Chapter Text
Water.
The gentle sounds of the sea.
Fingers softly brushing through his hair. The movements calmly repeating themselves like waves.
Distant, echoing sounds of a beautiful yet haunting melody, sung by a voice that rang clear like crystal water, its singing causing a dreamlike state.
Those were the first things that Miguel Robeles could remember after regaining consciousness. That, and the pain. So much pain. His chest felt like it was burning. That… was not too surprising, he supposed. In all honesty, he was surprised that he was even still alive… if that was the case, that is. He… could not quite tell. It was all still a blur. He could not even bring himself to open his eyes.
Perhaps this was the afterlife. Perhaps, he had passed on to another existence, his mortal body having given up on him. It was to be expected, after receiving a bullet to the chest. De Savilla… damn that traitor… He would have been sailing on the seven seas again, had it not been for his treacherous cowardice. And he would have won that sword fight as well, if that pretentious snob had not fired at him. What right did he even have to do that? That duel had not been between them. He had already dealt with him. All he had done was interfere. Like he always did. Miguel gritted his teeth. He hoped that that scumbag had died a very painful death.
…What had happened to him, though? Perhaps, that was a more important thing to find out. Where… where was he even? What was this… creature that was evidently so close to him, gently stroking and singing to him? He could tell that he was lying on a rock in a cave, judging from the reverberating sounds and the darkness, but that was all, really. He was still drifting in and out of consciousness, but he tried to remember as much as he could. He had gotten shot. He had fallen down to the deck. As soon as he realised that his ship was going to explode, he had used his last remaining strength to crawl away from it. Better to drown than to have his body be destroyed in a fire. At least, this way his body would be claimed by the sea. The thing his heart truly belonged to, instead of Spain, or this… blasted armada.
He did not remember much after that. Mostly the sounds of water flowing all around him. Some shadowy water plants floating amidst the waves. The heat that he still felt on his skin as his beloved Diablo burnt to a crisp and blew up. The… the memories still felt like a dagger through his heart. Unlike the bullet that very nearly hit it, he thought to himself, grimacing at his own gallows humour. If he was going to die, he’d better make the most of his situation.
A chill went down his spine, though, as a very vague memory resurfaced to him. An approaching shadow. Bright, icily blue eyes staring at him, almost as if they were twinkling stars amidst the watery darkness. Soft singing, ringing perfectly clear despite the sailor being underwater, which… sounded quite similar to the sounds he was hearing now, he realised. It might have managed to soothe him, until… he remembered more of this strange being’s features.
An angular back fin.
Rough scales brushing against his skin.
A pointy, two-finned tail.
…Shark.
Miguel felt his heart beat in his chest as he recalled the moment. What… what had happened?! The longer he thought about that question, the more confusing the answer became. How did a shark end up in the marshes? Why had it approached him? And why… why was he still conscious…? Why wasn’t he dead by now?!
Gasping loudly, the sailor’s body tensed up as he breathed heavily, looking around himself wildly behind closed eyelids. It did not do him much good. He found himself unable to open his eyes. He did notice that the fingers running through his hair slowly came to a halt though, as did the ethereal melody. Miguel lamented that last part, strangely. He… he never wanted to ever stop hearing that otherworldly song.
“C… calm down… It’s all right… You’re… you’re safe.” The sailor froze in surprise as he heard those words being uttered. Never before had he heard anything like that voice. It rang delicately, like water from a calm stream. It was faint, yet captivating. Just… just listening to those few words managed to soothe Miguel and calm him down somewhat. He tried to sit up, desperately wanting to see who this angelic voice belonged to, but he soon groaned out in pain, his chest wound hurting too much to sit up any further. Or move, for that matter.
Gentle hands supported his back, guiding him back down to the rocky surface he was laying on. His… bare back, the sailor realised. He… was not wearing his shirt anymore, only a strange piece of fabric applying pressure to his chest. Was that… to treat his wound? “Oh no, please… please don’t distress yourself any further…”, the voice huskily uttered. “You… you were badly injured. I… found you after you fell into the water, and I… took the liberty of taking you to my home. You know, so you can recover… I did have to peel off your outer skin layer to properly see that wound of yours, I… I hope you don’t mind…”
A puzzled expression spread across Miguel’s face as he still looked around himself wildly, almost as if in a delirium. He was still in too much of a dreamlike state to open his eyes. “Wh… what do you mean by that?!”, he uttered, starting to feel frustrated. He was starting to feel powerless in this situation, and that infuriated him beyond belief. “Where am I?”, he shouted, clenching his jaw in anger. “Who… who are you even?!”
The sailor heard no response for a while, until he suddenly felt the back of his head being supported, yet again by those gentle hands. “…You want to know what I am… don’t you?”, the voice asked, before Miguel felt his head gently being tilted forward, one hand keeping its steady hold while the other began to brush through his hair yet again. The sailor did not want to admit it, but… it did feel oddly calming. Entrancing, almost. And once again, the voice spoke out to him, hypnotising him with its sweet, melodic tones, even when simply speaking:
“…Then open your eyes and see me… See me, human.”
“Human”? What… what could he possibly mean by that?, the captain thought to himself. Why… why was this person addressing him like he was something entirely different?
…That question was soon answered though, as Miguel slowly opened his eyes, almost as if a spell that had made him unable to do so before had been lifted, and they widened in surprise as soon as he beheld the creature that had saved him for the first time.
