Chapter Text
"I met a mermaid."
Ajax waited for utter disbelief to washed over the face of his younger brother. He paused, for dramatic effect, and added: "I was about your age, and she let me touch her tail."
Teucer, at the other side of the table, gingerly sipping on his cup of lemon tea, glanced at him.
"-What? I'm telling the truth."
"You sure it wasn't some seal? Or a gigantic pangasius?"
"Now that I think about it... Nah. It was a mermaid."
Teucer shrugged. "Aren't you too old to believe stuff like that?"
...and went back to his book.
Ajax sighed. Fourteen-year old Teucer wasn't a cute, naive kid anymore, he supposed.
Although he'd never left his imagination behind. His eyes held a whimsical charm, and he'd been called head-in-the-clouds; no wonder his deft hands could reimagine some Ruin Guard scraps into mechs that put Khaenri'ans to shame.
Ajax had come back to the house one day, after an overnight fishing trip, and he had been surprised to find his brother playing with jacks and circuit components.
Now, Teucer's junk littered the place. The leftovers he'd had from disassembling guards had somehow made it to the side of the mantelpiece, under the coffee table. Some had been stacked away in the broom closet.
Ajax envied this about him, the ability to sit still. He could spend entire days indoors with his wires and coils. "The joints are done, but I need to find a way to connect these," he held up two large metal plates, frowning. "Maybe I could ask Baba Anya and take up welding with her son."
"Sounds good, Teuce." He was glad his brother had found something to occupy his hands. "What you do is amazing."
Teucer flashed his older brother an embarrassed smile. "It's just a hobby."
At fourteen, he himself had been tempestuous. Brawling with the neighbourhood kids, sneaking into the local fight club for matches and vodka. Coming back home with a bruised lip and a bad reputation. He grimaced just thinking about it.
And where had that gotten him? Landing in the Abyss, feeling like he was dying every second of every day. Fighting for his life in a sluggish haze. He'd never known hunger before that first day. True thirst. Everything purple and black and pungent, nauseating.
When he came back to the surface he had been thrusted into an even worse chaos, the world of adults and responsibility.
He was glad Teucer had turned out different. Grounded, but also carefree.
"But I'm glad it's March break now. Gives me more time to work on my project."
"It's coming along nicely."
"I'm trying to improve the joints in the arms. They have good range, but limited mobility. And the skeleton's done now, so I'm trying to work on the exterior a bit."
"That worth getting up at the crack of dawn?"
"Well," Teucer said with a pout, "you get up at the crack of dawn."
Ajax sighed. "That's because I have to man the nets, buddy."
"You need a hand today?"
"Nah. Enjoy your vacation while you can." That earned him a beaming smile.
Under Teucer's unblemished skin he could see the child peeking through. The freckles that spread on his cheeks, nose red from running in the cold. He had a mind of building toys and travelling the world. Teucer was the culmination of sunny days. Everywhere he went, he brought light.
Ajax propped himself from the table and put on his coat. "Well, I'm glad you happened to be up early. Not often we get to chat in the morning."
"Sorry..." Teucer said, earning himself a vigorous hair ruffle. He had a bad habit of staying in bed until late morning, even on school days.
"No need to apologize. School is important, but sleep is even better." Ajax moved toward the door and gestured. "Keep an eye on the fire, will you?"
Teucer's answer was a thumbs up. He brought his thermos to his mouth and produced a loud slurp.
Ajax made sure to throw a log in the fireplace before he set out for his first catch of the day.
Sometimes, while he watched over the nets, Ajax thought about the fire.
He could never truly place where the thought comes from. It is always something trivial that triggers it: the sound of the kettle hissing, the smell of rubber. He'd tried to forget but he could never truly do so. For as long as he lived his adult life, Ajax had nightmares about the fire.
There was a clear before and after. Before, the midnight excursions to the bar, the kitchen always warm of soup, the church on Sundays. His sister Tonia, his parents. The two oldest back at Christmas. After, a house burned down to its bones, Ajax finding Teucer and bringing him to critical care at the hospital. Ajax and Teucer. Now it was just them.
In his dreams, the fire often started from within him. Sometimes his cheek would be chafing during his sleep, and the flames erupted from there. Sometimes it was the pit of his belly, slowly morphing into an all-consuming creature, a fire that devoured. He saw his mama's face, Tonia's empty bed, the grandfather clock in the living room. Ajax had stopped trying to reason with the past and the oddities of memories. He accepted the nightmares when they came. Their visits were like old friends. And as much as he wished they were gone, he could not forget. That was the part of him that brought Teucer to the graves every few weeks, cooked his mother's recipes, and went out to fish with his father's nets.
Such was his life now. A decade ago, he would have spit in whoever's face had they dared bring up a future for him at sea. His legacy. It was a legacy he disdained. But then he grew to find that he did not mind it so much. It was tiring, and endless, but it was Teucer's way out of Morepesok.
If everything went without a hitch, it was Ajax's plan to send him out to the capital.
Teucer wanted to be an engineer, which meant attending university. Which meant that, ultimately, he had to head to the capital.
Over the horizon, Ajax could see the tiny building on the other side of the bay. Morepesok was a dead-end. There was nothing for bright-eyed, optimistic Teucer who had been lovingly spoiled by his brother. Ajax would make sure that he got out of here.
Toward bigger fishes.
When he opened his eyes, his first instinct was to put up a hand to shield himself from the stinging light. The sun had risen: it might have been noon, he noticed in surprise. The wind was biting on his cheeks. He shook his head and checked on his nets.
They were past ready to pull. He cut the engine and got to work.
From the corner of his eyes, something tumbled into the water with a splash. He blinked. It sounded like something big.
Chimes. A singing voice, like a lull. The sun was playing tricks on him again.
He rubbed his eyes and looked around. Was he dreaming or did the wind pick up the sound of a voice? Looking around, though, there was nothing in sight. The water was calm. Not even another boat nearby.
“What the fuck," he muttered to himself, and busied his hands with the nets. His arms were slick with sweat under the long sleeves of his parka.
Splash. The water rippled nearby. It sounded like it came from near the bow of the boat. He walked over and looked out the water. Nothing.
Except, when he looked right under him, there was a dark shape was looming under. If it was a fish, it had to be a large mammal. It was moving slowly, vanishing under the boat. Ajax sighed and returned to his nets. He had stock to unload, and nets to pull.
Suddenly, the boat rattled and Ajax almost lost his footing. Had the creature jostled the boat? He looked out and couldn't see it anymore.
“Hey, come out, don’t be scared.”
Who was he talking to? He was starting to lose it. Dolphins usually hunted in groups, while the more solitary mammals rarely approached boats.
Definitely a trick of the wind.
“Wherever you are, fishie. I won't bite.”
Whatever it was didn't leave the vicinity of the boat. Instead, with a hitch up, it climbed.
He stalked closer to it, the boat tilting under his weight. “What’re you doing here?” Slightly panicked.
A blond head emerged.
Ajax gasped. His heart dropped to his stomach.
It was a girl. A human girl.
What was a naked girl doing at sea?
"Hey, you okay!?"
Her hands were almost blue as they clutched on to the side of his boat. She turned to face him, and she looked like nothing he'd expected, that is to say he had never seen anything like her before. Her eyes, amber and wide, were staring at him head on. She tilted her head to the side, as if unaware of his concern. Leaning on the side of his boat, she smiled at him, fangs pointing out of her mouth.
Something about it unnerved him.
He reached out an arm to her. "Grab on! I'll bring you-"
The water swallowed him whole.