Chapter Text
‘WARNING! FOREIGN OBJECT DETECTED’
The suit’s alarm screamed at him, the screen showing the object attached to the back of his mech. Just as he thought he’d escape Shroud’s clutches, the bastard has one last trick up his sleeve.
Robert gritted his teeth, maneuvering the mech’s arm to reach for the object, but it was out of reach. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
He knew the explosion was imminent. The only thing he can do now is soften his fall and live, or crash and die in the suit, like his grandfather and his father, the family curse.
‘Shroud dies first,’ Robert decided. In a desperate move, Robert piloted the suit towards the pier and prayed the bomb wouldn’t go off till he reached the beach.
A few meters into the open ocean, the beeps got louder, and Mecha Man braced himself.
The explosion was instant, knocking him out before he registered the sound or the fire. There was darkness for a while, muffled alarms surrounding him. Then, he felt the cold bite of water, waking him from death’s door.
“Fuck!” Robert gasped awake, running on adrenaline. He saw the water at his feet, and there was a small sense of relief, knowing he was alive. Possibly concussed but alive.
But a new problem came with being alive; he’s in the Mecha Man suit deep underwater, a metal coffin sinking into the depths.
“Damn it,” Robert cursed, knowing he’d have to fish the suit out of the water after this.
The water was flooding into his suit at a rapid rate, and it was nearly at his neck before Robert found the manual switch to release the Astral Pulse from its chamber. With the Pulse in hand, he looked at the rising water, mind racing with only one thought. He had to get out of here. Robert took a deep breath before pressing the button for the emergency eject, and the suit opened, the water flooding in instantly.
His weak arms ached as he swam out of the suit and into the void. He barely saw anything with the only light source being the Astral Pulse and the flickering lights from his Mecha.
He can’t even tell which way is up from the darkness.
He picked a direction he thought was up and swam. His body, though running on adrenaline, couldn’t swim fast enough, and his lungs felt like it was on fire.
He needed air.
His vision was spotted, growing darker in the corner of his eyes. The grip on the Astral Pulse loosened, and Robert reached for it, but the light slowly sank into the depths of the ocean.
His family’s legacy, his father’s legacy, was sinking into the darkness. The irony wasn’t lost on Robert if he wasn’t drowning.
He can see the headline now– ‘Mecha Man, man of steel, met his match! A Watery Grave!’
Robert lets the last bubble of air slip out of him before he closes his eyes.
He heard muffled motions around him. Fish? No, too big to be a fish. Maybe a shark? Mecha Man eaten by a shark; what a miserable death.
Suddenly, he felt lighter, arms snaking around his waist as he was pulled up and through the water.
He doesn’t see who his saviour was, but he caught a glimpse of a smooth gray fishtail in the water.
Once he broke through the surface, Robert gasped for air, his body too limp to do anything else but let his saviour drag him through the water. It felt like hours until he felt solid, wet sand beneath him, and he let his body sag into it while he coughed out the water from his lungs.
He was sure he was concussed when he could only see blurry, swimming shadows crawling above him. He tried to swat away at the figure, but his arms were too heavy to lift. The last thing Mecha Man saw was a blurry image of a person, bathed in light, with striking grey-blue eyes.
The world faded, and he felt the warm, wet touch on his cheek.
Herman squealed when the human closed his eyes.
“Oh, Oh, Oh no! I killed him!” He panicked, grabbing at the stranger’s wet costume, feeling for a heartbeat. When he couldn’t feel it, Herman placed his head against the stranger’s chest and felt it rising and falling, breathing, alive. He sighed, relieved.
The man lying still in the stand was strange, even for a human. Herman had seen humans before in passing ships and occasional divers, but none of them piloted metal armor before. Herman traced the mask gently, hesitating.
He shouldn’t. His mom would be furious if he interacted with humans without her supervision. Their people kept to themselves for good reason, to protect their well-being from people who would harm them, from humans, especially.
He swallowed, his fingers already moving without thinking.
