Migration

Migration

A Mermay Prompt

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“Hey. Hey, y/n. Wake up.”

Someone was shaking your shoulder. You groaned and scooted away from them.

“…I could go without you, y’know. Do you want to see the migration or not?”

You blinked awake. “Tthhhhhe wwwhat?”

Surprisingly enough, the face that woke you was Dust, his long body reaching out of Cross’s den and possibly back into his own den. “The stingray migration. They’re coming through nearby and I figured you’d want to see.”

You perked up and nodded. You’d never seen the migration in person but it looked beautiful.

“Well, keep up then. I won’t slow down for you.” Dust warned and turned to leave.

He didn’t have to slow down. You were swimming in circles around him as he went half your speed. You happily followed without a word, Dust didn’t seem to like unnecessary noises. He had a frown stuck to his face most of the time but you doubted he was upset. Especially since he invited you to see the migration.

You left the trench.

Hesitating, you glanced bad at the trench where the others were sleeping. Were you allowed to-?

“You’re allowed to leave if you stay with me.” Dust interrupted as if reading your thoughts. “Either keep up or go back.” He steadily got further away from you. Well, his front half did. His tail was still gliding after him next to you.

You followed.

After several minutes of travel, Dust settled beside a cliff, stuffing his tail end into a cave you hadn’t seen. Dust left a space open next to him for you to settle in to wait.

You looked around at the empty ocean. “Wwwwwhere-?”

“Be patient. They’re coming.” Dust confirmed. Then he just… stared. Out into open water.

You laid down on the stone next to him and didn’t speak, not willing to break the awkward silence. You’d left so early. No one else was awake yet. Except maybe Nightmare. You weren’t entirely sure how his sleep schedule worked but he seemed to be awake every time you checked, just staring up at you when you peered into the trench. Did he just stay awake for months and then take a month long power nap?

“Have you seen a migration before?” Dust interrupted your thoughts.

Somewhat started, it took you a moment to answer. “Oh, uh, nnnnnot a ssssstinnnngrrrayy mmmmm-mmmigri…mmmiga- mmh.” You frowned.

“Migration.”

“Yyyyeah. I ssssaw birrrdsss. B-But nnnnot ssstinngrrrayyyssss. Nnnot innn persssonnnn.”

“Birds? Those things that swim in the air?”

You laughed. “Yyyeah. Thhhhey fffflyy, nnnot ssssswim.”

Dust nodded. “We’ve got a few fish that do that.”

“Fffflyinnng fffishhh.” You filled in for him. “Thhat’sss wwwhat wwwe call thhemmm.”

“I guess. They definitely have more meat on their bones than your birds do. You know they’re all fluff, right?” He accused.

You nodded. “Birrrdsss cannn’t be tooo hhhheavyyy. Ssso lesssss mmmeat.”

“That makes sense. And their fins help them fly right?”

“Wwwinnnngsss. Nnnot fffinnnnsss.”

“Wings.” He corrected himself with a nod. “They’re light weight and have wings that help them fly. What’s the sharp part of their head for?”

Wow. He was actually talking to you. “Uh, thhheyy peck. Like b-bitinnng byyy rrunnnning yyyourr ffffacccce innnto thhhinnngsss.” You giggled at your own analogy. “Thhheyyy donnn’t hhhhave teethhhh. Sssso thhheyy hhhave too defffennnd thhhemmmsssselves withhh sssommmethhhinnng elssse.”

“They’re predators?”

“Nnnot alwwwayysss. Ssssomme jussst eat berrriesss.”

“Berries?”

“……Plannnt cannnndyy.”

“Oh. So your birds can defend themselves even though they don’t eat other creatures?”

“Yyyess.”

“…Do you have other prey that do that?”

“Mmmmossst of thhhemm. I told Crrossss about cowwssss. Hhhhehehee ffflipped out.” You giggled.

Dust’s expression softened. “So that’s what he was stuttering about back then. He kept rambling about an herbivore that kills things. When Killer asked him about he only ever said ‘Cows’ with this terrified look on his face.” Dust smiled as you giggled. His eyes were half lidded as he watched the horizon, which on him looked like pure bliss. He nodded ever so slightly. “They’re here.”

You looked over at him. “Whhho’ssss-?”

A shadow fell across you.

Startled and wide eyed, you stared as a stingray flapped slowly away from you. Seconds later hundreds of stingrays started pouring over you and Dust’s cubby in a huge mass of blankets.

