A problem has come up that might disrupt my entire life. I will try to keep posting but if I can’t it might be a month or two before I finish MerMay 2026.
Thank you to the supportive people.
Thank you to the people who give me constant notifications.
A problem has come up that might disrupt my entire life. I will try to keep posting but if I can’t it might be a month or two before I finish MerMay 2026.
Thank you to the supportive people.
Thank you to the people who give me constant notifications.
“LET ME AT HIM!!” Killer snarled, thrashing as Blue held him back. Black clouds leaked heavily from his eyes and Azra stayed bristled but behind Dream.
Dust had just explained exactly what the newcomer had called Horror. Normally, he would not be a tattle tale like an upset toddler but he could not keep this injustice unsaid. Horror’s self-esteem was low enough as it was without the bully bringing him down even more.
“Dream. Your companion has caused quite the fuss among my shiver.” Nightmare’s voice rumbled, shaking the water around him. “And Dust has explained why in detail.” His glare made the Flowey shrink in place, filling him with fear. “I have one question for this miscreant. Why?”
Azra stuttered and couldn’t make eye contact but Dream slipped between him and Nightmare. “Brother, please. He didn’t mean any of-”
“HE DEMEANED HORROR!!!” The roar that ripped through the trench made even Killer and Ink freeze. The ocean stilled with an icy chill and the only light was the intense, angry glow of cyan. Water rushed as Nightmare inhaled deeply and exhaled. “He verbally attacked one of my shiver. He is no longer welcome.”
“Night, he-”
“If he stays any longer, I will turn I blind eye to my shivers’ action.” Nightmare glared down at Dream. “Am I understood?”
“Brother-”
“Am. I. Understood?”
“You can’t just kick out everyone who hurts you!” Dream yelled, jabbing his finger up at the Kraken’s face.
“WHY DO YOU KEEP THEM?!?!” Nightmare snapped and towered over his brother, tentacles lashing around them and nearly smacking Dust, Killer, and Blue. His tendrils formed a dangerous barrier around the group. His eye narrowed at Dream. “Why do you keep swimming back to people who don’t even like you? Why do you keep beaching yourself for them? They only want what you can give them but giving is tearing you apart! You’re killing yourself to take care of everyone else! Set some damn boundaries, Dream!”
Dream’s mouth clicked shut, his golden shine dimming as Nightmare’s words set in. Everyone was still and even the writhing mass of tentacles slowed to a stop. Killer and Dust shared a glance of worry. Something was going on here that only the leviathans knew about. Whatever it was, it was none of their business.
Blue seemed to come to the same conclusion too. He gently let Killer go and guided an oddly silent Ink and a half-trembling, half-bristled Azra away from the tense standoff.
Dust and Killer did the same, collecting Horror and swimming away into the trench. Horror, the second they reached the floor, swam into his fish farm den, shutting out the outside for a bit. Dust watched him disappear with a mix between guilt and sympathy. The octopus was in a rough state with the newbie on top of the whole hunting divers situation. Everything was a mess.
Killer’s back suddenly straightened so fast Dust swore he heard it crack. He looked sharply up and out of the trench.
Dust tilted his head at his companion’s odd behavior. “What? What is it?”
“Blood.” the siren spoke, very straightforward.
Dust rolled his eyes. The shark could smell blood from miles away and acted like it was a superpower.
Killer sniffed the water and his eyes widened with recognition. Then he said something that made Dust’s blood run cold. “Y/n. Dust, it’s y/n’s and Cross’s blood. Both of them.”
“What?!” He grabbed Killer’s shoulder before the reckless siren could bolt. “Killer, are you sure? How do you know?”
Killer growled and pulled his shoulder out of Dust’s grip. “I know blood, Dust, and that’s definitely Cross’s! Y/n’s was a little hard to recognize but I know it! I know it’s theirs!” He looked ready to bolt after the scent. “I’m going-”
“I’ll go with you.” Dust interrupted. Killer started to protest but was cut off again. “Listen, if it’s the divers again, we need to be in groups. Especially if they have both Cross and Y/n. You and me can take on a couple fishermen.”
“You can’t name it Papyrus.” Dust sighed, earning a pout from his friend. Horror had caught a jellyfish by the cap and was running names by Dust when he was supposed to be napping. So much for that.
Horror’s big old eye stared up at him as he leaned on the lip of his cave. He had the most effective puppy look Dust had ever seen in the ocean. It wouldn’t work on him, his mind was too strong, but he looked away. Not because he was gonna cave. He wasn’t. It was just… annoying to look at.
“Thought…… Papy…rus…… was… great………” He whined.
Ugh. “No. Besides, it’s a moon jelly.” Dust pointed at the jellyfish, still trying to swim normally. He smirked before he spoke again. “You should name it Nightmare.”
Horror beamed at the suggestion. “Ooooh! I…… like… it.” He grinned and pulled the helpless jelly by its cap. He was aware enough not to touch its tendrils but that didn’t make it any safer.
Dragging the poor creature along with him, Horror jumped off the ledge under Dust’s den and floated down toward his cave. An irritatingly green and yellow flash darted away from under Horror’s tentacles right before he landed on the sea floor.
“What the fuck are you doing, idiot?! Watch where you're going!!!” snapped the Flowey variant. Horror flinched at his angry yelling and gripped the edge of the hole in his head with one hand in pain.
Dust’s hackles rose. He glared down at the beta fish.
“M… s-sorry……” Horror mumbled, keeping one hand on the jellyfish’s cap.
“Are you slurring your words?” the Flowey mocked the slow siren who shank. “You are, aren’t you? Fucking useless. Why do they even keep you here? What are you? The family pet? Creepy lil bastard.” He looked the much larger siren up and down.
The newcomer hadn’t noticed Dust yet.
Yet.
The Moray slowly slipped out of his den, using his long body to reach down toward the offender. He hadn’t even gotten the Flowey’s name but he didn’t care to. His second set of jaws all but drooled in anticipation. This tiny, feather-shaped prick wasn’t going to disrespect one of his shiver and get away with it.
The Flowey mermaid scoffed at Horror. His eyelights caught on the jellyfish. “What are you doing with that? You’re gonna hurt yourself if you keep slinging that around. Idiot.”
Horror stayed silent, shoulders tight and avoiding eye contact as Dust crept closer above them. He silently braced his hands on a rock and coiled his body behind him to strike.
The Flowey variant crossed his arms. “Really. How do you even expect to take care of that thing? Can you even take care of yourself?”
Horror’s subtle downcast look told the tyrant everything.
He grinned. “Oh, you can’t? This just keeps getting better and better! You’re a fucking ret-”
Dust struck slamming his target into the stone below. The Flowey yelled at the attack and pellets filled the air, shredding into Dust’s sleeves and arms.
“Dust!”
Dust saw red. He ignored the attacks and reared his head back, opening his mouth to bare his pharyngeal jaws. Flowey’s eyes widened in child-like terror, unable to free himself from Dust’s claws.
Bastard deserved this.
“Dust, no!!”
A body slammed into his side, knocking him off of his target. His coils were thrown into a loop before he recovered. He snarled at the golden boy between him and his prey.
Dream stood his ground and gave him a stern look. “Don’t attack our guest, Dust. What could have possibly led you to that decision?”
