Chapter Text
Whitecliff Aquarium and Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is home to the rarest kinds of fish, deep-sea creatures and aquatic reptiles. This place is the only one in the country to house anything from Otters to Hawksbill Sea Turtles to even Axolotls. It's also known for releasing the highest amount of dolphins and sharks back into the ocean. After helping to heal any injuries they might have endured in the wild, of course.
Maple could recite those facts by heart now.
Despite working for the Aquarium tour guides for almost six months, she still failed to understand why they needed to tell those facts to everyone who visited. Most of the people who came on the tour she provided - for minimum wage, they should add - were children. They don't care how the facility prides itself on its catch-and-release program.
They only care about the cool shit like the turtles and the sharks.
"And over 'ere," Maple smiled, the grin on their face forced, just like their boss insisted on, "You can find the rare Coelacanth fish. Did ye know that Coelacanths are nocturnal fish that give birth to live young after a three-year pregnancy?"
A few children pressed their hands and noses against the glass, watching the large fish in question swim around lazily near the bottom of the tank. Many of the group scribbled answers onto the Aquarium's sea-life activity map, excited to claim their prizes at the end.
Some shitty keyring of something. Maple didn't spend much time near the gift shop. Just a bunch of overpriced shit you'd only use once.
"Where are the sharks, though!" A girl who ironically held a dolphin plushie cried. "You said we'd be seeing them soon!"
A couple of children voiced their agreement, much to their parents' amusement and Maple's discontent. They raised a hand to their pirate hat, fixing it onto her head better. There were worst uniforms to wear to a job - a semi-decent captain's outfit ranked fairly low on her desires, though.
"Aye! You've got a good set of eyes there, matey," Maple laughed, hoping it didn't sound too strained. "They're in the next room over! I'm sure y'all can help show me the way!"
It didn't take any more than that. A group of over twenty children rushed to the next room, followed slowly by the group of parents. Maple let out a sigh of relief, finally being able to relax from the over-exaggerated pirate persona she was forced to display for the stupid tours.
That shit got tiring after the first couple of rounds.
"E-Excuse me," the Pirate looked down to her side, the familiar feeling of a hand tugging on the hem of her captain's coat. The child was young - clearly not supposed to be left alone to their own devices.
"Arrg matey! What are you doin' without ye crew?" Maple asked, bending down to the boy's height.
"That tank," The boy asked, pointing to the empty tank in the centre of the room. "Why's it empty? What's going to be in there?"
The tank in question was no small container. It stretched to the ceiling, leaving a gap near the top to let light in through the darkened windows. The back of the tank contained a set of metal stairs, stretching up to reach almost two floors off the ground.
It used to hold an impressive oarfish. The fish was an impressive 12 metres long and had a stunning (albeit damaged) red fin down its back. Sadly, it was old for the kind and had passed a few months ago.
She'd rather not be fired for making a kid cry, though.
"Good eye, good eye, Swashbuckler!" Maple cheered, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, "It's because we be waitin' for a new creature to join our crew. This will be their home while we help 'em recover, aye?"
The boy nodded, his face awestruck as he looked up at the empty tank. Maple shook her head, smiling softly as they rose to their feet.
"While we wait for them to arrive, though... Avast ye matey, onto the next room with ye!" The Pirate cried, drawing their sword from their belt and pointing to the door to the shark exhibit. The boy laughed, turning to follow after the rest of the group.
Maple sighed, putting the sword back and rubbing at their temple.
"Oh, my beautiful sword, if only you were real and not some foam bullshit."
"Do we have an actual answer for the empty tank in the deep sea creatures area yet, or do I have to keep making up bullshit excuses to stop kids crying?" Maple asked, entering the breakroom and throwing her pirate hat on the kitchenette counter.
Teddy, a fellow tour guide, snorted from the kitchen, mixing the contents of their mug. After placing the spoon into the sink, they turned to face Maple, "God, if I know. I keep telling them it's coming 'soon' and just hope they don't visit again for a while!"
