Chapter Text
Missa had always been a fisherman. His brother was a prodigious warrior and his friend dreamed of being president, but Missa had always been a fisherman.
He began selling the fish he caught in his hometown, near the sea, a large coastal settlement where the smell of salt water and the sun reached the most inhospitable corners.
It was a good place to grow up, he and his brother knew it, but when he got his own children he noticed that perhaps his earnings as a fisherman in a town that little by little became a real city were not enough.
His children were the light of his life and the most important thing for him, the competition in the seafood business was fierce and he soon noticed that the demands as a fish supplier were becoming more and more demanding, it did not bother him to have to fight more (even though the sun commonly chews his skin badly after hours in the heat) what did disturb him was spending so much time away from home and from his children.
It broke his heart to barely be able to see them and couldn't take them with him, but he couldn't take them out of school just because he missed them with all his soul, nor could he spend more time at home without putting his financial support at risk. But they couldn't go on like this.
So one day, with his savings and with his heart in his chest, he left his native home. A decision that to this day he knows could not have been better.
He rent a dilapidated house on the shores of the sea, the closest town was small and people did not frequent the beach much unless it was in high season and even then tourists preferred more emblematic beaches and less isolated from everything. The locals were friendly and he even met up with his old friend Roier whose son Bobby was almost the same age as Chayanne (let's ignore how he laughed at the name of his son)
They had been there for a year and within a year he was proud of the modification he had managed to make to the house that he was proud to call a home for him and his children. His son, Chayanne had taken the news of the move in wonder when it happened, relieved to be able to get away from the large crowds who asked him over and over again about his skeleton mask, some of whom had even had the audacity to try to take it off (he needed it, It made him feel strong and more connected to his dad during the time when he spent hours away from home, it was a comfort for him)
His little hero loved the beach so much that he always carried a cute duck float no matter where he went, in his words “to always be ready!”
While his daughter Tallulah was practically a baby in the previous city, she had been born completely mute, which scared him terribly at first but quickly adjusted to the expectations required to take care for her. When she first arrived, he and Chayanne slept in the same bed to watch over her all the time.
Her asthma was detected early and the new house was modified accordingly, making it first of all safe and baby proof. He was so proud of how his little warrior helped him with what he could (which for a small child is not much) and he swore immediately that brought the little girl to protect her.
Now a year after his arrival, Missa and his little family have a wonderful place to be.
Nothing could get better.
The beach house was hidden behind a huge cliff, which cast dramatic shadows on the town's illumination when it was about to get dark and always enhanced the golden sunsets that were breathed in Quesadilla.
The cliff also connected with a secluded area full of trees that Missa remembers seeing while they were driving between moves. That area always gave him a bad vibe. He had heard that the largest river in the country cut right there and that the area was cursed because according to the premises where the spirits went to die.
“The trees are lies” some villagers whispered, “there is nothing alive in the forest.”
Missa knew he saw trees anyway so he laughed and continued on his way. What stopped him was the warning not to let his children pass by there.
"The lilies are a trap" - they said - "to lure the unwary and innocent children into their huge clutches and tear them apart."
Sure…
In any case, it was enough for him to know that his children would never have to go near that forest area because they would live in a city with him to protect them in their happy and monotonous bubble. There is nothing to worry about!
So another day began for Missa, his little girl Tallulah was playing with some turtles with an expression of absolute delight under the watchful eye of little Chayanne who had sat next to his father with his own mini fishing rod, orange with blue and Mint green decorated the contraption, yet Chay continued to get distracted by playing with his sister.
It didn't bother Missa because he was only fishing recreationally this time, maybe if he got a good haul he would save and prepare it (maybe he would even reserve it for himself and his children) but commonly what he did was release the captured fish, then of all things, practicing a little every day would make you improve, no?
