Chapter Text
Cloud swam fast. The waters around him were darker than the ones Cloud was used to. His knife was gripped tight in his hand, ready to swing at anything that may come for him, admitting that he would see it in time. He was made for shallower waters than this.
He'd make this as quick as possible. Someone had said a vessel had sunk during a storm the other day. It was far from the reef, having been wrecked in the middle of the ocean. Cloud wanted to check it out. Ships were always full of interesting things, it would be a pity to just let this one rot.
It was lonely around these parts. The further one went from the shore, the less people around. Cloud didn't mind too much. If possible, he'd rather not run across a strange abyssal. He knew just enough about them to be aware his small size and golden scales were painfully out of place here.
The dark shape of the ship came into view. Finally. Cloud would be quick. It was hard to tell time in these depths, and so he had no idea how long he had been down here. He had left early in the morning, he hoped to be back by the evening. He could do it, if he hurried a little.
There was only endless blackness beyond it. Cloud couldn't imagine living down here. It creeped him out.
Quickly, Cloud ducked down to check the inside of the ship. There was a large hole on the side. Cloud wondered what had made it. This was far away from any rocks, it had to be the work of the waves. Or of something that had already come here.
No, Cloud shouldn't think about that. There were no trench monsters lurking, waiting for an unwise mer to swim past them. A hole was just a hole.
His fins flared up when he noticed something pale staring at him. However, he quickly realized it was just a dead human. The ship must have trapped the corpse, preventing it to float to the surface. Fish were already eating it.
Even if it was just a human, it made Cloud uneasy. He quickly busied himself with digging through the rubble, looking for something worth bringing back home.
Some coins. Pretty standard, for shipwrecks. Cloud didn't find them too interesting, but he still put a handful in his bag. Aerith liked to collect them, maybe she'd want one. The rest Cloud could probably trade. He ignored a few things that were either too boring or too broken to be of any interest.
There was a little decorated gun, the handle decorated with nacre and silver. He might keep that one. Human weapons weren't his favorite thing, but this one was nice.
He tried to avoid getting too close to the corpse. Dead things didn't bother him too much, but dead humans creeped him out. Too similar to merfolk for his tastes.
There wasn't anything else worth taking in this chamber. Maybe he should try to look on the deck, and find ways to get into other rooms. He swam back out of the hole he came in. Hopefully he could squeeze himself through the doors and explore.
Cloud looked over the ship, and froze. Something was staring at him.
Another mer. Not like him, clearly not someone from the surface. He was very clearly an abyssal. No one else would be getting close from the darkness of the open ocean. Or look so terrifyingly different.
He was big. He had to be three times Cloud's size. His body was completely white, from his scales to the long hair floating behind him. His face was strange, with thin cheeks and powerful jaws. Too big green eyes blinked at him.
The mer stared at Cloud, as if he were as surprised to see him as Cloud was surprised to see him. He moved slowly. His tail was shark-like, also white. Bright green spot lit up his sides.
"Who are you?" he asked. There were more bioluminescent spots on his face, dotting the skin around his mouth.
Cloud stared at him in fear. His fins had flared without his conscious command, but he doubted it made him look particularly intimidating. "I'm just looking for things. In the ship. Did... Did you want to look through it?"
"Look for what?"
"Trinkets. Human things."
Cloud wanted to escape, but he also didn't want to turn his back on him.
He was going to be alright. Hopefully. Abyssals were strange and big and frightening, but Cloud had never actually heard of someone being attacked by them. Then again, it was rare for anyone to run across them in the first place. Reef people never came so far into the abyss. Unless they were Cloud.
"Ah," the other said, moving closer. "Not food?"
"Was there food in there?"
"I think there are still one or two dead humans."
Cloud's heart skipped a beat. He didn't eat humans. Some people did at times, but Cloud preferred to avoid it. It disturbed him. If this mer was here to eat humans, who knew what else he liked to eat.
"I didn't touch them," Cloud said.
The other kept swimming towards the ship. Cloud tried to get away as much as he could, without outright turning his back on him.
The abyssal ducked his head inside the ship. "What is your name?"
"Cloud."
"I'm Sephiroth. Can you do me a favor?"
"I... I can try."
"Can you get rid of a couple parasites on my back?"
"On... on your back?"
"Yes." Sephiroth raised one arm, pointing in the direction of his spine. "I cannot reach them on my own."
Cloud knew larger mers tended to have this problem. Usually people got rid of them for one another, but the abyss was not very populated. He could make them out near the base of Sephiroth's tail. They looked like small fish, attached in a place where Sephiroth reasonably couldn't rip them off.
"The ones near your tail?" Cloud asked.
Sephiroth was rummaging through the wreckage. "Yes."
Cloud didn't want to get any closer to him. However, maybe if he did this small thing for Sephiroth he'd make him happy. Avoid getting eaten.
Carefully, Cloud swam over. Sephiroth's back was strange. The line of his spine was clearly visible on the upper part of his back, but became less pronounced in his tail. Cloud counted one dorsal fin in his back, and two smaller ones on his tail.
