Chapter Text
Not even a week passed before Erik realized he was wrong.
He couldn’t go back to how he was before he had Eli.
He couldn’t stand the silence.
Couldn’t stand the solitude.
Before he could sleep the hours away, could sit and let his mind go blank as his life passed him by, but now…
The minutes flowed by like molasses.
And he couldn’t bear it.
The shore was empty.
Free of even the seals he once fed.
The seals he once saw Eli swim with, play with as if they were dogs.
His island was empty.
Apart from himself, and the shadow that followed him.
And…
Apart from Derk’s ship.
It reappeared not a full day after Eli left, but no one had come to dock on Erik’s island.
Instead, it only circled around.
Watching.
Waiting.
And every day, Erik went out, and just watched.
He knew they saw him, there would be no missing his bright hair.
This wasn’t over.
It was far from it.
They were waiting for something, and it wasn’t long before Erik found out.
It was late.
Erik had been about to turn in when his door burst open, clanging off the wall loud enough to wake the dead.
Derk demands as he and two other crew members storm in. “I know he’s been here. What is it doing? How do we catch it?”
There’s no reason to hide, to lie. “He’s gone.” Erik said with his head held high. “He swam away days ago. You’ll never find him now, Derk.” It’s madness, talking to him this way, but what does Erik have left to lose? “You’ll never get your filthy hands on him again, on any siren.” And that isn’t all. Eli would warn his family about Derk, and people like him. He would share his experiences, and that knowledge would spread among his people.
Derk was nearly purple with his fury. “Do you know what you could’ve cost me? Cost us? ” Derk didn’t move, but his two goons did, backing Erik into the wall, where he had no choice but to stop.
The sword was on the other side of the room, and against these two, the cane he still carried out of habit was of no significance.
“Do you know how much his flesh would have been worth? I was going to sell it all - I was going to buy off our bounties. I was going to find a manor, find a wife - and I was going to come back for you, too. Isn’t that what you wanted? A home?”
Come back for him . Erik really wasn’t any more than a prize, a trinket to Derk. What he wanted, what they had planned for was so much more. To explore the world. “Why would I want that?” Erik asked, “Why would I trade one cage for another?”
Derk’s eyes go dark. “I see you won’t be helping us willingly. Get him.”
Erik’s arms are grabbed before he can even try to wiggle free, and twisted behind his back.
They tie his arms, but Erik hardly notices, instead focusing on what Derk says.
“I’ll be finding your siren, don’t you worry. You haven’t cost me this haul yet.”
Erik tries to fight as he’s dragged down the hill, but there isn’t anything he can do.
“I think,” Derk says as Erik is all but dropped into the rowboat, “It’s time you paid me back for my kindness.”
“I don’t owe you shit-“ Erik’s rant is cut off as one of the crew shoves a balled-up bandana into his mouth, and another is tied against his lips.
“I think you do, Erik.” Derk says in the same tone of voice one would use with a stubborn child. “I’ve kept you safe, all this time. I’ve given you a place to live, kept you supplied with everything you need.”
Kept him captive.
Kept him like a neglected pet.
The boat is easily pulled up to the ship, and Erik is again pulled up by his bound arms, to face his captors.
“Now, don’t worry too much, Erik. We won’t let you drown.” Derk says as he peers over the edge of the boat, looking carefully into the waters. “But we don’t really have any other bait.”
For Eli? I told him he left! Erik spat curses into the gag, knowing that none of his words would make it to Derk. But what else could he do?
He felt weights be attached to his wrists.
They really intended to do this.
“The creature stuck around, you know.” Derk said, straightening up and turning to where Erik was being pulled from the ground. “Isn’t it funny? The poor thing is too infatuated with you to leave. We see the lights from it’s fin at night, but it never comes far enough from the cliff for us to catch.”
Derk walks up close to where Erik is being held, suspended in the air between two of his goons.
