Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He was in a fucking fishing net. And he is not even a fish. That’s just crazy. The funny thing though is that it happened so quickly he wasn’t even able to escape - one second he is trapped and the other - in the fucking aquarium (again, he is not a fish). Well, maybe the open wound he got from the orca helped these humans to catch him. Maybe.

The people who somehow managed to capture him (sheer luck, nothing else, or maybe they were on the same side with that orca) didn’t waste their time to even look at him or make sure that his wound wasn’t severe. No, the only thing he could hear from above was talking about how much they would profit if these jerks peeled his golden skin off. And honestly - at that exact moment he promised that whoever comes first near his temporary cage (temporary because he is going to escape of course) would lose their life. Oh, shark bite is nasty. And the shark’s revenge is nastier. 

He tries not to move too much so that the wound won’t open more and his blood won’t paint the water. But he can already see that the skin on his tail became duller, darker grey and his human-like skin was like copper instead of a shiny gold. It irritates him, but for now, he can’t do anything. He tried to break the glass with his sharp claws, but without additional pressure it was worthless. The more time passes the more he starts to realise - maybe it’s his doom. His final day. It feels weird to think about this.

The boat starts to move more and he can better hear the waves and the wind. Even when he was little it wasn’t that hard to forecast the storm.

In about half an hour, he starts to hear shouts and paces. And he doesn’t feel bad for them. Oh no, he is looking forward to that moment when they all will be under the water, but he will be the only one that will laugh. Karma is so sweet.

But nothing happens. Somehow the ocean calms down and the only thing that gets lost is a few barrels. The jerks are not even bothered by that. 

So he is pissed. And he wants to break something (preferably the glass), but his anger weakens him. He sinks to the bottom of the tank and tries to sleep. But it’s like trying to sleep after an exhausting day when you want to fall asleep but can’t because it’s too painful. So he drifts from reality and dream. He has dreams about his life and about what he always wanted. About places, he visited or heard about. About people who he lost. Everything is so muffled and almost unpleasant. There are talks and screams and orders. He hears it all but he is too tired to understand if it’s real or not. And then he hears absolutely nothing. Which is weird. 

Maybe his body finally gave up?

“¿Que paso, hermoso?” (What happened, beautiful?)

The voice is close but not too loud. It’s a nice one, calming. Like warm sand after hours of swimming. He can’t understand a word but the tone is so comforting that he can’t avoid the tiredness. So he finally falls asleep.

And hopes he will at least wake up.

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“¿Solo dime porque?” (Just tell me why? ) The other voice that is less comforting rings in his ears, making him tense. “El es oro y te niegas a tomar el tesoro!” ( He is gold and you refuse to take the treasure! ) Oh great, now they are screaming. Why can’t he die in peace?

Oh wait, he is not dead. Why, though?

“No tenemos necesidad de una sirena” ( We have no need for a siren ), the notthatvoice continues. They sound pissed, but it feels like they want to calm down. It feels like they know they can’t get angry. 

He can tell that he is still in the water, but something is different. He feels too lazy to move but when he finally bears himself and wiggles his tail, waiting for pain - nothing comes. The pain is not here, it’s gone, but the tiredness is still present, like if he swam across the seven seas or fought with the squid again (these fuckers can be pretty stubborn, but guess what - he is not one to quit). 

“Silencio” ( Silence ), itis the voice that he heard when he drifted to unconsciousness. It was irritated by something and for a moment he didn’t want to open his eyes and see to whom this voice belonged. For a moment he felt bad that he couldn’t understand what they were saying. But then the voice continued calmer, closer, warmer “Está bien, no te preocupes” ( It's OK, don't worry ).

That’s how he understood that they were talking to him. And he was always curious about something new. Or someone in this case.

The first thing he saw - purple, like the sky after dawn, eyes. They were on him, curious, waiting, telling him that everything was alright. Oh, the eyes were even better than the voice. He didn’t even notice at first that he was still in the improvised aquarium, though now opened from the top and a little bit smaller. And he was in a different room than before. 

Oh and also the man in front of him was definitely a pirate. Wait, what?

“Estás a salvo, no te haremos daño” ( You're safe, we won't hurt you ), the man added, noticing slight confusion in merman’s eyes. “Pero hay algo que necesitamos” ( But there is something we need ).

The words didn’t make sense to him. But speaking out loud probably was not a great idea either. And what could he possibly say? “Sorry, what?” or “Who are you?” or “Why did you save me and then put me in this stupid glass box?” or-

“Beautiful eyes”.

