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cockatrice-writers-guild · 1 year

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this takes place in the space au

warnings: swearing, fear

word count: around 4.8k

taglist: @autism-alley , @awkwardgtace , @tripodcat-gt

T-minus 10

“Could I ask you something, big guy?”

“Sure.”

“Are there other ways you hold the planet? It can’t always just be in your hands, right? That has to get tiring.”

“…well, sometimes I kinda…cup the planet to my chest. Like when I lay down. …or just…I don’t know…whenever.”

“Dear God, you are touch starved.”

“…touch starved?”

“Mmm...it means you crave physical affection.”

“Touch…,” I can sense the wistfulness in his voice. “I’ve seen the way some humans hold each other…I think it’s called a hug? And just…I don’t know, getting lost in someone’s arms for a while…it seems…really nice. I just…I wish there was some way for me to hug you, Mia, but…well, you know.”

“...maybe there is.”

“…what do you mean?”

Lift off.

There’s a giant that lives up in the cosmos who holds the world to prevent it from freezing over now that the sun’s dead. It's literally something out of a children’s story but the scientists have been working on this long enough to know that somehow, impossibly, it’s still the truth.

Weirder still is that this giant never asked for anything in return.

Until, that is, when a particularly tired intern got the shit scared out of them when the massive cosmic entity known as Jax popped into their head to quietly ask them if it would be okay to send their cranky janitor to space. And once the higher ups got word of it, they knew it was probably for the best not to say no to the giant who literally held the entire planet in his hands and started on it right away.

Of course, they could have said no. Jax knew that. I knew that. They didn’t know that. I guess they were just happy Jax hadn’t started asking for human sacrifices or something.

So that’s how I ended up here.

I’m in a ship and a bulky suit, watching the sky turn darker and darker as I leave the Earth’s atmosphere. The constant shake rattling through the ship is horrible and the jolt of the engine separating from the rocket is even worse. The ship stops shaking soon after but gradually, I can feel the sheer weight of gravity pushing me deeper and deeper into my seat as the vessel tries to escape the Earth’s pull. It’s almost agonizing in its intensity, the sounds and sights and feelings all working together to turn my body and brain effectively to mush but then finally, finally

the engines shut off and I’m left sitting there in the dead silence that follows, still so stunned from the trip that it takes a few moments too long to even bring myself to move.

And that was the easy part.

My legs feel like jello and both my back and neck feel stiff but still I wrestle my way out of the chair to go look out the window.

And the first thing I see is the Earth, an impossible sight of blues and greens and yellows all condensed and mixing together, masses of huge storm clouds passing over continents. The backdrop of stars and darkness make it almost glow.

And then I see something else.

Something that just about makes my heart stop beating.

As the Earth slowly, very slowly, gets farther and farther away, I can see that it’s not suspended in the star filled void of space like it’s supposed to be. Instead,

something

something so huge I can’t see where it begins or where it ends, something so huge my brain can’t even fully comprehend what I’m looking at,

something rests just below the planet, cupping it, holding it up in the cosmos

something flesh coloured

something warm

I’ve seen this before, when Jax projected himself into my head or…whatever the hell he did to me but seeing it here, now

It’s too much

It’s genuinely too much

And as the Earth gets smaller and the flesh surrounding it remains the same endless expanse, I find it harder and harder to stay calm.

My brain is screaming, screaming at me to get away but I can’t breathe and

instead I choke on my own spit, staring at the view as my breaths get harder and harder to control until I finally manage to turn around, pressing my back to the cool glass and instead focusing on the dull interior of the shuttle as I try to get my breathing back under control. I’m starting to sweat again and the insulation the suit provides isn’t helping. I try to take in every single detail of the room I’m trapped in, the grooves in the seats and the dull walls, the fluorescent lights and the panels and panels of buttons lining the main console, the screens and the sensors and very very distant hum of fans and other machinery quietly working away to keep me alive.

The constant beating in my chest as it finally starts to slow

As my vision stops dancing in front of me

As my head gradually stops swimming

And then I hear it, a call so sudden it causes me to jump.

“…Mia?”

Jax.

Jax

A being so fucking huge that the world is nothing more than a marble to him. Of course, I’ve seen him so many times before in the sky, his huge face stretching across the horizon thanks to his sheer size, an eye larger than the Earth completely engulfing it when I want to show him something. Even when he holds an arm out so I can see him better, the concept of him holding the planet is still something I can’t even begin to register.

And now I don’t have a barrier to protect me.

It doesn’t take long before I can feel tears streaming down my face as I hug my arms close and then closer.

“…Mia?”

Quieter now.

I can’t stifle a sob in time and somehow, somehow, I know he hears it.

“…I…I’m sorry, M.” He sounds pained and my heart pangs even as I slowly lower myself to the ground.

My friend.

This cosmic fucking giant is my friend.

I guess on some level I just never fully thought about what I was dealing with.

Jax is a giant, one so goddamn huge that any space program that wants to send something out has to let him know in advance so that his damn fingertips don’t block their flight paths.

He’s not human. He’s never been human but

“…do you want to go home?”

He’s tentatively whispering in my head like we’re equals, asking me questions, asking me what I want to do. There’s genuine distress in his voice. He wanted this more than anything and yet I know he’d give it all up for me. He’s…

“…Jax?”

A lengthy pause on his end. Then

“…Mia?”

I take in a few more gulps of air, staring at my now empty chair before I speak again.

“…give me a moment. This is…a little hard for me to deal with right now.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am.”

“…alright.”

Some time passes in silence, me eventually starting to run a hand up and down the material of my suit to try and ground myself before Jax hesitantly speaks again.

“…I…actually, there…might be something I can do to help.”

I try to focus on his voice. “…and what’s that, big guy?”

“Just…just give me a moment.”

“Okay.”

More silence for a long long time before,

“…Mia?”

“…Jax?”

“Look out the window.”

“…what?”

“Trust me. Please.”

There’s something about his tone that cuts the tension. There’s desperation, yes. But now there’s something else too. Something that almost sounds like excitement.

I frown, staring down the empty room before finally breaking. Damn it, now I’m curious. And I did trust him at the end of the day.

I slowly uncurl myself from the floor and move to peek out the window. And I see

Jax

He’s…

Oh my God he’s so far away right now.

I don’t even know how far away he is but I know it must be a lot because I can fucking see him now

All of him

He looks like a regular human floating a short distance away from the glass. I can finally see his fucking clothes properly, some kind of weird flowing orange-purple crop top and a long flowing skirt to go with it. He tentatively waves when my eyes meet his because of course he can see when my fucking germ sized eyes meet his planet sized ones over the how many millions of miles he just marathoned in his quest to make me feel more comfortable.

And goddammit I can’t believe it’s working.

He’s just…he’s so fucking sweet. And God, the face he’s making right now is so cute if he wasn’t the size of a goddamn galaxy, I’d squish his cheeks.

A half smile slowly worms its way onto my face and after a moment, he seems to relax too.

“Are you alright?” I know his mouth doesn’t move when he talks to me like this since he’s projecting his voice directly into my head but it’s still trippy to see, especially like this.

“I…think so.”

He smiles. “So now what? Do you want to just…talk like this for a while before you go back?”

“Dude. I didn’t go through months of space training and being questioned by the feds to just talk to you.”

The man’s smile grows.

After dancing around the subject for a while, I finally bite the bullet and leave the room to go put on a space suit even bulkier than the one I’m currently in. Jax is a constant nervous chatter in my head as I check the suit over and over and I try my best to reassure him even as my own heart rate steadily rises at the mere thought of what’s about to happen.