“He attacked me out of nowhere!!” the Flowey tattled, pointing an accusing finger at Dust’s scowl from behind Dream. Toddler. “I never did anything to him!”
Dust bared his teeth, letting some of his coils drift to land behind the saddest Horror he’d ever seen. “Why don’t you tell your saviour what you said to my shiver mate, then? What you spouted out at him while he wasn’t given a chance to respond? What you almost called him?” He snarled.
The flower’s face became pale. “I-I didn’t call him anything! You didn’t hear me finish!”
“You finished enough words.” Dust lifted his front, glaring down past Dream’s protective stance. “Idiot. Useless. Pet. Creepy little bastard.” He snapped both sets of teeth.
Dream’s face flickered with disgust for a split second. He schooled his expression and turned to the mermaid. “Asra, you said what?”
Asra huffed. “Look at him! Am I wrong?”
Oh, this bastard.
Dream raised a hand at Dust who snarled, ready to kill. Asra flinched. “Asra, I think we should leave for a moment. So sorry about that, Horro. It won’t happen again.”
Horror nodded softly at the small leviathan and the pair swam away up and out of the trench.
Dust huffed a plume of bubbles and turned to Horror. The poor siren was droopy and his tentacles were tucked under him in shame. His hands fidgeted with the jellyfish’s cap, still holding onto it. That mermaid did a number on him.
“Hey.”
Horror slowly looked up at him and Dust swore he saw tears in the water. His stomach twisted. He didn’t know how to fix this. How would a Papyrus try to fix this?
“……You’re not useless.” He started, getting more confident with each word. “We love your company. You’re the life of this trench. Especially with your new fish-collecting habits.”
Horror grinned at him. “…real…ly?”
“Of course, really. In fact,” Dust pulled his tail out of his den. “Show me your fish pen. I’ve been dying to see how you keep them all in.
The octopus beamed and guided Dust to the back den.
“What.” Cross grumbled, still swimming ahead of you. The past two weeks had been rough for him. Everyone expected him to stay safe and hidden in the trench. They seemed to recognize that Cross was somehow, whether directly or indirectly, in danger due to the divers who had been circulating the seas. The more people tried to get him to stay, the more frustrated he became.
You watched his back in worry. Of course you wanted him to stay safe too, but you also understood what it was like for everyone to try to force you to stay safe. It was frustrating. “I just wanted to ask if you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.” He sighed, shoulders slumping. “Let’s just… I want to be alone.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” You had to stay close. You couldn’t forgive yourself if something happened again and you weren’t there.
The orca went silent and kept swimming. You knew he wanted you to leave him alone but you couldn’t do that. You stuck to his tail like a suckerfish, noting that, despite being upset, he made sure not to hit you with his tail.
He led you far away from the trench into open ocean. Only the faint glow of sunlight told you which way was up. To your relief, he didn’t lead you back to the kelp forest where that first diver attacked. Maybe he just didn’t want to think about it.
Cross started swimming up.
“Cross? Where are we going?” There wasn’t anything up there that you could see.
“Getting some fresh air.” Was his curt response. His body was vertical as he rose and you joined him.
You both surfaced and breathed, sunlight hit your skin and you sighed. It had been a while since you surfaced. You should do it more often. Maybe pull out the frisbee too. Killer would love tha-
“Boat.” Cross growled across the water and glared at exactly what he’d said. A boat sat on the water, it’s nose pointed at you both.
You froze and watched, both of you stuck in this tense stare-off. The boat was just sitting there, bobbing in the waves. A singular figure stood on the deck. A human you almost thought you recognized. He vanished into the cabin before you could think of where you’d seen him before.
A deep rumbling sound sent tiny ripples into the water around Cross. “Why can’t they just leave me alone?” The mumble was so quiet you almost didn’t hear it.
“Who leave you alone?” You asked. Was he talking about the divers? It felt like more than that.
“Nothing. We need to head ho-” Cross was interrupted by the boat engine starting.
Both of you looked at the boat as three figures lifted crossbows.
Not again!
“Cross, run!!” You shoved his head under the water. Pain exploded in your tail and you screamed. Thrashing immediately made the pain worse but you couldn’t help it. Everything in your spine was on fire.
“Y/n! Y/n!” Cross’s panicked whistles broke through your scrambled mind enough to recognize that he was still in danger.
In spite of the pain, you located Cross, swam to him, and pushed him toward home. “Go! Get Nightmare!”
“No!” He grabbed your hand and pulled you closer. “I’m not letting you deal with this by yourself again!”
A sharp tug at the harpoon had a high-pitched squeal of pain rip out of your throat. You got tugged backward toward the boat.
Cross’s pupils shrank. “Y/n, breathe! Just stay still! I’ll handle this!” Before you could argue, another jolt of pain ripped through your tail, silencing your words with a scream of pain.
Everything hurt. Your body was on fire. Cross darted past you toward the boat and you wanted to scream at him to stop but you just screamed. You glanced back to see blood flowing from just behind your dorsal fin. Thankfully, it had missed your spine but you were still in big trouble. Dolphin hide was thick enough so you doubted you’d be seriously harmed but it still had you.
Eventually, your eyes drifted past the red cloud to see the orca swimming around the boat and slamming into it in an attempt to scare them into letting you go. He was an idiot.
You had to help him.
Your tail twitched and fire shot through you. You screamed again in high-pitched pain. You could barely move now that you had stopped moving. It had let off enough pressure that moving again brought all that pain back. You struggled to force yourself into movement, fighting the instinct to stay where you were in less pain.
They didn’t want you. They wanted him. And the only way to stop that from happening was to stop him.
“CROSS!!!” You roared through the pain, thrashing until you started picking up speed. “RUN!!!”
He glanced at you, you knew he heard you, but he kept attacking the boat, looking for opportunities to snatch people from its deck. He wasn’t going to listen to you, you realized. He didn’t care what happened to himself.
Idiot!
You charged upwards, the tension on the line going slack, and burst out of the water. Everyone on deck saw you. Everyone on deck with their headsets watched in shock as you flailed mid-air and snarled at them. You had intended to locate the person reeling you in so you could drag them in but it suddenly wasn’t that simple. Your line was connected to a winch in the middle of the deck, far from the edge where someone could tear it off the boat. That made things nearly impossible.
You fell back into the water and grunted, biting your tongue when the water twisted the harpoon in your back.
“Y/n!” Cross rushed to your side.
Keep moving. Don’t stop.
You rushed under the boat. “Cross, you have to go get Nightmare!”
“I told you I'm not leaving you here!” He snapped following you and shoving his back into the belly of the boat, making it jolt in the water. “You’ve dealt with enough of this! Let me help, dang it!”
“I am!” You snapped, the pain seeping into your voice. “But you can only help if you don’t get caught! The winch is on the deck! Unless a miracle happens, I’m already caught!”
He blinked in shock. “The winch is… Y/n-”
“RUN!!!” You roared at him. “I NEED YOU TO GET NIGHTMARE BEFORE THEY GET YOU!!!”
“NO!” He grabbed your shoulders and stopped you in your tracks. Cross’s eyes leveled with yours. “I’m not leaving you alone! I don’t care if that means I get caught! We’re not going to lose you again!”
