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Since he was young, Victor had always been told to fear the Overseas and the creatures that dwelled there. They were dangerous, Yakov had said, always coming up with new ways to torture or kill their kind. They called them experiments, and they were ruthless with them.
They used iron chains to string up any kind that was of fey blood, keeping their bodies butterflied out for more ruthless tests. The iron bit at wrists, choked off the oxygen supply around the gills of mers, and mutilated the wings of faeries. The humans learned that the metal was known to burn fey skin. Victor knew to avoid iron. Yakov had shown him a scar across his palm and another up one arm to his back from an encounter with the humans. He’d been lucky to get away.
Victor had grown up hearing the warnings, learning the stories, taught ways to evade the people above the sea.
And yet, he was curious.
Surely, like how his fellow merpeople were all different, the humans were too.
He took the risk of swimming to the surface when he had the time, watching pirate ships pass in pursuit of riches and merchant ships taking their loads to port. There were smaller boats that humans took out for the afternoon, to enjoy a day in the sun with limited company and sometimes a swim, giggles skipping across the water.
“You’ll be dead if Yakov catches you up here,” Yuri said, surfacing next to the rock Victor was lounging out across. The younger mer was his cousin, and while he acted like he didn’t need anyone else, Victor knew that the boy just wanted to be noticed and respected by the others, despite his young age. Victor was one of the few who treated him as an equal, and he assumed Yuri followed him around because of it, even if he denied it.
“Well then, he’ll be pleased to know that you followed me up,” Victor replied, smiling as the boy’s face scrunched up in a scowl.
“Fine. I won’t tell. But it’s not for your benefit.”
Victor laughed, laying back again to take in the sun. “Just look at how beautiful it is up here, Yura. And none of our kind is willing to see it.”
“It’s okay, I guess,” Yuri replied, pulling himself up on the rock next to Victor’s hip. “A lot plainer than under the sea.”
“But that’s just how humans are. You can’t fault them for not having our extravagant sense of style and decor.” Victor sighed. “You know, they use our kind as the figureheads of their ships. Mermaids, usually in distress. I can only imagine how much they watch us in pain to get the features just right.”
“That’s sickening,” Yuri sighed. “And yet you come back up here. Why is that?”
The smile that turned up Victor’s lips was small, like he’d been caught doing something he loved, despite knowing it was wrong. A guilty pleasure, and the humans called it. “There’s a boy up here, and he’s just beautiful. He has a pet, a small fluffy creature, and they run often, almost every morning, along the shore. In the winter, he puts boots with blades on his feet and dances across the ice. Other times of year, he rows out and writes in a book, or cries. He’s so beautiful, Yura. I hope you see him.”
Yuri scoffed. “He’s human, Victor. He can’t be much different from all the other humans up here. He’ll kill us, burn us with iron if he sees us.”
“You don’t know that, Yura. You don’t know him,” Victor protested.
“Nor do you.”
Victor choked down his reply, pressing his lips together as he looked away. The black haired boy just seemed different from all the other humans. He was beautiful and took care of another creature that wasn’t of his species. Didn’t that alone show that he wasn’t obsessed with only furthering his own species?
“There’s a boat coming this way,” Yuri hissed, diving back into the water. “Come on, before we get caught.”
Victor looked up, a grin spreading across his face. “It’s him. My human.” And he dove into the water, swimming in a few tight circles.
“Couldn’t you have worded that just a little differently?” Yuri sighed as he followed Victor toward the boat, who didn’t even look back.
They breached the surface next to the small vessel, and heard the choking gasps coming from the figure inside the boat. Victor could see the boy he watched like humans watched the stars, huddled into himself, shaking as he cried.
Yuri frowned at him and cocked his head. What happened?
Victor shrugged. He didn’t know what humans cried about, not even this one, who came out to sea to cry often.
“V-Vicchan,” the boy moaned, choking on his sobs. “Why…” he broke off again, smooth voice succumbing to his cries.
Victor’s heart broke for the boy. He’d obviously just lost someone close to him, and was taking it hard. Victor was sure that if he lost his pet jellyfish Makkachin, he’d be upset too.
Yuri, on the other hand, just rolled his eyes. “Seriously? Grow up.”
The boy on the boat went silent. Then round brown eyes looked over the edge, widening when they fell on the two mermaids. He leaned forward, tipping the boat off balance, and throwing himself into the sea.
His arms and legs flailed, trying to push himself to the surface, but he wasn’t making any progress. If anything he was only pushing himself farther under.
Victor dove under, catching the human boy. He hooked his arms under the boy’s, and swam up, breaking the surface. Victor heaved the boy back onto his boat, Yuri reluctantly helping after some convincing.
The boy choked on the water he’d swallowed, and Victor leaned over him, his long silver hair blocking out the sun above them. The coughs became more and more course, water dribbling down his chin.
Victor felt his heart beat harder, hoping the boy would make it through. He had to. He just had to.
Then he went silent.
Victor’s shoulders slumped, silvery tears of his own leaking from his tear ducts. “No. No! You… you can’t be gone. You just can’t be.” He plucked up the body under him, and held it close to his chest. It was still warm, even through the chill from the plunge into the cool water. Silver stained the boy’s hair as more tears formed and fell.
“Victor, you should leave him. We should go,” Yuri said hesitantly from the water. “Yakov will…”
“I don’t care. I don’t care what Yakov will do when he finds out we came to the Overseas. I don’t care. I can’t just leave him. I can’t,” Victor cried, squeezing the body tighter still. He couldn’t believe that this boy was gone. He’d been so happy, so beautiful, had had what appeared to be a fulfilling life for a human.
Victor hadn’t even learned his name.
Victor let the boy’s body fall away from his chest, not far, barely even arm’s length, so he could see that beautiful face again.
It was almost like he was sleeping. His eyes were closed, and his face was slack and vulnerable. He was still beautiful beyond his wildest imagination. How was that even possible, Victor wondered.
Victor used his thumb to stroke the boy’s cheek, and felt something warm. A breath, the thing humans needed to do to live. He was breathing, so he must be alive.
His long dark eyelashes fluttered, and his dark eyes opened, settling on Victor’s face, then trailing down his body to his aqua blue tail that was the same colour as his eyes and his near translucent fins before fixating back on his face.
“A-a mermaid,” the boy whispered, his voice beautiful; velvety and breathless. “Y-you saved me.”
Victor smiled and nodded. “How could I not?” he replied.
“Alright, I’m out of here. I don’t need to be in any more trouble when Yakov’s finds out about this,” Yuri said, diving under the sea, the orange scales of his tail flashing in the sunlight before he got too deep for the beams to reach him.
“Can I get your name?” Victor murmured to the human, keeping his grip on him. There was no way he was letting him go so soon. Possibly, he’d never let go of him again.
“Yuuri,” the boy whispered, voice hoarse from the choking on the salty seawater. “Am… am I dreaming?”
Victor could only laugh. It sure felt like a dream, after all.