Work Text:
Nature.
There are many scenarios that often occur in nature where humans shouldn’t interfere with. Being preyed upon, hunger, instincts, reproducing, all of it. If the tiger is hungry and a deer is nearby, they will hunt for it. Yet, humans pity the deer and desire to save it from the beast that's bound to slaughter the deer.
But do they think of what’s going to happen to the hungry tiger?
That sort of thought never seems to cross their minds until the species starts dying off. That death rate grows and grows until the species is on the verge of extinction. Humans contribute it through the purposes of their own greed despite laws being passed around. But is it going to stop them? If the tiger can’t be greedy for their meal based on purely instincts, then why should humans also have that right?
Naib looks up from his animal documentary and sighs.
Why did Emma give him this document? Was it because she grew emotional attached to them after saving a baby bear from hunters during her case?
He shakes his head at the thought. Though he notices the many similarities. Just like in human society, businesses work similar to the cruel side of nature, but it’s mostly through the opinion of others rather than action. He gets up from his chair and stretches as he stares down at his window. People of all ages roam around freely in the streets like the ants he sees in his backyard. They all have many common interests.
Wealth, happiness, freedom.
Not that he cares about them. He, too, has that in kind at some point, but he’s at the age where those wants become a need or he'll suffer in his retirement years.
Naib huffs out the smoke from his smoking pipe and looks up at the sky.
"Another rainy day, huh? "
He turns around to look at the papers scattered and pinned around on his evidence board. He walks up to it, turns on the radio, and observes the pictures.
"A woman in the Lembeh Beach was missing since the morning of July 9th.”
He scans each of the missing people to identify any similarities.
“The last time her family witnessed her was when she said she was going to take a dive with the waves yesterday.”
Naib turns around to take the files and look at each report of the last witnesses.
“Her shredded clothes were found washed ashore the following evening.”
Nearly all of the files of the missing have nothing in common.
“Ms. Nair, what are your thoughts on your missing sister?"
Naib looks at the radio with interest.
"Oh, it's very terrible! Vera never leaves by herself unless she drags me along! I knew I should've stayed home that day! Yet.. I can't seem to feel her presence at all."
A string of thoughts merge from his head.
"But it's not guaranteed she's dead, right, Ms. Nair?"
It's already strange that these people are only missing at the beach, but not at the resort.
"..You don't understand what it's like to feel that connection of your half cutting off as if it was nothing. Vera is gone forever."
Naib turns off the radio. That was all he needed to hear for today. He goes to sit on his chair before organizing his thoughts.
"If the culprit's doing is only limited to the beach, then it must be someone who visits the beach on a daily basis. But why haven't the authorities started patrolling around the beach?"
He looks down at the most recent file that he received this morning. There were far too many words, so he made mental notes on the important details.
Vera Nair. Age 28. Missing since July 9th, last seen by her parents. Clothes found by shore in pieces, blood stain detected. Body is missing, but status is most likely deceased.
"They could've said her cause of death was drowning and clothes were ripped by the hungry species in the sea.. but that would raise too much suspicion especially with other cold cases within the beach. Her body could've been washed ashore by now if that's the case. Though, what could've possibly killed her? No, rather.."
Naib recalls the conversation from the radio and proceeds with his thoughts.
"..What made her go to the beach in the first place? Her twin sister said she would never go by herself unless she's with her."
He taps on the table with his fingers in a rhythmic beat, thoughts swirling around in his head. He terminated the possible methods of homicide.
"Maybe someone dragged her there? No.. they blackmail her? Threatened her? That can't be true. Emma told me that her parents saw her leaving for the beach themselves since her sister was already there.."
Then, a light bulb appears on his head.
"It's quite possible.. that someone disguised themselves to lure these people to the beach. Someone must've dressed up as her sister."
He thinks about it before the light dims out.
"Though the chance of natural causes is also high. I heard that typhoons and tsunamis often happen there."
As soon as he stands from his seat to scan over the documents of the missing victims, his phone rings. Naib glared at the phone before begrudgingly yanking it. He clears his dry throat and says, "London's Detective Agency speaking. How may we help you?"
"Ah! I finally found your phone number. Who is this I am calling to?"
"..Mr. Inference."
"Jackpot! I've been meaning to call you! This is an emergency situation and I need you to solve it! My resort has been diminishing ever since people have become missing at the beach close to us!"
"This guy's got a thick accent," Naib thought.
"Of course, I'll help. It's been on the news all over the globe. Though unfortunately, I won't be able to travel due to money shortage-"
"Please come over! We'll pay for your flight! Anything!"
A smirk forms on the detective. Anything, he says.
"Of course. You'll have to resort to a free room for me to investigate the beach however. Is that fair?"
"Yes! Just hurry up and come before we lose another guest!"
"I will. Just send me the flight number."
And with that he ends the call. Naib sits on his chair and leans back with a sigh. He looks over at the picture of his younger self with Emma next to him holding a big fish that her dad caught. He ghostly forms a smile before reality sets in.
The fish that was once so large decades ago, is now as puny as a tadpole due to the pollution caused by humans.
Naib lights up his pipe once more and stares at the ceiling.
"What a disgusting world we've created, huh."
-----
In the air with the thundering clouds, Naib squinted at the sight of the green-brownish ocean with many colorful trash floating on top of it. He grimaces at it. He closes the airplane's window and listens to the music played by the guy next to him. His eyes shift over to the grey haired male who wears a mask along with other fancy turquoise colors.
"A noble gentleman?" Naib thought.
He noticed the man next to him felt his stare and shuffled uncomfortably, so Naib looked away at the chairs in front of him. He deadpans at the tall navy blue chairs.
“Damn my short height..”
He leans back in his chair and closes his eyes as the exhaustion sets in. He continues to listen to the melodies played by the man next to him and drifts off to a deep sleep.
~~~~
"Naib, Naib!" Little Lisa runs up to him with a gleeful smile. He looks at her as he blinks in confusion. "What's the matter, Li?" Without a hesitation, she grasps his wrist and drags him. He yelps and is about to yell until he sees Mr. Beck holding a bucket with a smile.
He is wearing a scuba diver swimsuit.
Lisa points at the bucket and says, "Look at what Daddy caught!" Naib peeks in and notices an exotic creature hanging at the bottom.
It has black and white stripes that closely resemble a zebra. Its movements were mesmerizing as it touched the bucket in confusion. Naib stares at it in awe as his eyes shine brightly. He looks up at Leo and says, "What is this animal?"
Mr. Beck smiles at him. "A mimic octopus."
"Wow!" Lisa loudly says, "Does that mean it can turn into anything!?"
"Yes and no. It can only turn into that animal when it remembers what it looks like."
She admires it before saying, "Daddy, can we go to the ice cream shop over there?"
"Of course." He looks at Naib and says, "Don't do anything rashly when I'm gone."
"Yes, sir!"
As the father and daughter sparks another conversation and move away, Naib continues to stare at the octopus. He unconsciously sticks his hand in slowly, index finger pointing at the top of the mimic octopus' head. When he did touch it, he immediately withdrew his hand away, but the octopus immediately wrapped its tentacles around his arm. Of course, as a child, he panics at the slimy sensation around his arm. Though he did not swing it away as his curiosity watched the interaction. The octopus continues to wrap more and more tentacles until it begins to slide up on his arm.
