Chapter Text
Far, far away beyond the boundless expanses of the sea, behind the emerald waves shimmering like diamonds, at the bottom of the sea, there was a realm with a great castle of the powerful lord Triton. It was a place full of underwater creatures.
Here lived a myriad mermaids of all kinds and dynasties, different in the appearance, from their fins and to their tails. Some had a shark or dolphin tail and others had a long tortuous tail of eel or moraine, while some had claws under crab shells. For here lived wondrous creatures beyond the wildest imagination.
Mo Guanshan lived in this kingdom. He wasn’t too clever nor lovable but he was in his prime. Some said that he was even a bully, number one enemy, with a fiery temper. Others said he was a sure-handed dexterous merman, but alas, he was plagued with bad luck.
The heritage awarded Mo with the tail of neither a dangerous predator nor an ordinary mackerel. But it was laced with iridescent scales, from green-emerald to golden, and carmine-coral fins while he wore his hair short. A respectable merman or mermaid would never appear in the sea kingdom’s society with cropped hair, for this was a sign of punishment for rowdy behavior.
Mo was exposed to it all the time, as soon as the guards caught him for his tricks. No one ever figured out who was right and who was wrong in the case with Mo, because he managed to fool everyone, the guards included. But the worst of his sins had been trespassing on forbidden territories, provoking conflicts with others like him, but with more aggressive and predatory behaviors. But Mo wasn’t like a full-fledged pest. And he would probably have gone down as a simple thief and a scoundrel if he hadn't been watched by a pair of never-sleeping eyes from the dark, abandoned ocean depths.
Mischief, curiosity, and a touch of crazy, like a mesmerizing whirlpool, called on Mo and more trouble.
One.
Huge.
Definitely the oversized kind.
It was an inky purple ever-present problem that now haunts Mo everywhere: out of the city, and sometimes inside it during dark hours.
There had been an accident once, and it happened right in front of the main court sorcerer, the successor of the ancient family. Mo had the misfortune to get involved in a dispute which quickly became a brawl. Evil fate has prepared a meeting with He Tian and his rave-xenophile groupies. Mo had accidentally just rushed past him, along with an overturned wrecked carriage.
“Don’t bust your balls, devilfish! Can’t you see there’s a fight!” Mo growled. His voice was young and clear, and could brighten up a boring court choir. It wasn't at all suitable for him to wave his fists in the bazaar.
Perhaps that day Mo had stepped some boundaries.
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The sorcerer preferred seclusion, settling in his own manor on an abandoned plateau in the depths of the sea. He considered visits at the court of the Lord of the Seas to be useless and boring leisure. And now He Tian, who was the same age as Mo, was now stalking the redhead troublemaker everywhere. How he knew where Mo was was an unsolved mystery. Probably, the sorcerer had an all-seeing magic ball, which Mo swore to steal, he only feared whether he would later be turned into some kind of wild seaweed or shell.
Just a year ago, Mo was wearing only bone beads and spiked earrings. Now he had a gold cuffs, which the black sorcerer forced him to accept as a gift. The other one didn’t care at all: whether there are necessary holes in Mo's body for the next indisputably cruel souvenir. Both of Mo's nipples gleamed with metal contrivances, lavishly decorated with diamonds and on top of it, hissing threats were instilled into his ears. Then He Tian certainly inspected his «blessings» on Mo and announced what he was going to «give» him the next time.
But after his navel was decorated, Mo made no attempt to show himself to He Tian and surrendered without a fight. The crazy octopus described his antics as friendly gestures. And in case of resistance, Mo has experienced a variety of magical tricks: he was turned into a statue, a piece of wood or even an oar.
Secretly getting out of the capital, Mo studied the ancient catacombs, flooded cities and ships in search of unseen treasures. Curiosity and craving for the unknown were stronger than fear and imposed familiarity by the stubborn octopus.
Mo vowed to move to an area farther away if it would save him from the insane sorcerer, who at each meeting groped Mo with all eight slippery limbs. He Tian casually left pink swells on Mo’s pale skin, outrageous bruises from suction cups on tentacles; and Tian always used his strong arms, which seemed no less long than his tentacles.
Mo’s instinct was so strong that he didn't need to see the octopus. The familiar sensation, the gloomy silhouette streaked off in the sunken remains of the ship — and Mo rushed towards the light. After less than an hour of a chase that looked more like a trick of his imagination, Mo hid between the reefs in shallow backwaters. A soft chuckle came from behind causing him to look around. Mo lowered his head wearily and reluctantly drew near and hissed: “Just drop dead!”
“Hello to you too, my sweetheart.” Tian answered, swimming next to Mo to the surface. In the bright midday sun, the «devilfish» had already poisoned the air by smoking, lightening the cigarette in a trivial magical way. “You already know that I planned to take your soul. So I’m waiting for your wishes, I am ready to fulfill your every desire, and no, «my death» doesn’t count as one of the wishes.”