You froze. He was serious. “Cross, I-AGH!!” You were yanked to the side, harpoon dragging you toward the edge of the boat. You only had seven feet of line left before they would have you out of the water.
“We’ll get out of here together or we’ll deal with this together.” Cross reached over you to grab the line. “Either way, we do this together.” He reached out of the water, bit down on the line, and thrashed, trying to yank it free from the boat.
The entire boat lurched to the side, dipping a few feet toward Cross. Chatter erupted on the deck as people scrambled.
But then it happened.
Cross screamed, releasing the line and falling into the water. The line embedded in his shoulder immediately tensed as a net was cast over you.
“Cross!!” You tried to avoid the net but the harpoon wrenched in your tail, nerves screaming in pain. You were held up as the net scooped you up and dragged you out of the water. “Cross!!!” You reached out of the net and into the water. A skeletal hand caught yours as Cross lunged out of the water. He slammed into your net, clinging to it and trying to pull it back into the water.
It was useless.
His right arm could barely grasp the rope with the harpoon in his shoulder and he fell back into the sea. Men and monsters scurried across the deck, working efficiently to pull him from the water. Another net was cast.
The crane lifting you up was moved to drop you onto the deck before returning to the second net to pick up the ends.
You knew how this ended. You had experienced it before.
A catch pole looped around your outstretched hand and held it out. You thrashed and snarled.
“Shh, shh, breathe. It’s okay.” One of the men on board crouched near you and gently reached out to stead your shoulder. “You’re gonna be okay. Just breathe.”
You growled at him but something immediately caught your attention. He wasn’t wearing a headset. Your eyes widened. This was your chance. You started a single note when he placed a finger to his lips.
“Shh.” He smirked but as if he’d seen something cute. “Silly little dolphin. I can’t hear anymore.” Something pricked your shoulder, causing you to flinch and look. He pulled a needle out of your skin. “Don’t fight it. You’ll feel better when you wake up.”
“No! Cross!” You struggled and tried to reach for your companion again but the sedative was already taking effect. Your eyes drooped. “No.”
“You’ll be okay. Just sleep.” The man calmed you, gently keeping pressure on your shoulder so you wouldn't thrash too much.
The last thing you saw was Cross’s snarling face peeking over the side of the boat. Then darkness.
. . .
Instead of waking up in a tank made for a siren, you woke in what was effectively a bathtub. Your tail hung out of one end and your head and arms draped over the other. You heard mumbling voices and blinked blearily, trying to wake yourself up.
“………see… again………Cross.” said a voice you had never heard before.
“…let………go……nothing to……this.” Cross’s voice.
Cross!
Wake up wake up wake up! You urged yourself.
Fluorescent light filled the room as you stirred, looking up. A black cape filled your vision. Someone was standing next to you with their back to you. They spoke and it was the first voice you had heard.
A low whistle escaped you as you tried to move and both voices stopped for a moment.
“Y/n!” Cross’s voice was worried but somehow more guarded than you had ever heard before.
The person in front of you turned and you saw a tall skeleton with scars on his eyes, one going up the skull and the other going down his cheek. In the center of his chest on the flowy black cloak, was a bright white ‘x’ of cloth. He smiled down at you in a way that made you fear for your safety.
“Hello, y/n. Nice to finally meet a friend of my son’s.”
“Oh stars no.” Dust groaned and slipped back into his den as Killer returned. However, he didn’t return alone. Dream, Ink, Blue, and a new mermaid you hadn’t seen before followed him over the ridge. This newcomer was half as short as you but his fins were fancy and flared out while he glared around at everyone. He was also not a skeleton which was somewhat new to you. He seemed to be some sort of humanoid, yellow, flower monster with small, red, thorn-like fingers.
His eyelights landed on you. “The fuck are you looking at, podling?” He spat.
You blinked in surprise. Honestly not the kind of mouth you expected on the small fish. The colorful array of fins had looked inviting and friendly but nope.
Your lack of response seemed to make him even more pissed. “Hey! Got any brains, airhead? I said fuck off.” He bared his teeth and snarled at you.
This wasn’t going to get any better. You turned and swam down into the trench. His anger wasn’t worth your time.
“That’s right. Swim away, coward.”
A rabid snarl had you spinning around to see Dream holding Killer back as he thrashed and swiped at the beta fish. The flower bristled at the sudden attack.
“YOU TAKE THAT BACK, YOU USELESS DRIFT OF MANATEE DUNG!!!” Killer all but roared, digging his claws into Dream’s arms to pry them free.
“Now Friends, We Could All Work On Being Kinder To One Another.” Blue interjected gently but neither was having it.
“What did you call me, you little shit?!? I’ll kill you!” Blue had to dart in to keep the flower monster from charging closer to death’s claws.
“Brother, help!” Dream called, struggling to hold back the wild shark.
The entire trench rippled with energy, sapping away the aggression in the water until neither were struggling to kill each other. The siren and mermaid glared at each other in hatred.
“What is going on?” Nightmare lifted himself from the bottom, focusing on the newcomer. The flower froze as he gently towered over everyone. Despite the obvious size difference, the newcomer puffed himself up. Nightmare smirked at the tiny challenge. “Why is a beta in my home? Dream?”
“Ah, yes, well.” Dream had still not released Killer. “The land dwellers snatched one of his kin and he insisted on helping.”
“I’m not helping! I’m doing this for myself! I don’t care about any of you!” He snapped and shoved Blue’s hands away. “Get the fuck off me.”
“Language.” You muttered instinctively.
His eyes locked on you. “You again? Didn’t you go scurry into a hole to hide, ya guppy?”
Nightmare growled. “Do not treat my shiver like that. I will lift you out of the water and drop you on a boat. Do not test me.”
The flower grumbled but shut up, surprisingly.
Dream looked at his brother. “We’ve seen a few cases of fish getting snatched. Most of them get tagged and dropped back in the water but oddly enough they haven’t returned any orcas yet. Maybe it’s too early to know but it feels wrong.”
“Hmm.” The Kraken tapped his chin in thought. “Interesting. I will make a note of that. Y/n.”
You started, not having expected to be addressed. “Yes?”
“I’d like you to keep an eye on Cross for a while. You don’t have to protect him, just stay with him so he’s not alone. Got it?”
Sounds easy enough. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. Dream.” He retreated into his trench. “Let’s talk. You may release Killer. Killer, don’t bite him.”
Killer grumbled as Dream let go of him and swam away. The dejected shark glared at the beta fish and swam over to you. “Let’s go find Crossy~. I wanna see him before he gets snatched.”
“Killer!” You gasped, half serious. “Don’t say that!”
“What?” He smirks. “It was bound to happen eventually. He’s just too big of a stud.”
“Pffft!” You laughed and followed Killer as he grinned and led you away from the rude newcomer, making jokes along the way. As odd as it was to say, you had missed Killer’s humor. Most were dark but it wasn’t anything you were terribly bothered by.
It didn’t look how you imagined sunken ships to look. Not that it should surprise you, he sank a pretty modern vessel. It didn’t really fit the pirate ship style you were raised to think of.
The shipwreck sat it three separate pieces, torn from each other by sheer strength. Sharks circled the wreckage, scavenging what little food and bones were left. Algae had even started growing up the sides of large sheets of metal, giving the stark white a gentle green. It was almost beautiful in a slightly morbid way.
