Chapter Text
“It’s on the ship!”
“Hurry up or we’re gonna sink!”
“Shit- IT’S GOT THE TODOROKI KID!”
…
Cold.
It’s so cold.
…
Todoroki groans as he slowly opens his eyes, before immediately shutting them because he’s staring directly at the sun.
Todoroki is laying on a beach- or, at least, he thinks he is. Judging by the feeling of cool water that occasionally rises up to splash at his left side, and the rocks digging into his back, he’s pretty sure he’s on a beach.
Todoroki pushes himself up and off the sandy rocks with his hands, and once he’s sure he’s not facing the sun, he opens his eyes.
A mermaid- no, a goddamn siren, is staring Todoroki down and waving excitedly at him.
The siren (a male siren? They’re real?) is laying on a large rock that juts out of the water, ddotted with orange and light yellow scales that shimmer in the sun. The siren’s tail is the same color, but the fins that adorn the siren’s tail are a deep orange that fade out into the same light-yellow that the rest of the scales are.
What did father say about sirens again? Todoroki reaches down for the dagger in his left boot as he lists the facts in his head. Don’t listen to their singing, don’t follow them into the water and don’t let them bite you.
The siren raises his hands, when he opens his mouth to talk he instead, chirps and clicks. The siren mutters under his breath before speaking. “Ah, you might not want to attack me yet, I still have some explaining to do.”
Todoroki grabs his dagger anyways. “I don’t care.”
The siren closes his eyes and shrugs, causing the jewelry on him to jingle. “Well, as long as you’re fine with turning into a siren, that’s fine with me.”
The siren splashes his tail in the water, and he turns away from Todoroki.
Todoroki stills as the siren’s words sink in. “As long as I’m fine with turning into a what?” he hisses, eyes wide.
The siren turns back around and smiles. That cheeky little bastard. “A siren!” he answers matter-of-factly.
“Explain. Right now. Or I’m going to kill you,” Todoroki demands, moving closer to the siren.
“Alrighty, but in return I want...” The siren squints, and his green eyes zero in on a golden necklace encrusted with pearls. “That!” The siren points to the necklace.
Todoroki reaches behind his neck and unclips the necklace. “I’m not walking towards you,” he says.
The siren nods. “Understandable.” And he pushes himself off the rock into the water.
For a moment Todoroki panics, because the siren is going to leave you stranded on this island and you’re going to die, or turn into a monster- but the siren pops back up on the shore.
“Throw it to me!” the siren says as he scoots up on the beach, opening and closing his hands impatiently.
Todoroki does as is told, and when the necklace hits the sand the siren greedily snatches it and inspects it closely.
“Real pearls...” The siren murmurs happily. “You must be rich. Nice.” If only you knew. Todoroki muses.
The siren clips the necklace on, and he pats the ground next to himself. “Come on!”
Todoroki glares. “You are a siren. I am a human. I do not want to be an overgrown fish’s food.”
The siren frowns. “Fine, just sit close enough so i can hear you.”
Todoroki steps forward and he sits down ten-or-so feet away from the siren, who listens patiently.
“Ok, I’ll start from the beginning..”
…
It was an especially stormy day today, which was, of course, why Father decided today was the perfect day to try and hunt down the kraken and merfolk that had been taking down all of his ships recently.
And, well, it was Todoroki’s first, full-fledged hunt, so, in Todoroki style it has to be crazy and flashy.
As Todoroki boards the ship an uneasy feeling settles in his stomach. Maybe it was the water, dark and churning, or the cries of captured mer-folk.
Speaking of which, as he boards the ship, one of them calls out to him.
The tone in which it is sung is hypnotic, and almost sad, it draws Todoroki towards the glass case the siren is being held in.
Todoroki bends down and looks inside the tank, inside is a male siren with wild purple hair, and a deep purple tail with specs of gold. His fin is a lighter purple, and it fans out and covers most if the tank.
The siren continues singing, and Todoroki stands up. Can’t get distracted, I have to visit Father.
