her hate him. He couldn’t use them if he did, he could never hurt her on purpose. It didn’t feel like she was seeing him anymore. More like she was staring past him. He worried when she grabbed her right arm, bringing her closer to his face.

“Did you know, a lot of people hate me for being part fae. They think I’m a changeling or something else entirely. They don’t know the truth, just stories. You’re one of the first not to hate what I am,” she said. Her voice sounded weak. He decided to move her. Gently, he tipped his finger so she slid down into his palm.

“I can’t see a reason to hate you. Nothing about you changes by being fae,” he said. She rolled onto her side facing away from him.

“Someday, I’ll tell you about my wings. About the giant I met with someone who looked like Caprice, why I left my home, where Cap went today. I don’t know when, but I will.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to. I can’t right now, but someday I will. Just like someday you’ll believe me when I say I trust you. When I say I feel safe when you’re holding me.”

“I don’t trust myself.”

“Do you trust me?”

“I love you as much as I trust you.”

“Then trust that I trust you. I don’t have a death wish. I wouldn’t stick around if I thought you’d kill me.”

“I’ll try.”

“Kyrie… I love you.”

His face went bright red. Melody hadn’t said it quite so plainly before. Any hopes of responding died as the small weight in his palm grew heavy. Her breathing evened out. He watched, squinting his eyes a little, to see her chest moving. He couldn’t understand how she would trust him, but he did trust her. He’d try to push his doubts away and have faith in her instincts like usual. Trust that she saw something he missed in the monster she faced.

[awkwardgtace]

Knights, Nagas, and More

Time for its own page. Have written a lot more for this so I don't wanna keep all the links in the main list. Thanks so much for folks who enjoy this and @alarcomet for letting me use Nutmeg and Aisling in the stories!!

Luckier Than It Seemed

A Knight's Duty

Out Of Control

Knights' Discoveries

Full Size

Nervous Follow Up

Levels of Comfort

Cave in

Truth of Trust

Moving Forward

Kyrie's Trip Plus A Song

The Boy, The Wolf, and The Fae

Wings and Shadows

[awkwardgtace]

3, 18, 19 and 31 for Melody, Caprice, Kyrie, Byssal and Pelago?

ask game

3. Do they collect anything?

Melody: Books are the closest thing to a collection she has. She just likes keeping hard copies of books she was interested in or loved reading. Plushies are also an option for her

Caprice: He doesn't actively collect anything, but in modern day he has a lot of statues/figures mostly given to him by Melody.

Kyrie: A collection of things he's been given? I don't think that counts lol

Byssal: Not really, he doesn't like to have a lot of things to worry about.

Pelago: seashells in all aus. Her travels in knight au started when she found a shell from a passing human.

18. What was their worst injury?

Melody: An injury that cut open her forehead and left a scar, in knight au it's some bad iron burns from childhood.

Caprice: A broken nose from a bad throw during a baseball game in modern day, knight au a broken nose from a run in with some black market dealers

Kyrie: Mer he's had a chunk of his tail bitten off before, modern/knight he hasn't gotten anything too bad yet. He's probably been accidentally stabbed by someone (melody) when he's a giant to her so that.

Byssal: He's been stabbed in the side by rocks in mer au, in knight au it's when the bear ripped out a chunk of his skin

Pelago: mer au she got caught in metal netting that was left behind and scarred her face. Knight au she got caught in a fae trap and knocked around causing scars.

19. What movie is most likely to make them cry?

Melody: Grave of the Fireflies.

Caprice: Dead Poets Society

Kyrie: Lilo and Stitch.

Byssal: Iron Giant.

Pelago: The Little Mermaid.

31. Are they combative? What is their fighting style?

Melody: She isn't combative, but will fight if she has to. She'd fight in a kind of avoidant conservative way. She'll go in when she's confident she can back out and try to use the environment to get the upper hand.

Caprice: 100% combative. He's head on and fast. If he gets into a fight his movements are quick and he'll take hits to get in one better.

Kyrie: He's only combative if he's defending someone. In general he'll use his size to his advantage and try to intimidate more than fight.

Byssal: Definitely combative. Similar to Caprice he'd be direct, but he has more strength than speed and will use that. He'll try to avoid hits, but he'll strike a weak point with all his strength each time.

Pelago: Noncombative. If she has to fight she'll use the environment to her advantage and play more of a war of attrition with someone.

[that-kookie]

For Ergo:

6. Does your character have recurring themes in their dreams?

31. Describe a scenario in which your character feels most comfortable.

For Bvyyth:

5. On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?

14. Does your character remember names or faces easier?

For Cap:

18. Is your character more likely to admire wisdom, or ambition in others?

27. How does your character normally deal with confrontation?

Thank you for the opportunity to ask about your characters!! They’re all so amazing :D ❤️

Thanks for these questions, you picked some fun ones! :D I'm always so ready to ramble on about my characters ahah

Ergo: > Does your character have recurring themes in their dreams?

His dreams tend to be abstract - he'd often dream about a certain feeling or emotion. Sometimes he dreams about some far away lands he'd never been to. The feeling that he often dreams about is the sensation of soft fur under his fingers. He likes these dreams the most :)) > Describe a scenario in which your character feels most comfortable.

He likes to nap a lot! A warm bath, some hot brew and soft pillows to sleep on with no one to disturb - that's when he's the most happy :D

Bvyyth: > On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?

He's a pretty practical mer. He'd probably have a few coins, some beef jerky if he gets hungry and a health potion just in case. > Does your character remember names or faces easier?

He's someone who really likes to people watch :D Just a perfect guy for being an Ordinator ahah He's actually very good at remembering the faces of people passing by!

Caprice: > Is your character more likely to admire wisdom, or ambition in others?

She is very much a person who admires wisdom rather than ambition. She'd seen too many people betray and kill others in the name of ambition. That's Vivec City for you I guess :,D

>How does your character normally deal with confrontation?

OH she is usually the one to confront others :,D She does avoid conflict when necessary, but if she needs to - she's comfortable with confronting others.

[awkwardgtace]

If you were to do a Jack & the Beanstalk AU (it doesn't have to have a conflict with the Giant at the top though!), which of your OCs would you cast as the "Jack" Human climbing up the beanstalk? And which of your OCs might you have as the Giant up in the clouds of the flying castle? Would you keep the story largely the same, or prefer deviations in its retelling?

So I've actually started on an idea for one of these before the ask lol i have two scenarios though.

The first is with meg and streya (currently a wip). Meg is jack in this scenario with streya as the giant. It wouldn't match most of the story, my plan for meg to get the beanstalk is different and streya would still be insanely kind.

Then i had a second idea.

This one was with melody, kyrie, caprice, byssal, and pelago. Melody taking the role of a cursed living harp found by a giant. Caprice stuck as "jack" waiting for the beanstalk to grow which will help him find his sister. Kyrie would be the giant in this scenario, byssal and pelago other giants that also live in the sky.

I had been thinking a few weeks ago I'm a gt writer with no jack and the beanstalk au. Then i came up with these two ideas!! I don't think I'd ever mimic the original too closely overall. More likely a giant that learns a lesson that humans aren't pests or something. Although I could probably do one closer to the original might not use any of my consistent ocs if i did though lol

[that-kookie]

Another of my Morrowind Ordinator OCs. Her name is Caprice (no last name), but people call her Cap. She/Her, born under the sign of The Tower. She is an Ordinator of the Order of War in Vivec city. Her story takes place during TES3: Morrowind She is 38 years old, and 1.78m (5'10ft) tall. Cap is someone who sets her own goals, and has her own ideals. She is confident and passionate. She is a skilled warrior who fights with a short sword and a shield. She uses her position to delve into Dwemer ruins to get all the curious items and scraps she can find. In her free time she studies the Dwemer and their machinery, as well as dabbles in tailoring. Adding little bits of Dwemer armor to her outfits gives her lots of joy. She for sure sees herself as a fashion icon, and she's not wrong.

A bit of backstory: She was raised in an Orphanage, just like Bvyyth. They grew up together, and were good friends since they shared a lot of similarities. They both went to train to become an Ordinator, and Caprice quickly found a place for herself. She deeply dispises Bvyyth calling her Caprisun as she finds it ridiculous. It clearly doesn’t mean anything, right?

-- Support me on Ko-Fi 🌞

[that-kookie]

The one and only: Caprice

[that-kookie]

WIP of my Ordinator Lady, Caprice ✨

[that-kookie]

Some WIPs of what I’m currently working on. My Ordinator Lady OC, Caprice... she... I thought I need a nice clear reference for her, just like I did for Bvyyth and Ergo! She is a flashy sort, so expect the armor to be a bit... uhm... modified :))

[awkwardgtace]

Siren's Song Pt 2

Part two let's goooo

Part 1

Siren's Song Pt 2

Kyrie couldn’t believe he was here with her. She was so much better than he’d expected from that one song. Hearing her speak and understanding her was amazing. Byssal trying to drag him back hadn’t been part of the plan, but it might have helped. She’d been worried about him getting hurt and actually came to rescue him. Although she seemed scared of him at first.

Even when he was human he towered over her and it felt weirdly right. She was so small, but so beautiful. She was so soft to hold too, he almost never wanted to put her down. She didn’t seem to like when he held her though. It didn’t matter, as far as he was concerned he could live like this forever. It didn’t seem like Melody could though.

Kyrie noticed her looking at one of the things she didn’t want him touching a lot. She’d fidget with it and make it light up. He tried to see what was happening, but he couldn’t actually read it. If he goes back he should have Pelago teach him to read the language Melody used. That wasn’t important, he needed to pay attention. She was reading to him again, her voice was pretty when talking too.

“Ok, that’s enough for now,” she said. She stretched and he watched those small hands in wonder. She did so much with them, but they still felt soft and delicate. She let out a small groan and he smiled, everything she did was cute. “I can’t believe this is all you’ve had me doing for weeks. Doesn’t it get boring just hearing me talk for hours like this?”

He shook his head violently. He had taken to sitting on the floor in front of her while she read, it was easier than any of the things she used. One time he tried to sit on one and she paled as it made a weird noise. He wasn’t going to try again. She laughed, it was so beautiful to hear that laugh.

“Weirdo.” Melody jumped out of the chair, he loved it when she stood near him while he sat on the ground. He could see those brown eyes so clearly, it was like they were the same size for a few blissful seconds. “I’m going to start dinner, you can stay out here. You’re so big and I’m not in the mood to climb over you tonight.”

He smiled as she walked away. It felt like this had been a lifetime. If he could, he'd freeze time for these days to continue forever. A new sound roared through the house followed by a crash from where Melody went. He heard her scrambling and started to rise as worry consumed him. He froze when the sound stopped and he heard a muffled word he didn’t quite understand come from Melody.

“I’m ok, really I am. The storm knocked out the service here, but the generator kicked in so I’ve had power,” she was speaking quickly. He decided to creep closer while she spoke, hoping to understand more of why she was saying this. It was quieter than how she spoke to him. 

“I’m so glad to hear your voice, mom. How’s everyone else?”

He heard the sound of Melody cooking, but something kept him anxious. He didn’t want this to end, not yet.

“What do you mean you haven’t heard from him? He didn’t come here on our birthday. He was supposed to call you guys…” A pause that filled the air with fear. “No, no he didn’t come here. I… I need to call him!”

He heard a crash, but there was no scrambling this time. Things were quiet for a time, he almost entered the room. She usually made him stay out because of his size, but this was something he didn’t want her to know he could hear. It was as if their little world would shatter for good if he stepped into the room. As much as he wanted to help her, he couldn’t handle the idea of her fearing him again.

“Cap!” she shouted. He heard a gasp followed by silence before she sighed. “Cap, what’s going on? You told me about your leg weeks ago. No one’s heard from you they all thou-”

Her voice had gotten quieter, but he could hear the desperation still. His skin crawled when he heard a cruel laugh before the sound of something light hit the floor. He straightened as much as he could waiting for something more. It wasn’t Melody who laughed, but there was no one else here.

“No…” Her voice was so quiet, he almost missed it. “No! Why the fuck is it you?! Where is he, what did you do to Caprice!?”

There was silence and he couldn't handle it. He started to take a step, but there was a new voice.

“Good girl Melody, I know you wouldn’t want to risk anyone else hearing this recording I still have of that night.”

Kyrie wished he could growl. Everything in that voice was awful.

“I’m alone, I’ve been alone since you went fucking crazy. You’re on speaker now tell me where Caprice is!”

“Oh Melody, I thought you would have checked in sooner. You dear brother, the only person who supported you and you just left him alone for over a month. What a cruel sister. Well, I’ll ease that guilt for you.”

“I’ll kill myself if you hurt him.” Kyrie knew if he could chirp like this they’d be echoing through the small building.

“I wouldn’t kill my only leverage. I just made sure to give him a reminder of that night all his own, but I might have gotten the leg wrong.”

“Bastard.”