You thought when he’d asked if you wanted to see the migration, you were going to see it from the side at a distance. Not directly under it.

There were so many of them.

It was beautiful.

Genuine tinkling laughter broke you from your reverie. Dust was laughing at you, his sockets wrinkling in mirth, those two gems in his sockets glittering at you.

“Wwwhat?” You asked.

“You look so dumb. Like a guppy seeing coral for the first time.”

You gasped, offended. “I’mmmm nnnnnot a guppyyy!”

“Are too. You explore and poke at everything, you have this dumb fascinated look when you see something new, and you can’t even speak properly yet. Guppy.” Dust concluded.

“Mmnnotaguppy…” You grumbled.

Dust leaned against you. “You’re pouting. It doesn’t help your case.” His weight pushed you against the stone. “Now shush. Watch the migration.”

You didn’t mind his touch. Eels were naturally sociable with friends and touch is a common way to show affection.

Sitting there, watching the stingray migration with Dust, you realized something.

You enjoyed this.

Living in a whole new environment had been a scary thought before. But, relaxing like this?

You could get used to this.

Crying

A Mermay Prompt

(Note: ugly crying and mentioned character death of a family member)

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“No, mom, I-.”

“…”

“Mom, I want-.”

“…”

“…Please, just listen-.”

“…”

“…Okay. I’m sorry. Bye.”

You hung up the call. You didn’t want to think about it. Don’t think about it. Just… do something else. Your knee bounced with the leftover extra energy from that candy.

Right. Candy. Killer.

You could go visit one of the boys. That’d make you feel better. You made sure to pack extra food and grabbed your keys.

The ride there was painfully slow. Nothing but trees and grass until you reached your destination. Nothing to think about but…

Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.

You practically ran to your little beach when you parked the car, bag slung over your shoulder.

“Oh! Hey, y/n!” Cross greeted with a smile. His eyes caught on your face and he hesitated. “Y/n?”

You gave him a big fake smile. “I’m okay. Just zoned out for a second there! Sorry! I brought food!” The lifted the bag.

He was obviously still concerned. “…What’d you bring?”

“Sandwiches!” You exclaimed with a dramatic flourish as you pulled out one of the sandwiches. “The ones you said pizza was better than!”

“Uh huh.”

“Well, you get to try them now!” You shoved one in his hands.

He… didn’t eat it. He just gestured for you to hand him the bag, put the sandwich back inside, and turned back to you.

“Y/n.” You shrank at the stern yet concerned voice. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong.” You folded your hands behind your back and rocked on your heels.

His disbelieving glare pinned you in place, making you sweat.

“It’s nothing.”

“…”

“Cross. I’m fine.”

“…”

“……I…I don’t… Cross…”

“…”

“…I don’t want to talk about it…”

His glare relaxed. “Y/n. You’re all caught up running from something. Please,” He pleaded. “You need to talk about it. Come here.” His hand pat the ground next to him.

You hung your head and followed his directions. When you sat, his arm went around you.

“Y/n-.”

“You’re the opposite of my mother.”

Cross blinked at you. “Uh… is that a good thing?”

“Yes. She’s… never been particularly nice.” You looked away from him. “It took me a long time to realize that…”

“…Your mother. She… lives nearby?”

“No. She hates the water. Dad always…” You stopped yourself. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.

Cross didn’t let you. “Your Dad always what?”

“…He loves… loved the ocean.” You corrected yourself. It was fine. You could keep it together. Just don’t think about it. “He would always take me to the beach. We’d play in the water, he taught me to scuba dive, and we always cleaned up after. He made it fun.” You tried not to sniffle.

“…Did something happen?”

“…” You tried so hard, but your voice cracked anyway. “Yes… I… Mom just told me… He… He died last week. They’re ha-having his funeral tomorrow… She…” You choked on your next words. “She told me not to come… That I was disowned.”

“Disowned?”

“…I don’t have a family anymore, Cross. She kicked me out.” A hot tear rolled out of your eye, betraying you.

“O-Oh…” Cross hugged you. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” You sniffled. “Sh-She never liked me… This w-was a long t-time coming. Dad was the last… the last person holding me there. And now…” You couldn’t finish that sentence.

Cross finished it for you. “And now he’s gone.”

Tears streaked down your face. You nodded.