“With any luck he’ll come to your rescue. Hopefully we don’t have to do this too many times, but you understand, don’t you, Erik?” He was holding Erik around the jaw, his face so close Erik could smell his rancid breath.
But, he was also close enough for Erik to fight.
He wrenched his head away from Derk’s hand, and slammed his forehead into Derk’s.
The thud of his skull against Derk’s sent an avalanche of pain through his head, and he knew that he’d have a big ugly bruise in the middle of his forehead come morning.
But that didn’t matter.
Not when he got to see Derk stumble back, hand covering his bleeding nose.
Good . With any luck he had broken it.
Derk is glaring at him like he wants to strangle Erik then and now.
Erik lifts his chin high and hopes there’s enough life left in his dead eye for Derk to see his satisfaction.
“Throw him over. I’ve lost my patience for him.” Derk commands coldy, and even as Erik sees the blackness of the sea below him, he can only wonder what happened. What happened to the other fisher boy. The kind one who made silly jokes, who made plans to explore the world, the one who kept Erik alive through his injuries.
“Hold your breath.”
The fall takes only a heartbeat, just long enough for Erik to fight for a good breath past his gag.
Though it takes the force of every last working muscle to not gasp out at the icy water that closed over his head, to not fight against the way he sank down into the pitch black depths.
Not exactly concrete shoes, but the sandbags on his arms were doing the trick.
He’d been underwater before.
He’d been pulled under playfully by Eli, but only for a few moments, and it was never something to be feared.
But now, as all Erik could hear was his own pulse, and as the saltwater burned his eyes, he couldn’t dredge up the strength to care.
Maybe he shouldn’t hold his breath.
Maybe he should make himself drown.
He wasn’t so sure that Derk was telling the truth about Eli.
What reason would he have to lie? Well, what reason would he have to be honest?
This very well could just be a way to get revenge on Erik for letting Eli swim away.
Give him just the smallest shred of hope before he went to hell.
His lungs burned with the stale air he held in.
Only-
There was a glow.
A faint, golden glow in the darkness.
Eli never left.
Of course he didn’t.
It was going to waste what little air he had, but Erik couldn’t let Eli get close.
Struggling against the ropes to thrash, he tried to scream through the gag.
“Go! Get out!” He yelled, but past the balled up fabric in his mouth, all that came out was unintelligible.
But even if he had managed to warn Eli, would he have listened?
Through the sting of saltwater, Erik could only watch as Eli swam close, illuminating the water around them in beautiful gold.
The gag was the first thing Eli untied, ripping through the bandana tied around his face, and prying the cloth from his mouth, before pressing his lips to Erik’s.
He only had a second to be confused before he realized what Eli was doing.
The burn in his lungs faded, and El pulled away to start on the ropes holding Erik’s arms to his back.
But before he could work at the knots, Erik heard Eli cry out.
He saw a rush of bubbles as something shot through the water.
He saw a cloud of hot, red liquid rise in the waters.
What- what had they done?
Erik had only a second to panic before the ropes holding him were pulled on, and his head broke the surface.
“Eli!” Erik screeched, not a care given for the sudden lightheadedness that accompanied the fresh air.
Water streamed from his hair, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that. Wasn’t a scrap left for him to care, either.
The surface of the water was red.
“ Get it, hurry! Don’t let it escape again!” Derk was calling to his crew, and Erik watched as they threw nets over the side of the ship, aiming for where a second rope was now being pulled at.
Erik is pulled over the railing, but there wasn’t anything to soften his hit against the wooden boards. His shoulder aches where it hits, and he’s sure there are splinters in his cheek.
There’s another thud.
“So… It’s name is Eli?” Erik hears footfalls by his head, and his collar is being dragged up.
Eli is laying on the ground, only feet away from Erik. The net around him is being pulled away.
And around him, red drips onto the boards.
There’s a spear. A long, thin blade meant for fishing lodged into his shoulder. “Is that a name you gave him?”
The sudden rush of fury is enough to put feeling back into Erik’s fingers.