Then, that's when his panic breaks out. His instincts lead him to swing it away, which makes it fly up in the burning sunlight and he trips at his own strength. He groans as his back makes contact with the sandy floor. The creature lands on his stomach, full on facing Naib right in his face. It was so clear that he could see his own reflection in its eyes.
Naib wanted to scream, but he immediately knew that Mr. Beck would be mad at him, so he quickly struggled to take the slimy creature into the bucket. He gently puts it in the cool water and whispers, "Please don't tell anyone about that, okay?"
As if it could ever reply to him.
When he puts it in the bucket, he notices his left arm has weird markings. There are circles wrapped around his arm where the octopus has placed its tentacles. He stares at it with bulging eyes and thinks, "Oh no!"
Luckily, Lisa and Leo didn't see it when they returned from their mini trip to the ice cream shop and back. They bought him an ice cream, so the three eat it off as Leo informs them about what the mimic octopus does.
Most of the information went through Naib’s ears, but he caught most of it.
Impersonator, adaptability, flexible.
Lisa admires it but she was mostly doing it for her dad's acknowledgment.
Finally, when it was time to release the captured creature, Leo took the bucket and made Lisa and Naib say goodbye to it. Lisa says, "Goodbye Mr. Octopus!" And Naib says, "Goodbye.." In return, they earn a tiny movement from the creatures that symbolizes a wave by humans. Only Naib caught the movement.
Lisa starts to build a sand castle after her dad went off to set it free while Naib watches him and looks back at the markings.
"Maybe it'll go away.." He thought. However, he decides to ignore it and joins in with Lisa as they build a sandcastle that later got taken down by the ocean waves.
~~~~
Naib wakes up from his sleep. He struggles to open his crusty heavy eyelids and yawns in the process.
"It was nice to see that memory as a dream." He thought happily. "The good times of the past.."
Then, a barely audible voice reaches his left ear with, "You're.. Mr. Inference, aren't you?" He turns his head to look at the same man who played the melodies. He blinks excessively before nodding. "Yes. Who may you be, sir?" The masked gentleman turns his haze away from him and stares down at his adjustable music box. He whispers loud enough for only Naib to hear.
"I am Aesop.. Carl."
Naib instinctively reaches his right arm at Aesop for a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Aesop." He forms a small smile at the other man in hopes of easing his anxiety. "This man definitely has social issues," Naib noted, "Perhaps a newcomer? Or raised in environmental problems?" He sees Aesop look at his hand in slight confusion before taking it with his right.
The second hand embarrassment never slapped him so hard in his face until this very moment.
He sweats when Aesop looks at him in distress with their hands intertwined. "Oh my days, don't tell me.." Naib snaps back to reality and says, "..Aesop, do you know how to do a handshake?" The masked man blinks before nodding vigorously. He quickly lets go of his right hand and clasps on Naib's hanging right one with his left. The detective shakes when Aesop did a violent handshake with furrowed eyebrows. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Inference. I'm honored to see such a celebrity first handed. I'm sure my fellow friends from the other end would be envious of my meeting with you."
"What a scarily strong man without a look of one.." Naib thinks as he takes more notes of the strange man. "Is that so? That's.. good to hear?" If he could jump off the plane, he would. This awkward tension is affecting him more than it should've. Aesop closes his eyes and nods, which Naib assumes to be a smiling look from him. When Aesop turns down to resume his playing, Naib sighs in relief with the fact that he doesn't have to continue to speak to him.
Though, there are some things about Aesop that intrigues him. Firstly exterior wise, the man is wearing a mask that covers his nose and mouth. He insists it must be of identity coverage or occupations related to chemicals or health. Second, he wears clothes that not even a middle class person could afford. It has frills design with turquoise colors that not even the royals could obtain unless they dump a load of money. His clothes literally cover all of his skin except the face, excluding the mask. Thirdly, he's never seen a music box that could be modified to be playable until now. It has a design of the sky at night with the moon and stars on the side of the box.
When it comes to mental wise, he largely questions Aesop’s behavior. The man clearly struggles to speak, let alone make eye contact. Yet, he quickly changes when he questions him about the handshake. Like it was something he had to remember to do. It makes him wonder if Aesop is really a guy who came into the country or if he has a rough background. Though, he did say that he has friends on the other end. Perhaps a foreigner? And that strength, if he shook his arm any higher, his arm would've broken off. But he won't think any further.
In short, Aesop is off. Plus he appears as a strange guy who has the strength of a bull but the face of a kitten. That thought itself is already horrific.
Naib rubs his eyes and hopes that he never has to see the man next to him. Especially at the fact that he forgot to clean the crystallized tear salt that formed around his eyes, so Aesop probably saw a clown instead of the stoic detective that everyone knows him as. In the corner of his left eye, he would often see Aesop making various glances at his side.
He mentally says, "Oh please, get me out of here immediately."
As if his prayers were answered, the announcement in the airplane played out and passengers were to get their items ready. Naib once more, sighs in relief and looks at Aesop, who is already staring at him. Oh my go-
"Well then," Aesop says with his eyes closing, "I hope we can meet up again, Mr. Inference."
Naib nods in agreement. He says, "I hope so too, Aesop." No, not really.
An even more awkward situation occurs when they have to line up in the center of the plane to exit and walk in the same direction to enter the building. All while walking behind the man that he just bid a goodbye to. When he does enter the building, he sees Aesop turn around to do a wave and walks away to wherever he goes. Naib deadpans and blinks before turning to the side. He adjusts his tie as he carries his suitcase to the exit of the airport. He looks down at his watch and thinks, "I should probably tell Emma that I went to Indonesia alone.."
He looks up again and notices many, many people are looking at him, whispering to one another. "Do I look that different?" He wonders. Ignoring the stares, he catches a taxi to arrive at his destination. He places his suitcase in the back of the taxi and tells the driver where to head.
With the car moving, Naib looks through the foreign city where many of the people appear, similar to his hometown from long ago. He sighs and lays against the chair as the car shakes. What a sight that the city presents, but he shifts his mind elsewhere. Towards the sky where the blue mixes with a slight brownish shade.
If only, if only time was turned back, then the beauty of nature never has to be so covered in waste.
----
"Welcome home, Aesop. Glad to see that you didn't perish."
The turquoise clothed man.. is now a half naked man with the bottom half being a sea snake body. Scales formed around the edges of his body and face. His pupils stretched into a slit and his clothes dissolved as soon as he entered the ocean water.
He scoffs. "As if I would. Not to those humans anyways."
Eli smiles at his friend's remark. Ah yes, humans, the ones that destroyed their very homes. He can't even begin to start with the wrath that circulates through his mood. Though, curiosity normally outcast that wrath since he has a kind heart and enough intelligence to avoid fatal mistakes.
Aesop then says, "I saw him on the same plane I took. I believe the people by the houses near the beach called him over."
"Him.. you say."
The sea snake looks at Eli with a deadpan expression. He flicks the tentacles away from him, just to ease his appetite.
Sea snakes do eat mimic octopuses after all.
"His name is Mr. Inference according to the media. World wide known detective, famous for solving cases, especially the cold cases."
"Mr. Inference.." Eli says as he swims around. He smirks, exposing his sharp canines. His striped tentacles dance around as he idles on the ocean floor. Aesop swimmingly slithers next to him with a curious stare. "Do you know him?" The mimic octopus man turns his head sideways and shifts his eyes to Aesop. "Not until I see him."