Todoroki stops, and he turns back to the glass tanks. “You guys have been annoying Father lately..”
Some of the mermaids and sirens press against the backs of the glass tanks, probably in fear, and others and curl into balls and hide their faces.
Todoroki thinks back to all the times Father’s ships were destroyed, or attacked by sirens and mermaids alike, and he smiles.
The sirens and mermaids in the tanks around Todoroki look at him.
Todoroki unlatches one tank.
And another.
And, a couple minutes later, every single tank is unlocked. The sirens chitter and click happily as he leaves.
…
Then the boat is attacked.
As soon as Father lets the anchor down, it’s severed by a green haired mermaid, who’s been Father’s mortal enemy for months now, and now the boat is sinking.
Great.
Todoroki is fighting off a blonde haired mermaid who really doesn’t like him for some reason, when he’s suddenly grabbed.
“It’s on the ship!” One of Father’s crewmen shout.
“Hurry up or we’re gonna sink!” Father shouts as he rushes forward, viciously slamming a siren in the gut, sending it flying off the ship.
“Shit-“ Another crewman shouts as he catches Todoroki’s eye. “IT’S GOT THE TODOROKI KID!”
Todoroki struggles against a massive limb, and after stabbing a spear into it, he’s thrown into the water.
He struggles, but when another huge limb smashes into Todoroki’s stomach, the wind is knocked out of him, and black spots overtake his vision.
…
“That’s all I remember after blacking out.” Todoroki mutters.
“Ah, that’s where I come in!” The siren chirps. “Oh, also, call me Deku! It’s what my friends call me.” He smiles, and his sharp teeth show.
“But I’m not your friend..” Todoroki says.
…
After severing the anchor on Enji’s ship with a knife, Deku enters the ship through a busted window, and he gets to work tearing holes in the ship.
Once the ship starts filling up with ocean water Deku swims as close to the captain’s quarters as he can.
He can hear Enji shout as he realizes what’s happening, and when he slams the wooden door to his chambers open he’s greeted to the sight of Deku laying down on the velvet steps, grinning, as the ship fills up with water behind him.
Deku waves.
“Hiya!”
Deku only has a second to get the hell out of there before the steps he was just laying on are turned into a pile of ash.
Deku laughs as he swims through the mostly submerged ship, ignoring the sounds of fighting above him.
But, he stops when dual toned hair catches his eyes.
“The others said you unlatched their containers..”
Deku swims closer, and he pokes him.
No response.
Deku presses a hand over the boy's heart.
It’s still beating.
Deku looks up to the surface, where flashes of fire and explosions show above the two.
It’s too far of a swim up to the surface, this boy doesn’t have the time.
Deku makes a split second decision, and he hastily pushes the boy’s shirt down near his neck.
“Sorry.”
Deku sinks his teeth into the boy’s neck, and after a second he lets go.
He waits, hand still presses over the boy’s heart.
Then the boy takes in greedy gulps of water as if they were air.
When he does three slits on the sides of his neck open to let the water through.
…
Deku picks at his tail awkwardly as he waits for what he said to sink in.
Todoroki sits stoically as he reaches a hand up to his neck. His skin is hard and scaly around the slats in his neck.
“What did you do to me?!” Todoroki shrieks, calm composure completely gone.
“Woah, woah woah!” Deku scooches backwards until he’s submerged in water.
“I did what I had to- you were gonna die if I didn’t do anything!” Deku shouts, and the fins on his ears flatten against his head.
“DYING IS BETTER THAN BEING TURNED INTO A MONSTER!” Todoroki screeches, his voice raw and broken. He wipes furiously at his face, and he storms off into the forest on the island.
“W-Wait!” Deku shouts. “There’s a cure!”
Todoroki swiftly turns back around and he glares. “Spit it out!”
“A nurse, h-her name is Recovery Girl, she works Todoroki Enji..”
Todoroki’s face scrunches up in disgust, and he resumes his trek into the forest.
“I’m sorry.”