Pit walked alongside the cool beach. It was a warm day with a gentle breeze blowing from the ocean. Pit was wearing a white tank top with sea blue swimming trunks. He held his sandals in his hands and enjoyed the feeling of sand between his toes. He gazed at the sun that was beginning to set over the large vast of water. The sky was already turning its colors into a warm pink, orange and purple. Pit smiled and sighed at the sight. He loved living in a town near the ocean. During his stressful days, he came to the beach and relaxed. And like most Sundays, like today, after he'd voluntarily clean the beach, he'd take a long walk to admire it in its glory state again.
He didn't realize it but the sun was half way setting and the cool night breeze was settling in. It was getting late and he needed to get home. He walked towards the pier but stopped suddenly when he heard something. He glanced down underneath the pier. He didn't see anything but some of the grass that managed to grow through the sand or the pillars that kept the pier up. He shrugged to himself and continued walking. Again he stopped but this time he saw something through the many pillars. He trotted down the slope, tripping a few times as his foot sank in the sand and reached the smoothest part of the beach, next to the tide. He walked underneath the pier, looking for whatever he saw through the pillars. When he was directly underneath the pier, he saw it. It was an unconscious young boy, around his age, with half his body in the water. Pit ran straight for the boy and knelt down beside him. He couldn't see too well from the lack of light under the pier but from what he did see, the boy was badly injured. He had cuts and bruises along his upper body. He brushed the boy's dark hair out of his face and revealed more injures.
"He's hurt badly." Pit said to himself. He glanced around and found no one nearby. He glanced down at the unconscious form and bit his lip. "I can't leave him here. I have to get him some help."
The young man crouched and slipped his hands underneath the boy's form and slipped his hands underneath him and scooped him up in his arms. He grunted and but his lip as he heaved. He hadn't expected the guy to weigh so much. He was pretty lean from what he saw. He looked down at the boy unconscious in his arms. His blue eyes trailed along his form then widened when he saw his lower half.
"Oh my gosh! You-you're a mermaid?" He gasped and took in the fish tail outline. He blinked in disbelief. "I didn't…mermaids don't…exist?"
The merman groaned but didn't awaken.
Pit shook his head in attempt to clear his thoughts and said, "Real or not, you need help."
The human boy hiked up the sandy slope again with the mythical creature in his arms. When he reached the top, he scoped out the area, looking for anyone in sight. Luckily, everyone had gone home which gave him the perfect advantage to get to his car without being seen. He placed the unconscious boy in the backseat of his old beat up car. He retrieved the towel from the floor then ran all the way back down to the ocean to soak it with the water. He ran back up and draped the towel over the merman then hopped in the car. He looked back behind his seat at the merman, still breathing then started the car and drove home.
By the time he reached his sad excuse for a house, it was night. He quickly parked his car in the driveway then reached for the merman and ran him inside the house. He headed straight for the bathroom. Once he entered, he carefully placed the creature on the floor and started filling up the tub. He turned for the cabinet and retrieved his first aid kit, then made for the merman. He knelt beside him and finally was able to see what the creature looked like. His skin was a brown sugar color, with little brown freckles speckled over his body. His hair was so black it was like old fashioned writing ink dripped on his head, like rain, and his untamable hair soaked it in. Now, his tail was unusual. He heard from many differed legends that merfolk had colored tails that were so shiny, it was like they had rare gems as scales, giving them the illusion that their tails were made of jewels. This merman, however, had no such tail. His was black, not as black as his hair but with more of a blue shade to it, almost like the night sky absorbed itself into his tail. It was beautiful, honestly. He didn't have any gem-like shine to it, instead he had more of a starry night shimmer. Finally, his fin was a darker amethyst purple with the rock's shine to it and a strip of gold on the outline of his tail, that left little gold flicks sparking along it. He was truly beautiful, as merfolk were told to be.
"Wow, you're breathtaking." Pit said to the unconscious creature. He smiled softly and continued to gaze at him until he saw a chunk of flesh missing from his tail and remembered his state.