And once I’m finally done looking the suit over and over desperately for anything I can use to stall for just a second longer, I give up and make my way to the airlock.

There’s a palpable tension in the air now. I know exactly what’s on the other side of those heavy metal doors and it takes a second to even make myself bring a hand up to the panel.

I take a slow breath in

And a slow breath out

and then I press down.

The doors open and it takes only a second for the lack of pressure to kick in before I’m all but shot out into the black void that yawns open in front of me.

It takes some time to get my bearings now that gravity’s moot and for a while, I just try to stop spinning by any means necessary. Means in this case being flapping my arms and legs around until the universe finally stops spinning. At some point I can even hear Jax start to chuckle quietly in my head and it does not help.

But once I’m finally able to place myself, I take some time to take in my surroundings. Because God, they are stunning. The black void of space completely engulfs everything around me. It’s full of stars and what has to be a few unfamiliar planets all hanging in the empty space, dotting the dark backdrop with a massive array of colour and light. It’s…beautiful. Ethereal.

Completely silent.

There’s something quietly unsettling about it all, the way it doesn’t seem to end, the way I’m the only visible living being for miles, the way the silence is so palpable it makes my ears ring. Beautiful, yes but uncaring, lifeless

Lonely.

…what Jax must go through every single day of his life.

I can feel his gaze on my back, one that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand and my latent survival instincts kick into overdrive.

The stare of a giant who holds the world.

And now there’s no magical barrier. No ship. No nothing.

It’s just me.

For a long time, I stare into the cosmos aimlessly until finally, a small whisper starts up in my head, the abruptness of it making me jump.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

I swallow, trying to find my voice. “…yeah, it is.”

There’s a long pause and I try to find something else to say to stop focusing on how hard my heart is beating.

“I…don’t recognize any of these planets. Never-,” I choke on my air for a moment but force myself to continue, “-never saw one with three rings around it like that.”

Jax is silent for a long moment.

“…Mia…you don’t have to-”

“Where are we?”

“…what?”

“I…I don’t recognize any of these planets so…where exactly are we, big guy?”

He’s quiet for a moment longer before “…I travel around, I guess. Your system is…well…it’s not habitable anymore so you guys just travel with me now.”

You guys

The entire population of Earth is just ‘you guys’ to him.

The idea is so inconceivably, horribly absurd to me that I almost burst out laughing, instead choking on my own spit as I forget to breathe for a few moments too long.

“…Mia?”

That voice in my head again, even quieter than before because, and the realization helps to ground me just a little, he’s hesitant, because he doesn’t want to scare me further or, God forbid, because my reaction actually scared him.

There’s something so undeniably human about the way Jax carries himself. In spite of his ridiculous size and the power he holds over billions of comparatively minuscule lives, he acts like a person. We’re all just ‘you guys’ to him. Equals, friends. Hell, I’m actually his friend. It’s insane. All of this in insane but-

after taking a few sharp inhales and trying to get my breathing back under control, I finally bring myself to start really looking around. Not for the scenery but for my gigantic friend.

And finally, I see him floating in the distance just as before, one of his hands cupped and the other hanging loosely at his side. I know what’s cupped in that hand but try not to think about it, instead focusing on the man himself. He doesn’t say anything but cocks his head slightly at me instead.

I quietly squeeze my hands before I speak again. “…so, how do you want to do this?”

“…you were having trouble breathing, M.”

There’s this deadness in his voice that makes me wince. I ignore him and try again, fighting to keep the shake out of my voice.

“How do you want to do this?”

“…I don’t think this is a good idea.”

We stare at each other for a long moment before I raise a hand and beckon him forward.

“You’re shaking, Mia.” He sounds close to tears, now visibly upset as he hangs in the dead of space.

“I’ll get over it.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Yes, I will.”

He looks like he wants to argue more but instead tries something else.

“I don’t want you to do something you don’t want to do.”

“That’s great, Jax, but I want to do this.”

He looks away.

“…Jeez dude, do you even want to do this?”

He nods slightly after a long moment.

“Then?”

“…I don’t want to make you panic again. …or you know…throw up.”

“THAT WAS A ONE TIME THING!”

Jax actually laughs a bit at that and I frown at him.

“You’re an ass, you know that? Now get over here.”

“Mmm.”

“Mmm?”

“…I don’t know…”

“Jax, I swear to God.”

He stares at me.

I stare at him.

After an unbearably long silence I just start swimming towards him and he almost immediately starts back peddling away from me frantically.

“YOU ARE AFRAID OF ME!” I yell as I keep up the pace.

“I’M AFRAID OF WHAT I CAN DO TO YOU!” he practically wails as his legs kick away from me. “IT’S NOT THE SAME!”

“IT MIGHT AS WELL BE, YOU DRAMA QUEEN! GET OVER HERE!”

I try to swim after him for a bit longer before he becomes little more than a speck in the distance and I stop to catch my breath with a sigh. Unfortunately, with that no longer my main focus, the creeping dread of space starts to get to me again. Beautiful and desolate. Completely silent.

…

My ears start to ring.

…

I only have a few small meals that were packed in case anything goes wrong. I’m not sure how much oxygen I have left but I know it’s not enough to live on.

Stranded.

The infinite darkness all around me, closing in.

Closing in.

“…JAX!”

My voice comes out a strangled cry and the pale dot in the distance immediately freezes. “Mia?” He sounds concerned.

“Don’t go. Please.”

There’s a long period of silence before he speaks again. “Oh! Oh no, I’m sorry, Mia, I didn’t mean it like...you’re not- I wasn’t going to- I’m sorry I just-” He cuts himself off, taking some time to get his thoughts in order before he speaks again. “I’m sorry, I’m coming back. I won’t leave you, I promise.”

With that, the speck in the distance slowly grows until once again I can make out a person. I can feel distant relief seeing another living thing.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers again.

“I…it’s ok, big guy.”

Jax watches me for a long moment before he speaks again. “I’ll do it.”

“Hmm?”

“I’ll come over to you and we can…touch.”

“Are you sure?”

He nods slightly.

“Okay.”

And so slowly Jax starts making his way over and as the figure of him grows and grows, a distant part of my brain starts screaming and after a second, Jax stops again.

“You’re scared again,” he says quietly.

I just use a now trembling hand to wave him over and he shakes his head.

“Mia, are you sure you want to do this? You really don’t have to force yourself. We can always just talk and I really appreciate you trying like this but-”

“Jax?” There’s a shake in my voice that I can’t quite fight down.

“…Mia?”

“Get over here.”

“…but I-”

I hold my arms out to him and he watches me for a long moment before slowly he starts moving again. His figure grows and grows in the middle distance but I remain frozen in the sky, arms held out in invitation, my heart beating faster and faster and my breaths struggling to catch up.

Jax pauses again. “…are you sure?”

Unable to form words, I just nod and Jax eventually starts moving again. The movement causes me to flinch and Jax stops, cocking his head slightly.

I’m about to beckon him again but

“…you…your hair is green and fluffy. You told me it’s dyed that colour and I think it really suits you.”

He’s whispering again. Continues his approach. It takes me a second to realize what he’s doing but as soon as it clicks, I close my eyes and focus on his words, a small smile starting to grace my lips at the familiarity.

“Your eyes are brown. Kind of a dark brown like…hmm…really dark chocolate.”

That gets a small chuckle out of me and he returns it in kind. There’s a noticeable change in the atmosphere now, like I’m starting to get pulled into a gravitational field. I know what’s causing it but just try to focus on the voice in my head.

“You’re…uh…you…said I was white so…”

I cough to warm up my throat. “…you can just say brown, big guy. It’s fine.”