“Now, now. Tell your fool of a brother to bring me to you or I’ll make him my prize instead. I’m sure I could get him to look like you again.”

“Don’t fucking touch him.”

“Mel stop it’s-”

There was the sound of something Kyrie didn’t recognize but a scream that sounded close to Melody’s came out. If she hadn’t screamed stop at the same time he would have rushed in. He could hear the sounds of panting, but he didn’t understand anything.

“I’ll make it worse if you try to interfere again. Now Melody, you make the shit I have here tell me how to reach you and you’ll  both survive this.”

“Caprice, tell him how to get here and the code to get in…. I’ll be waiting on the beach.”

“Mel… Just for once I’ll listen.”

That laughter he first heard sounded again, but was cut off. He took quick steps back to where she’d left him. He sat down, staring out of the glass that had kept him from her before. There was a lot of noise and he was itching to check on her. Something felt like it would be better if she thought he didn’t know. He could just barely hear muffled words from the other room.

“Hey,” she called out to him. He turned to face her, the look she wore filled him with dread. It was the same one she held when she spoke to the normal him. When she was prepared to die. “Looks like cell service is back, I have to take care of something. Don’t leave the house until tomorrow. You can get help to get home tomorrow morning. Just please stay in here.”

He didn’t want to listen, but her desperation forced him to. He nodded getting a feeling of guilt knowing it was a lie. She smiled at him, the smile he wished could be sent to his usual form. He wanted to protect her from whatever made her so upset, but that didn’t seem to be possible. She left the house and he waited. He could stay like she asked, but he was never good at listening.

A few more minutes passed before he stood and made his way outside. Usually he stretched out to his full height, the hunch inside was a bit taxing. He didn’t this time, instead making his way to the edge of the cliff that sat above the beach. She stood there at the edge of the water. It looked like she wanted to just walk into it. He heard something beep from the house behind him, but he needed to watch her.

“Hey!” she shouted. “You better be out there. You wanted to hear me sing so bad, well I will soon. Just please, when you come to do whatever you plan, leave the one who looks like me alone. He’s normal, he doesn't have this damned curse.”

He wanted to go to her. Promise it was fine and she was safe with him. Even when he grew again she’d always be safe with him. She would be so small to him eventually. That didn’t matter, he started to stand. She needed him right now. The roar of something he only heard faintly when watching humans late at night came from nearby. Melody stepped away from the water, leaving him more confused than before.

The strange machine that carried humans went close to her. He worried it wouldn’t stop, but there was a good distance left, enough he could fit his full sized hand down. From it climbed a human he could only describe as awful. They looked crazed, a look of greed on their face and  blood on their clothes. He reached into the machine and pulled out a human who looked like a masculine and thinner Melody. That had to be the one who looks like her that she mentioned.

“Ahh Melody, how long has it been now?”  the greedy human said. Kyrie would have been growling if it was possible as a human.

“Cut the crap, what do you want?” Melody asked. She sounded cruel.

“Now now, is that how you talk to the man who was going to help you live your dreams?”

“Mel, go-” the look alike human said. The greedy one slapped them with something and hurt them badly. Even as a human he could smell the fresh blood.

“Quiet trash. Now why don’t we hear a song for old time’s sake. Just a short one though, try anything and,” the rude human held the objet to the lookalike’s head, “your poor little brother gets a bullet in the head.”

“I’m the older one dumbass.” 

Another smack before Melody started singing. Her voice was more beautiful while she sang than when she read. Just a note filled him with a longing he barely understood. It went away as he watched her. An all consuming need to be close to her started to overcome him. It was stronger than the first time, maybe because he was human right now. It took all his strength to stay crouched where he was. It was over almost too quickly, the somber tune leaving an empty pain in his chest.

“I’ve missed that. I’ll keep you locked up and singing until I make back all the money I spent on you.”

“You didn’t spend anything on me! I was paying you to be my agent. Then you went fucking crazy after that night. My family actually thought they could trust you.”

That laughter from the phone rang out echoing around them.

“Oh, you think those people were willing to listen to someone like you. Unwilling to do anything to fucking be more appealing. If you only listened to me about your weight, maybe we wouldn’t be here.”

“But you… I…” Kyrie started to stand. He couldn’t let her get hurt.

“Can you just fuck off, what are you hoping to get from this?” The greedy one kicked the leg of the lookalike after they spoke.

“I told you I’m talking to your big sister.”

“And I told you I was born first asshole.” The greedy one stomped on the lookalike’s leg. Melody screamed with them.

“Quiet before I break your other leg again. I’m talking with your big sister. So big you had to change everything about you just to be seen. If she wasn’t such a whale maybe you could have stay-”

“Shut up.” Melody sounded so quiet. “I get what you mean, haha I’m the big sister because of my weight. Just tell me what you want so we can fucking move on. Better yet, let him go and I’ll go with you. I won't fight you'll have me forever.”

“Do you think I’m stupid Melody?” The greedy one took a step forward, Kyrie took a step. “I worked with you for ten fucking years. I poured thousands of dollars into your fucking career. You can sing enough to make people go wild and you wanted to give it all up. I knew your little plan, it was why I broke your bitch of a brother’s leg. I had to make sure you knew that I’d hurt him if you tried to leave before I got my money back from your voice.”

Kyrie stood up straight, but that proved to be a mistake. The lookalike saw him and the greedy human followed the look. The greedy one pointed the thing they’d been holding at him. A loud sound happened and he covered his ears. His shoulder started to burn. He looked down at Melody and saw a look of horror as he stumbled back. He lost his footing and fell off the high cliff slamming into the water.

The burning in his shoulder grew worse as salt water mixed into the wound. He hadn’t gotten a breath and water started to fill his lungs. Instead of drowning it felt like the water forced his body to expand. The too small shirt fell away as nothing but bits of cloth as he grew to his full size. As soon as his tail formed he was swimming moving close to the land where the humans had been facing his Melody.

He was still growing by the time he reached the beach and he didn’t care. Slowly he rose out of the water to tower higher and higher above the three. He glared down, ignoring the fear in Melody’s eyes. She would know he was only there to protect her soon. He couldn’t move anymore as he grew, the water moving to splash onto the beach as he took up more space. It felt too long before he was to his normal height again.

“Wh-wh-what the?” the greedy one shouted. He glared at them. They were insulting Melody and hurting someone important. She even sang because of this human and she was so scared of it. Even if he could have spoken he wouldn’t have asked her after what she’d said in fear to him. 

He let out a deep growl, the one he desperately wanted while the human spoke. Words were said again, but he couldn’t understand anymore and he didn’t care. He lifted one arm, careful to keep the water from hitting Melody. Slowly he reached forward to grab the greedy human. They waved that thing around again and started to make that noise from before. It didn’t do anything anymore, however it worked. His skin was too tough now. The greedy human looked scared and backed away from the lookalike.

The greedy human ran back to the thing they arrived in. He could hear the voices of Melody and the lookalike, but nothing made sense. The greedy one dove into the contraption and the sound started. He wasn’t letting them get away, he grabbed the thing digging his claws into the side. The greedy one screamed and he smiled. 

He wasn’t in the habit of eating humans or merfolk, but he’d make an exception this time. This human was cruel to his destined and would pay for that. They did something painful to her. He grinned to show off his sharp teeth as he brought the strange contraption close. He’d need to be careful, he chewed on something like this once a long time ago and it hurt. Slowly he opened his mouth making sure the human could see the punishment they’d receive.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“No!” Melody screamed. This was awful, all of this was her fault. The car made an awful groan as the merfolk crushed it. She couldn’t think straight, his eyes and hair hadn’t gone back to normal until he was done growing. The weird shorts were just his scales. The stranger she took in was the same monster who tortured her. “Stop!”

She knew it was pointless. He was mad that someone came to ruin his fun. The car groaned again and she turned away, bracing herself for the sickening crunch. She heard one of those chirps from when he’d been watching her. A claw gently nudged her and she gasped, stumbling away and looking up at him. His head was tilted and the car had been left whole in one of his hands. He pointed at the car, then to his mouth, and then shook his head.

He left with chirps echoing behind him, her fear only growing. The second that massive form was gone she ran to  Caprice. His head was bleeding. She slipped off the sweater she’d been wearing and pressed it to his head.

“C’mon Cap, we gotta get out of here,” she said. She tried to pull him to his feet, but he pushed her away.

“Mel, I’m not gonna walk out of this. Just go, get some help. I’ll be fine ok?” he said. She shook her head and started to try to drag him up the steep hill to her home. At least they could pretend to be safe there.

“Oh, he wasn’t kidding you two do seem like two halves of a clam shell,” a feminine voice sounded. Melody whipped around ready to scream as a merfolk as big as the other’s human form appeared. Her blonde hair hung in front of her covering her torso. She was riddled with pale scars that stood out on her dark skin. Melody stepped in front of Caprice to block him from the new merfolk. They reached a hand towards them.

“St-stop don’t touch us. I-I’ll sing. It’ll bring the bigger one back and he’ll attack you.”

“It’s ok little siren. I’m Pelago, he asked me to come check on you. He said your lookalike was hurt. Do all human pups look so similar?” They tilted their head but actually pulled their arm back.

“We’re twins. Look you and your weirdo fish people friends can have me just pretend Melody got away.” Caprice pulled her back and she slipped on the sand landing next to him.

“No one wants to hurt either of you, why don’t you tell me your names? Like I said I’m Pelago, and a skilled magic user too. If you’d come closer I should be able to-”

A loud chirp cut Pelago off. From behind her came the huge merfolk from the night the one came in human form. Melody screamed, grabbing Caprice. Another chirp sounded as they stared at her, the gaze was menacing. Pelago chirped in response, it was almost funny how dainty it sounded in comparison. The green haired merfolk reached towards them making Melody’s eyes go wide. She did the only thing she could think of, sing.

She pulled Caprice into a tight hug as she started. He hugged her back managing to almost block her from the sight of the larger merfolk. They grimaced as she sang and her fear grew as clawed hands came close. The claws and teeth on this one somehow seemed dull compared to the one she’d let in her home. The green haired merfolk pulled their hand back, moving to grab Pelago instead.

She stopped singing fear for the one who seemed kind. She knew the stories said her voice could drive merfolk mad, she didn’t want Pelago killed. Instead the green haired merfolk pulled Pelago close and held them tight. It was like watching a child hug an oversized doll. The green haired one started to chirp and Pelago seemed to match. They both sounded happy. She shared a confused look with Caprice, at least they weren’t alone dealing with this. She froze when the chirps stopped and the inhuman green eyes locked onto her and Caprice again.

“Melody, just go. I’ll be fine, I promise,” Caprice whispered to her. She squeezed him tighter before standing. They had a rule, full name and no arguments. She took off before the merfolk had a chance to act.

 She didn’t get far. A pale hand bigger than her landed in her path. She barely avoided slamming into it. She tried to stumble back, but the hand moved forward with fingers blocking her path. She didn’t have any choice other than going back to Caprice. She took unsteady steps back until she tripped. Melody landed on her back, forced to stare up at the intense glare of the green haired merfolk.

“Byss, you’re scaring her,” Pelago said. She just wanted Caprice to get home, she could die if he got away. The other one made what sounded like annoyed chirps. “Byssal, words or I’ll be mad.”

“Fine. Did you want her getting away?” the voice was deep and cold. She didn’t want to hear this merfolk talk ever again. The pale hand came into her view again and a strangled scream left her.

“Byssal!” Chirps sounded instead of words, the hand left her view. She couldn’t bring herself to move.

“Will you two just fucking leave!?” Caprice shouted. “Mel didn’t ask for this fucking siren thing leave her alone.”

“No.” The cold voice answered. She shivered, staying near the ocean was such a stupid idea. This shouldn’t have been the safest place. A sob escaped her and she rushed to cover her mouth. A chirp that reminded her of a person cooing at wounded animals sounded.

“Oh, little siren don’t cry. We aren’t going to hurt either of you. I want to help the one you look like, I can use magic to heal them.”

“Why should we believe you?” Caprice was still talking, she couldn’t find her voice. Her eyes went wide as the pale arm moved across the sky again. “Don’t touch me you creep!”

“No!” she screamed. “Please, I'll do whatever you want. Leave him alone please!”

Melody climbed to her feet, watching helplessly as Caprice was held in a loose fist. There were more chirps, but those meant nothing to her. They were taking her brother, he was going to suffer because of her again. She felt an icy grip on her heart, she could make them stop. She tried to get a breath, if she sings they’d go for her instead. Their focus would change and hopefully he wouldn’t just be dropped. She jumped when large hands grabbed her.

“Hey, it’s ok. Kyrie asked us to come help, he’s putting the human who hurt your look alike somewhere far away. They won’t get back here easily,” Pelago tried to comfort her. Melody glared at the merfolk.

“Is that far away his fucking stomach? Did he just decide not to show us he could bite into a car?!” Melody squirmed in the large hands, but they didn’t loosen. “Besides, will you quit calling him my lookalike? He's my brother and not just someone who looks like me!”

