Chapter Text
There’s no calendars in the mermaid realm, so Eddie doesn’t know what day it is today. He scratches at his arm, which felt both damp and flaky all at the same time. After the whole dining experience the mermaids don’t let him out anymore to do anything. They don’t even show him around. It was getting boring, mind-numbingly so. Eddie hums a tune to himself, though it fizzles out quickly.
Chrissy would occasionally appear with a large shell full of wet, cooked fish and a bag of clean water for him. Sometimes it was Steve, who would sit there and watch him eat everything. Praised him like he was some dog or something.
Steve would also come with gifts. Eddie knew what courting looked like. He accepted the many shiny pearls, trinkets, and accessories Steve gave him if only because he couldn’t refuse the king.
He can’t refuse the king. The consequence is still seared behind his eyelids. The taste of his flesh still stung as a bitter memory.
Eddie wasn’t stupid enough to make himself fish chow. So he sits there all pretty getting lavished in gifts that end up sitting all pretty in the corner of the room. They leave him alone most of the time at least. Eddie spends it singing to himself when he wasn’t sleeping the hours away, pretending to hold his precious guitar.
He misses his guitar. Eddie misses a lot of things. He hopes Wayne accepted he wasn’t coming home any time soon. Wayne was getting up there in age, and his heart wasn’t as good as it could be. Eddie hopes he isn’t worrying too much about him. He’s already been enough on the old man’s heart just by being there, his absence must be twice as bad.
Eddie scratches at his skin again. He stretches out his arm muscles, wincing at how tense they were. His legs fare similarly. Eddie has been walking around the room, but it hasn’t been helping.
The water ripples, Eddie staring at his pale and cracked feet.
“You look rough.”
Eddie barely even manages a cynical laugh, his cracked lip twitching. “You think?”
Heather slides out of the water, her deep red and white striped tail shifting into legs wrapped in a thin translucent skirt. “Really, you look rough.” She walks over, sitting down beside him. “All the males are out on a hunt, so it’s just us females on the grounds. Chrissy and Robin are busy with each other, and Carol went out for a little so I’ve come to bother the only thing that can’t leave.”
Eddie lets her talk. She chatters on about what the mermaids had been up to, from how Tommy had swam right into a sea column and Billy had laughed at him, to how a bunch of fry merfolk had taken Steve out to hang out with him and didn’t return him until much later. Eddie doesn’t join in the conversation, but Heather didn’t seem to mind at all. She even talked about how poorly he looked, which didn’t help matters much. He knew he looked terrible even without a mirror to stare at himself. Perhaps he should ask Steve for one.
Then Heather grabs his hand firmly, standing up. “I know what’ll cheer you up.” Heather yanks, sending a spike of pain up his arm. Heather gives a small apologetic smile, but her grasp on him doesn’t let up. Eddie pushes himself up to his feet slowly.
“You need a day out. And maybe something to do with all… this. Steve’s never had one alive this long. Between you and me?” Heather leans in to his ear, raising a hand up near her mouth. “I think he’s too awestruck to notice you’re like. Deteriorating. Chrissy’s been worried about you you know? She’s been wondering if you need some extra help. If you die Steve’s not gonna be a happy mer.”
Of course it is. Doesn’t matter about him, does it? Just Steve’s feelings.
Still, Heather’s offering to let him out. Eddie would be a fool if he didn’t take the opportunity.
So he lets Heather breathe in his mouth and toss him underwater.
She keeps her hand on his arm as she guides him, though it’s more like she drags him along. Eddie was much too tired to help swim through the water. Heather appears to have noticed as she glances back at him with concern a few times. She doesn’t go too fast, thank goodness.
Heather brings him outside, taking him around the castle to a cave just behind the massive building. For a second, Eddie thinks that he made a mistake coming with Heather. This felt like he was being sent to some evil den where evil witches live.
The inside of the cave did not exactly help his thoughts, Eddie staring at all the bottles in the cave, held down by seaweed nets and wooden shelves that looked like they have seen better days. A few bottles seem to sit above the water in a small air pocket.
Heather lets Eddie go, raising a finger and swimming around a cartoonishly witchy cauldron that had barnacles growing all over it. The cauldron was empty from what Eddie could see, Heather shoving random knickknacks aside in what looked to be an old steel serving trolley that was rusted in a few places.
Heather makes a bubbling noise, swimming right back to Eddie. She gestures to where her ears should be then points to him before she grabs his head and pushes it to the left. Eddie barely has time to question her when something is shoved in his ear. Heather tilts his head and shoves something in the other ear before backing up with a nod. It made his ears feel weird, like there were earplugs jammed in them.
