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The sky pressed down so close to sea level you could've almost swam in it. Same shades of infinite swirling greys, barely scratched by stark moonlight. Dark and unfathomable. Perseus wandered for a second, if he squinted hard enough, reached high enough, could he swim in those depths too?
He looked down at his tail and puffed out a laugh as he watched his lower half lazily slap the cold wet rocks. Just being here, on the surface, was transgression in itself. If he dared dream the impossible, his father would surely lock him up under the sea forever. He'd been out too long anyway, the guards were bound to discover his poor attempt at covering his escape.
"You're too young, Perseus, too reckless," he grunted under his breath, imitating the adults-know-better disappointed voice his father always used lately. "One day you'll understand how dangerous humans-"
A light! Where waves and clouds met, muddled by the fog, a light shone. He sat up, heart beating fast. Humans! It had to be!
Perseus threw himself into the icy waters and, with a quick thrust of his tail against the rock, propelled himself towards the light. It was far and got lost in the night as mist and clouds tried to hide it from him. Dozens of different greys swirled into a thick membrane he had to parse through. His eyes were great and he was a strong swimmer, he reminded himself every time he broke the surface and looked for the target. He turned one way then the other and there it was again! He was shaking with excitement, laughter trapped behind his closed lips and he swam fast towards it. The wind was mild, the water gave way and quicker than he thought, he reached it.
A small distance away, he stopped. His eyes peeked out, his arms and tail working underwater to keep him as stable as possible.
It was a small boat, not very sturdy. It rocked back and forth threatening to tip over any moment. Inside it, rolled into itself and cuddling the light source, was a little human.
Perseus was not good at estimating human ages, he'd only glimpsed at them from a distance before, but surely this one couldn't be much younger than himself. Maybe they could be friends? A smile broke his face as the excitement grew and he almost lost control but steadied himself before the current could lead him away. He forced a frown to tamp down his agitation. He had to be careful. Observe from a distance and don’t approach. Just watch.
The human opened its eyes straight into his.
Perseus submerged completely. Heart beating fast, he stayed down and looked at the underside of the boat. The human was alive! And its eyes! He had to look closer, had to know! Maybe... Oh his father would be sooo mad. But he was too close now, if he turned away and went home... He bit his lower lip hard and resurfaced, only to get trapped by those eyes again. The current had brought them closer and Perseus' breath came out fast and sharp.
"Human!" He admonished the creature.
It just blinked, still looking at him crouched on that flimsy boat, its hands clasped to the light as if trying to dig inside it. Was it awed and afraid of Perseus' awesomeness? Very likely.
He closed the space. Slowly at first, then faster, annoyed at his own hesitation. His hands grabbed the side of the vessel but too fast, he almost flipped it. He hurriedly righted it and quickly looked around, embarrassed, before scowling back at the human. It hadn't moved and still aimed those fierce eyes at him.
"I'm Perseus. What are you called, human?"
It didn't respond. Just watched him. Was it broken? Or maybe humans didn't have words to communicate? Or maybe... Ah, yes, it probably couldn't understand him. He looked closer at the creature trying to figure out how to talk to it. Then he noticed something. The human was shaking.
Humans are weak and break easily. But no creature rivals their resilience. Do not be fooled by their appearance, young one, they are deadly.
Was his father right? This one sure looked like it was half way broken at least. No way something that squirmed into this mild a weather could kill him. His father was probably just being dramatic as always. He would find a way to talk to this thing. But first, he had to take it out of the water.
He turned to look around, still keeping the human in his peripheral vision in case it moved, and estimated the distance to the shore. He had never actually approached the land proper before. No matter how ridiculous he thought adults were, there were limits to his own boldness and the land was human territory. Would he actually dare?
He looked back at the small shivering human and saw its eyes had closed. It was dead. Or on its way. He bit his lip and looked away again. The palace guards were definitely on their way now. If he turned home, he would probably not get another chance above sea before his adult ceremony at the earliest. If he didn't do something now, who knew how long he'd have to wait before he saw another human again?
"Well, you'll be punished either way. Might as well get something out of it."
He slipped under the surface, grabbed onto the ship and pushed. The current was strong but manageable as long as he didn’t force against it for too long. He wasn't bold enough to approach human land but he knew a few caves in the area. That would certainly be enough shelter.
He reached the closest one in a few minutes. He popped back up, one hand on the boat, the other on the rock surface, breathing heavily. It was really late and he was getting tired. Then it occurred to him: he could enter the cave, but he had to do it from underneath it, which meant dragging the human under water. But if the cold was killing it dry, wouldn't being wet make it worse?
