I know the title is a little misleading, but I can assure you, this fic has nothing to do with Ib (as much as I love that game)
This ain't gonna your average cutesy mermaid AU. Violence, blood, mildly graphic descriptions of gore probably, and some other brutal shit going down. It's gonna be like Game of Thrones all up in this bitch.
Apollon stared vacantly out the car window, watching the scenery pass him by. He could see the clear blue sky and sparkling ocean for miles.
Starting today, this was his new home. A small seaside town where he had spent so many summers during his childhood. It was a nice change of enviroment away from the big city and having to deal with his so-called dad and his clingy, jealous step-mom who always treated him badly no matter how hard he tried to be nice to her.
"Are you alright, Apollon?" His uncle Hades asked from the driver's seat next to him.
"Yeah! I'm fine, totally fine!" Apollon answered enthusiastically, "I'm just...a little nervous."
Hades smiled at his nephew, "Knowing you, I think you'll adjust just fine."
They finally pulled up in front of the house. Even after all these years, it still hadn't changed.
As Apollon opened the gate of the white picket fence, he could hear something barking as it rushed towards him.
"Cerberus! Hello!"
The large black dog jumped onto Apollon, knocking him to the ground. Apollon laughs uncontrollably as it licked his face all over. "Ah! Stop! That tickles!"
"Cerberus, down!" Hades scolded his dog.
"Aww, Uncle Hades, he's just really happy to see me." Apollon ran his fingers through Cerberus' black fur, "Isn't that right? Isn't that right, boy?"
Cerberus barked happily in response.
Hades sighed as he unloaded Apollon's luggage from the car, "Your room is upstairs. You know which one."
Apollon nodded as he hauled his suitcase up the stairs. This bedroom was always reserved for him when he visited as a kid, but now it's permanently his. The walls were the same seafoam blue, albeit chipping a little. The room was decorated with paper lanterns and crude drawings of marine life that Apollon and Hades had done a long time ago. His favorite part of the room was the alcove bed with the huge window that gave him a stunning view of the ocean. Apollon remembers those late nights when he would just gaze at the ocean for hours, making up fantastical stories about what could be lurking under the surface.
As Apollon was occupied with traveling down memory lane, Hades knocked on the door, startling him, "I...uhh...brought my old school uniform. Hope it fits."
"Oh...thanks."
"You don't start school until next week, though, so you should probably take the time to explore the town and meet people." Hades said, "There's a bonfire going on at the beach tonight. You can go to that if you'd like."
Apollon nodded and with that, Hades left him alone in the room. He went over to the bed and opened the window, breathing in the gentle ocean breeze that filled the room.
First day in a new town. A fresh start with many possiblities. It was a little exciting.
He didn't know where to start.
He wound up choosing the exploring option.
Apollon strolled along the beach, Cerberus happily trotting by his side. Something felt so nostalgic about feeling the sand between his toes and the waves lapping at his feet. And he had the whole beach to himself, it seemed. Great.
He gazed far out into the ocean. There were a lot of boats out there, he noticed. Fishing boats, maybe?
Apollon was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Cerberus barking excitedly, like something caught his attention, "What's wrong, boy? What's wrong?"
Cerberus suddenly ran off, leaving Apollon behind. "Wait! Cerberus!"
Apollon chased Cerberus all the way down to a rock formation that seperated a small area of the beach. Cerberus jumped on and over the rocks with ease while Apollon stuggled to clamber up the rocks after him. Trying to climb wet, slippery rocks with bare feet wasn't exactly a piece of cake. But he did manage to climb over the rocks without hurting himself or breaking anything.
Cerberus stood at the bottom, still barking and wagging his tail wildly. "Oh my god, Cerberus, don't run off like that again. What's gotten into you?"
It was then he noticed what had captured the dog's attention.
There seemed to be a half-naked man lying unconscious on the sand.
Without hesitating, Apollon rushed towards the man to help him, "Hey, hey! Are you alright?" He called out.