“Brown then! And you’re…,” he stops to think about it for a second, “…uh…kinda skinny and muscular at the same time? I can’t see your body through the suit but I’ve seen you on Earth and you’re pretty strong, M.”

“Thanks.”

He hums in acknowledgement. “I…can’t see your clothes right now either, M but your…space suit I think it’s called?”

“Yeah.”

“Space suit then. It looks…well…um…”

“You can just say it looks like shit. It’s fine.”

Jax snorts at that. “I mean…I’ve seen worse. And…right now, your eyes are closed and you’re shaking badly but I know that you’re trying and well…”

There’s a long pause before with a jolt that makes my heart jump, I can feel something plush below my feet. I don’t open my eyes just yet.

“…there we go,” Jax whispers.

And so I slowly take a seat.

Take a deep, deep breath.

And finally,

open my eyes

And now I’m here.

Sitting on what it takes me way too long to recognize as the pad of a finger so massive it dwarfs the Earth.

I can’t really make out anything besides the massive black void that makes up what must be his pupil, stretching on and on in every direction like the night sky. Every time he blinks, I can hardly understand what’s happening and on some level, I’m distantly horrified as I stare back at him, the frozen death of space warded off only by the heat rising out of the endless stretch of flesh that makes up the pad of his finger. Every single groove of his fingerprint is like a bottomless chasm to me, my legs dangling off of one as I sit partially rooted to the surface below.

He blinks again and the night sky eclipses with it.

I’m literally nothing to this man.

Nothing at all and the fear is almost enough to make me want to gag but

He’s whispering quietly in my head again too, reassurances, using a voice I can comprehend and even as I can feel my eyes start to glaze over in fear, I can’t fight the smile that’s making its way onto my lips at the familiar voice muttering quietly in my head.

Because in spite of literally everything, he doesn’t want to scare me.

I know this man and he knows me.

Impossibly, I’m safe here

I finally force myself to move and use a shaking hand to rub the surface below me and the voice in my head stops in an instant, replaced with a small sigh as the massive eye in front of me closes in contentment.

“Oh,” is all he says after a long period of silence.

“Oh?” I finally make myself ask.

I hear a small sniff in my head and after a moment, he opens his eyes and my view is replaced by a black ocean suspended in the air in front of me.

He sniffs again and in that moment I want nothing more than to wrap my arms around him and never let go.

Which is…beyond impossible here but still, heart pounding, I hold my arms out to him instead.

He watches me for a long time, a blink sending what must be several oceans of water floating into the atmosphere but I hold my ground until finally the man speaks again.

“…I’m…not sure that’s a good idea, M.”

I just wave my arms at him again and he lets out a watery chuckle.

“I’m too big, Mia.”

“And I’m still waiting, big guy.”

“…I don’t want to hurt you.”

He sounds a little desperate so I finally drop my arms with a sigh. “Fine. In that case just stand still.”

“…what?”

“Trust me.”

He laughs at that. “…alright.”

That out of the way, I make myself stand up and examine the massive eye in front of me for a moment longer before I kick off of Jax’s finger and start swimming through the air.

“…uh, Mia?”

“Shush. I’m trying to prove a point here.”

Jax watches me swim through the air for an impressively long amount of time before he finally speaks again. “…if you’re trying to get somewhere, I could help you out?”

I look around and see that I’m basically exactly where I started.

“…fine.”

Jax laughs. “Where are you trying to go?”

“Just…your face I guess.”

“…oh.”

There’s silence for a long moment before everything starts moving again, the giant black globe rotating until it changes to grey and then a stark white, finally settling on a massive patch of flesh that must be the skin between Jax’s eyes. He then leans forward until the bridge of his nose lays a short distance away.

“Is that okay?” he asks quietly.

And I feel my heart warm up at that. And with that I can feel my hands start to twitch. Why is he so fucking cute? IT’S NOT FUCKING FAIR. I CAN’T EVEN SQUEEZE HIM LIKE- “I…yeah, actually. Thanks, big guy.”

I hear him hum in acknowledgment and literally want to kill him. He’s an incomprehensibly huge cosmic giant and it’s not fair not fair not fair not-

I start swimming towards him almost frantically and finally, FINALLY

I reach the man’s face and all but throw myself at him, grabbing as much of his skin as I can and rubbing the glass of my helmet against him.

“You…this is more…aggressive than I thought it would be. I…,” he lets out a small laugh, “…is this normal?”

I let out a small squeak and continue squeezing him and he chuckles in response. “You alright there, M?”

“No.” I finally manage.

“No?”

He sounds a little distressed so I try to clarify. “Jax, I’m fine. I just-,” I squeeze handfuls of flesh for as long as I can manage before letting go and wrapping my arms over as much of him as I physically can, “-GOD, I CAN’T.”

“You can’t?” he sounds more worried now and before I get worked up about that too, I try to calm myself down a little.

“Jax?”

“Mia?”

“You’re being fucking adorable right now and humans do this thing sometimes where if something is too cute it makes us want to hurt or kill them.”

“…so you’re trying to…kill me?”

“…uh,” I feel my arms tingle and know in my heart that I want to punch him repeatedly and also throw him into the sun, instead settling for hugging him tighter. “…not actually but…yes?”

“…oh? You…don’t feel like you’re trying to kill me though. You just seem a little…,” he cuts himself off to hum a little when I try to nuzzle him again, “…rough.”

“That’s ‘cause I have self-control.”

“Oh.”

There’s a long period of silence where I continue trying to awkwardly cuddle Jax to death and he enjoys the physical touch. Eventually though

“…we’re still friends then? You’re not actually trying to kill me?”

“Jax, oh my God, you’re killing me here.”

There’s a long pause and eventually I just frown.

“…We’re still friends. I’m not trying to kill you,” I deadpan and he chuckles.

“That’s a relief.”

He’s humming and crying and I’m trying to tear his skin off his body when something occurs to me.

“…wait, big guy.”

“Hmm?”

“You said you wanted to hug me too, right?”

“…Mia, the pad of my thumb is bigger than your planet.”

“So? I trust you.”

“You really shouldn’t.”

“Be untrustworthy then. See what happens.”

“…hmm.”

“Hmm?”

“…maybe some other time.”

“…what do you mean by that?”

Jax just chuckles and I frown.

“Hug me, man. It’s why I’m here.”

“I don’t want to kill you, Mia.”

“Then you won’t.”

I go back to squishing handfuls of his skin together in the silence that follows and eventually I feel more than see something approaching, the way the atmosphere seems to be physically moving away from some unknown threat. I try to focus on the movement of my hands against his skin instead.

“…Mia,” Jax finally says, “Your heart is-”

“Keep going.”

Jax is quiet for a long long time and I eventually drop the skin with a sigh. “If you want to touch me, Jax, keep going.”

Jax doesn’t immediately respond to this and so I try to soothe him by running a hand up and down the mass of flesh in front of me.

And finally

“Are you sure?”

“I am.”

More silence now.

I’m about to say something more when suddenly something bumps into the back of my helmet and propels me forward slightly, pressing me almost tenderly into the warm skin in front of me. Jax doesn’t say anything and for a long time and so neither do I, wrapping my arms around what I can of him once more as we soak each other in in the silence.

And as I feel the trembles running through what I assume to be Jax’s finger finally start to die down and I settle into him, I raise my head slightly and look to the general direction of where one Jax’s eye might be, trying to find my voice one more

“Hey,” I whisper to him.

“…hey,” he whispers back.