She clears her throat. “Test! Test! Eddie, can you hear me!” She says like she was announcing something in a microphone. Eddie’s mouth drops open, right before he shuts it and tries to spit out the saltwater back out. Heather laughs, though it just sounds muted and bubbly to him.
“Good, you understand me! I made those for you. Made from the same stuff that makes up the double rooms. It’s pretty one way though so if you need something you’re just going to have to motion for it.” Heather swims around the cauldron again, digging around some more. “Ah, by the way, I don’t think Steve told you, but I’m the kingdom’s official sea witch. I’m in charge of anything that requires a little extra magic to make it all work. You’ve heard those stories, right? Like the one where a boy comes down on a turtle and leaves with a box he’s not supposed to open, or the reason why you’re able to walk around in the throne room while everyone else is swimming around you?” She points to herself. “All my responsibility. Took over the last one who used to do this. He was a weird one, let me tell you.”
Heather digs in a box, pulling out a pair of diving flippers. “Tommy took these off of a funny little human once. They’re supposed to help you human swim without a tail I hear. Here, you can have them until we figure out a better solution.” She hands them over.
Eddie takes the flippers. It’s a nice gesture, he supposes, even if Eddie couldn’t breathe without the help of the mermaids. Heather nods at him and settles on top of the cauldron.
“You still look terrible by the way. Absolutely ghastly. You are eating your food and drinking your freshwater, right?”
He has. The food was okay. Always wet, but okay. Eddie gives her a small nods, Heather copying him with a larger one.
“Huh.” Heather tilts her head. “Then what’s got you all tired-looking, landie?” She reaches forth, pinching his cheek between her fingers. Her nails dig into Eddie’s skin near his eye, Eddie hissing and leaning away. Heather lets go of him and frowns.
“Maybe you need more freshwater in you. I’ll tell Steve about getting you more to drink.”
Eddie doesn’t think that’s the reason he looks so terrible. Not that he can tell Heather that. The mermaid floats around some more, organising bottles and items. She occasionally glances back at Eddie, pointedly looking at the flippers in his hands.
Eddie looks down at them. They’re maybe his size. He’s not sure. It was always worth a try. He takes on and tries to pull it on over his feet.
It was kind of hard to put it on when there was nothing supporting his weight except for the water. Eddie grunts, Heather giggling at his pitiful attempts. She doesn’t try to help him.
Eddie scoots closer to the wall, finally getting his heel on in the rubber. He gets the other one on without much issue.
“Wow, they really do look funny,” Heather says. She chuckles, a clicking noise behind her laugh. Eddie glares at her lightly, but Heather just waves her hand at him. “Well go on then! Go swim. It’s your day out. Just stay within the area. I’ll come collect you when the boys are back.”
“Are you sure?” Eddie asks her. His words still remain near incomprehensible in the water. Heather makes a confused yet amused face at him, and waves her hand at him again.
Eddie will take that as a yes. He turns and swims away from the cave.
He doesn’t know how long the mermaid’s breath lasts.
Eddie looks up at the dark ocean sky past the glow of the castle. He might as well make the most of it.
“I saw Eddie swim past. He was going upwards. Did you let him out?” Chrissy asks as she ducks into the cave where Heather was.
“He’s already trying to escape? Wow he’s fast.”
Chrissy nods her head, swimming over to Heather. It seems like she was trying to make a concoction, Chrissy peering into the magical liquid. “What’re you making?”
“I was hoping to make something new. Experimenting with it.” Heather pokes at the liquid with the bottom of a bottle full of crab shells.
Chrissy claps her hands, making a happy clicking sound. “Sounds good. Now, about Eddie.”
“What about Eddie?”
“Do you think he’s going to make it far?”
Heather snorts, gills fluttering. She uncorks her bottle, letting the cork float to the ceiling and dumping shell pieces into the cauldron before retrieving the cork. “No. Reaching the surface will take him longer than the breaths he’s gotten from me. And that’s not counting the hunting party finding him first. He’ll get spotted, no sweat.” Heather stirs the cauldron with a long thin rod. “Don’t you feel bad that he’s always cooped up Chrissy?”
“I do,” Chrissy says. “But what do you think Steve will say when he finds out you let him outside? You know how Steve gets about his things…”
“Then that’s a problem between me and the king, now won’t it? And besides, Billy loves a good chase.” Heather dumps a handful of sand into the cauldron. “It’ll make him a happy mer. If he’s happy, Steve’s happy. Eddie gets his exercise in. Win win.”
