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zipitmythicalsunset · 1 year

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BOTH POV TIME!

@intistone COME GET YOUR SHITTT

Chapter 3: Unforgettable memories

Rq, this is the layout of the Cave system everybody is in

@yami-tsuki-devillie for the love of god thank you for mapping this out for my small brain 😭 🙏

It was 3:05 AM when it started, when they heard the kid’s cries for help.

It was 4:35 AM when they got the kid to safety. With Momma Yamitsuki.

It was 11:AM when X.G woke up from her exhaustion and much needed rest.

…By Cici drilling her elbow into her stomach.

“OW WHAT THE FUCK?!” She screeched, eyes shooting open. Her hat falling off her face while her fins flared wide as her eyes locked onto the culprit. “WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!” She roared, pissed off. That wasn't a very nice way to wake up now, was it?.

“SORRY X, BUT WE KINDA GOTTA GO. WE ARE IN QUITE THE PICKLE. EVERYONE IS ALREADY AWAKE, AND WE GOTTA EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED TO MOMMA YAMI BEFORE SHE KILLS US.” Cici shouted at the same pitch as her roar in rage.

Ah. Right, yeah she guesses that makes sense. “Come on, there's salmon! And we gotta go all check on the kiddo!” The crazy kelpie added. “Alright, alright, give me like 5 minutes ill in the living room.” X.G grumbled back at the only other kelpie in this part of the cave.

That seemed to satisfy Cici, as she hummed in approval and walked over to the vine covered hole in the floor. Tapped it a few times with her foot, causing the vines to retreat into the walls of the cave before diving in the exposed water tunnel. The vines closed again 10 seconds later, ensuring no water (or unwanted guest) could make their way in.

The lone kelpie stood off the japanese style bunk bed she was placed to sleep on the night before and grabbed her hat. Dusting it off a bit before placing it in its rightful place on her head, fixing the strap under her chin and looked around.

The Adult/teen bedroom was one of the bigger caves, with 3 different wards for male, female, and gender neutral. It was nice and cozy with all the bunk beds and sofas littering the cave. How momma Yami managed to fit all of it in here…yeah, X.G is stopping that train of thought. Walking to the mini bathroom and washing up, she made her way to the vine and repeated the same steps Cici took to open it and dived in.

Yamitsuki had made the underwater tunnels a maze in case not-so-welcome “guests” found a way in. Thankfully she has been through these tunnels (and the dead ends too) over a million times by now, so making it from the “older bedroom” to the “kitchen” was no issue.

Poking the vines and exiting the tunnels through the now open entrance, she looked around the kitchen. Everyone was there, some in a conversation, others eating cooked salmon.

“Good morning X.G, be a dear and eat up alright?” Yamitsuki asked calmly, holding up a plate with 4 cooked salmon on it. X.G nodded, grabbing a plate and oh all the fish is already gone she already ate it welp-

“So umm g-guys?” Carrie spoke up to catch everyone’s attention, and suddenly all eyes were on her. “What exactly happened last night?” The kelpie questioned.

“Yes, please, elaborate. I’ve been alive for over 500 years and I've never seen a siren with kraken tentacles, four arms, or four eyes, let alone all in one.” Yami said while subconsciously moving everyone closer to where the Kid bedroom is.

“Well, yesterday morning me and Vi were chit chatting and well, life has been VERY busy out at the town and its super duper crowded. So, we planned to come here, away from the coastline town and walk up the river and chill at the cove and climb back down in the morning. Maybe stop by and say hi, and we invited everyone in the salads and sides chat, but clearly it went wrong.” Bloo started, fiddling with her claws nervously.

“It was all well, but then Whisper and X.G started feeling weird around 12 in the morning, and then completely stopped moving at idk 3AM, spooky ghost hours right?” Beetle continued, chuckling to themself in an attempt to lighten the mood.

X.G’s eyes couldn't help but fill with worry and look over at the kids bedroom area, that was for some reason connected directly to the kitchen. The kid can be seen from here and looks much better. He was Bandaged up and his scales look a lot less dehydrated and crispy. He was surrounded by a bunch of fluffy blankets and stuffed animals with one of those reversible octopus plushies tucked nicely into one of his four arms. X.G can't see what he was wearing under the blankets, but she knows that Yamitsuki will in no way in hell leave him in that crusty dusty white gown. Actually she probably improvised an outfit with four sleeves just for him already.

“He's adorable.” Whisper cooed, snapping X.G out of her trance. Looking at everyone else showed that they all had followed her gaze and looked over at the little one. “Yeah, hope he gets better, poor kid. He doesn't deserve this.” Whisper said sadly.

“Anyway, X.G, Whisper what happened next? What did you guys hear?” Carrie asked curiously. Ah, that's why attention was drawn to her. “Screams” The former responded. “Human screams at first, then a few minutes later we heard a Siren scream. A moment or two later, We heard a young siren pleading and begging for help. Yeah I was the only one who could understand everything, Poor thing was desperate to get away from danger. to get away from the humans hurt-“

“Pardon me, humans?” asked Yamitsuki, rage visibly boiling in her voice.

“yeah, When we got there- by the way Vipera and X.G switched to their higher forms in a surely unhealthy amount of time-“ Finnick started, gesturing towards Vi and X.G, fucking snitch. “There were 10 guards surrounding the poor kid with tasers. He was crippled on the floor and-“

Yami slammed her hand into the wall, causing a pretty strong rattle. “WHY?!” She screamed, looked up at Finnick, doubling his anxiety by a thousand. “We-Well…”

“Let me explain this one, Momma Yamitsuki.” Nora spoke up, attracting all eyes to her. “A few hours earlier we were talking about how the folks at Atlantis created two purposed organisms to create the special, resistant, and durable clothing like the one X.G wears” The brave kelpie said, gesturing to her red-eyed friend wearing the veil. “When a less tech advanced society is capable of doing that, what is stopping cruel, much more advanced humans from creating the kid to experiment on?”

The silence that followed was deafening as the usually calm, collected, and oh so caring Yamitsuki became a ticking bomb of rage. One of her eyes slowly turns into an X as her fins and tree-like appendages shake with bundled up fury.The room gets more and more tense by the second, sucking in all the air from the cave and their lungs like a vacuum.