#tldr jax finally cashes in on his good boy points to launch his best friend into the stratosphere #I Was Supposed To Finish This By Like March RIP #jax and mia #space au #ocs #the rooster crows #(please don't tag as g/t or with any g/t tags)#thanks for reading!

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awkwardgtace · 7 months

Text

A Century After...

This is after Harmony has shared her memories with the ocean, time has passed and the mers have kept living. Something has finally changed for them though

(@tripodcat-gt and @coffehbeans I thought you two might appreciate a tag on this since after the comments on Harmony's story <3)

tw: for mentions of death

A Century After...

Kyrie’s heart was heavy as he waited at the cliff where he first met Melody. She would leave her house soon, Pel would help her walk. He knew from the start they’d only have decades, but it was so much harder to watch her age than he expected. She aged so much faster than Caprice did… the times as a mer changed him. He actually thought they would be special at first, but at the end they were still humans. Being human meant they’d never live as long as a mer.

His eyes locked on her the second she appeared. Her appearance had changed, it felt like she might have gotten smaller. The long brown hair he loved was gray now, her eyes didn’t shine the same way they used to, and her skin hadn’t been smooth for a long time. She never believed him when she was young that he found her beautiful, she believed him even less now.

Pelago stayed just a few steps behind Melody as the now elderly human approached him. Every year they spent together expanded his fear he’d hurt her. She became more fragile. Melody didn’t share that fear. It was like she didn’t even realize what he could do anymore.

Pelago stopped following once Melody was near Kyrie. She reached out, he offered a finger for her to lean on. She said this was normal, she was an old lady of course it was hard to walk. He didn’t know enough about humans even now to be sure she was telling the truth. He looked at Pelago, the mermaid's face was pained. The two humans wouldn’t be around much longer. At least she could be the size of one to help them…

“Kyrie,” Melody said. Kyrie wished for the hundredth time he could stand beside her. Be the one helping her walk, go to her rather than come to him. “Can you hold me?”

Kyrie made an affirmative chirp. He carefully curled his fingers around her, she couldn’t climb up on her own anymore. He lifted her a little, then brought his other hand close to her. Melody let him move her around, she didn’t care and that hurt more than he could admit. She let him place her in his palm. Where he held her close, watching her. Watching and begging for a way to make her a mer so he wouldn’t be without a part of him for the rest of his life.

Things happened too fast then. Words, promises. Things he couldn’t fathom. Chirps he made. Yes. No. Always. Never. I love yous. I need yous.

Then… then it changed. It felt like the entire world went dark as Melody stared up at him. Her eyes were dimmer, she seemed weaker. She would be fine. She was his Melody. She was strong, brave, everything he wanted to be. She was perfect. She would be fine.

“Kyrie, promise you won’t run away?” she asked. It was too weak. He chirped, she laughed. He would promise to do anything she asked, even when he didn’t know what she meant. “Please say it. Say you promise me.”

“I promise…”

“Thank you.”

Things fast again. Melody’s smile as her eyes closed. A terrible somber calm as he kept telling himself she was asleep. He ignored the way she grew cold. She was fine. She had to be fine. Everything was fine.

Pel came out. Took her. Told him she was gone, but Melody wasn’t gone she couldn’t be. He left. He ran… He ran.

Kyrie didn’t even bother to open his eyes after he woke up. The same memory that played as a dream every night. Always the same. Always that day. Always how he ran from her death. Ran into Harmony’s… ran into his prison. He didn’t keep his promise, he ran…

“-you sure?”

Some mers were nearby. Not enough for it to matter. He had taken his place in the nest, guarding the stones Melody made. Waiting for the sirens to come for them. The sirens she brought back to the ocean. She brought them back and the ocean just let her die. Caprice helped give color back to the oceanids and he was gone too. Both were gone, but Kyrie had to take his place here. He couldn’t even escape the nest. His own choice to run locked him in this place.

“This — the place— right?”

Kyrie sighed, they were closer. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually looked at another mer. He couldn’t remember the last time he opened his eyes. That wasn’t true, he opened them once. Right after he woke up after taking Harmony’s place, Byss and Pel called out to him. He refused to open his eyes after that… Not even Byss was the width of one finger.

“Just through here.”

Kyrie moved just enough that his hand was near the entrance. He could reach everywhere in the nest, he was a lot bigger than Harmony had been. A slow twirl of one finger was enough to create a current to pull the mers he heard forward. Out of the tunnel and straight into his skin. One was so small it made him pause, mers didn’t usually stay that size. It reminded him of his song. The other pulled the small one away. That one was bigger, but not enough to matter. Kyrie curved his hand to pull them up. Too big to be avoided…

The bigger one was smaller than Byss. Melody would have been scared of him all over again. He couldn’t even imagine her risking her safety to see him like this. Amidst those thoughts he brought the two small mers up to his face. A deep breath to take in their scents. He had to remember in case they came back. The second time he’d have to scare them. The way Harmony used to, his size took care of it usually.

The scents were strange. Something he couldn’t quite describe, almost familiar. A faint hint of what he missed so dearly, but not enough to let him hope for a miracle. It did make him loosen his grip on them. He almost hoped they’d run before he could grow truly curious. The larger one squirmed out of his hold, most likely still holding the smaller one.

“Wait!” one of them shouted. He flattened his hand, but held off on grabbing them immediately. “Can we stay here? Please. Just for a little while!”

The voice sounded familiar. He wasn’t sure why, he’d never met these mers before. He’d remember meeting one as small as Melody; he would have wanted them to meet. He started to shake his head. This wasn’t a place any mer could just enter. He was trapped here, but that meant he’d do his job. It didn’t make it any easier when a too small to believe tail brushed his finger.

“Come back!” The one who spoke before shouted.

“Please, it really won’t be long. Just a few weeks. Until it’s safe for us. Please,” the smaller one’s voice hurt his heart. She spoke like Melody. Same mannerisms, but this was a mer. It wasn’t his siren, his mate… his destined.

They may stay, The ocean’s voice rattled in Kyrie’s mind. The ocean allowed it, but he didn’t want them too. The voices, the smaller one’s size, having to face that the world truly moved forward; it was all too painful. Kyrie couldn’t tell the ocean himself no. There wasn’t a choice. The ocean allowed it, so Kyrie would too.

Kyrie opened his mouth, but decided against it. At some point he stopped talking, words didn’t matter when the ones around him could understand a chirp. That was what he did, a loud accepting chirp. The signal he wouldn’t send them off. Added with his hand slowly, so so slowly, lowering down to his side.

“You’ll let us stay!? Thank you so much. We won’t be here long I promise! A few weeks!”

Too familiar and not familiar enough. A whine nearly left him. A cry in his heart for the memories of a human long gone. One century was painful enough, he had no idea how to face the rest.

“Come on, let’s pick a den,” the one Kyrie assumed was bigger said.

Kyrie slid down slightly. The ocean changed the dimensions of the nest to fit him, but he was scared. Scared of hurting the small mers now near him. He hadn’t been worried about hurting anyone in a long time. A strange part of him missed this. Missed thinking about others. He pushed that as far down as he could. These mers wouldn’t stay long.

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

“Byss, I’m back,” Pel shouted as she swam into their den. She hated how the walls made her voice echo. The cave was too big for the two of them, but neither was willing to leave. It wasn’t far from the sirens’ nest and there were memories here. Memories neither could part with.

Byssal let out a tired chirp for her. It was more than she usually got around now. Only a little while before they go to see Kyrie. Before she goes on land for a little while. Before they lived the pain all over again.

It was sort of funny. Humans had always lived just a blip compared to mers. She’d had others she befriended. Byss had even found some to admire. Melody and Caprice weren’t the same. They were part of the pod and now… now they were gone and even a century hadn’t eased that pain.