He was covered in scars. Some looked like they could be inflicted by the claws of other mers. Others were strange, rounded. Like the wounds some squids left.
Trying to keep an eye on Sephiroth's movements, Cloud got closer. Like with many other sharks, it was hard to tell where Sephiroth's skin ended and his scales began. Being white all over, there was no way of telling even by color.
Cloud took a look at the situation. "It may hurt if I just rip them off."
"It won't be a problem."
That sounded unnecessarily painful. "I have a knife. I can try cutting them away."
"Fine. Mind what you do with it."
There was a crunch from within the ship. Cloud tried not to think about what Sephiroth was doing in there.
He stopped near the base of Sephiroth's tail. There was an ugly little fish with its teeth buried in Sephiroth's skin. Cloud grabbed it. With a swipe of his knife, he killed the thing. After that, it was easy for him to pry the jaws away. When he was done with that, he found two more to kill.
"This is it, I think," he said.
"Thank you. Do you want a bite?"
"What?"
Sephiroth got out of the ship. "You can have some human, if you want."
"N-no, thank you. I should really go back home now, it's a long way back to the surface."
"Farewell," Sephiroth said.
"Yes, goodbye."
Cloud started swimming away as fast as he could. Throwing a glance back showed that Sephiroth was staring at him. Cloud moved faster, trying to get out of sight of those huge eyes.
He didn't slow down until he was back into familiar territory. His muscles ached with effort by then, but Cloud hadn't been able to calm himself down. He wanted to be back to the reef. Didn't relax until he started seeing the first plants growing between the sand, sure sign that he had made it back to shallow water.
The cave he used as a home was on a rocky cliff at a small distance from the reef itself. Small, only a couple rooms, but cozy. Cloud pushed away the hanging shark skin strips that covered the entrance, swimming in. The rock walls around him were a welcome barrier after the long swim in the open abyss.
Cloud looked back out for a moment. He doubted he'd been followed, most abyssals kept far from the surface. Still, it didn't hurt to check.
No mer that large could pass through the entrance of his cave, at least.
***
The next day, Cloud swam up to the reef, his loot in his bag. With the light of day filtering through the water, yesterday's scare seemed like a faraway dream.
Aerith and Tifa were chatting together in the low water, with Aerith carefully taking parasites out of the plants she cared for.
Tifa was the first to spot him. "Cloud! Where were you yesterday?"
"Exploring that shipwreck people talked about."
"The one in the abyss? Cloud."
"It was a quick trip. I left in the morning, came back in the evening."
"How was the abyss?" Aerith asked, viciously getting rid of a couple shrimps who had made the mistake of making her plants their home.
"Cold. Dark."
"Any exciting stuff?"
A giant merman of the depths with a deathly pale body that Cloud still wasn't sure hadn't considered him for lunch. "No. I brought you something."
He took the coins out of his bag, handling them to Aerith. She thrilled in delight, examining the objects that shone bright under the sunlight.
"You shouldn't go down there, Cloud. It's not safe," Tifa said, watching Aerith turning the coins in her hands.
"I can protect myself."
Tifa looked dubious. "You know what kind of things are down there."
"The kraken-people!" Aerith said, delighted.
"Kraken-people are a legend," Cloud replied. No one had ever seen anyone whose half was anything other than a fish. The kraken-people were like whale-people and lobster-people. Stories made up to scare children.
Then again, Cloud had never seen anything quite like Sephiroth before. Who knew what else could be hiding under all that water.
Tifa swam around them. "There's much realer things to worry about."
Cloud turned. "You don't need to check if I'm alright."
Most people of the reef were afraid of the abyss. They just weren't built for it. Tifa, while bigger than Cloud, was still diminutive compared to abyssals. Cloud was remarkably good at adapting to the deeper waters for a reef mer, but the increased pressure quickly became painful to Tifa, who couldn't go past a certain point.
Aerith was less scared, but she was also unsuited for the abyss. She wasn't a fast swimmer. Her flowing red fins were beautiful, but they also slowed her. The poisonous spikes in her dorsal fins made her a dangerous target for anything looking for a bite, but poisoning something was a little useless if you had already been eaten.
Cloud was faster, his slender body better for running away quickly if needed. He also liked to think he knew how to use his claws well enough to protect himself. At least, so long as he wasn't fighting a giant abyssal.
"Can I keep these?" Aerith asked.
"Sure."
After meeting with them and receiving Tifa's lecture about exploring dangerous places, Cloud swam off, looking for someone else. He needed to find Zack. Zack was a large shark, and like many other sharks he liked the open sea, spending occasionally weeks away from the reef.
He found him eating some fish he had caught.
"Hey," Zack said, grinning. "Where are you going?"
"I was looking for you."
"Me? I'm flattered."
"I wanted to ask you something."
Zack let the hard fish bones fall from his hands. "About what?"
"Have you ever seen someone from the depths? Abyssals?"
"You mean, other than Vincent?"
Vincent was technically an abyssal, but he had been sticking around relatively shallower waters for a few years. According to him, he couldn't handle life in the abyss anymore. He had received plenty of injuries in the past, including losing one of his ventral fins.