The sea snake rolls his eyes. "You realize that," Aesop turns his half lid eyes to Eli, "this whole thing happened because of you."
"And I don't see much issue with that."
"You fail to see that this could lead to our people getting caught?"
"What could humans do? Wage war against ocean creatures?"
"They have the technology to."
"Not if we poison their water sources."
"We, as in, me."
"You get the point."
The sea snake facepalms at his friend. "You're lucky I'm not hungry today.." Aesop mutters as he swims away. Eli laughs and looks up at the sea surface.
"But I am."
The sunlight shines on his slight muscular human top, while the tentacles pry around him like a giant fancy dress where the human legs should be. The stripes cover the side of his body, similar to Aesop’s scales.
Eli sticks his long tongue out and coughs. "The water condition is getting worse by the day, " He thought sadly, "At this rate, everyone will have to find a new home soon."
Splish splash! Splat!
The octopus man turns his head at the distant sound of splattering. He smiles widely as his tentacles move exotically. He swims up close to the surface and peeks from under the floating plastic bags. He sees human children, two at most, playing at the shore of the ocean with two adults behind them. "A family.." Eli thought as he licked his lips, "This should fill my stomach for a month." He then swims to the side of the shore where many giant rocks reside. He camouflages himself into the environment as he stalks the children.
Patience is a hard skill to master, especially when his stomach grumbles at the sight. He hasn't eaten for 2 weeks now, after feasting on a female adult human that he fooled. Eli continues to peek, waiting and waiting, until the parents get distracted. Then, he slides up to the store and turns himself into a child that he once saw, approximately the same age as them in a swimsuit and runs up to them.
"Hello!" Eli says as he smiles widely. "Control your hunger. Don't slip, or food will be lost." The parents looked over at him with smiles on their faces and started cooing at his adorableness. "Yes, fall for it." The two kids in front of him stop splashing and turn to look at him. It was tense at first, but after the introductions, he made a false friendship with them. The parents came over to ask about his parents, but he told them that they are in the resort not far from here. Luckily, they bought it or else he would have resorted to calling Aesop to act as his pretend parent.
When the parents got swayed away by the volleyball game nearby, one of the children he was with went to go watch their parents. He didn't mind it as it contributes to his plan, so he took the chance to convince the other kid to follow. "Bring your floaties!" Eli says with a bright smile, "I have something cool to show you!" Being the kid they are, they mindlessly follow to see this cool thing. He brings them to the same area where he first got on the land, behind the large rocks where the public can't see. He then runs to the water and motions the kid to follow him. "It's in the water!" So the kid follows him, until their feet no longer touch the sea ground. Eli is the taller child, so the other kid felt secure around him since he was grabbing Eli’s arm. When he transforms his legs to tentacles, he yanks the tentacle up to show it to the kid. "Look at what I found!" Since the water wasn't clear to see through, he was safe from getting too exposed.
The same kid was awed and thought it was so strange. As they stare, Eli memorized the kid's appearance before using his tentacles to pop the floaties, causing the child to panic, and drag him underwater. Eli’s true form begins to appear and he quickly strangles the kid. His tentacles wrap around the body to release toxins, paralyzing them so they can stop struggling. He drags them deeper in the water, where he feast the body.
When he reappears on the surface with the appearance of the child he ate, he acts just like them. Giggling, smiling, playful. When the parents once again look away from their kids, he repeats his action to their sibling by tricking, drowning, injecting toxic, and feasting. At last when he changes his look to his recent meal, he pretends to panic and proceeds to tell them that their older sibling is drowning. The parents, of course, bought it. He rushes to the same area and points at the plastic bags, saying that he's under there. The dad took action while the mom watched.
"Pathetic." Is all he thinks as he watches the father dig around the floating trash. His eyes shift over to the worried woman without turning his head. His expression darkens with a growing smile. "All it took was one life for everything to fall for this happy family." While the man is distracted looking for his lost son, Eli pretends to cry and says, "I'm scared.." The woman walks straight into his trap when she embraces him. "Don't worry, son. Everything will be alright-"
Chomp!
She releases him in a quick manner as her shoulder now bleeds. Before she yells or even screams, Eli punches her in the chin and drags her in the water far from the man. He rinsed and repeated the methods until the body was in his stomach. He swims around with his form free and sees the man attempting to swim to the shore. Eli sighs and quickly chases him, locking his feet by his tentacles, and once more repeats his actions.
Tricking, drowning, injecting, and feasting.
Feeling accomplished and proud of his work, Eli sits at the bottom of the sea with a full stomach. He peeks over to his left where years of bones have piled up. He always takes it with him since Aesop has a fondness for bones. He plays around with a human skull, flipping it back and forth with his tentacles just like how humans do it with their sports ball. A sly smile forms on his face and thinks, "I wonder how this Mr. Inference will find a way to discover us since animals with the ability to turn into humans are uncalled for.."
He grins with his sharp teeth exposed. A pouring excitement that makes his whole body shiver. What a thriller experience he gets to witness!
-----
"Breaking News: A family of four was discovered missing at the Lembeh Beach yesterday afternoon. Witnesses have stated that they saw the family walking on the left side of the beach and disappeared. Investigation is currently working to find out who or what is responsible for the missing people."
Naib blocks out the news reporter and their cameraman. He pampers with the thoughts in his head. "Why didn't they attempt to interrogate this whole situation earlier?" With the other investigators and cops around, Naib manages to slip away without getting spotted. He walked among the beach, carefully scanning the sand. Each speckle sticks itself to his shoes, but he cares none of it. The most isolated area from the paparazzi are the large rocks next to the beach. It caught his attention, since not many people explored the area as everyone was on the open beach, so he cautiously made his way over. Pitter patter he goes, eyes all over the floor and shore, shoes grinding against the broken shells and plastic.
Right when he arrives, he sees a blood stain that is barely visible unless it’s up close. The evidence alone supports a potential death, but it wasn’t enough to find the rampage murderer. He squats at the blood and follows the trail with his vision. It leads directly into the ocean since there wasn’t any other blood splatter in close range. Either the waves washed it or something dragged them into the waves. He wanders around the area more, eventually stumbling on an object sticking out of the ground. He mentally curses and looks down at it. Then, his eyes widened.
It was an enclosed machete. He bends down to pick it up and examine it. It has a familiar feeling when he holds it along with the design. Black case and handle with rusted steel at top. He flips over the case and squints his eyes at the dirty white letters. It has a name that spells out Naib Subedar. He blinks, once, twice, triple times to make sure if it’s real. The machete that he lost at a beach as a kid, was here?
Whatever dumb thing he did long ago, he wished it never happened. He immediately stuffed it in his coat’s pocket while making sure no one saw him. More questions plague his mind than there are with answers.
“There you are, Detective Inference! We’ve been searching for you!”
Naib grimaces at the sound and turns to the shrilling voice of the other inspectors. One female, three other guys. He was uninterested to know their names, but if work needs to progress quicker, he minds as well as remembers their looks. He cooperates with them, but every time they split, the female always teams up with him. He doesn't dislike her by any means, but her behavior around him makes it harder to not. Her clingingness is noticeable, however none of the guys stop her, and her high pitch voice only happens when he's nearby.