Upon closer inspection, he seemed to be tangled in a fishing net...
...and he's not human.
Apollon stared in astonishment. This...this can't be real, right?
Connected seamlessly to the man's hips was a long white tail with patches of black and gold, very reminiscent of a koi fish. On the sides of his head were a pair of white ear fins. He was lying face down, so Apollon couldn't really make out much except for a head of lilac hair and longer white tails of hair framing the sides of his face.
Apollon shook his head. Enough staring, human or not, he had to help him. He dug through the pockets of his raincoat for his small pocket knife. Hopefully this was enough to cut through the net.
He cautiously approached the merman, knife in hand. Before he could so much as touch the net, the merman stirred and stared up at him. What pretty golden eyes, Apollon noticed.
The merman's gaze went to the knife in Apollon's hand and naturally, he started freaking out. He snarled and hissed at Apollon, struggling to break free of the net.
"Calm down, calm down. I won't hurt you." Apollon reassured, "Do you understand me? Do you?"
"Liar!" Okay, he does.
He kept thrashing his tail wildly, trying to escape, but the net kept cutting into it the more he moved.
"Please stop! Stop moving! You're going to hurt yourself like that." Apollon crept towards the merman again and tentatively reached for the net, "I'm going to cut you free, okay? Promise."
The merman calmed down enough to let Apollon get to working carefully on the net, quickly but carefully sawing at the thin threads. The merman kept growling and hissing at him as he worked, which made the current situation even more unsettling for Apollon. He clearly does not trust Apollon, but he was probably scared, so that was understandable.
Apollon pulled off the last of the net, "Alright, you're free to go!"
The merman still looked sort of skeptical, like Apollon might be planning to trick him or something. "What's wrong? You can go now."
He didn't do anything but just stare off into the ocean. Then Apollon realized. It was low tide at the moment, so of course he can't just crawl back into the ocean on his own.
"Okay, I'm going to pick you up now, so please don't be freaked out."
Apollon bent down and lifted the merman off the ground. He was surprisingly light, but his tail was kinda scaly and slimy which made it harder for Apollon to get a good grip on him. And the fact that the merman was trying squirm out of Apollon's grasp certainly did not help, "Let me go!"
"Why? I'm just helping you back in the ocean." Apollon smiled, hoping that it would reassure him somehow. "No need to be scared, okay? I want to help you. I want to."
He stepped into the ocean, shivering from how cold the water was. He waded further until the water almost reached his knees and then he set the merman down. "Alright, you're free to go for real this time."
The merman just stared up at him and Apollon wasn't sure what to do, "Uhh...be careful next time, okay? Bye-bye!"
He turned around and headed back to shore, pausing when he heard a splash. Apollon looked over his shoulder to see a tail disappear into the water. He hopes that merman would get home safe.
Apollon suddenly heard sirens blaring in the distance, which caught his attention. It must be coming from the boats from earlier. Some of the boats were fleeing back to the docks. Anguished screams could be heard as the remaining boats sunk into the ocean, never to be seen again.
Apollon could only watch in horror.
Apollon rushed back to the house with Cerberus and threw the door open, "I'm home!"
Hades looked up from his homework on the kitchen table, "Where did you go?"
"Just a walk on the beach."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah! Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, you look like you're pretty shaken." Hades said, "Did something happen?"
Apollon shook his head, "Nope! Nothing at all."
Hades sighed, "Apollon, you are a horrible liar, you know that? Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it. I'm not like your dad."
Apollon didn't say anything more as he went into the fridge and took out a carton of orange juice, chugging it down as he went up to his room.
"Did he...? He probably did..." Hades looked down at Cerberus sadly, reaching down to pet his head, "I hoped I could wait a little longer to tell him."
Humans are evil. Nothing but sadistic, bloodthirsty murderers. Their kind is a plague. That's why we must destroy them. One by one.
That's what Tsukito has been told all his life. That was the one thing he and his pod lived by.
