Caught (Jercy)
Mermaid AU! *** Perseus brought his serpent-like tail closer to his chest, slightly blushing. His sea-green scales shimmered right were his legs should have been, if he had been human. Piper laughed teasingly at his soft heart. Nicolas sat from a distance grinning, trying to conceal his snickers. "You're exaggerating." Perseus mumbled. "I beg to differ," Nicolas spoke. He stretched out his raven-black tail. "you haven't lured anything in the past month except for a tuna fish." Perseus blushed a deep red. "I've lured more than that! Remember the sail boat with the two fishermen?" Piper laid down against the warm sand. Her pink scales caught the sun a certain way so that whenever Perseus looked at them he was blinded. "Oh yeah. Nicolas wasn't here to see that. You were very proud of yourself." "Well, until I see you lure real humans here," Nicolas stated, "then I refuse to believe that you're actually capable of doing it." Perseus sat up indignantly. The sea-green fins on the side of his face flared. "I can too lure in humans. Watch, I'll go do it right now." Perseus dove into the water and left the other sirens resting on the beach. He was going to prove that he was not a failure and that he could lure humans into the sharp rocks surrounding the tropical island. He swam until he found a large, smooth rock that broke the surface of the water. It was big enough that when Perseus sat at the very top, he could see everything there was to see within a few mile's radius. It wasn't even that far from the island. He scanned the early morning horizon until he found a large ship in the distance. This was it. This was his chance to prove Piper and Nicolas wrong. Soon the ship was only a couple hundred feet away. Perseus started to sing his mesmerizing song that he hoped would be powerful enough to lure the ship back to the island. *** As soon as Captain Annabeth Chase heard the singing, she knew things we about to get interesting. "All members on deck!" She cried. In less than a minute, about thirty people stood in front of her. "Alright, there's a siren in these waters, and I'm not going to let it hypnotize us into a whirlpool or some other death wish. I intend to capture it, and let the Argo || be the first ship ever known to have a live siren on board!" She announced. The crew members cheered. "Now, I want the strongest people on deck up and ready for anything that could happen. I want you to seal your ears with wax to block out the song it'll be singing. Everyone else stay below deck until called for." The captain watched the crew scuttle about getting into position. "Jason!" She called. A male, young adult came into view. He had broad shoulders that sported a loose, white button-up shirt tucked into brown pants, tucked into black boots. His sun-bleached hair contrasted greatly against his tan skin. "Yes, capt'?" He asked semi-jokingly. He was very close friends with Annabeth but he knew that she would not appreciate being taken too lightly. The captain smiled. "Drop the anchor. I'm not risking getting entranced by the creature by getting any closer than we are. We'll wait for it to come to us." *** Perseus had been singing for about forty minutes now and his throat really hurt. The ship was still the same small dot in the distance that it had been almost an hour ago. Piper and Nicolas were probably expecting him to come back any minute now, without any humans. Refusing to go back to the island empty-handed, Perseus decided to swim towards the ship to try his luck closer to his prey. Soon, Perseus neared the hull of the ship. He decided that he would sing from there and convince the crew to sail towards the island. Perseus sang once again. His beautiful song calling to the humans up above. The melody's magic would have caused all of the crew to jump overboard if it wasn't for the wax plugging their ears. Another few minutes passed and Perseus wondered if he really was a failure. He began to swim home defeated when a weighted net was cast over him. Perseus was so confused that he realized what was happening far too late. As the net headed for the surface, he thrashed and cried for any sea creature that would help him. He was so close to the surface that he could hear human voices shouting aboard the ship. Perseus pulled at the net and tried to cut through it with his razor-sharp teeth in vain. His head broke the surface of the water and the crew cheered. Perseus cried for freedom as the crew struggled to get the siren on the deck. *** "Aye, we got 'em now!" Yelled one of the men hoisting the thrashing net onto the deck. Boy, did Perseus put up a fight. He punched, kicked, and clawed about every pirate that came into reach. The crew had such a hard time getting him out of the water that as soon as Perseus gave them a chance, the crew practically threw him onto the deck, rendering him powerless. Or so the pirates thought. When Jason approached the siren to untangle him from the net, Perseus used his tail to smack Jason in the gut with such force that he flew about ten feet backwards. Realizing how strong he was against his captors, Perseus slapped everybody he could with his tail as an attempt to freedom. Eventually, Perseus tired and could no longer fight. He sang as his final defense. His song was so powerful that even with the wax in their ears, the crew stopped everything that they were doing in confusion. "You idiots! Don't fall under his magic!" Annabeth cried. Snapped back to reality, Jason lunged forward and wrapped his hands around the siren's throat. A look of pure terror washed across Perseus' face as he realized that he had been defeated and probably would not be returning home. Jason squeezed the siren's neck as hard as he could. As soon as the siren's face started turning the color of his tail, Jason loosed his grip a little. Perseus gasped and grabbed the hands wrapped around his throat, but Jason held his ground. The captain came into Perseus' view, grinning triumphantly. Blood dripped down her bicep from a nasty cut from