He turns his head fast enough that he can feel his neck pop, and digs his teeth into the hand holding him aloft.
He feels the skin break between his teeth, but doesn’t get the chance to feel satisfied at Derk’s cry of pain.
One of the crew was prepared for Erik to fight.
The back of the speargun catches Erik around his temple, knocking him off of Derk, and sending him to the ground, struck dizzy.
The rock of the ship feels as if they were stuck in a typhoon, and his thoughts begin to swim out of his grasp.
He can only just watch Eli from the corner of his vision, see as he struggles against those holding him captive.
He’s so tired, all of a sudden.
Maybe it’s time to give up.
His eyes want to close.
He wants to sleep.
He knows that he shouldn’t.
But the swirling black is so tempting…
Erik was nearly out cold when Eli’s scream of pain jolted him from his daze.
They’d pulled the harpoon from him unceremoniously.
His tail lashes, but the moment the spear is away from his body, Eli moves into action.
He wasn’t about to give up, even if Erik was.
He lashes out, and catches one of the crew members around the face, his nails catching in his cheek and going as far as to cut through an eye and over the bridge of his nose.
Before Erik can process his movements, Eli is over Erik.
He’s free.
He’s free, but he isn’t fleeing.
If Erik could just gather the strength he needed…
But what would the point in telling Eli to run be?
Eli wouldn’t run.
He never had. Probably never would.
What a fool. They were both going to end up dead at this rate.
Eli whispers something Erik can hardly hear to him, the sounds around him all bleeding together, losing any meaning they may have had, but as he finishes what he said, everything swims back into focus.
He can move again.
“ Eli-“ Erik tries to speak, but his words are drowned out by the noise Eli is making, nothing more or less than a growl.
Even now, even like this…
Eli is covering Erik as much as he can, an arm on either side of him, fins and spines flared out in the same defensive display he had shown Erik months ago.
Even now, Eli is trying to protect him.
But one against ten was never going to end well.
Eli lashes out against his attackers, but he can only do so much before they pull him off Erik, ropes tying his arms in place.
But as he’s pulled away, Erik sees him mouth something to him.
Erik can’t read lips.
He doesn’t know what he’s trying to communicate.
Erik tries to sit up, tries to get a better look at Eli, as he’s tossed to the ground.
“Vile thing.” Derk mutters as one of the crew presses the flat of his shoe against Eli’s back, pinning him in place. “I was going to apologize to you for the rough treatment, Erik, but now…” He shakes his head sadly, making a tsk ing sound. “Well, it doesn’t matter. You’ll understand soon enough. To think how close you came to losing your chance to be fixed. ”
Fixed? Erik’s mouth worked uselessly as he tried to find a response to that. Eli didn’t know how to use his magic.
How would Derk even know how he-
“After all, you were going to be the first of us to test the myths.”
Suddenly, it all clicked.
They wanted to butcher me.
Erik felt sick. He looked up to meet Eli’s eyes.
They’re bright with terror, and Erik can see his rapid pulse in his throat-
But there’s something else there.
Eli twitches both fins on either side of his head, and again mouths at Erik.
And this time-
He gets it.
Cover your ears. He’s trying to say.
The ropes around Erik’s arms feel loose.
Eli had only managed to get the biggest knots undone, but it would have to be enough.
No one was looking at Erik, now.
No one paid mind to the half-blinded, weakened, injured man.
Derk continued on, unaware of what was happening, and Erik struggled out, plugging his ears as Eli took a deep breath.
Between his fingers and the water in his ears, Erik managed to miss the spell that came over the others.
Ten people were more than Eli was able to send to sleep at once, but those that weren’t knocked out were slumped over, hands over their faces as they fought off the dizziness.
However, the crewman that had been holding a lantern was one of the men that fell under Eli’s spell, sending the lit lamp to the wooden floorboards, where it cracked open.
Most ships were at least somewhat protected against fires, but the oil did nothing to help the fire that quickly began to spread.