He gasped and instantly got to work. He removed his white tee then began cutting it up into strips. He wrapped the biggest part around the exposed flesh and tightened to stop the bleeding. He opened the kid and pulled out Bactine and cotton balls. He squirted the medicine on the ball then delicately dabbed it on his injuries. He heard soft hissing from the sleeping creature but nothing more. He continued to treat each injury, placing the medicined ball over the wounds, disinfecting and cleaning them. The wounds that needed to be tied; he used the strips of his shirt. He bandaged all wounds then turned off the water. He knelt back down and brushed the black hair out of the merman's face. He dabbed another cotton ball carefully on a cut across his cheek. Pit watched the pain appear on the creature's face before it relaxed and whispered a soft apology. When the injury was treated, Pit couldn't help but gaze at the unconscious beauty. His thumb gently caressed the dry skin, carefully avoiding the bruises and cuts that still plagued his skin. He brushed his thumb along the merman's chapped bottom lip and had an urge to kiss it.
He managed to snap himself out of his admiration and slipped his arms underneath the merman, then scooped him up. He brought him to the tub then carefully placed him in the lukewarm water. The merman stirred and hissed at the water's contact but after a minute, relaxed and his breathing deepened. Pit smiled and gently brushed the black hair out of the sleeping face. Pit tilted his head to the side and his smile deepened.
"Don't worry, guy. I'll take care of you too." He whispered softly to the unconscious sea creature.
He stood up and walked out of the bathroom, only taking a single glance back.
It was two days later when the merman finally opened his eyes. He found himself slowly swimming towards the light of consciousness. When he broke free from it, his eyelids fluttered opened, not registering what they were seeing. He closed them again and let his breathing slowly pick up.
Where am I? He asked himself. He took a deep breath, realizing he was inhaling air and not water.
His eyes snapped open then quickly shut them, due to the harshness of the light. He blinked several times until his eyes adjusted to the unnatural brightness. When his vision adjusted, he took in his surrounding location. It was a human place, he knew that; he'd seen human places much like the one he was in, through garbage referred from the humans as "magazines". He always found them in the ocean and while he hated them for cluttering the ocean, he couldn't help but be curious at some of the things humans owned. Thankfully, he was one of the few merfolk that could read human writings. So, he knew he was in a bathroom. A very poor looking one, compared to the ones he'd seen in the magazines but one nonetheless.
He sat up and hissed when the pain awakened throughout his body. He felt everything sting like a million sea urchins piercing into his skin. He gritted his teeth and froze until the pain subsided. He slowly relaxed into a new position before he noticed that not only was he sitting in pink water but different areas on his body had been wrapped with some sort of fabric. He cautiously reached over and touched the big one wrapped around his tail. He hissed again and bit his lip to keep the scream from escaping his throat. He held perfectly still until, once again, it subsided before he attempted to move again.
The merman froze when he heard movement inside the human home.
So, his captor had returned and was now going to dissect for science or sell him to those water jails and force him to perform tricks, was he? Not a chance. The merman might be injured but he wouldn't go down without a fight. He wasn't-
"Oh! You're awake!" An unexpectedly cheerful voice said outside the door.
The merman glanced over and saw the face of his captor. He wasn't at all what he'd expected. He was expecting a greasy man with disgustingly long hair that was about as slimy as sea snail sludge. He expected him to have missing jagged teeth sticking out of his mouth. He expected a bulky figure with a missing hand, leg or eye with scars all over his body with a deep threatening voice. What he didn't expect was a boy. A boy with light pink skin, round face, piercing blue eyes, untamable brown hair and a friendly face with a slightly high pitched voice. He looked like a human version of the merman himself! He hadn't expected that at all.
"Whoa! You have red eyes! That's really cool! I didn't expect you to have red eyes. I thought maybe yellow or some bizarre color or something." The human boy said cheerfully.
The merman scowled at how annoyingly cheerful the human was. The boy seemed to ignore it. He walked into the room, giving the merman a better view of his body. Lean with some muscles in his arms and not too tall from other humans he'd seen before.
The human happily trotted to the sea creature's side then knelt down and smiled brightly. "How're you feeling?"
The merman just looked at him.
The boy gasped. "Oh! Maybe you don't understand me?"
The merman continued to stare.
The human's smile fell slightly. He bit his lip then his eyes widened in realization. "Maybe you don't understand me?" He smiled then brought his hands to his chest and began speaking slowly, " . . .you."
"Talking slower doesn't help me understand you if I don't speak the same language. It just makes you look like an idiot." The merman scolded.