Tsukito was sure he was going to die by the hands of that blond human. He'd probably be cut to pieces and sold, like what he's seen done to so many others. But instead that human helped him...
He couldn't stop thinking about that human's eyes. A brilliant green that would put emeralds to shame. They held no malice or ill intent, but genuine kindness, unlike the other humans.
"Anii!"
Tsukito was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw a blue and white blur coming at him at full speed. Before he could move out of the way, he was thrown backwards with the sudden weight on him.
"Oh Anii, I was sure those humans got you. I thought I'd never see you again."
"You're overreacting again. I'm okay now." Tsukito pats his little brother on the head, "Now stop crying."
"I saw them throw their nets at you. How did you get out?"
"I..." Does Tsukito really want to mention that human? Even if he did save him, he's still their enemy. If he did tell Takeru, he'd probably go straight to their older brother, the pod leader and then he'd probably have that human "taken care of" one way or another.
"I escaped." He finally answered, hoping that his younger brother will just leave it at that. "Where's Akira?"
"He's still out with a bunch of others to take down the boats that were trying to hunt us again." Takeru replied nonchalantly, "I got bored so I came back early."
Tsukito is a little more hesitant than his brothers when it comes to killing humans, but it was something he had to do to protect himself and the pod. It couldn't helped.
They all have the same look when they meet their watery demise. Those dull eyes permenently widened in fear. He felt a little pity for them when he sees these looks on the humans' faces on a regular basis, but he knows some of the more vicious ones of the pod find great pleasure in it. Maybe enjoyed it a little too much...
Going by Hades' reccomendation, he decides to go to the bonfire. He wanted to at least make one friend on his first day.
The sun had just set and the first few stars were beginning to appear. The huge bonfire could be seen from miles away, painting almost the entire beach with an orange hue. There were a lot of people gathered around it, sitting on picnic blankets and those foldable camping chairs. Children were standing by the fire roasting marshmallows for s'mores, their faces sticky with marshmallow and chocolate. It seemed like a pretty close-knit community gathering.
God, it felt awkward being here and not knowing anybody, but the reason he was here was to change that. Apollon's eyes scanned the crowd until he found a girl he could probably talk to. She was a cute purple-haired girl around his age.
"Uhhh...Hi! I didn't bring anything to sit on, so do you mind if I could borrow a little space on your blanket? Do you mind?"
The girl scooted over and pat the empty spot beside her, "Sure! Go ahead."
"Sorry, I'm new in town, so I don't really know anyone here yet." Apollon laughs sheepishly, hoping that he didn't freak out a potential friend.
"Well then, it's time you get to know someone here. I'm Yui, by the way. Yui Kusanagi." She held out her hand, smiling sweetly.
Apollon reached for Yui's hand and gave it a firm shake, "I'm Apollon. Nice to meet you." Yes! Friend achievement complete.
"...ids sunk our boats again."
A conversation between a group of old men caught Apollon's attention. He couldn't help but eavesdrop.
"My son was on that boat. Now my grandson will have to grow up without a father." One of the men said sadly.
"Don't worry, we'll make sure those damned mermaids pay with their lives."
"I don't think doing that will bring your son back..." Apollon thought aloud, before realizing he said that loud enough for the men to hear it.
The old men just looked at him like he had two heads or something,"You're a naive little one, aren't ya, boy?"
"Well...I-i just moved here, so I don't really know how things go around here." Apollon said nervously. Well, this was kinda awkward.
The one of men just smiled at him, "Well boy, the merpeople here are nasty little things. Bloodthirsty murderers who kill for their own enjoyment. Many people in this town have lost their loved ones to them, so for centuries we've made it our mission to exterminate every last one of them. For the good of the future generations."
Bloodthirsty murderers, huh? But the merman he saw today didn't seem like that at all.
"Then what happened to those fishing boats earlier today?"
"Those weren't fishing boats..." The old man grinned even wider, "They're boats specifically made for hunting merpeople."
