Chapter Text
Siron woke up slowly. The first thing he noticed was quiet conversations. At first he paid it little mind. He often slept relatively close to Avery, Derlord, and Cydrch so that one could keep watch if needed. The next thing he noticed was that he was not in water. While there were a few places he couldn’t be in water, and he had to sleep on the ground somewhere. He could hear the fountain a few blocks away. If there was any option to float to sleep he always took it. Had he been injured or something? He didn’t feel injured, no more than normal.
He opened his eyes to check over himself. A couple of scrapes, noting that even needed to be bandaged. So not particularly injured. He looked towards where the conversation he heard. As expected it was Avery, Derek, and Cydrch. Kelp was bouncing from shoulder to shoulder trying to join the conversation.
Siron stretched out, trying to get rid of the aches of sleeping on the ground. Sleeping on such a solid surface always made him a bit stiff. He bent and twisted until he was more comfortable. The prince was the first one to notice him.
“Siron! You're awake! Come over here,” the prince called, smiling widely. “Avery and Derek joined us.”
“Joined us?” Siron mumbled to himself. Hadn't they always been traveling with them.
Oh. Yeah. The King in Yellow was gone. They were safe. Derek was no longer plagued by infinite knowledge. And Cydrch. Cydrch could remember, he was himself again. Siron smiled at the thought and made his way over to the group.
“I thought ya would’ve already been further than us.”
“We took a break to get food and rest,” Derek explained.
“Any seeds?” Cydrch questioned. Siron mentally added seeds to his list of food for him.
“None on me at the moment. You can get some seeds from the grass though.”
It was that easy wasn’t it. Siron stood up and went about gathering some seeds for Cydrch. The four of them, including Kelp, continued talking. As he passed by his bag he checked the time. It was mid morning, it seemed he’d slept for a while. Once he got a stack of seeds he returned to them.
“What is your home like?” Avery asked Siron.
“The village or the house?” Siron questioned. He handed the seeds to Cydrch who chirped and took them happily. He let Kelp have a few and they sat together eating their respective seeds, listening to the conversation.
“Whichever.” He shrugged. “You’ve told me about courting, I wanna know more about your home.”
He told them of the underwater civilization. There were domed ceilings, some of glass and others of prismarine. Most houses were made that way. They were decently sized. While each dome wasn’t large, there were often multiple connected together. He told them about the public buildings. The fisheries and kelp farms that provided the majority of the food resources. Siron shared about the nursery, and how Cydrch had found him injured that time and fought his dad over it. The day Siron became sure they would be mates.
He told them of the libraries, the temples to Cathulhu, the kelp forests, and the underwater pools of denser water. He told them of the clouds of jellyfish, sea stars peppering the sea floor, coral reefs full of life, and the clear view of the sky through the ocean. He told them of the wonders and beauties of his home.
From there he explained his house with Cydrch. How they were offered a bigger house, as Cydrch was the prince. And, how they decided to keep to a normal sized house. He described how the majority of the rooms were water logged, as that was the preferred environment for krakens. Though they had a room for Kelp where he could stay dry. Siron described how when they moved in together and brought Kelp with them, they got some of the water level lowered so that he could traverse easier. They had to get the ceilings reinforced so that they would not break under the water pressure above them.
Siron watched Cydrch as he spoke. He wanted to see the recognition when he told of their life together. While he knew that Cydrch remembered, seeing it on his face was nice. That was till he saw the sadness seeping in. It had occurred to him before, when they were waiting at the ledge of the water, that their water filled home might worry the harpy. He had a plan to help that worry already. It probably wouldn’t be too hard to convince the village to help him with the project to add more reinforcements to their house.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care ‘v it when we get there,” he assured Cydrch. He sat next to him and rested his arm over his shoulders. He rested into the touch before making a confused noise when he processed what he said. The other two made a similarly confused face. Well, only briefly for Derek. Kelp cocked his head to the side before returning it upright a few moments after Derek.