“That’ll work!” Chrissy watches Heather stir some more. “But what if Eddie doesn’t get found?”
“I trust he will. Eddie’s been looking quite frail, don’t you think? If anything it’d be easier to hunt him down. He’d get tired before he wins. Going from stationary to swimming all that distance.”
“That’s true,” Chrissy says.
Heather reaches over, patting her on the shoulder. “Eddie is one man. The party will be outnumbering him and bring him back safely. If he manages to escape all of them then I’ll applaud him.”
“I hope he will be alright out there.”
“What, you afraid he’ll get caught by some shark?”
“Or a Billy.”
Heather cackles. She tries to stop, but more erupt past her lips in hiccups. “Oh, you’re right, Chris. But Billy’s nice when he wants to be.”
Eddie tastes freedom for what only felt like seconds.
Maybe he should have listened to Heather and stayed within the light of the kingdom. His muscles felt like they were on fire, and he felt far too lightheaded. He doesn’t get it. Eddie descended with Tommy fine, what made ascending so much harder?
He continues paddling upwards, no end in sight. He couldn’t see anything now that he’s left the strange light of the mermaid’s kingdom, but it couldn’t be too hard. All Eddie had to do was go up.
Up. That was his only objective. Eddie just needed to go up and then he’ll regroup. Find a way to return back to civilisation. Never step foot in the ocean ever again. He’ll go inland, even. Back to Indiana. Just away from the ocean.
It’s so dark. And cold. Eddie didn’t realise just how cold it was until he left the kingdom. Everything was aching. He didn’t know how long he’s been swimming. It was a temporary ache. He hasn’t died yet. He thinks he might at this rate.
A loud pinging noise in his ear startles him. It’s quickly followed by faint shouting.
Oh no.
Eddie swims faster, hoping and praying he’ll get somewhere safe. What was he kidding himself for, he can’t see his own hand and he’s just hoping he’s still going upwards. If he wanted to hide he would have to be insanely lucky to find himself a hiding spot.
Eddie could give up now.
No, what is he thinking? Maybe he can evade them.
In the dark.
Against mermaids.
Eddie shakes his head, kicking his feet and pushing onwards. That’s ridiculous, he’s definitely losing.
Maybe they’ll just think he’s some random seal or something that decidedly wasn’t an Eddie Munson escaping when he should have been holed up. There was no way they would assume he’s escaped.
He screams when something tackles him from the side, laughing raucously. His left ear rushes with water, making that side sound dull.
“Gotcha, you rascal.” Billy squeezes him tight. Eddie feels his nose prodding at his neck, teeth grazing his skin and sending a sensation down his arm. His voice was hard to hear, a blend of garbled words and a rapid shuttering dolphin noise. “Well now, I thought I was dreaming!”
“Did you catch them?” Steve’s voice comes from farther away.
“Steeeeve, guess what I caught~” Eddie feels himself get turned around, Billy’s hand squeezing at his arm like a stress toy.
“Is that Eddie?” Steve’s voice is so much closer now, and a finger brushes against his cheek. “Now what are you doing out, handsome? Did the girls let you roam?”
“Hey look Stevie. He’s wearing those silly slippers.” Eddie feels Tommy tugging at his ankle and the flippers. “I think he thought he could get away with it. Tried to escape you Stevie!” Tommy cackles.
“Oh Eddie,” Steve says in pity, stroking his cheek. “You can’t leave!”
Eddie pulls away from his finger, Billy yet to release him. He kicks his feet, Tommy’s nails digging into his calves and preventing him from doing anything.
He hears muttering in his right ear, but it sounded like it should be surrounding him instead.
Eddie is so cold.
Hands grab his face.
“Come on Eddie. That’s enough for today,” Steve sweetly purrs.
He feels his body get spun upside down, and all he can do is hold on.
Eddie sees the kingdom’s light within minutes. Billy doesn’t loosen his hold the entire dive back down, Heather and Chrissy reappearing from the cave and joining them.
“There he is!” Chrissy says. “Oh you look even worse than before. Billy, stop squeezing him so hard! You’ll crush his bones!” She swats at Billy’s hand, the mermaid loosening his grip on Eddie. Eddie clings on to Billy’s arm. He felt so tired. If Billy let go he’ll drop, he’s certain of it.
“He needs a break. Heather, do you mind if…?”
“I’ll get right on it, Your Majesty.” Heather swims away back to the cave.
“You want to do it now?” Billy questions, Steve nodding. It looked smeared, from Eddie’s point of view.
Eddie’s vision was going blurry. Fingers grip at his chin.
