Chapter Text
Yoongi wasn't particularly proud of what he did-- well okay, sometimes he was proud, but that was just the way his world worked. Sirens killed humans to survive, it was as simple as that. It was a necessary evil though, they had to. If a siren didn't use their voice for an extended period of time, then they'd quite literally die, and humans were not worth dying over.
Besides, as far as Yoongi saw it, if you were stupid enough to actually want to kill yourself over his lackluster voice, then that was on you. Okay, so that wasn't exactly fair either. His mother, before she'd passed, had always said he had a great voice, but what did she know? She’d been exiled from Atlantis centuries ago, along with the rest of their kind. The only thing Yoongi knew for certain was that he sounded nothing like her, which even she had confessed was odd. Aside from her, Yoongi had never met another siren before, but it was common knowledge that they all sounded relatively the same. So just what was wrong with him?
From what little he knew, sirens were typically high pitched, sickly sweet sounding creatures, closer to the chiming of bells than an actual singing voice. Ethereal, ghostly. Yoongi sounded nothing like that, his mother always sighing that his voice was more akin to smooth honey, deep and lulling like the call of the sea. She could call it what she wanted, but he rather hated his singing voice, and probably wouldn't sing at all if his life didn't depend on it. Not that his hang-ups mattered to the many ships he'd sunk over the years, but it was still something he was annoyingly sensitive about. A siren that didn't like to sing.
Sighing to himself, he kicked his legs into the murky water absently, opting to stay in his human form for the day, if for no other reason than sheer boredom.
Not even the ship now sailing towards his island of jagged rocks was enough to lift his spirits, but it didn't stop him from calling out to it with his powers either. Voice lulling tiredly, he did no more than talk in a melodic hum to attract his prey. Not that the humans would care, Yoongi would sound like their every dream come to life regardless. Until they drowned over it, that is. But he supposed it was just his lot in life, to kill people for all eternity and to be equally lonely because of it. If only he weren't so afraid of starving in the open waters of the vast sea, he might actually consider leaving his own personal prison.
But it was strange, the ship didn't immediately sail straight for him like they usually did, actually seemed to be planning on going around his little deathtrap of an island entirely. Well that was rude, and certainly a first. Perhaps he was being even more lazy than he'd initially assumed? Speckled grey tail forming as Yoongi slid himself halfway into the water, he called out louder with his abilities, eyes closing as he poured himself into the eerie sound only he could produce.
The ship still didn't come close enough to crash along the rocks, but it did slow down this time. As if they were going to investigate just what exactly it was making the mysterious music. Oh god, were even humans calling him out on his lack of a siren's allure now? That would be his luck. But his very voice let him know his powers were indeed working, and affecting at least one person on the ship, his melody a visible swirling of purples and blues in the air above him.
In the end, his curiosity got the better of him, swimming further into the deep to get a good look at this strange ship up close. He didn't recognize the flag they were flying, the colors a splash of orange along teal waves with an ornate 'A' in the center. It was surely no place he'd ever heard of before, but then, humans were silly like that, destroying and rebuilding the same city over and over again with a different name. For Yoongi, it didn't matter what nation they hailed from, he hadn't eaten a human's essence in a while and found no need to be picky now.
Swimming fully up to the ship, he placed his hands on the wood of the hull, noting that the figurehead at the bow looked eerily similar to that of a female siren. But then, humans called them mermaids nowadays, didn't they? They were, in fact, one and the same, some sirens were just friendlier than others. Yoongi could be friendly too… when he wasn’t feeling hungry. And he was so very hungry.
Trying again, he licked the salt from his lips before calling out with his smooth as silk voice, changing to a melody he himself had come up with. Just another thing sirens weren't known for. They tended to sing the same damn tune over and over and over again, but not Yoongi. He’d grown bored much too easily for all that. Not to mention-- the notes were higher than the rising tides. No, his original songs were much better suited to his unique baritone vocals.