He was also quite different from Sephiroth. While also a shark, he was a deep red color, not pale white. Bigger than any reef mer Cloud knew, but he was still a little smaller than Sephiroth was. Less bizarre looking in general.
"Yes. Anyone other than him?"
Zack tilted his head. "Why do you ask?"
"Curiosity."
"You came looking for me just because you're curious?"
If he told Zack what had happened, Zack would worry to no end. Cloud decided sticking for a half truth was better. "I went out to a wreck in the depths. I... I thought I saw someone. In the distance. But I don't know if it was a person."
Zack narrowed his eyes. "You shouldn't go down there, Cloud."
"I know, I know, I am slow and have tiny teeth."
"That's not the point."
"What is it, then?"
"There's been... rumors, lately."
Cloud frowned. "What kind of rumors?"
"I heard them in the south, more in the ocean than in the reef." Zack moved closer to Cloud, as if to tell him a secret, even if they were the only ones there. "Some people have vanished."
"What? When?"
"In the past few weeks. Some people disappeared, no one knows where they went. And..." Zack paused, as if to decide if he should say this. "One time someone found parts of a tail. Chewed up."
Cloud's eyes widened. "Are you saying that something is eating people?"
"Don't. Don't go around telling it to others. I don't want people to worry yet," Zack said. "But maybe."
"What kind of thing?"
"We haven't figured it out yet. All I know is that it never happens in shallow waters. Everyone who had disappeared was either out in the open, or down in the depths."
"You can't just say this and leave it at that!"
"There's nothing else I know. But you should keep yourself safe."
Zack looked genuinely worried. Cloud knew him enough to be aware Zack wouldn't be joking about something like this.
Could it be Sephiroth? Could he be the one to eat people? No, it was impossible. He wouldn't have let Cloud go so easily then. Or was it because he had some tasty humans to keep him distracted?
Regardless, what Zack said was concerning. Cloud understood why he wouldn't want to worry people with those news. Aside from Cloud, everyone in this patch of the reef preferred to stick around in shallow water.
Well, there was Vincent, but even if injured he could still fight off most things Cloud knew. Zack and Kunsel were the only ones who swam in the open ocean regularly, and if Zack knew then Kunsel most certainly did too.
***
Cloud barely started swimming towards the reef before realizing that there was a storm going on. The surface moved in large waves. The sand made everything murky. Bad day.
Cloud's home was just deep enough that it usually wasn't affected by storms. Better to go back to it. He hated storms. They made too many currents for his tastes. Cloud preferred to retreat into the safety of his little cave until things calmed down up there.
He snatched a lone, confused fish, probably thrown off kilter by the storm. It made a good breakfast. Cloud would leave again to look for food, but he'd prefer to avoid surface waters until the storm had died out.
Just a little after Cloud had gone back into his home, someone else burst in.
"Aerith!"
"Hi, sorry for barging in," she said. "It's really bad up there."
"Come in, then."
Aerith always had a rough time during storms. Her cave was protected enough, but most of her favorite places turned messy during storms like this. "It really sucks today. There's so much sand floating around that I can barely see what's around me."
"I saw."
Aerith turned on her back with an annoyed click of her tongue, kicking her tail towards the ceiling. "What do we do all day?"
"I was going to spend the day in. I don't know about you."
Aerith flipped around again. "Tell me something."
"Like what?"
"Tell me of your adventures in the abyss."
Cloud rolled his eyes. "Hardly adventures. I swim in, find what I came for, and then swim back out."
"Doesn't it ever scare you?"
"Nothing bad ever happened. You have to be wary, but it's not that dangerous."
"Yes, but it's still so big and dark. Nothing around you."
"It's better to have nothing around you down there."
Cloud's thoughts still went back to Sephiroth. He still wondered about what Zack had said, and whether or not there was something down there who snacked on mers. Still, he doubted it was another mer. Even one as big and different as Sephiroth was.
Aerith clicked her tongue again. "Can you imagine living down there? No light, no colors. Just you and water and sand."
"Sounds bleak."
"Sounds lonely too. One time I talked with Vincent and he said in the depths you almost never meet other people."
"Must be why he never spends time with anyone," Cloud commented. He didn't doubt Vincent's words. Cloud wouldn't say he took regular trips to the abyss, but he had been there a few times, and the first person he had ever met was Sephiroth. Even fish were rare down there, and the little there was was pretty weird.
"Where do you think they live?"
Cloud shrugged. "I guess they have caves somewhere. And there's also wrecks."
Assuming that there were any big enough for those people. The last ship Cloud had visited would have been cramped for Vincent, let alone Sephiroth. But maybe there were also smaller people.
Aerith looked up. "There's probably going to be a lot more wrecks now."
"I don't know. The humans might be smart enough not go out to sea during a storm like that."
"Do you really think that?"
Cloud didn't. He had seen far too many ships getting wrecked after humans had tried to sail during a storm. Why they did that, he had no idea. To be honest, he wasn't sure why they sailed in the first place. Mers didn't travel on land. Some people liked the shore, but no one ever tried to crawl deep into an island.