His mind blurred right at the junction between the sky and the great sea (avoiding looking up a little) . Would he go to Roier's for dinner in a few hours, maybe he could get something to go? Even though he would like to say that Roier was such a cabron to give a freshly caught fish just to him, the truth is that he was his friend and he was happy to catch up with him, happy to be with his children, happy to have moved to Quesadilla. His children laughed behind him and the smell of salt water and heat hit his nostrils squarely, clearing his mind in waves as soft as sea foam, determined! The next thing he hunts would go to dinner that night! (If it was something good , Missa wouldn't bring him something unpleasant, nope, he has standards)
Missa screamed softly when he felt a sudden tug on his fishing rod! Chayanne cheered up and Tallulah started applauding, he's got it!
OooOOOooO
The agony was a mild balm compared to what he felt now, he was suffering like an undead dog, coursing through his lungs like illness as his form moved along with the other organs within his body, solidifying and preparing, warming under his skin and the water like ice, a contrast between temperatures that he hates and leaves him dizzy and in misery.
-"Do not exaggerate, Phil!” Fit exclaimed, the cold metal edges of the prosthetic feeling warm compared to Philza's extremely cold skin. The former hunter snorted at the effort of breaking the surface of the water with the tense and heavy body of his friend, it was as if the water resisted giving up the selkie, finally with a strong pull he managed to free the almost human silhouette of his friend out of the waters.
-"Are you talking like isn't that a big deal?!” The water and the soft half-removed skin were the only ones covering his body from the waist down, his chest swelled with a loud growl and if Fit didn't know better he would say that he would attack him there and now.
But they had known each other too long for that so the, now, blonde man just grunted and looked at his own reflection with a frown.
The enchanted tide had violently distanced him from the rest of his traveling tribe, perhaps he only planned to stay with them until he finished molting that year, the others had encouraged that there were towns full of people with whom to play and have fun, the others The males murmured something about storms at fishing time with an evil gleam in their eyes and the women planned where and how to hide with hidden fear on their faces.
What made him deeply angry was how, unable to do anything but scream, he had been snatched away from his second most valuable possession; His hat! Thank the gods for the emerald and yellow ribbon was still strongly attached to his ear and his skin, but losing that hat that he had been wearing for longer than many beings had existed made him ever moodier. He spent weeks traveling without purpose, in search of reaching the old forest area that was heard about in legends, an area full of ghosts and spirits where they would be safe until the next molting season and yet he not only achieved it but everything got even worse
The seals were not known for their migratory activities or for going in large groups. They were usually only small tribes, so the simple act of there being so many of them must have raised alarms that something would not go well. But he did not listen and did and followed them insistently with the idea of visiting a new place until the storm separated them. The forest was so dense and its aura was oppressive that not even so many male selkies together would be enough to contradict the power of ancient nature and untamed
He remembers how the water froze beyond what was bearable as if it preferred to freeze before allowing the strange beings to enter its territory, the confusion of why suddenly the element to which they belonged was expelling them from its very environment overwhelmed him until suddenly a rush of water in the form of unpredictable currents took Philza out of combat.
The blonde found himself growling again, but he didn't care; he was upset and deserved some slack after so many months of swimming in vain and losing his own.
-“Calma, calma” the bald man managed, trying to appease him with a hand gesture.
-“Don't fucking touch me!” Phil finished. His easily cheerful voice was distorted by anger. “I don't know, I don´t, what the fuck I'm doing here.” Disoriented like an animal, like a deer that hears the gunshots, the blonde looked at his surroundings, scanning the panorama. A clear coastline, white sand greeted him in the distance and a huge rock formation loomed behind the shore right in front of Phil.
Philza wondered if there was some aquatic cave or underwater formation where he could seek refuge during the next few hours of bodily transfiguration, changing shape even if it was periodically, even if it was a natural thing, it always made him so vulnerable, he had heard so many stories from brothers and sisters, mostly sisters who were taken from the sea, practically stolen by men by stripping them of such valuable parts of themselves.
He didn't want that to be his own fate
So, without the magical protection that that place promised, what was left?