“Let’s get this over with.” Cross’s grumbling broke you out of your reverie. He drifted forward, ready to get this over with but still dreading it.
Right. You had both come to see if the hunters had anything to do with the attacker from yesterday. Nightmare said he had a suspicion but needed proof. However, understandably, he couldn't search the wreckage himself without accidentally tearing more or even destroying evidence you might need.
You followed Cross and stayed close to his fin. With your shoulder at his hip, your tail still didn’t reach the same distance as his. It was unfair you were the smallest of the shiver. Not even Blue was as small as you.
“I’ll check this one you check the one with the cabin?” Cross turned to you and nodded at a separate part of the boat. The back end. “I’m too big. But you should be able to fit.”
He was right. The doorways were too small for him to fit in. Only you and Killer could fit but Killer was still fetching Dream so it was just you.
“I… yeah. I can do that.” You nodded and swam toward the wreckage.
“Just be careful. The jagged metal will still slice you open and I don't like how close those sharks are. Don't take any risks.” He sternly called after you.
“Got it!” You called back. The sharks concerned you as well but not as much for their ability to smell blood but more because of their sheer numbers. There were at least thirty that you could see and the numbers didn’t seem to be going down.
The back end of the boat had been snapped off, leaving warped and jagged pieces of metal pointing into the sand where it fell. A from under the deck was cut through the middle by that event and a familiar plexiglass aquarium had half fallen out, one end touching the sand. You gave it a wide berth, eyes catching on a nearby muzzle as well. You shuddered. They hadn’t done much but it was enough to know it wasn’t ethical. You dreaded to think what other pouchers were up to.
You bypassed the rough memory and slipped inside the door at the back of the room. It opened into an office with a half-disintegrated papers floating on the ceiling and clumped together. Maybe at some point the papers could have helped you but not anymore.
Something else bobbed against the ceiling, wobbling in the current. Unsure what it was, you swam up and plucked it from an air puddle. In your hands, you found a compass but, instead of the two points, this one had four, marking east and west as well. An odd design for sure but not unheard of.
You held onto it, figuring it might be useful. The rest of the office was just soaked papers that were starting to become a problem. You left, trailing paper dust behind you. The cabin upstairs was worse. More papers, a few keepsakes, and a photo of the Captain and Jewels in Mickey Mouse ears. You didn’t touch anything and left quickly.
Cross spotted you leaving the wreckage from his search through a random jacket’s pockets. “Did you find anything?”
“Uh, yeah.” You held out the compass for him to see.
When he looked at it he tilted his head. “What is it? And why does it wiggle like that?”
You chuckled. “It’s a compass. It shows you which direction you're going by always pointing north with this end of the needle.” You pointed it out and he leaned down to look.
His face paled, as much as a skeleton can pale. “ does it normally have four points?”
“No, this one seems uniq-”
“We need to leave.” He grabbed your wrist and started swimming home, almost panicked.
“Hey! What? Why?”
“We have what we need. Hurry.” He didn’t slow down for you even while you struggled to keep up.
You had no room to argue or question him as he immediately left you in the dust. You shoved your tail up and down just to keep up. Questions could wait anyway.
Nightmare’s voice echoed through the trench and startled you awake. You gasped and darted out of your bed and into the main area where Nightmare had lifted Cross into the light. He had only been asleep for a couple hours but he still looked slightly dazed in Nightmare’s hands. You quickly closed the distance.
Cross’s fuzzy eyelights focused on you as you approached and he smiled. “Hey, y-OOF!” He toppled when you slammed into his chest, wrapping your arms around him.
“Don’t you ever get shot again, you hear me?!” You demanded, hugging him tightly.
Nightmare chuckled at your attempt to crush Cross’s ribs. “Gentle, y/n. You’re going to break his ribs.”
“You might actually, ohmystars!” Cross squeaked, patting your back to encourage you to let go. “Y/n, I get it! PleaseLetMeBreathe!”
You relented and released him, giggling at his mock-gasp for air. He smirked at your laughter. Changing tone slightly, you looked him in the eyelights. “Are you feeling okay? No strange, sick feelings or anything?”
He shook his head. “Just weak. It’s been a while since I’ve been…… Where are Dust and Killer?” He interrupted himself, looking around the trench. Whatever he was going to say was lost to the ocean.
You made a mental note to pry at him later. “Uh, Killer went to go get the Stars and Dust has been hidden since he got back from that mission. Horror’s also-”
“Hmm.” A familiar grunt sent a small current across the back of your head. “Here……… Cross… okay…?”
Nodding slowly, Cross lifted himself our of Nightmare’s hand which retreated into shadows. “I’m okay. Just a little startled.” He stood differently from before. You watched him as he stood almost at attention, shoulders straight and rigid.
What was he doing?
“Y/n…?”
“Hm? Oh, yes, Horror?” Shaken from your thoughts, you looked directly up, cranking your neck, at the silliest siren of your shiver who grinned like a happy puppy down at you.
He was beaming at you. “Dust… an’… I……… made thing… for you…”
Stars, he was adorable. You couldn't help smiling at his childlike demeanor. “Oh? What’d you make?”
It was like when a child showed their parent a drawing they made. He looked so proud. “Come! Come see!” He reached out, grabbed your hand, and dragged you away from Nightmare and the recovering Cross.
You looked back and mouthed “Sorry!” at Cross who laughed and shooed you, insisting you go ahead. Not that you really had a choice.
The happy skeleton excitedly dragged you toward the back end of the trench where you didn’t usually frequent. He started rambling as best he could. “W-Wanted to… make…… you som’thn that…… felt… like home…… Asked Dust…… H-He said… he’d show…… me! Showed me…… how to… make book… kay! V-Very… pretty!”
You couldn’t help but smile at his excitement even if you had no idea what he meant by ‘book kay.’ He was so happy you couldn’t help it. Surely this was something Nightmare had been aware of for a while. Horror seemed to be the only happy siren since the shipwreck but maybe that was because it was out of sight and out of mind for him. Though if he’d spent a while learning some new skill, maybe you were wrong. He could very well be determined to achieve his goals. You never knew.
“Wait,” Horror stops you outside a cave and claps a large hand over your eyes, earning a squeak of surprise at the slight slap. “Eyes… closed for surp…prize.”
“Okay, eyes closed.” You held up your hands in surrender and giggled. He pulled you into the cave. “I can cover my own eyes, Horror.”
“No.” He stated firmly but not aggressively, gently pulling you further.
As he dragged you further you started to wonder how deep the cave was. “Horror, where are you taking-”
His hand came of your face and he held his arms out toward Dust who sat coiled in the middle of the room. Right in front of him, at his hands, was a small array of flowers carved into colorful coral and placed in a makeshift rock vase. The majority of the flowers were in perfect detail and look exactly like the actual flowers themselves. Then there were two other vastly different carved flowers that were obviously made by Horror. He kept pointing at them and giggling excitedly like ‘Look what I made for you!’
A smile burst across your face. “I… you… How did you even know how these flowers looked?”
Dust piped up with a lax smile. “Spent some time on land. Went to see as much as I could but I never forgot the flowers.” He lifted to bouquet and offered it to you.
