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Gillion stood near the dining room table, one hand pressed to the stone surface as he blinked tiredly. He swayed slightly in the water, his tail swishing back and forth lightly to keep him upright as he stared off into nothingness, trying to wake himself up.
Everything was sore and when he moved, a new round of pain erupted from his limbs. He had barely gotten a few hours of sleep last night, passing out practically the moment he entered his room after training. He had slept for a while until the soreness finally kicked in and he was awake tossing and turning.
His hand dropped from the table, his fingers dragging along the edge as he let it fall back to his side. There was a bandaged gash on his shoulder that burned when he moved—which he tried to do very little of.
But he still had training today, he had to get himself woken up, had to eat something, and get ready for when his parents woke up to take him.
And yet Gillion couldn’t move from where he was standing. He blinked, his head lolling forward, gills flexing. Exhaustion still weighed heavy over his shoulders and his body felt spent.
It was fine. He’d been able to power through this before.
Once he got ready for training he’d be fine, then he’d be able to wake up for the day and get through it.
A small chuckle from behind him finally snapped Gillion out of his exhausted stupor. He turned around, his fins dragging with the water as he blinked towards the entryway.
Eden stood there, her head tilted to the side with a small grin spread across her face. She looked like she had just woken up herself, hair tangled and clumps of coral unseparated from each other.
“Looks like the clownfish got in again,” she said, bringing her hand up to her mouth to hide her chuckles.
Gillion’s mouth hung open slightly as he processed what she had said. Then he gave her a small, tired smile, reaching up to tug at a strand of his hair.
“I even made sure the door was closed and everything,” Gillion responded, rubbing his face.
“They sure are sneaky,” she swam over to him, cupping his face in her hands and tilting his chin, “can get through even the smallest cracks.”
She smoothed his hair back, patting down floaty strands in the water. Gillion let his eyes slip shut for a second, leaning into the touch and knowing he didn’t have to fear her judgment. Eden let out a mouth full of bubbles and made a small noise in the back of her throat.
“I’m picking you up from training today,” she said, continuing to smooth back his unruly hair, “What happened yesterday is never going to happen again.”
Gillion had forgotten about yesterday. He opened his eyes, staring up at his sister, letting his shoulders droop. He had waited hours yesterday after training, way past when their parents usually picked him up. He was tearful and shaky by the time that Eden had found him, already exhausted from training and unable to hold in his sobs.
He didn’t want that to happen again either. It was an awful experience, probably something to teach him a lesson that he hadn’t fully grasped yet. But if Eden would be picking him up, he’d be okay.
Gillion nodded at her and Eden smiled softly. Her green eyes sparkled with a familiar concern that recently she always seemed to be looking at him with. A part of Gillion wasn’t sure if he deserved to be on the receiving end of it.
“Come on, let’s take care of your anemone,” she chuckled again, taking his hand gently. Gillion let her drag him away from the table, his muscles sore and protesting every movement as they swam towards her bedroom. He figured it would be more comfortable there, but he much liked standing by the kitchen table unmoving, at least his body didn’t hurt if he was.
Eden’s room was a lot different than his, it was full of colorful, blooming plants that crept up the walls and around the large circular window. She had items and shiny trinkets stacked on surfaces and along with the room. The walls were coated with bioluminescent algae in colorful patterns that gave the room a soft, cool glow to it. She had a desk pushed near the window and a set of hooks near the door where she had her robes hung up.
Gillion’s room was plain, nothing to decorate the walls and only a few things to even claim that it was his own.
He much preferred spending time in his sister’s room.
Eden’s tail flicked back and forth, the colorful, long fins dragging and rippling as she pulled Gillion to the desk. She sat him down on the floor, grabbing an intricate comb from the stone surface.
It was one of the many gifts from Finn the last time they had seen their grandfather. A fancy comb carved from the same bone as Gillion’s sword. A carved design of an octopus swirled around the handle holding a large pearl. The comb was beautiful, but the teeth were too coarse to ever make it through Eden’s thick, coral-encrusted hair.
They had found that it worked well in Gillion’s hair, however.
So before training every morning, Gillion would sit on the floor in Eden’s room as she worked the tangles out of his hair from his sleep. Sometimes she would braid it to keep it out of his face, that was when it was much longer, running all the way down his back. Recently in a training accident, the braid had gotten cut off and he was stuck with shorter hair once again. But that didn’t stop Eden from tying what she could back into a ponytail to keep it out of his face.
Training was hard, it was worse when he couldn’t see and Eden did what she could to lessen the strain that Gillion had to go through. He appreciated every effort she made, knowing she didn’t have to do any of it.
Eden clicked her tongue and gave small chitters as she started at the tips of his hair, working out the tangles with the ivory-colored comb. Gillion’s gills flexed as he leaned back some, wincing as she tugged on a particularly tight knot. She apologized, putting a hand on his head, just behind the newly growing set of coral.
Gillion was proud of the small crown of coral that grew from his head. Soon enough it might even be enough to impress their parents. Eden was already impressed by it. She claimed that it had grown faster than hers had, but Eden already had a large set of coral herself that ran through her hair. Gillion had wished for coral, like hers, entwined with her hair and decorated with various colors, but his crown of it would be just as beautiful when it was fully grown.
Eden’s hands were gentle as she continued to comb his hair; it reminded Gillion of the first time they visited a coral reef.
Gillion was much younger, he had fallen asleep in the colorful coral and a family of clownfish had thought his hair a mighty nice anemone to burrow into for the day. It was a panicked few moments before they swam away as Gillion woke up to something tugging at his hair. Eden had been laughing at the time, trying hard to keep her composure as she comforted him, the whole ordeal scaring him half to death.
