Land or Water?

Chapter 13: Brothers

-Sollux's POV-
After Karkat gave Eridan the shell, I asked him, "umm, tho why doeth it have to be a conch th'hell?"
"Wwell, you knoww howw you humans say you can hear the ocean through them?" He asked me and I nodded, "wwell the ocean can hear you too. Noww, could I havve a minute to myself please? This is my brother after all and I havven't been home in quite a feww days..."
"Ok. Kk and I will be jutht out'thide." I said as I stood up, along with Karkat. He nodded and Karkat and I left the room. After I closed the door, Karkat stood silent. I turned to him, "d-do you think that Kankri is still alive but.. Not as a human..?" He asked. I sighed, "kk, who elthe would it be? Eridan practically dethcribed your brother perfectly." I could see the worry and sadness in his eyes. I gave him a tight hug as he hugged back. Then Eridan called us back in.
-Eridan's POV-
After the two left the room, I instantly called Cronus. After two or three hums, he picked up, "hello?"
"H-hey cro..."
"Eridan! Where have you been!? I saw what dad did to you but then you just disappeared! Are you ok!?"
"Yes I'm fine, I'm alright. I'm actually wwith the human I told you about. He helped me along wwith a friend of his."
"Ok at least you're safe. But, who is your human's friend?"
"Actually cro... That's kinda wwhy I'm callin' you... His friend's name is Karkat." I heard some mumbles over the shell, so then is Kankri him? Then Cronus started talking, "Ok, so why was he the reason you called?"
"Because his full name is Karkat Vantas. He's Kankri's younger brother." I heard some more mumbles, then there was a different voice coming through the shell, "hell9 Eridan, may I please speak t9 Karkat?" It was Kankri. So he was there with Cronus. I answered him, "yes of course," I took the conch shell away from my ear and called for the two outside the door, "Sol! Kar! You can come in noww!" The door opened and they walked back in, "tho?" Sollux said as he sat beside the tub again. Karkat sat next to him. I handed the shell to Karkat and said, "Kar.., Kankri wwants to talk to you."
-Karkat's POV-
Eridan handed me the conch shell and said, "kar.., Kankri wwants to talk to you." I slowly took the shell and held it up to my ear and said, "h-hello..?"
"Hell9 Karkat. I'm s9 s9rry for what depressi9n I might've caused y9u and many 9thers." I couldn't believe it. It's really Kankri. His voice was slightly different but I could tell that it's really him, my brother! I couldn't help but feel tears start to form in my eyes. I quickly responded, "I-it's ok. I just... I-I can't believe it's really you! Porrim told me that you d-died in a car accident."
"9h, yes that's right. I asked her t9. I didn't want y9u t9 spend the rest 9f y9ur life l99king f9r me, kn9wing that y9u w9uld d9 s9mething like that."
"Oh... I guess that's reasonable. Oh Kankri I fucking hate you but your my brother and I missed you so damn much!" I could feel the tears starting to roll down my cheeks then Sollux's hand on my shoulder. I heard Kankri chuckle slightly, "I can see that y9u haven't changed. 9ther then gaining c9ntr9l 9ver y9ur v9ice."
"Heh, yea I guess so. From what Eridan told me, you haven't changed either, but your voice is also slightly different then from what I remember."
"Yes, y9u're c9rrect. My v9ice has changed a little 6it ever since Cr9nus made me int9 a very hands9me merman, if I d9 say s9 myself."
"Heh yea, but umm, about that. How did he umm, transform you into a merman?"
"Hmm... Well he t9ld me t9 tightly h9ld 9nt9 this very pretty white st9ne, I think it was in the shape 9f a seashell expertly carved fr9m limest9ne and p9lished, and he als9 t9ld me t9 think real hard what I wanted t9 6e which was a merman, and as I was thinking, he said s9me 9dd w9rds that s9unded m9re like mumbling. And-" he explained as I listened carefully as I decided to go write this down go, as he was talking, for that in case if we needed it for some reason, he knew what and how to do it, "do you remember what the words were?" I asked, cutting him off when I finished writing, "Umm..." He said, most likely trying to remember, "yes I d9, it was s9mething like this, umm 'ivahi yuduin.' Umm.. 'Enim9r taym inspelz.' Umm, I 6elieve there was 9ne m9re part t9 it... Ah yes! '69yar ung9ner gedit.' Yes, that's it. S9unds 9dd d9esn't it?" I quickly wrote down what he said and replied, "yea that is really fucking odd. Is there anything else that happened? After he said those words and shit?" I asked. "Well a few... Painful sec9nds after he said the strange w9rds, I l99ked at myself and I had 6ec9me a merman." I was quiet for a moment. Did he just say... Painful..? I was snapped out of my thoughts when Kankri said something, "9h dear.. Umm Karkat, I have t9 g9. Cr9nus snuck 9ut again t9 see me s9, if we d9n't get g9ing, we'll 6e caught.. Well anyway it was great talking t9 y9u Karkat, I missed y9u.. I h9pe we'll meet up again s9metime s99n!" He said as he left. I chuckled to myself as walked back to the bathroom, after I wrote everything down about this weird transformation magic shit. I put the shell on the counter then sat down. I can't wrap my head around the fact that Kankri was never dead, but instead turned into a merman!