"Why are humans so weak?" He slapped the water, annoyed.
When he looked back at it, the creature was looking at him. Perseus froze. Then he laughed, forcing himself to relax. There was a coldness to the stare. It wasn't very focused but he could read determination in it. Was it because they broke so easily that they held on to life this hard? He got closer, both hands on the boat. The human didn't move
"You're dying, you know?" No answer. He swallowed, breath getting fast. "I'm going to do something. Don't be mad ok? I have to."
It blinked. He'd have to be fast and smart if he didn't want this thing to die on him. Be brave, Perseus, he told himself as he reached for the creature, hands shaking. Be fast. He pulled his hands back.
He stilled his resolve and both hands back on the boat, he put all his weight on it and tipped it over. The human was submerged in a second, eyes wide, mouth open. Perseus covered its mouth and nose with one hand and used the other to pull the human into him. It thrashed and shook with a strength it didn't seem to have a second ago but Perseus ignored it and firmly clasped it against his body. With a powerful swing of his tail, he turned them upside down and swam lower into the depth.
The human was fighting him and Perseus was getting more and more tired. But after a few seconds it started convulsing instead. Violent jerks of its body, uncontrolled and desperate, clawing at the hands that covered its face. He stayed strong and kept swimming as fast as he could, looking around for the entrance. Was it this cave that opened into a glowing darkness or was it the one with the heavy scent of rot? Or maybe the one with the mean eels that liked to sting him? How was he supposed to remember where the entrance was when this thing wouldn't stop moving?!
It stopped moving.
Perseus looked around and there! Light was piercing through! He sped through the water into the pool of light and surfaced the other way into one of his favorite caves. All around, embedded into the jagged walls, crystals shone in a myriad of colors, reflecting onto the surface of the pool.
"I saved you, human!"
His smile was broad and bright as he turned to the creature. And disappeared as he remembered to take his hands off its face, to see an unmoving thing.
Even when it stayed still on the boat, its chest had been going up and down into the next breath. There was none of that now. The thing that laid limp in his arms was completely motionless, its pale and cold face made harsher under the glow.
Oh no no no no no.
Perseus hurried to the edge of the pool and dragged the body on land. He slapped it a few times for a reaction. Its skin was cold and clammy. Unresponsive. Had it swallowed water? No, he had been good at covering it, right? So what was that? They were under for one minute, maybe two, so what was that about?!
His breathing was fast and loud in the silence and his hands wouldn't stop shaking. He pulled away and slipped back into the water, his eyes glued to the small thing on the cave floor. It was dead. Perseus had killed it. He hadn't listened to his father and now this thing was broken beyond repair because he thought he knew better.
Tears welled up and he tried to hold them down, as his breathing turned to choked sobs.
A cough, small, wheezy. He held his breath and watched. The human opened its eyes and kept coughing, its body shaking. Perseus threw himself back onto the rocky land and turned the body on its side. It kept coughing and shivering, every inhale like scraping gravel and Perseus could feel the burn as if it was his own throat.
He pulled himself together and looked around. There! Old broken remnants of boats, dragged by the currents long ago. He turned and swam to one of them before dragging his tail on the sharp irregular ground in search of something he'd seen when exploring the place. He grabbed everything he could and made his way back, keeping it awkwardly above his head, away from the water, until he reached the human.
The creature was still on its side, its breathing more stable but still raspy and grading to the ear. When Perseus put his find next to it, it didn't move, except for the slow rise and fall of its chest and its piercing dark eyes. Perseus did not hesitate. He grabbed the creature and pulled the clothes off its small shivering frame. It was probably too weak to protest as it allowed itself to be twisted here and there as Perseus tried to figure out how to take the sticky dripping fabric off its skin. It took him a few minutes but he finally peeled the human bare. He looked intensely at the dry fabric he salvaged, trying to figure out how much less or more damage he would cause by covering a dying thing with it, then decided to risk it. He didn't try to dress the human, their clothing didn't make much sense to him so he just spread some of the ground, rolled the body on top of it and threw the rest to cover it completely, save for its face.
Despite his avid interest in human folk, he didn't know much about them, but there was an important fact he remembered. They were warm blooded creatures and couldn't stand much cold. This one was freezing, though, and would probably take a while to warm up. He needed more heat.
Fire. How do you build fire? No idea. What else?
