Work Text:
The sun was drowning a slow death in the amber ocean.
With a yawn, the coachman thought as much when he glanced towards the horizon once more. Perhaps he should have swallowed his ego and rested at that last stop after all, loathed as he was to admit. The setting sun persists no matter the distance or time passed by the two horse-drawn carriage, which made it hard to tell just how much longer they had left to their destinations. What was clear enough was they were nearing the heart of Amerosia, a kingdom well known for its delayed sunsets that made the sea shimmer like gold. It was also slightly known for—
The driver sniggered as he remembered. He thought he had been discreet enough.
“Something entertaining?”
The voice of the passenger shook him alert. After miles of seeing the weary dirt road, burnt also in golden rays. he let his guard down. “Ah, Your Highness. I apologize for my disruption.”
“No need, I was simply curious.” Cutting through the horse’s clopping, the crown prince’s request is clear. The coachman couldn’t remain quiet to royalty, even if the prince he was serving was far more genial and less uptight, the driver still had a station much below him. Yet the prince even bade that no guards accompany him, requesting a commoners carriage instead. True, their own kingdom wasn’t as prosperous as the land they were heading to, but it was by no means in dire poverty to not utilize a proper guard… It was simply in a bit of an ever so tiny slump.
“Well, I was recalling the children's tale that the innkeeper told us about.”
“Children’s tale?”
Indeed they had stopped along the way for a break the night prior. Lying on the skirts of Amerosia, was a rustic —if not little dingy— inn that was well worn by travelers or lack thereof them. It was surely beneath that of a prince, yet His Highness had insisted on stopping by for supper rather than staying inside with a mask of anonymity. Thank goodness it had been largely desolate inside. “What did she call them again…?”
“Sirens.”
“Yes, yes, sirens!”
He can still remember the keeper's words exactly.
“Stay ways from the sea and close to your fellow neighbor. I mean it. There are unnatural creatures that lurk and prowl in those waters for food. Luring their prey with haunting sweet melodies to draw ‘em over, pull them under, and steal their legs. Yes, stealing. For if they devour all that is you, they can walk as you and none will be the wiser. Stay ways from the sirens that seek to devour your heart and skin.”
The coachman snorted. “It’s common to tell children stories of the like, get them away from who knows what. But to think such tales are truly believed so fervently. The main city resides by the sea itself too so why keep such a threat so close?” Indeed, stories about nightmare-ish creatures infesting in Amerosia’s waters abounded. The innkeeper had been insistent they take the longer path more inland than the one by the sea as their map had detailed, all it would do was elongate their travel time. Truly, these fables were just that. Fables.
“I believe they exist.”
A simple sentence sliced through the meandering coachman’s thoughts.
“Your Highness?”
“... I believe they exist.” He echoed, soft yet resolute. The coachman couldn’t know, but he felt as if he could see the prince’s profile gazing at the ocean right then. “...Let’s continue down the path as planned.”
Lunara’s prince said nothing more as the carriage continued to jostle back and forth, the sounds of the sea matching in beat.
~
Whips of winds grew stronger as did the roar of the waves now beside them. The sun had finally set, consumed by the horizon, as night took its throne. Its once golden seas now appeared stained with inky blackness, so much so that the coachman could scarcely tell where the waters ended and the sky began. Yet the full moon was more than enough to see the pathway ahead. Thanks to careful planning, the carriage had no need to waste precious oil on lanterns tucked beneath his seat, nor to endure a night at some rundown inn.
Still, the clouds were worrying.
The horses let out a low, restless whinny. They had been quiet all day, but something in the salt-scented air unsettles them now. Even the calmest one, a usually modest white mare, had started to bob her head.
Something was spooking them. Glancing around, there was nothing out of the ordinary. They were riding the path near where the sand meets the sea on one side, and a grassy unkempt field the other. There certainly could be snakes and the like hiding, but the carriage was being led towards the fields.
Clicking his tongue loudly, he yanked the reins. Their tails swished even more haphazardly and, for the first time he had seen, resisted his orders, bringing the carriage to slow stop. He took out his crop and tried to whip their behinds. Only their aggravations grew as did his own.
“Is everything okay?”
Embarrassment and shame smeared his face. His pride, tatters. Just as well! He was making a fool of himself in front of the prince. “Just a moment, Your Highness! There appears to be something on the road.”
Gruffly, he quickly slid off the box seat and marched towards the front. Under the cloudy sky, he could make out nothing strange. So what in the seven seas is the problem?
Turbulent waves crash him out of his frustrated mind like some discordant song. This time, the horses started stomping their hooves anxiously and with assurance. With an annoyed bite in his exhale, the coachman walked towards his box, his back facing their hind legs. There was nothing he could do but ensure the reins were tight until whatever passed.
Muttering under his breath, he crouched near their harnesses when a thunderous crash of waves distracted him. In that instant, the mare's powerful hind leg struck out. A blinding pain shot through him, and the world went as dark as the sea.
~
He woke to pain soaring through his chest, relentless as stampeding hooves on cobblestone. But it didn’t take long to realize what his top concern should be.
“Your Highness?”
The coachman blinked less languidly than before and saw he was no longer outside. Instead he was laid inside the carriage, the crown prince's cape strewn atop him as a blanket. Taking a moment to gather himself the door had been left open wide in the direction of the sea. And just below that, tracks of boots from the dirt leading to the ashy blank sand, the marks just barely visible. His stomach twisted as a cold uncertainty started settling in.
Scoffing his nerves away, he followed the tracks into the downward entrance to the sea until his feet met the ashy black sand. His cries for the prince were swallowed by the cacophony of the sea, a discordant symphony of crashing waves and howling wind.
The tide climbed the black sand, lapping at his shoes and surging higher.. Another tide came brushing faster than it receded, causing the water to rise slightly. He tried to pay it’s icy touch no mind as he called louder for the prince. He should walk around, perhaps closer, but his feet stayed rooted to his spot.
Don’t go closer. Those words resounded strongly throughout his mind. No. From his entire being.
“Your Highness!” The water rose. It swallowed the top of his feet.
The tide refuses to recede but more than that, the waves just beyond perturbed him even more. Crushing the cape in one hand with a tighter hold than any used on horse reins, his voice shook as he called desperately once more, the abyssal waters continuing to rise. “Prince Tsuki!”
Stepping back, his foot sank deeper than expected and he nearly tumbled.
Krschh!
And then he saw it.
Two eyes. Beady. Lightless. The only reflection was that of a bottomless hunger. Devilish horns protruded from its heads. Shaped as a man with inhumane qualities.
He blinked and it smiled. Sharp. Famished.
Another blink and the creature was gone. No. It had melted into the dark waters as if it were made of the same. Not gone. Waiting. It was --
“Siren.” With that, the man turned and ran, clutching the blue noble cape along with what was surely his life.