Chapter Text
Water stirred around your cave, gently waking you. Seaweed and kelp swayed elegantly around your home and little tropical fish darted to and fro. You eased out of the small opening to your hide and stretched out. Your tail shimmered in the light, like crystals scattered about on the sand during a sunny day. Your stomach rumbled quietly and you sighed. While you hummed a quiet song, you collected some edible plants. Once you had your fill, you lazily drifted over to your favorite basking spot and laid out, flaring out the fluke of your tail.
Once you were settled, you started grooming your tail, picking out bits of plant and sand from your scales. You loved seeing your scales clean, but you also had to look your best. However, you didn’t do this EVERYDAY to attract prey, which you didn’t need since you were an omnivore and preferred flora over fauna (though you did enjoy the occasional crustacean). Nor did you make yourself presentable to attract a mate; not that there were any to attract in the first place.
No, no, no.
It was to show off for the humans at the aquarium.
It wasn’t everyday a human got to see a living mer, afterall. So, you loved being at your best. To see the awestruck looks humans adopted when they saw you was rather fun. How amazed they were to see you swim, twirl, and dart around your enclosure. Despite how complex humans were, they were SO easy to entertain.
Humans coming to the aquarium to see you was your life. It was your goal to bring them joy. All you knew was related to humans and what humans knew.
You never knew the ocean, never knew of your kind, never knew… where you came from.
Many years ago, a group of divers found your egg, abandoned and alone - left for dead. When you were old enough to understand, your caretakers (researchers, divers, and handler) told you that the divers thought your egg was from some kind of rare fish that laid larger than average eggs and brought your egg to the aquarium for a reward. How your caretakers laughed that day, mocking the divers for handing you over for a simple wad of cash. In their opinion, your discovery was the greatest breakthrough to understanding mers there had been since the initial discovery of mers.
At first, you were kept a secret. The researchers of the aquarium studied you, to learn all they could about mers. They wanted to know more before you made your first public appearance, and they also wanted you to be a bit older so you wouldn’t get overwhelmed. As you grew, the researchers learned that your particular species were small for a mer, having used mer skeletons, images, and the research papers as reference. They also learned that you were an omnivorous species of mer; which the small fangs and lack of deadly claws attributed to. Also your love of seaweed.
Test after test, research paper after research paper. It all led you to be disinterested in learning about mers. At that time, your younger self had decided that learning about mers, who were nowhere near by, was useless. Instead, you found learning about the ever present humans was far more important, regardless of the researchers wanting you to connect with your kind (‘what was the point?’ You had thought, ‘I’m never gonna meet another mer’).
You grew up seeing humans everyday, interacting with them everyday, even more-so after you were introduced into the aquarium. You learned everything you could, but eventually, when you became an adult, you grew curious about mers and the ocean. Then, just a few days ago, your handler, a kind boy by the name of Riley, told you that the aquarium’s divers found two more mer. The idea of interacting with other mer was exciting, but you found yourself apprehensive.
-
“From what I heard, they were pretty beat up when they were found,” Riley explained, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck. His feet kicked mindlessly at the water.
You folded your arms on the little platform and rested your chin on them, a frown set on your mouth. “So they’re hurt? How bad? Can they still swim? When do I get to meet them? Are they being added to my enclosure?” You spouted question after question, always so curious.
Riley laughed softly at your bombardment, light hearted despite the worry that pinched your brows, “I heard they’re hurt, but I don’t know how bad. I think they’re gonna get treatment before they’re added in here. So it might be a while before you get to see ‘em. A week at the earliest.”
“Oh,” You hummed and turned your face into your arms, lost in thought. There were two, right? What happened to them? How were they found? What was their relationship? Were they Siblings? Mates? Friends? Have they ever seen a human before? Was there enough food for the three of you in the tank? What did they eat?
Your face scrunched up as you obsessed over that one question. What if… they weren’t like you? What if they were…
Immediately, you turned your gaze, eyes narrowed slightly, back up to Riley, “What are they?”
Riley snorted at your odd question, “Mers?”
“No no, I mean- what do they eat?” You shook your head, water flying free from the fins around your head.
“Uh, fish, I guess?” Riley shrugged, not getting the urgency of your question.
