This was just supposed to be a small piece for @artlesscomedic‘s AH Mermaid AU. It got a little out of hand. They’re drawing an angsty arc right now, and this is my angsty version of what I thought would happen. Even though I was wrong, I hope you all enjoy anyways!
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At first, they’d thought it was Matt. Alfredo and Trevor had seen the outline of flowing hair and twisting tentacles and they’d come to the obvious conclusion.
“Matt!” Alfredo cried. He sped up, vigorously pumping his tail, trying to get there as quick as he could. He could feel the ripples of the water behind him, meaning Trevor was close behind. He held his arms out, just as the figure turned and the light caught him and Alfredo could make out black and white stripes.
Oh shit.
He didn’t have time to turn or slow down, but he tried anyway, causing Trevor to slam into his back. Just as they were about to hit Definitely-Not-Matt, he grimaced and threw a vial at them. It exploded, knocking them both away. Alfredo whimpered as he scraped across the ocean floor, Trevor’s weight only deepening his cuts. At least Trevor realized what had happened. He quickly rolled off Fredo, helping him upright as soon as he was able.
“Oh,” the mer purred at them, not bothering to offer help. “With that stench of magic on the two, I thought you’d actually be capable. My mistake.”
For the first time, Fredo was able to get a good look at their attacker. He was an octopus mer, that much was obvious. His hair was long, just like Matt’s, but Alfredo could see now that what they had thought was free-flowing locks was actually a ponytail. He was striped black and white, and the movement of his tentacles had Alfredo nearly mesmerized. And, perhaps, mostly importantly, there were bottles of colorful potions strapped around his torso.
“You’re the sea witch,” Trevor concluded, inching further in front of Alfredo.
“Matt told us about you,” Alfredo added. He held the gash on his elbow tightly, secretly hoping there were no sharks around to smell it or the blood from the cuts on his tale. Though, under the gaze of the witch, Alfredo already felt like one was already here.
“And the two of you are dear Matthew’s pet eels, correct?” The witch sneered.
“We’re not pets!”
“We’re his friends!”
“We help him!”
The witch chuckled. “Useless creatures like you? Please. No magic, not even any electricity... From what I’ve heard, you just cause problems for him to solve.”
Fredo tucked his head behind Trevor, trying to break that horrid stare. Trevor grabbed his hand and squeezed.
“It’s not true! We’re his family!” Trevor huffed.
“We stay with him-“
“-and keep him company!”
“And help him with his mini-golf nightmares!”
“He loves us!” Alfredo finished, feeling confident once more. But the sea witch didn’t waver.
“So you eat his food and take up space in home. You encourage him to procrastinate his magical works, and take up his time and energy. And all this because you tricked a lonely mer into loving you?” The witch tsked. “You two really are cold-blooded.” To that, neither of them had anything to say. They didn’t move away as the sea witch oozed in between them, wrapping tentacles around their shoulders. “Now boys, don’t look so sad,” he scolded, ruffling a hand through Fredo’s hair. “What if I told you I could make you useful?”
Alfredo couldn’t help but perk up.
“Really?”
“Of course,” he assured them, “But... it’ll cost you.”
“What’s the cost?” Trevor said, eyebrow raised.
“We heard about Gavin!” Fredo added. “We not hurting ourselves.”
“Nothing so crass!” The witch assured them. “I just want something the two of you clearly don’t even need.” He arched a clawed hand around Alfredo’s throat.
“Just your voice!”
“Not a chance!” Trevor growled, tearing away from the tightening tentacles. Alfredo couldn’t seem to move, and was only partially grateful when Trevor pulled him away. The sea witch let him go, and shrugged.
“The two of you talk together, don’t you? Would it be such a price to pay?” His eyes never left Alfredo. “For your Matt?”
As if that was even a question.
On an impulse, Alfredo surged forward and grabbed the sea witch’s hands.
“I’ll do it,” he agreed, before he could think twice.
“Fredo…” Trevor implored, but didn’t say no. He wanted it too, Alfredo was sure of it. “I can be the one to–” Fredo only shook his head.
“You have better ideas anyway. This is better.” He took a deep breath, taking the time to feel the push and pull of the water rushing through his gills. He bit his lip and looked the sea witch straight in the eye. “What do I need to do?”
This time the smile was with closed lips, as though the witch feared the prey within his teeth would be freed otherwise. “Sing for me.”
And when the two were watching the bright light of Alfredo’s voice seal away into one of the vials, neither of them noticed the red and green essence funneling into the bottle the witch was holding behind his back.