The clownfish incident had become an inside joke between the two of them every time Gillion woke up with messy hair. It made his heart swell with warmth as he could look back on that memory with a fondness that he didn’t have at the time. He laughed with Eden about it now that he was older.
“Your hair is growing longer again,” Eden commented, gathering his hair in her hands, sharp claws running through the green strands as she set the comb off to the side, “I’ll be able to braid it soon.”
“I hope it doesn’t get cut again,” Gillion said, blinking and rubbing his eyes. His ears twitched and Eden poked at them.
“You gotta be careful at training,” Eden’s tone took on something sadder, “stop getting hurt so much.”
Gillion said nothing, he looked down at his lap, his tail shifting back and forth. Eden pulled his hair back, gathering his longer-than-needed bangs and tying them away from his eyes with a string of rope. She tugged it tight and let her hands drop to her lap, staring at Gillion’s back.
“Gillion,” she said quietly, causing Gillion to look over his shoulder at her, “please try to be careful.”
She cupped his cheek in her hand, running her thumb across the markings across his face. Her lips tugged into a frown as she examined his face, the bags under his eyes, and the bruises that spread across his chin. Her frown only deepened and Gillion felt a sense of shame as he tried to pull his face away.
“I’m not upset at you,” she said, dropping her hand once more, folding them in her lap, “you shouldn’t have to do all this, you’re still just a kid.”
“I don’t want to talk about this right now,” Gillion attempted, curling his knees up to his chest, running a hand over his fins, and wincing. Eden pulled his hands away.
“Right,” Eden just nodded sadly, “you should get something to eat before you go.”
Gillion stood up, his tail swishing back and forth. Eden put the comb back on the desk and took Gillion’s extended hand as he pulled her up.
Suddenly, and without warning, Eden wrapped her arms around him, pulling Gillion into a tight embrace. She closed her eyes, pressing a small kiss to the top of his head. Gillion found himself closing the hug, burrowing himself deeper into her arms, and not wanting to let go. Her embrace meant safety, Eden meant that he was safe. She could protect him from the things that he couldn’t.
“Gillion?” A voice echoed through the enclave.
When Gillion looked up, Eden was gone, her room felt colder despite the chill of the deep trench waters. He looked around the unfamiliar area, darkness overtaking the room.
“Gill?”
“Gillion…”
Gillion blinked, jerking violently as he was startled awake from whatever short rest that he had fallen into. His ears pinned against his head as he looked around to try to get his bearings. A light panic fluttered against his chest and his gills flexed.
He could feel the soft rocking of the albatross as his eyes focused. He was in the sleeping quarters, sunlight wafting in through the portholes. A sheet was bunched in his lap and he curled his fingers around it tightly.
“Gillion?”
He nearly jumped out of his skin as a voice came from behind him. He turned to see Jay sitting behind him, a small, awkward smile spread across her face. She rubbed at the back of her neck.
“You good?” Jay asked, “you kinda fell asleep on me.”
“I apologize,” Gillion muttered, half on autopilot as his dream had left him shaky once more. His hands were trembling and a deep ache settled in his chest with a longing for his sister and remorse for the time that he had been away.
“It’s okay,” Jay said with a snort, “it makes it kind of hard to do your hair when you’re taking a nap.”
Gillion had completely forgotten what they had been doing previously. He reached up, his fingers curling around a tiny braid near the nape of his neck. It was short and stubby and barely long enough to be considered a braid, but Jay had insisted on doing something to keep his hair out of his face while he was training.
He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, exhaustion he didn’t even know he was feeling must’ve taken over.
“Right,” Gillion nodded, swallowing thickly, “that would make it difficult.”
He missed Eden.
He missed the undersea and the people with it.
His chest constricted painfully and he didn’t like the way that Jay was looking at him with a concerned expression. The same expression that his sister always gave him on mornings she found him standing somewhere in the house, trying to wake himself up from the numb exhaustion that took hold of him. Jay let out a breath, stretching her legs off the side of the bed.
“I’m gonna head back up to the deck, if you want to continue your nap, go ahead,” she spread her hand towards the cot that he was still sitting on.
“No, I will join you!” Gillion scrambled off the cot, hoping the way he was shaking wasn’t visible. Jay nodded and looked him up and down. Gillion’s chest tightened and he curled his hands into fists, digging his claws into his palm.
“Okay, but I think you should take a break from the training,” Jay said, wringing her hands, “if you fell asleep just like that, I think that’s a sign that your body needs some rest.”
Gillion frowned slightly, he turned away from Jay. She sighed, running her fingers through her bangs.
“I must make sure to keep myself prepared should there be another attack,” Gillion chose his words carefully, speaking slowly.
“Just… try not to overwork yourself.”
Gillion said nothing, deciding that this conversation was done for now, and forced his chin up, heading towards the stairwell. Jay followed him closely, her boots echoing against the wood as he could hear the sounds of waves crashing against the side of the boat. His tail swished back and forth and the anxiety hadn’t left him. He wondered what life in the undersea was like now.
“Thank you,” Gillion said at the top of the stairs, just before the two of them were to part ways, “for doing my hair.”
“Of course, anytime,” Jay responded, nodding her head and giving him a salute.
They parted ways, Jay going towards the helm to talk to Chip, and Gillion returning to where he had left his sword and Pretzel.
He stared at his sword for a long time, sitting down on the deck next to it, curling his knees to his chest. Pretzel chittered, rolling back and forth as she crept closer to him,
Gillion leaned his chin on his knees, running his hands over his fins and cringing at the sparks of pain that erupted from them. He didn’t really feel like training anymore even though he knew he should continue.
He was used to pushing past his limit, going until collapse, and then doing the same thing the next morning. That’s how it had been, that’s how it was.
It was fine.