“Like I said before. That’s a surprise yer going to need to figure out later.” He nudged Cydrch playfully.
Kelp squawked and landed on Siron’s head, jumping up and down. Seems he would have kept it a secret for longer. At least he didn’t know of the other ideas he had, or what he planned to do for this one.
Derek nodded like he understood what Siron’s idea was. If he didn’t know any better he would have assumed Derek still had his infinite knowledge. Siron had seen the way he went through puzzles. He knew it was just intelligence. Siron had shared all the main ideas necessary to put an idea of what he would do together. Avery, in comparison, still looked completely confused. He wasn’t dumb, but not nearly as good at problem solving as Derek. He was more of a fighter. That much was proven during their fight with the King in Yellow. Avery had kept him distracted while Derek and Siron used spells to counter and destroy him. Kelp kept the prince away from the king’s grips.
“I’ll tell you what he’s planning after, Avery,” Derek says to his mate.
“That reminds me. Derek. Avery. Would you like to meet up again at some point? Maybe you could visit!” the prince said excitedly. He turned to face Siron. “Would it be okay for them to visit our house.”
“That sounds like a good idea. ‘Ere, let me write down our coordinates. Give us a few weeks before stopping by. I think we both need a break from,” he motions to the king’s domain around them, “all this.” He looked around for his bag, but it was back where he was sleeping. “Do either of ya have a book n’ quill?”
Derek dug around in his bag and pulled one out, handing it to Siron. Siron took it and wrote down the coordinates to their house. He handed the book back to Derek.
“We’ll have to stop by at some point.” Derek smiled.
After a while of conversations the two groups packed up. Derek and Avery were the first out. They waved goodbye and walked away holding hands.
“Arr ya ready, Cydrch?” Siron asked his mate.
“Yeah. Let’s do this.” He was hopping from one tallon to the next, feathers puffed in anxiety.
“C’mon, ya got this. I’ll be right ‘ere.”
Cydrch nodded. They made their way to the water pit, following after Avery and Derek. They made their way up to the forested area. The one where Derek pierced together just how much the Yellow King knew about their world and how it worked. Siron put his bag down by the edge of the water. He pulled out two water breathing potions. They should last for 8 minutes each.
Siron looked to Cydrch. He still looked anxious and scared about having to go under water, but also determined. As much as it wasn’t a rush to get home, they really needed to get to the surface. Siron had run out of food the day they fought the king. He had planned to hunt most of his trip anyway. Unfortunately, no animals seemed to spawn in the king’s domain so he had to wait until they got to the surface. He had forgotten about his hunger in the face of making sure Cydrch was alright. Now, with the idea of being able to get more food, he was starting to feel it.
He offered one of the potions to Cydrch, waiting till he drank it and gave the other to Kelp. He pulled out another two from his bag and put them in his pockets. Then he got Kelp strapped in the bag and rested it on the edge of the water, so that he could put it on after he got in.
He dived in smoothly, making sure not to splash. It was refreshing to be in the water. It had only been a day or so since he submerged himself last. Krakens could go longer if needed, but it wasn’t that comfortable. He went back to the surface and took the bag off of the side of the water putting it on his back.
“C’mon, I’m right ‘ere.”
Cydrch slowly lowers himself towards the water. He dipped one talon in before retracting it. It took a little reassurance before putting it back in. He shivered at the temperature difference, but ultimately got in. He tried to swim over to get closer to Siron but the muscle memory of his old form didn't quite transfer over, leaving him splashing there a little. He was starting to panic.
Siron swam over to him and steadied him. “Yer okay, I’m ‘ere.” Cydrch clinged onto him. He swam them slowly to the spot where they needed to go under water. “Ready?”
The prince nodded cautiously and let himself go under the water with Siron. Siron led them through the water logged tunnels. He took his time guiding them through the water. It didn’t take too long, but they needed to be topped up on water breathing. He led them up to the air pocket at the top of the cavern with different tunnels. Using his stub he offered Cydrch a way to hold on to him and he got the potions out of his pocket. He handed them to Cydrch so that he could take one himself and give one to Kelp. Once they were topped off they went back under the water.