“Wait… that means…. Family, right?” She nodded, it didn't matter if they only just understood. “Oh.. oh! Byss don’t put him in the water!”

It was too late, the larger merfolk had put Caprice partly in the water and started to mouth something. Caprice started to glow and for a minute she swore that he was healing. Then it changed and he started to scream like she’d never heard before. She tried to fight out of the hands, but Pelago held her in a hug and pressed her head into their shoulder. She struggled, but was no match for the stronger being.

“Please don’t kill him, I’m sorry I ever sang. I’ll make sure I don’t again please.”

“Little siren, it's ok, he’s not dying. It’ll be over soon just wait for a bit. I know it must be hard to trust us, but we aren’t going to harm either of you. Kyrie is taking the human who was cruel to you both to a place near other humans. I used some magic, he’ll be going to the peace keepers I’ve seen humans rely on and tell them what happened without mentioning us.” 

The screaming from Caprice died down as she managed to tilt her head up to look at Pelago. This close, she looked human. Pelago smiled at her, there were normal human teeth. She didn’t have the sharp ones like the other two. If she wasn’t so close she’d think this was just a human with some weird fashion. Pelago moved Melody to look at the water, she didn’t want to see what they’d done to Caprice. She almost shut her eyes, but a bright white caught her attention.

“..Cap…” she breathed. Melody chanced a look at the green haired merfolk, their face looked concerned. Shouldn’t they be glad they did this to him?

“What the hell did you do to me!?” Caprice shouted. Melody managed to get out of Pelago’s grip and stumbled down to her brother. He had a stark white tail where his legs used to be and what looked like white fins where his ears should be. His hair had gotten longer and he just seemed bigger. She froze, unable to move once his eyes locked on her.

“Turn him back.” She glared up at the huge merfolk who had done this. “Turn him back. Whatever you were doing, do it to me! Let him go!”

“Byssal, why don’t you-” Pelago was cut off by a loud noise coming from the one she called Byssal. 

Melody couldn’t see a person past the sharp teeth or the size of the one staring at her. A hand came close quickly and she let out a strangled scream. Fingers pinched her sides before she was lifted off the ground. She started to squirm only stopping when she looked down and saw how high up she was. She dug her nails into the thick skin in front of her. She wasn’t sure they even felt her small hands. She was brought up to the eyes that were just too green to feel normal.

The mouth in front of her opened, but a louder louder noise came from a bit behind the one holding her. Even the one in front of her looked shocked as a shadow covered everyone else. Another low sound that had to be a growl came before the green haired one turned and was face to chest with the one who crushed a car. The blue eyes looked terrifying as he glared down at her. The one holding her made another sound, but the blue eyed one made a louder sound.

A hand she’d seen knocking on her home and crushing a car came close. Another growl before she was moving through the air. Melody yelped as a growl sounded and the fingers on her sides let her go. She squeezed her eyes shut, at best she expected the cold water slamming into her. Instead she landed on something soft and warm, but wet. She looked up terrified to see the biggest one’s face above her.

She was pressed back into the skin as he brought her closer. The force alone would have her panicking if the huge face wasn’t coming closer. She squeezed her eyes shut once the teeth were in her sight. She waited for the worst to happen, but something pressed into her. It was followed by soft chirps like he’d made when she was hidden in her house. Slowly she peeked her eyes open to see a nose pressed into her. The soft chirps continued and she managed to look around the nose to see the blue eyes, full of concern.

“Wh-what are you doing?” she asked. He made confused chirps back at her. He seemed to understand her before, did he just want to toy with her? He could just find her a fun toy. She opened her mouth to speak again, but a louder chirp came from him making her flinch instead.

“Kyrie, she has no idea what you’re doing,” the green haired one spoke up. That meant this one was really named Kyrie. It felt like a weird name for merfolk.

“Will you monsters put my sister down!” Caprice’s voice sounded off a bit.

“You need to learn control young one. That anger could hurt the same person you’re so worried about.” The way the green haired one talked felt like their dad lecturing them when they were kids. She sort of hated it. These monsters were the ones who interfered, who did that to him, they don’t get to treat them like children. She tensed, preparing to yell at him, but a loud angry sounding chirp from Kyrie stopped her.

“Byssal, he’s right. Neither of these poor pups know what’s going on. Kyrie put her down and Byssal help the boy out of the water. Hopefully drying out will let him go back to human form,” Pelago demanded. Despite her size she held sway over the larger two, much to Melody’s relief.

Kyrie made another sad chirp before nuzzling her again. She felt tears starting. This wasn’t what she wanted, she doesn’t want to be some toy for a giant merman. He did pull his hands away, moving too quickly and making her yelp. He just chirped a bit before letting her off on the beach. She was going to scramble back, but the other one, Byssal, rudely dropped an angry Caprice next to her.

Melody couldn’t believe this was her brother. He was at least as big as Pelago. He even had claws, but his hair and eyes were the same. The things she knew stayed the same, so she latched on to him once he was on his back. Neither knew what to expect after all of this. Byssal seemed angry to be near them, she could swear Kyrie was just barely holding himself back from picking her back up, and Pelago was silent behind them.

“Ok, why don’t we actually talk now that everyone’s here,” Pelago said. Her voice was almost too chipper. Melody turned to glare at her.

“Talk about what? How the biggest one of you was ready to eat someone and crushed a fucking car? How you wouldn’t let me leave? How you turned my brother into one of you!? How-”

“Quiet!” Byssal growled. She glared at the huge creature. Kyrie let out a growl and Byssal sighed. He chirped something before Kyrie let out a sad chirp. Melody tightened her grip on Caprice when his eyes found her, but Kyrie turned to Byssal and growled again. “Fine!”

Byssal moved quickly, sending the water up the beach close to them. It splashed against Melody’s legs as he pulled himself up further on the beach. She almost screamed as the hand that had picked her up landed close enough she could touch it. Caprice pulled her closer as they got a good look of the scales on Byssal. A bright green that would look like sea plants in the water. Byssal stopped only once he was almost completely out of the water. He took up most of the small beach, leaving no room for them to escape if Caprice went back to normal.

There wasn’t any time to relax before Kyrie started to move. The water was more violent as he moved, splashing up against Melody and soaking her clothes. She forced herself to watch him as he folded his arms over the beach. He was leaning on Byssal’s tail a bit too. He placed his head on his arms and offered a small smile. It forced how real this was into her mind. Over the time he’d been closer to human size around her he’d made that same motion and same smile so many times. She just wanted this nightmare over.

“Ok, so first why not get names this time? I’m Pelago, the green gilled sour puss is Byssal, and you should know Kyrie fairly well by now right?” she asked. Melody offered a stiff nod which got a weird noise from Caprice. She gasped before letting out a small laugh.

“You just chirped,” she whispered. He made an offended huff.

“I did not, but how the hell do you know the biggest one of these here?”

“...I thought he was human… or well at least not one of them…” Pelago made a small chirp to take back their attention. Melody stared for a moment, understanding almost painfully.

“I’m Melody, this is my brother Caprice.”

“It’s so nice to meet you. I thought sirens had died so long ago, I can’t believe you still exist. Not only that but even helped two find their destined so quickly. You’re quite a powerful siren.”

“What do you mean destined? My voice just drives people mad…”

“Oh no… little guppy, you were never taught the truth…” Pelago looked so sad, it almost felt genuine. “I have a story for you both then. It will tell you more that must have been lost over time.”

Pelago didn’t give them a choice. She started her story immediately after. Talking about magic, Oceanids, and sirens. Melody kept looking at Caprice’s tail, it had the scales of Oceanids. It didn’t sound real. She knew the truth, sirens were sent to land as punishment. They’d been too reckless and caused many to lose their lives. It’s why humans had hunted merfolk and sirens were hunted by merfolk in turn. Pelago’s story had more details, sounded more real. It also sounded too good to be true.

“Why should I believe you?” Melody asked once Pelago was done. Byssal let out a growl, but Kyrie growled back again. This time she was mad. She turned to face the largest mer. “I can fight my own battles! Stop getting involved each time. If he wants to fucking growl at me let him!”

Kyrie just made sad chirps at her. He acted like he understood while they were in the house together. This was just annoying. She sighed as she turned back to Pelago, but had to look back once Byssal’s expression registered. He was smiling, if she didn’t know better she’d think he looked proud. Byssal looked away from her and focused on Kyrie before chirping a bit. Kyrie made more sad chirps but didn’t growl. That had to be good.

“I told him what you said. About letting you fight your own battles,” Byssal said. She jumped, he didn’t sound as annoyed as the other times he spoke.

“Melody, I have no reason to lie to you about the past. This all started because Kyrie heard you singing and felt you were his destined. He wanted to speak with you, but we never taught him any human languages. If we did he could have at least spoken while human.”

“Why not teach him when you two know it?”

“You think it’s safe for someone his size to be interested in humans?” Byssal asked. “It was safer if he couldn’t talk to any of you, he wouldn’t get close. He’s not even done growing yet.”

“He can get bigger?!” Her head was filled with the movies of the giant monsters coming from the deep. Krakens that destroyed boats and ended lives. She looked at Kyrie, a part of her couldn’t see him being that kind of monster, but he was going to eat someone. He could be something like that if he wanted.

“Mel, I believe them,” Caprice pulled her from her thoughts. She just stared at him waiting for any reason that was smart. “They don’t need to lie to us, it’s not like we can get away. Besides, mom and dad did say I was ‘allergic’ to salt water. They might have known this could happen.”

“It was a pretty common thing in the past if a siren or oceanid had two pups at the same time, usually they were one of each. Sirens and Oceanids had a lot of intermingled families in the past; it was fairly common for each to carry the blood of the other.” Melody gripped Caprice’s clawed hand, he still hadn’t gone back to normal.

“So what do you want from us? It can’t be you just wanted to tell us all this.” She didn’t say it, but looked back at Kyrie. They kept talking about destined, it was just a weird term for soul mates. She had a lot of trouble believing she was a perfect match for a creature so much larger than her. At the same time, she’d enjoyed the time they spent living in her house, even though it was short.

“Personally I’d hope you would give Kyrie a chance, just get to know him?” Melody grimaced, she couldn’t exactly do that.

“How do I get to know him when he can’t even speak English?”

“I have an idea for that.” Byssal had a grin that made her shiver. Caprice grabbed her hand, in reality Kyrie saved their lives. This was the least she could do. Admittedly, she felt braver as Caprice’s hand in her own returned to the human one she’d known her whole life.

“Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”

After a few weeks their deal finally started. Caprice had moved in with her to be closer to the only ones who knew about his tail. It helped that he claimed he was worried something would happen again, it was easier for the others to stay out of sight for some reason. Thinking it over now, it could be the oceanid and siren thing. She sighed, shoving another book in her bag.

“You good Mel? We could push it off another week,” Caprice offered. She smiled at him.

“No, it’s better to start sooner than later. If I put it off too long I’ll lose my nerve,” she said.

He gave her a hug and waited for her to finish gathering her things. She grabbed the way too expensive waterproof battery powered projector and started out of her room. Caprice took the projector from her, he wanted to help how he could. They walked in silence, mixtures of dread and nerves eating away at them. This could go horribly wrong so quickly. They both just had to be confident and trust the creatures they were told were dangerous.

“Have you thought about how much bigger he might get?” Caprice asked. She made a face pulling open a door and refusing to answer. “I’m just saying, you have no idea. He could have gotten bigger already, maybe you’ll be like a speck to him after.”

“Why are you bringing this up now?” she whined.

“Maybe to make you change your mind?”

“After all the money I spent, I’m doing this for at least a week.” She walked out to the table and patted the spot she wanted to place the projector. Caprice placed it down and she hooked up her laptop getting it to display some weird shows she thought would be helpful.

“I don’t mean about that. You didn’t seem reluctant to spend more time with him.”

“I think you’re crazy, I was glad you could learn about your weird abilities no one knew existed.” 

Caprice laughed and Melody kept her face buried in her laptop. She was curious, more curious than she wants to admit. It helped when her mom called a few hours later talking about how her old manager was finally caught and he admitted to so many awful things. It was worse than he’d started to let on, he made a lot of promises using her that she would have been forced to follow through on. The thought made her shiver, which was luckily covered by the shadow coming over the two.

“Guess it’s time, if you can’t handle it we can bail on this.”

“I’ll be fine Cap, go.”

Caprice walked off down the beach and she turned to face the sharp toothed smile of Kyrie. He didn’t seem bigger which was certainly a relief. He rested his head on folded arms and made soft chirps at her. She walked up to him and sat down a bit closer, her laptop set to the side. Thankfully it was a wireless connection on the projector. 

“Ok, let’s start with our names.” 

She started a mediocre at best lesson on saying each other’s names. The deal seemed a lot more in their favor of teaching Caprice magic. At least teaching someone a language shouldn’t be too hard. People use apps for it all the time so she should be fine. 