Pel swam up to Byss and nestled into the crook of his neck. She was lonely and so was he. Kyrie hadn’t been the same, wouldn’t even look at them. She knew why. That day had hurt all of them. Kyrie the most. They couldn’t even get into the nest to see him for a few months. When they did he was impossibly big, bigger than Harmony. Maybe even twice her size.

“Hello? Anyone in here?” a voice called. Oddly familiar. She ignored the feeling. It wasn’t the first time it happened. Their minds played tricks on them. She slipped away from Byss and to the entrance.

At the mouth of their den was a mer three times her size. He had long red hair, longer than mers his size usually would have. A tail with a brilliant red that would usually make him much smaller. That part made her think of when she met Byssal. A smile crept on to her face from those memories.

“Hello there,” she chirped. She tried to sound excited, happy. It wasn’t uncommon for mers with magic to come find her. The oceanid that helped free the sirens and return color to her kinds’ tails. She kept her white tail, but it had a few flecks of pink. She liked her tail white. “Is there something you need?”

The feeling of Byss starting to loom behind her was reassuring. She knew he was trying to be intimidating. After they lost Melody and Caprice a number of mers approached them for a chance to be trained. That wasn’t all, they wanted to become a part of their pod. As if the death of the humans meant a mer could just take their place. He had to scare more than one away.

“I was hoping you could help. I need to cast a spell. I only have a few weeks to prepare,” the red mer said. She nodded, a single spell wouldn’t be hard. She could easily teach a mer that. Pel swam closer out of Byssal’s shadow.

“I can help, what spell do you need?” she smiled. Closer she saw mannerisms that seemed out of place. Arms crossed, the waist where skin met scale pushed to the side like standing on a single foot, and a tilt of his head that seemed almost demanding. It was all a bit familiar…

“I need to help a mer change form.”

She nodded, Byss once again came closer. He spoke up this time, “Come back tomorrow. We’ll teach you.”

“Thanks.”

The red tailed mer swam off. More mannerisms she remembered. Swimming with a force to the tail at only two points and arms ahead. Byssal’s hand wrapped around her tightly. She knew why. He saw it too. She turned up to look at him and found his eyes filled with pain. Even if she was right neither could acknowledge it. It wasn’t unheard of for humans close to the ocean to wind up one of her children. They didn’t come back with those memories though…

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

The next morning Kyrie woke from a dreamless sleep. It was the first time he hadn’t seen her final day in a long time. He never knew which was worse. Waking up without having seen her or after he knew he was dreaming. It was probably when he knew. On those occasions he looked for anything that could have warned him. Let him know it would be the last time he saw her. The last chance he’d have to tell her what she meant to him. His body wouldn’t listen to him in the dreams. Forced to play out that memory.

“Thank you for letting us stay here,” the little mer said. Kyrie didn’t bother trying to find her. As long as he stayed still she was fine. The way she spoke reminded him so much of Melody. Enough he could almost pretend she was there with him. He knew it was wrong, but his heart needed his song.

He chirped for the little mer. An acknowledgement. He could almost feel her presence near him, near his hands. He couldn’t imagine she wanted to be next to him. At his full height he was twice as big as Harmony. Someone as small as Melody wasn’t even big enough to look like a minnow with a shark.

“We were desperate for somewhere to stay. He’s helping me deal with a problem,” she laughed. It was almost identical to when Melody was laughing about her own pain. It made a sorrowful, worried chirp leave him. “I guess it’s not easy for you to tell, but I’m really small. Too small. I was supposed to be a lot bigger.”

Another chirp from him. It sounded like she experienced his opposite. Others wanted her bigger when he should have been smaller.

“The color of my tail made everyone think I’d be so much bigger, but I wound up as big as a human… They think I did something wrong. Think someone around me was wrong. I’m getting somewhere safe and that guy is helping me. I just needed somewhere to hide while he got what we needed.”

“It’s not your fault,” he whispered. He had to say it. Melody, Byss, Pel, even Caprice told him that. His size wasn’t his fault, her size wasn’t either. On his finger he felt a bit of ice that he could only assume was her.

“Thank you,” her voice was quiet enough he assumed she thought he’d miss it. Maybe it wouldn’t be bad to talk to her a few times while she was here.

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

Pel swam in circles in her den. The red mer hadn’t come back yet. Byss went out to get ingredients for simple spells. She had no idea what kind of form change the mer needed. It could be to a human form, to a more fish-like form, or something she couldn’t think about. She started to chirp from the nervous energy.

“Hey?” the red mer’s voice made her jump. She turned to face the den entrance and he was there. Half of Byssal’s length, three times her own, and with a look she hadn’t seen for a century. Far too similar.

“Hi! Byss went to get some stuff for us to use for spells. Why don’t we start with showing me what you know?” Pelago smiled. The red mer nodded, she clapped her hands before he turned away. “Wait, what’s your name?”

“Oh, uh I’m… Ca-Coral. It’s Coral,” he said. Pelago tilted her head. She noticed the strange way he started to say it. Like he meant something else first. She took in his stance. The manner he looked away, a hand now placed behind his head. It reminded her of Caprice. It had to be her mind playing tricks. This was too much for just a human reborn as a mer.

“Great, I’m Pelago. Let’s go!”

She swam past him. There was a moment where the water between them felt strange as she went near. Something changed, a charge or warning that she had to focus on. Something about this mer wasn’t normal. Unique, different, maybe even dangerous. All similar to the two humans that had been gone for a century. She had to talk to Byssal. He had to know about the mer.

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

Kyrie started to care about time again as days passed where the little mer would talk to him. It was kind of nice. He thought she was the reason his dreams had been empty. That theory was proven wrong close to when she was going to leave.

He dreamt of Melody, when she was younger. A time where they were laughing together. Until she turned to him, anger on her face. Mad he ran. Mad that he broke his promise. The last thing she would ever ask him to do and he couldn’t do it. He woke up right as she swore to never forgive him…

He needed the little mer to distract him.

“Hey!” the little mer’s voice came right as he wished for it. Perfect timing… another thing like his Melody. “Do you mind if I ask you some questions today?”

“Go ahead,” he sighed. Her questions could distract him. Leave him able to keep moving away from the pain.

“What are you here for?” Her question was innocent enough. He almost laughed at how much it forced him to face his truth. As if Melody had caught him after a nightmare and was there to make him face it.

“I’m keeping this place safe.”

“Why?” He could see Melody’s face in his mind as the little mer spoke. Innocent brown eyes looking at him with wonder. A scheme behind them to make him be honest.

“It’s my punishment for breaking a promise to someone important… She meant everything and I failed.”

“Did she put you here?”

“No.” The word came out in a growl. The idea his song could trap someone for any reason made an anger he forgot he could have bubble up. The little mer chirped a few times before he felt tiny hands brush against his nose.

“Then how is this a punishment from breaking a promise to her?”

“I…”

He didn’t have an answer. This was his punishment. He ran away. Tried to escape her death by thinking Harmony could fix it. Ran right into the future he’d been told would be his. Melody made him promise not to run away. She would think he deserved to be here. If he couldn’t stop himself from running away the world itself had to stop him.

“Where is she? I can go ask her,” the little mer offered. He felt her hands near his eyes. “I bet she doesn’t think you should be here. I shouldn’t have asked though. I’m sorry… I wish I was big enough to try and actually stop your tears.”

A pained whine escaped him. He knew the tears were floating from his eyes faster. The little mer pressed her body against him. She was a piece of ice, just like Melody.