***
"He truly is my hero," Jessie dramatically declared.
Cloud rolled his eyes. "Stop it."
Jessie reached out to him, making grabby hands. "My savior."
Aerith slapped the side of her tail. "Stay still."
Jessie had ended up slamming against some rocks during the storm. Cloud had found her trying to swim with her tail wounded, and dragged her to Aerith to get help. Storms were always so much trouble. Someone managed to get injured every time a bad one hit.
Aerith bandaged Jessie's tail tight with long strips of kelp. Beneath that, she had placed some green fin leaves. Aerith said they disinfected wounds, keeping illnesses out, and Cloud was inclined to believe that.
They stung. Cloud knew that from experience. Aerith said it was because they burnt infection out of the flesh. Jessie squirmed as Aerith took care of her.
"Don't be a baby," Biggs said, swimming lazily around them.
"You're not the one with a damaged tail! Oh, will the scars ever heal!"
"It's barely a cut."
Wedge laughed. "We wouldn't want our poor Jessie to have a scarred tail."
"Wedge is the only one who understands me."
Cloud wondered whether he should leave. He had brought Jessie to safety, there was no reason for him to stick around for the antics. Biggs kept swimming in circles, it was making him dizzy.
"See it this way, it could have been worse," Biggs said.
"Yeah! Barret got stranded."
Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"He got caught in a bad current and ended up on shore. Tifa and Biggs had to drag him back into the water."
Cloud winced. Between Barret's size and his missing arm, it was almost impossible for him to move his weight around on land. They must have dragged him against the sand until the water was deep enough for him to swim. Cloud didn't envy that. Dry sand was such a pain to rub against.
"We did, because Wedge couldn't be bothered to help."
"What if I got stranded too?"
Aerith tied the kelp, getting a string of complaints from Jessie. "We're lucky only you and Barret got a few scrapes."
That was true. The storm had been harder than Cloud had originally thought it would be, and lasted for more than a day. The reef had been damaged, broken corals everywhere. He knew once Aerith was done treating the injuries she'd immediately rush to save everything she could.
One person getting stranded and another getting a few cuts wasn't too bad. It was during a storm that Barret had lost his arm. People who didn't hide in a cave or in the depths during that kind of weather always risked being hurt.
Biggs did a twirl. "I heard a ship got sunk, too."
"Really? Where?" Cloud asked.
"Out in the open," Biggs said. "Too far for me, but maybe you want the location?"
"Sure."
Zack's warnings flashed back into Cloud's mind. Well, if it turned out this ship was too far away Cloud would skip out on it. But if it was just a little far from the reef Cloud could still make a dive there.
***
Cloud was warier than usual as he swam into the depths. He told himself nothing bad would happen. The sea was big, there was no reason he should run across anything dangerous. Whatever Zack had warned him about was likely far away.
Probably closer to the surface. Cloud had thought about it, and anyone Zack had talked with was most likely from the reef, or the upper parts of the ocean. If the people who vanished where closer to the surface, what had taken them must have also been moving near the surface. It was just logic. If anything, keeping himself close to the bottom could be safer.
Still, Cloud kept glancing around, making sure nothing was getting close. He had his knife ready. If anything tried to attack, Cloud would fight it with weapons, claws and teeth. He'd show them what the little golden fish could do.
This wreck was pretty close. At least according to Biggs's information, but Biggs was somehow always right about the things he said. He knew everyone this side of the ocean. If Biggs said something had happened, then it was certain. The only person who had more information than him was Kunsel, who Cloud sometimes thought might be able to speak with fish.
Cloud should be getting there in just a short while. His sense of direction was one of his strong suits, he could always tell his way around the sea. Even if he was not familiar with the area he could figure it out.
It was Cloud's increased attention to his surroundings that made him notice something dark to his left. He slowed down, blinking to make it out. Could it be the wreck?
No. That thing was moving. Cloud's eyes widened, realizing it was getting closer. It wasn't pale like Sephiroth, but was dark, making it harder to spot in the darkness. Cloud might have not noticed hadn't he been looking. He wondered if it was someone new. It was big, but everyone here was big?
However, it quickly became clear that was no mer.
A huge, snake face, with pale eyes. A long body twisted in the water like an eel. Its mouth was open, and it swam directly towards Cloud. It was huge. It could take Cloud's tail off with only one bite, and it looked eager to try.
Giant snake. That wasn't possible.
Cloud's darted. He didn't even think about stopping to fight, he was getting out of there. He swam as fast as he could, willing his tail to move faster and faster. He was aware his sprints weren't as fast as, say, Zack, and oh Zack was going to cut his fins off once he found out about this.
He glanced behind himself, without slowing down. It was following. It was definitely following him. This was what was eating people. Cloud was outrunning it for now, but he couldn't keep this speed up for long. If that thing got close- if it darted-
Cloud's muscles burnt with the effort to keep himself going. If he slowed down, he was done for. He couldn't hope to win in a fight against something that big. There was nowhere to hide. If only he was close to a wreck, he could duck inside, hope that it couldn't break thought, but nothing. Sand, sand, sand, flat sand everywhere.