“I don’t want to lose him. Do you?”
Eddie wakes up again in his room. Eddie coughs, his nose stinging sharply. He grabs his nose, hissing and trying to will his head to stop exploding on him.
“Oh good you’re awake.”
He rolls his head over, opening his eyes. Even his eyes burned.
Billy was sitting a little aways from him, chewing on what seemed to be a pink conical sponge. He lets go of the sponge and waves it at him. “Hungry?”
Eddie shakes his head. Billy takes back the sponge and resumes chewing on it.
Eddie tries to sit up, but he collapses back down with a grunt.
“Easy there sailor.” Billy scoots closer. “ You’re gonna be a bit weak for a while. Overexerted yourself out there. You’re not as healthy as you were when you passed by it the first few times.” Billy taps his arm. “But a bit of rest, some medicine, and you’ll be good to come join the rest of us.”
Eddie’s throat feels dry. Billy stares at him silently, eyes tracing his entire body.
It’s a little creepy.
Billy taps his arm again after a while. “Steve was worried when you didn’t wake up after so long. He thought you went and gotten yourself killed swimming out there by yourself,” Billy says. “Course you were still breathing. Chrissy and Heather’s been diligent in making sure you’ve been healing well since you were alive and all. Your skin is looking better than ever. Your pretty little guts? Getting there.”
Billy prattles on about Eddie’s condition. He keeps on chewing messily in between sentences, barely even looking at Eddie as he spoke.
Eddie’s head was still pounding throughout it all. He barely could understand most of what Billy was saying.
“So anyways, Heather chewed us both a new hole about your condition.” Billy waves the sponge at him again, the end chewed up like a well-used dog toy. “She said we needed to let you out more. Get you movin’.” Billy shrugs, putting it back in his mouth. He slaps his thighs and stands up. “Right, that’s all. Back to sleep with you, Eddie. See you after.”
Eddie makes an incoherent noise, eyes slipping shut without much more of a fight.
When he came to again, Billy was gone. He feels less tired, though still sore. Eddie sits up slow. His limbs still burned when he moved. He pushes it past it with a groan.
He check himself over. His skin was soft again, unblemished. His clothes are missing, replaced instead with a simple pair of swim trunks. The flippers are gone as well, though by this point Eddie was more used to not having shoes anymore.
Eddie thinks he should be more concerned about his sudden nudity, but his mind was still foggy.
He sits there, staring at the pearl walls. Nothing has changed in the room. His pile of trinkets still sat in the corner. He tries to clear his throat, but it didn’t feel like there was much improvement.
The water splashes, and Steve appears out of the hole. He shakes his hair, flinging saltwater everywhere before dragging himself up.
“Hello Eddie. How did you sleep?”
It was dreamless. He was less tired.
That meant it was okay, right.
Steve smiles even though Eddie doesn’t say anything, slithering closer to him. He pulls himself up onto the bed, draping his tail across Eddie’s lap. Steve wraps his arms around Eddie’s shoulders, leaning his head on his arm. “You worried me darling. Swimming off like that, what if you had gotten yourself lost? You looked piteous out there, swimming in the dark. Almost ran right into a wall. If Billy hadn’t caught you…” Steve turns his head, his chin leaning on Eddie. “You’re too nice looking to lose. You do still look cute asleep. But you were asleep way too long for my taste.” Steve pouts.
Eddie scratches at his throat. It still felt sore. Steve lets go of him.
“Here you go Eddie. Drink up.” Steve pulls off a pouch and hands it to him. Eddie takes it and pulls open the watertight seal, chugging down the fresh water contained inside.
“Thank you,” Eddie whispers. His voice sounded hoarse despite the water. Still, he felt slightly better now.
Steve smiles and nods, still draped over Eddie. He didn’t have the energy to push him off. Steve was an oddly comforting weight.
The mermaid doesn’t say anything, eyes trained on Eddie’s face. He was smiling contently, his tail wrapping around one of Eddie’s legs. The end of it brushes against the sole of his foot, making his leg twitch every so often.
Eventually he lets go, tugging on his fingers. “Come with me. Will you?”
Eddie let Steve drag him up. His legs tremble when he stands and give out on him, Steve grabbing ahold of his torso.
“Come on, I’ll carry you there,” Steve says softly, dragging him towards the water.
Eddie taps on Steve’s arm when his foot breaches the surface. “What about…”
“Hm?” Steve continues to lower him down, Eddie weakly kicking his legs once he was waist deep.
“The… kiss…” He whispers.
Eddie raises his head, eyes sliding shut. He’s willing, he doesn’t really feel like drowning. He’s already hurting, why hurt more at this point.