“Don’t worry Mama, though we did take the kid and run, we didn't run before turning all those terrible humans into a 3rd grade bloodbath collage of organs, blood and ew.” X.G stated nervously, attempting to defuse the 9 foot time bomb in front of them all.

Thankfully, that seemed to do the trick, as air suddenly returned to their lungs as Yamitsuki’s face visibly relaxed, pleased that her children had chosen violence against those terrible scaleless cruel creatures.

“….Andaccidentallyonpurposeexplodedbigtrucksfullofgaswithgrenadesintheparkinglotthelabwasnexttoinsteadofjustcominghere.” Cici spilled abruptly, and then just like that all eyes were on her. She fucking fucked us all, that damn idiot. Well this is how we die.

“…Does anyone care to elaborate on that?” Yami asked. That dreading, terrible air returning into the room.

“Well….” Vipera started, chuckling nervously.

“Well some of us were still angry afterwards so X.G pulled 4 grenades out her ass and told them to go have fun. Not fun, they somehow accidentally blew up trucks full of gas and we barely avoided getting eaten by a sinkhole.” Beetle blurted out.

Just like that, Momma Yami was angry at them for an entirely different reason. Great going, Cici.

—————

When he woke up, the first thing he noticed was how warm and soft everything around him was. Not that Sick warm either, no no no. A kind of warmth he didn't know was possible. The next thing he noticed is how incredibly dark everything was and how stiff and painful his body felt.

Then he realized it isn’t dark, he just has to open his eyes in order to see. Great going, yeah you're so smart, if this keeps up today the punishments will be terrible today and there's no way he wants that.

…

Holy heck, where is he?

Sitting up, the little mer looked around on the soft big rectangle cushion they were on. There were soft looking objects that look like animals he's seen only through test photos when he was much smaller. The little siren was covered in the fluffiest blankets he's ever touched, or seen in that matter. Well, the closest thing he ever touched that can be considered a blanket is that…sheet…in the…on the metal table…where they….did…where they did…..bad- wait huh?

looking down at himself, he realizes he's holding something, it's another animal object, soft too. It's white and smiling innocently at him. It looks like…It’s an animal that lives in the water,he’s sure…What was the name again?

An octopus, right, an octopus. It is….super soft…squeezing it and turning over,he was surprised to see something else. A different color- black, was below it. Full of curiosity, the tiny siren pulled on the bottom part of it, but couldn't quite get it to stick out.

Was this a test? A nice test in fact. Very soft everything, was his task to get the other black octopus out? He can do that! And maybe today wouldn't- wait where's his collar?

The Mer used one of his other arms and felt his neck…His collar…It’s….gone? There's a wrapping around it- wait there's bandages around his arms. No wonder everything felt tighter and more painful- why does he have bandages? He got hurt, he can feel it, a deep wound in his shoulder mainly. Was he forgetting-

RIGHT, THE ESCAPE, THE RIVER, THE TASER, THE STABBING. HOW DID HE FORGET?!

The mer scrambled at his memories trying to remember everything that happened that night at the river where he could have sworn he was done for. He remembers someone screaming “Surprise, you scaleless fucks!” Then he remembers the screams of the guards. Screams of terror and dread, like how he screamed whenever he was in trouble or danger or pain.

Then…then there were the sounds…the sounds he was familiar with. Sending a shiver to his scales and a ghost pain on his scars, the sound of flesh being broken and bones cracking and snapping as…something attacked them. He can’t remember seeing anything, just feeling the ground, the pain, and hearing what was around him.

Then…yes, someone picked him up, sharp claws gently holding him close to a soft thick…coat? He couldn't tell through all the intensified pain. But those arms had taken him closer to the water, he could tell as the screams were drowned out by the rippling current. They had taken them away from the humans. They helped him. The owner of the claws whispered to them, promising safety, promising to take care of him. That the humans will never punish him again, that they will no longer have ANY control over him. That he was safe to rest now. That they will make sure that the “scaleless” got punishment for what they did to him.

Looking down again, he carefully removed the very fluffy blankets to get a better look at his body, softly gasping. He wasn't wearing that dirty white “gown” anymore. Well yeah he was still wearing a “gown”, but this one was a light blue color and had little ruffle like attachments on the bottom. The texture wasn't rough and itchy and dirty like the last one either. Instead it was soft, delicately covering his body and also had extra sleeves for his extra arms instead of just holes! How did he not notice it before?! He wasn't sure how, but his scales look shinier and better than he has ever seen them since…well, since forever! This all only proves one thing. If he wanted to deny it before, and say it was too good for it not to be a lie. All of it was right in front of him, in front of his face, he couldn’t deny it even if he wanted to.

The soft voice didn't trick him, they helped him get away from the cruel terrible monsters. Away from the humans, the tests, the punishments, all of it. Gave him hope. Gave him warmth he thought never existed in his cruel tiny world.

He was safe, hopefully, most likely.

Content with that last thought, he warbled happily and put the fluffy blankets back over himself. He wanted to stay cuddled inside a bit longer, just a few more moments, it doesn't seem like he should be awake right now anyways. Giving a glance to the room around him proves that there's only other soft rectangles, a bunch of movable lights- lanterns, those are lanterns. There's also some smaller soft rectangles in odd looking….cages….? They weren't really cages and more like barriers. He didn’t get it, but he wasn't in there. So it wasn't his issue, besides, he could escape that “cage” easily if he was put in it.

Adjusting his position and shifting his tentacles slowly into legs, He sighed contently. Gripping the octopus tightly to himself as he let his tiny fragile body fall onto the softness of the…comfort animals that seemingly helped soothe the pain he experienced the night before. The little mer purred against all the softness warming up his body. It was so nice, all so so nice.

Come again, why was he foolish enough to think it was all ok and nothing can go possibly wrong in an empty room?

“PARDON ME YOU DID WHAT?!” a loud inhuman voice boomed, rattling the walls of this place and scaring the life out of the poor mer who was bundled in the soft warmth.