“Riiiiiileeeeeeey,” You hissed and smacked your forehead into the platform.
“Whaaaat?” Riley laughed your name and leaned forward. He rested an elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand. He was relaxed, his light brown hair sporting blue highlights this month. “I don’t know what you mean if you don’t explain, fish stick.”
You scoffed and gestured vaguely, trying to find the correct word. After a bit of struggling, you gave up and instead asked, “Are fish the only thing they eat? Like sharks.”
“Like sharks?” Finally, it seemed what you were getting at clicked with Riley and he sat up straight. “Predators…” His brows furrowed and he thinned his lips. After a tense moment, Riley answered, “I actually don’t know. Even if they’re carnivores, it should be fine, right? You’re a mer, they’re mers. They wouldn’t eat you.”
“You don’t know that, Riley,” You huffed and dipped back into the water momentarily. When you popped back up, you purposefully splashed the human. He laughed, but stopped when you didn’t, “Mers are still considered animals and animals eat each other frequently. Especially out in the ocean, where there are countless species that eat each other. For all we know, I’m their next meal.”
Riley visibly shuddered at the idea and shook his head, “No way. Look, I think you need to stop getting into discussions with the researchers about wildlife and shit. You’re getting weird ideas.”
“Nature is weird and I want to know more about the place I came from,” You grumbled, already tired of the conversation. You always acknowledged that you were a mer, but Riley seemed to forget that you weren’t like him. That you were an animal from the sea.
“Alright, fish stick, I promise you’ll be fine,” Riley forced a smile, “You won’t get eaten anytime soon.” He checked his watch and sighed, “Listen, my shift is up. I’ll see ya later, be good.”
You waved a webbed hand and sunk back into the water. For a moment, you just allowed yourself to float there, motionless.
-
That was Sunday and you were still nervous about your new tank-mates. You weren’t a predator, that much was clear, which made you prey. If these two new mer were in fact predators, then you were in trouble.
You frowned and rested your chin on your arms, your tail stretched out on the sand.
Riley had said they were hurt, which meant they might not be able to swim very well. Perhaps if the worse comes, you could swim away. But how long could you flee? You would tire out eventually. Not to mention that there were TWO of them. Pack hunters, maybe? If that was the case, then you were screwed.
You looked around the part of your tank you were in, near the performance platform. There were plenty of obstacles to swim around and through, but that didn’t guarantee your safety. With a huff, you pushed yourself up from the soft sand and started to swim to look around more. There was the coral zone where the fish mainly dwelled, but you would feel bad if the two mer ate all the little fish. Maybe the deep zone?
Your eyes peered down into the large cavern where the bioluminescent life dwelled. You always hated it down there, despite your own bioluminescence. Something about the dark unnerved you. Besides, who was to say the new mer weren’t dark dwellers. They would have the advantage if you went down there. Bad idea.
Bubbles escaped your mouth with a grumble. Where else could you swim to or hide?
Your eyes fell on the little hole that led into your hide. Of course. Riley didn’t say how big they were, so it was possible that your cave would be the safest from them if they were bigger than you. The entrance to your cave was small, even for you, but you knew just the right way to slip in without scratching your scales. There was no way two injured mer, who were most likely predators, could get into your cave. You hummed, satisfied.
You had your perfect hiding place in the worst case scenario. It even had plenty of kelp and other plants near it to keep you fed for a bit. Though you would need the supplements the caretakers of your tank provided, it would do. You just hoped that the two new mer were friendly or, you know, NOT predators.
But, of course, fate was cruel and you were its most recent victim.
…
The next day, Thursday, you eased your way out of your cave to find some of the caretakers tidying up. Curious as to what they were doing exactly, you swam over. You couldn’t tell which caretakers they were, with those suits of theirs, but there were four of them. One of them was planting new flora, a few new kelp vines here and there. The second caretaker seemed to be introducing more fish to the tank, new species. Possibly for enrichment? Or to just increase the diversity of your tank. Your enclosure was the most popular in the aquarium, so you were never surprised when they added new fish. The last two seemed to be scouting out the deep cavern. You decided to swim after them.
