Chapter Text
Here, it was warm and everything was so calm and placid. It was nice in this place, not having to listen or move, just having to lay there and feel the tickle of bubbles as they slid over skin up to the surface. Relaxation was easy to find in the ocean. All one had to do was close his or her eyes and breathe. Listening, seeing, tasting- all of one's senses were not required to be used, but still, they couldn't be simply turned off as if they were a machine. If you chose to move and enjoy this place, you could glide gracefully through the water and swim with the other animals in jovial freedom. If you opened your mouth, you could taste the slight tinge of salt from the ocean. It was quiet and peaceful and all you could see was bright blue stretched on for miles only being disturbed by aquatic life. The swell of waves against your skin as you broke through the surface was utterly amazing! The contrast of the cool breeze against the heat of the water was so familiar. Feferi was smiling and laughing. She didn't have anyone to speak to but she didn't mind. As long as she was able to be around her underwater pals, she was content with life. A loud noise broke through her peaceful quiet, causing her to turn. The sound was so foreign, a horrid screech that pierced her ear fins and made her shriek back in frightened protest. Her webbed hands lifted out of the water to cover her ears as she looked towards the origin of the sound. The next few moments was a blur of nets and strange shouting as she was drawn away from her home. Eyes fluttered open quickly, the bright, fuchsia color lit up with fear as they looked through the thin plastic of goggles. Slowly, the girl blinked away the haze from sleep that had built up over her eyes as she felt the rapid pounding in her chest from her heart begin to return to its normal beating . Now that her vision was clear she could see them, the people that were beginning to line up not far from her. She looked around, hoping to see the infinite blue she so loved or to see small fish swimming past her in large schools. But to her discontent, she was alone, the only thing residing in the large tank with her were fake replications of aquatic plants. She grimaced slightly before looking back out past the thick glass of the tank. Blowing out a stream of bubbles, she pushed herself off of the rock she had been resting on. She hated it here in the aquarium, well that was what the humans called it. It was supposed to be a fun place where one could find joy, but all she felt was confinement and fear. The day dragged on like it usually did: moving to the point of exhaustion, waiting eagerly for food, and watching as the little human guppies pressed their small faces against the glass. Well, Feferi didn't really mind the "children" as they were called. She actually enjoyed swimming up to them and sharing silly expressions as they giggled. It didn't last for very long though. Eventually the larger humans would rush up to the kids and hurry them off, throwing a disgusted glance at grey skinned girl. She sighed as another child was pulled away. The bubbles passed in front of her and mutilated her reflection in the glass. She stared at her deep pink eyes, wondering what could possibly be wrong with her. Maybe it was because the humans had legs and she had a tail fin. Or because they didn't have long horns or gills like she did. They had short, stubby, spread apart fingers and she had long, slender webbed ones. Feferi didn't really mind the differences but everyone else did. Her caretakers, the people that came to watch her, the scientists. They all had judging looks and taught her to dislike the way she looked to cover herself up with special cloth and to adorn herself with golden jewelry to make her look more appealing. Though she didn't need them, still wore goggles to hide her eyes. Even if she found them to be pretty she didn't enjoy the way people stared at her, their expressions a mixture of confusion and awe, not really seeing her as a living creature but more like a mere attraction. She stopped staring at herself long enough to see an empty tank, similar to hers, with plaque sitting in front of it. It looked exactly like hers did,with the same description of what she was Aquatic Person/Mermaid, except it had a different name carved into it. ERIDAN. Her chest swelled up with hope. Hopefully she would have someone who would finally understand, someone she could have fun with, someone who would actually be her friend.