He's never gone from happy to screaming so fast. What was that, oh god he was in trouble wasn’t he where's the punishment coming from he's screaming still when did he start screaming his throat hurts WHERE'S THE DANGER THAT WASN'T HUMAN THAT SOUNDED LIKE SOMETHING BIG WAS ANGRY WHY WHY WHY IS HE STILL SCREAMING HE'S HURTING HIS THROAT SO MUCH WHAT WAS THAT WHERES DID THAT EVEN COME FROM WHY ON EARTH DID HE THINK HE WAS SAFE! HE IS GOING TO GET PUNISHED AGAIN, A NEW SHOCK. A NEW WOUND. A NEW SCAR. THE PUNISHMENT WILL COME AND IT WILL HURT. JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER PUNISHMENT HE HAS GOTTEN. THAT THING IS NO WAY HUMAN, IT WILL BE THE WORSE PUNISHMENT HELL EVER HAVE TO END-

“FUCK SHIT!” Someone else screamed, a vaguely familiar voice in fact, snapping him out of his despair. Oh god now there were like 10 people running towards him. The mer moved his knees to his chin and used two of his arms to cover his head. NOT GOOD NOT GOOD HE'S GOING TO GET PUNISHED HE'S GOING TO GET-

“Darling! Oh dear, are you alright?! I'm so sorry for scaring you!” Said another voice, probably the one who screamed in the first place.

“Hey kiddo chill out! You're alright, you aren't in trouble!” Added a different voice, one that he never heard before.

That. that was a lie, there's no way, they are going to give him the worse punishment and it was going to HU-

“Hey! Don't cry little one! it's ok!”

He…he knows that voice.

Yes, there's no way it is not them.

That's the soothing voice

The voice that at some point his instincts Associated with safety, with warmth.

His Head flew up immediately, blinking away the tears and trying to muffle up the sobs spilling from him. When did he begin crying? He looked around with his four eyes frantically at where the voice came from, there were ten..not-humans surrounding the soft rectangle he sat on. All of them with weird long leaves in their hair, they probably would be intimidating if they didn’t look panicked, frantic and concerned. He had no idea which had spoken, but it was definitely a girl, so-

“Oh there you are!” said the voice, it was the leafy with the white sweater and pink shirt closest to him. She wiped away his tears still flowing down his face. “Don’t cry now..you're safe, sorry momma scared you. She wasn’t mad at you, we just did a bad dangerous thing and she was scared for us, nobody will get hurt. It’s ok, you're ok.” She said, smiling shyly and softly at the scared small siren. He wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying though….

There…there were many things he could’ve done in the moment. Clearly, clinging to the Soothing Leafy like his life depended on it wasn't what they expected at all. Evidenced by the small gasps and shocked “oh ok then.”s that filled the room when he did. The Soothing Leafy seemed to freeze in shock, and he was beginning to realize that this was probably a terrible idea. Why is he doing this? This is so stupid. Why was he always doing such stupid stupid-

A pair of claws scooped him up and brought his head to the soothing one’s shoulder and gently patted his back. “A-Alright then i guess i’m your mom now.” The Soothing Leafy said with a chuckle. Everyone else in the room had immediately began chuckling softly as the soothing leafy sat down on the soft rectangle, placing him comfortably on her lap as he clung to her tightly.

Slowly, another claw came, gently yet cautiously petting his frills. Drawing a soft purr from the small mer, which was met with a coo from…not the Soothing Leafy. The little mer slowly moved his head to see the owner of the hand without disrupting the petting.

It was a different leafy, but this one was mostly blue instead of green like the others, they had vibrant blue eyes with a very pleased look on them. “Hey they little dude! It is nice to see you awake!” The Blue Leafy spoke. “Gee, you look much better already!” She said with a giggle.

“Can he even understand us?” Asked a leafy that he couldn’t see from his angle. “I mean, I'd assume so, but he hasn't shown any sign that he seems to understand us. X.G, sirens can speak common tongue right?” questioned a different leafy.

“Yeah, they can and are pretty fast learners too. You know, I fully expected them to at least have the courtesy to teach the little one that. But I guess not, no matter, we can do that ourselves when he's ready for it.”

Oh. They don’t know they HAD taught him. They don’t know he can fully understand them…That’s…

That's….

Good. If they don't know, they will probably talk in front of him about things they might want to keep secret from him. That's what the humans did, but their secrets always hurt him. He is not sure about their secrets though.

Besides, that leafy…”X.G”? Was that their name? That's a funny name! Whatever it is, this leafy seems to know a lot about his “type” especially since that other leafy directly asked them. He looked around for the source of the voice, careful of the hands that were gently and lovingly stroking him.

And when he saw them, his blood ran cold. Two of them, standing next to each other, clearly the two voices that were talking. Both had terrible…terrible piercing red eyes, their green skin and hair strung up the way the female humans had it.

Green…and red…

like that monster that was outside his cell

Red eyes that pierced through his cell, maw covered in the sticky red blood of its own type that it had just killed. Its malice now directed at something new. Him. The blood that had flowed its way into his cell. The monster outside staring at him like a blank merciless murderer covered in leaves as it just KILLED ONE OF ITS OWN TYPE RIGHT OUTSIDE HIS CELL AND WALKED OVER AND SLOWLY BUT SURELY WENT TOWARDS HIM AND THE CHAINS HOLDING HIM DOWN IN HIS CELL AS HE TRIED TO MOVE AS FAR AWAY FROM THAT MONSTER AS HE CRIED AND HIS SCREAMS OF FEAR.

ONE CLANG, THE MONSTER ATTEMPTED TO BREAK INSIDE OF HIS CELL.

TWO CLANGS, SOMETHING ON THE BARS THAT HELD THE CAGE HE WAS TRAPPED IN BROKE. THE MONSTER WILL GET HIM, IT SHOWED ONE IF ITS OWN KIND NO MERCY, WHY WILL IT SHOW HIM ANY?!

THREE CLANGS, THE CELL WAS BREAKING FAST AND THE MONSTER WAS GOING TO GET IN AND KILL AND BITE HIS HEAD OFF LEAVE HIS BODY A BLOODY MESS EVERYWHERE AND KILL AND KILL HIM AND KILL AND KILL AND KILL EVERYONE ELSE TRAPPED HERE-

“HEY, WAKE UP!” Someone screamed at him in his own tongue. Snapping the poor siren out of his despairing, dreadful memories.