With curiosity getting the better of him, Herman pulled up his mark and gasped upon seeing such a beauty. His face had stars on it–freckles, Herman remembered what they’re called. With delicate webbed fingers, he traced the pattern of his freckles. Underneath the stranger’s beauty were tired lines under his eyes. Herman wanted to ease them, kiss away the worry plaguing such a creature.
Herman carded through his wet brown hair, surprisingly soft to the touch. His fingers then grazed his chapped lips, bleeding from the cuts. Herman licked his own lips, hungry.
Everything about him was enchanting.
“Oh,” Herman breathed, his face leaning closer to the stranger’s.
Every part of him wanted to drag him back into the ocean and claim him for himself, but the human would drown if he did that. So, he settled with staring and touching, memorizing every freckle, every scar, every blemish, and every perfect imperfection.
“The crash came from here!”
Herman snapped his head in the direction of the voices, seeing shadows running on the beach and approaching fast.
With one last touch on the stranger’s cheek, Herman slipped the mask back on and dived back into the water just as the footsteps got louder. He swam a distance away before he stopped in deeper waters to watch as more humans crowded the stranger he saved.
They carefully loaded him into some kind of vehicle with flashing red and blue lights.
He wondered when he would see him again.
Heart beating fast, Herman sank into the water, the strange human’s face plaguing his thoughts as he swam further down.
He needed to get out of here.
With a big commotion like that, more humans would be investigating the waters soon.
But Herman couldn’t help himself, the curious creature that he is. He swam toward the ravine where the metal suit was.
Herman was awed by the armor when he approached it. Such craftsmanship could only be made by humans, a world that he knows nothing about, which made him even more curious about the stranger and the land he came from.
He’ll never see him again.
Was he content not seeing him again?
He touched the face of the metal suit, imagining the stranger’s face instead. Leaning his body close to the metal, he sank into its chest, longing formed in his throat, a song threatening to break through.
Herman hummed a sad tune, careful not to let his full powers reverberate through the water. Sirens always had to be careful when singing or using their voice. Even Herman, who had issues with his speech, a stutter his grandmother called it, needed to control his voice so he wouldn’t accidentally curse or enchant his subjects.
Herman hums changed into murmuring of notes, resonating the empty waters. The notes and tunes were of longing, melancholy–He wanted to see him again.
‘Oh no.’
Herman slapped his hands over his mouth, realizing something terrible.
Maybe this is what his mom warned him about. When a Siren falls deeply in love, their voice cries out for their other half, a song meant only for them. Even if their partner dies, the song will grow sour, but the love will remain forever. Sirens, though, throughout the legends were known to lure men to their watery grave; they only love once, and are bonded forever.
He needed to find him, but he was human, a land dweller, and he was a Siren. They were from two different worlds.
Herman pulled away from the metal armor, ready to leave this place and the memory of the stranger in the depths of the ocean, until a glow from under a pile of sand caught his attention. He swam further down, brushed away the sand, and found a luminescent trinket shining.
The cylinder trinket fit in the palm of his hand, cool to the touch. This belonged to him. A memento from the stranger–his prince. His only link to him.
He pulled the tricket to his chest, the song in his chest yearned for him.
Herman decided this wasn’t the end. He’ll see him again, one way or another.
He shoved the glowing trinket into his makeshift purse and swam home.
With his grey tail, he swam through several ravines and finally came upon the borders of Melpomene.
Melpomene
Melpomene was a prosperous kingdom, one of the oldest underwater civilizations in the seven seas. Established by the first Water-Sirens who migrated away from Ancient Greece, they built a haven for marine creatures and cultivated the land to what it is today. Though the kingdom wasn’t as vast as Atlantis or other ocean kingdoms, it was rich in pearls and had the love of its people.
It was Herman’s home.
Herman swallowed when he swam over and saw a patrol of guards and a wall of coral that made the border of Melpomene’s territory. He approached slowly, fidgeting with his pauldron strap to look more presentable.
He thought he could sneak in with the other merfolk that were heading through the coral gates, but he had no such luck. One of the guards spotted him and smacked his partner's shoulder, grabbing his attention away from the other merfolk.
They shooed the others through the gate before standing at attention when Herman finally approached.