…Of course, he was not human. No being of such ethereal beauty could ever be considered… human.
He resembled a man, most likely a few years older than the captain himself was, but the otherworldly glow his bright blue eyes gave off instantly gave away the fact that this was a supernatural creature. Instead of human ears, his were webbed, almost like a delicate fish’s fins. A large back find extended from his back. His wavy hair seemed surprisingly soft and dry, despite the fact that everything around the two men was damp. One prominent streak of grey darted through the otherwise greyish-brown locks. The bridge of his nose was speckled with little scales. They sporadically appeared all over his entire upper body, really. Multiple slits could be seen on the sides of his neck, softly moving along to his breathing motions, almost like gills.
…None of these things were that which instantly stood out to Miguel, though.
That was the fact that his lower body was that of a giant catshark’s, albeit slightly bruised and scarred.
…This was a merman.
The captain gasped loudly, a baffled look spreading across his face as he did not believe his own eyes. This… this could not be real… During all his years spent upon the high seas, he had never encountered any of the mythical creatures rumoured to lurk in the deep waters, only for one to show up when he was on the verge of death? This had to be a delirium. It… it was the only explanation. He could not be seeing these things. He tried to back away from the creature, but he slumped down again, groaning in pain as he felt his chest hurt again. “I… I’m dreaming…”, he gasped, clenching his jaw.
The merman smiled faintly, a blush spreading across his cheeks. “…You’ve never met someone like me before then, I take it?”, he asked bashfully, looking down and twiddling with his thumbs. His fingers were webbed too, Miguel observed. “No…”, he groaned, breathing heavily as he sank down against the ground again. “…No, I haven’t…” The creature’s smile changed into a more curious one as he leaned forward, inspecting the captain. “…Well, the same goes for me”, he said, tilting his head like a curious cat. “…I’ve often seen humans from a distance, but… you’re the first ever human I’ve spoken to. Isn’t… isn’t it exciting?”
Miguel frowned, a confused expression on his face. No one had ever been… happy to see him, really. Not in his entire life. He was used to being an infamous captain of a pirate ship. Someone whose name was enough to strike fear into the hearts of men. This… warmness he was being greeted with… was something entirely unfamiliar to him. “I… suppose so?”, he stammered, not sure what to say.
The stranger’s smile broadened, the captain wincing as soon as he saw his row of sharp teeth. A chill went down his spine. Was… was this creature secretly nefarious? Did he… did he want to eat him? The many tales about merfolk did mention them spiriting away sailors to lure them into the depths with them… it was entirely possible…
The merman instantly closed his mouth as soon as he saw the captain’s visible uneasiness, blushing self-consciously. “…Did I frighten you with these?”, he asked awkwardly, covering his mouth with his hand. “…I’m sorry… I assure you, I mean no harm… I do not eat flesh. Seaweed nourishes me just fine… not to mention the fact that if I were to hunt, I would kill my only companions…” He seemed… very sad all of a sudden, as he said that last sentence. He let out a sigh, staring down melancholically.
“…There aren’t others like you, then?”, Miguel asked hesitantly. As much as he wanted to deny it, his curiosity had been piqued. “Oh yes, there are”, the being sighed. “…I suppose they… simply just do not like merfolk like me… Those who refuse to eat humans, I mean. And well, um…” He looked at his tail, moving it about elegantly, though the captain could definitely spot multiple spots where it had been harmed significantly. Now that he took a closer look, actually… there was still a rusted manacle cuff stuck to the end of it. “…I suppose they do not want to play with someone who… allowed himself to get caught.”
Miguel stayed silent for a while. He could almost feel the sorrow coming from this creature as he told him about his loneliness. Why… did it make him feel bad? He barely knew this person. And yet, he… he regretted something about that very fact… This merman intrigued him. He had not felt intrigued by a person for a very long time. Most people were simply means to an end to him, really. So why… why was this person any different? He could not find an answer to that question. And so, he kept silent.
The creature’s sad expression faded a bite after a while, though, as he looked back up at the captain. “…But there’s no need to worry about that… I- I can talk with you now, right…?” The way he asked that question seemed… very hopeful. As if he was not entirely sure of the answer, but desperately wanted to hear ‘yes’. Miguel sighed. If this meant recovering from his bullet wound… then so be it. “…I suppose so”, he responded eventually. “…I mean, I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere soon with this wound of mine.”
The being’s eyes lit up with excitement as soon as he heard that answer, smiling gleefully as his tail swished around in the nearby water. “Wonderful!”, he exclaimed enthusiastically. “I- I suppose that it would be polite to introduce myself, then… They call me Blyss. What should I call you, then?”
The captain was taken aback by Blyss’ sudden energy, but he recollected himself after a while again. Besides… the merman’s strange excitement was… interesting to observe, honestly. Someone else might have even called it endearing. “…Robeles”, he said eventually. “Captain Miguel Robeles.”
As soon as Blyss heard the word ‘captain’, he leaned forward eagerly, letting his head rest on his hands as he looked up at the sailor curiously. “…You mean, you have a ship?”, he asked, gasping adoringly. “Tell me all about it!”
…Miguel smiled faintly. He still did not fully know what was going on yet… but at least, talking to a merman was better than dying. Even if this was all a delirium. Whatever was going on… these next few days were going to be interesting, for sure.