Chapter Text
The calming rhythm of the ocean broke with the sound of humming. The noise itself rumbling deep from under the waves that it rose above the surface and could be heard by anyone in a mile radius. A soothing melody that moved with the current, one that brought the unwary closer and those who knew better swam away. The humming brushed over the sand and every surface in the dark depths, seemingly getting darker the closer the noise came; it was haunting. Most of the smaller fish cleared the area, sharks themselves circled in confusion before they too, disappeared.
Inky tendrils snaked through the solemn expanse, reaching, searching for anything that ventured too close. Steadily, the water turned murky as the eerie assonance closed in, the darkness descending over the ocean floor like an oil spill. Red eyes blinked open one by one over the nightmarish cloud, a cluster of them joining over a more solid figure in the center of the mass. Teeth as sharp as a shark's broke open into a wide grin, the humming grew louder and lovely but left the hairs on the back of the neck standing on end.
The melody turned into a low keening that then rose into an ear-splitting screech as the inky black tendrils rushed out, expanding until the cloud exploded, plunging the ocean into a pitch black abyss.
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Jack opened his eyes, staring straight at the light filtering through the surface onto his face, a constant moving window that turned his surrounding underwater world as blue as the sky above him. His body rocked gently to the rhythm of the ocean's current, brushing the sand he'd been settled on over his form. For a while he didn't move, examining the dream he woke up to. These were reoccurring, the fourth time this week already, featuring a living nightmare he'd been following for years now. The shark didn't need to breathe underwater, but he still exhaled through his nose, causing a few tiny bubbles to escape and float rapidly to the surface.
Six long years he'd been back in the ocean he missed when he lived his life masquerading as a human on land. Jack Morrison was declared dead after all, and he had no problem making sure it stayed that way. When he was done here, he'd return to those who caused him so much pain and drown them. For now however, the mermaid was on a mission.
Jack rolled his aching shoulders and pushed himself up off the floor of the reef he'd taken shelter in the night before. It only took him a few moments to catch his bearings, to remember where he was and get ready to swim off again. He was off the coast of Florida, intending to follow a current that would lead him to Atlantic waters. He'd been following the lead of recent shipwrecks and unnatural storms over the eastern coasts of both South and North America. Strangely enough, the Gulf of Mexico had been left alone in this trail of new destruction, as were the reefs found in these warm waters. It told the pale shark one thing.
Gabriel was heading north.
Jack picked up the spear he'd adopted using, very different from the human rifles he was so used to wielding on the surface but it was a mostly two handed weapon he got used to real fast. The nets on either end weren't just cosmetic, it just made catching fish easier and... Turned out to be a useful trap when faced with aggressive humans. So the mermaid started off, his powerful spotted tail gliding him through the water. Despite the one fin on his right side nearly blasted off from the explosion that almost took his life, he had no trouble navigating the underwater world.
The pale shark wasn't in a hurry, moving towards the shores rather than the current he meant to take, quietly musing on the dream he had. He hadn't seen Gabriel since the explosion, though evidence of his survival were everywhere. It gave the mermaid hope that the other was still alive, but he was always too late to the site of a ship wreck or a fishing town torn into the violent waves with few survivors... Jack had always investigated, mostly in the form of a human. He'd ask what happened here and the reports were all the same: A living nightmare rose from the ocean... Like something out of a fairytale book, out of legend. These storms were not natural and acted as if they were alive. Tentacles rising over the waves, slick with either sea foam or what looked like oil would grab onto anything and yank it back into the dark depths.
Anyone who disappeared under the surface never came back up again. Before the attacks were always the same thing, a gentle humming that made everyone gather to the edge of the water, whether on boat, the beach or docks. Some people ran, but it affected most. A siren's song.
Gabriel was angry.
Jack could remember the bull shark he spent most of his time with when times were simpler, when times weren't filled with betrayal and pain. He always had a gentle soul, optimistic about the humans that lived on shore. Gabe often left their reef to visit and socialize on land, returning stories back to Jack whenever he came back. He always did. He had a separate life on land, like most mermaids in this century. No one knew they existed anymore, thought that mermaids were long extinct. It wasn't the case, and Jack was born and raised in the ocean without a single lesson on how his kind's magic worked.
The shark paused, feeling an aching tug deep within his chest, finding he'd been swimming rather aimlessly now, a kind of dissociation while he mused. Jack narrowed his eyes, and the hair on the back of his neck rose with the feeling he was being watched. Quickly, the mermaid scanned the dark ocean floor which he noticed now he was in deep water rather than the shore he was heading towards. Must have made a wrong drifting turn while he was stuck deep inside his own head. His sharp gaze settled on a pair of tiger sharks winding their way over the sandy floor, while the rest of the immediate area was oddly empty. That put Jack on the defensive and made sure he kept sinking slowly while he continued to search for the source of his uneasiness.
There were no boats or ships floating lazily on the surface, so whatever was giving him a bad vibe wasn't man made. Well... As far as he could tell anyway. For a moment, he closed his eyes and started swimming again in a slow wide circle, a rough hum breaking the silence. It took a few moments, but the noise he made gave him a clear picture inside his head. A mermaid's siren song wasn't just to lure the unfortunate into an untimely death after all, and the sonar image picked up more than his sight ever could. It was in the sand, a strange shaped object that reminded him of the tanks the humans used in their wars. Jack didn't think twice about it, considering it another sunken fatality out here, there were other sunken treasures after all. So he kept looking.