"I gotta get away from her." Naib thoughts as he walks to one of the guys. "If there's a slim possibility that he'll take it," He taps on his shoulder, causing one of the male investigators to turn around, "Then by God, please let me land in that chance."
"Can you tell her to--" His inner voice says, "-take her away and say shut up please?" But he sugar coated it with, "-help you guys instead? I need to be alone to work well."
"Oh, of course. Sorry if she was being pesky to you. She's a new one on our team."
"I figured that out a long time ago." He rolls his eyes internally. "It's alright, but please teach her that some.. people have boundaries." A frown plaster on his face when he turns back from the stunned man and looks at her dead in the eyes. She winces at his stare that rather screams out, "Don't bother me."
He sighs in relief after walking away from them. There's no evidence on land since most of it is possibly in the ocean. He turns back to look at them bending down to scan the sand.
Really ,
he turns back and proceeds to walk,
it's just a waste of time.
----
After the first day of searching, it became a week instead. Naib’s eyes are on the edge of closing when he rampages through the papers in his reserved office.
"It doesn’t make sense! How could they disappear in the ocean with no dead bodies washed ashore!?"
It's all he could think of for the entire day. Emma wasn't here to assist him, so the need for a second mind wasn't available. He grumbles and messes his hair as his headache pounds from overthinking. Times like this are unforgivable. The world is still waiting for news, any updates regarding the famous beach that makes people disappear.
The manager of the Lembeh Beach resort is still after his arse to hurry and find the culprit. What he doesn't know is that the progress takes a while if a whole single person works on it.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Come in." Naib mutters. He doesn't bother to look up.
The white door in front of him creeks, but he hears nothing afterwards. Curious, he looks up and sees a box sitting at the doorway. No, not just any box, it's Aesop’s music box. He furrows his eyebrows in confusion as he stands from his seat to inspect it. He picks it up and exits his office to talk to the people there.
Since it was in the middle of the night, Naib had to walk quietly. He manages to find a few employees still awake and asks about the box. "I don't know who delivered it. In fact, we didn't have anyone coming in here for the last 6 hours."
"What?" He shifts his eyes over to the employee next to them, who agrees with the person.
"I see.." He walks back to his office, unaware of the smiling person behind him. He shudders all of the sudden after his back is faced towards them. Did it suddenly get cold?
He placed the music box on a shelf in his office and went to prepare himself for sleep. Just when he exits out of the restroom across from his office, he barely hears the music box being played. He becomes very skeptical and rushes to find who it was, but the louder the music gets, the more his running becomes sloppy. And eventually, Naib completely stopped right in front of the door. His eyes were so heavy and standing had become a challenge, so he supported himself by leaning against the wall outside of the doorframe. He managed to get a glimpse of the figure at the front of his shelf.
Before he could make out the details of the tall figure, he passed out on the floor.
----
They thought he died.
When the employees found him on the floor, they called the ambulance because he wasn't breathing. But the nurses and doctors all said there was nothing wrong with his body, aside from the growing injury in his lungs.
"Stop smoking!" They say. He wants to roll his eyes at them, but he respects their wishes. It's just difficult to find pleasure or a method to block out the killer stress that's always stuck to him everywhere he walks.
Naib lays on the hospital bed with an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. He breathes in and out, relaxed at the amount of pure oxygen entering his body. It’s almost addicting, way better than the smoke his pipe could ever offer.
Woozy from the passing, Naib takes another nap in the hospital and gets released the next day.
----
The case never left his mind, so does the music box incident. When he returned to the shelf where he put the music box, it disappeared from his sight. It was too strange for all of this to happen. He has never witnessed such an event until now.
Aside from that, an idea came by when he saw the ships at the dock. He rushes over to one when the people yelled it would be leaving soon. A plan hatched when he realizes the one he went to was specifically reserved for him tomorrow.
The captain on the ship greets him in surprise and asks him what he needs to do to help with the case.
"You see, I lost my son here a decade ago. Tough little guy for 10 yearrrs. If I never took my eyes off of him, things would've been different. It's only my responsibility as a father to avenge his death."
Backstories, huh. Naib instinctively was about to light up his pipe, but decided against it. He's heard far too many that it could create a bookshelf. Missing, murdered, accidents.
Naib reassures, "Don't worry. We'll find the culprit."
----
It's been an hour since he searched in the ocean. Fortunately, the captain got a license to drive it or else their arse would've been shot by the military.
"Aye, so be it, Naib?"
"It's Mr. Inference to you, sir."
"Arrrhh, I thought we are best pals."
"We just met today."
The captain of the ship wholeheartedly laughed. "Don't be so hardy, relax!" Naib glared at the man. "Calm your nerves, Inference. This guy's just old school." He stands next to the ridge of the boat, peeking down at the water. Compared to the other oceans he saw, this one's a bit clearer. He looks down at his reflection and blink at it. He made various expressions instinctively. The fresh breeze did relax him, counting truth in the captain's words earlier.
He stares at the distance before looking down and notices a difference where his reflection face was. It formed a toothy smile at him before dispersing in the water.
"Did I see that right?" He blinks in confusion. He rubs his eyes again to look at his reflection again. "Maybe, it's just my imagination."
---
When the fourth hour passed, the captain took a nap. It was only the two of them on the ship, so Naib is constantly on his guard. The boat continues to endlessly move forward. He knows that they only headed north from the shore. Naib exhaustedly looked around the greenish brown ocean. He rubs his eyes to scan more evidence. It was pure luck that he found more shredded cloth and other accessories like jewelry floating on plastics.
Just when Naib was about to wake up the captain to return to land, the ship dramatically shook. The water ripped, moving the ship back and forth. Naib slides down on the tilted ship and manages to hold onto the railing onto it. He looks down as his detective cap sinks into the forgotten deep sea. A slight wave of grief came over from his loss, but fear remains sturdy in his chest. Desperately clinging into the rail, he breathes hard as sweat drips down on his face.
"Inference, where are you!?"
Naib looks up and yells, "Over here!"
A hand reaches down to pull him up as the ship shakes. Once Naib got onto the top of the ship again, the captain pointed in front of them with wide eyes. "Oh mother of christ." Naib watches his face morph into a grief-like expression and form a prayer. He is confused, but it soon disappears when he looks at where the captain saw.
A huge tsunami is heading their way.
His eyes widened at the sight. The tsunami appears to be the height of a tall building, maybe around 200 feet tall. His adrenaline kicks in immediately and quickly drags the captain to the wheel. "Ride, sail away!" Is all he screams. He knows running or sailing from it is no use, but the best they could do is soften the impact from the huge wave.
The captain makes many sorrow noises, crying for one. His hands keep slipping as the ship goes up and down. Naib feels more sweat develop on his temples as his heart beats against his chest. He stuffs the evidence in his coat in advance when they go underwater. He turns to look back when he notices the big wave that was half an hour away suddenly closes in about 2 minutes. The wave keeps on pushing the ship up and up until the tsunami slams down, merging them underwater.
----
.
.
.
Naib abruptly opens his burning eyes, greeted by the clear dark sky. He inhales deeply and chokes out the water that entered his system. He turns to the side and expels some of the saltwater. He gags at the taste.
"What happened?" He wonders. His eyes widen when he quickly realizes the situation.
The captain was gone.