He couldn't keep this speed all the way to the reef. Even if he could, he couldn't bring this thing up there. His heart hammered. He didn't want to die like this. In the depths, alone, eaten by some monster.
A roar reached him. It wasn't coming from behind Cloud.
He barely had time to notice something pale moving before it shot past him. Behind him came the screech of an animal in pain.
Cloud twisted on himself, trying to see what what going on. There was something white pressed against the monster's face. Pale, and bioluminescent. The scent of blood was quickly filling the water.
It was Sephiroth. Cloud stared, his mouth open in shock, as the merman attacked the monster. Even if Sephiroth was large, he was still smaller than that thing. And yet, he seemed to be winning. He gouged its huge eyes out, expertly avoiding the jaws trying to close around him.
Cloud watched the fight in horror, too scared to move. He couldn't be seeing this monster in front of him. The endless snakes who ate everything that came into their paths, be they fish or merfolk. Who took on even whales. Monsters from the depths that hid in the darkness, and crawled to the surface at night to eat more.
It was just impossible. Not because those things were legend, no – Cloud knew they were real. Everyone knew. People still spoke of how the giant snakes had hunted, almost exterminated merfolk in the past. But only in the past. They had supposedly all died, killed with great efforts and loss before Cloud was born.
Even more frightening than seeing this monster was the way Sephiroth easily dispatched of it. He savagely ripped its face apart. The snake twisted desperately, but it could not catch Sephiroth. Sephiroth shook, and Cloud saw that he had bitten the monster and ripped out a large chunk of flesh.
Eventually, Sephiroth ducked. He pushed one hand inside the snake's already damaged eye. His arm sunk in deep. The snake roared in pain, until it stopped moving. Sephiroth's arm twisted, as if he was trying to dig out the snake's brains from the inside out.
When he moved away, the snake fell to the ocean floor.
Sephiroth turned to Cloud. He was tinged pink by the blood floating around him.
"It's you again," he said.
Cloud didn't speak. He only stared, his mind struggling to catch up with what had happened. The snake was dead. Sephiroth had killed the monster who had just been trying to eat him. And now Sephiroth's large eyes were fixed on Cloud.
Sephiroth floated towards Cloud. "You are lucky I was there."
"Thanks," Cloud whispered.
"Thanks for what?"
"For... For saving me."
"That? I would have killed it anyways. Less of a fight than I expected."
Cloud wanted to run, but didn't dare. He was paralyzed. Sephiroth circled him, and Cloud wondered if he was going to be the next. A little post-fight snack.
"Why do I keep finding you down here?"
"There was another wreck."
"Wrecks, wrecks." Sephiroth swam around him, and Cloud tried to turn on himself to keep looking at him in the eyes. "What is so good about wrecks? You don't even eat the humans."
"I like bringing things back home."
"Are things worth coming to the abyss?"
"I was stupid."
"You were."
Sephiroth reached out to him. Cloud tried to move away, but ended up bumping against his tail instead. Sephiroth's claws were as long as Cloud's fingers. They didn't hurt him, however. Merely brushed against Cloud's tail, as if curious about his scales.
"Is everyone like you, in the surface?" Sephiroth asked.
"How?"
"Bright," Sephiroth said. He was staring at the gold of Cloud's tail. "Never saw this kind of color on someone."
"It's pretty common, yes."
It wasn't surprising that Sephiroth would have never seen someone like him. Everything here was black, white, or murky dark. Cloud didn't consider himself too strange, but the reef was a colorful place.
Sephiroth kept considering him. Cloud was thinking about making a run for it again, but he wasn't sure if he could get away. Not when Sephiroth was so close.
Sephiroth slowed. "What to do with you?"
Cloud's heart jumped. "What do you do usually when you meet someone?"
"Fight. Or mate. No use fighting you."
"Mate?" Cloud repeated, stammering. "With- With random strangers?"
"Why?"
Cloud gaped. "People mate with people they know."
"There's a lot of people in the surface, right?"
"Yes."
"Here there are very little. It has been a long time since the last time I met anyone. It's a wasted occasion not to mate when you have the chance." Sephiroth lowered a little, as if to study Cloud's tail. "But you are small. You'd make weak offspring."
Cloud wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or offended by that. Sephiroth certainly hadn't complimented him, but there was little arguing that he was small compared to him. And Cloud absolutely did not want to mate Sephiroth. Aside from how absurd the concept was, he didn't think he could even get the right parts working in this situation.
"Yes, you're bad for the abyss," Sephiroth murmured. "But maybe my blood is strong enough to make it work."
"My color is really bad for down here," Cloud quickly said. Sephiroth wasn't suggesting this, right? He had to be screwing with him. Making something up to see the little reef fish getting all flustered.
"Also true."
Cloud glanced to the dead snake. "Hey, are there a lot of those things around here?"
"Snakes? Sometimes. But it is strange that they are getting so close to the surface."
They. It meant there were many of those things swimming around. Cloud had to go warn people on the reef.
"Can I go?"
"Why?"
"I have to go home. To tell others that these things are around."
"Are you in a hurry?"
"Kind of?"