Perseus' talons, but she smiled nonetheless. "My," she started, "aren't you a strong one?" Perseus said nothing. He couldn't even if he wanted to; he could barley breathe with the strong fingers swaddled around his neck. Annabeth advanced towards Perseus. He would have backed away but Jason held tight. He flicked his tail in anticipation of what the captain would do to him. Annabeth circled Perseus many times. She examined the scales on his tail fin closely with her fingers, making Perseus shiver. She traced the scales leading up his arms and she held his facial fins with gentle fingers. The crew watched in wonder of the creature. "Beautiful." The captain whispered. "Absolutely beautiful." Perseus grabbed at his neck once again. "Let. Go." He rasped out. Jason looked at the captain for permission before Annabeth nodded warily. As soon as Jason released his grip from the siren's throat, the creature coughed in agony. Perseus scanned his surroundings. With this many people on board, it was very unlikely that he could escape. "Set me free, human." Perseus rasped. His throat burned with every word. Annabeth circled Perseus one more time, not responding. "Leonardo. Franklin." She snapped her fingers. "Bring it below deck with all the cargo. Make sure it won't escape." Two young men stepped forward. One was tall and burly, with Asian facial features. The other one was obviously Latino, sporting a devious smirk. Both of them grabbed one of Perseus' arms and dragged him away; the siren not even putting up a fight. Annabeth faced the rest of the crew. "Maggots, today is a good day. Tonight, we celebrate our glorious capture!" The crew cheered. The captain left for her quarters. Jason didn't move, having conflicted emotions. He felt joy for his crew members and their victory, but couldn't help but feel concerned for the creature that had been taken away his home. *** Only a blurry but bright white dot in the midst of black could be seen through a scummy window. Perseus was chained to one of the walls of the lower deck. He was surrounded by huge crates and one large pile of treasures; rubies and diamonds reflected the little light that had escaped from above. He began to weep, scared of what was to happen to him. Would he be sold to some spoiled princess to keep as a pet? Would he be skinned alive for his beautiful tail? Would he die of starvation on this awful-smelling ship? He would do anything to return back to his warm sunny island; to see Piper and Nicolas again, even if he has to endure their constant reminders of what a failure of a siren he is. Perseus could head the crew dancing and celebrating their capture through the thin planks of wood that separated him from them. Their joyous sounds only led him to weep harder. He was a fool for venturing out to this ship. *** It was very early in the morning; so early that the bright, shining sun still hid behind the horizon. Every single pirate who had common sense was fast asleep. Perseus lay awake in the utter darkness. He wondered if his friends were mourning his disappearance or perhaps searching for him. He was long past the point of crying; he felt as if he had no more water left in him. He began to sing. It consoled him and reminded him that he was still a siren, captive or not. Perseus' voice was horse. Weak. The song had no energy or happiness. He sung of pain and sorrow. It sounded weak to Perseus, but it was strong enough to wake one of the Pirates sleeping above. Entranced, Jason stood up. He could not stop his body from moving to the source of the mesmerizing sound. Perseus' breath hitched when a saw a dark figure lumber toward him. His eyes widened in fear when he saw that the dark figure was the same person who nearly choked him to death earlier. However, Jason was not himself. He walked wobbly with a blank look in his eyes as if he were drunk. He was under the spell of the siren's song. When Percy realized this, he began to sing again; he began to sing more powerful with more sorrow. In his song, he begged Jason to let release him back into the sea. Jason took a step forward about to do as the siren asked. He suddenly stopped, and tried to clear his mind. He knew he was under a spell, he knew he was being used, but he could not resist Perseus' song. The music made Jason fall in love. He could not bear listening to the siren's despair. He wanted to free Perseus, but some little part of him remained unaffected by the spell. That little part kept Jason from immediately setting the siren free. "I-" Jason stuttered, "I want to." Perseus stopped singing. "Then do it. Let me go." "You," Jason paused, "you have to stay with me. If I let you go, you must stay with me." "I will." Perseus said. He was lying. As soon as Jason unlocked his chains, he would jump back into the ocean. Blinded by love, Jason was unable to detect the lie. He rushed forward and grabbed the key to Perseus' bonds which was in Perseus' range of sight yet out of his range of reach. The chains fell to the ground. "I want to see the stars." Perseus said quickly. He wanted to get above deck as fast as he could. "Of course." Jason responded. He picked up the siren and walked up the steps to the main deck. The closer Perseus got to the railing of the ship, the faster his heart beated. Before Jason could even set him down, he flailed himself over the railing. Jason gasped. "You promised!" Jason did not realize how foolish he had been. He was still under the spell and in love. In a desperate attempt to stay with Perseus, he too jumped over the railing and tried to swim toward the siren. Perseus swam too fast; Jason could not keep up. The water was extremely cold and choppy. Within a few minutes, he drowned. Perseus returned to his island. Piper and Nicolas cried with joy at the sight of his return. Never again did Perseus venture out to ships. He always thought about the young man he had killed to escape his own death. *** Hello :3 idk how I feel about the quality of this one. Feel free the message me anytime! Requests, how your day was, etc. love you!