a/n: i'm sorry in advance y'all. alexa play uh oh by g-idle
The sea is blue.
You stand along the beach where the land meets the sea, warm water lapping over your feet as you look out over the horizon. The beach is completely empty except for you and the sound of waves crashing against the shore.
You don't know how long you spend standing there, but you watch as the sun slowly sinks behind the horizon, the sea enveloping and swallowing it whole. You watch as the sky fades from blue to to black, stars rippling over the surface of the water like jewels spread over the waters. You don't move a muscle, time hung in the balance, until there's the sound of approaching footsteps behind you.
"You're here."
Your voice is a disembodied whisper, raspy and lilting like the push and pull of the tide.
"You've not called for me for millennia." He sounds melancholy, and you turn to look at him. His bright green eyes stare back at you, luminescent in the darkness of the beach. "Yet now, you have... why?"
"Why do we not have names?"
His eyes widen slightly at your words, but he quickly schools his face back into a neutral expression. "We do not need them, since there is nothing like us in this world."
"Humans are all so strange, different from each other, and yet they have names. They call for each other with them." You murmur quietly, bending down to touch a hand to the waves. The water comes up to meet you, drawn to you, swirling and rushing out once more. Your heartbeat. "They are so insignificant, their lifespans so short, they end so easily and yet..."
He remains silent.
"And yet... today, one of them asked for my name. I was merely repeating the cycle of karma, saving his life when I had taken away others, and when he awoke... He asked for my name. He wanted to call for me."
The man pauses for a moment. "A land child could stand in your presence?" He speaks quietly, and you nod. That fact had been equally surprising to you as well, but you had no explanation for it.
"I gave him my blessings."
At that, time seems to stop. The man takes you by the hand, clutching tightly. "You, who have never looked at the humans from the dawn of man until now, blessed a human?"
You don't relent.
"I promised to tell him a name he could speak." You say, resolute. "I cannot let him die before then."
In the back of your mind, a boy with a smiling face and a bleeding eye surfaces. He'd grabbed your hand, and promised that he would find you again even if it took the rest of his life. You had given him a rope with three knots that had been left ashore with him, blessing it with your power, your side of the promise that would tie your souls together for eternity.
The man sighs and releases your hand. "Humans are beautiful and fleeting, but they have immortal souls that we do not." He raises a hand to cup your cheek with his palm. "We are as infinite as the sand along the beaches, as alive as the waters of the seas. We are the laws of nature, and the survival instinct that all of life has ingrained into their souls. We are as eternal as the heart of the mountains, and yet... when this earth fades away, so will we. That is why we do not have a soul, because we form no bonds with the things of this world."
You waver for a moment, but resolve yourself. "I will find a way. There are laws holding the fabric of this world together more ancient than humankind itself."
The man gives you a sad smile, his hand falling back down to his side. "There have been legends written in the human world." He murmurs quietly. "Of mermaids who have given up their immortal lives for legs to live among the humans. Many of their stories ended in tragedy, even for the humans they loved."
"I'm nothing like the humans." You speak, voice darkening. "They cannot be compared to us in the least, Eorthe."
His smile is sad.
"That might turn out to be your downfall, Sær."
He melts away, his final breath lingering in the wind that caresses your hair and cheek. You continue standing at the beach in silence, and the tide rises, higher, higher and higher.
You look down at the rippling surface of the sea, and a pair of frighteningly blue eyes stare back - they are not of this world.
"I will not allow myself to end like this."
A pair of watery hands rise up from the depths and the water turns black as the night. You try to pull yourself out of its grasp, thrashing and fighting with all of your might, but its hold on you does not yield.
You're dragged down, down... deep underneath the waves.
It's completely dark. You can't see a thing.
You're suffocating.
"Humans are fleeting."
"They have no value."
"They come and go."
"They are nothing compared to what you are."
"Humans can never accept something like you."
You struggle to breathe. No, you're human. You've always been human in their eyes.
"You are Choi Chin Hae, you are and have always been since the day I gave you that name."
Monster.
You could never be a human.