He looks around his surroundings and notices he is back on the same shore he was at before. Except, there was no one around, not even the people who were here hours earlier. His clothes are drenched, his hair is down, and the evidence in his coat is surprisingly still there. He moves his wet hair away from his face and stands.
He turns back to the ocean and notices there is significantly more trash in the ocean and the water is a lot higher than before. His eyes move up to where the full moon rests, silently adoring the beauty before him. He inhales slowly and exhales as he turns back. The gnawing truth that's been feeding on his fear prevails itself.
Everything that was once a part of the beach and beyond is now gone.
He walks farther into the land and sees the broken building that he resided in since the beginning. He widens his eyes and rushes to it. He steps over the many pieces of wood, stones, leaves, until he stands on top of where his room was. He scanned for any bodies, any , but to his horror, there was none. Whether they are dead or alive, the mass disappearances shouldn't be surprising, but the fact that not even one was left back, greatly makes him feel more puzzled.
He digs around the broken wood planks until he finds the suitcase that he brought with him. He sighs in relief once he opens it to find the evidence dry.
The suitcase contained everything he had gathered so far. It's one that has been specifically designed to be waterproof and sturdy enough to withstand many heavy objects such as a bowling ball. The only way to open it is to find the right four digits.
Naib carries it with him to the beach. It's a foolish move to not go get help immediately, but he’s gone too far to look back. He skims across the shore until a human skull washes upon. Ignoring the sudden wave of confusion and disturbance, he immediately takes it with him and observes it. Based on the structure, it was small enough to be identified as a child. Many cracks were formed around the top of the skull, almost as if something was pressing around the skull. Then, there was some mysterious black liquid coated inside of it. He touched it with his gloved hand.
"Ink?"
He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. "The only thing that can produce ink is an octopus. Why would there be ink inside the skull?"
He thought about the conceivable events for a long time during his investigation, but not once has he gone through the ones that sound ridiculous or have absolutely no likelihood of happening. It never occurred to him until now that those chances could be the ones that lead him to the actual veracity.
"Instead of dying to another human, what if it was the marine creatures instead?"
He doubted the sea creatures taking part of it since they were just animals. Yet, the more he thought, the more it seemed plausible. A single murderer doesn’t have enough equipment to stay hidden forever in land unless they are hiding in the water. No, rather, what if there was more than one murderer cooperating together? How else would the family of four disappear? He pinched the bridge of his nose. While it’s true that these could be causes, another thing resurfaced as he thought about it more.
“Someone disguised as those that the victims knew.”
It clicked with him.
The news that he heard way before he arrived in Lembeh Beach, one about Vera Nair, has direct leading evidence. Her sister got tricked into going to the beach by herself, thinking her sister was making her go.
Naib turns to look at the ocean as sweat forms on the side of his temples. He gulps and thinks, “The tsunami has made hundreds of lives perished in a day, so the chance of the killer on land is also dead with them.” He holds his chin and closes his eyes. “If we are going by ‘what if’s’, then.. what if the culprit is not a human, but the sea animals themselves?” There has to be a reason why Emma sent him those animal documentaries, even if it wasn’t related to this case. “If we look through the impossible in such reality, then the only creature in the ocean that can pull this whole thing off is no other than the..”
“..mimic octopus.”
—--
Eli hums as he lay on the seafloor, satisfied with the many meals that washed down in the ocean. He plays around with a cap that fell from the ship that sailed near his home. He must thank Halberd of Silence for her powerful tsunami, but too bad she’s hidden somewhere deep in the abyss of the sea. Even Poseidon’s Crown was nowhere to be found, but he at least appears as a form of a baby octopus when Eli becomes lonely every few months after praying to him daily.
His deep blue eyes shine, reflecting the moonlight above him. He smiles as he recalls the face of this “Mr. Inference” that Aesop has been talking to him about. The way he made expressions at the ocean at the top of the shop makes him giggle, especially when he looks surprised. He did tease the human by changing his face to his and showing off his teeth. Though, Aesop’s words still echo in his head.
“He’s a dangerous man.” Aesop warns. “Anything that we left on the land or even the surface of this ocean will be the cause of our extinction. It’s better to lay down and stay hidden. The human world is keeping an eye on this part of the ocean through him.”
Eli grins and mutters, “A little danger is what makes life so thrilling..” He swims up to the surface to look at the moon, but then, he hears footsteps at the shore. Alarmed, Eli sank his head further back in the water and stared at the figure sitting with a campfire.
“A human still alive? Impossible!” He narrows his eyes. “How could they survive the tsunami?” He swims closer to the shore and hides underneath the many trash floating on the sea. When he was about fifteen feet away, he saw a half naked human with his brown hair down. He has a coat around his shoulders, muscular built body, and many scars adorn on his skin. Eli noticed the big suitcase next to him that has his shirt and shoes next to it. More importantly, with his extraordinary vision, he sees the scars on his left arm that very, very closely represent the ones that he left on a child long ago.
Not just any child, a human boy that caught his attention through his recklessness.
Eli’s eyes widened. “It can’t be..” He swims behind the big rocks from before and disguises himself as a random human he preyed on long ago. “There’s no way he is that child. It’ll be too much of a coincidence!” He calms one of his hearts down and walks quietly to the man.
“Maybe..” Eli hovers his hand over the man’s shoulder.
“..He could be him.”
—----
"Damn it! If only I didn't leave his body there, he would've been dead by now!" Aesop mutters as he angrily swims through the open sea. He was very fortunate to be able to disguise himself as one of the employees to deceive Mr. Inference. Though, a little misstep has got him in his greatest inner turmoil. Aesop swims around to calm himself. All the thoughts for the future of the ocean are weighing on him and he could be faulted for not ending the one person that could expose them.
"Hm, is my cute little snake having another breakdown?"
This voice.
Aesop stops at his track completely when a hand snakes over his shoulders. A warm breath brushes against his ear as his words play out, "You look so tasty, I can just eat you right now.."
Aesop’s eyes stay widened as he hesitates to look behind him.
Norton.
The saltwater crocodile that feasts on a variety of species, including humans. It's the one thing that Aesop fears most about him, not only of his massive flexibility in diet, but because he also feeds on sea snakes. Their toxins are nothing to him.
Ever since the first sea creature was able to turn into a hybrid between fish and man, the technique spread like a plague. It was not surprising that semi-aquatics learned it as well.
But this was a whole new level of danger.
Aesop had escaped from a hungry Norton once, purely by luck. It was thanks to the rocks from the coral reef that saved him, but now that he's in the open ocean..
Aesop gulps when Norton leans and hugs him from the back. He could feel his hard scaled arms pressed against his delicate smooth scales. Norton rests his head on Aesop’s shoulder, showing his minty colored slit eyes at the pale snake. He smiles, showing off the sharp teeth that Aesop dreads. "You escaped from me once, but not anymore. I am feeling quite hungry you see.." His eyes shifted down.
"I wonder.." He bites on Aesop’s shoulder, making the lower man yelp. "..how long will you last~?"
-------
Naib jolts from the feeling of a freezing hand on his cold shoulder. He immediately widens his tired eyes and stands back from the touch. His eyes landed on a man, who appeared not far from his age. Naib glares at them as he straight away recognizes the face. He unsheathed his machete and pointed it directly at the said person.
"Who are you?"
The stranger puts their hands up in alert and waves it side to side. "Woah man! I came here because I saw smoke from your fire. Won't harm ya or anything."
