Chapter Text
The ship rocked with the rhythm of the sea, gliding across the horizon as Gon sat high above in the crow’s nest. The salty ocean air felt fresh against his face as he admired the setting sun glistening upon the horizon.
“Gon! Get your butt down here and work like the rest of us!” someone called.
“Sorry Kurapika!” Gon yelled back.
“Captain Kurapika, you mean? How is the rest of the crew going to respect me if my first mate doesn’t even call me Captain?” Kurapika’s serious demeanor was betrayed by the slight smile on his face. His blonde hair was a contrast to the deep blue of his captain’s coat— with gold Kurta-style designs embroidered onto it. Gon admired how the wind waved the tails of the coat gracefully in the air.
“My apologies Captain ,” Gon said as he bowed exaggeratedly, “But you gotta come up here before the sun sets to look at the view, it’s amazing!”
Kurapika rolled his eyes, patting the nearest crewmate on the bustling ship to fetch their youngest member.
Gon looked down at the deck; Kurapika shouting orders from behind the wheel, his mates either cleaning, carrying out Kurapika’s orders, or—in the special case of Leorio—preparing dinner. The ship’s name was “The Emperor’s Revenge”, a fitting name for a grand yet experienced ship of this scale— dents upon its regal woodwork worn like battle scars, as only the toughest could break through the magic infused on its exterior.
“Hey Gon!” a voice piped up from behind him.
Gon whipped around, seeing Bisky, with her lemon-colored ponytail swaying behind her, standing upright with an all-too-sweet disposition.
“Wanna do some math?”
Gon gulped, fearing whatever Bisky was plotting. “Uh—you know I’m not too good at math—”
Bisky cut him off, taking out one of her signature homemade bombs. “If ten bombs go off if the crow nest isn’t empty in the next ten seconds, how many pieces of Gon will be left to bury?” Bisky said with a menacing smile.
“Okay! Okay! I get it, I’m leaving now-!“ Gon yelped, scrambling to climb down from the crows nest, almost falling in the process.
“Well well, look who finally decided to join us,” Kurapika said as Gon jumped down onto the deck. Gon scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.
“The night’s fast approaching, did you at least look out for land while you were daydreaming up there?”
“I actually did see land—due east then straight ahead,” Gon said proudly.
“Perfect. Now make yourself useful and tie up the sails when we pull into a stop or it’s barnacle duty for the night while the rest of the crew hits the tavern.”
“Oh don’t be so hard on him Kurapika,” Melody said, tugging on the ropes.
“Well, who else is going to? Leorio ?” Kurapika motioned to the trapdoor leading to the galley.
“What about me? I’m a great teacher figure,” Bisky protested.
“… You might end up actually killing him—”
“Well it’s his fault if he’s too weak to withstand the blast of my bombs.”
“I think that might be why Bisky—”
“I heard my name—! Are you guys gossiping about me while I slave over your dinners?” Leorio’s head popped out from below deck.
The group burst out with an overlapping chorus of “No—” and “Of course not!” and “We would never!” and “You must have misheard haha—” which seemed to only add to Leorio’s suspicions.
But the lighthearted atmosphere suddenly shifted as there was a splash and an inhuman screech nearby. Kurapika focused his eyes on the source of the sound. A sharp, spiked fin arched up and back into the sea, confirming it.
“All non-hunters below deck! ” Kurapika shouted with rising urgency, leaving the wheel for Melody to steer in his stead.
The crew ran to their positions, Gon taking his place next to Kurapika’s side. They prepared their varied weapons for slaughter: chained harpoons, pistols, cutlasses, canons, and—in Bisky’s case—bombs. The sun had already dipped below the horizon, leaving the waves black and dangerous. But even in the dark, Gon could see the infamous glow of Kurapika’s scarlet eyes. “The Crimson-eyed Captain”, “The Cursed Red-Eyed Captain”, “The Captain whose eyes shine with the color of blood”. There have been many names, many rumors, and many whispers. But to Gon, Kurapika will always be- Kurapika. Who let him join his crew back when nobody would let him set foot onto the wooden planks of a ship. Who would always be a dear friend.