Siron led them through the tunnel, a different one than Derek and Avery would go through. Once they reached the surface he helped the harpy out of the water and then pulled himself out of the water.
Cydrch trilled miserably, his feathers weighed down with water and water logged clothes. Siron un-strapped Kelp from the bag and reached in for the handheld fan. It was meant to be used to help blow some of the water off of Kelp, but Kelp ended up being fine with just air drying, so never really needed to use it. He handed the fan to Cydrch who started trying to fan the water off.
Siron looked around. There were some sheep to the left of where they came out. Good. He needed food and wool. He went about butchering the sheep. While the mutton cooked he got to work with the wool. He rendered the wool and made it into an outfit for Cydrch to change into. It wasn’t the best outfit, but it would be better than nothing. They could go to a village on the way home and get something better. He ate some of the mutton while he sewed, hanging the rest to dry.
When the outfit was done he brought it to the prince. He was still trying to fan water off of himself.
“‘Ere, this might be more comfortable for ya.” He handed the woolen clothes to the harpy.
Cydrch smiled and took the clothes. He thanked Siron and got changed. When he came back he seemed much more comfortable. His feathers were still a bit damp but a lot better than before. His wet clothes were folded over his arm.
“Much better,” he chirped appreciatively. “These clothes sticking to me,” he indicated towards the regalia over his arm, “is very overstimulating when wet.” He shivered at the thought.
“I bet. Look like it’d be very clingy.” Siren nodded. “Arr ya feeling better now? If we keep walkin’ yer feathers should dry up the rest of the way.”
Cydrch nodded, “Mhm. Which way do we go?”
“There should be a village South South-East from here. About 300 blocks. I stayed there a few nights while searching for you.” He pointed in the direction he indicated. “Wanna do anythin’ with the clothes there?”
“Burn them,” he said deadpanned. If he didn’t know the man in front of him he may have gotten scared at the devilish grin forming itself across his face. Kelp flapped around and squawked excitedly. Cydrch handed the wet clothing to Siron. He noticed that the crown was not in the clothes he was given. He decided to ignore it, because it wouldn't be able to be burnt anyway. The clothes would need to dry a bit if they were going to burn them.
“They’ll need to try first. We can do that now if ya want. A fire will help yer feathers dry up nice too,” he relayed. “I doubt yer filled from the seeds earlier. What can I get ya to eat?”
“Really anything I think. I don’t think I have any new allergies.”
He should scratch that off the list he supposed. In any case, getting food for him would be easier. Cravings such as seeds could be gotten as gifts but wouldn’t be the only option he could eat. That was a relief.
“I got some mutton earlier. I can set up another fire and maybe cook up some more.”
“Ooo that sounds good.”
“Could ya help me get the stuff for the fire?”
“Yeah!” Cydrch started walking around. He set off gathering rocks, sticks, and anything that might be useful for the fire. Siron went back to where he was making the outfit for Cydrch. He gathered the leftover mutton and anything else he left behind and brought them back to where Cydrch was. He had gotten enough to make a good fire.
Siron set down the items in his hand and got to work with the fire. Cydrch came over to him holding something in his hand.
“Here. It’s for you.” In Cydrch’s hand was a clean, round rock. It had a marbled pattern on it and seemed wet. Cydrch had rinsed it the water. The water he was scared of. Gods he loved this man.
Siron took it gratefully. “Thank you so much, I love it. It’s beautiful and so smooth,” he complimented. He tucked the stone into the pocket near his chest, close to his heart. Cydrch beamed and chirped happily at the praise. He did a little happy dance.
Siron gave him some of the mutton that had been drying once he finished his dance. He should probably make more now knowing they would both be eating it. There weren’t any more sheep around in the immediate vicinity. A chunk or two away it looked like there were some cows. Those would work. He had wanted to make some prosthetic fins for Cydrch out of leather so that would be perfect.
