Panacea

Chapter One

Gabriel Agreste usually wasn't one to have his morals questioned. People generally saw him as a stoic and somewhat cold man but he had never done anything in his life that would be deemed downright evil and wrong. He stared through the glass case that he had erected in his home just a week prior. The elliptic cylinder stretched up to the ceiling and artificial lights cast rays down into the water, illuminating the various plants and shrubbery that sat on the floor. He peered through the blades of grass and seaweed and spotted the creature that hid within.

The girl, if she could be called that, was huddled on the floor of the tank. Her once vibrant and iridescent scales were now a dull red, mottled with dark grey spots and her fins floated around her languidly. Gabriel had no room to be sympathetic towards her. He had brought her home for one sole reason and he didn't care what it took to accomplish his goal. But it was clear with the way she looked, that she wasn't well and that was going to put a dent in his plans.

So with no other choice, he involved his only son, Adrien.

"You called for me, Father?" Gabriel heard Adrien's voice after three precise raps on the door. Giving him permission to enter, the door opened with a slight squeak. Gabriel frowned at the noise, mentally noting to have the housekeepers oil the hinges. The light that entered from the hallway was almost blinding after standing in the dim room for so long. Even though the light behind him made his form a silhouette, Gabriel could clearly see the look of wonderment in his son's eyes.

Gabriel motioned for his son to stand beside him and the boy complied, stepping hesitantly towards his father. Adrien and Gabriel weren't estranged per se; the latter going great lengths to make sure his son was well provided for—but they weren't particularly close. Adrien was always closer to his mother and that's what the two had in common—great affection for the Agreste matriarch.

"Is this what the construction crew was here to build?" Adrien asked as he stared in awe at the large tank before him. He had always been fond of aquariums as a child since his mother often took him there. He didn't know much about sea life but watching the ripples of the water and the effervescence gently floating upwards as creatures swam by always calmed him. But as far as he could see, the tank was empty save for the rocks and plant life that settled at the bottom.

"There aren't any fish in there." Adrien murmured idly as he walked closer to the tank. Gabriel stepped forward and joined his son's side.

"There is..." Gabriel started before knocking harshly against the glass. There was a sudden movement in the tank that took Adrien by surprise. "...one big fish."

Adrien's eyes grew wide as a girl rose from the bottom, clearly startled by the noise that reverberated through the tank. Even more shocking than a girl being in a tank was a girl with a tail and fins sprouting from her back and hips. Dark midnight hair that seemed to glow an ethereal blue cascaded around her pale face and her eyes held a deep fear within them.

They had to be the most beautiful pair of eyes that Adrien had ever seen in his whole entire life. They were like the sky and the ocean all at once—such a deep yet brilliant blue that seemed to peer into his soul. She stared at him with wide eyes, as if pleading with him—pulling at every emotion in his rapidly beating heart, to help her.

"Father! You can't just keep her locked up in there!" Adrien turned to his father and said frantically, casting away all other thoughts that swam through his brain. Gabriel raised an eyebrow, amused that his son's first response was not about the existence of mermaids, rather a remark about the ethics of keeping her captive.

"Tell me Adrien, how is this any different from keeping a pet fish?" Gabriel replied. Adrien stepped back, clearly shocked by the cold response. His father may have been distant but Adrien never expected him to be so cruel. "Just because she has human features doesn't mean that she's human. She's just like any other creature in the sea that people capture and put up for display."