A large, smooth tail with spiked fins hit against the side of the ship, rocking it violently, then disappeared back into the inky ocean.
“Eyes up,” Kurapika directed. “Looks like class C but we can’t get cocky.”
The rest of the crew nodded, Gon steadying the aim of his harpoon. For a moment it was quiet, then the sea below erupted—the sea beast leaping up and over the ship, lumpy skin glistening in the moonlight as several harpoons followed it.
“It’s a Lurcher! Aim for the gills and tail fin!” Kurapika yelled.
Kurapika and Gon gave each other a knowing look, facing ahead and launching their harpoons in unison to hit the Lurcher’s gills on both sides. The monster thrashed, roaring in pain.
“Someone hit the tail before the tail hits us—!” Gon called out.
The creature circled the ship, impatient. Just as it prepared to strike, a fiery explosion bloomed from one of Bisky’s bombs thrown at its tail. The creature shrieked, cut off by Kurapika delivering the final blow— silver bullets finding a home in its heart.
A moment of silence passed as the beast slumped against the deck, dead.
“You all know the drill,” Kurapika returned his gun back into its holster, leaving to go below deck without another word. Murmurs could be heard among the crew...
“Never seen class C this close to an island…”
“Captain seems to be bothered by it, there must be something bigger going on.”
“Alright, you heard him,” Gon stepped up, hoping to ease the tension in the air, “let’s get this done before we hit the docks!”
——
Even as the rest of the crew spilled out from below deck after the beast was killed, Kurapika wouldn’t come out from below deck for a while. No sign of Leorio either. Melody left the ship with Gon as she went to check. The crew awkwardly took turns fetching their dinners from the kitchen, steering clear of the Captain’s Quarters which was sure to be closed to visitors. This happened sometimes—after they had finished tussling with a particularly tricky sea monster, Kurapika would retreat to his quarters and would be unable to leave or talk to anyone for a few minutes or so. After that Kurapika would come back recovered, but with subtle lines of sorrow and a certain solemnness to his gaze. Kurapika’s episodes were usually rare and short-lived, but recently they had been getting worse—for some reason he refused to disclose.
Gon surveyed the deck, the anxious people within it full of uncertainty. Leorio often stayed by his side to comfort Kurapika, sometimes Melody too—leaving Gon with the responsibility of the ship and crew, as well as his own worries about the situation.
Kurapika finally emerged as the ship came to a rest a good distance away from the docks, Gon calling for anchor. Leorio and Melody followed not long after.
“Everything okay?”
“It’s fine,” Leorio answered for Kurapika. “Thanks for asking Gon, but don’t worry about it.” Kurapika gave a small, tired smile of reassurance.
“Just focus on getting your drinking game on for the tavern tonight!” Leorio gave a thumbs up while Kurapika facepalmed.
Gon had a feeling it really wasn’t fine, but he didn’t want to pry—so he was thankful for the subject change.
“Leorio—Gon is far too young to drink,” Bisky piped up.
“Actually,” Kurapika pointed a finger at Gon, “he needs to go back and stay with the ship as punishment for slacki-"
“He’s the baby of the crew,” Bisky interrupted.
“I’m 17 now guys- come on—” Gon pouted.
“Still a babyyyyy~” Bisky cooed.
“You’re just thinking that if Gon starts drinking you’ll feel old,” Kurapika poked.
“I’m not old!” Bisky snapped, earning a round of laughter from everyone else.
“Whatever you say, Bisk,” Gon snickered.
“Alright enough of that,” Kurapika shook his head, “Melody! With me to collect some bounty for that Lurcher, the rest of you enjoy a good time at the first tavern you can find!”
The crew cheered as the Captain turned to leave, Melody catching up to him.
“I bet Leorio is gonna be drunk by the time we get there” Kurapika whispered to Melody.