Oh shit did he actually say it? Well, judging by the chuckle behind the pirate (probably the guy whom he was talking to earlier), he did. At least now the man was confused too. Oh, they don’t know each other’s languages… this will be so fun (he is definitely going to die).

“Le gustas” ( He likes you ), the man behind says and the pirate stops looking confused and instead interested, curious. Somehow it tingles on the merman’s skin, like a cool breeze. “What is a-“ he is thrown aback by the sudden change of language and the fact that they are trying to speak to him, “-a name?” and he points a finger at the merman. 

Well, not only was he captured for the first time (unfortunately, the second time followed shortly after the first), but it is the first time that his capturers (okay he didn’t have a lot of experience but still) asked him his name. That is so strange. Maybe that’s why he has no fear or anger. Just a big chunk of confusion.

The man behind (for now he will be called that and nothing else) said something to the pirate, perhaps translating the question. Now they both were looking at him, expecting the answer. And fuck, this can’t go any worse or any crazier. So he bares his teeth and notices how the man behind flinches and puts the hand on the knife on his waist, but the pirate doesn’t move. Oh no he is still waiting, still curious, like it’s some exciting play. 

“Foolish”, the merman moves his tail so that the water splashes out of his tank. But the pirate only smiles at him and comes closer.

The man stretches his hand for a handshake and Foolish, curious, swims closer to the glass and out of the water.

“Vegetta, placer” ( pleasure ), and who Foolish is to not give his hand in return. The man’s, Vegetta’s , hand is warm but calloused as if he worked day and night or fought a thousand enemies. Perhaps, the latter is true, judging the firm, but not too tight handshake. What an interesting human indeed. 

“Maxo”, the man behind pipes in, but doesn’t offer a hand this time, “You speak only English?” 

He thinks for a second. Honestly, Foolish doesn’t exactly understand what this Maxo is talking about but nods anyway. Well, technically he can speak not only to humans (some humans, the pirate doesn’t seem to understand him) but to some sea creatures too. Well, technically he can understand them. Not speak with them. Foolish doesn’t know exactly how to describe it so he doesn’t say anything. He was always told that speaking less than he wants is the way to survive and currently, he doesn’t want to push his luck.

They made sure he was no longer bleeding and even put some tight white cloth over his wounds. So maybe being quiet for a little bit longer was not a bad idea. The thing is that he can not stay silent forever (some tried to make him, huh, tough chance).

“Foolish”, Maxo makes sure that the merman’s attention is on him and after a hard cough he finally asks, “How much do you know about the god of the ocean?”

Chapter Text

Foolish was always advised against interacting with humans. In the town where he lived, it was a common belief that a human could hurt or even kill you just to get the precious scales of a mermaid or a merman. Pirates were the most dangerous ones.  

Still, when Foolish was little he used to say:

“I am going to be friends with a pirate and they will give me all their treasure”.

Kids would laugh at that and the adults would look disappointedly, shaking their heads and telling him that when he gets older he will understand. So Foolish grow up, and understood, but this thrill never disappeared. 

So this situation is almost his dream come true. Almost.

“Your tail looks better”, one of the pirates, completely covered in black and red cloth, said as he inspected the merman's wound and started changing white cloth on it, bandages , “but try not to move it too quickly, we don’t want you to get more hurt”.

Which didn’t sound like something that he should believe from people who still kept him in the aquarium. Sure, they were feeding him with big fish and the top of his “cage” was always open, but the cage is still a cage. Even if it’s quite big and out of glass. The ocean is still bigger. The freedom is still out there.

“The captain will come later to check on you”, this guy gave him one last check and only then left. 

Honestly, if Foolish was allowed to be in the ocean it would be even better. It’s not like he would leave the pirates. Ok, maybe he would, but he wants to think he would stick with them for some time. 

“There is an ocean- emm -temple in honour of this god”, explained Maxo, “We are looking for it”, he went closer to the glass and pointed his finger, with a black ring on it, at Foolish “and you understand - it is quite tough when you can’t breathe underwater” Vegetta crossed his arms and looked at the merman curiously. “But you-” Foolish met the purple eyes, but quickly turned his attention back to the speaker. He felt like he was under some spell whenever these eyes were looking at him and frankly, he didn’t want to break it. “You can help us, Foolish”. 

Of course, the temple that the pirates are looking for has treasures. Foolish wasn’t that stupid. And there was a possibility that the pirates won’t want to share their findings, which is still there. But Foolish still hopes that they will give him at least one shiny thing. A crown for instance. Oh, or a cool golden dagger.

