Part Of Their World | Homestuck AU

|Chapter 6|

"Come in buoy. We mustn't lurk in doorways, it's rude! One might question your upbringin'...!" The witch says as Cronus hesitantly enters, glancing around the surprisingly neat cavern littered with potions and concoctions he had never seen before. "Now then, you're here because you have a thin' for this...human" 

Cronus hesitantly nods and blushes a bit out of embarrassment, avoiding eye contact with the sea witch as she smiles. "I mean this prince fellow. Not that I blame you, he is quite a catch, isn't he?" She laughs before floating over, a sly smirk on her face as she crosses her arms. "Well, angel fish, the solution to your problem is simple! The only way to get what YOU want...is to become human yourself~"

"W-Wvhat!? Can you even DO that!?" Cronus questions in surprise, his eyes widening as he stares at the sea witch. "My dear sweet buoy, that's what I do! It's what I LIVE for~! To help the poor, unfortunate mertrolls, like yourself. Poor souls with no one else to turn to~" She purrs, soon beginning to sing. "I admit that in the past I've been a nasty, they weren't kiddin' when they called me batterwitch~! But you'll find that nowadays I've mended all my ways, repented, seen the light and made a switch! True? Yes!"

She smiles maliciously at the young mertroll as he gulps a bit, strangely feeling drawn towards her beautiful singing voice, "And I fortunately know a little magic, it's a talent that I always have possessed~! And here lately, please don't laugh, I use it on behalf of the miserable, lonely and depressed...~"

Cronus watches as she motions to the strange weeds in her garden, shocked to see that they have eyes. "Poor unfortunate souls! In pain, in need. This one longin' to be thinner, that one wants to get the girl. And do I help them? Yes, indeed~" She says as she conjures magic right in front of the boy, images of two different mertrolls appearing as she sings before they disappear in a flash.

"Those poor unfortunate souls! So sad, so true. They come flocking to my cauldron crying, 'Spells, Ursula please!' And I help them? Yes, I do~" A laugh passes her lips as she swims around, Cronus watching her every movement in awe. "Now it's happened once or twice someone couldn't pay the price. And I'm afraid I had to rake 'em 'cross the coals~"

Cronus gulps at those words and feels a shiver run up his spine, a growing worry starting to rise within him about what could happen to him if he can't 'pay'. "Yes, I've had the odd complaint, but on the whole I've been a saint~! To those poor unfortunate souls~!"

She stops swimming and swims over to him quickly, Cronus yelping at the quick movement and backing up a little bit as the sea witch grins. "Now here's the deal, I'll make you a potion that will turn you into a human for 3 days. Got that buoy? Now listen, this bit is important. Before the sun sets on the 3rd day, you've gotta get dear ol' princey to fall in love with you~"

Cronus' eyes widen at this new information but he hesitantly nods okay, clenching his fists and hoping he looks as determined as he's trying to look. "That is, he's gotta kiss you. Not just any kiss...the kiss of true love. If he DOES kiss you before the sun sets on the third day, you'll remain human, permanently, but...if he doesn't, you turn back into a mermaid, and you BELONG to me~"

"NO CRONUS!" A loud yell sounds from the entrance of the cavern, Cronus whirling around to see Karkat there with Tavros. Karkat's cries are silenced however as the two eels, individually named Sollux and Mituna, silence them both by wrapping around the 2.

"Have we got a deal, buoy~?" The witch purrs, ignoring the others as she looks expectantly at Cronus for an answer. "If...If I become human...I'll nevwer be wvith my father or brothers or sisters again..." He says slowly and quietly, glancing at his tail with slight sorrow.

"That's right, but you'll finally have your man~ Life's full of tough choices, ain't it? Oh, and one more thing. We haven't discussed the subject of payment. You can't get somethin' for nothin' after all" She says with a smirk, Cronus becoming a little frightened by this, "B-But I don't havwe any-"

She silences him however by raising her hand, tilting her head slightly in a cocky way. "I'm not askin' much. Just a token, really, a trifle. You'll never even miss it~! What I want from you is...your voice~" She says, her words practically laced with a seducing tone.

Cronus' hand immediately goes to his neck, touching it gently as his gills flare slightly from the touch. "M-My voice...?" He questions, the sea witch nodding as she giggles, "You've got it fishbuoy~ No more talking. Singing. Zip" She says, drawing a line across Cronus' lips to signal for him to be silent.

"B-But wvithout my vwoice, howv can I-?" I starts to speak but she interrupts him once more, grabbing him by the cheeks and laughing now. "You'll have your looks! Your pretty face!" She says and lets go, swimming back and swinging her hips. "Don't underestimate the importance of body language~!"

She grins as she begins to sing again, a hand creeping to the necklace around her neck showcasing a very pretty golden shell. "The men up there don't like a lot of blabber! They think a boy who gossips is a bore. Yes, on land it's much preferred for buoys like you to say no words. And after all, dear, what is idle prattle for~?"

"Come on, they're not all that impressed with conversation! True gentlemen avoid it when they can. But they dote and swoon and fawn on a buoy who is withdrawn. It's she who holds her tongue who gets her man!" The sea witch grins as Cronus begins to contemplate his decision, frowning as he locks eyes with the sea octopus.

"Come on, you poor unfortunate soul! Go ahead! Make your choice!" She barks a bit and grins wider, swimming around a bit as she keeps her eyes locked with Cronus'. "I'm a very busy woman and I haven't got all day! It won't cost much, just your voice! You poor unfortunate soul! It's sad, but true! If you want to cross a bridge, my sweet, you've got to pay the toll. Take a gulp and take a breath and go ahead and sign the scroll!"

A scroll appears in front of Cronus and he grabs the quill that comes with it, shooting a glare at the sea witch before him as she grins. "Sollux! Mituna! I've got him now boys! The boss is on a roll! This poor unfortunate soul~!" And with those words, Cronus signs the contract, Karkat's eyes widening as he can only look on in horror and defeat.

"Paluga, sarruga, come winds of the Caspian Sea. Now rings us glossitis and max laryngitis, la voce to me~! Now...sing!" She commands after chanting, Cronus closing his eyes as he opens his mouth and sings a beautiful tune. "Yes yes! Keep singin'!"

Cronus does as he's told and opens his eyes, which soon widen as he watches giant, magical, ghost like hands take his voice from his throat in the form of a purple ball of light, his panic further rising as he realises he can make no noise at all. The singing is still continuing from his 'voice' which is soon kept inside the golden shell around the sea witch's neck, the said woman grinning widely as she begins to laugh.

The purple-blooded mertroll cries out now as he feels his body painfully change, his fins and gills disappearing and his tail splitting into two and forming legs. Sollux and Mituna soon let Karkat and Tavros go, the two immediately swimming over to the young mertroll to help him reach the surface since he now can't breathe underwater.

The sea witch's laughs begin to die down as she looks down at her necklace, her grin still very much there as Sollux and Mituna approach her. "Did everything go to plan, Condesce?" Sollux asks curiously, his red eye crackling with electricity whilst Mituna's blue eye does the same.

"Hehe...yes...and now I have Dualscar's favourite little boy practically mine~"

~*~

i kNOW ITS SHORT IM SORRY! Do you still like it though I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm actually having quite fun writing up this AU! (I've honestly got so many more in mind aHA KILL ME)

Anyway I'll see you all in the next one! Bye!