Sephiroth grabbed one of Cloud's arms. Cloud tried to twist out of the grip, but Sephiroth was too strong. He turned Cloud's hand around, examining it. "Good claws, for your size."
"Are you serious?"
Sephiroth studied him. This close, it was painfully obvious how big he was. His head was almost as large as Cloud's torso. Like some other shark people, his mouth didn't close all the way. Cloud could make out the outline of jagged rows of thin teeth.
Sephiroth released his grip. "It's a surprisingly hard decision."
It really wasn't for Cloud. Not even as a distant possibility. He had just watched a giant abyssal kill a giant snake who had been trying to swallow Cloud whole, this was about the last thing Cloud would think about now. How could Sephiroth even be considering it?
"Listen I... I really have to go home."
Sephiroth drew back. "Where is your home?"
"What?"
"I will come with you. I will think about it, and you can go home without being eaten."
"Can you go to the surface?"
"Yes. Despicable, but I can."
Cloud thought of Vincent, and how he complained the light hurt his eyes, only swimming up during the night.
At the moment, that was Cloud's best chance. Besides, the possibility of another snake was far too real, and Sephiroth might come in hand. "Alright. Ah, follow me?"
He took Sephiroth's stare as a yes. Cloud slowly turned, and started swimming back towards the reef. Quickly. He was eager to get back home and warn the others, and possibly get rid of Sephiroth too.
Sephiroth wasn't serious about thinking about it, right? It had to be some kind of deep water joke. Cloud couldn't be a suitable partner. Was Sephiroth in season? Because if he wasn't Cloud had no idea how could anything even result in offspring. Besides, the size difference couldn't be right.
He made a short dart when something brushed against his tail. Sephiroth again.
"Don't your fins rip?"
"The membrane heals if it does."
Sephiroth's fins were fleshy. The only membrane Cloud had seen on him was the webbing between his fingers. It was weird. All sharks Cloud knew still had finned ears, but Sephiroth didn't. His hair made it hard to see, but it looked like his ears were flat like those of fish.
"Your scales are hard."
"A little." Not enough to defend him from Sephiroth's claws, if Sephiroth decide to gut him. Still, they were hardier than shark skin.
"That's a good thing."
Was he still thinking about it? What was Cloud going to do if Sephiroth decided he liked him? He wasn't exactly Cloud's idea of attractiveness.
Slowly, the ocean floor rose. More fish appeared, usually running as soon as they saw them come.
One fish got a little too close, and tried to run a little too late. Sephiroth pushed forward, and then did something with mouth that was just stomach turning. His jaws seemed to detach, and shot ahead. They closed around the poor fish, and then retreated back in their place in Sephiroth's face.
"What the fuck," Cloud said, unable to help himself.
Sephiroth looked at him, swallowing his fish. "What is it?"
"What did you just do with your face?"
"Is that weird?"
"Yes."
There was so much wrong with how Sephiroth's body worked.
After a while, Sephiroth started slowing down, falling back. While Cloud would like to run, he turned back. "What is it?"
"Too much light."
For Cloud, it wasn't all that bright. They were at the depth were plants began to grow, and while Cloud could see well it was still far from what the surface was like. Still, for someone so used to the abyss, it had to be painful.
Cloud glanced in the direction of the reef. "It's a while still to my home."
"How do you stand all this light all the time?"
"Well, it's darker at night."
"What is night?"
Cloud hesitated. "Night is night. It's when the sun goes down."
"Sun?"
"The sun." Cloud pointed up, feeling like he was explaining the obvious. "The thing that makes the light?"
"It goes down?"
Sephiroth wouldn't know. If he had never left the depths, he would have no idea what the day and night were. It was all darkness.
"I can return during this night, then," Sephiroth said.
"Return?"
"I will see you another time, Cloud."
Sephiroth turned on himself, and started swimming back towards the depths. Cloud watched him go. He swam with slow grace, slowly vanishing from sight.
What did it mean that he would return? Had he decided he liked Cloud, then?
Didn't matter. Cloud had more important things on his mind. Snakes. He needed to tell everyone about those.
***
"What the hell is all this?" Barret shouted.
Cloud had burst in the reef calling for everyone to come and meet. He'd shouted for everyone who was around to come, so that they could hear what he had to say.
He'd almost immediately ran into Tifa. She had been concerned, but had accepted to go call anyone else she could find once she'd seen how worked up Cloud was. Jessie was still sticking close to Aerith, her tail not entirely healed, and Biggs and Wedge were always with her as well. Barret had heard the commotion, and Tifa had fetched Zack, as well as Kunsel.
"Cloud, what's happening?" Zack asked. He looked Cloud over, concerned. "You smell like blood."
"I'm not injured."
"Then whose blood is it? You stink like you swam in it."
That wasn't entirely wrong. Sephiroth had torn that thing to pieces.
"I need to tell you something important."
"Clearly," Biggs said. "What is it?"
That was probably about all the people he could gather on a short notice. "There was a snake."
"There's snakes all over this damn reef-"
"Not a normal snake, Barret! A giant snake. Like one of the stories."