Ka-Chang, the noise immediately alerted the pale shark, eyes snapping open and the mental map of the sea floor vanished instantly. He wasn't quick enough to evade the harpoon that burst from the sand, embedding itself into his shoulder, the barbed end poking out from his back. His gills along his sides pumped aggressively in response to the pain, a simulation to heavy breathing; he nearly dropped his spear. With his free hand, Jack grabbed the shaft of the harpoon, vaguely aware there was a line tied to the end of it. His sharp teeth dug into his bottom lip, bracing himself to yank the damn thing out. The line pulled taut the next moment and dragged Jack to the ocean floor. He struggled against it, though the pain now sears through his shoulder and collarbone where the steel broke through, sending a plume of blood into the surrounding water with each thrash.
He was used to this kind of pain, and though it hurt enough to make a normal person pass out, Jack still managed to keep himself from being pulled to the ground. He could tell this was a trap, but he wasn't sure if it were meant for mermaids like himself or other large marine creatures like the sharks he saw earlier. Bleary with the pain, he glanced around for the predators, sure they'd be on him in a heartbeat with how much blood he put into the water. His suspicions were right when he caught a glimpse of rows of teeth basically blind siding him from the right and he expected his face to be torn off at the very least but that pain never came and the pressure in his shoulder let up immediately. The tiger shark had bit through the line, essentially releasing the mermaid. He didn't hesitate and swam up towards the surface, away from the sea floor.
The two sharks had accompanied him and he didn't even realize it until he broke the surface, with two upright fins circling his position. Jack bared his teeth and dived again, dropping his spear and grabbing the harpoon with both hands. One violent yank, and the barbed in tore back out, causing more damage than it did going in. He gave a strangled cry of pain, his hands trembling while he dropped the harpoon. It was habit that he started grinding his teeth, eyes clamped shut as he willed the injury to seal up and heal. Though it will be gone within the hour, the pain would remain for a couple days at the very least.
"Always so dramatic, Jack."
The shark opened his eyes, back on the defensive. He went for the spear he dropped, knowing it hadn't sunken so far yet, but his hand touched nothing and he hissed his frustration. He turned to face the source of the voice, teeth bared in a threatening manner, with the stabbing pain through his shoulder dropping his mood considerably.
But he stopped, blue eyes wide when he saw who it was. The black tail with massive white splotches on the underside similar to the clown triggerfish was all too recognizable, and though she still wrapped herself in the clothes humans wore, it was like seeing a ghost.
"Ana?" Jack whispered, dropping just a bit in depth. "I thought you...?"
"Died? For the most part, yes," she chortled. "But that's such a boring concept. You obviously had the same idea. You're looking great for a dead man," Ana added, arms folded around an old harpoon gun that wasn't loaded and the spear Jack had dropped.
"I..." Jack cleared his throat. "Yeah, I can say the same to you. Why didn't you tell us though?" He finally shot back, eyebrows furrowed. A single brown eye stared back, softening despite the other mermaid's scrutiny.
"Things were difficult, Jack. You have no idea what I went through while I recovered. Even after I fully recovered. When I did, I found out what the UN were doing to us Mermaids and I made the decision to stay under the radar." She looked away, towards the trap Jack had managed to slip away from. He noticed the two tiger sharks were still circling them and he bared his teeth again.
"I had to make sure Fareeha was safe. I'm glad they never found out what she was but..." Now Ana looked back up at Jack, no longer avoiding eye contact, though there was sympathy etched into her face. "I was too late for you and Gabriel I see."
So she knew. The water felt a little colder to the shark and his sneer fell away.
"I got away from it lucky. Compared to Gabriel, I basically left unscathed." He let his blue gaze rest in the dark depths of which he'd been heading. "I can't say the same for him." Now he looked down towards the trap that poked out of the same and wrinkled his nose. Ana followed his gaze and gave a small nod, handing the pale shark his spear back, in which he took it.
"Those traps are up and down the coast, as far as I can tell they're only centered in the Bermuda Triangle." She gave a soft laugh. "They're meant for mermaids, but I've seen them snag curious sharks and a dolphin or two. They're activated by our sonar because they give off a strange signal." Ana explained, diving now. Jack waited for a moment, then followed after, noting in the back of his mind that the two tigers followed after.
"Manmade then?" He asked.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure who set them. They're fairly recent, by a year or two. Not many mermaids stay in the oceans these days, but since the UN found out we've been hiding in their population, they've been trying to weed us out. They haven't done a very good job since it's really difficult for them to tell who's a person and who's of the merfolk." She gave a self-satisfied chuckle. "Still, I've been trying to disarm them without setting them off. Sharks can sense them decently." The mermaid gestured to the two tiger sharks who still swam a loose circle around them.
"And here humans think they're such cold hearted killers." Another soft laugh. Jack rested a hand over the injury, huffing quietly.
"What happens to a caught mermaid, do you know?" He asked her. For a while, Ana considered the pale shark, frowning just a bit.
"I haven't seen a mermaid get trapped. The sharks and dolphins that do spring the trap get pulled into what I found looks like a box. Looks a lot like a coffin. They've drowned in them but mermaids can breathe underwater. We don't drown." Which explains why they're for mermaids. "I've stuck around to see if anyone would pick up the trap but no one came. I'm assuming they know what they catch."
Jack swam down to the sandy floor, digging away the sand until he hit a solid surface, the palm of his hand pressing against the cold metal. He found the seam to which the doors open and frowned, finding it already ajar from the harpoon.
"It's a rather large prison, don't you think?" The pale shark inquired, looking up at the older mermaid.
"I'm sure one size fits all." Ana murmured sadly, staring directly down at the trap Jack had uncovered.
"Or they're hunting for something big." He replied quietly, pushing away from the trap. "Something really big."