Naib’s glare never eases out. He begins to question the man, to confirm his suspicions.
"Answer my question."
The man makes a slightly annoyed face and says, "I am Andrew Kreiss."
"Andrew Kreiss, one of the missing people from the list. His case was over a decade ago. He was ruled dead once they found his clothes shredded with blood and a shovel left by the beach." The detective walks closer to him, never lowering his weapon. "Andrew, where did you come from?"
Andrew's eyes shift to the side and say, "I came from the buildings nearby and survived the tsunami. I thought I was a lone one until I saw you resting here."
Naib stands there with the most deadpan look he could muster. He clenches his teeth and fist before charging at this so-called Andrew. They both went down with an oof with Naib straddling on top of his torso. They lock eye contacts with him saying, "What a liar. Can't you come up with more things to say? One simply does not survive a tsunami if they are within the range of the beach."
This time, Andrew glares back. "I can say the same for you. How are you still alive--" He immediately quiets when Naib shoves his machete up to his throat. All Andrew sees are deadly eyes watching his every movement, just like those sharks. He gulps.
"Answer me first. I don't like waiting."
Naib waits for the pale blonde male to speak, but the latter never does. An angry vein pops up on the side of his forehead, so he begins to question the imposter as if there was no tomorrow.
"Fine, so be it. I know you’re not Andrew Kreiss. He died over a decade ago when they found his clothes and most precious item, his shovel. I don't know who you are, or should I say, what you are, but your lies are worse than those of children. Why did you kill them? If you didn't, where are they? Why target humans? Why are you impersonating them? For how long have you been doing this? How many have you killed!?"
Every time he asks a question, his machete inches closer to the man's throat. It's gotten to the point where the machete drew out some blood.
The blood that leaks out to the machete wasn't red.
It is blue.
Seconds after that, Naib felt a hard, rough punch on his chest and wheezed out a couple of droplets of his saliva. He lands on his back and quickly regains his posture. He huffs in pain and looks up. He widens his eyes.
Andrew slowly morphs into another person. Not a person, but a half human with sea animal parts. His eyes widen when the newly being straddle him right on top of his stomach with the tendrils tying up his limbs. He feels every sticky and slippery movement from it.
An octopus right on his stomach. Why does he have a sense of a deja vu?
All he sees is a half naked man with mimic octopus tentacles on his lower half. The being's glowing blue eyes stare down at his sky colored ones. Despite the fresh discovery unfolding right in his vision, he still questions them. "W-Who are you!?" There's no point asking what they are. They only smile at him, gently moving his hair away from his face. The closer Naib looks, the more he realizes something. Those same blue eyes matched the mimic octopus he saw nearly two decades ago.
His eyes widened once more. "Impossible."
Normally, he would often curse himself for having such good memories to the point where he could describe every little detail. Luckily, today's not one of those days where he instead feels relief.
A foreign voice plays next to his ear as it whispers, "Who am I? I am the very being that resides in this ocean I called home. I am.. Eli Clark." Naib looks at the man and feels a lick on his lips. His immediate response is to struggle against the large creature, but he quickly realizes his limbs weren't responding to him.
"What did you do to me!?"
Eli smirks at him. "I only injected some toxins to temporarily disable your limbs, so you don't kill me." Naib continues his glare at him. "It's okay, I won't harm you." He felt his body being lifted by Eli who slithers his way into the ocean. "Being on the land for too long will only damage me." They enter the water where Eli places Naib on top of a floating pile of trash. "There!" The octopus cheers, "Now we can have a conversation without any of us killing each other!"
"Except you could kill me at any second.." Naib thought grimly.
He looks down where he feels his marked arm being examined by Eli. " Huh? Why's he looking at the mark?" He sweats thinking of the two possible coincidences clashing.
"This mark.." Eli says as they make eye contact again. "No doubt, it's mine."
Naib stared at him for so long before spouting out, "What!?"
He watches Eli bashfully scratch the back of his head before saying, "Ah. You see, this little boy that I saw two decades ago caught my interest..-"
"Oh no."
"-..So I decided to mark his arm to remember who he is. He threw me so far in the air that I thought I'd get burned in the sun!"
"..This can't be real."
"But to think that young boy would grow up to be a handsome detective in the human world.."
Naib stopped thinking when Eli mentioned the word handsome . "Wha..?"
"However," he sees tentacles wrap around his body and pushes it in the water until only his head is above, "A dear friend of mine has warned of your danger to our kind." One of the tendrils securely wraps around his neck. "Mr. Inference is your name, huh? What would the human world think if I dispose of his corpse right here and now? There will be no one to come for you."
Naib’s eyes widened. "This guy..!"
Eli grins and says, "The tsunami killed anyone who was within a couple hundred feet. Surely, this beach was famous for.. what was it again? Ah yes, the disappearances of humans. How would they feel if the great detective had also gone missing?" He leans closer and says, "There's no going back, is there? With your existence wiped out, there'll be nobody to confirm your death-"
Naib struggles and headbutt Eli as hard as he could. He becomes free from his tentacles and quickly swims away. "Aw shit, ah fuck. What should I do? This guy's insane!" He yells when he feels a tentacle sliding up on his legs and dragging him back. He looks back with an annoyed expression.
"Eli! Let go of me!"
The tentacles let go of him. He looks up and notices Eli has a pink face with a blue bruise on his forehead.
"Octopus can blush?"
"Call me by my name again.."
Naib turns around to swim back to the shore. "No." He says nonchalantly. And once more, the tendrils stop him. An angry vein pops out on his face. "Eli!" Hence the tentacles are gone.
When he returns to the surface, Naib sits on the rock that is the farthest into the ocean. Eli secretly followed him, but Naib instantly saw him through the camouflage.
"If exposing your kind is your greatest fear, then I am not the threat you may view me as." Eli blinks as he chews a fish. Naib stares at him with a deadpan look. “When did he get that fish?” He clears his throat and continues, "Whatever you guys call us people, they won't believe me even if I told them that hybrids..? Are a thing. The world is waiting for the news of the missing people that you killed, Eli. They are very unforgiving if I come back with no evidence to defend my case. So that’s why, it's pointless if I reveal the secret of the ocean. Though.. I do want you to answer me when I asked the questions earlier.."
Eli spits out the fish spine. "I see.. so humans don't work together like us creatures do?"
"No."
"That's interesting. I always thought that they were from the looks of it at the shore."
"No, they are not. Every human is different in their own ways. Some may be a threat, but others could be allies. It really depends on the humans you interact with."
"Ah.. I.. never thought of that. Humans are truly complex."
Naib nods his head. He says, "Eli. About those people.. where are they?"
"The ones that went missing?"
"Yes."
"They're.. dead."
Naib raises his eyebrow. "How so?"
"I ate them."
Almost instantly did he regret asking him that. The guy in front of him eats humans for a living. What other facts could make him freak out? He knows he could die at any second from the man-eating octopus in front of him, but there is too much to take in. He wants, no- needed to know more about him and his doings of the past.
"..The pollution killed your prey I assumed?"
"Far too many!"
Naib jumps back from his sudden lashing.
"Some of us starve to death and we have nothing else to eat! We would travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to search for a suitable place to live, but everywhere we swim to, it's all dirty! I don't understand how the humans of the land created such unsanitary homes for us, but we can't simply allow them to pollute any further! So that's why, we feasts on the humans we see. There are many that roam on land, right? A couple of lives won't do them any harm."