“…It’s okay if you need to… what was it? Cry?”

You laughed. “Yeah. It was cry. I…” You laughter melted into something harder. “I don’t… Why?”

Finally broken, you leaned into Cross’s hug and sobbed. He was surprisingly warm for an aquatic skeleton.

Letting you cry, Cross started rubbing your back and humming, just letting you vent.

“Why? Why him?! I didn’t even get to say goodbye!!” You screamed into his chest. “He was the only one left!! Cross! What am I supposed to do now?! I- I didn’t think it’d happen so soon… Cross.”

He let you pull away to look him in the eyes. Ugly tears made your cheeks glisten at him in the sunlight. “The only place left is the sea…”

His expression turned sad. “Y/n. You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Horror told me about it.” You sniffled and rubbed the tears and snot off your face. Gross… “After Killer gave me that candy.”

“Killer made you a monster candy?”

“Yeah.” You grabbed your sleeve and pulled it up to reveal the lack of scars to your companion. “Healed most of this. Apparently, he accidentally wanted to convert me or something when he added the intent. Horror noticed and explained the situation. Cross.” You grabbed his arm. “I can’t live up here anymore. No one but you guys know I exist. If I died… no one would know… or care.”

“Y/n…” He leaned down to hug you again. “It’s a big decision. You can’t just-.”

“Cross.” You interrupted him. “I’ve already thought about it. I have no one else. Please.”

He sighed heavily. “…Okay. But it will take a while and you’ll need to adjust your diet before diving in head first.”

“…Was that a diving pun?”

You could feel him grin over your shoulder. “Maybe~.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

Reblogging for the remaining time

Let’s try this again!

Omg…

Headcanon Time!!!!

Ink, in all his immortality, explored every nook, crevice, hole, cave, tunnel, lab, house, city, and literally everything each au had to offer before he met Dream or had to fight Error. He still explores, there are hundreds of new AUs to discover and explore, but he doesn’t do it as often.

Normally, the big fights happen in the older AUs that Ink fully explored. So Ink will randomly pull his team aside into a shortcut of tunnels or hidden cubby that no one could find. When questioned how he knew it was there, he’ll shrug; “I don’t know, I just knew it was there.”

This leads people to believe he knows the layout of an au just by being present, when really it’s just muscle memory from a constant state of exploration.

Glass

A Mermay Prompt

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You were shaking. A lot.

The excess magic from that candy was flooding your system and you couldn’t sleep. And there was a lot of excess.

You couldn’t bring yourself to drink coffee and you didn’t have any calming tea. The house had already been swept. Twice. The walls were clean, the windows were washed, the toilet was scrubbed, and you were sitting in your living room, bouncing your knee. Your mind was running at a thousand miles per hour and yet you still couldn’t think. You checked your phone.

It was 2am.

Had you really cleaned everything? Surely you missed something.

Your hands were twitching.

Everything looked polished. You’d even vacuumed the couch.

Your legs hurt.

Everything was dusted and mopped.

Your chest ached.

Maybe you forgot the dishes? Yeah, that was it!

You stood and paced into the kitchen where you opened a cabinet. Yeah, you hadn’t washed these. Reaching in with shaky hands you grabbed a stack of plates.

And dropped them as soon as they left the cabinet.

Shattered glass went everywhere. You immediately reached down to pick up the pieces and lifted everything you could find into the trash. You had more plates, it was fine.

Suddenly you didn’t feel like doing the dishes.

You couldn’t handle it. You had to do something. Or calm yourself down.

Maybe stargazing again?

The car keys found their way into your hands and you were off. It took forever to get there and no time at all. You hurried down the hill to your alcove, which was mostly flooded with the tide, and paced at the waters edge.

In your hurry, you’d forgotten your scuba gear. Not that it was smart to swim after dark but you weren’t smart right now.

The wind howled around you, threatening a storm, and the waves beckoned you forward. Your shoe sank into the cold water.

A familiar deep whistle split the air, making you suddenly aware of how close you were to the water. When you stepped back the whistle stopped.

A bright red orb floated over the water.

You stumbled back, tripped over your own feet, and landed on your butt. “H-H-Hey, b-big guy!” You stuttered and scrambled for your bag. When you couldn’t find it, you realized that in your scramble to get moving you hadn’t brought any food. “I-I d-don’t have f-f-food right n-now, b-buddy! B-But I c-can go g-get some!” You gestured a thumb over your shoulder.