“Ya can eat what’s ‘ere. There arr some cows over there, so I’m gonna get more.”
Cydrch nodded and grabbed what mutton was left, munching on it as Siron left to go get the cows. There were four of them. It would be plenty of food to get them not only to the village, but probably also quite far towards home.
He butchered them and returned to the fire to get them cooking. He cut the leather into the pattern he needed. When he lost his arm he was briefly given some fin prosthetics for it before deciding it was more of a hassle to wear. It was easy for him to swim without them. If Cydrch also decided it was a hassle to wear the prosthetics that would be his decision, but he wanted him to get the choice.
By the time the steak was cooked he only got through some of his craft. Given they weren’t going to need to swim anytime soon it wasn’t important he finished before they left. He packed up his craft and then the steak.
Hearing Siron packing up Cydrch reached over to check his old clothes. By his expression they seemed to be ready to burn. He took them off the line they were drying on by the fire. He stood up at his full height and loomed with the cloth outstretched towards the fire.
“For all you have done to Sirion, for all that you have done to Father, for all that you have done to Avery and Derek, for all that you have done to me, and for all that you have done to my people. Burn.” He dropped the cloth into the fire. “Isn’t it ironic, burning to the son of Cthulhu?”
They let the cloth burn until the fire went out. Once the fire was fully out and cold Cydrch scooped up the ashes and walked them to the water filled pit they came up through. He reached down and rinsed away the soot into the pit.
“You may have changed me, You may make me fear the very thing I was raised in. But you will not continue to hold power over me. May you drown King in Yellow.”
Siron watched silently. Most people only saw the kind man try to look unimposing. This was a side of himself he rarely showed others. A side that once you knew about, you were glad you weren’t on the other side of. It was almost solely a protective fury. While the prince was not a pushover, he tended to see the good in people long before the bad. He had infinite patience for people wronging himself, much less so when it was someone he cared about.
Once he was done he returned to his normal, crouched posture and met back up Siron. Cydrch looked much more relaxed. He smiled contentedly at Siron.
They made their way South South-East to the village. Given all the way they had to travel it wasn’t far. They arrived just as it was getting dark. Siron and Kelp led Cydrch to the Inn they had been staying in.
The village was between Cthulhu’s domain and the Yellow King’s. They belonged to neither faction, instead acting on their own. It was peaceful for the most part. The war between the groups never ended up making its way to them. They were out of the way enough to not be a threat but close enough to serve as a good rest spot for travelers.
Depending on the time of year it was bustling. Even on the off times, which they were in, it wasn’t quite quiet. Their income came almost solely from being a major port for travelers. They had plenty of shops that they could explore in the morning. For now though, they needed sleep.
Siron walked up to the front desk. “We’re back. We found the prince.”
“Oh it’s you. How did the journey go? I am surprised you both are back so soon. I am glad he is safe now,” said the woman at the front desk. “Will you be staying in the same room?”
Siron looked at Cydrch. He no longer looked worried or anxious about the idea of sleeping in water.
“Yes, that would be good,” Cydrch replied without hesitation.
“Great,” the woman responded, reaching behind herself and grabbing the key he had for the last time he was there. “Here you go. Have a nice night.” Siron dropped the coins necessary for the night on the desk and they went to the room.
The room was nicely decorated, flowers and prismerine coating the walls. The majority of the room was filled with a pool. It was a square ten blocks across and three blocks deep. You were even able to change the temperature of the water and put on bubbles if wanted. On one of the walls by the door there was a water proof area to put your belongings. The other wall had a drying area.
They still had the cushions, left in the water proof container, that he had requested for Kelp the last time. Siron pulled it out, placing it where Kelp indicated he wanted to sleep. It had been the same spot he slept in when they were staying there. Cydrch set the water to be nice and warm and got it. Siron joined him in the pool and they laid down together.
That night they slept the same way they used to. Hand in hand they slept, keeping each other close, making sure neither floated away.