“Good Evening, Your Highness.” Both of the guards greeted him.
“G-Good evening,” Herman said nervously, well aware that other merfolk around them were staring at him or bowing their heads to him.
The younger guard smiled, his eyes landing on Herman’s messy pauldrons and disheveled hair. “Out exploring again, sire? Her Majesty gave us strict orders not to let you out of our borders, and yet somehow you’ve always slipped past us.”
“Brad!” The older guard hissed before bowing his head to Herman. “Forgive his insolence, Your Highness! He should be minding his own business.”
“It’s no–no trouble at all,” Herman said. “I didn’t go too far,”
“Load of seahorse shit,” Brad muttered, earning him an elbow to the stomach by the older guard. He then reiterated. “Respectful seahorse shit, sire.”
“No offence taken. I-I wasn’t really that far from the border, honestly–truthfully,” Herman laughed to hide the terrible lie. He then heard the horns coming from the castle, indicating it was dinner time. “I have to go. See you, Brad, Mr. Henry,”
“Farewell, Your Highness,” Mr Henry bowed.
As Herman passed through the coral borders, he could hear the guards arguing.
“The gills you have, boy. Do you know who you were talking to?”
Brad’s voice was nonchalant. “Prince Herman is a chill dude,”
“We do not address the Prince of Melpomene as a chill dude.”
Herman couldn’t help but snort. He loved how his subject addressed him casually, despite his status as their prince.
He swam through the tall coral gates and into the wide streets leading to the citadel, the town surrounding Melpomene Castle. As he made his way through the streets, he was greeted with bows and greetings from the townfolk, which he returned with a smile and a wave. The people of Melpomene always greeted Herman warmly, with a casual respect unlike his Mother or Grandmother. Maybe it was because he was still a prince, not the official ruler. In all truth, Herman preferred the casual interaction.
“Prince Herman!” As he passed, one of the merchildren held up a necklace of shells and pearls haphazardly strung together. “I made this in class for you.”
“Thank you, this is amazing–beautiful!” Herman said with a smile, tucking the pearl necklace into his bag.
“Now, now, little one, don’t crowd his Highness,” An older woman bowed towards Herman.
“It’s all goo–no trouble at all,” Herman waved at them, smiling, before he went on towards the castle.
The guards were instantly at attention when Herman passed through the gates, greeting him formally. He nodded at them hastily before swimming faster inside. He needed to find his grandmother to tell her about the stranger he met in the ocean.
“Your Highness!" He heard one of the chambermaids shriek as he bolted past them. Herman barely glanced at them, muttering an apology as they bowed toward him.
Eventually, he spotted his grandmother, Queen Mother Caroline, waiting anxiously by the grand entrance of the dining hall. All her worries melted upon seeing him; she waved him over. “Hermy!”
Herman scooped her into a hug, twirling her twice before setting her down. “Granny! Granny! Something amazing happened!”
“Where have you been, Hermy? Your mother is waiting for us!”
“Oh,” Herman remembered, he was having dinner with his mother.
“Look at the state you are in,” She said while fixing his pauldron and his straps and picking at the stray seaweed caught in his hair. “You were out exploring in the shallows again, weren’t you?”
“Well–"
Grandma Caroline held her hands up. “Bah, don’t make me your witness. Deny it, Hermy,”
Herman snorted. “No–No, granny, I wasn’t exploring anything,”
“Good. Now, off we go. Your mother is waiting.”
The guard at the door bowed at them before opening the doors wide and announcing to the dining hall. “Her Majesty, Queen Mother ‘Qucha’, and His Highness, Prince Herman,”
Qucha was the name given to his grandmother when she became Queen. Her actual name is Caroline, only reserved for close friends and family. Herman hadn’t received his royal name yet, and he doesn’t expect to be crowned anytime soon. His kingdom doesn’t deserve a prince like him, a sorry excuse for royalty.
At the head of the table sat his mother, current reigning queen, Her Majesty, Queen ‘Thetis’, but to Herman, she was just his mom, Christina.
Her voice was firm but affectionate. “Hermy, where have you been?”