But Mo was sick and tired of him. For all love of his hobby, Mo was afraid of people. But the idea sounded good: to fulfill his devout wish, along the way to get rid of He Tian, which was so annoying that Mo had no strength left to endure him. Mo doubted very much that he would be able to save his own soul from the dark sorcerer since Tian was so persistently hunting for it. Even if he ends his days with dried seaweed in the sorcerer’s collection, at least, Mo would not become the prey of a pervert who looks not only at his soul, but also at his body for joy.
The fulfillment of a cherished desire will be worthy of a high price. Mo dreamed of exploring the world of people, at the same time escaping from the sorcerer who poisoned his whole mind. Because Mo’s tail was already burning in the water from He’s dirty hints. Earlier the octopus approached and stopped one and a half meters away, now there was no more than a span between them. Other ways to be among humans than to be caught in the net by a pierced harpoon was not possible.
Scratching his temple, Mo thought about this idea, preventing the octopus from getting too close to him.
“Beautiful day, little Mo, isn’t it?” He Tian hummed, as usual, pawing his tentacles on Mo’s body and tail, temptingly sliding them under the water.
Mo was perplexed why he called him «a little». However, the real age of the sorcerer wasn’t known, and he could have been a decrepit sponge.
Mo snorted, but did not answer immediately. He swum closer, and as the tentacles stopped curling around his tail, he breathed out, squinting at He's face. Wet black hair softly falling over his forehead and hid Tian’s eyes. He was the only merman to have short hair because octopuses looked odd with long hair.
“Why are you following me? If you came to me with some bullshit, I would stab you!” Mo blustered.
“You already forgot how once I separated your dirty tongue and buried it in mud?” You don't answer my questions at all,” he said while playing with the ring on Mo’s nipple. That made the redhead hiss and twitch to the side, but he was immediately caught by the wrist. “I got bored, so I thought we could greet each other, when I accidentally noticed you.”
“Oh, yeah, for sure.”
“You don’t think I’m lying?” The sorcerer answered a bit theatrical.
Mo blushed, feeling dark tentacles sliding under the water. These touches caused a strange trembling, arousal, and didn’t seem disgusting to Mo. These tentacles were able to strangle the victim with incredible force, and they never threatened Mo fatally, except a little harmful. In an unequal fight, they just hold a stubborn «goldfish».
Unfortunately, Mo's tail and colorful fins weren’t that of a predatory creature, and were used only more for swimming. He was unable to compete with powerful shark tails or huge limbs of octopuses, which Mo admired, if he was honest. He even caught himself a couple of times thinking that he would like to have the same.
However, after another encroachment, when his own tail was captured under the dome of tentacles and was bitten by an octopus «beak», this idea left his mind. Mo had no idea what would happen to his own manhood, the thought of throwing his semen directly into the water seemed сompletely disgusting. The loss of masculinity decisively stopped the desire to experiment with it. It would be fatal for Mo to find out about the presence of the real sorcerer’s cock, remembering all Tian's hints.
“I'm so sick of you!" grumbled Mo. “I have a wish you could fulfill.”
“I'm all ears, love.”
“Legs. I want human capabilities to live on the land surface and breathe air.”
“That's it?” Tian's voice sounded sarcastic.
“Yep, that's all.”
“You won’t even ask for wealth? For my family's thousand-year history, you are the first to ask for life among people, those hated by all sea creatures.”
“What do you care? Or maybe you just can’t give me what I want?”
“On the contrary, I can, little Mo. I won’t even take full payment from you, so your unusual desire impresses me.” Tian said.
Mo wickedly grinned, excited by the prospect that he would finally able to escape on land, be away from the evil cunning of the sorcerer, who was already too annoying and daring in his actions and thoughts towards Mo.
“In return, I will take your voice. You wouldn't remain silent, but your former voice will be gone,” Tian said. “Now… if you are ready to make a deal, sign the contract!”
The paper with gold letters materialized out of nowhere along with a bone quill.
Not needing more reasons, Mo looked at the writing and took the quill. He scribbled his name on the bottom, but as he wrote, he felt a sudden prick of a fish quill and a drop of blood fell onto the paper.
“Done,” he muttered, sucking his pricked finger.
He Tian made sure that the document was correct then with a wave of his hand made it disappear as sudden as it materialized.
“Your voice would be returned if you turn back into a merman,” he added.
“Is it just for a while?” Mo anxiously asked.
“If you wish so.”
“You won’t wait,” the red said, turning up his nose, pleased with himself.
But Tian grabbed him by the wrist, taking the injured finger from Mo’s mouth, and with incredible speed they rushed to the shore.
“Wait! What are you doing!?” Mo called out gaspingly.
“I’m taking you to the beach so that you don’t drown, you idiot,” said the sorcerer with a sly smile.