His magic surrounded the ship, stronger than it had been in years, but still no one jumped overboard. It just didn't make any sense. He could see it was affecting at least someone residing on the ship, the visible string of notes shifting colors in the air, activating wildly. Was there perhaps only one person left alive? And were they somehow controlling themselves against his magical pull? It wouldn't be the first time a ship knew what sirens were and had tried to prepare for such an attack, but that's what Yoongi's human form was for. Even if his prey tied themselves to the main mast with rope, his voice would still place them under a sort of trance, which gave Yoongi plenty of time to undo the bindings before his powers wore off. Silly creatures.
Climbing up the side of the ship with sharp talons and now very human legs, he was barely pulling himself up and over onto the deck with a huff when he was being wrangled by three humans.
What? But that couldn't be right. He supposed these men could be deaf if they weren’t affected by him, but if that was the case, how had they known to stop? Or that he was even coming aboard, for that matter? Voice only stopping when a hand clamped over his lips, he bit down harshly and smirked when his naturally sharper teeth drew blood, the man holding him cursing and opting to grab at his arms instead.
“Release me,” Yoongi said angrily, more than a little surprised when his main captor did just that, staring at him starry eyed as he stepped away from him.
“Oh, he’s a siren alright,” someone said from behind him, voice light and… somehow familiar.
Turning to eye the owner of such a melodic voice, he gaped when he saw the swirling of colors in this newcomer's eyes, siren powers there for all to see. Or at least, there for those that knew what to look for. “You’re a siren too?” Yoongi asked skeptically, looking around at the four other people on the ship. Were they all sirens then? But they couldn’t be.
“I am, my name is Seokjin. May I ask for yours?”
“Yoongi,” he said warily, noting that the other three men were trying to slowly surround him again. “Don’t touch me,” he hissed out, ready to jump off the ship at a moment’s notice, other siren be damned.
“They won’t, they’re just a little startled, is all. No one believed me at first when I said you were a siren. Well, except for perhaps Hoseok, but he’s being held in the brig at present. Apparently your voice affects him heavily, which is quite the curious thing.”
“Yeah, it tends to do that to humans,” Yoongi hedged, eyeing the three unknown men and inadvertently scooting closer to the siren known as Seokjin as a result.
None of them looked like humans he’d ever encountered, the most normal of the bunch having crystalline blue gems shining beneath his equally sapphire eyes. Another was sporting hair as blue as the sea, and the final man possessed black and white stripes that danced along his exposed skin. Seokjin himself had purple hair, and it reminded him of his mother’s electric locks that had matched her beautiful tail.
Laughter tinkling like chimes dangling in the wind, Seokjin draped a large coat over Yoongi’s shoulders to hide his nudity, before answering, “True, but none of us on this ship are humans, Yoongi. I’m a siren, much like you, but the other five that man this craft are shifters. We’ve been sent on a mission to collect the remaining sirens around the world and bring you all back to Atlantis. Have you heard of Atlantis?” the pretty siren asked politely.
Atlantis? “I thought all sirens were exiled from that place.”
“They were, but now that the King himself is married to one, well, it felt a tad hypocritical, I suppose. The shifters that had initially kicked our kind out have since formed a tentative alliance with us again.”
“Right. As great as that is for you, I’m going to die if I don’t feed soon. Not many ships come out this way anymore.”
Seokjin hummed, nodding. “It’s a wonder you’re alive at all, living in the bermuda triangle as you are. Most mortals tend to avoid sailing these treacherous waters.”
Yoongi could only shrug. He knew he could last longer than his mother without using his powers to ensnare humans, had seen her fade away from it first hand. But for whatever reason, Yoongi had always been able to go three times as long as her without singing. Perhaps because he’d been born in exile and had grown up using his voice so sparingly? He’d never really been sure, and neither had she. Or if she had, she’d never let on.
“Or perhaps you’re the very reason this part of the sea is avoided in the first place?” the shifter with black hair and blue gems suggested, bringing Yoongi out of his musings to stare hungrily up at the man. What kind of shifter was he, he had to wonder, and more importantly, what did he taste like?
“Mayhap. But regardless, I need food, and I have a feeling this ‘tentative alliance’ wouldn’t take kindly to me devouring shifters like you.” Could he devour a shifter’s lifesource? Yoongi had never actually met one before now, but they were easily the prettiest men he’d ever seen in his long life. He could almost feel bad for wanting to kill them, but it was either that or turn into sea foam.