Maple flopped down onto one of the sofas in the room, flinging their legs up the back and letting her head hang upside down. Jamie, the aquarium's head technician, chuckled from the other sofa, tapping away on his phone.
"Some kid asked me, and I had to make up some shitty lie," Maple sighed, resting their hands in their lap, "I just hope they get rid of the tank soon, or I don't what I'll do."
"Murder?" Teddy asked.
"Fuck it, maybe," Maple considered.
Jamie laughed, glancing up from his phone, "I'd be careful with what you do, Maple." He stood up with a big stretch, pocketing his phone and making his way to the door, "One of the bosses was looking for you earlier. I'd try not to fuck up and get fired when he sees you."
Maple groaned, moving to sit correctly. Upright. Like a normal, heterosexual human being. "What have I done now?" She let the word drag out in a childish manner, tipping her head back.
Jamie hummed, stopping by the door. Teddy made their way to sit by Maple, handing them a water bottle. He seemed to contemplate for a while before shrugging, much to Maple's relief.
Or was that a bad thing?
"'Dunno. I don't think it's bad. He didn't look angry. If anything, he looked stressed and in need of assistance."
With that, Jamie made his leave, accompanied by the farewells of his friends. This left the two tour guides alone, lounging on the break room sofas. Maple turned the water bottle over in her hands, trying to remember if she had done any bad fuck-ups this past month.
They didn't think they did.
Maybe it was a Karen who had complained about her. Those bitches always thought they knew better than her, the hired tour guide who gets paid minimum wage to do this shit.
"Maybe you're getting a promotion?" Teddy offered, shrugging one shoulder as they fixed the bandana worn around their neck.
"Or I'm getting fired." Maple sighed, hiding her face in her hands.
"I think I know the reason the boss is so stressed, but... You can't tell anyone this, okay?" Teddy rubbed the back of their neck, dislodging their bandana slightly. "I think I caught a glimpse of the new exhibit. That's most likely what's stressing him out: trying to get everything ready for the opening."
So, there was a plan for the empty tank after all. Interesting.
"Like what?" Maple narrowed their eyes suspiciously.
"I'm not sure. I think I saw a grey fin and it was quite big. So maybe it was a- Hmm-- I don't know." Teddy shrugged, putting their mug down on the coffee table and swinging their feet up on the sofa to their side.
"A seel? Or maybe it was a shark or dolphin?" Maple's knowledge of grey animals was limited, but they tried their best. A seel would be cool to have. Although she didn't think the tank would be suitable to house one for a long time.
"I don't think so... It was scaled like a fish. If it was, then it was a fucking big fish." They chuckled, running a hand through their hair.
"Well, whatever the new exhibit will be, it better not require me to memorise some shit fact like the fucking Coelacanths." Maple groaned, slumping forward in her chair.
"I know, right?!"
"McParslan's gonna have our heads for this if we don't hurry up and get it into the tank."
'Please, I did not mean to touch the rope trap! Let me go!!' Their whistled cry remained unanswered, the two monsters in the room barely batting an eye. The monsters had been speaking the entire time in their dialect. It was difficult to follow. So many sounds. So many words. Their chest burned with agony.
"Well, it would be a lot easier to transfer if you'd actually help instead of standing around like a fucking twat!" The one grabbing their tail grunted with oncoming exhaustion. They kept thrashing, though, hoping to free themselves long enough to find their way back home.
Where was home?
"Get off my fucking case, bro! I'm literally on mop duty." The other monster rolled their eyes, pointing a large stick with a bushy end at his shoal-mate. They couldn't help but flinch at the sight of the tool.
What if it was dangerous?
"Ahh, yes, mopping up the spilt water is soooo much more important than getting it into the tank to move to the deep-sea section... Just come grab its arm so I can subdue 'em."
'I just want to go home! Let go of me!'