"Cloud, are you sure?" Tifa asked, after a moment of general silence.
Cloud nodded. "I went to check out that wreck Biggs told me about."
"What wreck?" Zack immediately asked.
"It sank in the last storm."
"Isn't it in the depths?" Kunsel asked.
Zack bared his teeth. "I told you not to go into the depths, Cloud!"
"I know, I'm sorry. That's not the point, alright? I was swimming down there and a giant snake came to attack me. It was dark, and huge, and it was trying to eat me."
"How big are we talking about?" Tifa asked.
"I don't know. I didn't see the whole body, it was too dark, but it could have fit me into its mouth."
Jessie quickly beat her tail. "You're joking, right?"
"I'm dead serious here."
"Hold on," Barret said. "If you met this thing, how come you're here now? Did you outrun it?"
There was no point about hiding things. "I came across someone from the abyss. He killed the snake."
"There's no way a single mer could take down the things you described-"
"I swear it. He's huge, he ripped through that thing."
"I mean, they abyssals can get very big," Kunsel said. "They can be pretty savage too."
"But are you sure it was a snake? A giant snake, like the ones from stories?" Aerith asked. Her voice was full of worry.
Cloud clicked his tongue. "It was a snake, and it was giant."
"I thought those things had been exterminated," Biggs said.
Zack shook his head. "They were! We haven't seen any of them in ages."
Kunsel didn't seem to entirely agree. "We never checked in the depths. We can't really look through the abyss, some might have hid in a trench somewhere."
The two sharks were tense. People who swam through the open ocean would be much more at risk if those things were still around. A monster that size would never be comfortable hunting through low waters, it could only hope to snatch people who wandered into the open. Kunsel and Zack were often around the reef, but there were also other people who only showed up to rest once or twice a year, spending the whole time traveling the ocean.
"I asked that guy if there are many of those snakes down there," Cloud said. "He said there are, but they rarely come close to the surface."
"Are you sure you can trust what he said?"
Cloud turned to Tifa. "I don't see why he should lie."
Kunsel started speaking, slowly. "There have been some accidents lately. With people disappearing. Some out there think there is something eating them."
"No, no, no." Jessie started twisting into tight circles on the spot. "You can't just tell me those things still exist."
Everyone wore a grave face. Cloud's news were more than bad. If there still were those creatures, that was trouble for everyone. No one would be able to feel at ease leaving the reef.
Zack swam forward. His ear fins were flared. "Didn't I tell you it was dangerous to go in the abyss?"
"I'm fine."
"I see that you're fine, but you could have been dead now! That thing could have eaten you, what if that abyssal guy hadn't been around?"
"We wouldn't have even known what had happened to you," Tifa butted in.
Cloud groaned. "Don't we have bigger concerns now?"
"I'm tying you into your cave," Zack said. "I'll... I'll flip you over and leave you there."
"You know that doesn't work on me, right?"
"I'll mount guard out of your home to make sure you stay in."
Tifa crossed her arms. "I'll help."
***
Cloud woke from his sleep, hearing his name being called. He turned around, trying to see who it was. The call was coming from the entrance of his cave, so he swam to see what was going on.
He had not expected to see Vincent there.
"Did I wake you up?" Vincent asked, large eyes fixed on him.
"It's alright."
Vincent rarely swam this far up unless it was the middle of the night.
Cloud considered Vincent for a moment. The mer's body was heavily and horribly scarred. He had never said what had happened to him to reduce him in that state. There were deep gouged marks on his chest and tail, a scar on his arm that made it look like it had almost been ripped off.
Considering recent events, Cloud did not want to know what had hurt him that way. Vincent was just a little smaller than Sephiroth, but he had made it clear that if he hadn't turned to lurking as close to the surface as his eyes allowed he might have died down there.
"I heard of what happened," Vincent said. He placed his dark hands on the edges of the cave. Despite the smaller size, his claws were no less fearsome than Sephiroth's.
"Are there many of those snakes down there?"
"Snakes, and more. But most of them don't like leaving the deepest abyss."
"Because of the light?"
"Not just that. You know how some of you cannot go too far into depths, or the weight of water will start crushing them?"
Cloud nodded.
"Well, it's the same for some of the creatures down there, but in reverse," Vincent explained. "Not everything can handle the low pressures of the surface. Most mers can adapt, but it's different for fish and monsters."
"I see."
"Those snakes are one of the few things that can. However, they don't like it. And so many of them have been killed by mers that they became shy."
"Are they intelligent?" Cloud asked.
"Somewhat. More than the average fish."
"And hard to kill?"
Vincent nodded. "Small people like you can't take one on their own. In groups, yes. Us, we are used to fight on our own. You said you met one of us? What were they like?"
"Pale, larger than you. Had rows of bioluminescent spots along his sides. His name is Sephiroth, do you know him?"
"There aren't pods down there like there are here. You meet one person every year, or less, and you may never see that person again in your life."
"Sephiroth said something like that."
Vincent tilted his head, his black eyes knowing. "Did he make you some sort of proposition, Cloud?"
"Well, yes, kind of." Cloud looked away. "He- He was joking, right?"