Oh gosh…Right…that monster didnt kill him, that monster isn't here. Oh wow he's sobbing and all the leafies are panicking again. Oh gosh. He dropped whatever he was holding in his lower left hand and whipped the tears away and looked back up at the Soothing Leafy. Was it her that talked?

“Hey, are you alright?” That voice asked, it was speaking his language and he wanted to find it. It wasn’t the Soothing Leafy, but what he didnt expect when he turned to the left was that the Red-Eyed leafy with a funny hat was standing RIGHT THERE AT EYE LEVEL.

He let out a yelp and turned his head in the opposite direction. He should've just stuffed his face into the Soothing Leafy’s sweater. What was on his right was ten- no- a THOUSAND times worse than the Red-Eyed Leafy.

To his right was another leafy, but this one was big, bigger than any creature he's ever seen in his life. Nothing in the lab he was forced to call home compared. Her leafy black and green less-leafy-like-hair is so long it's hitting the floor. She was pacing around everyone. She looks anxious and unsure…and….and…..

He began to scream again. The leafies surrounding him jumped and immediately tried to comfort him to no avail.

She had vibrant purple eyes

THE MONSTER MASTERS PURPLE EYES

THE EYES OF THE ONE WHO HAD HURT HIM. HERE. IN THIS PLACE. THE EYES OF THE M-M-MONSTER MASTER. WHAT WAS HIS NAME. WHY WAS HE HERE. DIDN'T THEY KILL HIM. HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD, DIDN'T THE SOOTHING LEAFY KILL HIM? SO WHY WAS IT PURPLE WHY IS IT STARING- STARING AT HIM WITH A LIKING TO HIS PAIN. THE REASON FOR EVERY PUNISHMENT EVERY BEATING EVERY GASH EVERY WOUND HAS EVER GOTTEN WAS BECAUSE OF THAT MONSTER THE PROFESSOR WHY IS HE HERE WHY ARE- IS HE GOING TO GET PUNISHED AGAIN OR MAYBE SOMETHING NEW IMPLANTED IN HIS HEAD HE'S FORCED TO STAY AWAKE AND SHRIEK IN AGONY LIKE… LIKE…. LIKE BEFORE….

Oh god he wasn't breathing, he couldn't breathe, how long ago had he stopped breathing. He couldn't get air in his throat. Was he screaming for too long? How long ago did he stop screaming? WHY COULDN’T HE BREATHE?!

The little mer clamped his 4 arms around his throat wheezing and trying his very best to get air into his lungs. He can hear voices, they are all screaming. He can hear some shouting in concern, grabbing his wrists and trying to pry them off of his throat. The others scream at him, demanding blood, sacrifice. That the professor's work wasn't done. AND MORE BLOOD MOST BE POURED. He didn't get it, get what they wanted. The work? work….

The cold medal table with a thin sheet that the humans forced him to lay on, restrained and couldn't fight back when he was very much awake, confused, and scared.

The huma- no, the monsters were talking about some sort of procedure and tests. He couldn't see what they were doing, the metal table had a hole his face was forced and restrained in so they could “work”.

It was the first and only time they set him up like this. He was super confused and unknowing of what was happening. He couldn't see either, only hear. He didn't know what to expect, he knew it was bad. And the small siren on the table had no idea what was to come though.

He didn't expect to feel a sharp cold tool slice open his delicate skin.

To cut him open from him skull and alll the way down his spine

The agony was unbearable.

The PAIN and the SOUNDS of his own screams, SCREAMING until he was suffocating himself. The sounds of HIS OWN FLESH AND GUTS being moved around by the monsters with shiny tools. As he shifted and banged and screamed as he tried to escape the tools “working” on him. EVEN WHEN THEY PUNISHED HIM FOR BEING TOO DIFFICULT.

He was in so much pain he passed out. Waking up was just as bad. He was lost in his own nightmare for hours. He couldn’t control this “enchantment”, this “gift”. his cell was COVERED IN BLOOD FOR HOURS AS HE CRIED AND THE PAIN IN HIS SKULL AND SPINE INTENSIFIED EVERY HALF SECOND AND…

…oh dear, oh gosh. He fell for it. He fell for the voices, and he didn't realize until he focused on his vision and realized everything was purple.

O h n o….

——————————————————————

Why had it all gone wrong?

The kid was fine, sitting adorably and clinging to Whisper. Guess he might’ve recognized her from the battle, after all, she was on ‘keep the kid safe’ duty. The little siren's eyes held such purity and innocence that if it were not for the events of yesterday, she’d assume he was a normal happy kid. He seemed pretty content on staying on Whisper's lap, and seemed very pleased at Bloo’s gentle touching of his frill-like appendages. Almost happy even.

Until he made eye contact with X.G and Cici.

She's not even sure what happened, he just seemed curious where the sound of her voice was coming from. Though all was lost when he made eye contact with her. At first, his expression went completely blank and she tried to wave at him. However he seemed to just….not respond to anything.

They realized something was wrong when his breathing started to turn into hyperventilating and he began sobbing his poor little eyes out. Everyone panicked, thankfully it seemed she managed to snap him out of it and calm him down before he could really harm himself. Thank god.

Until he looked at Yamitsuki maybe 10 seconds later. Then he fell into another episode while screaming his lights out and crying again. Their attempts to soothe or wake up the mer from whatever he was reliving were all in vain. By the time he was done screaming he was hyperventilating so much it seemed as if he couldn’t breathe, as he wrapped his arms around his neck.

Only instead of trying to free up his throat, he was squeezing it tighter, and herself, Whisper, Beetle, Finn and Bloo had to pry his hands off.

Then that's when it happened.

One of the mer’s four eyes turned a bright purple for some reason. He still wasn't “awake” and was just unresponsive to everything. “What's up with his eyes?” Finnick asked, confused. “Not sure, but best to wake him up now” Beetle responded

All of his eyes turned purple, and just like that he seemed to return back to the present, atleast at first.

“Ok phew he's back.” Whisper said, sighing. “Hey little one look at me.” she cooed. The little one's head shot up to look at her, with no expression on his face. You would think after nearly strangling himself he'd hyperventilate and cry more yeah?