Herman swallowed. His recent expedition near land had taken longer than he expected. With meeting the beautiful stranger in metal armor, he’d just lost track of time.
“Now, now, Christina, let the boy have his fun,” his grandmother said, making their way to their seats with Herman sitting to his mother’s left and his grandmother to her right.
“Mom, please, Herman is a grown man. He shouldn’t be gallivanting…in the shallow waters,”
Busted. His mother indeed has eyes and ears all over the ocean.
Herman said apologetically. “I was curious about…land. I wasn’t doing–going anywhere dangerous,”
His mother frowned. “Even so, it’s a dangerous place, and humans aren’t any kinder.”
Herman doesn’t bring up the many trade deals of fish and pearls that Melpomene has with the trusted fishermen, her agents, she calls them.
Herman said instead. “T-They don’t seem dangerous,”
“For now, until they get what they want from you,”
“Such a cynic,” Grandmother Caroline muttered.
“Realistic,” His mother corrected. “Though the people of Torrance are on civil terms with Melpomene, we can’t make a habit of exposing ourselves,”
“Torrent?” Herman asked.
His grandmother said softly. “Torrance, Hermy. It’s the nearest land to us, part of the United States of America.”
Christina snorted, a smirk cracking her features, as if remembering something. “I wonder if that old coot ever opened that doughnut shop he’s been raving about,”
Herman stopped. “You’ve been there before?”
His mother paused, as if she’d been caught before muttering. “Once, Hermy, a long time ago,”
Luckily, the conversation was interrupted when their food arrived. Once the maids set their platter down and scurried back to the corners, always waiting and ready to serve, his mother spoke again.
“Have you at least been practicing your voice?”
The Siren Prince, who relies on the power of their voice and song, has a stutter. Herman was a joke of his kind, but his mother and grandmother never gave up on him. He was grateful for that, and yet the pressure seemed too much.
Herman swallowed his food. “Y-Yes,”
His mother raised a brow before addressing the room.
“Leave us,” The Queen of the Sirens ordered, and every subject bowed, leaving them to their privacy.
“Sing, Hermy.” Her voice was firm.
“Christina–"
But his mother raised a hand, stopping his grandmother from defending him. Herman appreciated the effort, but there was no denying the orders from the Queen.
Herman took a deep breath, pulling every strength he had into his throat, and sang. There were no words, but the melody held just as much power. A Siren’s song didn’t need lyrics to enchant a person; just their voice and intent would be enough.
Though his melodies were fluctuating, Herman sang beautifully. His thoughts were still plagued by the stranger, his love at first sight, bleeding into his song. The song of yearning–
“That’s enough,” Christina interrupted, and Herman stopped dead.
He made a terrible mistake.
“Your song sounds different,” His mother said slowly.
Herman doesn’t look at her; his hands shook under the table. Of course, she’d notice. A Siren’s voice changes when they are in love. Gods, he prayed, his terrible singing masked his change of song.
The godsent that she is, Grandmother Caroline said. “He’s just improving, Christina, just like you wanted,”
Though suspicious, she seemed satisfied with that answer. “Alright, but practice your song while I am away,”
Right, Herman remembered there was an important delegation of ocean leaders in the Pacific regions, and his mother’s attendance was important. “How long are you going to be away?”
His mother smiled. “Not long, Hermy, don’t worry. The delegation will last for months, but I can return maybe once a month, if diplomacy goes well,”
Grandmother Carol groaned, picking at her meal. “Those old fools never change. Always the same subject, even when I was ruling as queen. The world is changing, and we Merfolk have to adapt at some point,”
Mer-Kingdoms of all corners of the ocean always argued whether or not to open their world to the outsiders, the land dwellers. Though Melpomene was more progressive than others by opening trade to human fishermen, no human have entered their borders. Some ocean kingdoms have barred human interaction outright, casting themselves away from society and encouraging others to join them, his mother included.
Christina said. “I am not against it, Mom. It’s just our safety comes first, we can’t–”
“Of course, humans exploiting us, tale as old as time, yada yada,”
Herman spoke. “Not all humans can be bad, can they?”