He returned to the wreckage and scavenged as much fabric as he could. It was no easy task. For one he couldn’t get very far inside the pieces that weren't completely shattered or too far on land since he had no leg to explore them. And second, most of the drapery he found was rotten or suspicious looking. There were pieces in good enough condition, though not many. He brought back what he could but the silhouette underneath was still shivering, its skin as cold as his own.
After a while, he arrived at the only sensible conclusion. If not right now, after a few minutes, maybe an hour, this thing would painfully die. So he just stopped and laid next to it, their faces levelled.
The dark eyes were agitated, as if mapping his features in its mind. Or cursing him. It probably blamed him for the state it was in now. Maybe if he had left it alone it could have been found by other humans. Maybe if Perseus had been strong enough, daring enough to pull it to shore, it would have been safe.
“I could go home and tell someone and ask what to do. But it's too far, I wouldn't come back in time.” He winced. “Father wouldn’t let me out again anyway.”
The human was only vivid dark eyes below a pile of old dirty things. Perseus scooted closer, their faces a breath away. It was still wet and cold and its teeth were shattering with every choked inhale.
“Will you tell me your name?” He asked, quiet.
He owed it at least that, didn’t he? Company in its last moment and a name to be remembered by. Perseus didn’t cry. Who would cry for a small broken human? The lump in his throat and his own shaky breaths were just his tiredness. It was late and this thing was so slow to die.
He reached out to touch the human’s hand. The contact was light but he could feel the desperate beats of its heart under the thin pale skin. Its fingers were weirdly separated while his were webbed. In a quick jerk, the creature grabbed his wrist. Perseus was startled but forced himself to stay in place. The human opened in mouth and behind its broken lips came a sound. He leaned closer.
“I don’t understand.”
It let go of him and pushed the shaking hand it had grabbed him with against Perseus’ face.
“What are you-”
Dry and warm. Barely but he could feel it. He hesitated and looked back at those agitated dark eyes again. Could he…?
He didn’t really want to touch it too much. Yes, he had done so when pulling it under and to disrobe it and again to examine its webless fingers. But that didn’t mean he wanted to touch it more than necessary. He had to fight the instinctive revulsion and fear. You've gone this far and it’s dying because of you. You can do that, at least, can’t you?
“I don’t think it’s going to work.”
It shouldn’t work. Merfolk ran cold under their skins and Perseus was too young still to do the things his people did. To command the sea, understand other creatures or even shift into humans like some could. All of that was years away from him. But this thing was still making weird sounds with its mouth and pressing its hand harder in his face. He nudged it away.
“Fine. Whatever will give you peace.”
He looked at the bundled up figure, not sure how to approach it then just went for it. No need to be nervous, he needed some rest anyway.
He eased the fabric aside and shifted underneath to press against the trembling figure that latched on to him hard. Its skin was cold, maybe colder than he was, and not very nice to touch, like dead things always were. It took him a moment but he found a position that wasn’t too awkward to hold and relaxed against the uncomfortable floor. His hand found the matted pile of hair on the creature’s head and patted it gently. He wondered for a second if small humans ate merfolk like they ate fish but before the thought scared him away, his eyes fell on the trembling wheezing figure holding on so hard to him. Whether they did or not, this one was in no state to do much. So he kept petting the hair as he remembered a song his mother hummed to him when he was upset and threw himself into her arms for comfort. He wished she was here now. If she hadn’t been away at the moment, he wouldn’t have been able to sneak out. Maybe that would’ve been better.
He sang himself into sleep.
When he opened his eyes again, the human was still in his arms, the pile of cloth still covering them, the dark eyes steady and more aware than before. Perseus froze, breath held.
The human opened its mouth to make sounds he couldn't understand. Its skin was still cold, but significantly less than before. Its voice while croaked and rough was leveled and the noises seemed to make some sort of sense. Perseus still couldn’t understand. The human reached out to put a hand on Perseus' chest. He let out a choked breath as he listened again. The hand moved away to its own chest and the sounds came again.
“Ni-co.”
Two syllables.
“Is that your name? Ni-co?”
The human – Ni-co, Perseus decided – couldn’t understand him any better than Perseus himself could parse its sounds. The hand moved back to his chest. Was that a question?
“Perseus. My name is Perseus.”
“Per-cee.”
“Sure,” he smiled. “Percy.”
The human smiled too, lips cracked, skin too pale and eyes heavy but alert. And Perseus knew then, that he would do everything he could to get Ni-co out of here alive and well. After all...
No creature rivals their resilience.