“You spent time on-???”
“I m-made… theses ones…… for you…!” Horror pointed out the happy little catastrophes among the other flowers. They looked low resolution.
You smiled at him. “I love it, thank you.” How many times were you going to get answers only for someone or something to disrupt it before you could ask? It was getting difficult.
His beaming smile had you forgetting his simple interruption. How cute was he? Looking to you for approval. Unhealthy habit but it wouldn't hurt him here so you didn’t mind.
As deep as the trench was, you were starting the realize that you weren't that far from the surface and before, when you got lost or traveled anywhere, you had normally stayed around the same depth or gone up toward the shore. You had never actually gone deeper. From the light levels and travel time, you estimated that the trench was roughly seven or eight hundred meters deep, still in the Twilight Zone. You weren’t actually living in the deep trenches below the abyss. You still had a daylight cycle at this depth.
Now you floated above the lip of your trench, staring out into the dark. The landscape that way steadily slanted downward, creating this creeping beckoning effect. You shuddered and turned only for something below you to catch your eye.
It was a boulder, sitting on the edge of the trench and cradled in a groove. At first, you couldn’t understand why that had caught your attention. That was until you saw that the groove under it didn’t extend to the other side. In fact, it looked like something big had shoved it across the ground, carving a deep trail into the earth behind it.
You tilted your head at the rock. What could have moved it like that? And why? The boulder didn’t seem to serve any purpose. It almost seemed like it was put there accidentally. You looked around. Maybe there were more boulders and grooves like the one you just found.
Not only did you find more grooves, the entire trench was littered with them. You finally recognized that the woodgrain-like patterns across the walls weren’t natural design but intentionally carved spaces. The lines didn’t curve naturally into the caves either. The caves looked like an afterthought. Like someone suddenly realized they forgot to add them and carved the caves into the rock itself.
The caves looked arranged in an odd, almost impractical manner until you decided to back up. You swam higher to get a better view of the trench. The caves etched into the walls were in a spiral pattern, the center of which was……
Nightmare.
Had… Had Nightmare built this? By himself?
That thought had you looking over the trench again. Keeping in mind the size of his tentacles, the grooves matched that width perfectly, leaving a short point as if he lifted the tentacle away at the end.
How did solid rock bend under his tentacles so easily?
You swam back down into the trench. Only one way to find out. “Nightmare?”
“You have questions.” His eye opened just withing the darkness of his trench, looking up at you. “Speak but stay calm. Cross is still resting.”
You nodded. “Did you… build this trench?”
The cyan orb creased. “Ah. You finally noticed? Yes, I built it. I needed a home away from the darkness. One I could fit in without being spotted from a distance. This was my best option.”
You looked down at his artificial darkness and tilted your head. “Away from the darkness? Why? You literally make darkness for yourself.” You pointed out, gesturing at him.
He chuckled and lifted his head halfway out of the darkness. “I do. I am more comfortable and hidden in the dark. However, this darkness, I can control and don’t have to fight off false sirens.”
“The what now??” You asked, not panicking but genuinely concerned. What was a false siren? And what could possibly scare a Leviathan out of a whole layer of the ocean?
“You’re educated in our seas. Do you know of the Midnight Zone?” Nightmare stared at you calmly, as if he was telling a story.
“I, well, yes, but what does that have to do with-”
“A false siren is a Midnight Zone creature,” Nightmare started explaining. “That preys on other sirens. It has the likeness of a siren but the configuration is entirely different. Where you sirens have torsos that connect where the neck would be on your marine half, false siren torsos connect on top of the head and sometimes the nose. A human, anglerfish false, for example, has its human bits connected where its antenna would be, using the darkness to hide its true form and lure you close. Then, the jaws below its torso snap open.” He trails off, staring at you for a moment before changing tone to something lighter. “……While there are a few sirens species capable of survival among the false, constant survival is extremely stressful. Hence the relocation here.”
That horrifying new information sank in like a lead weight in a pool. There was an entirely different kind of siren out there made specifically to lure and hunt other sirens. Stunned from the terror of a lecture, you struggled to speak for a moment. You didn't even know such creatures could exist.
“They just…? That’s……” You started.
“Worry not, we are far from those depths. Besides, if one ever decided to travel this far from their home, the darkness couldn't hide them anymore.” Nightmare assured you and you felt yourself start to relax. He was absorbing your tension again but this time you didn't mind. “Get some rest, Y/n. You’ve worried yourself too much the past few days. Cross and I will be here when you wake.” He shooed you gently with a tentacle before it faded into his artificial darkness below.
You turned tail and swam away at a casual pace, thankful he had drained some of your fear. You were still shocked by the information but it wouldn't keep you up anymore.
Hoping not to dream, you curled up in your nest to sleep.
“Urg! Ngh! Just! Open!” Your hands clamped tightly around the shell of a clam, fighting it to get it open. You had been at this for longer than you would ever admit, especially to Killer, with no success. The clam refused to open so you could reach its delicious insides. It was unfair that something so tasty was so hard to open on your own.
“Damn it!” You cursed under your breath as your hands slipped, dropping the clam. Scooping it up, you thought of a different approach.
Water rushed by as you swam to the nearest rock and slammed the clam down onto it. Dust stirred at the contact but when you checked the shell it was perfectly intact. You growled and slammed it down on the rock again and again, water resisting every move, until you heard a crack.
Excited, you pulled the clam back to see…
Nothing.
It was exactly the same as before.
“What?! Then what broke?!” You snapped, shaking the forsaken clam.
The dust cleared enough for you to see a crack in the rock you were using.
“Ugh! Who made you?? Thor?!?” Yelling at the clam did not open it but, if you pretended it was offended, you felt better. “I’ll get you open, just you wait! Your deliciousness cannot stay hidden from me!” You swam up toward the lip of the trench, hoping to find a new, stronger tool.
The trench felt empty again. Killer was gone, Dust was avoiding everyone, Horror was still in his cave he had vanished into minutes ago, and Nightmare was resting with Cross. When was the last time you all cuddled together? Felt like you hadn’t since moving here.
You found a rock. Actually, you found two rocks, one was flat and to other was heavy and fit perfectly in your hand. You grinned down at the clam mischievously. “I’ve got you now!”
Setting it on the flat rock, you lifted the other rock high, planning on smashing the clam open. In the swing downward, you saw the clam open for a second, then your rock struck, sending debris into the water around you in tiny clouds.
Then you saw it.
You saw your clam.
Swimming. Away!
The clam clacked open and shut, creating puffs of water that pushed it through the water and away from you.
“Hey! You’re not supposed to run from me!!” You all but roared, immediately giving chase. It couldn't get far but it was a slippery bastard, slipping out of your hands just as you thought you had it. “Get! Back! Here! Come here!” You eventually pounced on it, slamming it into the sand before picking it up.
Unscathed.
Oh, you were starting to hate this stupid clam.
You pulled it close to your face and glared at it. “I. Am. Going. To. Eat. You. Stop fighting me!” You tried to pry it open yet again but to no avail. It refused.
For the next several minutes, you struggled and fought the shell, trying every tactic and tool you could get your hands on.
Nothing worked.
Not one thing.
It was infuriating.