When you got close enough, one of the caretakers noticed you and waved. You smiled brightly and waved back before swimming up to them. Since they were wearing dive suits and probably couldn’t hear you through the water (silly humans), you lifted your hands and signed out, “Hello! What you do?” You weren’t the best at sign language, but learned a bit of it to communicate with humans while underwater.
“We’re just cleaning up the cave down here,” One of the humans replied, using their underwater radio so you could hear them clearly. You recognized the voice as Jessie, a nice older human. They always snuck you some extra shrimp when they fed you. “Management thinks the two new mer will use it.”
“We should just toss ‘em back into the ocean, if you ask me,” A gruff voice replied. You glanced over to the other caretaker. A muscular man, by the name of Adam, swam over. He was the older brother of Riley and was… a bit harsher. He was never a fan of you being kept in captivity, but apparently there was something wrong with you? Something that would be a death sentence out in the ocean, but you never cared much about it.
You tilted your head and signed out, “No stay?”
“No, they shouldn’t stay,” Adam grunted and swam by you, leading you and Jessie away from the deep cave. “Unlike you, fish stick,” He was the first you call you that and it unfortunately stuck, “those two grew up in the ocean. They can fend for themselves. So, I say the nerds patch ‘em up and then send ‘em on their way. Shouldn’t even risk putting ‘em near you.”
“That, I can agree with,” Jessie sighed. “I heard those two are predators and are pretty agressive, so our fish stick here could be in danger.”
“But management is positive everything will be fine,” A new voice chimed in. You glanced over and found the newest member of the caretakers, the one who was planting the new flora. You believed her name was Lila. She was young and eager to learn about mers. Riley had a huge crush on her.
“Management is positive about a lot of shit,” Adam grouched and swam upwards, seeming done with his task.
Jessie, Lila, and the final caretaker follow him. You glanced around before you followed suit. When you breached the surface, the four humans were pulling off their dive masks, each in a different way. Adam yanked it off like it offended him, though most things seemed to. Jessie was more careful as they pulled it off and allowed it to rest by them. Lila was eager to get the mask off, but wasn’t aggressive about it. The fourth human, Paul - a middle aged man, you didn’t like him much -, pulled it off and tossed it aside. His eyes fell on Lila and you felt your scales crawl at the look he gave her.
You really didn’t like him, and luckily, he didn’t like you either. So, you swam over to Lila and allowed her to grab ahold of you, practically hiding from Paul’s sight in your fins.
“I think it’ll be fine!” Lila smiled and patted your back, “It’s about time our friend here got friends of their own species, right?”
“It’s just best to remain cautious,” Jessie sighed.
“It’s a terrible idea,” Adam spat. He turned his glare on you, “You best be careful, fish stick. For all we know, you could be their menu.”
“I’ll be fine,” You smiled, touched by the man’s concern. He was rough on the outside and rough on the inside, but he cared. Deep down. Somewhere.“If worse comes to shove, I can hide in my cave.”
Adam nodded, seeming satisfied with your plan. With that, the four humans departed, each needing to move on to their next assigned areas. Just before Jessie disapeared out the door, though, they turned back. You tilted your head when they rubbed a hand down the side of their neck.
“Bud, please be careful tomorrow,” Jessie’s voice was quiet, but they met your gaze. “The two will be introduced tomorrow after closing.” With that, they slipped out the door.
A weight settled in your guts and if you could pale, you would have. Tomorrow. They were going to be added early.
And tomorrow came far too quickly.
Friday morning was, to put it simply, extremely slow and monotonous. A few medical test here and there. A tank cleaning, in which Riley played with you so Adam could finish preparing the deep cave.
Then the aquarium opened. Guests swarmed your tank, ooing and ahing at your twirls and jumps. When lunch came around, your exhibit was closed. Jessie was the one to feed you today and they offered you extra shrimp today. You knew it was because they were worried about you. Rather than eat, though, you simply took the shrimp back to your cave with the excuse you weren’t very hungry at the moment.
Which was half true. You were too nervous to eat, but you also wanted to store food in your cave. In the event that you are forced to hide, then you’d at least have some protein and not just plants.
Closing came quickly and you wished you could have dragged the rest of the day like the morning dragged. But you were a mer, not some kind of fairy that controlled time.