Then, they started to change and noticed nothing at all.
Matt was, for once, having a super productive day. He had developed a stronger swiftness potion, made a breakthrough on the anti-venom for Jeremy, and even had an idea for a new mini-golf hole. Alfredo and Trevor would be home for dinner shortly, and he couldn’t wait to run it by them. All in all, a perfect day.
So of course it went to absolute shit.
He felt the dark presence nearing his cave at the same time he heard Trevor calling his name. He sounded awful, panting like he’d been sprinting or sobbing, and Matt didn’t really like either option. He burst out the entrance, potions in hand. He thought he was ready for anything, yet still gasped when he saw them.
Their colors were wrong, that was the first thing Matt could process. Alfredo and Trevor had always had dark coloring and fearsome features, but never anything like this. They both were solid black, red and green frills existing only in his memory. Even their eyes were solid black, except for the glowing rings of red or green around the pupil. Yet even through that darkness, Matt could tell Trevor was near tears. He was cradling Fredo in his arms, clutching him as close as he seemingly could.
“Matt, please! You have to– We didn’t– He said–” It was half a conversation, and Matt kept waiting for Alfredo to finish for him, but it never happened. Alfredo instead just seemed out of it. He blearily blinked at their surroundings, never once focusing on either of them. The dark magic was stronger coming from him, rippling out like waves beating against a cliff. Matt reached out and touched Fredo’s forehead, almost expecting him to have a fever or something. Instead, his eyes snapped up, and he finally saw at Matt. He mouthed words, but never actually said anything.
“Trevor, slow down,” he said, looking up. “What happened?”
“We… We saw the other sea witch,” Trevor sniffled, “He said he’d make us better! We… we wanted to be better. We wanted to help you. Fredo paid him, he gave him–” His voice broke, and he didn’t finish the thought, “but… it just hurts Matt.” Trevor looked at him with those terribly red eyes. “It hurts so much.”
He figured out what Alfredo what was mouthing.
I’m sorry.
Over and over again.
I’m sorry.
Matt felt like he should feel hot. Like he should be shouting and hitting things. He should be calling them idiots, screaming at them for not listening to him. But instead, he just felt ice.
“Take him inside,” he said, already swimming past Trevor.
“Wait, where are you–”
“I’m going to fix this.”
The sea witch looked over the swirling red and green essence in the vial. The voice was easy; he had stored that with the rest of his collection, but this... He wasn’t sure how to label this one. Trust? Love? He had never seen combined emotions from different mers before. They were so intertwined; inseparable as the two mers he had taken it from. He supposed it didn’t really matter. He could sell it as a two-for-one deal. He was so focused on his task that he not noticed the other person in his lair until they growled at him.
He recognized the sea witch, Matt, the one who had tried to stop his sale earlier. He was holding a harpoon gun from the surface and was bearing his teeth. The witch barely resisted rolling his eyes. So dramatic. He offered Matt his grandest smile, one that never failed to win over clients.
“I’m assuming you are displeased with my work with the eels? I’m sure we can work out some kind of deal to fix–” Matt hissed, stopping his offer midway through. His arms lit up with magic and he lifted the gun. It was aimed straight for the witch’s heart. He had just enough time to wonder if he had miscalculated this one.
“I’m gonna fuck you up now,” Matt said, and fired.
I made my character for the Chaos Crew! This is Saph. @artlesscomedic (the only reason I didn't give her her glasses is because I legitimately don't know how to draw them.)
And so continues my refusal to draw anyone with pupils. @artlesscomedic Alright so maybe it took a bit longer than a night, so sue me, anyways meet Vinny! They’re a one man hireable clean up crew for all Los Santos’s dark underbelly (The Chaos Crew happens to be a favorite [and frequent] customer). They have a love for fire (arson) and a personality! Probably! (If you ask anyone else though they’ll tell you that pyromainia and lots of tattoos don’t count as a personality). Knows how to handle a gun in the loosest sense of the term and probably should not be allowed to use one upon any condition. Aspirations include finally saving up enough money to buy a flamethrower and maybe run with a proper crew some day (It’s totally gon be the Chaos Crew, far too much destruction and fire to just not join)
@artlesscomedic
OwO what’s this? It’s the bitch witch?
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This is a wip preview, I will post the final art on my art blog ( @/galum-art ) when it’s finished, and reblog it here. (technically this is AH related,,, but not that you can see yet.)
