Chapter Text
The water felt so familiar, not that it didn’t before, since this had always been Avid’s home.
No, this familiarity he felt was something different. It was the feeling he had lost 10 years ago, the moment he got himself into that debt. All these past years, he spent stuck with Mr. Oli the shark just because of the debt he racked up when he got introduced to gambling.
But now, this feeling of familiarity was back with his freedom, finally able to go home after so long. He couldn’t wait to see his family, but he wondered if they would even remember him.
Even if they didn’t, he was sure they had missed him as much as he had missed them. The thought of finally being able to hug them after so long had made his tail flap, fastening his pace.
Though there was a new obstacle he hadn’t really thought too hard about until he had to, and that was how to get home. He and Mr. Oli had spent 10 years traveling from place to place, so he wasn’t quite sure which direction to follow.
After the weird humans he had met a day prior had killed his boss, he was finally a free mer, and Avid did not waste a single minute to go back to the water and finally swim away towards his freedom.
Too bad, the universe seemed to have a different plan for him, as he found himself, from one moment, finally free of the debt that caged him, to being put in another cage, that is, a decently sized ocean with no familiar open waters in sight.
He woke up and felt the difference in the water he was in, and how could he not? The ocean was his home, and he could tell this was not its water. It wasn’t moving like what an ocean should be. The seaweeds were nowhere to be found, no little fishies surrounded him as he woke up, and finally, it was shallow as the ocean could never be.
He was right, of course. When he surfaced from the water, he figured he was in some sort of small version of an ocean. He couldn’t tell what this type of ocean was called, a lake perhaps? The flower elf had taught him about that, but what he does know is that it's too small for a siren like him.
All he could really do in this situation was swim around this small tower? In the middle. After all, where else could he possibly go? He was a siren after all, and where merfolk could live, if not the water? The land was where the humans roam, their territory, and they’re a weird bunch.
Plus, he couldn’t possibly locate the nearby ocean without his gills going dry, especially when he had nothing to help him stay soaked. He also had no way of walking which would leave him with crawling as an option and obviously that would not work.
He stayed put, familiarized himself with his surroundings, and totally did not get distracted by the many trees surrounding him, and hoped no danger would find him.
Is this what forests look like? He wouldn’t know, as he had previously mentioned to the flower elf, he had never been into one, let alone seen one.
He hummed at the sight.
Maybe his humming could lure someone to his location for help? He hoped it wouldn’t be a human, though he doubts it.
It had almost felt like half an hour had passed as he hummed away, as it was his favorite pastime, when he heard footsteps and caught sight of a white hair belonging to a possible human. He tried to call out for them,
“Hello?”
He may have had a small hope that this stranger could help him find the nearest ocean so he could be on his way. Seconds ticked by, but still no answer, and just as he had thought, that there was no one, a man suddenly appeared when he turned his head at the edge of the water, staring at him.
The strange man had startled him and stirred a bit of nostalgia in him, reminding him of when he had first met Mr. Oli.
He remembered how the shark had suddenly materialized seemingly out of nowhere and calling for him from behind one day, started throwing out fancy, big words while promising him small, shiny trinkets if he tried the ‘less savory stuff’, as he put it, below his store, and boom, before he knew it, he was in debt.
Thinking of it now, this strange man wouldn't happen to be attempting to convince him to gamble again, would he? Avid did not want it happening a second time. Especially when he had just gotten free.
“Hello, there.” The man greeted with a smile.
He looked polite, but a little familiar. Avid thought of the nice flower mage he had managed to befriend while he was in debt, and he had been the nicest one among the group of guests that Mr. Oli had invited.
The elf’s friends called him by the name of Scott? If he recalled correctly.
Anyways, Scott was even nice enough to give him various kinds of pretty flowers when Avid mentioned that he has never been in a forest due to being a merfolk.
“What’s a pretty little thing like you doing here?” The man looked uncanilly similar to Scott, from his face to his voice and accent. If not for the get-up with the hair and eye color, he might’ve mistaken this strange man for him.
“O-oh! Hi!” He stuttered out after realizing he had been staring for too long. He came close to the edge, though he didn’t miss the not-so-human pointy ears the man had. Perhaps he was also an elf or half-elf like Scott? He’s probably nice like him. “I may or may not have gotten lost. Do you happen to know where the nearest ocean is?”
“Oh?” The man raised a brow as he knelt to meet Avid’s eye, “Well, I may or may not know, but first, what’s your name?”
“My name is Avid! How about you?” He introduced himself with a smile, not even noticing the shift in the gaze of the strange man.
“I’m Scott.” Avid was surprised.
“Scott? That’s fun, I also have a friend named Scott! He’s an Elf like you!” Avid stated with enthusiasm. He did not know it was such a common name and thought that if this man had a similar name and appearance to the nice elf, then surely he was just as nice as him.
“Really?” If the man had been a human, Avid might’ve been a little untrusting, but clearly, this one was an elf like his friend. ‘Scott’ even flashed him his friendly smile, revealing sharp teeth like Avid, except all his teeth are sharp, while the man had only two.
“Yeah! Do you know him? You two look pretty similar, are you twins?”
“No, I don’t recall having any siblings, let alone a twin. Perhaps I could meet him someday,” He chuckled,
“I hope so! You two would probably get along well.” Avid rambled excitedly, “Anyways, could you help me get to the nearest ocean? I really want to go home now.”