“Gone, she’s gone.” The ice on him was too familiar. It felt like she was with him, promising it was ok. That he wasn’t wrong for running after she died. “...she was human and now she’s gone.”

The words came out hoarse, broken. The pain he hadn’t let out in a century finally free. Innocent questions that made him face it. More that reminded him of Melody. She could break through all the walls he built up without him even realizing. It was how she got him to open up about his childhood.

The icy feeling left his skin. A tiny mer would fear strong emotions from him. It made sense. Yet a pinprick of ice landed on one of his eyelids. A rhythmic touch of ice spread across his skin. The best he could guess she was petting him. It was how Melody used to calm him down. This little mer brought her back just by existing. He needed her to leave.

“It must hurt, humans don’t live long,” the little mer’s voice sounded so sad. A spark of memory, how Melody used to talk to him.

‘I know I’m going to leave you hurt someday. Humans don’t live long next to you.’

“I miss her,” he breathed. The icy touch grew still then shocked a larger spot of his skin as she pressed right against him. Against his better judgment he curled his tail up and shifted to his side. He brought his hands up, but kept them from coming close. Sobs he never let out escaped. This touch, that voice, those words and more brought Melody to him again. Brought the only soul he could ever love. Brought the pain he shoved down all the way up and out.

All the pain leaked out of him. It was almost a shock to himself that it was silent. His own pain couldn’t be given a voice. Amidst the sobs and icy touches of the little mer he thought he heard Melody. A faint and too kind, too warm, too familiar whisper of “I miss you too.”

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

Byssal had taken over the training for her after she spoke to him the second day. He was worried she would let things she was seeing push her the wrong way. It didn’t mean he thought she was wrong. She saw the shock when he finally spoke to Coral properly. Caught Coral almost calling them Byss and Pel instead of their full names. This mer was special.

If it wasn’t Caprice this mer had been watching them. Had a plan that brought them to visit them now of all times. It would explain why Melody wasn’t there. Why the scent and colors were different too.

“Just like that, use your claws to aim,” Byssal barked.

Coral followed instruction swimmingly. A natural, or already trained. She couldn’t stop seeing it. Even the way this red mer acted around Byssal was similar. She was growing tempted to follow him. See if there was another mer that could be like Melody. It happened before it could happen again, but she knew it and so did Byss. If they were the two they couldn’t be the same. Still… she wouldn’t mind learning about these new mers.

“Good job, hard to beli-” Byssal cut himself off. He looked at her, she knew. Hard to believe he’s half human. It was easy to relive those days. They couldn’t visit Kyrie until this mer was gone, they couldn’t risk being followed and hurting their guppy with such a similar presence.

Coral smiled at them both. A beaming look that Caprice always had. It didn’t match though, teeth too sharp. Face shape wrong and yet… And yet she couldn’t stop herself from wanting to call out his name.

“We can go gather what’s needed for the form change soon. We should have everything close by once you’re ready,” she said.

In the end Byssal was right. She shouldn’t push for this to be him. Chase a dream that couldn’t happen. Nothing would bring Caprice and Melody back to them. It was nearly time. Kyrie never handled it well. The day Melody died…

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

An entire week passed where the two mers kept consistent visits with the former pod of the siren and oceanid. The little one visiting the massive merman, the red one visiting the pair of mates. Each night a shared look of pain, words they couldn’t say. Their time was running out, but neither knew what the right answer was. If they wanted the outcome they had originally expected. With mere days left, did their wants truly matter any longer?

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

Kyrie woke up to a feeling of ice on his cheek. The little mer had been closer to him the last few mornings. As if she knew his pain would grow worse. It was the first time he felt himself smile without having to force it. He sat up slightly, the little mer rolled down his face. He felt the smallest brush of claws before he caught her small floating form in his palm. For the first time in a century he felt curious to see the world around him.

Each day she was there made it harder to believe this wasn’t his Melody. Her laughter, the way she spoke, even how easily she read him. She could only see a part of a part of him, there was no way to properly read his expression. How to break him down, to have his heart pour out into the sea.

“Sorry about that,” she laughed. “It was a bit tiring to reach your face this time. I was only going to rest for a minute, but then I fell asleep.”

More like his Melody.

“I have to leave soon. Tonight actually.”

He didn’t want that. As wrong as it was he wanted to keep thinking he had her back. He couldn’t live for centuries without her.

“Hey, have you ever been on land?”

“A long time ago… when she was here,” he whispered. He never told this little mer Melody’s name. Never told her his own either. It would hurt more when she left.

“It’s where I’m going. I can’t be the wrong size when I fit in with humans. I’m sorry I won’t be able to come see you again.”

Something in her voice. Something final. Too familiar.

“You’ve been so kind. Can I do anything for you? Why don’t you tell me about her? The one you miss… Like a goodbye to her.”

Kyrie felt like it would be the worst possible option to do that. Yet he couldn’t push it away, the chance to say what he never said to her. To repeat it now where he could pretend this little mer was his Melody. He moved his hand, brought it up to his eyes. He could pretend it was Melody.

A little chirp. He could picture Melody sitting in his palm. A little taller than his fingers were wide. Eyes meeting his own filled with curiosity. Warmth. Her tiny form in a hand that could hurt her. Yet still watching him with love, with a smile, with acceptance.

“It always felt like she was something more. Something special, like the ocean themself. In some ways I could say she was perfect. She wasn’t confident in herself, but I knew she’d solve everything. I wish… I wish I told her more before I lost her. That I wasn’t afraid of myself when she was there. Her trust in me let me trust myself. Without her I would have run from everything long before.”

Kyrie stopped, the words too much. He could picture her. The little drip of ice in his palm disappeared. It reappeared as pinpricks at the tip of his nose. Melody was everything to him. He didn’t know how to live without her. He didn’t know how to face what he was without her. She would have given him the strength to open his eyes and see what his world had become after all. Saying it now he realized what his refusal to look truly was. What she actually wanted him not to run from.

“She would have scolded me for keeping my eyes shut. For running when she died. She would have told me to face the pain so it couldn’t hold me back. She never would have wanted me stuck here like this. I knew that when she asked me to promise her not to run away… I’ve known it for so long. Others act like humans don’t understand, but it felt like she lived longer than any mer I could have met.”

The tiny pinpricks of ice moved. He felt himself shatter bit by bit as he faced his inner demons. Faced the truth that she gave him the courage to face the world. He had to learn to face it without her and this was when he’d do it. The night before Byss and Pel would visit… The night before they would come to mourn again together.

“I miss her… I relied on her to push me forward constantly. If… I could only see her again. I'd promise to be strong enough that she doesn’t have to anymore. I would promise to live in a way she could smile about even if she wasn’t with me anymore.”

This time Kyrie pulled away. The ice on his skin was gone. He moved enough the mer would be near his eye. Where he could finally see her. Today he would live the promises he wanted to make to his mate. Today he’d fulfill the promise he did make a century ago. Today he would open his eyes after a century. Today he wouldn’t run. Slowly, Kyrie opened his eyes to the world again.

Kyrie had to adjust to the light after refusing to see. It took long enough he worried the little mer would move, but she didn’t. He saw a mer with a bright purple tail, one that did mean she should be much bigger. Hair floating around her in a way that didn’t look quite normal for a mer. She had a sad smile. She swam a bit backward, the movement heartbreakingly familiar.

“Are you…,” he murmured.

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

“It’s right through here,” Pelago turned to the bigger mers following her. She received affirmative chirps in unison.

Byssal had been growing more suspicious too. Enough that he was willing to show this red mer their garden. The one Caprice made. She entered and swam to the left. The two bigger mers followed in, Byss pausing to see how this red mer acted. He seemed to recognize everything.