As the day wore on the task felt impossible. Nothing was getting through, so she tried the basics. He seemed to grasp the idea of how to form the sounds, but not to say them. She was starting to feel defeated as the time was coming he’d be leaving. It wouldn’t really help if she couldn’t teach him even a single sound. She gave up and just let some songs to help him learn words play.

She leaned back against his arm as they watched the video. She sang along at times, less scared knowing it just made him want to be near her. She might need to take a class on teaching English. Although it’s not exactly like teaching it as a second language, he doesn’t even know how to form sounds properly.

“Me,” she jumped as a deep voice rumbled through her. She turned in shock as Kyrie was making strange faces trying to make the sounds. She finally noticed the song that was playing, it changed from simple things to talking about music. She’d let it autoplay and it must have grabbed her normal choices.

“Sorry, I’ll switch it back,” she said. She move to change the video, but Kyrie used a finger to stop her.

“N..o..” The voice was loud, but not enough to hurt. He must have an idea from the chirps. He stared at the wall the video played on, determination on his face.

“Mel..O..Dy…?” She gasped and nodded at the confused eyes. She nodded again and he smiled with all his teeth on display. “Melody!”

“Kyrie.” She pressed a hand on his arm. He put a finger to her chest.

“Melody!”

This might work out after all.

[awkwardgtace]

I dont know if you've done this already but have you drawn or made picrews/other programs with some of ur ocs? I've seen you describe them abit but I'm a bit curious to see how you actually imagine them to be

I haven't done a big post so I will use this ask to do one! I actually have descriptions for each character in a spreadsheet I've made to track all the info I have, I've made picrews, and I have two commissions done so far. This one for the mafia AU god squad and this one for when Corus and Mira met

Comm I got for streya <3

Comm of Delphia, Ash, and Alessia in Vampire AU

fanart of mira and corus

Below the read more is a description I have an at least one picrew I've made of each of my ocs! I made a lot of these a long time ago so I sadly don't have the links but I can def try to find ones if people want them!

Mira: pale skin with lavender hair and pink eyes. She has a natural red tint to her cheeks with a pink color for her lips. Her body is lean and muscular, reflecting the years of training she's had. In her streamer universe she has a lean form with slight muscle from casual workouts. When you first see her you wouldn't assume she's as tactful and agile as she is.

Kaya: black hair, brown eyes and brown skin. They have some freckles by their nose and mole under their left eye. While they usually share in some of Mira's training they retain a thin frame and appear petite at first glance. They look innocent at first, as if they have no understanding of darker sides to the world. In reality they have stared it in the face and continued with a smile

This heart one is an adorable comm from @graff-aganda gotten by @alarcomet

Ian: fair skin with blond hair and brown eyes. His face is covered in a dusting of freckles. He's a little shorter than average at first in his original universe. He has a lanky frame that some may even call scrawny at times. He looks younger than he is, giving an impression of early teens rather than close to an adult.

Delphia: pale white skin with emerald eyes that stand out against it. Her hair is a dark black, almost ebony. She's above average height in most universes with a thin frame. Generally she's pale to a concerning degree. Almost like you'd think she's dead if she held her breath. She appears innocent and naive by choice, if she changes to seem world weary it's best to listen Where it exists people might think she's a bit like snow white

Vincent: striking silver hair, usually tied back. He has one eye green like emeralds, the other purple like violets. Overall his features are striking, but the scars over his eyes stand out against his sepia brown skin. He's intimidating, usually holding a look of disdain or pointed disinterest. If he cares for you he will kill for you

Melody: around average height with pale skin and heavyset. She has long brown hair frequently put up in ponytails or braids. Glasses that hide the bags under her eyes and a bright red tint on her cheeks. She also has a single dimple mirrored by Caprice. She looks young and innocent as if the things she suffered never happened. Most often she wears jeans and dark colored t-shirts with a black hoodie

Caprice: fair pale skin with freckles, short brown hair, and brown eyes. He usually has an athletic build and a bit short for men. He doesn't need glasses and has a healthy look. He has a single dimple mirrored by Melody. He appears goofy and ignorant, a mask he wears that can fall away to someone who sees more than anyone would like.

Lilith: dark brown skin, red eyes, and naturally black hair. She likes to dye it purple. Overall she is adorable. There is always a possessiveness in her face if she likes you.

Corus: black hair long enough he can tie it in a small ponytail. He has blue eyes and tanned white skin. At first glance he looks tall with an average build at best, but he has a lot of muscle that you can't see. His way of dress hides the fact he's well built. It's a byproduct of ways he's tried to handle his anger issues through out the years. He looks like someone easy to take advantage of at first, but then his anger comes through and he's terrifying regardless of size.

Zeke: golden brown skin, green eyes, and red/orange hair. He looks welcoming and intelligent. Overall his build is a bit average but his arms reflect the manual labor his life usually requires. He's observant and quick to act. When it's viable he has glasses that help him see far away. Luckily he has no issues up close.

Mikhail: He has rich black skin, green eyes and long black hair. He has a lean frame that some would assume is from being consumed in his studies. Most of the time he needs glasses more specifically for reading. His size changing in his original universe does change his frame slightly. The bigger he grows the more imposing his build becomes and the opposite for smaller. He'd be bird like at Ian's size

Alessia: rosy white skin and a warm look to her face. She's chubby which hides the strength she's capable of. Her hair, which flows to the middle of her back, is the same color as the night sky and she has brown eyes that radiate kindness. Generally around average human height. Soft is a good way to describe her. As a goddess she is usually dressed in a golden suit of armor that still leaves her legs, arms, hands, and head free.

Rhys: sharp edges to his face, the tawny brown skin accented with salmon hair. His eyes change colors depending on mood, but he is most commonly seen with them at bright pink. He isn't too tall and has a stout form. When he's calm his features have him looking reliable. As a god he dresses for the times, frequently in the most common clothing styles of the era until more modern times.

Ash: appears intimidating. A sharp face with one green and one blue eye. Their brown hair is short almost shave. They have umber brown skin and, as a god, tend to wear something that looks like leather armor. It's more like a misviewed tunic. They are frequently considered to look like a warrior or soldier and mistaken for the god of war.

Vitus: ashen white skin and even whiter hair. His hair is a bit below his shoulders and usually tied back with enough left free to frame his face. He has striking emerald eyes and a stern gaze. He has an average build and appears normally to be around mid thirties to early forties in age. He's taller than most others. As a god he tends to wear a button up shirt and simple plain pants regardless of the era. As a human he has reading glasses.

Dabria: fair white skin that looks like she's spent a lot of time under the sun. She has ebony hair which seems to flow endlessly behind her and piercingly red eyes. Her round face almost always carries a small smile and radiates warmth. She has a chubby form and is happy to offer comfort to any who need it. As a goddess she tends to wear a simple black dress, as a human she wears darker colors and jeans unless it's more formal

Felix: a stocky build. He has golden eyes and short black hair that slightly frames his face. His skin is a warm beige. He looks judgemental and cold at first glance. His features give a calculating feeling. As a god he dresses ostentatiously, styles that mimic nobility or expensive styles of the era.

Sola: a soft tan to her white skin, something that makes her look to have spent long days out in the sun. Her hair is just a bit past her shoulders, a light blonde color with specks of blue and white. Her eyes like like the morning sky, bright yellow at the center for the sun. She dresses in bright colors and most often has her arms and legs uncovered. She appears childish like Luna. A round face, large eyes, and over all child like features. She is twins with Luna. She appears bright, outgoing, and loud, but tries to match those around her more than act freely.

Luna: pale skin that could remind you of moonlight. He has shoulder length hair that's black with specks of white like stars. As a god his eyes are almost mirrors of the night sky, but human leaves him with a deep blue. He dresses in dark colors that relate to the era. He looks childish, a round face, large eyes, and general child like features. He is twins with Sola. He appears shy and reserved, but just is soft spoken.

Ryder: the build of a soldier. He reflects his status as god of war in his stature. His eyes are silver and, as a god, his pupils are shaped like swords. He has a surprisingly kind look most of the time. His face is scared despite never being in battle, he also has some scars along his arms and torso. He has long black hair that reaches down his back and he tends to leave as is. He tries to appear ready to fight in any universe he's in despite his lack of actual experience and general reasons to fight.

Kyrie: warm beige skin and a chubby build. His hair and fins are black at first. Both will change later to mimic colors of the deep sea to aid in hiding from humans. His eyes are the same color as the deep sea giving him the best sight of the merfolk under water. His hair is long and reachs almost to his tail. He opts not to do anything to it much like Pelago. He can look intimidating when he smiles, large fangs poking out. He is technically not full grown until some time after he meets Melody and grows significantly from the size he'd been until then.

Pelago: slender with dark brown skin. She has scars over her face from years of abuse due to the colors of her scales. She has blond hair the is half the length of her body. Her scales are a bright white and define her as an oceanid. Her eyes match the colors of her scales and fins as white as well. She still holds a kind smile despite the way she's been treated in the past. Pelago looks the most human when she smiles, her smaller size leaving her no need for large fangs.

Byssal: fair white skin and a stout build. He has used his size to keep Pelago safe and appears intimidating. His hair is green and usually braided. When loose his hair is almost longer than Pelago He has green scales, fins, and eyes. He has some scales along his skin unlike Pelago. Byssal frequently wears a scowl and bares his fangs at anyone who isn't Kyrie or Pelago (later that grows to Melody and Caprice)

Streya: skin the same color of space, she'd disappear into the darkness without the stars. She wears a gown that looks like endless stars. Her eyes are a solid dull purple when she's not matching a planet, they change to match the planet she's mimicking. Her hair is long reaching down into the endless space like her gown. It's a base shade of black with glowing blue on the top and the tips. On the right side of her head her hair is a lighter blue. There's a hint of purple all throughout it. She has a plump form. She has a round face that almost always has a look of awe or curiosity

Meg: skin is pale and she wears simple earrings. Her hair is a light brown that falls just below her shoulders. She has brown eyes. She has a dusting of freckles on her face, she wears simple glasses. She has a thin frame with a round face. She dresses casually, a warm jacket with simple things. A necklace with a star on it and tends to have jackets with patches or pins for lgbt

[awkwardgtace]

Meeting In A Different Time

Day 2 Different Era! Decided to put the mer crew into an older time period! Enjoy!!

Meeting In A Different Time

“After so long I’m finally having my debut Cap,” Melody sighed. 

She’d lost her whole family to a witchcraft accusation. Some of them burned, but her brother was thrown into the sea to be drowned. She was only saved because the duke saw use for her. She sighed, singing the songs to herself she wasn’t allowed to sing anymore. The lullabies and stories her mother sang to her as a child. They were considered spells because her mother’s voice was mesmerizing. She felt tears slip down her face.

As she reached the end of her sorrowful songs, arms surrounded her. She started struggling, the person was larger and clearly a man from how they felt against her back. She flailed her arms and tried to kick the person behind her. She wasn’t supposed to be out alone for this reason. The adopted daughter of a duke could fetch a high price. Even higher if they knew he’d just wanted her as a trinket.

“Unhand me! Do you know who I am?” she shouted. The laughter of the man holding her sounded familiar, but too deep at the same time. She was panicking, she hadn’t been allowed to carry anything for defense. It was unbecoming of a young noblewoman.

“You’re my sister, Mel,” the man said. She froze, unable to breathe hearing those words. No one called her that anymore, she was lady Melody. She couldn’t bring herself to fight either. “I missed you Mel…”

“I should have you know, playing tricks like this is cruel. Unhand me now before I tell my father of what you’ve been doing.” She had to stay stoic. She’d had to learn to ignore the comments for years, this was nothing new. She held her tongue when people discussed her family and the accusations. Especially when discussing the poor soul drowned in the water for being cursed by his own parents. “Just because you seem to understand I lost my brother does not forgive this.”

The man holding her forced her to turn around. He was just a bit taller than her, but he still looked far too similar. The same shade of brown for his hair and eyes as her own. He smiled widely, showing off a dimple that mirrored her own. She started to struggle weakly again as the face of this stranger continued to feel familiar. He was too masculine to be her brother, but she desperately wanted to believe it was really him. She’d sat for hours at the beach the day they drowned him, pleading for him to appear again.

“Mel, it’s really me. I know I’ve been gone a long time. I wanted to come back, but you were never alone when you were near the beach,” he explained. She shook her head… there was one way to know for sure it was him. A name that only she knew because he’d been unable to share it before the accusations began.

“What’s your name?” she whispered. The familiar looking face smiled at her again.

“I’m Caprice… I’m guessing you kept that quiet all these years. Can you believe me now?”

Something in her seemed to snap. She ignored all the things she’d been taught and kneed the man in the stomach. He let her go and she backed away, closer to the cliff they were on. The man doubled over in pain. Melody glared at him, freezing as a shadow started to cover the two of them. She didn’t dare look behind her, it had to just be a cloud and nothing more.

“Mel,” the man coughed. “There’s a lot that mom and dad didn’t tell us. Kyrie is part of that. He found me after I was dropped in the water… after I changed.”