“¿Cómo estás, precioso?” (How are you, precious?), the soft voice came from the doorway. The eyes, oh those purple eyes were on him again. Maybe he doesn’t want the golden dagger. Maybe he needs an amethyst.

“What?”, mumbles Foolish, which causes the pirate (not just a pirate, the captain) to smile.

“How are you?”, Vegetta’s accent was noticeable, but honestly, Foolish couldn’t care less. After a few days, he found out that the captain knew some words in English, but it felt as if it was never enough - to understand, to share. To share with a pirate, huh, that’s an exciting thought. 

“Fine”, he is still locked with the only access to water being in his aquarium, but he can’t complain to the captain himself- “also it would be better not being trapped”, and when has he ever thought before talking? 

But luckily for him, Vegetta didn’t understand him. “Fine?” and Foolish doesn’t have a heart to repeat or explain. 

“Si” (yes), so yes Foolish also learned two-three words in Spanish (at least that’s what Maxo named it). The prize for this was right in front of him - the pirate captain smiled, quite pleased. Honestly, the motivation to try to remember more words became more clear to the merman. 

It is strange, but so easy to forget that Vegetta can actually take his life at any moment. Not because Foolish doesn’t see him as somebody strong (oh no, he can see that the captain has some muscles under that dark purple cloth), but because till that point the pirate hasn’t done anything that would hurt the creature. Which is strange, but nice.

He flickers his tail and the purple eyes trail it as the daylight makes some parts of the golden skin shine. The moment is enchanting and Foolish doesn’t know if he should move or become still. The captain moves closer to the glass, but the way his eyes are still on the tail makes Foolish shiver. It’s like it was sunny and warm but in the next second - chilly and windy. Also, it breaks as fast as it started with eyes moving to the merman’s face. And the understatement crosses Vegetta’s face.

The pirates are greedy for gold, so maybe that’s why they don’t care about the god of the ocean - they can’t share.

“You want to steal from god?” Foolish asked bewildered. He has never met people that were disrespecting the god - merfolks were made by the will of the god of the ocean so of course everyone worshipped them and made sure to thank him at least once in eight days. 

“Not steal, no robar ( not steal )”, Maxo laughs and Vegetta frowns slightly, “just -emm -take what nobody took before”.

“¿Tienes miedo?” (are you scared?), Vegetta’s voice breaks him from his thoughts. The pirate is still close, but now is studying his face. Oh heck, those eyes are so close-

“What?”

Suddenly they are interrupted by the knock and then one of the pirates, the one that Foolish hasn’t met before, comes in and quickly says something, something that probably requires Vegetta’s presence, judging by the way that the captain starts to walk away and then, remembering something, tells the unknown pirate:

“Dile que deje de mover la cola, hasta que esté completamente curado” (tell him to stop moving his tail, until it’s fully healed), and then he disappears in the corridor that probably leads to the deck.

“Captain said to stop wiggling”, and then the pirate goes away too, leaving Foolish alone in his glass cage. 

“Aren’t you afraid to anger god?”, he was always told that no matter what you do - your soul will be in the hands of the creator, the one that gave the merpeople power to survive and live for so long. And even though some declared that they have to make their own destiny instead of relying on a higher entity, who can probably just not exist, no one, not a single child, teen or adult ever tried to disrespect their god. “Maybe if you just ask them-”

“¿Por qué le importa el oro al dios?” (Why does the god care about gold? ), Vegetta starts walking near the aquarium as if checking for cracks. “¿Para qué le sirve a un ser inmortal?” ( What purpose does it serve for an immortal being? ) he stops and quickly checks the merman in front of him. “Quizá no sea inmortal...” ( Maybe it’s not immortal… ) he puts his hand on a sheath of his sword that, and Foolish notices it only now, is right here - on the belt of the captain, “y lo que es mortal” ( and what is mortal ), Vegetta takes the sword out and merman’s heart drops from seeing a glimpse of his reflection, from how sharp it looks on the light and the eyes that trail the blade, “se puede matar” ( can be killed ).

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Oh, fuck fate and his own curiosity. If Foolish knew that just by trying to mess with an orca he would get this friking wound - he would still try to make the animal leave this cool destroyed boat that probably had so much interesting stuff, but, well, he will never know now, also maybe more carefully. Okay, maybe not, but that’s beside the point. 