Naib watches Eli laugh maniacally with his hands making weird gestures. He sinks into his thoughts for a few seconds.
"This.. is an unfortunate cycle of karma. One deed leads right back to the other."
He grimly forms his final conclusion.
"It is a case of nature's law.."
He looks at the water and back to the other man. "No doubt, both parties are victims to the environment. Animals were here way long before humans formed, so his anger is understanding. To think the filth would pile up so soon into the millennium years we inhabit the lands, why is the majority not cleaning?"
Naib rubs his hair and says, "I understand. So you were the one that caused this whole event."
He makes a half eyelid stare. "What should I do..? This is the first time I have to delay the case because of the sea people that no one knows about. The culprit is in front of me. I only managed to obtain the evidence of past victims, but not enough to secure the identity of the killer, er, Eli. But I can't reveal his identity or the whole ocean will be after my life. What to do.. what to do.."
"Naib? You seem distressed."
He looks at the octopus with a nervous look. He blurted out, "I am." He sighs and continues, "I'm not sure what to do now that I found out you were the one doing all of this mess. The world wants to catch the killer on the loose, but your identity can't be revealed for obvious reasons. At this rate, I'll need to shift the blame to someone else and make prejudice.." Naib grips his hair with both hands.
Eli smiles at him as he takes Naib’s hands away from his head. "How about this idea then? What if I told you.."
~~~~
"..that Gods exist?"
Naib stands at the court with every document and evidence he collected. "Eli" stands next to him with sunglasses, but behind it are red eyes digging in his skull.
Eli decided it was a good idea to summon an eldritch god, a whole cosmic alien god, to assist him in this damning court. Octopus can't leave the land for more than 30 minutes or they'll start breaching to death. His plan was to call the breathing stardust of an octopus-like deity to use his body to walk on land and help Naib convince the upper world of his findings.
Well, the person looking at him goes by the name "Hastur".
The detective calmly presents his founding in order, from events to the evidence, and lastly, the solution. Hastur presents himself as a first hand witness of the murders, describing how the killer appeared as a "caveman" with "many knives and sharp steel weapons".
There is a total of 173 victims murdered.
The bones that Eli hoarded were dumped and scattered around the beach sand where the official investigation team went to retrieve.
The trash near the shore was cleaned up and collected to identify the belongings of the past victims. It'll go straight back to their living family members.
Inspectors caught the killer behind all of the event, leading the media to spiral chaos once the case was released to the public news.
The culprit was the name of John Doe. A false human vessel that Hastur made from the drowned corpses he found. It acts like a madman on steroids. When questioned, it doesn't reply and only makes noises.
When Naib finishes his business in the court, he drags Hastur away from the people. Especially back to the beach. He was doing a bridal carry of Eli’s body before stopping at the shore with the water up to his knees and saying, "Wait. There's something I'm curious about."
Hastur looks at Naib with an amused expression. "Continue, mortal."
"What becomes of the.. human you made?"
Hastur smirks but with him in Eli’s body, makes him feel confused and bashful in so many ways.
"Ah.. that. It’s not something for you to worry about. Besides, I think my devoted follower would like his body back to have some special bonding moment with you."
Naib blushes at his words before setting down his body.
"But there's so much I want to ask.."
He watches Eli float on the water before a gush of black liquid forms around him. Then, it vanishes instantly after he awakens.
"Naib?"
The detective looks down at the striped tentacles wrapped around his legs. "Not again.." He bends down to take away the sunglasses and looks directly at Eli’s eyes.
"They're back to blue. "
"Oh, you're still here. How did it go? Did Hastur help you? Did he hurt you in any way!?"
Naib blinks at Eli’s immediate worry. "Hm.. he didn't harm me. It was weird to have him use your body though and the case went a lot smoother than I expected. To think we have to make a whole living model to blame it on. It feels almost wrong."
"That's good."
"Yeah- Ah!"
Naib trips when Eli pushes his legs from the ground. Water slashes on his clothes and his new detective cap fell from his head. He looks up and sees Eli hovering over him with a wide smile.
"..What was that for?"
"Nothing. I wanted to.." More and more tentacles begin to slither around his body, making him in a state of both nervous and panic. "..hold you. Ever since I laid my eyes on you, I could never shake off your presence. I knew there would be a day where you appeared, so I left behind the machete I stole from you."
Naib widens his eyes. That's right, he found his lost machete in the same beach that he spent one of his childhood moments in.
He unconsciously hugs Eli, who jumps at the feeling of warmth.
"What is that hot feeling?"
Naib raises his eyebrow. "Hot? But it's pretty chilly today?"
"No, no.. touch me again." Eli grabs Naib’s hand and presses it against his cheek. He only watches the octopus do his thing. "This feeling is so.. strange. I have never felt something that is so comforting and warm. Is this why humans love to snuggle during cold weather? Or sit by the fire that they magically make?"
Naib looks at him before bursting out laughing. Never have he seen someone so entertaining in ways that could tickle his fancies.
"Yes, Eli. We like to stay warm in cold weather in many ways." He snickers thinking of all the things he has to teach Eli.
"If that's the case," Eli retrieves all of his tentacles and holds Naib’s hands with both of his. He looks at Naib dead center of his eyes and says, "I.. want to live with you. No, more like, I want to be with you. I want to explore the depths of humanity that no other of my sea people have gone through. You are the very first human to witness us and live through it."
"Why does this sound like a proposal? ..Well whatever. Even if it was, I wouldn't mind taking him-"
"So that's why I decided, I'll be your mate!"
Everything stopped processing in his mind. Naib looks at Eli with a disbelief expression before saying, "Wait, what?"
"Not only are you very attractive, I could claim you as my mate so no other marine creatures could come close to you. Consider it as my mark of territory."
Naib swore he could see a flower aura emitting from him and shakes his head. "W-Wow, this is very sudden.."
"Hehe, well yes. For a human it is, but when you're a marine creature like us, no questions are usually asked."
"..Yeah. I'll.." Naib thinks, "How would I know if he still kills people? No, I’ll make sure he doesn’t devour someone else unless it’s.. necessary. What becomes of his friends? I mean, he looks pretty nice- what am I kidding, his looks are god tier in people's beauty standards. If I said yes, how would I explain to Emma about bringing home another man?" Then he quickly made up his mind and smiled at Eli who stared at him anxiously.
"If only you behave, then yes. I'll also accept you as my mate."
Eli jumps in joy and tackles Naib. “Thank you thank you! Now I have to call my Lord again to convert me!”
The detective chuckles. “That’s a bit too early isn’t it? I have to teach you the basic manners of humans before you can become one. Besides, how can I be sure you won’t eat more humans on land?”
The octopus man smiles. “Don’t worry about that. I may have a large diet, but I heard that human food comes in many varieties. That should be enough to fill my appetite.”
“That’s a relief. Now then, keep in mind that we’re still in Indonesia. My home is located across this country. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to bring you with me..”
“Oh? That’s easy. Remember that Hastur exists, he can do anything. Hehe.. maybe I should ask him to come with me..”
Naib deadpans. “Right, gods exist in their world. I forgot how spoiled they might be. Wait a minute.” He looks at Eli. “Are you sure? He doesn’t appear to like me in the court.. Not with those eyes anyways.”