Only, Steve laughs in his ear.
“Oh baby, don’t you worry about that.”
A whine erupts from Eddie’s throat. Doesn’t he need it?
“Oh, alright. One to soothe your nerves.”
Lips press against his own. Eddie’s mouth opens automatically, waiting for the feeling of the mermaid breathing down his throat.
There is none. Steve pulls away and lets him drop into the water.
The water is weirdly warm today.
Regardless, the water wakes him up, Eddie trying to swim back up despite his muscles screaming at him to stop moving so much. Steve jumps right in, blocking the pathway. He laughs, pushing him back down.
Eddie holds his breath all the way down, coming out of the door. Steve swims out after him, smiling and grabbing him again. Steve makes a laughing noise, gently pushing on his chest.
“Breathe, Eddie. Breathe. You’re okay, sweet boy.”
Eddie shakes his head. He doesn’t trust him. He’ll drown. He’s going to drown.
Steve pushes on his chest again, rougher than last time. “Come on. Breathe. I promise it won’t hurt you. You won’t drown. We made you all better.”
It was like he read his mind. Eddie still holds his breath despite it. The mermaid could be lying.
Steve wouldn’t lie.
He wants him alive.
Eddie leans back against Steve, looking up at him nervously.
Steve smiles. “Here, let me help you.”
Two fingers prod at his lip. Steve traces them outwards to the corners of his lip.
Eddie’s lip splits open, and he takes a hurried, stuttered breath.
He breathes in, and he breathes out. Steve’s eyes crinkle happily.
“There we go, good boy Eddie.” Steve cups his chin, rumbling deep in his chest. “Come on.” Steve grabs his wrists, going over Eddie and tugging him along gently.
Eddie lets himself get pulled. Steve was swimming backwards, facing him. He turns without looking, soon bringing him into a rather large room. It was decorated finely, nothing like the bare room Eddie has been in. There was actual art on the walls, shells and items Eddie recognises as human decoration embedded into the wall. One wall has thick curtains hanging from it, grey with spots speckled over it. There was no window through it, the curtains hanging on either side of a mass of rocks decorated along the wall. The sandy floor had grooves in it like a mandala, more rocks decorating it at even intervals around the circle.
Steve floats right over it, settling him and Eddie down on the bed. Eddie lays down, letting his body rest once more. His body was faintly pounding like a faint steady drum.
“This is my room.” Steve curls his tail over Eddie’s waist. “Nice, right?”
Eddie doesn’t answer him. It was nicer than the room he just left, but Eddie’s taste in decor was far different than how Steve had everything so his opinion didn’t matter.
The tip of Steve’s tail strokes his arm. “I have a question, though I’m sure I already know the answer.” The two appendages on his back flutters eagerly. “But I’ll let you choose since I know you humans like choices.”
Eddie turns his head to face the eager king mermaid.
“I want you in my pod. Officially. I want you by my side. You are way too handsome to keep as a human. And with that scare you gave me…” Steve clicks his tongue. “Well, I’ve decided that’s enough. I’d rather keep a human I wouldn’t mind watching suffer a little longer. You though? I want to keep you forever. You can stay with me and Billy here. The bed is big enough for all of us.”
Eddie is silent. He didn’t want to, in all reality. He’d rather go, return to his old life.
That was no longer a reality for Eddie Munson. Going back wasn’t an option.
Steve rolls over, his body hovering above Eddie. “So what do you say, Eddie darling? Do you want to join us? Your choice.”
Eddie takes a deep breath.
He has no choice.
“Can… I at least say goodbye?”
Steve tilts his head.
“To whom?”
Wayne sits alone on the boat he rented, staring out into the sea wistfully.
It’s been a whole year and counting since he’s seen his nephew. He had asked him to borrow the boat to go fishing, promising to return with ‘the biggest fish ever, Wayne!’ so they could cook it together.
Then he never came back home.
He knew there was no use when the coast guard came back with his friend’s boat, empty of life. The only thing they found on it was small dents on the side.
“An orca might have gotten ahold of the people on board.”
That is what they told him. Wayne didn’t believe them, but there was news of orcas attacking boats for fun.
There was no other evidence as to what really happened.
Wayne taps the ashes of his cigarette into a mason jar sitting besides him.
He needed to be getting home. It was getting late.
Wayne stands up slowly.
Something dark catches the corner of his eyes. It almost looked like…
Wayne turns towards it, eyes widening. Searching even if he knew in the back of his mind it was impossible.
The only thing he sees is a black tail diving back underwater.