There was nothing comforting about how cheerfully the old man said something like that. It's a bit sinister and frightening, if anything.
Apollon could feel chills all over his neck.
Tsukito's eyes scanned the reef. It seemed most of the pod was asleep. Perfect opportunity to make his escape.
With a flick of his tail, he swam up towards the surface. Akira would often scold him if he was ever caught going to the surface so late at night and Takeru would question him why he liked going up there so much.
His eyes peek out the surface of the water, making sure there weren't any humans or boats around. After confirming that there's nothing around for miles, he moves his postition so that he's floating on his back. Tsukito looked up at the clear night sky.
The real reason why Tsukito often went up to the surface, was to look at the moon. He didn't know why he was so fascinated by it. It was always beautiful to him, no matter what it looked like. Moments like this was one of few things he enjoyed. When he can just lose himself and bask in the gentle moonlight with no one to bother him, just peace and quiet.
Apollon couldn't sleep. After a while of tossing and turning in bed, he just gave up trying to fall asleep.
That was one hell of a first day. He was half-expecting to wake up from this really strange dream. It couldn't possibly be real. How could it? Apollon couldn't get his mind off that merman. He was breathtakingly beautiful, he'd have to admit. He didn't seem like a cold-blooded killer, aside from the hissing at Apollon when he tried to help him. To think that the people of this seemingly idyllic town want him dead made Apollon feel sick to his stomach. Just like there are good and bad humans, aren't there good and bad merpeople too? Apollon would like to believe that.
He shook his head. He's thinking too much again.
'Maybe some fresh air might do me some good.' he thought as he undid the latches and threw the window open. He shivered a little from the chilly air flooding the room.
Everything was so quiet at night. It was a full moon tonight and there were millions of stars sparkled against the navy blue sky. And the ocean seemed calm, too. Of course on a night like this, his uncle would be out stargazing somewhere.
Apollon eyed his guitar case sitting in the far corner of the room. Since Hades wasn't home at the moment, it shouldn't hurt if he played a little. It always calmed him down and put him in a better mood.
Apollon hopped out of bed and opened his guitar case. He sat on the windowsill as he checked the tuning for a moment.
"Let's say sunshine for everyone...but as far as I can remember..." He sang softly as his fingers glided over the strings, "We've been migratory animals living under changing weather...Someday we will foresee obstacles through the blizzard, through the blizzard...Today we will sell our uniform...live together, live together..."
Tsukito was pulled out of his trance when he heard a voice coming from far in the distance. Someone was singing.
"We played hide and seek in waterfalls...we were younger, we were younger..."
Curiousity took over him and he found himself swimming in the direction of the voice. He didn't know why he was so drawn to it all of a sudden.
As he followed the voice, he noticed he was getting dangerously close to land. If any humans were out right now, he'd be in plain view from here. He should be fine since the human town was quiet and dark at the moment. Except for one of the houses.
The window was wide open and the room inside was dimmly lit. Even in the faint moonlight, it wasn't that hard to recognize who was sitting in the windowsill.
It was the human from before. The voice was coming from him.
Tsukito couldn't help but be captivated by this human's voice. It's so soft and gentle. There was something oddly comforting about it.
Merpeople's singing voices were said to be hauntingly beautiful and it was true. But they were used as weapons. To hypnotize unsuspecting humans before dragging them down to their deaths. Tsukito was the most skilled of his pod when it came to this, so he was often the one they went to when they needed to take down many humans at once. He wasn't too fond of the fact that he had to use his singing for killing more often than he liked. He can only dream of the day when he could sing freely without having to kill anyone.
"We played hide and seek in waterfalls...we were younger, we were younger...Someday we will foresee obstacles...through the blizzard, through the blizzard."
Tsukito continued admiring from the shadows as the human kept singing, blissfully unaware of his audience.
Was this worth staying up late on school nights to write? Not really.
Do I regret it? Nah.
btw the song Apollon is singing is Obstacles by Syd Matters. I gotta put Life is Strange references in everything nowadays :/