She took a few more steps back. She couldn’t see anyone else, she couldn’t find this Kyrie he mentioned. Her foot hit the air and her stomach dropped when she started to fall. Something warm and soft caught her. She looked up only to see giant blue eyes staring down on her. She couldn’t move as the impossibly large hand lifted her up to the face above her. The shadow wasn’t a cloud, it was something their parents warned them about. They’d been told that beings from the waters might find them and to be wary. Laying in the hand of one wasn’t the caution she needed.

“Hi,” the giant thing whispered. She couldn’t understand. His voice was almost welcoming in that one word.

“Kyrie, can you put her down? I’m pretty sure she’ll be terrified right now,” the man… Caprice said. She couldn’t believe it was really him, but it had to be. 

The one holding her slowly moved his hand away from his face. He tilted his hand and slipped her off his palm. She saw the claws at the edge of his fingers and shivered. Caprice came to kneel in front of her. He shouldn’t be taller, he was her twin. He was supposed to be her identical twin, looking up at him felt wrong. She couldn’t believe he was here. That he was alive.

“You’re dead… I waited for hours. The duke had to drag me home. He didn’t let me leave for weeks out of fear I’d follow you into the water,” she cried. Caprice pulled her into a hug. She cried into his chest, unable to believe this happened today of all days. “Happy birthday…”

“Happy birthday Mel, guess they decided your debut wasn’t going to be on our actual birthday?” She buried her face deeper into his chest. She didn’t even want to face him.

“The duke decided it would be best to have a different day associated with me. We weren’t good omens so he decided to claim I was born tomorrow. I would debut then and high society would assume that’s the truth.” She finally pulled away looking up at the creature who caught her. She wasn’t even the height of a finger. He leaned closer, she had no idea how to defend herself from him. She squeezed Caprice’s hand.

“Kyrie’s a big softy, you don’t have to be scared Mel.” Caprice stood helping Melody to her feet as well. “He saved me. After they dropped me in the water I… well I changed and Kyrie took me back to where he lived with Pelago and Byssal. Apparently merfolk have magic, they helped me become me. That's why I’m taller than you now.”

Melody laughed. Hearing that someone helped Caprice become who he truly was made them amazing to her. Even if they were the same creatures they were warned against. She tried to face the eyes of the creature. He was staring at her as if she was all that existed. She stepped forward, performing a curtsy as is proper for someone of her standing.

“Thank you for saving Caprice and aiding him,” she said. Kyrie made a chirp sound that caused her to jump. She was terrified he’d try to touch her again. He made another chirp and Caprice tapped her to look up. She did and saw Kyrie with a wide smile and his eyes closed. His fangs were on display, but she almost found him adorable like that.

“Mel there’s a lot more. There’s a reason I couldn’t come back until now.” 

Caprice backed away from her. She made a face, but watched as he neared the opposite side of Kyrie. The giant looked down at him with a sad look. Both nodded at each other before Kyrie's hand started to move. He slowly lifted a hand up over the two before dumping water all over Caprice. She shouted as the water splashed her as well. She stared in fear as her brother changed. 

He grew fins over his ears and his size slowly increased. She backed up herself as his fingers grew longer and claws grew over his nails. His eyes became solid brown rather than the normal match to her own. Even his hair seemed to get longer than it currently was. She felt her heart start to race as his legs seemed to fuse. A pattern of solid white scales coated his legs as fins replaced his feet. He was the same as Kyrie now. Once it stopped he was sitting on the damp ground, the human man now had the same features as  the one that towered over them.

“I see,” she breathed. Caprice looked ready to say something, but she understood. Her mind was filled with accusations that she knew were false. Things the duke had insisted at times too, that Caprice had been the reason. His actions, the push outside of what was expected for the two of them, he brought about the tragedy. He didn’t though, he just happened to have his own part of their cursed blood.

She turned to leave. This was enough, he wasn’t her brother anymore. She was Lady Melody, the duke’s adopted daughter. She had more things to worry about than how to feel about this. She heard him call her name but kept walking. Her gown was splashed, she’d have to deal with the consequences of visiting here today. The duke would likely send her to bed without dinner. It wasn’t unusual at least.

“Melody?” Kyrie asked. Somehow his voice bothered her more. He looked innocent, but he’d stolen her family. He may have saved Caprice, but he took him from her. She felt tears in her eyes and tried not to act on it. She turned and glared at both of them.

“I would appreciate you addressing me with the proper title. I am a noble woman, a part of the Duke’s family. You two are less than commoners. This should not have happened, I will pretend I dreamed this… don’t come back here,” she said. She had honed this persona for years. Even Caprice flinched from her words. There was a venom she hadn’t expected, but she was angry. She’d been tortured and Caprice got to live a happy life forgetting all about her and their family. She was jealous.

“Mel… just call my name if you want to see me again. I won’t disappear again,” he shouted. Caprice would disappear because she’d make him. This was an unbelievable dream the gods gave her. She got to pretend her brother survived the calamity that befell their family. It was more than she expected.

She returned home and what she expected did happen. She was punished for the water on her gown. She’d been told to stay away from the place they’d killed her brother, she visited often despite that. It was worse than she expected though, restricted to her room until her debut the next evening. The maids came in to help her dress, discussing how foolish she was. She had been spitting in the face of the one who saved her insisting on visiting the site so often.

“Are you prepared?” the duke asked as he walked in. His ostentatious sense of dress was a stark contrast to the plain red garment he supplied for her. She curtsied before him.

“Of course my lord, I will perform as expected and approach the young men you’ve instructed prior to this,” she answered. The smile she was given made her sick. She hated the life he saved, but she would keep living. Although she could run away from this now, beg Caprice to help her. He would…

“Come then, the others have arrived. You will greet them all and sing once they’ve quieted.”

“Yes sir.” The duke turned on her and grabbed her face. He narrowed his eyes as he looked into her own.

“Do not forget that I own you. You do as I say or those accusations I saved you from come back without a second thought. The witch who mesmerized me to save her as her family died.”

“I understand. I shall do as you’ve instructed, good lord.” She waited until the duke let her go.

Once he released her she followed quickly. The maids continued to whisper about how she’ll prove she wasn’t worth it tonight. That would hopefully be true. She wanted to not be worth it. When they threw her to drown maybe she could be saved too. She made her entrance to the room following the duke. She smiled and curtsied pretending to love this place. She made sure to greet the men the duke noted for her to try and woo tonight. Her debut wasn’t for herself, it was for him.

“I hope you all will welcome my daughter to high society this evening. Melody, grace us with a song my dear,” he announced. She shot him a smile and gave a short practiced laugh.

“Of course, father. I’m happy to sing for you and our guests,” she said. She approached the musicians and told them the song her father prepared, one of solemn longing. They’d been paid well. She turned and flared the skirt of her gown. The music began and she opened her mouth to sing.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kyrie was still resting below the cliff where he’d met Melody. Caprice was resting on his chest, more torn up than he’d admit. He knew the goal was that she’d ask to go with them. She instead rejected them both. He knew Caprice hurt more than he could imagine, but there was more to it on his side too.

“Caprice… why does she speak differently than you?” he asked. He couldn’t just ask what he wanted. Caprice rolled over to stare up at his face, he was human again right now. Something only he could do.

“The language for merfolk is more like how I speak, Mel speaks proper english. I changed once I learned the mer language,” he explained. Kyrie nodded. He brought his hand up to the man on his chest and started to fidget with his limbs. They started this at some point a long time ago, it helped calm them both down.

“She’s in danger, her voice is what Pel warned you about,” Kyrie murmured. Caprice pulled his arm free and glared up at him.

“Don’t lie to make me feel better, I didn’t feel anything when she was singing.”

“I did…for her. Pel and Byss said you were probably an oceanid too and wouldn’t feel it. They said that’s why you should have brought Byss…”

“Well I brought you! Why didn’t you say anything?! She’s singing tonight they’ll kill her!”

Caprice climbed to his feet and started walking up Kyrie’s chest. Kyrie stopped him, snaking his fingers around the small human form of his family. He sat up and placed Caprice on the cliff. He rested his chin on the ground and stared down at him. The human came up and punched his face as hard as he could. He then rested his forehead against Kyrie’s cheek.

“Better?” he whispered.

“No…” Caprice croaked. “Kyrie, they're gonna kill her.  Her voice is gonna make them go crazy and they’ll-”

Caprice was cut off as shouts were heard nearby. Kyrie moved quickly to duck under the cliff. Caprice would jump down if it wasn’t safe for him, Kyrie knew that. The sounds were awful and reminded him of the reasons Pelago and Byssal encouraged them to hide. The voices were getting louder and Kyrie couldn’t get Caprice’s words out of his head. The other humans could be hurting Melody.

“Kill her!” the shout stabbed through his heart. He could hear Caprice whispering to himself, but couldn’t make out the words. 

“Stop!” another voice screamed, it wasn’t Melody though. “I’ll deal with her, she doesn’t have an escape from here.”

Kyrie reached up and pulled Caprice down. He was thrashing in his grip, but that human was something different. He could hear it in their voice, Caprice would be in too much danger up there. He heard panting approaching the cliff, he wanted to hear one of their names called. The panting human came closer.

“What do I do?” Melody asked. He could feel Caprice freeze in his hand. “I.. I can’t ask them… not after that. I don’t… I need to-”

“Melody!” the cold voice shouted. She screamed in response and Kyrie could imagine her stepping back. He had to hold back a growl as he pictured the fear on her face.

“M-my lord, I-I don’t know what happened. Please I-”

“After everything I did to make use of you. Orchestrating the hunt against your family and removing that monster of a sibling that was bringing you down the wrong path. You went and tried to use the same damned magic your mother held against me.”

“W-what… you…” Kyrie flinched when the small sob escaped Caprice. “You did it. You took everyone from me? You killed my brother?!”

“Right you’ve insisted you had a brother this whole time. If she would have played her role properly I wouldn’t have had her killed. Your mother wouldn’t give you to me so I had to get creative and now you have the power and attempted to betray me. You were supposed to charm the others and raise my rank. Not ruin me by revealing your own witchcraft.”

“You monster! I didn’t do anything. I don’t know what happened, I was just doing as instructed. I’m glad I ruined you though. I hope you burn in hell after all of this.”

“My dear daughter, you’ll be waiting there for me.” Melody screamed and Kyrie almost moved. He had to wait a little longer, he wouldn’t let her die. He wanted to make sure she got what she needed.

“Caprice! Kyrie!” she called.

“Calling out for the dead now of all times. One of those must be this brother you go one about. Stand still, unless you’d rather drown too.”

“Please, I'm sorry!” 

Kyrie had been moving before her second shout. He came up over the cliff slowly. He brought the hand with Caprice close to her and let him go. The two held each other. Kyrie bared his fangs and growled low and loudly. Melody squeaked and he wanted to turn down and comfort her. The one who’d been threatening her was staring at Caprice.

“How are you alive?” the other human breathed. “How are you like that?”

“Funny the things our cursed blood can do, plenty of ways to fuck you over,” Caprice seethed. Kyrie leaned a bit lower, his shadow casting the twins in darkness. The other human finally looked up at him with a strange face.

“Now I understand, it was all true. You can control those things.” The human laughed. Kyrie let out another growl. He placed his hands on the cliff letting his claws land near the other human. He dug fingers into the dirt. The way the human shook told him he was just as dangerous to him as he wanted to appear.

“No, if he controlled me you’d be safe,” Kyrie growled. He dug his nails deeper into the ground. The human’s fear came to the forefront as it happened this time. He glared down, the human was small enough it would be easy to take care of them. He lifted one hand slightly off the ground and brought it towards them.

“Hah, you can’t kill me. The others will go hunting for her body and mine if I don’t come back. They’ll kill you and I’ll still win in the end.” Kyrie curled his fingers around the small human. The bravado fell as his fingers trapped the cruel man. He pulled himself out of the water more and leaned forward so his face was close to the human. He wondered if Caprice and Melody were worried as he hovered over them.

“It’s not hard to make sure they can’t find you later…” The human seemed to be searching for some response.

“Hey Kyrie,” Caprice calling out was unexpected, but he hummed in response. “When’s the last time you ate?”

“Long enough…” His eyes cast a slight glow as the human realized the danger he was truly in. The human stabbed his hand with the same weapon he’d pulled out against Melody. He growled, but wasn’t bothered as he pinched the small man. He lifted the man up to his face ignoring the way he struggled.

“Stop!” Melody shouted. Kyrie did as she asked, leaning back to look down at her. She looked at him with a mixture of pain and fear he didn’t want to see. He was only protecting her. “Let him go…please.”

Kyrie did what she wanted, dropping the human a full arm’s length away. The human stood and ran without looking back. He brought his hand close and held the finger with a sword in it out to Caprice. He pulled it out, handing the blade to Melody. Kyrie looked at her sadly, the human wasn’t actually in danger, he was going to scare him then drop him on a beach somewhere. He had a feeling she’d doubt him.