Erik forced past his own vertigo, and rushed to his siren’s side.
The ropes were easy to cut through with the discarded harpoon, and together made it to the edge of the railing.
They didn’t have the time or luxury to lower a boat, and instead, fell together to the water.
This time, Erik was prepared for the shocking cold.
They both fell beneath the waves, but Eli brought them back to the surface.
Behind them, even this far below the ship, they could feel the heat of the spreading flames.
It was difficult, nothing like the times they had swam out to the surf before. Erik is barely keeping above the water, whatever spell Eli had cast was not enough to heal him fully, while Eli was still struggling against the pain in his shoulder.
It felt as though it took hours, and for all Erik knew, that was right, before they managed to drag themselves ashore.
They collapsed against each other in the water. Breathing heavily, marveling in the fact they’d gotten away, and ready to rest, when Erik heard the snap of burning wood.
He pushed away from Eli, and saw a single lifeboat lowering from the burning ship.
They were awake.
Likely putting a stop to the fire, and coming for them both.
“Eli-“ Erik took his siren by the shoulders, ever so careful of the ragged, weeping wound in one, and flashed back to the goodbye they shared before.
“You need to go, as fast as you can. Don’t stop for anything . Don’t look back. And-“ Erik stops for only a moment, choking back his fears, “Please listen to me this time.”
Eli doesn’t speak. But the look on his face, the grip he has on Erik’s arms…
He’s never needed to speak to tell Erik how he felt.
“It’s fine.” Erik says, “Please, it’ll be okay.”
‘No, it won’t be!’ Eli pulls his arms away to sign, ‘They’ll kill you!’
“I know that.” Erik says around the lump on his throat. “And it is fine.” He pulls Eli close, not caring for the pressure he’s putting on Eli’s injured shoulder. He doesn’t want him to see his face. “I didn’t have much of a life, anyway. You- you were the best thing that could ever have happened to me. You… Eli, you made me happy when I’d forgotten what that was like. You were more than I could have asked for. And- and if I die, it’ll be worth it if you’re safe.” Erik thought of the pointless deaths he’d witnessed throughout his life. “There are worse things to die for.”
Eli’s arms close around his back, and Erik feels him shake his head.
Stubborn bastard.
He wants to be angry. He wants to yell at Eli for not listening when this is his life they’re fighting for.
But he can’t be angry with him.
Not when Erik knew he’d be the same.
Finally, his own tears begin to fall. Why couldn’t things be different? Why couldn’t they have met under different circumstances? Why were they both born under bad stars?
“Please.” Erik says for lack of anything else to say. “Please, Eli. I’m begging you, go. I can’t escape, I can’t swim away like you. If you die, if they catch you, then this is all for nothing. The worst they’ll do to me is kill me. But- they’ll do worse to you, and you know it.”
Erik pulled back, no longer needing to hide his tears. Eli could hear them in his voice. “Go home, Eli.”
The lifeboat was in the water.
Erik’s time was ticking away.
“Go find your family.”
Eli hesitated for only a second, before reaching out lightning-fast to pull Erik back in close.
It was more like that first swim lesson than any other they shared, fast and desperate, and so full of love-
But Erik was able to relax.
This wasn’t Eli fighting. This wasn’t him trying to convince Erik to change his mind.
This was Eli conceding.
They broke apart.
“Thank you.” Erik breathed into the space between them, and this time, this last time, he gave Eli a proper send-off. “Good-bye, Eli.”
Erik doesn’t have the time to spare that he spends watching his siren swim away, until he can hardly see the golden glow he emits, but it would hurt more to ignore it.
The boat is about halfway to the island, and Erik turns to his house.
The last gift Derk left him, the last mistake he’ll ever make.
The sword still sits on the stand. Meant for decoration, meant for fighting, it doesn’t matter.
He isn’t going down without a fight.
The door slams open, trembling on its hinges as Erik stands by the stove, waiting. He had what he needed, and there's nowhere to run.