No-
You awake with a gasp, cold sweat pouring down the back of your neck. You're cold, too cold, and all your limbs feel weak, as if you can't stop trembling. What had happened, all you remember is watching that crew mate that you'd been working so hard to save get shot, and then the almost unnatural, all consuming fury-
The sheets are soaked through with your sweat, even though every part of your body feels oddly cold and clammy. You're in your bed on board the Treasure, and clambering to your knees, you press your face against the pothole to see where exactly you are.
It's night outside, and the seas are too reminiscent of your dreams to feel comfortable. You can still see those blue eyes staring back at you with all of their terrifying intent, and immediately start to shiver again.
San, where's your master?
The infirmary is empty except for you. Trembling, you try to ease yourself out of bed on trembling legs - and almost crash to your knees when pain lances up them like a white hot branding iron. Gritting your teeth, you force yourself to your feet and continue to walk forward, ascending the stairs to the main deck one at the time.
The lanterns burn quietly on the empty deck, everyone else must be housed in below. From what you can see around you, you're in an empty bay circled by miles and miles of mountains. How did you escape? Where are the Royal Navy?
Stumbling forward again, you turn to the captain's cabin, where the light is still lit. Slowly, you make your way towards it, trying your best not to fall over from the sheer pain you're feeling. Quiet voices drift out on the cool night air as you approach.
"... so how long can we hold out?" It's Yeosang's quiet voice.
"A couple of weeks or so, if we ration everything out carefully." Seonghwa replies. "But food goes bad, and well... unprecedented things may occur."
"The Royal Navy is waiting just outside the bay for us." Yunho says, voice tight. "An entire armada of them... they'll lose their advantage if they come into such shallow waters and risk beaching with their massive ships, but we can't stay here forever. We're at an impasse."
"I know that, Yunho." It's Hongjoong. He sounds exhausted, weary and your heart pinches. "Enough about this for now. San, how is Chin Hae?"
"She's still unconscious when I last left her." San's voice is subdued, grim. "A few times while treating her... her heart stopped."
Your heart drops into your stomach at his words. What?
"But she didn't die, right?" Wooyoung asks urgently, panic edging into his voice. San lets out a sigh, one that you've never heard from him before. "No. But she should have. Her heart stopped for several turns of the water clock, Wooyoung, several. It shouldn't be humanely possible at all."
"None of us know what's happening, not even Chin Hae herself." Jongho wonders aloud. His words are tense. "From the way she looked at that enemy captain, it was like she wanted to destroy him completely."
"You should have taken the shot, Wooyoung." Mingi says sharply, and you hear the dragging of the chair across the floor.
"He was holding her! I couldn't risk misfiring!" Wooyoung's protest cracks at the end. "Besides, it all turned out fine in the end, didn't it? She's just... crazy strong. It worked out in our benefit, that's all." He sounds like he's trying to convince himself.
"She almost tried to kill you at first too, Wooyoung." Jongho's voice is raised, and you stop dead in your tracks. You did what now? "At that moment, her eyes... they didn't look human."
You stumble at his words, as if punched in the gut.
You could never be human.
The sound of you falling to your knees outside seems to have alerted them, because there's a sudden scraping of chairs and the door flies open. "Who is it-" Wooyoung's eyes meet yours, and his face instantly turns white. "C-Chin Hae, are you alright-"
"I want to be alone for a little while." Your words come out curt, more composed that you thought you could ever achieve in a situation like this. You push his hand away, and haul yourself to your feet, shaking.
"Chin Hae-" San's voice sounds like it's filled with tears. "Chin Hae, you shouldn't be standing in this state. I'll-"
"Leave me alone!" You finally cry out, clutching yourself close to your body. San's outstretched hand freezes, and you turn away from them, unwilling to let them see your own tears. "Before I really hurt one of you... before I do something I regret... please."
Turning around, you run as far as your feet will allow, anywhere, just away from them. White noise rings in your ears and you can't hear their cries, agony strikes at your feet like hot irons but you can't feel them against the wooden deck of the ship. You're shaking like a leaf, arms wrapped around yourself to hold yourself together.
You find yourself huddled against the bow of the ship, at the forecastle deck what seems like a few hours later, sitting on the bulwarks, both your feet dangling over the waters. It's a precarious position, but you feel better like this when you can't see the ship, only the sea before you, stretching out as far as your eye can see.
You look down at your remaining hand, closing it around thin air.