He came out of the water towards you.

Oh stars, you were gonna die. He was gonna kill you.

You turned to run but didn’t even get to your feet before a tentacle wrapped around your leg.

“N-No! P-Please! Sir! I c-c-can get y-you m-more f-f-food! Please!” You gripped the loose rocks and tried to pull yourself away from the mass of muscle.

The whistle started again.

Fear and urgency left you, but you were still very aware of the danger you were in. “S-S-Sir. P-Please. I d-don’t w-w-want to d-die. P-Please.” Your voice was tired and jittery at the same time.

The siren pulled you closer until you were almost against his chest. He made a shushing gesture at you and reached towards you.

You closed your eyes, anticipating the giant’s hand to break your neck or something. You didn’t want to die, but there was nothing you could do.

Your eyes shot back open when he started petting your hair. What was he doing? You looked up at him.

He smiled kindly at you and let his low whistle fade to a stop. “You’re… okay.” He drawled slowly, as if the words were hard for him. “I won’t… hurt.. you.” With that said he turned his attention to your hand.

Still shocked, you followed his gaze. The eerie red light of his eye lit up multiple cuts and bits of glass in your hands.

“O-Oh.” Was all you could say.

He carefully held your hand steady and… started picking the glass out of your hand.

You stared openly, completely uncaring of if it was rude. “Y-Y-You-?”

“Shh.” A huge finger shushed you. “…Working.” He seemed very focused.

He was really picking the glass out of your hand. Just because. Surely that one day wasn’t enough to form a bond with the siren.

Carefully and patiently, he picked each and every piece of glass out of your hands. Your excess magic surged into your hands to heal the cuts once he was finished.

“Done.” He hummed. “Now, I can… give… answers.”

You didn’t hesitate. “W-Why a-are you helping-g m-m-me?”

He gave you a gentle smile. “You… helped… first.”

“I h-h-helped you?”

He nodded.

“H-How?”

“Food. Hungry. Hard to… catch…… normal.. prey.” He grumbled.

You blinked. “Were y-you st-st-starving?”

After a few moments, he nodded.

“Aren’t y-you p-p-part of a p-pod? Don’t your… f-friends h-help y-y-you?”

He shook his head. “Only… Nightmare. But… Boss’s… sleeping. Sleeps long… Very long…”

“C-Cross a-and K-K-Killer d-don’t help y-you?” You were starting to hate this energized stutter.

He looked you in the eyes with a desperation you’d never seen before. He shook his head.

“I-I’m th-the only p-person to h-help you? B-Besides N-Nightm-mare?”

Nod.

“W-Well.” You held out a hand. “I-I’m y/n. I-It’s n-nice to of-f-fficially m-meet you. S-Sorry f-f-for yelling-g a-at you earlier.”

He grabbed and inspected your hand before letting you go. “…Name’s Horror.” He leaned in towards your face as you tried not to lean away. “You have… too much magic…”

You laughed nervously and dry. “Y-Yeah. K-Killer gave m-me a c-c-candy to h-heal this.” You pulled up your sleeve to show him the bite mark.

“Hmm. You… smell like him.”

“I d-don’t know w-w-what to say t-to th-that.”

“Heheheh.” He chuckled at you. “‘S not… bad. Who… bit you?”

Suddenly, the magic decided it wanted to be in your face. “Uhh… K-Killer b-bit me…”

The humor left Horror’s face. “…Oh…….. Then he… healed you?”

“Y-Yeah? E-Earlier? Yest-t-terday? W-When it was b-b-bright. B-But th-the bite d-didn’t heal… S-Something ‘bout i-intent.”

“Hmm.” Horror looked you over again. “…Did he ask you… about being… a siren?”

“B-Being a s-siren?”

He gave you an odd look. “Would you… like to… be a siren? He intended… conversion.”

“He w-what?”

The siren sighed. “The candy. Killer put… intent… to turn you into a… siren. It won’t-.”

“W-What?!?” You looked down at your legs, terrified. You couldn’t just turn into a siren! What if you turned into a siren while at your house?? You’d never make it to the water in time!

“Shh.” Horror put a finger on your mouth. “Let me… finish. It won’t turn you… into a siren. This type… of conversion… is long and… tedious. You have to… accept the change… and have… many doses of magic. The other way…” He frowned. “…is less pleasant.

