Aquata Cove Ch. 60

"Why would he do that?" Arnaav said as he sobbed.

"As I said... I refused to tell him about merfolk, and he retaliated by taking me apart - as well, humans are able to learn more about creatures by taking samples of flesh. He removed almost all that I had to give, while throwing me in a room full of constant sunlight with little to no water at all..."

"Y-You were dehydrated??"

"Dehydrated, and burned... And as if torturing was not enough, they also kidnapped my mate... My love..."

"W-Why?? He is not even a merman!" Arnaav asked.

"Yes. But he is a human who is mated and deeply affiliated with a merman. They presumed he knew everything there is to know about merfolk..."

"D-Did they rip him apart as well?"

"No... They kept him in a cage for as long as they also kept me. He had no clue about what they wanted him for until near the end... They studied him, asked him about merfolk, and..." Merrick held back his sobs rather poorly, "And they put lightning inside of his body... They injected lightning into his body, and they forced me to watch..."

Syrinx grips the sand very hard as she listened. She has no idea just how she could deal with this if she had been captured like Merrick...

"T-They put lightning inside him?!" Arnaav asked, horrified, "They can do that?!"

"Humans can do a LOT of things... But that is not the worst part..."

"The worst part?" Arnaav trembled.

"What that man did to me... What many humans that obeyed him did... All of it turned my mind into the darkness... I lost myself several times in that prison... Any human that I knew - kind humans who have always helped and loved me, sympathized with me - they all turned into monsters before my eyes..."

"D-Does that mean..."

"Yes..." Merrick nodded, "You are right... When they forced my mate to confront me... I almost killed him... I almost put an end to the love of my life..."

Syrinx's blood turned cold as she heard these words.

"Those evil humans who mocked me, tormented me, mutilated me, they turned me into blind monster, and my incinerated sanity commanded me to destroy any human who dared to touch me, and I was going to do it..." Merrick's hand clutched onto the rock as white, pearly wisps misted around his eyes, "I do not know what brought me back to my senses when I was forcing the life out of him... I just saw him as I held him up by his neck... If I had held him for any longer, he would have died at my hand...

"H-How did you escape??" Arnaav asked.

"The kind humans I mentioned..." Merrick said, "Two of them who live with me and my mate, and a relative of my mate, along with a reformed Latolcus. And a few other humans who took part in my torture who sympathized with me assisted in helping me leave..."

"W-What if that evil human comes back for you??" Arnaav asked, "What if he finds you again??"

"He will not." Merrick answered, "When me and my mate escaped, that man chased us with human-made ships, like a small army. I led them all into the sea, and I summoned the Guardian Leviathan to destroy them all..."

"Guardian Leviathan??"

"To protect merfolk from him and his men, I had to make sure they would never come back. It was a fitting end, I think - this man named Nigel wanted to go deeper into the ocean than any human has gone before, and now he has."

"So it's over now though... Right?" The boy asked him.

"No..." Merrick looked as his own palms, "I am dangerous, Arnaav... I almost killed my love, I almost killed two humans who helped me to live, and I almost killed Noita Vanora... If I have another nightmare like that, I do not know who I might hurt, or worse."

"W-What stops these bad dreams?" Arnaav asked, desperate to help, "What prevents you from remembering them??"

"Nothing..." Merrick says with a weak smile as he gently stroked the boy's back, "They still come in my sleep, not as often as they used to... At times like these, my mate is always there to hold me. It is the same with him. That is why I need to come back home as soon as I can... I know I am not safe to be around, Syrinx knows this as well. That is why she kept warning the Noita and Triton about me on the first moon I came to the Kenovani."

Syrinx cringed at that. It seems her discrete tips about him weren't so discrete after all.

"I-I do not think you are not safe." Arnaav says, "I thin you are fine how you are. If you were not, Noita Vanora would be gone... Right?"

"I believe you are thinking too highly of me..." Merrick dismissed, "This wil not be the first time I will need to deal with my internal turmoil."

"Mmmrr..." Arnaav groans a little, before he looks down at his shard shell necklace. It's vibrating and glowing, as with the shard on Merrick's wrist, and the one around the base of Syrinx's tail.

"Razirah Ebba is calling us. They must be getting worried." Merrick said.

With that, he flourished his tail up, and elevated up as the otter merman paddled after him.

Moments later, Merrick returns to his original spot. He can sense the everyone else has gone back to sleep, and its time to tuck back into sleep himself. He locates his harpoon, and drifts his body down to the algae-covered spot.

~~~

Syrinx swims back to the ship by herself. To say that she is shocked and guilty is almost an understatement. Merrick's right, she did judge him before she gave him a chance.

Merfolk in general believe that Capricorns hunt Coshitons to kill them; was that what Merrick wanted to ask her on the cruise? But then he knocked out those two guys just out of nowhere. She knows for sure that he was going crazy, but she didn't figure just how and why. Up until now, it didn't occur to her that the fear of the Capricorn may have contributed to his deep hurt, as well as severely damaging his health.

After what happened to her pod, to Gelentea, looking at Merrick's eyes and his unstable mind only brings up the rampage of when Syrinx was a young mermaid.

She could've eased his hurt. He wouldn't have punched out those two men if she had just talked to him. If she had just-

"You have returned..." Came a very low voice. Syrinx jumped, and saw Samudra sitting in on a spot on the sand, outside of the ship's haul, his trident in his grip as always. He looks at her with calm eyes, "I do not usually abide spying... But once..."

"It is fine, Triton Samudra." Syrinx descended, "I know his type. Merrick is not the kind of merman who is open with just anyone."

"Of your Gelentea? The one who killed several of your pod?" He asked. Syrinx nodded.

"He is almost just like her... I feel Arnaav would have been the only one he would open up himself of dark scars. "

"And?"

"... I have a much better understanding of him now."

"Very well..." Samudra softly said. Syrinx situated herself in front of the Coshiton Triton, "Then help me understand the injured heart of our newest brother."

~~~

Arnaav wriggled in to his usual lonely position. He groans as he curls tighter, purring sadly as he tries to make himself comfortable. Always so cold and alone, no one really knows how to welcome him here.

He lifts up his head, and looks at Merrick. The Piscien's back is facing him, coiled in his own solitary spot.

Arnaav slowly pushes himself up in the water, and carefully pulls his little body forward, waving his stout tail up and down as he looms gradually through. He sniffles quietly as he creeps around Merrick, and dips slowly down beside the merman's arms. The little meryin crouches down as he tries to settle down.

Before he could make any more moves, Merrick's arms move. He whimpers as he froze, just as Merrick's arm hovered over him, and press around his furry back, while his other arm tucks under the otter. Arnaav purrs silently as he is pulled in, and his brown coat meets with silver scales before his foot-paws brush against the strong fish tail.

The otter boy nuzzles inward close against Merrick, just as fish's hand presses against his own wrist to safely secure him.

"You are safe..." Arnaav mutters.