Eventually, you laid across a slab of rock, staring at the indestructible clam. It sat there, taunting you with its very existence. You really wanted inside but every time you tried it stayed tightly shut. There was nothing you could do now but wait for one of the boys to help you.
Movement made you focus on the clam again. It opened and shut, starting to swim away again.
You gasped. That one small movement gave you an idea.
You snatched it out of the water and put it back on the slab, grabbing a small rock and crouching to hold the rock a hair’s breadth away from the clam’s front. If you waited for it to open on its own, you could shove the rock in and wedge it open enough to get your fingers in.
All you had to do was wait.
So you did.
You waited.
And waited.
Time stretched on as the stubborn clam didn’t even twitch for several minutes. You started to feel like it was taunting you again, making you go insane with another method only for this one to fail too.
It opened.
You struck, shoving the rock into its mouth and wedging it open. It tried to snap shut but clacked against stone, leaving a space big enough to squeeze your fingers in.
“Gotcha! Haha!” You cheered and grabbed the sides. This time, with the better grip and a small struggle, you pried it open and snapped it in half so it couldn't ever close again. “Ha ha ha!!”
Triumphant, you dug into your prize, not even biting down on a pesky pearl.
Dust came back with new information about Cross’s attacker and a sour mood. He retreated into his cave the second he was dismissed, vanishing in the dark like an angry cat. No one tried to stop him. Not while he was this angry.
Nightmare also retreated into the trench, focusing his attention on Cross. “Killer. I need you to go inform my brother of this attack. The land dwellers are growing too bold. They have entered our seas to hunt us. Tell him to alert the other leviathans as well. The ocean needs to know.”
Killer, obviously excited to see his old buddy Ink again, swam in a jittery circle. “Yes, sir!” You could barely keep track of his tail as he dashed out of the trench.
“Don’t get into trouble, Killer!” Nightmare’s voice boomed out of the trench.
His call earned him a cheeky; “I won’t!”
Nightmare and you rolled your eyes at the same time and you smirked. He was going to get in trouble somehow, he always did. Especially when Ink was involved. Those two were chaos gremlins.
A pained groan pulled your attention back to Cross who looked abnormally dazed. Usually, when he and Killer got into a fight, he was fine and handled it like it never happened. Now though, he looked like he was about to throw up and pass out.
“Nightmare?” Your voice drew his bright cyan eye to you. Cross’s eyelights became hazy as he rested in Nightmare’s hands. “He looks drugged…”
“Drugged?” Nightmare hesitated and peered down at Cross, looking at him with a new perspective. “Drugged is a human term. What do you mean? You know why he’s acting this way?”
Of course there weren't medications in the ocean. There weren't any labs. That you knew of at least. “Oh, uh, it’s an injection of…… It’s like a toxin that can cause many different effects but most of the time, when someone says someone looks drugged, it’s talking about the kind that makes you drowsy or even knocks you unconscious.” Cross’s eyesockets drooped lazily even while Nightmare lifted him up closer to his eye level. “Usually, when people use that one its to make people or animals easier to move without a struggle. Like sedation… oh stars.” Dread filled you at the implications of that. A tentacle lifted to gently curl into your hand. You gripped it. “They were trying to catch him…”
“Ah. We have a more dangerous enemy, then.” Nightmare glared at the bandage around his companion. “How do we cure this sedation? Surely you know a way?”
“Oh, yes, well, technically.” You took a breath to slow yourself down, knowing you were getting ahead of yourself. “Charcoal can counteract most drugs but he can also just sleep it off.”
The tension in the trench eased like clouds parting on a rainy day. Nightmare breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, we’ll let him rest and-” He cut himself off, eye darting sharply behind you to your left. His face relaxed into a smirk.
Curious, you turned to see Horror strolling across the rocks with a small school of salmon swarming his hands, plucking at food he hadn’t eaten. The octopus siren grinned at his little flock of fish, ignoring everything else to guide them into an unoccupied cave along the trench. You couldn't help but smirk at his innocent actions.
“At least one of us is happy.” Dust muttered, lounging on the lip of his cave. He still looked annoyed from his mission but wasn't in as bad a mood.
“Since when does he feed fish and not just eat them?” You asked.
Nightmare answered. “He’s been ‘making friends’ for the past few weeks. Keeps rambling about raising fish for a reliable source of food. I don't know who’s been teaching him these things but I honestly don't mind. It’s a solid idea. Though I don’t think he realizes we would have to kill them for food yet.”
“Huh.” You watched the hungry boy slip into the cave with the fish. How did he plan on keeping them in the cave? He couldn’t exactly close them in without closing himself in.
“Back on topic.” Nightmare spoke and you turned, following his gaze down to Cross’s limp body. “……How long does this sedation last?”
You hesitated. “I… I’m not sure…… Most animal tranqs are made to sedate for roughly an hour? It could be any amount of time though. I’ve never studied siren tranqs. I’ve never even heard of siren tranqs until today…”
“Hm. Rest then. We’ll reconvene when he wakes. Until then, leave us undisturbed.” The Kraken then turned and vanished into the darkness below, curling tentacles into the deep with him.
You and Dust shared a look of worry before both retreating to your caves. Whatever those Compass X divers wanted with Cross, they weren't going to get. Not if your entire shiver had anything to say about it.
Dust weaved between the kelp as easily as the current itself, searching for any sign of human interruption. A broken leaf would work if he could find one. Humans were always obsessed with marking things that weren’t theirs. A useless waste of time. Most of them never returned to the place they marked, even in land. He’d seen way to many hearts carved into trees when he used to walk through the parks. Idiots, all of them, proclaiming a future that never ended up working out. Childish.
Finding no clues among the kelp, Dust swam upward. Diver’s had to breathe at some point and he could narrow down his search if he found a boat.
As he approached the surface, a familiar scent made him growl in frustration. He knew exactly who that scent belonged to and it wasn’t a diver.
Breaching the kelp, he stuck his head out of the water, eyes catching on two boats. One, very official and fancy looking, had a few bustling crew members tying things down. The other boat, he was unfortunate enough to surface next to, was more of a make-shift raft of scraps woven together to float.
Before he could avoid her, a voice piped up. “Well, how’s about that? A siren in my waters? How utterly terrifying~!” A lady with beautifully plump features leaned over the railing of the make-shift boat, smirking down at him and twirling her hair.
His eye socket twitched. Her voice grated on his nerves. “What do you want, fae? I’m busy.”
“Fae?” She laughed, her voice like bells. Irritating bells. The annoying ones your neighbor put up that never stop clanging. “Baby, I thought we were on a first-name basis. You can speak my name~. I don’t bite~.”
He scoffed. “Last we met, you took my name. Sorry if it’s a sore spot for me now.” The water felt colder. He wanted to growl but she always laughed when he did. It would ruin the seriousness of the moment. Instead, he watched to other boat as they packed up to leave.
“Oh, yes~.” She leaned her chin on her hand, propping her elbow on the rails. “Little Murder~. I quite like the name. Tell me, may I have your new name?”
“I’m not falling for your tricks again, Fae. Enough.” He ground out.
She giggled. He shuddered in disgust. “Well, didn’t hurt to try. How have you been? It’s been, what? Three years?”