The point is that his fucking wound hurts like it was made by a- well, basically, it does feel like a wound from an orca but- 

“Ooh, fuck”, merman hisses, and even though he knows nobody can hear him and they probably won’t care, he still thinks about screaming. Shit, what if they’ll decide to chop off his tail? No, they need it to get to the treasures. Which means they need him. They need Foolish. Alive. 

He swims up, the head above the water: “Can anybody-” Now how should he say it? It’s not like they all can understand him. Vegetta can’t, he thinks, and the merman has to be lucky for Maxo to hear him. Others haven’t really spoken with him so they don’t have any reason to care if he dies. They can probably catch another merperson. And they can use him as bait. Now, that sounds scary. 

Foolish shivers, even though he is warm, and the water is not cold enough for him to really feel it. He hits the glass because he is not sure that his voice would be loud to catch attention, but his body is weak. He hits the glass again anyway. If he stops fighting - he won’t survive. At least that’s what he was always told, and that’s what got him alive for so long. His tail is restless - it itches and aches, and he just doesn’t know what to do. At one point the thought about it being chopped or ripped away becomes not so terrifying. He can even help speed the process if only it can get him away from this misery. After a few minutes of this agony, Foolish notices that the water now has a few droplets of scarlet blood and he just gives up. 

“Help!” fuck, his voice is not loud enough. It wheezes and he feels like suffocating so he coughs to make the feeling go away. The merman waits a few seconds, but there is no sound. He takes a deep breath and tries again. “Come here! Help!”

Though maybe he tried a little bit too hard because he gets more dizzy, and even though Foolish was able to breathe underwater all his life, he suddenly forgot now. Or maybe his gills just stopped working. Yeah. Wait, when was he underwater again?

Everything goes dark and muffled, so he barely hears the rushed footsteps coming to his (for now hopefully) room. 

Foolish feels like floating, even though he is not an air creature. The ocean was always kind to him, and yes, he is a merman, but still, some of the merfolks had to bring some kind of offerings to the god for the waves to be not so crushing, for the cold stream not so piercing and for the corrals and seaweed to grow better. Foolish had never done these. Well, when he was just a child, he and his mother used to give offerings too. 

The merman feels somebody’s hands on him, carefully picking him up from the water. He wants to protest, but he can’t even say a thing, only mumble. But then his mind falls into the darkness again. He usually doesn’t have too crazy dreams, normally about his plans or last thoughts during the day. But this drifting from consciousness to unconsciousness made the merman see colours blooming right in front of his eyes like the rise and down of the sun sped up. He feels like on the fastest waves, but not the ones that would crash your bones, those that would carry you around the world. He kinda likes this feeling.

“My little friend…”, comes the voice somewhere from far far away. The calloused hands gently cup his face and Foolish just feels like home. “Estarás bien, no te preocupes.” (You will be alright, don’t worry), it’s like a lullaby from childhood, even though he couldn’t understand a few words. “El dolor desaparecerá” (The pain will go away).

As the lights start to dull out, the merman finally opens his eyes and immediately meets with the purple ones. They are darker and somehow softer. Maybe Foolish is delusional and still in his colourful dreams, but when he feels the hand caressing his hair, he doesn’t care if it’s a part of his dream.

He can’t exactly feel his tail, but to be fair he can’t feel anything at all - a complete bliss in mind and body. The room is different and Foolish is definitely not in his (temporarily, hopefully) aquarium, but he is in the water, which is good. Still not in the ocean, which is bad.

“How are you?” Vegetta whispers to him, eyes checking for any small mannerism that could signal pain. That is nice. 

“Better”, they for sure drugged him with some funny-smelling plants, because he giggles and gives his the most loopy smile. 

“Good”, the captain thinks for a second and then finally asks, “¿Quieres que te cuente un cuento de hadas para que puedas dormir?” (Want me to tell you a fairytale so you could sleep?)

“Emm- cuento? Is it like-”, the merman stumbles, the word on the tip of his tongue. 

“Story?” supplies the pirate. He looks a little bit nervous and out of his place, but after Foolish smiles he calms down.

“Oh, yes- I mean- si, si”, Vegetta giggles at that too, the hand still on the merman’s head. Foolish hears the water splashing, so he looks down and there. His fucking tail. Is. Wiggling. Oh God, that is so embarrassing, he will probably die. Or pass out. Can he do both, please?

“Cute”.

Well, maybe it’s not that bad. Especially when all the attention from those beautiful purple eyes is on him. Yerp, he can definitely live like that.