Pit blinked in surprise. He didn't even care that he'd been called an idiot. He hadn't expected the mythical creature to speak, let alone in perfect English. So he was thrilled to bits to say the least. "You do understand me! And you speak perfect English!"
The merman rolled his eyes and slowly crossed his arms, hiding the pain from his face.
Pit was oblivious to the annoyed merman and giggled. "I'm so glad! I have so many questions to ask you! I thought you guys were all mythical majestic sea creatures that lived in fairytales but boy was I wrong! You're a real mermaid-er, merman! It's just, wow! You-"
"Shut up! You talk too much!" The merman snapped.
Pit blinked, again, in shock. "Oh, sorry." He brought his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it, awkwardly. He looked back at the creature mean mugging him. He hadn't expected the merman to be so mean. He thought he'd be nice or frightened or even thankful for rescuing him. He received none of those.
"Well, uh, can I ask what your name is?" Pit asked, looking back at the sea creature through his lashes.
Said sea creature blinked at him. His harsh face relaxed only briefly, almost like he hadn't at all. His cheeks warmed up and started to redden from some unknown feeling. He felt his heart flutter which caused his tail to twirl. He grimaced and looked away, angry at the strange feeling this human caused him to feel.
"No." He replied.
Pit sighed sadly. "Why not?"
"I don't have a name." The merman answered after several silent moments of mentally debating answering.
Pit tilted his head. "Mermaids don't have names? Why not?"
The merman shrugged.
"How do you guys, y'know, know who you're talking to? Do you guys call each other by your tails or something?"
The creature growled in annoyance. "We just do."
Pit nodded, deciding not to address it furthermore since it seemed to be annoying the creature.
"Well, can I give you a name? It'll be easier to call you something other than 'merman'."
The merman looked back at him with a confused expression. It hadn't occurred to him that a name could be given to him. No merfolk had a name, so he never considered it. "That is a strange idea. Just how long do you plan on keeping me hostage to want to give me a name?"
"Hostage?" Pit gasped in disbelief. "You think I'm holding you hostage?"
"Aren't you? Why else would you be keeping me here?" He narrowed his eyes in accusation. "You plan to sell me for money? I know you humans love that stuff. How about eat me? Cut me and boil me up then devour me?"
Pit looked at him with a mix disgust and confusion. "I'm not going to sell or eat you."
"Then what other purpose do you have for keeping me in this bathtub?"
Pit smiled sweetly and leaned closer to the merman. "I want to help you. You were really hurt a couple days ago. So, I brought you back here and patched you up."
The merman raised a brow. "That's it? You brought me here to…take care of me?"
Pit nodded. "Yeah! It's what I do for a living. I take care of sea creatures at the aquarium."
He flashed the human a look. "What's that?"
"You know what a bathtub is but you don't know what an aquarium is?" Pit chuckled.
The sea creature glowered.
Pit laughed again. "It's a place people go to look at fish and other sea creatures in big display tanks."
"The sea jails! So, you capture sea creatures and put them in prisons and force them to perform for your entertainment?"
"What? No! Aquariums just show fish; we don't make them do any tricks." Pit narrowed his eyes and looked defensively. "And we don't capture any of our fish. They're all rescues!"
"Hah, yeah I bet. Is that what you plan to do with me? Put me in one of those prison tanks and reveal that merfolk exists?"
"Of course not!" Pit gasped, appalled by the sheer thought of it. "I would never do that! I just want to mend your injuries and take care of you."
The merman scoffed, not believing the words of this human which caused him to frown.
"Well, I guess I don't blame you for not believing me. I am a human that has probably caused you some harm in some way. If that's the case, then I'm sorry." The merman arched a brow. "I really don't mean you any harm. I really do just want to take care of you and be your friend. I hope you can see that soon." Pit smiled.
The merman shook his head but said nothing more. Pit sighed in defeat. His gaze turned to the tub water. It was pinkish red. Pit leaned forward and reached his arm in the water and pulled the plug. The merman's eyes widened when the water started draining.
"I knew it! You're trying to kill me!"
"I promise I'm not." The boy insisted. "The water is dirty and needs to be cleaned."
"Maybe you humans should do that to the ocean instead." He snapped.
"I do." Pit retorted. "Every Sunday I go clean up the beach. That's how I found you. I just finished cleaning up and I went for a walk when I found you under the pier."