Christina sighed; her eyes softened when they met Herman’s. “Of course not, dear. It’s just…humans can be cruel, even to their own kind. We’re just being careful,”
The stranger he met couldn’t be bad, not a beautiful creature like him.
Herman moved bits of food on his plate, lost in thought while his Grandmother watched him with careful eyes.
After bidding his mother farewell for the deligation trip that night, his grandmother immediately ushered him to her chambers, a private library with various potions and books stacked on her shelves and a grand cauldron in the middle of the room. Since she became Queen Mother, her duties were light compared to those of her daughter. She dedicated herself to her craft and became a sorceress, providing magical potions for the castle when illness plagued them.
His grandmother said once they were in the privacy of the chamber. “Spill, Hermy,”
Herman whispered, guilt eating him away. “Granny,”
“Ah, ah, none of that nonsense, I’m old, not deaf.” Her hands on her hips. “Your voice has changed. Are you…”
He swallowed. Despite his nervousness, a smile spread on his face, unable to hide his feelings. “I met someone, b-but he’s, um…human, ”
“Oh, Hermy,” Her expression bordered between happiness and concern.
Herman sighed, holding onto the pouch that held the tinker the strangers left behind. “He was amazing, Granny! He came crashing into the ocean in a metal suit, and he was beautiful! And he–he left this behind! I never–he's...so beautiful,”
“Goodness, you’re smitten, aren’t you?”
He blinked. “Y-You’re not mad?”
“Mad? Of course not! Worried, maybe. Being in love with a human isn’t an easy thing, Hermy. It comes with challenges, worlds of conflict. Humans don’t…love the same as we do,” His Grandmother said carefully.
“I know, but I have to see him again and give–return this.” Herman pulled out the glowing cylinder trinket, showing it to her. “Even if my feelings are never returned, I-I just want to see him.”
She frowned, not taking her eyes off Herman. “And you’re ready for that pain?”
Herman swallowed. He’d bear that pain, just to catch a glimpse of him. “Please, Granny, there has to be something you can do. Maybe, a potion to make me human?”
His grandmother thought for a moment before swimming to her top shelf and pulling out an old stone tablet. She then swam to the large cauldron and placed the tablet on the dias next to it.
“Hermy, pass me the dried blue starfish on the lower self. No, the other lower shelf. There is an eye of a lily serpent somewhere over there, and the rainbow jellyfish jam on my desk.”
Herman grabbed the bottles of ingredients and placed them on the table next to the cauldron. He watched as his grandmother skimmed through the text of the tablet while crushing the dried blue starfish and serpent’s eye before adding more herbs and spices that he didn’t recognize from the drawers of the desk. She then pulled out a spoon and scooped the rainbow jellyfish jam…and shoved it into her mouth.
“Really, Granny?” Herman groaned, watching her eat her sweet treat.
“What? Can’t an old woman indulge? Now, hush!” Once she set her dessert down, she poured the rest of the ingredients into the cauldron. She mixed all the concoction and poured a pink gooey substance into it until it turned luminescent.
“Sing,” She instructed. When Herman stood frozen, staring unsure at the cauldron, she explained further. “So that the potion will attune to your body and spirit. Put all your love into, Hermy.”
Herman swallowed. With a trembling voice, he opened his mouth and sang. The notes gravitated around the room, spiralling until they centered into the cauldron. The room shuddered, but Herman kept singing, thinking of the stranger, yearning to see him again, knowing his world, and, if the gods permit him, his name.
Please, give me just that. His name is enough.
Herman continued singing while his grandmother joined him, chanting and hands waving around the cauldron until the potion bubbled and the light died a few moments later.
With the power drained from him, Herman collapsed, holding onto the edge of the cauldron. He watched as his grandmother scooped the glowing pink concoction into a bowl and funneled it into an empty vial before sealing it with a cork.
“Listen to me, Herman,” Her tone serious, holding Herman’s trembling hand in one hand and the potion in the other. “This potion will grant you a human form, but only temporarily. Every Sunday, you must return to the waters to replenish your body and mind, and see me to take another potion.”