Except-
It’s Derk.
Only Derk.
No crew, no goons, he’s alone.
Blood runs down from his clearly broken nose, and a single rivulet from his temple.
But most importantly, his cutlass is in hand.
He’s here to kill, that much is certain.
“You’ve damned us all.” Derk’s voice is colder than the waters. “The ship is going to sink, the crew will all burn or drown - and all because you fell for a siren’s spell!”
“Eli never cursed me.” Erik said, standing his ground. “I made the choice to help him. All the time he was here - all the time that I knew him, he never tried to do anything to hurt me.”
“How would you know?” Derk sneered at him, but Erik wasn’t a fool. He knew a taunt when he heard one, and he wasn’t about to let Derk get to him now.
“None of this is my fault.” Erik said, his voice level, and his hands at his sides. “I didn’t make you storm the ship Eli was on. I didn’t make you decide to kill him over a legend. I didn’t make you attack me. And I sure as hell didn’t make you do any of that for me.”
Derk snapped. Erik could see a vein standing out on his forehead, and he gripped his blade with white-knuckled hands as he charged at Erik like a mindless beast.
What had happened to him?
When did he turn into this monster?
For once, Erik was glad that he hadn’t remained a pirate.
That he lost the path that would’ve led him to this.
Erik dodged him easily, hardly having to expend any effort at all to do so, and managed to lodge the small paring knife he held into his side.
Derk misses with his slash, and cries out in fury as the blade is buried in his upper arm.
The table he bumped into wobbled, and the piles of papers and books slid from their already precariously stacked towers, fluttering over the floor.
It wouldn’t have mattered.
It wouldn’t have caught Erik’s attention at all, had it not been for the lantern that fell with them.
It seemed the world had a balance to keep.
While Derk was down, Erik took his chance to get outside.
If the paper caught he wasn’t about to get stuck inside a blaze.
Honestly, he would rather drown.
But as Erik made it outside, he stopped in his tracks.
There were no crew coming to aid their captain.
There were no lifeboats in the water.
The ship was engulfed in flames, and beginning to tip back into the water. Tar-black smoke rose in a thick plume from the flags to climb into the sky, obscuring the stars from view.
There was no way off the island, now.
Erik shook himself from his shock and moved around the lighthouse, hoping to get just a few moments to prepare.
But of course, he couldn’t get what he asked for.
The side of the lighthouse was lit silver from the light of the moon, for once the skies over his island were completely clear.
Out of breath and out of time, Erik stopped before the cliff edge.
He didn’t want to do this.
He never wanted this-
“ For you! ” His old friend’s angry shout was just behind him, but Derk didn’t close the last of the distance between them. He knew that Erik was beaten. “It was all for you!”
Erik hung his head and fought the urge to turn and attack.
Whatever Derk thought he’d done for Erik… Whatever he had intended, it was never what Erik had wanted.
“I gave you so much!” The waves crashed against the cliff face. He knew the sound so well it was hardly something to take notice of, anymore. Erik could sleep through the worst storm fronts peacefully because of this sound.
But he’d never asked for that.
He’d never asked for this island, this responsibility, this isolation.
It had been forced onto him, just as everything else in his life had been.
The one thing, the one single thing he chose for himself was gone, fled beneath the waves he knew so well.
And that was good.
Eli was safe, he’d find his way back to his family, in those far off warm seas.
Eli wouldn’t have to see Erik fight. Wouldn’t have to see his inevitable death.
But-
That was okay.
Years ago, Erik was prepared to have the ocean as his grave, and that hadn’t changed.
The only thing that had, was that he was dying with a purpose, now.
Derk’s ship was sinking.
The lighthouse burned.
Derk’s piracy and Erik’s own isolation was coming to a brutal end, and Erik may not be able to deal the final blow, but no matter what the outcome, the place he’d been trapped was Derk’s prison, now.
For whatever time he had left, he would know what Erik had to suffer through.
Erik drew the foreign sword from its sheath with a shaking hand.