“I told you to cool it on the fake eating people bit,” Caprice said. Kyrie smiled, carefully pushing him. “Although I guess I did encourage it… a bit.”

“I wasn’t going to try that until you brought up how long since I’ve eaten,” Kyrie laughed. Melody seemed to relax at least. He brought his head down below the cliff until his eyes were level with her. “I’m sorry I scared you… Caprice taught me that humans handle events like that a lot differently than mers. I wouldn’t eat a human for real.”

“Have you ever?” she asked. Her voice was quiet, but she stepped forward. He shook his head. “Would you?” Shook his head again. “What about merfolk, have you eaten them?”

Kyrie felt his heart drop. He couldn’t lie to her. He nodded slowly. She narrowed her eyes, he wished he could see the details more clearly. She was so small he wanted to just keep her safe. She was less than half the size of his smallest finger, but she held so much power. She stepped forward again, if she stabbed him with that sword he’d take it. He didn’t want to be someone she feared. 

“Why did you do it?” she whispered.

“Mel don’t-” Caprice tried.

“Let him answer me.” She glared at him before turning back to look at Kyrie. Her face was emotionless. “Why?”

“...it’s how things go. We don’t like doing it, but sometimes someone is too determined to hurt us so it’s the only choice.”

“Who’s us?”

“Byssal,” Caprice chimed in again. “The two of them are the biggest of our pod, but Byss is a lot smaller than Kyrie, it’s what happens sometimes. It’s normal for it to happen with merfolk. They don’t do it to anyone innocent.”

“What do you mean innocent?” Melody’s eyes were locked on Kyrie’s.

“He means ones who aren’t bothering us. When I was smaller a lot of others tried to kill me. Byss did what he could, but sometimes it was the only option. Now bigger ones show up because our pod has three skilled with magic and me.”

She stepped forward and placed one of her hands on his face. She stared into his eyes as if she was reading his soul. It only took a few more moments for the dead look to change to a smile. She moved her hand back and forth petting his skin.

“Thank you for saving me and keeping Caprice safe. I-I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier…” she looked behind her “both of you. I just didn’t want you getting caught up in what I’d been. I knew if he saw you he’d want at the very least Caprice killed or captured.”

She stepped away and kept a warm smile. If Kyrie hadn’t already felt a pull he’d want to make sure he kept that smile in his life. It was something he never could have expected to see directed at him. He wanted to find a way to make her feel this too. He wanted to speak, but she had already turned away. She took the sword in hand and used it to cut the gown freeing her legs. Then she stabbed it through the cloth near her hip.

“I’ll be going now. Thank you again for saving me. I hope I’ll see you both again someday,” she announced. Kyrie widened his eyes, he didn’t know how to stop her. Caprice blocked her path instead.

“Mel, I didn’t just come here to finally tell you I was alive. It took a while to find a place once I told them about you, but we found somewhere for all of us to live. Pelago helped me to cast spells to head into towns and get the supplies we’d need. Kyrie and Byssal helped build the home too. You can come stay with us,” he said. Kyrie was desperately hoping she’d agree to this. She laughed bitterly.

“Cap, I’m not like you. I can’t turn into a merfolk and breathe underwater. It’s best if I just find somewhere to go on my own. Don’t destroy the life you built trying to fit me into it.” She started to walk away, pushing past him. Kyrie brought his hand up to block her from leaving.

“Melody, Caprice is in our pod so you are too. You don’t have to go off on your own.” He felt selfish like this. Stopping her wasn’t for Caprice, it was because he wanted her to stay. She started shaking, regret for stopping her started to overwhelm him.

“Why?” Kyrie almost missed it. Her voice was too quiet, but she looked at him with tears. “Why!? They’re going to hunt me down. So will the duke. It’s better if I go now so you’ll all live. Don’t give me reasons to survive anymore!”

“Mel…” Caprice walked up to her and grabbed her shoulders. “Mel, we’re good at hiding. Pelago is probably the best in the ocean with magic. Byssal and Kyrie can be terrifying. Please, stop giving things up for other people.”

Kyrie was panicking. He couldn’t imagine her leaving, but he couldn’t stop her either. She started to cry again before nodding her head. Caprice looked over at him and gave him a thumbs up before pulling Melody into a hug. He picked them both up carefully, the gasp from her a bit concerning. He dropped them in his palm before holding it tight to his chest and starting on the trip. It was significantly faster to swim on his own than having Caprice swim alongside him.

He had to stay above water which slowed him down a bit, but their home came into view soon enough. A cave that faced open water. Inside they’d built up a house that Caprice specified for him and Melody. He never adjusted to being a mer completely. He slowed as he swam in, Byssal and Pelago looking at him worried. Pelago let out a chirp, but before she could ask he set the two down on the dry land.

Melody looked around with a mixture of awe and fear. Kyrie was nervous for her to meet Byssal. Pelago was almost their size and warm, but Byss could seem cruel. Melody seemed to freeze when she locked eyes with Byssal. Slowly she shifted her gaze to Pelago before looking at her skirt and blushing. She grabbed the edges of the torn clothes and held them out to her side bowing a bit.

“H-Hello my lord and lady, I apologize for my appearance. I had not been intending to meet anyone after the events of this evening,” she said. Her voice seemed to shake a bit. “I am Melody, I am…was the adopted daughter of the Duke of Harmona until this evening. I thank you for taking in my brother after he’d been unjustly punished.”

“You’re so cute,” Pelago said. She pulled herself out of the water and was fussing over Melody’s hair quickly. “Humans have such soft hair. Caprice has it too. It’s wonderful to meet you, Melody. Caprice has told us a lot about you, I hope you’re happy here with us. Of course if you need to go out to a human village we can take you there. Byssal is a bit better to ask than Kyrie though. The big pup sticks out more than blood with sharks.”

Byssal made a small sound that was close enough to a growl Kyrie worried Melody would misunderstand. She looked up at Byss, like she needed his approval for something. He wanted to calm her, but didn’t have the words. Byssal moved so he was closer to her and set a finger on her head before rubbing it back and forth. He loved to give head pats, he did it to Caprice in his human form all the time.

“Don’t be afraid to ask,” he murmured. Melody nodded, Kyrie swore she was hiding a smile as she tilted her head down. Pelago started talking about all the things they gathered for her and Byssal backed off to watch silently. Eventually Melody gave him a look, he offered a close mouthed smile.

“Welcome home,” he mouthed. She gave him another one of the smiles from the cliff. He would do everything to get close to her, as long as he could see that smile he’d be happy even if it wasn’t for him.

[awkwardgtace]

Finding The Old Songs

day 31 free space. TBH Had a few ideas for this day. I finally settled on continuing the merpeople day so more Kyrie and Melody as he's getting bigger. There's some pretty dark themes mentioned here.

Finding The Old Songs

Byssal spent most of the next few days and nights going between Kyrie’s current den and their hunting grounds. He’d gotten far more than needed, at least he hoped he did. He dropped the most recent haul of fish down, careful of his own hands. He didn’t want to take the risk that he’d be grabbed again. He froze as the last fish fell in and he heard a quiet whimper.

“Tides above,” he seethed. 

He dove in and found a mer about half his height curled in the corner. They looked up at him in fear. Byssal looked around, the fish had landed all over the cave, with Kyrie off to the side. His massive tail was creating small currents as it moved. He was blocking the smaller entrance and kept an arm near the mer. They started to chirp more frantically. Byssal silenced them with a single motion. Kyrie’s chest heaved, but he stayed asleep.

Byssal swam close to the mer and inspected them. Their arm was bleeding, that couldn’t be a good sign. He grabbed their hand and started to bring them out from Kyrie’s shadow. He froze as the form around him shifted. Kyrie had already gotten a bit bigger, but he shouldn’t be growing anymore. He was bigger than any other deep sea mer. 

“No, no, no,” the other mer whimpered. 

Byssal didn’t know how to react to their cries. They should be safe. His faith in the guppy he raised fell as his tail was grabbed by sharp teeth. He couldn’t bring himself to move even as the large tongue tasted his tail. The strange feeling made him twitch. He gave an experimental tug, but the teeth holding him didn’t budge. He heard an annoyed chirp from the mer holding him hostage.

“Not food,” Kyrie grumbled as he let Byssal go. 

Byssal swam back down to the other and took shelter. He wasn’t sure it would be best to immediately run. He put himself between them and Kyrie, at least he’d be able to do something. He just watched as the now impossibly big pup seemed to grope around in the cave, as if he couldn’t see. His eyes widened when one of the pup’s hands found a cropping of fish and picked from it carefully. Even when shoved in his mouth Kyrie seemed to be carefully tasting each one.

Byssal pushed his curiosity aside and grabbed the other mer. He had to hope that the fish would keep Kyrie distracted from the scent of blood. His hopes were dashed again when the mer was pressed against his side as a large hand grabbed them. Both he and the other mer were pulled down and held in front of Kyrie’s face. The empty eyes watching them felt terrifying. 

Kyrie pulled the other mer free from his hand. Byssal squirmed, but he was held too tightly. He knew he could try a spell, but he couldn’t bring himself to hurt the pup he raised. Kyrie brought the other one up to his face and started to smell them. He moved his hand almost too quickly, freeing their injured arm. Byssal watched as Kyrie brought them even closer and licked them. He was stunned as the wound closed in front of his eyes.

“Safe,” Kyrie said. His eyes still looked empty as he finally brought both his hands up to the opening. First he pushed Byssal through, then the other mer. Before they could run off Byssal grabbed them. He watched from above seeing even more care as Kyrie was grabbing fish one by one. He shouldn’t be this hungry.

“Why were you even in there?” he asked the other. They were trying to pull free, but he just glared at them.

“I needed a place to hide. There was an opening down at the sea floor. I-I just thought I’d be safe. Then that monster grabbed me and kept me trapped. I-I,” they couldn’t speak anymore. 

Byssal let them go and stared down at his pup again. Kyrie was devouring all the fish, but without a second of frenzy. Even the deep sea mers he’d spoken to said they had blind frenzies during growth periods. Those weirdly empty eyes turned up to face him and he flinched. There was something different in them. He shook off the feeling and left Kyrie behind.

Byssal went off to find the only siren nest he’d heard about that was left untouched. He couldn’t wait for this growth period to end before starting his search. He had to rely on the rumors surrounding a strange cave system. He found the one, it had a strange scent wafting from the entrance. It seemed to stir something in him, but he ignored it. He dove into the ancient paths. He had to move quickly, if Kyrie kept growing he might break free.

Byssal swam through more and more strange tunnels. He hadn’t seen ones like this before. He found the first entrance that he couldn’t fit through and grimaced. He pressed his hand against the top preparing to try and dig his way through, but the wall felt odd. He followed the strange feeling of the wall to the ceiling. He pressed against it, lifting the stone and revealing a tunnel bigger than the biggest mers he knew existed. He nodded to himself before swimming into the darkness.

He flinched as the stone hiding the path closed behind him. He tried to dig his fingers beneath to lift it, but it wouldn’t budge. He knew he had no options and swam ahead. He kept a hand against the tunnel, a feeling that something could swallow him up encompassing him. The darkness felt like it would never end, his ability to see was getting worse. He knew he wasn’t meant to be in the darkest depths, but this darkness was different.

The wall started to change again as he continued forward. He paused, trying to figure out what felt off. He ran his hands back and forth shuddering as the feeling clicked in his mind. The grooves felt like scales. The idea of something making a tunnel this big pushed him to pick up his pace. The tunnel widened more as he made his way through. The strange feeling of scales getting worse. Once the lighter waters came to view he dashed out, relieved to escape the strange tunnel.

Byssal turned around and swam back slowly. He wanted to see the outside of the path he took. His blood ran cold as he saw the remains of gigantic tails resting against the exit. For however long it felt like scales, he was moving between behemoth sized fins. He swam further back, some instinct he never knew existed made him feel worse. There were massive skeletons attached to the dead tails, bigger than any mer he’d ever seen. He bumped into something and cut his arm, turning in shock. A sharp tooth the length of his arm was behind him.

“What the…” he murmured. He swam around the sharp teeth to get a better look at the scales. His eyes widened as he found a spot with clearer light shining along the reflective surface. “These are like Kyrie’s…”

Byssal dug his fingers under the old scale and pulled one off. The feel was like the ones Kyrie shed as a pup. He dropped it, that was a problem for later. Byssal swam away from the remains of the giant mers and started to look for a way down. A shadow passed above him and he froze staring up. The form didn’t look familiar, it had to be a new human thing. He stayed frozen until the shadow was gone.

Byssal shook off the feeling of dread that had nestled itself in his gut and swam down. The sirens always kept their nests close to the sea floor. There had been a time humans would kidnap the young for their voices. He had to find openings throughout the large tails. They almost acted like a barricade. He felt worse as he found teeth marks on bones through his path.