“You’re not wrong. Thankfully though, aside from bewitching them when you touch them as you sing, nothing very nefarious happens, and you’ll still be plenty fed. I’m sure one of them would be willing to let you see for yourself?” Seokjin singsonged, but the three shifters backed away from Yoongi when he stalked forward at the promise of food.
Yoongi scoffed, though the thought of these fierce men fearing little old him was rather fun. “Yeah, they seem real thrilled to let me anywhere near them.”
“I think they’re more concerned that your voice was controlling their First Mate earlier, which is why he’s locked in the brig at the moment. By all accounts, Yoongi,” Seokjin said curiously, “you shouldn’t be able to do that.”
Once again, Yoongi didn’t know how to comment on the other siren’s words. He was already drowning in the new knowledge he’d previously received, and he was growing rather faint, using the majority of his power reserves earlier. If someone didn’t step up soon, he’d make the decision for them.
“You can use me.”
A tall man was coming up from the lower deck of the ship, hair shining silver even though he looked to be the same age as Yoongi. Not that he could judge, Yoongi’s own hair was a mix of greys and black with streaks of blue.
“This is Kim Namjoon, Captain of the vessel Moonchild that you now find yourself on. He’s a manta ray shifter. And the three currently avoiding you are Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook. Lionfish, orca, and dolphin, respectively.”
Yoongi had heard the legends of aquatic shifters in the deep from his mother, but he’d never actually seen any up close like this. He had to wonder what they looked like in the water, and how close they were to their actual animal counterparts. His mother had always refused to get into too many details as far as shifters were concerned, bad blood and all, but Yoongi had always been intrigued by the tales.
“And in exchange for you feeding off of me and staying aboard my craft, you’re going to tell me exactly how you bespelled my First Mate, understand?” Namjoon asked, voice solid as steel. The shifter didn’t seem unkind, but he was definitely the Captain for a reason.
Yoongi found himself nodding, even when he himself didn’t know the answer. But he supposed he could always just abandon ship once he was nice and fed again.
Seokjin had already told him how to use his abilities against these shifters, after all, and somehow he didn’t think the other siren would put up much of a fight.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
“Is this really necessary?” Yoongi groused from behind the metal bars. This wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind when Namjoon had first said he could feed off of him.
Once Yoongi had agreed to the trade, the Captain had marched him to the brig himself, locking him in a cell across from the shifter that had been mentioned earlier. This First Mate Hoseok, he seemed to recall. Yoongi didn’t particularly care what his name was, but if his powers worked on him, then he’d be a strong ally. Whether the shifter wanted to be or not.
“Never hurts to be cautious,” Namjoon shrugged, reaching a hand through the bars for Yoongi to hold as he sang.
It was curious to watch both shifters react to his powers as he fed, Yoongi mumbling out a song self consciously. What Seokjin had claimed earlier was true, the manta ray’s eyes growing half lidded as he fell into a trance. If the other siren weren’t standing right next to Namjoon and watching over them all, he'd have had the man release him, but apparently Seokjin had seen right through him. That, or Yoongi wasn’t the first siren they’d come across. He couldn’t be sure, but he had a feeling all of their kind would be suspicious at first and try to escape this haunting ship.
Feeding didn’t take very long at all, surprising Yoongi more than anything else that day had. With humans, Yoongi would need to ‘eat’ at least three full essences before being sated, but with this shifter, it barely took him ten minutes before he was having to let go, feeling more powerful than he’d felt in possibly his entire life.
Namjoon didn’t even look winded by the end of their session, but perhaps that was because Seokjin also fed off of him and the shifter had grown accustomed to the sensation. Yoongi had shared enough humans with his mother to be able to taste another siren’s powers, and Seokjin was no exception. Their kind always left a hidden piece of themselves within every soul they devoured, falling just a little bit in love with each and every one of their victims. The curse of being a siren, he supposed: to crave and feel love, only to feast on that very same connection as soon as it bloomed.
“Now,” Namjoon said, pulling his hand away and rubbing it absently, “tell me how you bewitched Hoseok.”