“This is amazing,” Coral breathed. It was only awe. She needed more.

Byss gave her a look then swam forward. Her mate guided this red mer through the garden. Each plant had a brief explanation. Her goal was to find something they could use. The mer said he had to leave today… She couldn’t even call him that fake name consistently anymore.

At first she worried they wouldn’t have the proof they desperately wanted. Then he touched one of the plants. Back when they made this garden with Caprice, he had one habit that he said was from childhood. Every time he touched a plant he’d pat the ground again, ensuring it was safe. The plants here didn’t need that, but he couldn’t stop.

Pelago watched plant after plant as this red mer who gave them a fake name would pat the earth. Byssal didn’t notice, he was explaining still. There hadn’t been anything to tell them what kind of form change the mer planned. They made it to the edge, taking longer to go over smaller ones. She watched and watched, but she couldn’t ignore it anymore.

“Hey,” she started.

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

The two mysterious mers felt something shift at the same time. Despite the distance in the water they heard their names echo. Revealed in unison

“...Melody?” Kyrie asked her, finally seeing through the disguise.

“Caprice, come here,” Pelago called. Successfully having the red mer respond and revealing his true nature.

The twins smiled as their bet reached the outcome they always wanted. The one that felt destined as the time passed with the family they had for an entire human lifetime.

“It’s me,” Melody whispered with tears in her eyes.

“I knew you’d tell,” Caprice smirked.

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

Pelago and Byssal watched in shock as the mer changed. The long red hair broke apart, floating to the surface. Beneath it revealed brown hair that stopped just at Caprice’s shoulders. His teeth changed, looking just a little more human than mer. The red tail drained of color that dispersed into the water.

“Follow me,” Caprice said. The words, face, voice, everything finally matching the image the two had in their minds. The human was back. That had to mean both humans were back… Their pod, their family, was back.

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

Kyrie could barely breathe. He said it, all of it, to Melody. His Melody. She was back. She came to him. He couldn’t do anything for a second. Then she started to change. The purple kelp-like strands of hair dissipated into the soft brown he loved. He brought his hands close. Her body was so small, but he didn’t care.

Melody actually laughed, it was her laugh, as his skin touched her. He brought her right up to his eye. He had to see every detail. Every little thing that could prove this really was his Melody. The solid color of her eyes turned white just as she was close enough for him to tell. He watched as the brown he’d dreamt of every night for a century came to rest in the center.

A rumble in his chest started. He hadn’t purred since she died. She was what made him happy and now she was back. His eyes went wide as her tiny body started to get bigger. Slowly, inch by inch, she made up more of his fingers. If this was the first good dream he had in years he didn’t want to wake up from it.

“Kyrie?” Melody asked. She started to move, but he stopped her. He had to keep seeing this. Seeing whatever happened. He couldn’t risk her disappearing on him. He just wanted to hear her speak. To know it was her. “I’m really here Kyrie. I’m not gonna disappear.”

He chirped. She could always read him. She was still growing. Already she could stretch out to cover half the width of one of his fingers. He waited for the ocean to tell him it was a dream. Maybe even this was a gift at the end of his life. That his time as guardian was over. Melody kept watching him. Eventually even started to pet the finger behind her.

Once she was big enough he used his thumb to hold her tail down. She was still so small, but it wasn’t as dangerous anymore. She didn’t care, she still trusted him. Even when she was so much smaller. She was here, this was real. He needed it to be real.

“I missed you,” he croaked. His voice sounded wrong. Gurgling. He managed to laugh, he’d spoken human words underwater for her.

“I missed you too. I’m sorry,” she looked away from him.

Kyrie couldn’t understand. She looked guilty. Why would she feel guilty? She came back to him. Nothing else mattered. She was still growing too, they were back to how it was when she died. One finger width was shorter than her again. He couldn’t stop himself from bringing Melody to his chest. Kyrie curled up in a ball, desperate to keep her with him. This dream couldn’t ever end.

“Mel!” Caprice’s voice made him curl up tighter. Now he knew it was a dream. Both of them back, the missing parts of his pod? Impossible. “I brought Pel and Byss with me too!”

Kyrie risked looking up, just in time to see the three of them swim through the tunnel. They grew too… or he shrunk? Kyrie slowly unfolded. Pelago stole Melody from him before he could do anything else. He stared at them, at the ones who he could actually interact with. Caprice smiled at him, Byss looked stunned too. Only the twins knew what was happening.

“They figured me out,” Caprice said once Pel brought Melody closer. It was hard not to reach for her again. To keep her where he could be sure she wasn’t his imagination.

“Kyrie figured me out,” she smiled. It was sad. He couldn’t understand… Did realizing it was her do something wrong?

“Are you two going to tell us just what’s happening?” Byssal growled, but Kyrie could see the tells. Byss couldn’t keep his tail still. He was just as happy as Kyrie was.

“Right, well it kind of started the day I died,” Melody turned to look at him, Kyrie tilted his head. “The ocean came to us. Offered to make us merfolk, but it would take at least a century to make our spirits merfolk and keep our memories. At first it was that simple and I agreed.”

“I didn’t, I suggested a bet,” Caprice joined in. “If you could recognize us within a few weeks while the ocean itself hid who we were they’d do something else.”

Both twins stared up at Kyrie.

“...what would happen if you lost the bet?” Pelago asked. She looked at him. It made sense, they made a bet for him… Even when Melody died she was looking for how to help him. Melody turned away, hugging herself and failing to hide behind her hair. It kept floating above her head.

“We agreed to use the length we’d live to act as spirits in the stones to guide sirens instead,” she mumbled. Caprice moved closer to her, the pride on his face was falling. Kyrie could see the changes in Byss and Pel. Angry and upset. He wasn’t sure how he felt.

“If you didn’t recognize us I’d turn us into seafoam on the anniversary of our death,” Caprice said.

Kyrie swore even the currents stopped. Everyone knew of that spell, it was something you were never supposed to use. It wasn’t a painless journey, you felt every moment until the ocean took your spirit. It was close to entering land, it was why humans had a story built with that as the ending. The part missing was that the one becoming foam had to do so willfully.

“The spell you wanted to cast…” Pel whispered. Her voice echoed in the silent still waters.

“What in all the seas were you thinking?” Byssal roared. Kyrie could swear the sirens’ nest shook from his voice. The twins backed away, looks of defiance on their faces.

“You never would have known if we failed! It doesn’t matter!” Caprice shouted. Byssal clearly hated that response. Kyrie saw the tears floating from Pel.

“So you sign your lives away like that?! Do you realize how long it would have been!?”

“Right because we were human we obviously couldn’t understand the idea of an eternity trapped somewhere! We knew what we were doing!”

Byssal and Caprice glared at each other. Both mers growling. Pelago looked at them unsure what to do. Kyrie couldn’t decide how to feel. Melody had hidden behind Caprice, he couldn’t even see her. That wasn’t true, he could make out the very tip of her purple tail. He watched as that same tail slowly faded to black.

“Enough,” Melody said. Her voice was soft, but strong. It made the growls die instantaneously. She swam out from behind Caprice, a face he always hated seeing. Anger with tears. This time the tears had to float from her. “It’s always been like this. You saw us as young, childish, naive, ignorant, everything but capable. All because we were human. Caprice made the deal and the reason I was involved is because I couldn’t let him do it alone. Do you really think we aren’t aware? That one life of solitude hadn’t taught me what another would be? That I could let Caprice be the one to make sure you all didn’t suffer for things none of us had anything to do with!”