Never had he expected to actually have to use it.
The sword was nothing like anything else he had wielded against an opponent, but it wasn’t a problem.
Sword masters talked a big game about their accomplishments and skill, but Erik had never bought into it.
Blades were blades.
You held one end, and slashed and stabbed with the pointy one. Simple enough.
“I never asked for this.” Erik said as he faced his old friend, “I never wanted this!” Anything he wanted to say, he needed to say now. There would be no second chances. “I hate it here. I hate being alone.” His voice had risen above the crash, and the fire of fury in his chest was only being fanned by the winds at his back. “I will never forgive you for dumping me here.”
Derk stared at him as if Erik had spontaneously grown a second head.
Erik knew what he looked like. Knew what he must be thinking.
How was Erik going to fight, as unpracticed and unable as he was? He was being underestimated. And that was good.
Erik couldn’t run. He could hardly walk, honestly. He couldn’t really tell exactly how far Derk was from him, either. But because of Eli, his bad leg could take his weight, and that was all he needed.
“It was for your own good!” Derk yelled, “I left you here to keep you safe!”
Erik thought of the books burning in his home, specifically one old storybook about a princess left in a tower, waiting on a knight in shining armor.
Erik was no Rapunzel, Eli no dashing prince, but Derk…
A pirate, a thief, a killer. He fit in well in the villain's role.
“I just wanted to help!” Derk said, but raised his own cutlass in retaliation. “I was always going to come back.”
Erik was suddenly seeing Derk as something entirely different, hearing his own voice from months ago, begging the injured siren to let him help.
He wondered how far he would’ve gone to keep Eli safe, if he had been injured as badly as Erik has been.
He imagined himself putting him into a water tank with a glass window, so much smaller a space than the ocean he deserved, the ocean he needed.
He would’ve been safe, but not happy.
And what kind of life was that?
Not a good one, Erik knew.
He would never have gone that far, and even if he could understand the sentiment, Derk never should have, either.
Erik’s tank was broken, now. The sea was within his grasp, and he wasn’t going to let go.
That was the difference between them.
Nothing more than a caged bird, here. No matter what happened, Erik would be better off for the events of tonight.
Safe . That was a funny thing to call this island, anyway. Was he safe? From storms, from floods? From fires, accidents, himself?
Maybe from Derk.
Derk’s guard was down.
Did he think Erik was bluffing?
His blade crossed Derk’s as he brought it up to block at the last moment.
He pulled away, and tried again.
There was no grace to their fight, none of the bravado or practiced ease that they both once used.
Erik from his lack of practice.
Perhaps Derk had been living a cushier life than he led on.
Clash after clash, Erik drew back.
He wasn’t doing anything but exhausting himself like this.
He needed to regroup-
But he was at the cliff.
There was nowhere to run.
“I don’t want to kill you, Erik.” Derk said. “I never wanted to hurt you. I just wanted to help.”
Broken record. Erik sneered. “You couldn’t have hurt me more if you tried. Tonight or any other.”
Erik lunged again, and this time his blade cut true, but it was not enough. Too weak a blow, it was not a fatal wound, it was not even something to worry over.
It would leave a nasty scar, but that was all.
Derk let out a pained shout, and his cutlass fell from his numb fingers.
He grabbed the blade, sharpened edge and all, and Erik saw blood well in his grip.
The sword was wrenched from his hands, and Erik was defenseless.
Derk pulled the sword from where it had been plunged into his side, and took the hilt in his own hands.
Erik took another two steps back, and stopped.
He knew this island like the back of his hand.
He knew every blade of grass, every loose stone.
He knew exactly where the drop was.
Just mere inches from his heels was the very edge.
He’d been on this spot before, but never had the urge to fall been so strong.
It was a long drop to the oceans below.
Dead and damned either way, Erik gave in.