Then suddenly, everyone was screaming. Everyone but X.G and Yami. Whisper had dropped the kid in favor of holding her head. The kid merely hopped off her lap and stood in the center of all the madness. He was smiling now, that once innocent smile was now crooked and purple…wait purple?!

“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!” Finnick screamed in panic. “I feel so sick..” Bloo muttered.

Everyone who screamed before was now grumbling and trying to get rid of a “sick feeling.”

Sick feeling…

X.G looked at the kid. “What did you do?” She asked. The kid merely grew his smile, a bright purple color pouring into his eyes like water filling up a cup until all four eyes were completely purple.

“What on earth is going on?!” Yami questioned in a panic, rushing the others onto walls and ok the much smaller beds in a vain attempt to help them not bump into anything in their writhing dizzy forms.

Drip, something flew past her face.

Huh?

Drip, another one.

what?

Drip, another.

She held out her hand where the dripping was coming from.

Drip, right onto X.G’s hand.

She looked down at her hand to see red gleaming blood on it. Blood? If anything it should be water from the tunnels! Slowly but surely…X.G looked at the source of the blood dripping.

…

well…

“that wasn’t there before.” she said, staring at the hundreds of dead bodies now seemingly pegged to the cave roof, staring down at them with blank, lifeless eyes, relaxed jaws, and worse of all- holes all over their body, letting blood drip down and guts fall out. Eugh,Trypophobia vibes. If she and her friends hadn't just committed a massacre less than 24 hours ago She’d probably react more. Looking around, all the cribs and beds were covered in guts and blood, and the cave walls had begun to bleed themselves and flood the floor with the copper liquid all the way up to her ankles.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?!” Yami screamed in pure confusion and horror as more and more blood and guts came out of seemingly nowhere.

…Seemingly nowhere…

Has this…..happened before…?

~*++*~

“Hey X, can you do me a huge favor?” Valerie asked hopefully. X.G had stopped studying and looked over at her cousin. The kelpie’s gold accessories coating her clothing glimmering in her room's many jellyfish lights. Wearing gold was a sign of one having an important occupation in Atlantis. In this case, Valerie was one of the few techs in Atlantis, actually almost everyone in her family was a tech. “Yeah what's up?” she asked, placing her books back in the massive air bubble she took them out of.

“You go outside a lot, yeah? Outside Atlantis I mean.” She chuckled nervously. “Mhm, you need me to get something?” X.G asked. “Well… Ocean Shrine 35NW2 is malfunctioning and needs a reboot, was hoping you could do that for me? Not sure why they gave me that task. I don't even know where Ocean Shrine 35NW2 Is!” Valerie complained

“Hm, sure, but u gotta tell me the illusion’s Secret first.” X.G stated. “Can't reboot the shrine without knowing the secret after all.” The Illusion’s Secret was kept from common seafolk and only told to a select couple who wear gold— including Valerie— to prevent sabotages. Thankfully no, Atlantis did not usually have crime happening. Ever since the Missing Scales Incident, the entire city didn't mess around with keeping its civilians safe. Trauma, really.

“…You're good at keeping secrets I'm sure, but if you dare tell anyone I'll turn your dead CORAL!” Valerie threatened. “Noted then, don't tell anyone unless I wanna face the golden kelps wrath. There, you happy now, you yellow tinted sentient plant?” She sassed at her.

Valerie merely huffed in annoyance “They use these funny tiny little discs called Illusionary discs. No idea how they work. But apparently it makes it so that you can't see or to an extent feel Atlantis at all until you sing to the shrine. Also it makes it so nobody can hear you properly but yourself.” She explained. “The 25O2 council has complete control over what they see and who they work on. You sing the song, they hear it, the illusionary disc stops working on you. funny huh? A side effect to those not used to it is feeling sick if you're not used to it. Which is why there is a thick wall to seperate everyone from its frequencies.” Ah, that makes sense. Especially when she started leaving the city and it made her feel like she had eaten those land fungi… right, “mushrooms”. The 25O2 council controls what they see and who it works on…Interesting…Wait a second-

Her eyes widened with interest. “Wait, so if I were to put one in my head, would I be able to control what everyone else sees?” She wondered. “Something like that, But to reset it into a reboot you gotta give it a good shocky shocky. So remember to put on your zap proof clothing and clear the area.” Valerie replied, trying to change the topic. “Remember not too much, it will reboot it for too long and we can get in trouble if that shrine is out of order for longer than a day.”

“I'll be able to make skulls appear out of seemingly nowhere though?” She asked, clearly not letting that idea go. “Yeah, I guess so, I dunno. Ask Auntie Pearl not me, just hurry up with the shrine, please.” Valerie practically begged before leaving her room.

~*++*~

If I were to put an illusion disc in my head, would I be able to control what everyone else sees?

Something nudged her foot, and she twirled to look at it. It was Nora, with her eyes gouged out, floating in the blood. It nearly gave her a heart attack before she remembered her last thought and looked where the kid was. The kid was laughing like a maniac now. Yami was holding him as he scratched at her and tried to reach her face. His back was to X.G, and she can see the scar running from his skull and down his gown.

Before, maybe she wouldn't have thought this. But right now the previously helpless child has lost his mind. If he had wanted to cause them mental harm, showing them the dead bodies of their closest friends would be very effective.

“MOMMA YAMI!” X.G called out “ITS ALL AN ILLUSION, THOSE FUCKERS IMPLANTED AN ILLUSIONARY DISC INTO HIS HEAD THAT HE CAN CONTROL. IT’S ALL FAKE!”

“WAIT WHAT?! HOW DO YOU KNOW!” Yami screamed, doubting her claim despite it making sense. Possibly because of how painful that sounds.

“I'VE SEEN THEM IN ACTION BEFORE, IT'S WHY I'M NOT FEELING SICK AND EVERYONE ELSE IS. I’M USED TO THEIR EFFECTS.” She explained “BESIDES, HE HAS A SCAR AT THE BACK OF HIS SKULL RUNNING DOWN HIS NECK AND SPINE!”

“WELL WHAT THE HECK DO WE DO?! WE CANT HURT HIM…I THINK HE'S POSSESSED.” Yami screamed out. Yeah the kid sure as fuck looks possessed. What the hell did they do to him?