Human or monster? Clay or flesh? Alive... or something else?
The Royal Navy has almost gotten their hands on you. And you can feel danger lurking in the air, in the direction of the sea. There's nowhere left to run.
A storm on the horizon.
You don't want to die. You can't allow yourself to die after you've come this far. If you die...
"You can't die..." A sweet, haunting voice floats along the night's air, light as sea foam, coiling around your neck and sinking deep into your very bones. Starting in surprise, you look frantically from side to side, but see no one. "There's no need to search for me. I am you."
With a soft cry of terror, you glance down beneath you into the waves, and there you see her, stunningly blue eyes as bewitching as a siren's voice. You recognise her now, she bears striking resemblance to the mural you'd seen at the sea witch's lair. Her voice is soft, enchanting, but her eyes are terrifying dark, bottomless depths that seem to drag you down, down, beneath the surface...
"I am not you." You hiss, wrapping your arms around yourself again. Your reflection only smiles, that sickeningly terrifying smile that seems to chill you to the very bone. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"If you were a human, I would have erased you in a heartbeat for your insolence." Her voice is gentle. "But I will not hurt you. Hurting you would be hurting me, after all. That is why I cannot let you fade from this world."
"You can stop me from dying?" Your attention instantly perks up. "How? Tell me."
"We cannot die." Her voice turns dark. "But should that filthy man get his hands on you... he will rob the heart of the sea from you. And you and I will both cease to exist."
You freeze, completely still. She's talking about the commander of the Royal Navy, Hongjoong's father? "What's the heart of the sea? Why does he want it?"
Her blue eyes shine eerily in the light of the half moon. "You are the heart of the sea, the very thing that the oceans is made of. The very life that thrives and teems in its depths... the push and pull of the tide is your own heartbeat."
You stare down at yourself in shock, hand to your chest. "The heartbeat of the seas...?" You can't comprehend what she's saying. You're an animated clay golem turned human, not whatever she's calling you. "I'm getting off track. How do I not die?"
"The death of your body is inevitable." Her words still you in your tracks. "That is why you must return to the seas right now... before that man captures you and it is too late."
"What? No!" You cry out in disbelief, shocked. "I'm staying with this crew even if I die! They're my family!"
Her gaze is merciless.
"Humans? As your family?" Her laugh is cold. "You will never be one of them... haven't you learned?"
Jongho's words come back to you, a painful knife in your heart. You had almost tried to kill Wooyoung. Who knew if you would do that again in the future, and succeed?
"Humans are nothing more than fleeting existences upon this earth, before their souls leave forever." You can't seem to stop trembling at her words. "There is no point risking so much when their days are so numbered. They will not be able to win against the foe that awaits them."
Your voice comes out more as a snarl. "I would die to protect them."
"Ooooh, how sweet." Her voice is mocking. "Do you know what it means for you to die?"
Your one good hand tightens around the bulwarks. She has to be lying, she's just trying to manipulate you, it can't be true.
"You have no soul, so if the heart of the sea were to be robbed from you, you would cease to exist. All traces of your existence would be wiped from this earth like a blank slate. None of your so called family would be able to remember you, much less your existence nor sacrifice."
She has to be lying, she's lying, she's lying-
And yet you can feel it in you that she isn't. You know that she cannot lie. You don't know how you know.
That scares you.
"You're running out of time, love." Her voice is so soothing, yet so chilling. "The last vestiges of the promise you made with that human captain is holding that husk of a body together. Destroy it and return to the seas before you're captured. It is the only way."
"Shut up." Your breaths are coming out in panicked gasps now, your heart thundering in your chest. "Don't talk nonsense. I promised him that I would stay alive. There's no way I'm going to break it willingly."
You can't breathe.
"These foolish human emotions... you'll be freed from them the moment you return to the sea. It does not feel, it does not ache, it does not desire." The words are like a lullaby lulling you into a deep sleep. "I will save us, if you are so unwilling."
All of sudden, you feel a weight in your remaining hand, and when you look down, you're horrified to see a long, silver dagger in your hand. When you try to let go, your fingers are unwilling to obey, only gripping it tighter.
A voice, like a siren's song, fills your ears, wiping everything from your mind. The last thing you hear is a single instruction.
Kill the human captain, and return to whence you came.