He grinned wide and mad before he went, drinking in Derk’s incredulous rage, knowing he wasn’t going to get the satisfaction of killing Erik himself, spread his arms wide, and let go. He said nothing, not caring to leave behind any last words. There was no headstone for them to be etched into, and no one besides Derk around to listen.
The fall took only seconds. No time at all for panic, fear, or regret.
He hit the water hard, the cold a shock to his system like no other, the surface of the ice-cold salt water high above his head, Erik didn’t try to make it.
As strong of a swimmer as he was now, he knew it was still too far to go on his own to the banks, and even if he made it, Derk was still there.
He made his bed, and he had to lie in it.
Air bubbles floating to the surface, Erik thought he almost felt peaceful.
It was truly silent underwater.
More than he had ever known before.
So this is where Eli came from. His silent companion.
It was too bad, really.
He would’ve loved to be able to explore with him.
“Erik!” A voice he’d never heard before cut through the silence, carrying surprisingly well through the waters Erik was sinking through.
A voice he had never heard, and yet, a voice he would always recognize.
Eli . Of course he still hadn’t listened to Erik.
It was almost funny, at this point.
Infatuated. Derk had been right about that much.
Erik couldn’t see this far down, but he felt Eli’s hands close on his shoulders.
Erik hadn’t any air with which to speak, but if he had, he’d be begging Eli to go.
There wasn’t anywhere safe for him to be brought, and he wasn’t going to risk Eli’s safety any more than he already had.
“Erik!” His siren’s voice was desperate, but to his confusion, he wasn’t being brought up to the air, but even further down under the water. “I won’t let you go.”
Each word carried magic, Eli had said, and maybe magic was what made each word feel so special, so amazing to hear.
It was a shame that Erik never got to hear the voice before now.
It wasn’t so bad, dying like this. Because of this, Eli would be safe, and having Eli here…
For so long, Erik had thought he would die alone on that island, his death unknown for god knows how long until Derk came back to find him. But he wasn’t alone.
The last thing he heard were the high notes of his song.
He wasn’t alone.
Eli had him, and Eli always would, if only they had the chance.
Eli was speaking more, but meanings had begun to elude Erik. His lungs burned, and even though he knew he would drown, he took a breath, and let his siren, his ocean, take him into the dark.
Erik dreamed of nothing.
Found no pearly gates, no blistering flames.
Instead… The blackness faded, and he woke to an all-over soreness, and an ache in his head.
He was scared to open his eyes.
Scared to find where he was, scared to learn that everything was a dream…
But Erik was no coward, and forced himself to take in his surroundings.
He lay not on his bed, but on dark stone that jutted from the sea, not unlike the slate that covered his own beach… Only, it wasn’t his anymore, was it?
His head was pillowed on his arms, and pushing up off them, he looked out to the endless sea.
He had been drowning.
He was dying, his lungs full of seawater.
How in the world…
A flash of purple, and then Eli was surfacing, dragging himself next to Erik on the small rock.
“Eli-“ Erik started, but the second Eli noticed he was awake, his eyes went bright, and Erik was being dragged into a rib-crushing hug.
The cuts on his skin burned at the contact, and Eli couldn’t have been any better off, but he couldn’t imagine how worried Eli had to have been, how scared.
He could let him have this.
He could, for just a moment, relax into it.
And when Eli began speaking, this time more than just frantic shouts of his name, Erik didn’t know what to think.
He went limp in Eli’s arms, and just listened.
“I’m so sorry,” Eli said, over and over into his ear. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know this would happen. I just couldn’t let you drown. I’ll find a way to change you back, I promise.”
Change him…
Erik pulled away from Eli, and for the first time since he woke, realized that the pain in his leg that he’d come to know day in and out was gone.
Looking down at his own hands, he saw light transparent webbing between his fingers, and a speckling of scales on the backs of his hands. “ Oh .”
Erik dredged up the courage to look at where his legs should be-
Blue.
A tail of blues both muted and vibrant stretched out behind him, the finds solid and opaque unlike Eli’s translucent ones, and spines along his back and on his sides. Not much like Eli’s at all. “Oh.” It almost looked like that of a leopard shark.