Yoongi looked over at the man still in a lull from his last half assed song, tilting his head curiously. “Come to me,” Yoongi called out to the First Mate with his powers, more than a little shocked when the shifter did just that, walking up to the bars to try to get closer to him and even reaching out when he couldn’t move any further. Shaking his head, Yoongi looked back to the Captain, meeting his bright eyes. “He has to be human, or part human, at the very least.”
“If he were lucid enough to understand you, he’d probably bite one of your fingers off for that statement, fair warning. But it’s simply not possible. Hoseok is one of the last of his lineage, a tiger shark.”
When Namjoon looked at him pointedly after the admission, Yoongi was under the distinct impression his words were supposed to mean something. But what, Yoongi couldn’t be sure. Thankfully the other siren was filling in the gaps for him.
“Sharks are royalty in Atlantis, Yoongi. You’ve essentially ensnared yourself a prince,” Seokjin said helpfully.
“Well I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t eat him then, huh?” Yoongi mused. Yet. “But truthfully, I don’t know how I did it. Before this, I’d never even met another siren aside from my mother, let alone any shifters.”
“Our King’s mate can control any shifter with his voice, so it’s not as if we haven’t seen something like this happen before. It’s just curious that it only seems to affect Hoseok in this instance.” Namjoon looked over to his swaying second in command with a small shake of his head. “He’s not going to like this knowledge once he comes to, but at the very least, could you please retract your magic?”
Yoongi once again tilted his head in thought. He could… try? But honestly this was just more uncharted waters for him. If he didn’t kill all of a ship’s crew for whatever reason, typically his magic would simply wear off over time.
“Here, like this,” Seokjin supplied, inhaling with his lips in a small circle, a hollow whistle resounding.
Watching his music swirl around the shark shifter’s body, Yoongi whistled on an inhale as instructed, as if he were pulling his song, his very powers, back into himself. Surprisingly enough, it worked, the man in the cell across from him shaking his head violently as he came out of his trance, dark grey hair tousling. The previous dreamy, soft expression was gone, leaving only an angry shifter in its wake.
“Let me out, Namjoon,” Hoseok all but growled, hands grasping the door to his cell. Yoongi hadn’t noticed before, but Hoseok had pointed teeth, though he supposed he was a shark shifter. They reminded Yoongi of his own, only much sharper. Yet another thing he and his mother hadn’t shared in common.
“You aren’t to harm him, Jung Hoseok. He was under the King’s protection as soon as we knew what he was,” Seokjin warned, looking to Namjoon for backup.
“I’m not going to kill him, just scare him a bit,” the shark promised darkly, looking over at Yoongi for the first time since being released from Yoongi’s spell. His eyes were a pitch black, either from no pupil or all pupil, he couldn’t be sure. Of all the shifters he’d met today, maybe save for the lionfish that had all those beautiful markings along his body, Hoseok seemed to possess the most characteristics of his animal counterpart while still in his human form.
Yoongi moved back further into his cell when Namjoon let the shark shifter out, but thankfully the bars stayed between them, the Captain no doubt thinking it wiser to keep Yoongi locked away. When those black orbs roved along his exposed skin, he wrapped the coat Seokjin had given him tighter around himself. He’d never had to worry about nudity before, but now, he suddenly felt bare, wishing more than ever to be back in the water.
“I’ll only say this once. Use your sorry excuse for a voice on me ever again and I’ll kill you, understand?” the shark shifter bit out.
“That rather defeats the purpose of not harming me, don’t you think?” Yoongi groused, curling more into himself when the man snapped his sharp teeth at him.
“His powers only seem to work on you, Hoseok. Any insight on why that might be?” Namjoon asked Hoseok, looking between the two of them curiously.
“Jinki’s powers work on us too, so I had assumed it was the same kind of deal. But this brat’s voice sounds nothing like his does, so I’m not really surprised it didn’t work on anyone else. Just disgusted it worked on me.”
Yoongi puffed up defensively, even though he had similar inclinations on his voice. “Apologize,” he hissed, imbuing power into the command and swirling it towards the shark. Just a small amount. Just enough to make him do it.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it,” the shark shifter said automatically, before turning to glare murderously at him afterwards. “That’s it, I’m killing him,” Hoseok growled, heading back over to his cell and looking expectantly at Namjoon for the keys.