“You have nothing… to be scared of. Your will can… stop the change… if you want. It takes weeks… if you choose to… convert.”

“O-Oh. So… I-I-I w-won’t turn i-into a s-siren out of n-nowhere?”

He shook his head. “Not enough… magic or consent.”

“W-Why would K-Killer d-d-do th-that?”

Horror shrugged. “Might not have… meant to. His intent’s… unstable. Maybe just meant… to keep you safe… and… unintentionally… wanted you… close.”

“Oh.” He… He wanted to keep you safe?

“……You….. wanna hug?” Horror awkwardly offered.

“I… y-yeah.” You hugged the siren.

Horror curled over your small form. He chuckled. “…Tiny.”

“N-Not you t-too!!”

Kelp

A Mermay Prompt

(Note: aggression(it has begun))

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“Y/n.”

“No! Nope! Nu uh!” You shook your head and pulled away. “I’m not eating what is basically sea grass! Do I look like a cow to you?”

Cross held out the kelp to you. “A what?” His head tipped to the side like a big puppy.

“A cow.” Realizing that wasn’t an explanation, you gestured how big a cow was. “It’s a big land animal with four legs that eats grass. The bulls have these long curving horns so they can fight off predators.”

His eyes widened. “It has four legs and weapons??”

You snickered at his reaction. “Yeah, there’s a whole sport around bull fighting. It’s really dangerous even though cows aren’t predators.”

“They’re not predators… and they’re dangerous? Have… Have they killed anything?” His eyelights were tiny in his sockets.

“Oh, yeah. I don’t know the details, but I know that many people and animals have died to a rampaging bull. It’s not fun.”

Cross didn’t respond.

Looking back at him, you finally noticed why. The guy looked absolutely terrified. Of cows? Well, you hadn’t done the best job explaining their softer side. You cleared your throat. “But they can be really gentle. When I was little, I went to a ranch and got to feed one. That was fun.”

“Mm…” He mumbled, still staring into space.

“Cross?”

His eyes snapped to you, he shook his head and sat straight. “Anyways! You still have to eat this.”

“Noooo!” You stepped out of his reach. “You can’t make me if you can’t catch me! Ha!”

Cross grinned smugly at you. “You remember how you learned about this type of conversion?”

Your eyes narrowed suspiciously. “…Yeeaahhhh? Horror told me. Why?”

“Heheheh.” Came a familiar chuckle behind you causing a chill to go up your spine.

You spun around to face Horror, who had sat himself right in your pathway.

He waved his fingers at you. “Hi.”

A glare was shot at Cross. “Two against one is unfair.” You pouted, earning another chuckle from Horror.

Cross shrugged. “I planned ahead. And Horror was the only one of us that can get on land without getting stuck.”

You crossed your arms, careful to keep an eye on Horror’s curling tentacles, and grumbled. “I still don’t want to…”

A sigh came from Cross. “Y/n. If you want to be a siren, you have to ease into the diet. If you convert without preparing, you’ll throw up everything we feed you. It’s an annoying process but a necessary one.”

Horror hummed in agreement.

“Uuuggggghhhhhhh! Fine! But it’s gross!” You stormed over and carefully took the soggy greens. “…..Gross.” Your nose wrinkled at it.

Both sirens laughed at you and waited patiently, looking away for your comfort.

It looked and felt so gross. Your gag reflex had you sticking your tongue out and looking away. It was necessary. It wouldn’t hurt you… right?

An idea came to mind.

You spun on your heel, much to Cross’s confusion, and marched back to

Horror. His tentacles moved out of your way as he gave you an amused look. Splitting the clump of kelp vaguely in half, you offered him half and his eye dilated at the offer.

“Y/n, he doesn’t-.” Cross started.

“Shut up, Cross. If I’m going to eat this, I’m going to share.”

You could have sworn Horror’s eye flickered into a heart for a second. He gently took the clump and held it close. He grabbed a droopy leaf and held it up, waiting expectantly for you to do the same.

With a small groan, you lifted up a piece, maintaining eye contact, and copied him as he ate his.

Oh, that was salty!

Your face pursed at the taste, gaining another chuckle from the tall siren. Once you got past the sea water… it didn’t taste… bad. Just like a sea salad.

Horror smiled and encouraged you to continue. You both ate your section of sea weed without much other than a few tense expressions as you bit into the next leaf.