After what felt long enough for the tides to change he made it to the ground. The place was as bright as a coral reef, something that shouldn’t happen as deep as they were. There wasn’t damage from the time of attacks in this nest. He felt like he’d invaded someone’s home.

“The sea should have been kinder to you,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I can’t leave your nest in peace.”

Before he could do anything the shadow was over him again. He turned to face it only to have something smothering him. He panicked, casting a spell on himself that should have shocked the thing. It didn’t do anything. He didn’t want to die from some overgrown fish. Something warm and strange ran over him before he was suddenly in open water.

“Sorry little mer,” a loud feminine voice said. He shivered, he’d never heard anything quite so loud before. Slowly he looked up, finding a mouth moving away from him. Eventually empty eyes were staring down at where he had been left. “I couldn’t tell if you were another stray fish to wander in.”

“What are you?” he breathed. He swam back as the water around him moved. A hand blocked his path, he was miniscule compared to it. He stared into the eyes, the clouded color faintly familiar. The hand forced him up to their face. Those teeth were impossibly large. This thing couldn’t leave the bite marks he’d found on his way down. He reached for the cut on his arm, blood would only make him seem more like prey. It was gone.

“Do you speak?” Her voice was louder now and he shuddered. “I suppose it is about time…”

“What are you?” He was panicking. He didn’t think he wanted to be here for whatever she meant.

“Hmm? The ocean hasn’t told you? I suppose it’s not you then. Leave, little one.” 

Byssal was thrown back as the humongous mer moved. It was like the currents he’d found as a pup a long time ago. He was sure he’d be swept away and lost far from his goal. The other merely shifted to lay on her back again. The hand he’d been supported by disappeared, sending him straight back towards the tunnel. He had to swim with all his strength not to be sent careening to the odd darkness.

“Wait!” He shouted. The shadow from before appeared overhead. He could see now the thing he’d assumed was part of the nest’s wall was the mer’s arm. He swam over to the other and stayed just above her face. He wasn’t sure she’d hear him at this distance. Cloudy eyes didn’t even spare him a look. “What are you?”

“I thought I’d sent you off, little one,” she sighed. The way the water left her gills made the current around them move. He was facing a force of nature, she could be the ocean’s spirit embodied. “You don’t need to know anything about me, I am merely a guardian of this place. Leave.”

“I’m not leaving, this is a siren’s nest right?” he asked. 

The cloudy eyes still didn’t look at him, he felt like a river fish in the ocean for the first time. She moved faster than her size would suggest. Gripping him in a hand that could and did hide him entirely. He saw nothing, but the dark flesh around him. He felt more than heard her growl, it shook his bones.

“So you’re here for something after all,” her voice was louder than before. He didn’t realize she’d been speaking softly. She growled again and he started to struggle. He tried to think of a spell he could use, but most of what he needed had been spent hunting. “I will keep this place safe, you won’t destroy it.”

“I need something from here!” he cried out. He couldn’t tell what was happening around him. There was nothing, but the fingers holding him tightly. “If this is a siren’s nest I have something to find!”

“This isn’t any nest, it’s the nest. Where young sirens came to learn. I won’t let you destroy it or steal from it. No matter what it takes to stop you.”

The fingers around him tightened. His chest was heaving, he never expected to feel trapped like this. Hand’s maybe half his size were ones he prepared for, not ones that held him so entirely. He started thrashing, but the fingers holding him didn’t budge. He almost thought he felt water move around him, he realized he was right when the fingers opened before sharp teeth.

“I need it for a siren!” he shouted as loud as he could. He knew it would be pointless, whoever this was had taken over the siren’s nest as her own. The mouth before him closed and those eyes still wouldn’t look at him. He was pulled up and he felt the water pulled toward her as she checked his scent.

“It’s faint… I can smell it slightly. Who is this siren?” she asked. Her voice was still too loud. She let him go, but grabbed his sides between two claws after. They were the same dark green Kyrie’s had become.

“I’m not giving you information on her.” Byssal bared his fangs. He may not be a danger to this monster, but he wasn’t going to lead her to Melody. He wouldn’t let her or Caprice die.

“Her… now things make sense. The ocean can’t feel her though. I should have known when the time changed.”

The mer let him go and returned to laying on her back. He stared down at her, blue hair similar to Kyrie’s new color. He spun around, the massive tail had scales like his too. At least from the parts he could see. He shivered, the image of this mer moving more than she already had was something he never wanted to see. She shut her eyes as she seemed to think.

“What do you mean things make sense?” he asked. The cloudy eyes stayed shut, he was getting curious how she seemed to know exactly where he was.

“The ocean can’t feel sirens anymore. Not since she had to send them away.” The mer opened her eyes again, they looked different, almost glowing. “You said she… the siren is a woman?”

“Does it matter? I won’t take you to her!” He growled, the gigantic mer laughed around him. He almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing, or hearing. 

“I don’t need to go to her, you’ll bring her what she needs.” 

She moved quickly again, this time shifting more than she had yet. She left the ground she’d been relaxed on and Byssal saw what he feared. The massive tail left the ground as she started to swim up. It was terrifying as the whole ocean seemed to move with her. Her tail moved and he was pulled with the current. He tried desperately to stay steady as the tail flicked forward and back.

Byssal couldn’t keep himself steady. He was thrown into the skeletal remains behind them. He hadn’t realized just how high the mer had pulled him. She didn’t even seem to notice what she did. If she did she didn’t care. The current continued to try to pull him from where he’d managed to hide. He squeezed his eyes shut, the water was more violent than the worst of the storms he’d weathered.

“You’ll have an easier time now, bring anything you take back,” her voice echoed around him more. He slipped his eyes open and looked around, he couldn’t see anything of the impossible mer anymore. He did see an easier path back to the bottom of the nest. A shadow passed over him, he flinched before looking above. She’d moved over the cave system he’d entered through.

Byssal nodded before finally swimming down to the nest. He didn’t see anything obvious, but that was the weird part. After the way the current was from the other mer this place should be a mess. He started to search through each carved out den he could squeeze into. Nothing special besides some kelp or seaweed, maybe even moss from the surface on the ground. Byssal was losing hope in finding a way to teach Melody the old songs. 

“There’s a deeper spot, you’ve missed it so far,” she chuckled. He turned to look at her and she wasn’t even facing him. 

“How do you even know where I checked?” he yelled. The cloudy eyes were looking past him in only a moment.

“I can feel the way the ocean changes as you move. I can feel how the water flows in the cavern you’re missing. It’s the way I see. I learned it quickly once I’d been left on my own.”

Byssal had been telling himself that her eyes were because she shouldn’t have been this high in the sea. Knowing he was wrong, that she received the same treatment as Kyrie, made him angry. Abandoned for the sizes they thought she could reach, although she’d definitely grown larger than anyone would guess. Giving up a blind mer no matter the size was unbelievable. They were more in tune with the current, they kept their pods safe. 

“So you pity me?” she said. Her voice had a tone of annoyance.

“No, shocked that anyone would abandon you. The way you feel currents, it’s usually coveted,” he said. He heard her gasp, the smile of the huge face staring at him was almost reassuring. The large teeth were still intimidating. He briefly understood just why the two humans acted with so much fear usually. He turned to search for the cavern she mentioned. “It’s where I usually rest. The way out is there too.”

Byssal listened, swimming to the spot that once held the mer. It felt like a trap, easy enough for her to keep him without lies though. She didn’t move and he did find a cavern. It was bigger than he knew sirens were able to be. He placed a hand on the edge, shivering at the feeling of scales. He took a moment to float there, unsure if he was being led to her young. He dug his claws into the scales and swam forward. There was no option, he wasn’t getting out of this if she tricked him.

The strange tunnel slowly let out into a large cavern. He never would have expected something like this in a nest. It went down deeper in the water, as deep as the trenches he and Pelago had visited. He shivered as the temperature dropped. When he neared the bottom he found spots that looked big enough to hold someone his size. The way the rocks sat, it was clear they’d trap him with just enough room to reach out one of his arms. He picked up his speed.

At the bottom was what appeared to be an altar. There were stone slabs leaning against some sort of podium encircling it. Each had some strange script he couldn’t read. He slowly approached one and the current seemed to grow fierce. As he forced himself closer, the current started to die. Then, as if the ocean itself wanted him to grab them, the current reversed and all the tablets moved. He barely caught them as they were thrown by the water.

Byssal held them tightly as he swam back up. He tried to read the tablets, but the text just seemed to swim in front of his eyes. He had to hope this was what he needed and kept swimming. The opening of the tunnel appeared and he almost lost the tablets as a current pulled him out. He tried to control himself, but he couldn’t avoid being dragged out and right into the grip of the other mer again.

“You bring them back or I’ll find you, they belong here,” she growled. Her voice was loud again, making him flinch. 

“How long do I have?” he asked.

“Until the siren no longer needs them.”

Byssal almost screamed as she started to move with him. The way the water moved while in her hand felt wrong. He almost wanted to try and swim out, but the current around him would just throw him to the floor. The huge fingers curled over him. He couldn’t fathom what made her do that until the water around him was gone. It pulled him down with it, he would have left with it if she didn’t grab him.

The air whooshed past him as the massive arm moved. He was dropped just a bit above the water. He fell down, looking back to where he expected the huge face. All he could see was her arm going back down to the water. He stared at the rock, it was high enough no one would be able to jump over it. He understood then, leaving without a word.

“Good luck, little one,” her voice was just a whisper as he swam off. He smiled a bit, he had to reach Melody next.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Melody stayed inside while Pelago sat near the edge of the cliff. She had been waiting for Byssal. He hadn’t shown up in days and he promised he would check in. Pelago said he was going to hunt farther out to protect their usual hunting grounds. Melody knew it was a lie, she could see the fear in her eyes. She took a deep breath before sliding open the glass door..

“Pelago, has there been any sign of him?” she asked. Pelago jumped, Melody took a seat next to her on the cliff. It was terrifying to be out here, but she didn’t want to make Pelago wait alone.

“Melody, let’s go back inside. I hadn’t realized how long I was out here,” Pelago said. Melody leaned against the human form mermaid. Pelago started to stand, but she grabbed her hand and made the woman freeze.

“We should wait a bit longer…Pel.” Melody bit her lip, she knew the others called her that. She hoped it was ok that she did too. The hand she held was pulled away and she knew she had overstepped. She opened her mouth to apologize, but slim arms wrapped around her.

“Thank you Melody. Just a few more minutes, then you can show me more of those show things.”

Melody nodded and leaned into the hug. Pel was more supportive than anyone else she had ever met. Even her own parents were reluctant to be near her. She’d lied to herself for years, but there was a reason only Caprice came to see her. Her voice terrified them, what she could cause in their lives terrified them more. She knew they blamed her for a lot of things, especially Caprice. The arms around her tightened.

“What’s wrong guppy, you’re crying,” Pel asked. Melody shook her head. 

“Nothing, just thinking about things. I hope Byssal comes back soon.” Pel rubbed her arm.

“You know, he’d be happy if you called him Byss.” Melody jumped and Pel started to laugh.

“I don’t… I can’t I mean…” Melody looked away and tried to pull away too. She couldn’t call him that. 

“Just think about it.”

Melody gave a shy nod and leaned back into Pelago. The two sat and stared over the water. She kept picturing a head of blue hair popping up and grabbing them both. She knew Pel would wait inside if she asked, but she couldn’t do that to her. She didn’t like being in the house either. Every noise she heard made her think claws were about to tear her home apart. She used to think the noises were him coming to check on her.

She tensed as the water changed. She had grown used to the sight, a merfolk was going to appear. She tried to hide her fear, it could be Byssal, it had to be Byssal. Green began to crest the water and she could feel her fear disappear. It was him and he was alive. Pel kept saying Byssal would be safe, but even she relaxed as he appeared.

The huge merman seemed different. He acted almost scared. He finally looked at them and for a solid minute he seemed ready to run. She didn’t know what could be making him act like this and it was more terrifying. She carefully pulled Pel’s arms off her. They should just leave. Byssal finally reached them and dropped strange stones behind them. She turned to watch them, a strange sound from them.

“Byss, are you alright?” Pel asked. Melody knew she stood up, but the noise of the stones kept her focus. She climbed to her feet.

“Pel, I’m fine. Things were… odd. I don’t think Kyrie is,” Byssal said. 

She stopped hearing him as the noise of the stones grew louder. She stepped towards them, she couldn’t make the sound stop. There was something about the sound that felt almost familiar. She stepped forward again. She thought she heard her name but the stones grew louder. She had to be near them. Something shadowed them, but a dome of water appeared protecting her and the stones. There might have been a shout, but that wasn’t important.

She took another step, the stones almost sounded like they were speaking. She shook her head, it wasn’t speaking they were singing. She took the last step, finally standing in front of them. They were huge compared to her, but they started to shrink down. They stopped at nearly her height. There was something on them, it looked like music notes. Something about them was wrong, other than the fact they were moving.