“Heard that!”
The two chuckled, walking off. “See you in a bit~”
Gon and the rest of the crew burst into the local tavern, filling the air with lively laughter.
The bartender, whose name was Wing, was actually pretty pleasant to chat with. Just as Kurapika predicted, Leorio had already begun to feel tipsy with a few swigs of alcohol.
“YOU KNOW WHAT? HiC- I think thaaaat hiC- I believes we make a story tellin’ contest,” he declared proudly. “Pirate tales versus Tavern tales, ey?”
Bisky laughed, “I have tons of stories I could tell you! Like the legend of Greed Island OoooOOO~”
“Are you sure you didn’t make that up just now?” Gon raised a brow.
“Of course not,” Bisky exclaimed, “it’s all true, I’m telling you!”
“Well I have a rumor…”
The room seemed to simmer down as everyone turned to Wing, his ominous tone drawing interest.
“In fact, it started in the town not too far away from this one—just past the mountain ridge. At first, it was just a single mysterious disappearance… then an entire handful of people seemed to be suddenly stolen away at night without another trace. Not one sliver of evidence as to where those people were taken was left behind, not one single speck of dust out of place. But one day, one of those who were reported missing washed ashore… he drowned. The townspeople took their boats over to where the body may have drifted from, and saw a horrifying sight,” Wing took a moment of silence for suspense. Almost the entirety of the crew had huddled around the black-haired bartender now, waiting impatiently for the next part of the story. Wing took a dirty cup, cleaning it with a small cut of cloth.
“And then?” Gon asked.
“And then,” Wing turned the cup thoughtfully in his hands. “They found all the missing people,” the bartender then slammed the cup onto the bar with a resounding “ THUD !”
“Found them all dead , floating adrift among the jagged rocks beneath the cliffs. Some of the victims were slashed across their faces—blood now turned black. The scratches were small enough to belong to the hands of a man, but the sharp, jagged, and frenzied cuts couldn’t belong to anything but a beast. Their pale, bloated bodies were scooped out of the water and brought to the town for funerals. But the town had no time to grieve, as the next victim wasn’t stolen away but attacked. Their body was left in the middle of the plaza, like it was meant to be a warning. It was clear now that all those missing people were murdered . The body in the plaza had their heart ripped clean out of their chest, and had a great big slash on their back— similar to the scratches on the past victim’s faces— almost like a trademark for the apparent killer.”
The crew looked worriedly among each other, all wondering the same thing.
“You all must be thinking, “who, or what could have done this?”, right?” Wing seemed to read all of their minds.
“Could it be someone from the town? They could have created their own monster claws,” Bisky thought aloud.
Wing shook his head, “The attacks have spread to more than just that town now, and there are still no clues to investigate other than the bodies left behind. There have been copycats, those who tried to recreate the style of murder, but they have always been caught. If it makes you feel better, the attacks are making a beeline away from here, so chances of them appearing here are low. But whoever this mysterious killer is, they know what they’re doing, and are very particular in doing it.”
“So there’s nothing? No leads or anything?” Gon inquired.
“Well there has been one lead,” Wing replied, pointing at the poster pinned to the corkboard.
The poster had a hand, with razor-sharp claws etched onto the paper. The fingers were webbed together, and scales protruded from its fair skin.
“A hand? That’s it?” Leorio squinted at it, as if it would reveal more secrets the more he looked.
“And furthermore,” Wing went on, “it was drawn with the help of a little girl’s description. She had a nightmare and woke up— catching a small glimpse of the hand and going back to sleep,” Wing shook his head, “not the most reliable source but it’s the only thing we have on them.”
“Well it definitely doesn’t look fully human ,” Bisky muttered, studying the drawing. “What is that, scales?”
Leorio threw his hands up, “just what we needed, a fishman committing mass murder!”