Before you knew it, your hands were empty and Horror was licking his fingers.

“Was that so hard?” Cross teased his eyes darting between you and Horror.

“Yes.” You snapped back. “But… it wasn’t… terrible.”

Horror chuckled again and leaned over you. “Lil… baby.”

You gasped, offended. “Excuse me?!?”

Horror was leaning over you and… purring? Was that purring or a different type of whistle? And how did he do that? You could feel the sound in your ribs. When you looked at him, his eyes were closed as he leaned towards you.

A growl from Cross startled you.

“Horror.” Cross threatened. His claws were digging into the beach as if he would come after you.

Horror’s eye opened slowly and you shivered. His eye blazed with a protectiveness you hadn’t seen before as he glared at Cross.

The purr melted into a growl.

That… wasn’t good.

You were between two aggressive sirens. And neither of them seemed to notice you, fully focused on each other.

Deciding to back out of this situation, you slowly stepped away from Horror. Surely they wouldn’t start a scuffle randomly, right? You didn’t want to risk it.

You bumped into a writhing tentacle.

It immediately gripped your leg, Horror’s attention shot to you with a glare that could kill, and you froze. Would he hurt you while he was like this?

With a small gasp, Horror’s expression snapped from angry to scared. Him and his tentacles reeled away from you.

“…Horror?” You asked. Was he okay?

With a whine and a pained look, Horror turned and retreated into the water with less than a splash, leaving you staring after him.

What…

What just happened?

“Are you okay?”

You looked over at Cross. There were marks in the beach where his hands had dug into the rocks.

“What happened?” You asked, still tense.

Cross’s face gained a purple hue. “Uhhh, Horror forgot himself for a second… It’s okay. He, uh,” He gave the water a quizzical look. “He didn’t want to hurt you.”

Comforting.

“You sound surprised.” You raised an eyebrow at Cross.

“Well, he,” Cross grumbled. “He doesn’t like people. Except for Nightmare, I guess, but Nightmare spoils him.”

“Spoils him?”

Cross waved his hand dismissively. “He helps Horror hunt. Which is du- unnecessary, Horror can hunt for himself, and Boss doesn’t help anyone else.” He grumbled and crossed his arms. “It feels like he only helps Horror because Horror’s an octopus too.”

Oh.

Big boy was jealous.

When Cross finally looked back at you, he startled at your glare.

“Cross.” You growled slowly. “Do you know why I met Horror? How I learned that whistle?”

He shook his head.

“Because he was starving. I sat on this beach and waited for one of you to show up when he found me. He was hungry and he saw an easy target. Do you remember why I survived?”

“You fed him?” He answered, uncertainly.

“Yes. And when I offered the first sandwich, he stopped whistling. I was terrified. But I offered again. I can only imagine what it was like for him. Starving for days maybe weeks, when, what you thought was going to be your next meal, offers you food instead of running away when they had the chance. How would you feel if you were starving, attacked someone, and they gave you pizza?”

His mouth opened and closed a few times before he answered. “…Horror was starving?” You nodded. “But… he can lure, right?”

“If you mean lure like ‘sing and people will walk off a cliff for you’, no.” You shivered. “Horror can’t lure. His whistle only removes fear. I could have walked or run away at any moment, even while he sang, and he could do nothing to stop me. Cross, he can’t hunt like you and Killer. Didn’t you know?”

Cross shook his head. “Sirens can’t affect other sirens, so we never knew. He had a whistle, we assumed it worked. He never told any of us otherwise.”

You looked back across the water. “From what I’ve seen, he doesn’t like talking around you. He talked to me, a lot, the other day. Maybe he talks to Nightmare too?”

“That… would make sense.” Cross said. “Oh my stars, this entire time…? And we never noticed? No wonder I’ve never seen him eat when Boss is asleep.”

The birds and waves filled the silence for a moment.

“…Are you okay?”

You looked back at the siren and shrugged. “Better than I should be, worse than I could. Why?”

“He grabbed you.” Cross’s face was tense with concern.

“Yep. And let go immediately after. His tentacle didn’t hurt me, Cross.” You scolded.

He didn’t look sorry as he changed the subject. “Come here. I need to give you some magic for the conversion.”

Your face wrinkled humorously as you walked toward him. “You make it sound weird.”

“The anti-drowning siren maker then.”

“Nope! The last one was good!”