Still currents and silence settled around them again. Melody looked up at him, Kyrie… Kyrie didn’t know what to think. Even at the end of her life she acted for him. Melody moved first, swimming up to his face. Staring at him with a pain that hurt him almost as much as losing her had.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. More tears, less anger. “I never… I thought it would be easier on you to forget about me. If I’d known I would have done something different. I didn’t know asking you not to run would leave you like this. I just didn’t want you hiding in the deepest waters where I might not find you. I wanted you to stay with Byssal and Pelago… So we could come back and if you all hadn’t moved on we could start over.”

Caprice came up behind her, a hand on her shoulder. Kyrie stayed unsure of what he should do. Both of them. The humans that were a blip to the life of a mer would have done everything to keep him from being trapped. From being what the ocean had wanted him for.

“Like I said, it was my idea,” Caprice turned to look at Byss and Pel. “I did a lot that you two would ask about or point out. I knew you’d notice something and take a chance at least. It wasn’t a bet I could lose.”

“So… it was for me?” Kyrie whispered. Caprice looked at him. Silence followed by memories. A lot of times Caprice had thought Kyrie was a risk. Too much for Melody to be around. Caprice’s face changed, he was easier to read than Melody. He was guilty.

“Probably would have had a better plan if I didn’t spend so much time treating you like a monster,” Caprice crossed his arms and looked away. Kyrie noticed how the twins swam close to each other. “Besides… it was better this way…”

They were back. They took a risk for him. He couldn’t figure out how to feel still. Melody was back and he could leave the sirens’ nest again. Did anything about how matter? The twins were right, they would only learn the truth from success. At the same time, he could have just been waiting for her. Knowing she’d be back to see him someday. If he knew though…

“Kyrie? I…” Melody’s voice was so quiet. It wasn’t how he remembered. It wasn’t… it wasn’t the confident, problem solving words. It was… it was… it was her. It was what he chose not to consider.

All the times she’d worried about hurting him. The times she did hurt him. All the times she was afraid of him. When she avoided him. All of it came flooding back. All the things he had pushed away about her. Every habit or action he could have complained about had been buried deep as time rolled on. The Melody in his head was perfect. The one he would have waited for never would have lived up to the memory.

“I know how it is to grieve,” she whispered. Kyrie just kept thinking. Pel and Byss looked just as lost. “You make the person perfect. Cap and I… we did it. We did it more than once. I didn’t want to come back and not be what you wanted… I-I can’t be what you remember me as. Neither can Caprice. We’re… we were never perfect and we still aren’t.”

“You never should have offered to change yourself to sea foam. I can’t,” Kyrie could tell Pel was struggling with her words. The small mermaid moving arms how Melody and Caprice always did. ‘Talking with their hands’ that’s the saying. A heavy sigh came from the mermaid. “I can’t blame you either.”

Byssal swam closer to Melody and Caprice. It had been a long time since Kyrie felt nervous seeing his mate near Byss, but the way the older man looked had him concerned. One hand was held out and placed on Caprice’s shoulder, the other carefully wrapped around Melody. Kyrie snorted as Byss pulled the twins into a hug against him. Both of the new mers yelped at the force.

“If you do something like this again, becoming seafoam will seem like a dream next to what I do,” Byss growled. Kyrie could see the way the hand with Melody tightened and how Caprice softened into the hug.

It didn’t matter how they came back. The two were right that knowing wouldn’t have stopped the memories from being tainted. Making the humans perfect, losing their faults. It felt like he had a new chance to meet Melody. To form a bond with her closest family that didn’t hold fear and suspicion. Byss released the two and Melody stared up at him.

Small brown eyes that looked human. Hair that would be soft to touch, they’d need to find a way to make it stop floating all the time. He brought his hand close to her slowly. She leaned into his fingers as soon as they met her skin. He opened his mouth to speak, but the stillness of the waters finally died.

Kyrie had barely enough time to think. The hand gently cradling Melody wrapped into a fist around her. With his other arm he reached out, winding behind Byssal and Caprice. He closed his other hand around Pel before pulling all of them close to his chest. Kyrie curled up just as the waters became a cruel tempest, enough to push him like a guppy caught in a current.

Kyrie brought the hand with Melody up next to his cheek. Whatever this current meant, he wanted to know she was with him. The current forced him to follow it until it threw him to a sandy ground. He nearly lost consciousness as his head slammed against a wall of stone. A chirp close to his fins kept him awake. A chirp he wanted to hear for centuries. Melody’s chirp.

The current pressed hard against him. No matter how much he wanted to escape, he wasn’t strong enough. Just faintly he could hear things clattering on stone all around him. As long as his pod and mate were safe he didn’t care. It continued for long enough he worried the ocean wanted to kill them. Just as that fear nestled itself in the front of his mind, the current died.

Cautiously Kyrie opened his eyes. He’d been thrown into a cave on the floor of the sirens’ nest, but now it was bigger than any others. Big enough he could comfortably stretch out and still not reach the stone walls. He opened the hand with Pel as he pulled his arm away from his chest. Three of the four now free. Slowly he opened his hand and turned to see Melody.

Melody’s eyes seemed to try and scan everything. He watched the brown specks flicking back and forth until landing on his face. She relaxed almost immediately. It all hit him in one final blow. Melody was actually back. He was back to a size that could actually explore the waters. He could show her everything he found that was too dangerous back then. Do so much more now with his mate by his side.

“This is our den, but no it’s not right. Things are just a bit out of place and the den itself is bigger. What…” Pel was confused. Melody gave Kyrie a look, as if he had any idea. He was just as lost.

“Outside,” Caprice’s voice drew Kyrie’s eyes off Melody. He was staring out of the mouth of the den. “It’s still the nest, but it’s… brighter? The tails are gone too, but the walls all have some writing… Merfolk writing! Its names, at least I think they are. I… Harmony is there. At each spot a tail used to come out of the wall.”

Kyrie looked back at Melody. Just in time to see the small face swap from awe to understanding. There was so much running through his mind, but there was time. Time to recover, time to build a life together. Melody was back in his hand and would be there for all the centuries left ahead of them.

“I missed you,” he whispered. This time he said it in mer language. She’d known it so long, but he never used it until now. “Are… are we still…?”

“I think so, but we can always check right?” Melody smiled at him. She looked around the cave that would be their den from now on. “It should echo in here…”

Melody’s tail gently swiped against his hand as she swam out. Just enough to hover right in front of his face. Then she sang. Words he couldn’t understand, but that spoke to his heart all the same. This was his Melody, his song. They had each other. A guardian and a siren…

They’d get to fall in love all over again.

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

The ocean smiled to itself as the merfolk finally appeared to settle into a joyful reunion. It would have been easier if the merfolk were the ones that deserved the boon at the start. Humans never understood his boons were truly offered freely. He would have given them this without a bet if they merely asked. Humans always thought there was something menacing beneath her surface. She understood and rigged their little game.

Allowed things to flow through that shouldn’t. Pushed the two newly grown mers to bleed a sense of nostalgia and familiarity. The siren fixed a mistake that they allowed. The oceanid freed those she’d left to suffer. The ocean owed them more than they asked and now it had been given.

A home within the nest, proper goodbyes to each guardian since the sirens were forced to leave. A future where the siren would be the songwriter for a new generation and the oceanids would aid in forming strong bonds between all the merfolk. A fitting end to the problem, one he was glad to finally witness.

#gt #g/t #giant/tiny #giant tiny #g/t writing #gt writing #gianttiny #gt community #g/t community #siren's song #oc: melody #oc: kyrie #oc: byssal #oc: pelago #oc: caprice

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