So that’s how he survived the swim here.
So that’s why Eli could speak to him.
He took his arms away from Eli, and with a trembling hand, touched the tail, and tried to move the fin.
It was awkward, and it was a jerking movement, nothing like the grace Eli moved with.
It would take practice to figure it out.
“I didn’t know what my words would change.” Eli continued on, “But we’ll find another way. I don’t mean to make you do anything-“
“It’s fine.” Erik said, meaning it. This… Everything had changed. He had changed, and once more, his life stretched out before his eyes, but this time around… He had a choice.
He could follow Eli until he could be fixed, find another way back to being human, he could go off on his own, but…
He didn’t want that. He wanted this . “I don’t mind.”
“I don’t want to drag you into anything you don’t want.” Eli said, his hand coming to rest under Erik’s chin, tilting his head up to look Eli in the eyes. “I’m not going to be like the people before-“
“I want this.” Erik told him, reaching up to pull him back in close. “I promise you, I do.” He couldn’t care less whether he had legs or a tail. The land hadn’t ever been his home, and it wasn’t about to be. The ocean, though…
Truly now, it could be his. “I’ll stay with you. As long as you’ll have me.”
Eli was quiet for a moment, and Erik wondered if he’d said the wrong thing, if Eli didn’t want him to stay, but after just a second, he realized that he couldn’t be more wrong.
“I think we should go home.” Eli said, “But it’s a long swim. We’ll go slow, okay?”
“Alright.” Home - Erik wondered what that meant, under the sea. If there would be a house of shells and corals, if there was a town, if there were more.
At risk of ruining the moment, “Eli… Why didn’t you leave me? Twice, you stayed even though I asked you to go, for your own safety.” Erik’s glad now that he didn’t leave, but still .
Eli’s fingers combed through Erik’s hair, and oh, that was nice. Almost enough to make him forget, but Eli was answering.
“I tried.” Eli said, “I really did. But I knew you were wrong, that I wasn’t the only one in danger. I couldn’t bear to leave you, not knowing what would happen to you.”
“But-“ It almost hurt to say, “Even after they caught you. Even after- after knowing what they were going to do to you, that it- they were going to kill you for me -“
“Because I love you, you idiot.” Eli interrupted, but his voice was soft. “You weren’t a part of them when they made that plan. You were a victim, just like me. Or did you forget that they were drowning you?”
“No.” Erik said, and let himself relax. Eli loved him. Eli came back for him. And- and now he knew that he always would.
And Erik knew that he’d fight to the death to keep Eli safe.
Not that he would need to.
They were safe, now.
Derk wasn’t a threat. No one knew about them, there wasn’t anyone left to chase them.
Their wounds would heal, in time.
His skin wasn’t crawling any longer. Laying against Eli’s chest, his arm around Erik’s back…
This felt right.
It felt like he was where he should be.
He didn’t regret the island. Or the pirates, the fisherman, or even the old mill.
Without each one, he wouldn’t have ended up here.
“Mum and everyone will love you.” Eli said, “I hope you’ll like them. They’ll be so happy to meet you.”
Erik didn’t care if the journey ahead of them took the rest of his life.
For the first time, he didn't have a cage.
He was free.
“Eli?” Erik asked, feeling so very tired. He just woke up, didn’t he? Why did he feel so sleepy? But it wasn’t something he needed to fight.
He felt his eyelids grow heavy, and spoke. “Can you… Can you say it, out loud, again? Please?”
“Say… Oh.” Erik could hear the smile in his voice. “Erik, I love you.”
He felt so warm, even on this cold slab of stone, even with the icy sea stretching out for unknown lengths ahead of him.
Erik didn’t pretend this wasn’t going to be hard. He didn’t try to imagine the world he was about to join. “Love you too, Eli.” He answered.
Fantasies didn’t matter anymore.
He didn’t need them, when everything real was so much better.