Melody reached a hand out to them and the swimming on the stones stopped. While it was still she could read what was there. Songs she felt like she knew, notes she’s written all her life. She didn’t think before she touched them and the music only grew louder. She didn’t feel in control of herself as her mouth started to move on its own. She started singing. It didn’t feel like it was her voice.

She was somewhat aware of the large hand landing near her. She didn’t care, she moved to the next stone. A new set of notes and a new song she felt as though she already knew. She sang this one more consciously. She had to sing, she had to know the songs. There was a slam of something huge and a shout she knew should worry her. She didn’t care.

This song, it wasn’t done, parts were missing. She had to leave it and go to the next. She kept moving from song to song with a slam behind her. It always seemed as though she were a second away from being a part of that slam. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but the songs were ending. She felt like she had to find the right ending. As her voice began to taper, fingers wrapped around her. She screamed as she was pulled from the tablet.

“By-Byssal?!” Melody cried. Byssal’s eyes were glazed over like he wasn’t actually conscious. He growled and the hand she was in tightened. “What’s going on?”

“Melody!” Pelago shouted. She turned to the mermaid, finding her held firmly under a hand. Byssal could crush her like this. He could crush both of them. “Byss let her go! Whatever was happening, it's over now!”

Melody tried to get Byssal to loosen his grip, but his fingers wouldn’t budge. She froze in her struggles as something huge started to come up behind the entranced merman. Empty eyes appeared as Byssal’s grip tightened around her. 

“Enough,” the deep voice growled out. She knew that voice, at least she used to. Kyrie was big, too big. He was even bigger than when she last saw him. One of his hands seemed almost as long as Byssal. He grabbed the arm holding Pel and pulled it back. Byssal growled, but didn’t let Melody go.

“Kyrie, don’t!” Melody yelled. 

The empty eyes locked onto her and he released the arm he was holding. He reached for the other with another growl escaping him. Once he grabbed it he pulled the arm down to the ground and held it steady. He reached forward with the other hand. The shadow made her shiver as she tried to think of an escape.

“Byss, Kyrie, you need to stop!” Pelago yelled. “Let her go! What’s wrong with both of you!?”

Kyrie’s claws dug into Byssal’s fingers. She heard Pel scream again. All of this was awful, all of it was her fault. She dug her own fingers into Byssal’s skin. She opened her mouth to call out to them, but the sound of the stones distracted her. The unfinished song played in her head.

“How do I make this stop!?” she shouted. The only one who could answer was Pelago and they both knew there was nothing. 

“Keep singing…” something said. It sounded close to her mother and reminded her of the night she learned about her voice. The world seemed to freeze as more of the songs from the stones played in her mind. 

“What the fuck would singing do now!? All it’s done is ruin my life and the lives of the people around me!” 

She thought she heard people call her name, but that didn’t matter. If she never chose to sing, Caprice would never have been hurt. He would have been an athlete. Kyrie wouldn’t be willing to hurt his family to get to her. Pelago wouldn’t be watching the people she cares about hurt each other. Byssal wouldn’t be about to do something she knew he’d regret. 

“Sing… Sing…Sing…Sing…Sing…Sing…Sing… Sing…Sing…Sing…Sing…Sing…” 

More voices chanted in her mind. Suddenly she wasn’t being held in a tight grip, but standing at a podium. Walls towered around her that seemed to go on endlessly. She could barely see the silhouettes of people lining them. All she could hear was the sound of chanting. Dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of voices in unison.

Melody covered her ears and shut her eyes, but the chanting grew louder. She fell to her knees searching for help. All she found were the two who’d been tormenting her locked away in stone cages. They reached out for her, their claws just inches away. Her body ached with the feeling of something crushing her. The scent of blood flooded her senses. The cacophony of voices grew louder demanding she sing.

“What would that do!?” she cried again. She thought she heard Pelago screaming her brother’s name in the midst of the chanting. The demands for her to sing grew even louder. 

“Mel! Let her go!” Caprice’s voice called. He can’t see what’s been happening. She needed to stop this. He appeared in this strange place she was in, getting grabbed by one of the mermen. She stared in horror as his face began to contort in pain.

“Stop!” 

“Sing or they die,” someone whispered. She looked for the speaker, and met only with the stones from before. She curled in on herself as the strange songs grew to match the chanting.

Her heart was racing. The eyes of the people surrounding her began to glow. The chanting picked up speed and volume. All demanded she sing. She didn’t want to, she was tired of what it caused. As Caprice screamed and a cry from Pelago broke through the endless noise, she shattered. She opened her mouth and slowly started to sing Slowly, she let her voice go louder.. She was putting her entire soul into the melodies. Begging for something to save them from this. The endless walls disappeared and she returned to the reality of people she trusted crushing her.

She couldn’t stop singing once she’d started. Every song she’d left unfinished joined with the partial songs from the stones. It was like some secret part of her soul had opened. She heard the cacophony of voices join with her own. A symphony across time of the things she always somehow knew. She was set down on land as the two mermen came to their senses.

Byssal’s eyes were filled with horror and Kyrie’s with shame. She just kept singing. She felt arms wrap around her, Caprice’s voice in her ear. She couldn’t stop singing. Every note, each beat had to come from her. If she stopped she’d die, that much she was confident about. It wouldn’t be from the merfolk or humans. Something ancient would destroy her. She’d crumble to dust.

As the song reached its end, the unfinished melodies from the stone finished in her mind. She had to start each over now her voice was the only one. She swore it had been hours before she finally let her voice go quiet. She fell to her knees with her body in horrible pain. She sat in silence as whispers flooded her mind. 

Songs she never knew, but somehow always knew. Ways to defend herself, to control with her voice. She could guide others, send them away, do horrible things if she wished. She was a siren, she could do anything. The stories, legends, myths, history, everything connected to her. She was part of something more.

She looked around and for a moment, a single moment, she was in that strange place again. Surrounded by people she couldn’t make out, glowing eyes staring at her. After a few seconds, glowing smiles joined the eyes. Every silhouette dove at her revealing a flash of color on their forms. As each one reached her they seemed to fade into her. She never realized she’d been missing something until that very moment.

“Melody…” Kyrie’s voice was still deep and strange. He looked at her like she was fragile, she had been. Not anymore, not now. The terror she felt that day would never come back. He’d never be able to do that to her again. “I…”

“The fuck have you all been doing to her!?” Caprice yelled. She looked at him, but he felt different. It was like she couldn’t reach him anymore. He grabbed behind her and lifted up her hair. It had grown longer. “Her hair doesn’t even feel like normal hair. What were you doing holding her like that!? Growling at her? Why the fuck are you even here?! I left because you said you wouldn’t be coming here and you fucking did this!?”

“Cap,” she whispered. Her voice was hoarse for the first time in her life. Each set of eyes locked on her. She wanted to cry, there was fear in the eyes of Pelago and Byssal. It reminded her of her parents after that night. She was losing everything again, taking things from Caprice. Her voice would always be a curse.

“Caprice, we didn’t…” Pel started. Melody hated the look of fear in her eyes.

“I grew… I lost,” Kyrie had to pause for the word. “I lost control. Came here and…” 

He chirped as he struggled to find the words he needed. Byssal opened and closed his mouth, he didn’t have an explanation. Something in her seemed to break once that happened. She cried, but not a single noise escaped her. She finally lost her voice at the one time she desperately needed it. She wanted to go back to before all of this happened. 

“Melody…” Kyrie murmured. He picked up a hand to bring it near her, but stopped. It made her cry harder. 

Her voice could only cause pain. She hated it. Byssal raised his hands, but just stared at them. Pelago stopped looking at her, stopped looking at anyone. Everything was falling apart again. She destroyed everything by letting herself forget what she was. She had people who cared, a life she didn’t hate, could laugh again. Caprice even seemed happier than she’d seen him in years. She was ruining it all.

“Mel, why don’t we go inside?” Caprice whispered. He sounded scared too, she’d done this. She ruined everything. She kept trying to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out. 

“Caprice, I think-” Byssal started.

“Shut up, I don’t know what you’ve been doing to her, but it’s not continuing.” 

Caprice was doing it again, giving things up for her. He lost his dreams because of her. Now she was taking the people he actually felt understood him. The people who encouraged him to be himself. The seal on her voice shattered as her pain reached new heights. The silence was replaced by a piercing and shaky wail.

“I’m sorry!” she croaked. The small words started a flood she couldn’t stop. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I was singing. I won’t anymore, please don’t hate me Pel, Byss. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! Caprice I’m sorry, I did it again I’m so sorry. Kyrie I’m so sorry. I won’t again. Never again. I promise, please don’t go.”

She buried her face in her hands as her tears continued. Some part of her was terrified to see how they’d act. Caprice’s arms around her tightened, but she couldn’t make herself face him. She stiffened when she noticed the shadow over her, but didn’t do anything. She wasn’t scared anymore. Whatever happened she knew she could keep them safe. She could get them away.

She closed her eyes and tried to pull away from Caprice. She did need to get away, but to stop from doing anything worse. She just kept mumbling apologies, she had to make sure they knew it would never happen again. She gasped when two fingers pressed at her side. The feeling was almost electric and she leaned into it. They were from Kyrie, the only one who could dwarf her so easily.

“Little siren,” Pelago whispered. She was terrified of the horrible things she’d hear. “You shouldn’t be sorry, you didn’t do anything.”

Melody tensed. She hated when people lied about the damage she caused. Caprice had done it before, pretending he’d given up on his dreams for no reason. Her dad told her one night, drunk and angry that the closest to a son couldn’t be an athlete after everything. The huge fingers started to leave and a small whimper escaped. She couldn’t explain the relief when they pressed against her more firmly.

“Mel, you should lay down. Let’s go inside, it’s gonna be ok,” Caprice soothed. She shook her head, he was lying again. He always lied to protect her. He’d lost everything it was her fault and she did it again. He’d even started to like Kyrie before this. Talking about how maybe he wasn’t so bad. She made him seem dangerous, she was the problem. She started shaking, she had to fix this.

Melody had a new wave of tears as Caprice’s arms left her. He’d finally stop lying for her. He’d say the truth. Fingers wrapped around her, ones that had just been about to crush her. Byssal lifted her off the ground with more care than she felt she deserved. She almost made him do something he’d never forgive himself for. He almost hurt Pel…

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Byssal set her in his palm, but she just curled up more. She didn’t want to see fear anymore, she was tired of seeing people she wanted to be close to so afraid. “I’m so sorry. I won’t sing again. I’m sorry.”

“Melody,” Byssal said. His voice sounded strained. She felt awful, he probably wanted to kill her for what she’d done. “I… I never meant to hurt you. I had brought the tablets to help you and then I… Don’t apologize to us.”

She looked up at him, he had tears in his eyes. Somehow he felt like someone who would never cry. He started shaking as he lifted his other hand up. She leaned against the fingers curled around her to try and keep her balance. She gasped as shadows were cast over her. A larger hand had grabbed the one holding her, steadying it. She watched Kyrie’s huge form move to look into Byssal’s face.

“I don’t… I almost… I,” Byssal’s voice was full of pain. She didn’t want him to be so upset. She’d been the reason anything happened. She couldn’t find the words to say, sorry wasn’t enough. ”You and Pel I…”

“Byss, it’s fi-” Pelago tried.

“It’s not! I almost killed you both!”

Byssal had shouted this time, she had to cover her ears from the noise. His hand moved quickly and she was left behind. A scream caught in her throat for the second she was in the air. She landed on another hand, the skin warmer than she was used to. She stared up past the claws finding terrified eyes staring back at her. She was almost scared to move, like he’d run away once she did.

“Kyrie let go,” Byssal grumbled. She watched him shake his head. He slowly moved his hand back to the ground. The deep green claws disappeared as his hand stopped. He stopped looking at her, but she didn’t move.

“No running,” Kyrie murmured.

“Byssal you oversized tuna!” Pelago shouted. Melody flinched, smiling as the hand she sat on flinched too. She looked over at Pelago, Caprice had already gone to check on her. She had some bruising where her skin met her scales. “Were you going to run again!? I don’t know what just happened but you weren’t you! You had that same look that others get when they’re under a spell. Kyrie, you were protecting her and me. Don’t you go running either.”

Melody finally started to move. She should leave so they can talk about things. Then she’d just go back to staying inside. Caprice could keep going with them. It would be fine. An angry chirp from the mermaid froze her on the palm holding her. Kyrie curled his fingers over her a bit, but quickly flattened them again.

“Melody, we’re just as lost as you are on what happens with sirens. Those things did something to you. Byss, that mer you talked about. I think we need to talk to her.” 

As much as Melody wanted to argue, the stones started again. Images flashed in her mind as the songs played. Things that didn’t make sense. Something important. Hands were on her shoulders as she blinked away the images. She had to go wherever those things wanted her to be. She had something to do.

“Mel?” Caprice asked. She looked in his eyes, he’d hate what she had to say.

“She’s right… I think we all have to go,” Melody whispered.