“I don’t care to count.” He jabbed at her, wanting her to drop the subject and leave him alone. However, she was providing the perfect cover despite her irritating insistence on speaking to him.
“Of course you don’t. You were never a math guy.” She teased, folding her arms on the rails. “Have you found another girl like me yet?”
“No, thank the stars.” He mumbled. The crewmembers on the other boat finished doing what they were doing and stopped to wait. He just wanted this nightmare to end.
“Rude.” Pouted the fairy. “You can’t lie to me. I gave you the best time of your life and you know it. I saw it on your face. You loved me.” She all but purred down at him.
Finally letting himself growl, he glared up at her. “You know nothing about me now. Now, I have people who love me without favors.” He spat that last word like a curse.
She flinched and frowned. “Hey. Uncalled for. Those were transactions you agreed to.”
“Yeah, before you told me I was selling away my personality, you psycho.” Dust snapped before shaking his head. “Whatever. You’re not worth my time.” He dipped his head back into the water. Moving closer to the other boat was the best option right now.
Her hand caught his hood and pulled him back up. “Who taught you manners? Don’t you know it’s rude to leave in the middle of a conversation?” When he yanked free of her grasp and spun to snap at her, she pulled her hand back and tapped her chin. “Unless you’d like me to cry out in distress at your rudeness? I might actually draw attention to myself if I did~.”
He snapped him mouth shut and glared at her. “You’re insufferable. I’m not making another deal with you so leave me alone and mind your business.” The crew had finished packing up and were turning the boat around.
“You are my business, Murder~.” She teased, tapping her fingers on her cheek.
He was sick of her tricks and games and he wasn’t going to play again. Besides, his boat was leaving anyway. As it turned he saw the name etched into the side. Compass X.
“Not anymore.” He dove under the water and she immediately started screaming, calling attention to herself. The other boat moved but he knew following now was a bad idea, especially with harpoon crossbows. She alerted the other boat to the siren in the area as he retreated home. He had enough information now.
Your head shot up from Cross’s shoulder. You can’t remember when you both fell asleep.
“Mh… Y/n? What’s wrong?” Cross yawned and stretched as you left him.
“I-I don’t know. Something’s wrong.” You could feel something nearby. A cold feeling crept up your spine and you instinctively started whispering. “There’s something out there.”
Cross’s face immediately got serious and he looked around the peaceful clearing, listening closely.
The seaweed swayed slowly in the gentle current. From what you could see, absolutely nothing was wrong.
Cross relaxed slightly, sighing. “Let’s just go home, okay? I’m sure whatever you heard has no idea where we are anyway.” He held his hand out for you to take.
That creeping feeling was still there. You stared into the dense kelp for a few seconds longer before taking Cross’s hand. “You’re right… Let's go.”
He started guiding you back through the forest. With nothing to see between the leaves, you focused on the feeling that followed you out of the safety of the clearing. It lingered on your spine, making you even more tense than before.
You and Cross reached the sand field and he stopped you both just inside the kelp, searching the open field yet again. As odd as it had been the first time, now you understood why he checked. The field was open and left you exposed from all sides. Although both of you were predators, there were much bigger fish in the sea who would still see you as food. Especially with Leviathans still around.
Cross hesitated a moment longer before swimming out into open water. His floppy fin sagged to the side and his tail flipped up in front of you.
That feeling from before sharpened and you looked up just in time to see a diver swim out of the kelp with some sort of crossbow aimed at Cross.
“CROSS!!! SHOOTER!!!” You screamed, charging at Cross but you were too far away.
Cross spun to look at you as a harpoon slammed into his side above his right fin. A shrill squeal pierced your ears as he screamed and bucked, speeding away from you and the diver.
Not wanting to be around the diver for a moment longer, you sped after him. You could hear his pained squeals as he rushed into the deep, both of you leaving the diver in the dust. They couldn’t possibly keep up with either of you so you ignored them, focusing on keeping Cross within sight.
He sped all the way home and immediately darted down the trench. The shadows at the bottom jolted and Nightmare rose quickly, eye locked on Cross. His hands reached out and gently caught Cross who clung to his fingers like a child would cling to a parent when they were scared.
“Shh. I’ve got you. Relax.” Nightmare soothed the orca, cradling him close as the others popped out of their caves to come see the ruckus. The Kraken’s eye landed on the harpoon and the shadows deepened below him. “Y/n. What happened?”
You slowly swam closer, no longer in a hurry but still concerned for your friend. “We were out exploring when a diver snuck up on us and shot Cross. We didn’t even see him coming…” A part of you twinged, wondering if that was technically a lie. That feeling from before had warned you of the danger but you both ignored it. But you didn’t see him coming so you were technically telling the truth. Right?
Nightmare’s eye narrowed and he gestured for you to follow him, backing into the trench with Cross gently cradled in his hands. The second you were out of earshot from the others he asked again. “Y/n.” You shrank at his tone. “What exactly happened.”
Swallowing, you corrected yourself. “I had this really weird feeling before the diver showed up… like we were being watched. We thought it was nothing and ignored it but…” You looked down at Cross who still clung to Nightmare as fingers gently grabbed the harpoon handle. “I should have paid more attention… It’s my fault he took us by surprise.”
“Do not blame yourself for being hunted.” Nightmare gently corrected you and lifted a tentacle to bump your hand. “It is the fault of the hunter. Now. Where did you leave this hunter and what did they look like?”
“I, well,” You hesitated. “He was in diving gear so I didn’t really see much but we left him at this kelp forest that way.”
Nightmare’s eye followed where your finger pointed. He grunted softly. “Send Dust. He can track them down.” Cross screamed as the harpoon was yanked out. “Shh, shh. It’ll heal right up. It isn’t fatal. You should heal right up in a few days. You’re okay.” Seaweed was wrapped around the wound and bound to his body. When he finished, Nightmare looked back up at you. “We will fix this. They will pay. No one will hurt my family again.”
The ocean was a vast expanse. All deep, dark indigos fading into light blues as you raise your head. Light filtered down and gently grazed the sea floor around you, highlighting smooth rocks and bright coral.
The temperature never changed either. You didn’t have seasons in the ocean. Everything stayed the exact same even if you hadn’t seen it in months. Boulders never shifted, coral barely grew, and entire schools of fish tended to stay in the same space all their lives.
Your eyes found the dark void of the horizon where that pod of dolphins had vanished to. Resting on the very lip of the trench alone might have been pushing at the rules but you wanted to see if they had come back. They hadn’t, of course. They were just dolphins after all. But something in you kept watching. Waiting. Hoping they would come back for you.
“You wanna go for a swim?”
You jolted at the voice and spun around. “Wha-! Cross! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
He didn’t even smile. “I saw you up here. Thought you might wanna go outside.” His boney hand scraped against the back of his neck and he broke eye contact. “It’s still not safe but I know a place we can go hide from everything…… If you want to go, that is.”
The way he was talking about it, it almost sounded like he had never shown anyone else.
You did need some time out of the house, so to speak. And you hadn’t really had a chance to talk to Cross in a while.
“Yeah. Uh. That sounds nice.” You managed. Talking to him felt awkward and almost weird now.