"Shut the fuck up, both of you."
The two monsters and their catch turned towards the sound of the new voice. Their fabric coverings were hardly different to the other two monsters. By only their voice alone, they assumed that they must be their shoal's leader.
Curse their distraction, too busy taking in the sight of the new monster.
The sharp prick in the area where skin became scales caused them to cry out in pain. Their tail was quick to hit the cause of it away. The two original monsters let out squawks of alarm, falling to the ground roughly.
Their attempt to get off the raised ground was barely successful. Once they started to roll off, it was as if the whole area began to sway. Their shoulder hit the hard ground first, bringing fresh tears to their mismatched eyes.
What... What had they done? Why was everything so... dizzy?
As soon as their gaze met the new monster, they couldn't stop the black from invading their vision. Eyes rolled into the back of their head; consciousness leaving them once more.
The darkness that once comforted them now felt like fear incarnate.
One they could no longer escape from.
6:00 pm was Maple's favourite time during the week. It was the time she could clock out for the day from her crappy job, get into her and her roommate Kate's crappy car and go back to their crappy apartment.
Then they could change out of their crappy clothes, eat some crappy food and watch some crappy videos. Okay, maybe not everything was crappy. They were just tired and ready to go home.
"Miss Pokii. A word, if you don't mind."
Maple groaned, lifting the hand holding her 'time clock card' that was so close to being fully in the machine. The way Mr McParslan phrased his words sounded like she could say no... If they wanted to lose their job. They turned to face their boss, noting the slight wrinkles in his usually pristine outfit.
"Of course, Sir. Whatever you need." Maple wasn't usually someone who would suck up to people, but she desperately needed to keep this job. The prospect of living in Kate's car for the rest of her life did not sound appealing. The air-con didn't even work without sounding like a box of dying cats.
"I need a favour of sorts. It is to do with our latest plans for the exhibition replacing the oarfish," Mr McParslan spoke, his voice bored and monotomous. Yet, he didn't meet Maple's gaze, looking out towards the entrance to the Deep Sea area. "You see, we've acquired a new... Oddity, of sorts."
"Oh? Like what?" Maple asked. At this point, they just wanted to know about what fish they'd need to learn a random, stupid fact about.
Colour them curious.
"That's not important at this very moment. You see, our new exhibit is showing obvious signs of... Stress. Pacing the tank, swimming into the glass walls with a great deal of force, and what our veterinarian has dubbed... "Panting"." McParslan's gaze finally met hers. His dark purple eyes looked her up and down with disinterest.
"Panting?" Maple tilted her head. Fish don't pant... Do they? Something to Google later tonight and then subsequently fall down a rabbit hole of blogs and posts.
"We're working with a very tight schedule. The Deep-Sea area can only stay shut for the following week, the Monday tomorrow until Sunday," He paused his speech, seeming hesitant instead of his usual ego. He pulled out a keycard from his pocket, placing it into her shaking hands. "I have a job I need you to do... To help and... To try and get our new exhibit more comfortable around people."
"All I require of you is to clock in and out like you usually do, but go to the deep-sea section and keep it company. Try talking to it; let it get used to your voice. Maybe it will warm to your cheerful personality."
Okay, the sarcasm really wasn't needed.
"Okay... Am I still getting paid or...?" Maple rubbed the back of their neck, hoping she didn't look too desperate for a yes.
"Yes. A time and a half for the whole seven days. You normally only work five days a week, but this is very important to Whitecliff Aquarium. You do understand that, don't you?"
"U-Uh, yes! I'll- I'll be here Monday." Maple laughed, awkwardly wringing their hands as they turned away.
McParslan hummed, watching her fumble with clocking out before turning and moving towards the Deep Sea area. He pulled out a similar card to the one he had given Maple, sliding it through a scanner before entering through the doors. She listened for a moment, not hearing any sign of talking.
"Welp," Maple sighed, pushing the office door open, "Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a boring day."
Great...