“You will do no such thing,” Seokjin said, standing between Yoongi and the angry tiger shark. When Hoseok didn’t back down, however, the other siren looked towards the Captain as well. “Namjoon, a little help?”
The manta ray sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Look, Hoseok, he was just fed, and he can seemingly go weeks without needing to feed again. But if you’re really that scared of him, we can always gag him.”
“Scared?” Yoongi and Hoseok said in unison.
Laughing dryly, Yoongi continued, “Aww, that’s cute, but I’m not letting you gag me. I don’t want to go to Atlantis anyhow, so simply release me and I’ll be out of your hair.”
“Unfortunately it’s not that simple,” Seokjin sighed. “But once we make it to Atlantis, you can discuss this all with our King and his mate. If you truly don’t want to live there after a time, no one will force you, but you should know that it’s leagues better than where we just rescued you from.”
“Thanks, but I didn’t need rescuing,” Yoongi hissed again, baring sharp teeth. “Make no mistake here, I’m the one needed rescuing from.”
“Sure you are, sweetheart,” Hoseok scoffed, causing Yoongi to flip him off in a decidedly human gesture.
But Seokjin just furrowed his brows, running his tongue over his own blunt teeth. “Who did you say your mother was again?”
“I didn’t, and I refuse to talk any more on the subject until we reach Atlantis. How long until we arrive?”
“With good wind? A week, maybe two.”
Yoongi’s already pale skin paled even further at the Captain’s words. Two weeks?
“Yeah, now you’re starting to catch on, but if you can prove yourself as a useful part of my crew, we’ll let you out of here. Hell, I’ll even supply you with your own cabin if you can be trusted enough,” Namjoon said calmly.
Before Yoongi could respond, however, Hoseok was openly laughing. “Look at him, what could someone this small possibly do on a vessel of this magnitude?”
“Control your ass, for starters,” Yoongi growled, once again grateful for the bars between them as the shark slammed up against them like the animal he was. Even if this man was all bite as well as bark, Yoongi could control him. And it would be best for the both of them if he never let Hoseok forget it.
“That’s another thing I’m curious about. You don’t even have to sing to use your powers, do you?” Seokjin asked excitedly, ignoring Hoseok’s antics altogether.
“Like the shark rudely pointed out earlier, my voice isn’t… suited for singing. If I need to control large numbers, yes I still have to, but one or two humans? No, I don’t have to sing to use my abilities.”
“Fascinating. I wonder if you could teach me that little trick?”
“No thank you, you’re powerful enough as it is, and I love hearing your voice, pet,” Namjoon said with a wide smile, tapping the other siren beneath his chin.
Seokjin blushed at the compliment, punching the manta ray lightly on the arm. “You charmer, you.”
A yelling from above deck caught everyone’s attention. “Captain! The wind’s picked up again! Are we sailing out soon or shall we go for a swim while we wait?”
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Namjoon yelled back, pulling Seokjin with him by the arm even though it was obvious the siren wanted to speak to Yoongi more.
Surprisingly enough, however, the shark shifter stayed back, waiting till they were both alone to continue eyeing him. But at least he wasn’t trying to gnaw through the metal bars between them anymore.
“What, going to threaten me again?” Yoongi asked sarcastically. The pointy smile the shark let out at his words had him flinching back slightly, much to the shifter’s amusement, but he had to remind himself he could simply command the man to fuck off.
“Your tail. What color is it?”
“Same as my hair.”
“With spots? Stripes, maybe?” the shark pressed, coming close to the bars again.
Yes, but Yoongi didn’t feel the need to say so out loud, instead asking suspiciously, “Why?”
“Your teeth. Sirens don’t have sharp teeth like yours, now that I think about it. Or at least, not in their human forms. And your tail isn’t a typical siren color either. Seokjin’s is as purple as his hair, but I’ve never seen another siren with dull hair like yours.”
Dull? What an ass. “What’s so strange about it? Namjoon has grey hair, even you have grey hair,” Yoongi argued.
The shifter stared at him for a few long moments, as if seeing him with brand new eyes. “Exactly.”
But before Yoongi could ask just what the hell that was supposed to mean, the tiger shark was waltzing off, leaving Yoongi to ponder on his dizzying thoughts alone.