His ice blue eyes locked on the human in front of him, Fit MC, a former beast hunter, focused on folklore like him they met a long time ago, his old friend also intended to reach the protected forest to study its properties and although was scathing about the idea of seeing him campers or by a fae or better yet a dryad the veteran had laughed easily and returned the joke.
The thought of being surrounded by strangers felt less upsetting if he had his friend with him.
Fit sighed, he too could not penetrate the forest's defenses, the protection runes on his metal prosthesis had started to burn as soon as he approached following the migration of seals, he did not expect to see his friend blown away by a paranormal current of water, and much less be dragged like him in his attempt to get him out before suffocate between the sudden movements.
Philza hiss again and Fit's clothes were damp.
-"We should move, if I'm not wrong, there's a coral mine here, I don't know if it's enough for you" the brown-eyed human muses and relaxes his shoulders.
-“No problem, mate, as soon as I completely finish shedding this skin, we can walk back to the forest, right?” Fit nodded with that, hopefully it would take longer, but it would be safer to approach by land this time.
So that's the plan knowing that there was a town near their destination Phil had either mentally prepared himself to deal with humans, he had seen many in his life and had heard even more about them, but he never allowed himself to really meet one, they had some passing encounter in his human form and then he vanished without a trace.
They had no idea how to call him back which always guaranteed him a safe escape that he was almost proud of. Needing a victory he thought about the enjoyable parts of his human form, he could see the architecture and take trophies like shinnies from places with greater magical charge without risking making them react with his own magical nature, he could also enjoy the charming human writings without risking of getting it wet.
He would be lying if he said that a curious part of his nature did not want to know more about the minds that captivate him through their writings, he had heard that the God Totem Undying was a great architect, but there were humans who fought for that title. How? And why? He wondered when he saw the works of humanity, how they were so cruel and sometimes so talented, he did not understand that contradiction that just drove him to know more.
A stranger among his own kind, seeking adventure and answers. Maybe that's why he and Fit got along so well.
Walking slowly towards the coral formation that broke the surface Phil prepared to slide into the water when he noticed it.
In the distance and near the shore he felt stupid for not seeing the diffuse patch of green stripes submerged in the water. Without hesitation he dove into the salty waters to chase his hat that was receding at high speed.
Silly of him, just as birds do not see glass perhaps and aquatic beings cannot see ropes because he did not realize until it was too late that his beloved hat did not move with the tide but against it.
Already too far away to hear the alarmed screams of his friend, the first thing that reached his ears when he left the pressure of the water were three screams of pure shock. He jumped like a torpedo after his target as soon as he rose out of the water, following closely without slowing down. Less than a hair away from reaching his valued hat again, he not only realized that he was outside the surface again, but also fell into a pair of arms, strong, just like reinforced coral and above all warmer than anything that the sea would have provided in its depths, the blue sky was imperturbable without the layer of water enveloping his blue eyes and the air was just as he remembered it from other outings with the difference that it was impregnated with the aromas of not one but from three completely different people. One stronger and more defined than the others, wrapping his arms around his damp skin in a firm grip.
The hat that he had managed to hold at the last moment in one of his hands remained in the background when, frantically and without thinking, he raised his head, praying not to see what he knew would be there and a curse to his own impulsivity died in his throat when he only saw purple.
Purple like lilacs concentrated on him and if he felt anything similar to heat on his normally cold skin he didn't say anything, not that he could because he was shocked, handsome, very handsome, even pretty, prettier than anything he had seen in the world, in the sea and ugh, why is his stomach gossiping like that all of a sudden? The smooth and shiny black framed that soft skin, which, as a selkie, he knows about that, it had a lovely pinkish powder that little by little became redder and redder.
They stood mutely staring at each other in the awkward position of having a stranger in his arms/being held by a stranger. Before any of them could gather words (or in Phil's case, his thoughts) a small, childish voice sounded next to them.
-“Papa… is that a mermaid?”
A half-hidden figure made excited hands gestures next to the other child, Phil couldn't understand.
-“Can we keep it? Apa missa please!”