“Apologies, Avid, but I’m afraid there isn’t any ocean nearby, and even if there were one, you wouldn’t be able to access it.” The elf revealed in a disappointed voice.
“What? Why??” He frowned as that wasn’t what he expected or wanted to hear. He didn’t want to be trapped in another cage again.
“Unfortunately. There’s a barrier around this place that keeps us from leaving, so until we’re able to break it, we aren’t allowed to leave.”
“We?”
“Yes, I and 13 other people.” He said, “12 If we’re counting him out of this situation,” Whispering the last bit under his breath, so Avid didn’t quite catch it.
“Are they elves like you?” Maybe he could meet them? Scott and the other one named Graecie had been the only two elves he had met his entire life, after all.
“There are only 5 of us among them, and the rest are humans.” Scott had noticed Avid’s sour expression, “Do you not like humans?”
“I wouldn’t say I don’t like them, but I’d prefer not meeting one. I met humans before I got here. They helped me get free from my debts, but one of them still stabbed me, and the other chased me down a hill and even tried to eat me. It still hurts! Scott was the nicest one of them, he’s the elf that looked like you!”
“Hm, how about you stay with me until we find a solution to this barrier that’s trapping us? Staying here means a higher risk of getting found out by the humans, unlike the ones you met. They might try to hurt you as they did me and my coven.”
Avid didn’t like the sound of getting hurt, so he nodded in acceptance. He pulled himself up to sit on the ground beside ‘Scott’. “Do you have a bucket or a bottle I could use?”
‘Scott’ immediately handed him a glass bottle. How convenient that he has one on his person! Avid took it and filled it up with water as ‘Scott’ watched him.
“How do you plan on following me? Do you have legs to walk on?” Avid looked up at him, those bloody red eyes staring at him.
“Uh, I could crawl?” That earned him an amused chuckle from the elf as he shook his head.
“That won’t do at all. Don’t dirty those beautiful scales of yours.” Avid felt a small blush creeping onto his face. He missed the stares the elf had been giving him, especially the way he had been analyzing Avid’s features, from head to tail.
The only thing he had been focused on was the fact that no one had ever complimented his tail before, not even the nice half-elf, though he did say his voice was nice.
He snapped out of his flustered state as he felt himself elevate from the ground, feeling a cold hand under his tail, while another was secured to his back.
‘Scott’ had picked him up.
He was so startled that he instinctively wrapped his hand around ‘Scott’s’ neck with a gasp. The elf’s hold was firm, as if he had no intentions of letting him go. Avid interpreted this as a kind gesture, believing the elf was simply worried about dropping him.
The elf effortlessly lifted Avid, as if he weighed nothing to him. Which was false since he knew his long tail would have added to his weight—heavy for a human, but ‘Scott’ was an elf, so it probably makes sense that such strength seemed only natural for his kind.
“You’re gonna carry me?” The siren had asked in wonder,
“What do you suppose I’m doing right now?” He turned to walk towards the mass of trees, and Avid couldn’t help but feel excited.
“Am I not heavy to you? Cause I feel like I should be.”
“Not really, I’m quite strong, you know.” The reason seemed to satisfy Avid as he nodded along. Even though he hadn’t expected that from someone who doesn’t look that big, Avid figured that maybe his elf lineage played a part in it.
They entered the forest, and Avid looked around with stars in his eyes, so many trees and flowers. In the middle of the sightseeing, he popped open the glass bottle and poured small amounts of water into his palm, carefully guiding it to pat on his gills, making sure nothing spilled.
“What are you doing? ‘Scott’ asked, breaking the quiet atmosphere. Avid looked up as he closed the bottle securely.
“I’m wetting my gills. Merfolks need to always have their gills soaked when they’re on land, or else they die.” ‘Scott’ nodded in understanding.
“Interesting, I guess we should be getting you in the water soon then, before that bottle runs out of water.” He grinned down at the mer, and Avid agreed.
“By the way, you mentioned a coven earlier. What’s a coven? Is that a human thing?”
“Not quite. I am referring to the other ‘elves’ I’m close with.”
“Ohh! I didn’t know that’s what you call your family. Is that an elf thing then?” ‘Scott’ nodded in response, briefly halting his steps.
Avid was awestruck at the sight before him. It was such a beautiful, big castle, though the bridge was quite run-down. Below it was another body of water, much like the one he was just in, but definitely much larger, and it had lots of space and was not too shallow for him to swim around.
“This is my castle, Avid. You can stay in these waters until we find a way out of here.” The smile never left his face as he slowly lowered Avid into the water, and the cold wrapped around him immediately.
The mer had always liked the cold feeling of the water.
It wasn’t the same as ocean water, but it was certainly much better than the one he had just been in earlier, and it was much more spacious, too. Avid swung his tail on the water, creating a small splash.
‘Scott’ seemed to be enjoying the sight of him smiling in amazement.
“I like this one much better! Thank you!” He giggled as he dove under, not even a second later. His eyes sparkled at the sight of fishes swimming in the vicinity. He even indulged himself in chomping down on one of the nearby ones as he hadn’t eaten since morning.
When he resurfaced, ‘Scott’ was gone. Avid figured he had probably gone into his castle. He shrugged and went on chasing another fish he'd seen.
He could wait here until freedom was within reach again. He endured ten years until he was finally freed, albeit only to be thrown into another prison, so what's a few more? Avid just hoped it wouldn’t take too long.