You hummed, caught on that idea as you drifted over the coral section, allowing the fish to swim around you and follow you. If you were a fairy, then you’d have wings, right? You could fly high and see the world. See the stars, the clouds, the sun, the moon. You could explore forests and mountains. You could finally see the ocean.
A splash startled you from your thoughts. Were they here already? No no no- You weren’t ready, what if they tried to hurt you? No, think, maybe they were friendly, maybe they won’t attack you, maybe you could-
Something touched your tail and you screamed. Your tail flared out and whatever touched your let out a loud ‘oof’. The static of the sound had you spinning to face the being your just attacked and found one of the caretakers.
“Hells, fish stick,” Adam’s voice hissed out as he smacked you tail, “Just came to tell you the two mers were on their way. Didn’t expect ya to fecking whack me.”
“Sorry, Adam!” You chirped, handing flailing to check the human over, “I was lost in thought and the fish ran away, so I was scared and thought you wh
ere the mers but you clearly aren’t and- holy shit I attacked you- I didn’t mean to- I just-”
“FISH STICK!” Adam suddenly yelled, the static in his radio hurt your ears (or whatever equivelant you had, you never bothered to learn). “Calm down, I can’t understand you underwater. Let’s surface, THEN we can talk.”
You nodded and carefully grabbed Adam under his arms and swam upwards, bringing the two of you to the surface faster than it would have if Adam swam. You dipped back down until just the top of your head and eyes were visible.
“Alright,” Adam grunted as he shucked off the mask, “First off, I don’t blame you for hitting me, you’re on edge. I should’ve said something before touching you.” Adam rubbed a hand over his curly brown hair before holding up two fingers, “Secondly, the nerds are rolling the new mer in, but they’re going to wait until you’re comfortable and safe before dropping them in.” He lifted a third finger, “Thirdly, unless those two calm down, no one will be allowed to enter the tank. The morons up top have agreed to order a net to be added to the performance deck, so Riley could still do tricks with you, but the rest of the tank is off limits.”
“They’re aggressive,” You whispered, scales bristling with your nerves once more. You tail twisted under you and your miniscule claws found their way to your arms, digging at the scales there.
“Yeah,” Adam frowned deeply and swam over to the platform and climbed up, with your help. “When you’re ready, give the nerds a signal. Stay alive.”
You nodded and watched as Adam went to the back of the room and opened the gates. Nearly all of the researchers you knew walked in, with two large tubes behind them.
That must be where the mers were. The tubes were long and skinny, but you knew that that was to prevent to much movement on the mers part. The fact that the tubes were fairly wide and extremely long told you plenty. These new mer? They were huge compared to you. They must be around 14 feet long, absolutely demolishing your modest 7 feet in length. And humans thought YOU were big…
The lead researcher, a brown haired woman named Ruth and who insisted you call her mom (you didn’t, felt too weird), stopped at the fence of the desk that hung quite a bit over the very back of the tank. The deck hung over the deep zone. She glared back at the other researchers.
“Hurry it up, you lot! I don’t want to deal with these two more than I have to,” Ruth snarked and tapped her foot impatiently. When she glanced back to the tank, your eyes met. Ruth’s face immediately brightened, “Sparkles!” You preferred fish stick, “Did you come up to see me?”
“No, I wanted to see them,” You muttered. Your eyes were glued to the tubes holding the mers. You kept your distance from the deck, though. A part of you was hopeful, but after Adam’s warning, you were nervous again.
“Best you just go back to your cave, deary,” Ruth grumbled, disheartened at your rejection, and gestured for the other humans to bring the tubes toward the edge, where Adam opened the fence. “Once you’re in there, we’ll release these two.”
You frowned, but dropped back into the water. Before you could make it back to your cave, though, you heard shouting from above and then a very loud splash. Worried that someone might’ve fallen into the tank, you turned around. You wished you hadn’t.
You should've- There were no "should've"s. Your first mistake was turning around and it could be your last.
There, slowly floating down, were the two tubes. The glass of one of them had a large, spiderweb crack, but the other… It was broken in half, if it had cracked open like an egg when it fell (must have hit the edge of the deck after breaking the fence). And there was the mer, disoriented as they pulled themself free of the broken containment tube.