"No."
Cloud gaped. "Are you saying he wants to- to-"
"Mate with you. Yes. With so few of us, you can't allow yourself to be picky. We'd die out entirely if we didn't do that."
"Does that mean you have children?"
Vincent shrugged. "I can't say how many I might have sired, but I carried a few. No idea if any of them are still alive. And if you're curious, all of us can fill both roles at all times."
"To avoid wasting chances," Cloud said numbly.
"Pretty much." Vincent moved back. "I will tell you if I see something crawling out of the depths."
"Thank you."
Cloud had almost forgotten about the snakes. Well, he was sticking to the surface. For more than one reason.
***
They organized some patrols, wanting to make sure nothing came unexpectedly from the deep. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie had taken it upon them to swim north and south, telling other people the news. They'd been delimiting which areas each group had to cover, trying to organize themselves as best as they could.
Zack immediately said he was sticking with Cloud. Even if Zack could have swam faster and covered more water on his own, he refused to let Cloud on his own.
They swam over the red weeds fields, both with their knives. So far nothing more exciting than a few fish swimming by had happened.
"Do you think there's something interesting to be found down there?" Zack asked, looking below them.
"Not really." Cloud eyed the leaves waving in the current. "I tried looking a few times, but all you get is fish bones. And shark teeth, but if I need one I'll ask you for a spare."
Zack tried to hit Cloud with his tail, and Cloud ducked out of the way.
Zack tensed, and pointed at a small school of fish. "Hey. Lunch?"
"Sure, why not."
With a quick swipe of his blue tail, Zack darted forward. He shot through the fish, his jaws snapping around an unfortunate one. The fish scattered. Cloud latched his claws around one that tried to escape in the wrong direction.
Zack immediately went to snatch a second one. The first was gobbled up nearly whole, in a way that had Cloud almost choke in sympathy. He had no idea why Zack always ate like that. He had teeth, far too many of them, he could take little bites like everyone else did.
Cloud's mind flashed back to Sephiroth, his jaws closing around a fish. Maybe it was just a shark thing.
Zack stopped in the middle of his carnage, and turned. His tail flicked. "Hey. Do you see that too?"
Cloud followed his gaze towards the depths. He saw water and water, the ocean floor gently sloping until it got lost in the horizon. In the distance was something. For a moment he feared it was one of those snakes, but the shape was pale rather than dark. It moved, but didn't get close enough to be made out.
"What is it?" Zack said.
"Could it be an abyssal?"
Zack glanced up at Cloud. "A mer? They'd have to be damn big."
"Sephiroth was big. And white."
The form slowly vanished from sight, going to darker waters.
"Creepy," Zack commented.
***
Cloud went back home for the night. The day had been mostly uneventful, just helping out Aerith with her corals. He expected the night to be equally calm. Crawl into his cave, curl up on his bed, and sleep.
He was absolutely not expecting a white figure to come his way, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Cloud shouted.
"Cloud."
"Where did you come from?" Cloud said, his heart hammering.
"The abyss."
Obviously. "How did you find me?"
Sephiroth tilted his head. "You people of the surface smell very strongly."
"You tracked me by scent?"
"I saw you with another one with you a while ago. Was he a mate?"
Cloud's fins flattened in embarrassment. "Zack? No. He's a friend."
"Friend?" Sephiroth repeated, questioning.
"You don't know what a friend is?"
"No."
Well that was about the saddest thing Cloud had ever heard in his life. "A friend is... someone whose company you enjoy. That you like being around."
"I see."
"Wait, were you the one we saw the other day?"
Sephiroth made a low click. "What's a day?"
"Day is when there is the sun. I saw you some days ago. So a few periods of light."
Sephiroth looked up. "Now is night."
"Yes." He must have come up when he had noticed the darkness. "What are you doing up here?"
"I am still interested in you."
Shit. "Didn't you say I was small?"
Sephiroth drew a large circle around him. "You are. But you are very adaptable, for a surface dweller. Your scales can be good armor. I am willing to carry the offspring, if that is a problem for you."
"How do you even know we even... can?"
"It doesn't hurt to try."
"Listen. I need you to understand one thing," Cloud said, trying to fight his embarrassment. "I get that this is normal for you, but for us up here it's very rude to just make this kind of proposition to random people. There's... rituals here for this kind of thing."
"What kind of rituals?"
Cloud slowly floated upwards, trying to get Sephiroth to stop circling him. "Usually people get to know each other first."
"Friends?"
"Sort of. And you have to woo your mate. Give them gifts. Huh, you know, give them nice things."
Cloud was hoping this would scare Sephiroth away. He clearly had no idea how surface people did things, maybe this would prove too much of a bother for him.
"And you refuse potential mates if they don't do this?"
"Yes."
"Absurd. But I suppose it makes sense for you, with so many options." Sephiroth considered it. "Alright."
"What?"
"I will try."
"Seriously?"
"Yes." Sephiroth's form lowered, floating downwards. "I will come back with... gifts."
As Cloud watched Sephiroth retreat into the depths, he wondered just what he had gotten himself into.