He nodded like a soldier and swam past you into the open ocean, expecting you to follow. He was tense. That much you could see. As he guided you, his attention darted this way and that, checking everything with a paranoia you hadn't seen from him before. He looked more ready to run than to fight.
As you both swam further and further from home, what looked like a huge forest came into view, swaying in the current. You got closer and realized it was an entire kelp forest with an empty field of sand leading up to it.
Cross sharply darted behind a boulder and gestured urgently for you to do the same.
You swam down next to him. “What are we doing?”
“Making sure the coast is clear.”
You peeked over the boulder and across the sand. “……Isn’t it? There’s nothing there.”
“That you can see.” Cross muttered but before you could respond he spoke again. “Lucky for us, there isn’t. Let’s go.” His tail swished once and he went over the boulder.
Yet again, you followed, staying close and eyeing the sand suspiciously. What could possibly hide in this field that would have Cross on edge?
When he reached the kelp, he grabbed your hand and guided you. Just in time too because you immediately lost sight of him between all the kelp in your face. The forest was dense and dark. The fact that Cross pulled you in like he knew where he was going was mind bending. How could anyone know where they were going in a place like this? Yet he swam with a purpose.
Your vision cleared with a final tug into a small clearing between the kelp. Sea grass grew in the perfect circle and a few items of value were strewn about in neat little patches. A mirror, a lunch box, a few bundles of rope, a tea set, an old-fashioned treasure chest in the middle of everything, and a handful of little colorful gems scattered about.
Cross was going around the edges of the circle, plucking kelp that was trying to grow in the tiny sanctuary.
Had he… made this?
“Cross?”
“Hm?” He didn’t even look up from his work, tossing aside the plucked kelp which started floating upward on its own. He was no longer tense and paranoid. In fact, he looked more relaxed than you had ever seen him before.
“Did you make all this?” You asked, inspecting the almost perfectly maintained mirror. It was a little foggy in its reflection.
A creak drew your attention to Cross opening the lunch box and pulling out a cloth. He gestured for you to give him the mirror and you did. “Yeah, I uh… I needed a place I could keep things away from people. Especially from Killer.” The cloth wiped the mirror clean of grime and he set it right back where it was before.
You could see yourself perfectly in its reflection now. You had never expected yourself to look so……… scarred. The large bite on your shoulder was still very prominent but now you had more. Small white scratches scattered about your face and there was a nick in your ear. You remembered something nicking your ear during the shipwreck but you completely forgot about it.
However, your attention eventually fell on your eyes. They looked older than the last time you'd seen them. Wiser. But still curious and alive. Still the same kid in all those old photos.
And despite all that had happened.
It was still you.
“Y/n?” Cross eventually piped up, interrupting your thoughts. “You okay?”
You stared at yourself a moment longer. “……Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.” And you meant it. For once, you were okay. You may have suffered to get here but in the end you were still here, you were still you, and you were okay.
Cross blinked at you before smiling softly, the first smile he’d given in a while. “Wanna just relax for a bit before we go home?”
“Psst! Y/N!” Killer’s incessant voice prods at you while he is actually poking you.
You sigh, setting down your half-eaten fish. You were trying to ignore him. Emphasis on trying. “What?” Your voice was sharp but not rude. Not yet.
His giggles informed you that he thought teasing you was hilarious. “Guess what~?”
“What?” You really just wanted him to get on with it. The past month after sinking that hunter ship was uneventful and tense. Nightmare had receded into the darkness of the trench. Not to sleep but to rest, you think. He hadn’t spoken much to anyone.
Dream had also been really secretive and tense, which was concerning for the Leviathan of Positivity. He and Ink had left within the first week after the shipwreck. He made some sort of half-hearted excuse but everyone understood that he couldn’t stay in such a negative environment. You all watched him go without a fuss.
Killer, of course, took their departure the worst. He and Ink had teamed up to cheer everyone up or prank everyone into oblivion. No one was entirely certain of their actual intent. But with Ink’s absence that left him to cheer everyone up on his own. His efforts had slowly gained a somber tone and he stopped pulling pranks. Instead, most of what he did was show everyone shiny rocks or weird fish he caught.
That is what you assumed he was trying to do now.
“Guess~.” He grinned at you, swimming lazy circles around you.
“Killer, I swear if it’s another rock-”
“It isn’t~.” He assured, reaching out to take your hand. “Come see! You’ll love it, I promise!”
Not wanting to ruin his good mood, you decided to let him guide you. The likelihood of it being a prank was slim but not zero. So you had your suspicions.
A familiar squeak caught your attention. You straightened and looked curiously in the direction of the sound which was exactly where Killer was guiding you.
He grinned at your reaction. “Told you you’d like it~.” He let go of your hand and hurried over the lip of the trench.
You followed.
There, darting around excitedly poking parts of the reef, was a pod of roughly ten to fifteen dolphins. As cliché as it was, all you could think was; They’re like me. Pressure built up in your throat, wanting to squeal and chatter at the pod of dolphins, like an instinct.
“I have to stay back.” Killer’s voice drew your attention to him settling behind a boulder. He gestured at the pod. “They’ll leave if they see me. But you're kinda one of them so it should be fine.”
You hesitated. You technically weren’t allowed to leave without someone but he was watching. That counted, right?
Killer chuckled and shooed you with his hands. “Go. You’ll be fine. I’m right here if you need me.”
That was all you needed.
You swam toward the pod, letting out the sound in your throat as an excited squeal. Your squeal got an immediate reaction from the pod. They squealed back, circling around to approach you. One of them swam right up to you and poked at your side where your human bits and dolphin bits merged, obviously curious. Others poked your hands and one even pressed its snout against your cheek, squeaking softly to understand what you were.
You giggled as they inspected you, chittering back at them with squeaks and whistles. One of them poked your side where you were ticklish and you squealed, darting away with a swish of your tail.
They all squealed and sped in a circle as a group, moving in sync. You giggled and joined them, swimming into the middle of the pod as they rushed through the water. The entire pod moved together as one and, to your surprise, you moved perfectly with them. It felt right. Like this is where you were meant to be.
“Y/n-”
The pod squealed an alarm and sped away. You felt the alarm in your chest and hurried to follow.
“Y/n! Wait!”
Something clicked in your head. That was Killer’s voice.
You froze, watching the pod speed away as Killer swam up behind you. Your heart ached at the sight.
“Y/n, you were……” He stopped when he saw your face, brows pinching together. “Y/n? Are you okay?”
Blinking, you pulled your eyes away from the pod to look at him. “Hm? Uh, yeah. I just… forgot myself for a second…”
“I’ll say.” Killer scoffed, crossing his arms. “You nearly swam away with the pod.”
The dolphin pod vanished behind a distant boulder. Your chest ached with the need to follow.
You ignored it and turned away.
“Y/-”
“Let’s go home.” You interrupted him, hoping to distract him from asking questions. “That was really fun though. We need to find you a shark shiver next.”
He grinned at you. “That sounds like a great idea! I’ll get them all to follow me and we’ll go bite Crossy~!”
“Oh stars! Killer, no!” You laughed.
“Killer, yes!” The shark siren giggled and swam circles over and under you as you swam home.
That feeling in your chest started to fade. Whatever had happened out there with the pod was unlike anything you had experienced before. You would have to ask Nightmare about it if you could.
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