“It’s a habit of his. When he stares hard at you, it simply means that he’s intrigued by you.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Of course! It’s an honor to be the center of the attention of the Lord!”
“Anyways, how will you come with me? What about your family or friends?”
“Worry not. My family aren't here and my friends.. Well, I’m not sure to be honest. It’s hard to keep track of everyone when they constantly move around for food. But I’m sure they don’t mind if I leave. I just gotta tell them, that’s all. And about the travel, I’ll simply ask Hastur for a way. Tracking you won’t be a problem since that mark on your arm will alert me.”
Naib nods. “..Alright, if you say so. My trip here can only last for a month max and it’s already been 3 weeks. It’s about time I head home.”
Eli slither up to Naib and holds his mark hand. “Promise me that you’ll think about me on your way there. There’s an old folklore in the sea animalia kingdom that if the marked mate has their partner in mind, they will always feel where the other one is no matter the amount of distance.” His blue eyes glimmer with a smile adorn his face. Naib slightly widens his eyes at the sight before looking away with a tint of pink blushes forming on his face.
“Yes.. I will.”
—---
.
.
.
“Ah.. she’s still not home. I’m guessing her case is a rather difficult one as well. Maybe I should make a phone call soon to let her know I came back.”
“She?”
Naib takes off his coat and hangs it on the side. He looks at the human Eli who dresses himself up for the job and grins. “Yes, my work assistant, Lady Truth. We would often work together to solve cases, but there are times where we split our work to finish it faster. Though, the case of the missing angel statue has been a popular topic in the news recently.. is she solving that one instead? ”
Eli quickly walks over and hugs Naib tightly. “Nooo, only I can be your partner. No one else!”
He chokes out the air left in his lungs. “E-Eli let go, I c-can’t breathe..”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Listen. This occupation requires lots of thinking and extra precautions. Any slip ups and we’re out of business, got it?”
“Yes, sir! By the way, can Hastur live here too? He said he wants to watch us work.”
“..So he did come. Hm.. there’s no more guestrooms for him to reside in.”
“No need. He’s more fond of water. Is there a fish tank somewhere or?”
“No. The last time we had one was in our old department. Haven’t set up one yet.”
Then, suddenly, the area next to Eli morphs into a fish tank. It’s about 100 gallons with a tiny castle on the side of the tank and sand substance. Naib looks at it in shock while Eli smiles delightfully. “Ah, my Lord! Is this your chosen home?” A quick shadow gently leaps into the tank and forms into a purple octopus. It spins around and Eli laughs.
Naib stands there with a disbelieving look before shaking his head. One, Eli’s laugh nearly made his heart skip a beat and two.. well, a fish tank with an octopus? That’s uncalled for but he doesn’t mind. The detective went to sit down on his working chair and opened his trusty suitcase. He carefully places down the new case and organizes the photos taken at the crime scene.
He hears Eli walking closer before stopping. “What’s this?”
“A new case. I received it before you sneaked in here with Hastur. The water system was poisoned and nearly killed everyone in a neighboring city with the contaminated source. In addition, some bodies were found to be ripped out or sliced into pieces.” He shows a gruesome picture of a dead body with deep bite marks left behind. “This is one of the pieces of evidence left behind by the culprit.” He watches Eli’s expression morph from neutral to anguish. His eyes shine before a smirk dance on his lips. “Eli.. Do you recognize anything about this case? Perhaps the doing of one of your sea people?”
“Umm..” The other looks away before muttering, “Yes I do..”
Bingo.
“Do you know who they are?” Though Naib remains calm, Eli was the complete opposite. He was sweating and hesitating. He makes a note to teach the humanoid octopus how to control his emotions.
“It’s.. my friends. Aesop and Norton. It was..”
Naib raises one of his eyebrows at one of the names he recognized. “Aesop?”
Then, Eli burst out with a cry, “It was my idea! I told Aesop to poison the water system to eliminate some human lives! I didn’t think he would bring Norton into this!”
Naib chuckles darkly. “I wonder if this Aesop is the one I met a while ago, but I’ll tell him that later.” He stands up and pat Eli on the head. “What’s done is done. What’s left is to prevent them from ending more lives and bringing too much attention to themselves. Besides, they’re your friends, right? Certainly, you will be a worthy assistant in this endeavor. Plus, this can be your first case to add on to your experience as a newly recruited detective.”
“..Really? A-As your assistant?” Eli blushes at the thought.
Naib smiles. “Yes really. Don’t do anything that may appear unprofessional in the public, got it?”
“Yes, sir!”
—-
When the two pack the things they need, well Naib doing most of the work while Eli admires him from afar, the two stand at the exit door of the detective agency department. Eli was required to wear a blindfold since he’s too sensitive to light.
“This is it. One more step and we’re on our way out again. God..” Naib sighs and he slumps, “I can’t catch a break, can I?”
“Is this what you do all day long?”
“Yes, it’s my job after all. Everyday always has some sort of case. It’s not an easy occupation if you are weak minded. In addition, there is a chance you might even perish if you’re not careful.”
“I see.. So if you were to make a mistake in a case, wouldn’t the public lash out at you?”
“...” Naib didn’t comment. He grips on the suitcase and looks hard ahead of him. “Yes. They will. There are certain things that humans don’t accept.. and that is failure.”
Eli notices a change in Naib’s mood and holds his unoccupied hand. He looks at the front with him and says, “Sorry I asked. It must’ve.. brought uneasy memories for you.” He felt Naib gripping his hand back.
“It’s fine. Some things aren’t easy to take care of, that’s all. No man is perfect but the idea of becoming one brings nothing but burdens and suffering.” The two look at each other at the exact same thing and form a soft smile.
“If this society decides to throw you away again,” Eli says as he takes Naib’s hand and places it on his cheek, “Then, I’ll be here to protect you. I wasn’t present in your past, but I will do my best to make you never suffer from that way again.”
His eyes widened. Though it sounds like a simple statement, it hits him deeply. So often has he been alone that he forgot about having a trusting partner.
His words are almost enchanting if it wasn’t for his sharp mind, but man does Eli know where to strike when he’s not on his guard. He growls and says, “You..” Naib moves his hand and grips Eli by his shirt.
“W-Wait, did I say something wrong- Mmhh!”
He quiets down as soon as their lips touch. They kiss silently and the only one making lewd sounds is Eli. Naib lets go of his grip as they share a delightful mouth to mouth conversation.
No words, just action.
When the air is about to leave both of their bodies, they let go of each other.
“So.. uh..” Eli’s face is bright pink. His mouth was a bit numb from Naib’s dominating tongue rampaging through his mouth with no mercy. And it somewhat turns him on. Is this why humans enjoy kissing so much?
Naib smirks at Eli’s reaction before taking his hand. “There’s no need to say anything. As long as you're here next to me, I’m already satisfied with that.”
Eli makes an inaudible gasp before forming a big smile. He grabs his hand around Naib’s and nods. They make a loving glance at each other before Naib says, “Let’s go. We have a case to take down, don’t we?”
The other giggles and replies, “Yes, we shall.”
When they leave through the door, the purple octopus that resides in the tank watches them go. A deep chuckle echoes in the empty room before he turns directly to the face of the camera. He forms his tentacles to make up a word to mark the epilogue.
The end.