He asked. “It won’t last forever?”
“You need time to adjust your body to land, my dear. Your Siren blood will call to the ocean, and it’ll break you if you don’t.” She said. “And it’ll be hard to explain to your mother when she does visit in between delegations where you’ve been. You don’t want Melpomene to go to war with Torrance,”
Herman gulped at the thought of his mother uniting her forces and marching to land to find him. It would be a political disaster for sure.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” She asked again.
“...I’m sure,”
Grandmother Carol smiled, handing the bottle to Herman. His hands trembled on the bottle before pulling her into a crushing hug, tears in his eyes. “Thank you, thank you!”
“Just be safe, Hermy, the land above is different from Melpomene. Your body will adjust to the potion, so there will be side effects, and your powers won’t work too well over there. Be mindful!”
“I will, Granny,”
“Oh, before I forget!” She pulled away from him abruptly, and, swimming to her trunk at the corner of the room, rummaged through it and pulled out a silk pouch. She then placed it into Herman’s hands, and he felt the familiar shape and jingle.
He said. “These are just pearls, Granny,”
“Ah, but you see, on land they are very valuable. There is a little shop, north of Torrance pier, where you can trade these for human money. I have an old friend there.”
“You knew people on land?”
“I was young once, curious about a foreign land. So was your mother,”
He couldn’t imagine that his mother, of all people, would ever gallivant on land on her own whim. He asked. “Did she–mom ever want to…stay up there?”
She shook her head. “She had a responsibility to her people, Hermy, as did I. It's just how the world works,”
Right, he also had responsibility to the people. He was the prince of Melpomene, their future ruler. Herman wouldn’t have the heart leave them, but…his heart also yearned to see his love, for just a moment.
“Now, enough, the doom and gloom. If you really want to find your prince, go to him!” Herman smiled, his fingers already on the cork of the potion, before his grandmother stopped him. “Not here! You want to drown? Drink the potion in shallow waters,”
Herman nearly dropped the potion upon her outburst. “Right, right, sorry,”
“Be safe, Hermy,” His grandmother kissed him on the forehead.
“I will, Granny, thank you,”
Herman swam out of the room and slipped away from the castle before anyone noticed he was gone.
He reached the south edges of their border, the most unguarded parts of their territory, and slipped into the undersea tunnels that snaked through the wall of corals. He came upon them by chance when he was a boy trying to get away from his prince lessons, and he’s used them ever since to pass their borders undetected. The underwater tunnels were a maze that anyone could get lost in. Luckily, his powers made it easier, detecting the flow of water and using it guide him out into the open.
When he squeezed out into the waters and into the void, he looked at his kingdom, his beloved Melpomene. A strange sense of melancholy wavered his resolve, but with the potion and the glowing tinker in his bag, it made him think of his love, his yearning.
Herman swam, not looking back, vowing he’d be back once he’d resolved his feelings.
Once he was near the shallow waters, he looked at the watersurface, the light of the moon peaking through it. Herman gulped and took out the potion before drinking the vile concoction. The heat sank into his stomach as pain ripped through him like a maw of teeth. He felt his body twist, bones splitting, scales on fire, as he screamed in agony.
Herman writhes for a moment until the water around him is so suffocating to breathe in. His hand immediately went to his neck, and he realized the gills on it were closing up. In a panic, he swims up.
He broke through the surface, gasping for air. His fingers, no longer webbed, paddled through waters and into the shallow sand of the beach. He crawled his heavy body up and flopped into the sand, air filling his lungs.
Herman doesn’t have the strength to stand, but he has enough to sit up.
The tears flowed without him realizing it. He wanted this, and yet the loss of his tail shattered him. He touched the smooth skin of his…legs, two separate limbs that didn’t feel a part of him. Some part of him wanted to crawl back into the ocean and beg for his tail back, but it’s already done.
With his body shaking, he heaved and went on all fours, willing his new legs to stand. His entire being burned, bones creaking as he stood.
Herman breathed, looking up at the sky in tears.
One step closer to finding his prince and returning what is his.