The kid was screaming wildly and clawing like a wild animal, but was slowly using up all his energy seemingly very quickly. It probably costs a lot of energy to keep the disc running and reenact any male elephant during breeding season.

energy…

The kid hasn't eaten anything for at least 24 hours. Yeah he slept and Momma yami probably hydrated him, or at least his scales, but there's no way he'll have the energy to continue. He’ll run out of energy sooner or later.

“Leave him there, he'll drain himself out and the illusion will stop.” She said with more confidence then she actually had.

“That sounds like a ridiculous idea, darling. But it seems you know more about this than I do.” Yami replied, slightly panicked.

That seemed to be the right thing to do, as though over time the illusion kept getting worse and worse and worse over the course of an hour or so. Eventually the poor kids' movements became slower and more sluggish, and everyone started to get up from wherever they were.

“Woah, that was FUNKY!” Cici said, standing up and dusting herself off.

“It felt like I was floating in a river.” Nora mumbled, ok yeah let's not tell anyone what they looked like when the illusion took control of the children’s bedroom.

“What the FUCK happened?!” Finnick shouted in his confusion.

“Those fuckers put an illusionary disc inside his head. He can basically control what we see and in some cases possibly feel and it also makes you feel terrible. Why his eyes turned purple and he decided to commit first degree damage to our mental health I don't know.” X. G explained “He looked poss-“ she didn't get to finish her sentence as it was cut off by an agonizing, terrified shriek.

The Kid was now trying to do everything to get out of Yamitsuki’s grasp. Hissing weakly and trying to get her to let go, negelectinghis injuries that are obviously causing him pain as he tries to escape. “Why are you so scared of me..?” Yami questioned, her purple eyes showing more emotions than her face. She was genuinely upset.

wait…purple…

“Didn’t his eyes turn purple when he went sicko mode? Hey Momma Yami, your eyes are bright purple. He's probably afraid of that color because of…well all of this” Beetle pointed out, gesturing to everyone in the room “Oh? M-Maybe it's the same thing with Cici and X.G too, he seems afraid of your red eyes.” Carrie theorized. “He’s from a lab right? If they made something as unrealistic as him. A crazy kelpie with red eyes isn't off the table….I’m making sense right?” The carrot haired kelpie asked.

“That..does make sense, thank you sweethearts.” Yamitsuki admitted as Vipera walked over. “Give me the kid. He's probably going to have another breakdown. I have an idea.” Vipera said, holding her hands out. Yamitsuki Obliged, and gave her the kid. The poor siren immediately clung to her for about 5 seconds before…yup, having a breakdown and whimpering and yanking at his frills, poor fella.

“Vipera, before you do what you're about to do, can we do something real quick?” Whisper asked. And Vipera albeit hesitantly nodded. “Momma Yami and Cici, can you guys get the little one some food?” Whisper asked, glancing at the kitchen. “Yes, yes of course, he must be starving.” Yami agreed, walking towards the kitchen and out the ‘nursery’ like room.. “I don't know why I'm going, but I guess it has something to do with Carrie's eye theory.” Cici replied.

“Yes, I wanna test something, X.G, Can you put your contacts on?” Whisper requested. She never put her contacts on in her kelpie form. She never needed to. “Yeah sure, fine.” She grumbled, opening her purse and opening the little box she kept her contacts in. She doesn't need a mirror, she's had enough practice since she usually needed to put these suckers on in a moment's notice without a mirror in sight. Putting the contacts on, grumbling on how uncomfortable and weird they feel, she blinked a few times and looked around.

The bedroom was a mess, but the others besides Vipera and Whisper were already tidying it up. “Ok Vipera, let whatever you have planned rip.” Whisper said, glancing worriedly at the sobbing wickedly 4 armed siren. He's definitely been through way too much in the past 2 or so hours.

Vipera cleared her throat before slightly shaking the kid in her arms and sitting down on the cave wall to catch his attention.

“Sometimes when I~ wanna run away and hide~”

——————————————————————

He was expecting blood, pain. Blood and pain all around him, and punishment when he snapped out of it. It felt like it took hours, but after swimming in the sea of purple his mind was forced into by the voices, their sea of submission. He finally found the right sight up and bursted out the sea of purple agony. His mind was taken up, up and up, the voices getting quieter and quieter. Out of his cell, through the hallways and into the vents. Out of the vents, out the exit and into the river. Then silence…

Oh ok he's back in his body wow what a fun ride-

When he finally gained stability of his own body after a dreadful few seconds.the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't on the floor. The immediate second was how much agony he was in.

No wait, it gets worse. Because the third thing he noticed was that the Professor Leafy was holding him. In the air. tightly.

Way too tightly.

He shrieked in terror. He probably just did a bunch of bad things. There's no way he isn't in deep trouble. He can see the mild scratches on her arms and the small amounts of blood on his talons. He's so out of energy and his skull is blasting in pain and his spine feels like it's going to crack and break- wait no. This Professor Leafy will definitely break him now. He messed up.

The little siren tried his best to get out of her grasp. hissing weakly as he tried and tried again to escape, the pain in his head and arms threatening to take him back into unconsciousness as he fought the best he could. He can hear her saying something, and someone else replying but he couldn’t focus on anything that wasn't the pain in his spine and head and arms or the dread that is his soon to come, and probably overdue punishment.

Eventually, someone else grabbed him and the professor Leafy put no fuss on letting him go. The other leafy that grabbed him merely held him close to their- her chest. He wasted no time grabbing onto her like his life depended on it.

Just like that, something in him shattered.

He began sobbing uncontrollably and snapped his eyes shut. Grabbing his frills and yanking on them in an attempt to soothe himself with simply more PAIN. He’s not thinking right now. He can hear voices and movement around him, but for the life of him he couldn't focus on the present. The pain in his spine, head and arms threatens to take him back into the past and into the voices of the agonizing purple sea. It was all too much…way too much….

Suddenly, the leafy had sat down and shook him gently. Was it to catch his attention? Was he about to get his punishment? The monsters tended to be gentle up until he felt the pain. Was this any different? How lo-

(song: Villian I appear to be (annapantsu cover) )

“Sometimes~ when I wanna run away and hide~”

…ng?