“Well not exactly,” Wing interjected, “that’s why I said rumor. The murders are definitely real, but I must emphasize that the speculation for the identity of the killer is more on the skeptical side. Some believe the killer is actually multiple people in a coordinated cult, some people think it’s an escaped convict, etcetera, etcetera…”
The mood shifted again, down to a place of chilling darkness.
“An increasing amount of people, including myself, have begun to suspect that the killer is a mysterious and lethal hybrid species of mermaid and monster. An elusive, shapeshifting, harbinger of death called—"
“ A Siren .”
Everyone present in the tavern had whipped around to direct their gazes at the source of the sudden voice, to find Captain Kurapika standing in the doorway with Melody next to him.
“You know about this, Kurapika?” Gon asked gently, knowing the shadows in Kurapika’s eyes all too well— though he didn’t know the story behind them.
“I’ve…” Kurapika walked up to the corkboard, surveying the scaly arm, “had a run in with one before…”
Even Leorio, as drunk as he was, gave Kurapika a moment of respectful silence, glancing at Melody in worry.
Kurapika ripped the poster from the wall, “they kill with no remorse or kill for sport,” the paper crinkled in his grip, “they can shapeshift to look like us humans, and have irresistible voices that lead you to your own demise. A siren song. Their claws, just like the one drawn here, have evolved specially to slice clean through flesh.”
Kurapika cleared his throat, “with the amount of experience I’ve collected as a monster hunter, this shouldn’t come as a surprise to you all,” Kurapika turned to face the crew.
The crew nodded amongst themselves in agreement.
“Captain is the best there is,” one exclaimed, hoping to lift Kurapika’s spirit.
“I for one would fight a thousand sirens since I know the Captain has my back,” another cheered.
“And we will have the Captain’s back all the same,” a third piped up, the crew becoming rowdy with encouragements, “you don’t have to worry about no fishman Captain!”
The crew erupted with overlapping words of consensus. They encircled Kurapika and cheered for their beloved Captain, earning humble protests from the man in question. Gon cheered along with them, glad that they were able to pull Kurapika out of the shadows.
“Wait—“
Everyone quieted at the sound of Captain Kurapika’s voice, turning to listen.
“Gon, if you’re here, who’s watching the ship?”
All eyes turned to Gon, a pink flush of embarrassment rising in his cheeks. Kurapika crossed his arms, looking at Gon pointedly. When the dark-haired boy simply stood frozen in place, Kurapika began to count.
“…one—"
Gon had bolted out of the tavern before the last vowel left Kurapika’s lips. The entire tavern erupted with laughter from the way it was like a parent reprimanding their son, the sound fading away into quiet silence as Gon ran toward the docks. Gon huffed, bracing himself on his knees. A smile dawning on his face about the situation, “they’re always looking out for me,” he thought to himself. He kneeled down to untie the rowboat’s rope knotted to the pier.
But a voice in the back of his head couldn’t help but whisper…
‘But there’s still something missing… isn’t there?’
Gon’s thoughts were interrupted as his ears perked up to the sound of…
…singing?
Gon dropped the rope and found himself on the beach, fixated on finding the source, wandering further and further down the shoreline. It became clearer as he treaded upon the sand, finding the loops and curves of the angelic melody addictively mesmerizing. Gon stopped behind a rock—the tune’s owner just ahead – snapping out of his trance only to enter another. He peeked from his cover in the shadows and…
Oh, this is…
Gon’s breath caught in his throat, soaking in the figure before him. Even the brilliant moon stepped down from its pedestal to shine a spotlight upon the true gem of the night, his fair skin glowing under the softness of the sky. Silver hair blew against the gentle sea breeze, the picture of his silhouette one that Gon never wanted to forget.
Oh, he’s…
he’s beautiful.
As Gon studied the mysterious stranger before him, his eyes traveled down to see a tail—one whose white and blue tinted scales glistened in the light, fins both elegant and dangerous— replacing what would be human legs.
A siren.