“When there's no one on my side, and all my pride has disappeared.”

heh?

“I take it off my mind~ and leave it all behind~”

He opened his eyes and looked at the leafy holding him, letting go of his rays slowly. Her eyes are closed and one of her feet is tapping the floor in a simple rhythm. To that…way of talking?

“Nothin’ left to do but try~ and take the leap and follow through~”

This is…kind of nice..

“and that's EXACTLY what i'll do!~ I know that I don't seem very strong, but I assure you before you can find me I'm gone. So come on and catch me, you still got a chance~.”

The leafy had begun increasing the rhythm of her sharp claws tapping on the somewhat fluffy floor.The voices were getting quieter in his head as he moved his head to the rhythm.

This was…

“BUT NOT FOR LONG~ I'll be rolling from place to place, wont stop till i win the race! Although I may have crossed the line…”

oddly soothing…

“No time to waste on you~. I don't plan on slowing down, no I'll keep on going- EVEN if you think i'm in the wrong~.”

The pains from his “gift” have seemingly numbed out and are no longer trying to hold him back. This is…very nice…what was it called again?

“Just know that- Although I may not think everything through, I don't take back what I say or regret what I do. I know that some stay in line and they stick to the plan, but if you leave it to me I'll do whatever I can!”

It has a name. He’s sure of it…

“ ‘Cause I~ I know that's what I am here for. I~ don't wanna wait around anymore~. Even if you can’t see, the good inside me.”

It’s on the tip of his tongue..

“I~ dont have the time to tell you why~ I do the things I do.”

Ah…he remembers now.

“Just please hold on and soon you'll see~.”

It's music, songs. This Leafy is singing.

“That I am not the villain I appear to be~.”

That was a nice song…

He didn't realize he was tapping to the rhythm until there was no rhythm to tap to. He has no idea what that song did to him that had effectively soothed down everything that was hurting him. Stuck him like glue to what was happening in that moment. Forced away the voices that wanted oh so desperately to pull him back under and take control again.

It was….nice.

…Very…very nic-

“Hey little one! don't sleep yet! you gotta eat some food first!” One of the leafies called out.

wait when did he close his eyes- wait hold on did someone just say food?

He shot his head up and looked around as the Singing Leafy chuckled and moved her legs to make a more..ehh…bendy shape around him? Yeah ok he's not paying attention to that.

He looked around at all the other leafies in the room. The Blue Leafy was on a soft rectangle and waving happily at him. Next to her there was another leafy he hadn't seen yet. She was fully green and had dark green clothes with a very long skirt. When she realized he was staring, she shyly waved. Quiet leafy, then. There was the-

“Hey little dude!” Called a different leafy he hadn’t realized snuck up on his left side. He whipped his head around with a barely muffled yelp and flinched when he realized just how close that leafy was. “Oops, sorry for scaring yeah!” The leafy apologized, backing up and holding something out to him- it was the small octopus he woke up with. “You want this back, yeah?” The leafy said. His eyes locked on the octopus. He did want it back, he's not even sure when he dropped it. Is this a trick though?

He looked around and realized the Soothing Leafy is right there on his right. Seemingly seeing no issue with this. Ok, that's fine. If the Soothing leafy has no issue with this. Then it's fine, right? right.

Slowly, he grabbed the octopus plushie from the Nice Leafy. The second he realized he wasnt in fact going to snatch it back and break it, He held it to his chest and purred softly. “There you go little mate!” said the Nice leafy. “Beetle, remember he can't understand you.” Said a different leafy, he had black leaves instead of green, Darker Leafy, then. His voice was familiar, but he had no idea where he knew it from. “I know I know, but he seems to know the word “Eat” well!” The Nice Leafy exclaimed.

He went on to look at the other leafies in the room. The Red-eyed still looked pretty spooky. Her blue eyes pierced through that odd see-through fabric she wore. There was another…ehh…leafy? She looked more human, but she still had long leaves in her hair. which was orange…like a carrot. She was writing something in an odd rectangle. Like how the …..monsters at the lab did when they made him do tests…but that was brown and looked cardboard. That one was yellow, a soft yellow. You know what? Carrot leafy, sure.

The Professor Leafy and the other Red-Eyed Leafy were nowhere in sight. That will probably be a good thing. Yes, yes, they wont hurt him if they aren't in the room. That's good, that's good.

“What is taking them so-“

CRASH!

SPLAT.

BANG!

POW!

He screeched and grabbed onto the Singing Leafy’s shirt, staring at the dead looking leafy that had been seemingly thrown and tumbled into the room. It was the second Red-Eyed Leafy. Did Professor Leafy do that? What did sh-

“Wow, that was a BAD IDEA!” The second Red-Eyed leafy said, standing up and giving herself a little shake. “CICI WHAT HAPPENED?!” shouted the Quiet Leafy, clearly concerned for her…eh…friend? Sister?.

“Well…..To put it bluntly, I did a stupid thing with stupid consequences.” Replied the second Red-Eyed Leafy- no. That’s Crazy Leafy now, nevermind second Red-Eyed Leafy. There’s something wrong with them. Probably hit their head too hard or something. With brushing off a fall like that he'd believe it.

“Just…get the little kid some food…please?” Begged the Carrot Leafy. Just like that, the Crazy Leafy bounced out the room and up that weird hole she fell in.

Well… that happened….

——————————————————————-

It took another hour for the Crazy Leafy to come back with a tray. He was starting to wonder why it took them so long, but whatever was on the tray smelled amazing. His stomach growled at him, reminding him he hasn't eaten at all in three days. He was very hungry now that scent was in the air, but he had to wait. He knew better than that. So he sat patiently with the Singing Leafy. The Crazy Leafy gave the Red-Eyed Leafy the tray before bouncing out again, much to his relief. He doesn't want two leafies that look like the monster in the room.

The Red-Eyed-Leafy brought the tray over to the Soothing Leafy and placed it on the floor, on it was a wooden spoon and a bowl of…what?

Was this food?

He’s never seen anything like this before.

It was water yeah, but it was a brownish color and had fish and vegetables in it that he could see. He cocked his head at the “food”, absolutely confused out of his mind.

“Looks like he's never seen stew before, come on lil guy I promise you it's food and It’s good.” Said the soothing Leafy as she took the wooden tool and scooped up some of the bowls contents. Holding it over next to his mouth for him to…bite? Sip? heck if he knows.

Hesitantly, after sniffing the still-amazing-smelling substance on the wooden spoon a few times. He bit down on the wooden spoon and HOLY HEAVENS THE SOOTHING LEAFY IS RIGHT.

The little siren's eyes went wide with shock and shook his head a few times. With a very…questionable noise not even he could identify, he looked back at the spoon with a dumbfounded face. That seemingly all the leafies went into a laughing fit over his reaction but he didn’t really care about that. He chirped happily at the taste of…this stew? Was that what the Soothing Leafy called it? Didn’t matter, he wanted more.

The little siren made his way off the Singing Leafy’s legs and over to the tray then grabbed the bowl. It was hot, but not too hot. He put his lips on the edge and started drinking as fast as he could until they noticed.

“BABY NO!” Screamed the Soothing Leafy, taking the bowl from his hands and he looked at her confusingly. “Sweetie whyyyyyy?” The Singing Leafy barely said with a straight face. Was he not supposed to do that? The Singing Leafy scooped him up as he just stood there confused. Usually they want him to eat quickly. Was that not the case this time? Huh???

“Oh my god he drank like HALF OF IT IN 5 SECONDS!” Shouted the Nice Leafy. “There's no way that's healthy, eating so much after eating nothing for who-knows-how-long!” Screeched the Darker Leafy who he can’t pinpoint where he knows his voice from. Ah, so he wasn’t supposed to drink it quickly.

“Ok but let's all admit, that was hilarious.” said the Red-Eyed Leafy, and the Blue Leafy nodded in agreement. “That was chaotic and hilarious, but for real just feed the kiddo with the spoon so he can go take a nap.” The Blue Leafy spoke…Yeah…A nap does sound nice, he can feel it blackening his vision already. “Alright alright, little fella, open wide~.” said the Soothing Leafy, holding another spoon of the stew, in which he happily ate.

That's how they spent the next 6 or 7 minutes, the soothing Leafy feeding him spoon by spoon while the Singing Leafy held him so he wouldn’t “chug himself to death” while they weren't looking. When he was finally finished eating, the little mer leaned on the Singing Leafy and sighed. He was content on taking his nap there and letting sleep fully fog his vision. When his gaze drifted to the Red-Eyed Leafy, her blue eyes pierced into him as she waved. He let out a sleepy warble and closed his eyes, holding the octopus close to him. Maybe they’ll let him keep it if he was good….. and lucky…..

…..

WAIT A MINUTE

He shot back up instantly. Sleep gone and eyes wide as he stared at the…Red-Eyed Leafy?

Her eyes are blue now.

Weren’t they red???

HOW LONG AGO DID THEY CHANGE TO BLUE AND HE DIDN’T REALIZE??

“You finally noticed?” The red eyed one spoke in his language. As if she could read his thoughts.

…

Well, guess he doesn’t have any reason NOT to respond. Besides he doesn't want to, but there's no way she will accept that answer.

“Your eyes are blue.” He said, still confused on how they changed from red to blue.

“You seemed scared of my red eyes so I changed them.” She replied. Oh, so she just changed her eye color for him…That’s… kind of her. REALLY kind of her. She’s not as scary to look at anymore.

“Thank you.” He replied shyly, not quite sure what else to say. “No problem kid, say, what is your name?”

His name? Does She mean his number? He hates his number though… But besides that, he has no idea what she could possibly want.

“My…my name is Y-026.” He said, inwardly cringing at the sentence. Honestly, he prefers “Little one” or “kiddo” or whatever the other things they've been calling him over his number, but he isnt going to say that out loud.

Apparently, neither did the leafy in front of him. Who made a sound that he can only describe as something falling on the floor and breaking then looking up to the Singing Leafy, who was still holding him.

“Care to translate?” Singing Leafy asked curiously. Seems like no other leafy knows his language besides the Not-so-red-eyed leafy.

“I asked him his name.” she responded, looking like she was slapped.

“well…what did he reply?” asked the Soothing Leafy

“Y-026”

Yeah, none of the leafies liked that, as some gasped in horror while others whipped around to look at the …Not-so-red-eyed leafy??

“Yeah no that's not his name anymore.” The Singing Leafy said as if it was a demand. “He is getting a new name, like right now.” She added.

eh..?

“Well what ideas do you guys have, you can't just declare that and not have an idea.” The darker leafy pointed out. At this point he didn't care, ANYTHING will be better than his number. “Benson.” the Blue Leafy said. ok there is ONE name worse than his number-

“Well how about Elliott?” suggested the Carrot Leafy. Everyone looked around at each other with mixed emotions. Some seemingly like the name, others…not so much.

“Eclipse.” Said the Soothing Leafy, taking him away from the Singing Leafy and holding his head on her shoulder, in which he doesn’t protest and grabs onto without much hesitation. “His name is Eclipse.” She says with confidence, as if it wasn’t up for questioning.

Eclipse…

“Alright, I like that one, he does look like one after all.” The Nice Leafy said. He has no idea what an eclipse was, but it seems that he looks like one. The others seemed to be content with that as well, as nobody protested and the room was only filled with hums of approval.

“you heard that little one?” The not-so-red-eyed leafy asked. “yeah…” he replied. “So you do know english!” She exclaimed. He gasped in realization. Oh god he just sold himself out and didn't even realize it! Oh gosh he is going to get in trouble isn't he?? He looked at her with pleading eyes, silently begging that he won't be punished for that.

“That's fine I won't tell anyone, you can start talking when you're ready.”The not-so-red-eyed leafy reassured him, much to his relief. “But tell me now, what is your name?”

He sighed in relief. snuggling into the Soothing Leafy’s chunky white Sweater as he felt his sleepiness pulling at his small form.

“Eclipse” he answered, letting sleep cloud his vision this time.

He has a name now.

A real one, this time.

wowie this was 9.6k words KILL ME

hey remember when i said this was suppose to be a oneshot?

yeah probably not going to be less than 10 chapters anymore honestly.

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