But instead of wanting to run, Gon found himself wanting to step closer— to know his story. Because even though Gon felt the magnetic pull towards the siren as he sang, it wasn’t in any way malicious. They were singing to no one in particular, in the same way a child would cry themselves to sleep. There were no lyrics, yet Gon could feel each note brimming with emotion and all of Gon’s thoughts were filled with beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
The siren’s voice seeped deep into Gon’s bones, seeming to reach deeper and deeper into the depths of his heart, his very core. Gon’s eyes glistened, threatening an outpour.
But this song, he realized, is so impossibly beautiful— and so impossibly… sad.
How lonely… they must be…
The moment then shattered as the siren whipped around in alarm, Gon realizing he had taken a step forward from his hiding place— sand and gravel crunching under the weight of his boot.
But as Gon looked up at the Siren, time stopped. Gon took a sharp inhale, filling his lungs out with the brief respite of cold air. Brown eyes met with striking blue, tears streaking down their long-since-stained cheeks. Gon wanted to ask, “who made you cry like that?” and pommel whatever name tumbled out of their lips. But a semi-transparent, white, protective film slid over the siren’s eyes, slamming the window to his soul shut.
“Wait!” Gon barely managed to choke out as the siren leaped back into the sea, leaving Gon starstruck and breathless.
——
Gon couldn’t stop thinking of that night. Again and again he found himself staring out into the ocean, hoping to catch a glimpse of the siren’s tail fins, or to hear echoes of his voice carried by the wind. And maybe he was trying to convince himself that if he could find the mysterious siren, there was hope to find that missing piece of himself.
Gon could feel Kurapika’s worried and watchful gaze, but couldn’t bring himself to explain. What would he even say? So Gon busied himself with simple tasks to fill the time. Scrubbing the deck, retying the ropes, cleaning out the cannons and harpoon guns. Gon was almost relieved when Bisky yelled for someone to slice off the barnacles sticking to the side of the ship.
Gon tied a rope around his waist, bringing a small knife to pry the stubborn barnacles from the wood. It was a mystery how the magic within the planks stopped razor sharp teeth from piercing through, but not a few pesty crustaceans from latching onto the ship. He grappled down to the side, bringing his knife to loosen the barnacles off. Netting lowered into the sea beside him, intending to catch today’s lunch.
Gon slowed his work to a halt, spotting something strange over the horizon.
“Hey Melody?” Gon called out, not taking his eyes off the line of splashes in the distance coming increasingly closer, “do you hear something approaching, or am I going crazy?”
Melody closed her eyes, cupping her hands around her ears. “I hear swimming, it’s coming towards…” Melody’s eyes flew wide open, calling out,
“Brace for impact!!!”
It happened faster than Gon expected, the entire ship jolting violently, being dragged by the creature caught in the fishing net— pulling and thrashing in bewildered confusion.
The net lifted, fish wriggling from the sudden withdrawal of water, and a large tail that was clearly not supposed to be there sticking out.
But Gon recognized that tail.
He pulled himself back onto the ship, the net being moved over the deck, swinging around and dripping with fish blood as the creature trapped within tried to escape. The net was suddenly sliced open, a mess of flopping tuna, fish guts, and in the center of it all— a siren. The siren. The one Gon saw that one fateful night. Except that now, in the full light of day, Gon could clearly see every detail they had to offer. But Gon could see his fair skin was littered with scars, both old and new, and as he peered into their blue crystalline eyes, all Gon could see was fear.
The siren’s chest heaved with quickening breath, eyes darting each and every way as their tail lay strangled within the maze of ropes— stuck.
“A siren,” Kurapika muttered under his breath. A few curious crew members shuffled closer, the siren perking up in alarm.
The siren’s pupils then turned into sharp slits, like turning on a killer switch, taking a big inhale and—
Kurapika’s eyes flashed with recognition. Looking upon his beloved crew, at Gon, and from him came a final, desperate warning— the brief flash of white before the lightning strike: “COVER YOUR EARS, NOW! ”
— the siren began to sing.