The water completely drained. The merman was anxious about having no water. He felt vulnerable and exposed. His body started to tremble and he could feel his skin slowly drying out. Thankfully, the feeling faded when the boy turned the knob and water came out of the faucet. The merman's heart started beating again. He sighed in relief which caused a chuckle from the boy. The merman looked up at Pit and saw him smirking.
"Did you think I wouldn't refill it?" he laughed.
The sea creature glowered and turned away.
Pit chuckled again and returned his attention to the water. He made sure all the dirty water was washed away before he plugged up the tub. The water began filling up. Pit played with the knobs and tried to determine which temperature was most comfortable for the sea creature. He looked up at said creature, whom was entranced with the water comping out of the faucet.
"Does that feel okay?" He asked. "Or is it too hot?"
The merman seemed to snap out of it and looked away. "It's fine."
Pit smiled to himself and returned his gaze to the water.
The two said nothing as the water filled it. The only sounds were the low groans and whimpers of pain from the merman. Pit just gazed in wonder at the magnificent creature. He always believed the ocean held wondrous things. There were still so much humans didn't know that dwelled in it and here was proof; a mermaid (or merman in his case) was in his tub. The legendary aquatic creature with the upper body as a male or female and a fish tail. He always wondered, when staring at the ocean, if such creatures from fairytales could exist and they did. He wished he could ask all the questions, he and his younger sister had always wanted to know back when their parents would read to them. But he couldn't for one; his sister was gone and two; this merman seemed reluctant to tell him anything. In fact, this merman seemed to hate him. Pit should've expected it. The way he was short with him and blamed him for the ocean dying. The merman was right. It was humans that were killing it but Pit was doing all he could to help save it.
"There we are." Pit said when the water was practically covering the merman's person. He glanced at the creature whom was looking down at the water. "Are you hungry at all?" That started a wheel of questions. "Wait, what to mermaids eat? Do you guys eat fish or is that considered cannibalism to you? Maybe you eat kelp and seaweed? Or maybe-"
"Great white shark!" The merman snarled and threw his arms in the air, regretting it the moment the pain spiked through his body. He turned to Pit and glared. "Do you ever stop talking?!"
"I-I'm sorry!" Pit apologized. "I mean, it's not every day you have a merman in your tub. You can't really expect me not to ask questions. Don't you want to ask me questions too? Aren't you curious about being with a human?"
"No. I'm not. Humans do nothing but destroy the ocean. Why would I want to know anything about them?"
Pit sighed. "You know, not all humans are as bad as you're labeling us to be. Yeah, there are humans out there ruining the ocean, along with the planet, but there are those like me that are trying to save it. I know you don't believe me but it's the honest-to-God truth."
The merman scoffed.
Pit rubbed the back of his neck and sighed in defeat. "I just want to know what you eat since I'm going to take care of you, that's all."
The merman looked away.
Pit said nothing more, realizing he wasn't going to get any information from the stubborn creature. He sighed sadly and got to his feet, then left the bathroom. He returned a few minutes later with a container filled with sushi and placed it on the edge of the tub, near the sea creature.
"Here is some sushi. I don't know what you eat so this is the best option. If you like fish, you can eat the fish and if you eat seaweed there's the wrapping."
The merman rolled his eyes. "If you have to know; Most merfolk don't eat fish but others, like me, do. And before you ask me-" he stopped Pit as he opened his mouth. "-it depends on the type of fish we are that determines it."
"What type of fish are you?"
The merman crossed his arms and looked away.
Pit sighed and glanced up at his watch. "Well, I have to get to work. I'll be back in a few hours. I'll see you later, Pittoo."
"Pittoo?" The merman shot him a confused look.
Pit nodded with a grin. "Well, I was going to call you 'Dark Pit' because you look like a darker version of me but then I thought of Pittoo."
"A darker version of you? Hah! You look like a lighter human version of me. And Dark Pit is better than that other horrific one!"
"I don't know~" Pit giggled. "I kinda like Pittoo~." He turned for the bathroom door and winked back. "Bye Pittoo~"
The merman, now named Dark Pit or "Pittoo" scoffed when he heard the human leave. He gazed at the strange food called "sushi" for a few moments before he decided against even trying it. It could be poisoned for all he knew. He let out a sigh that followed with a few whimpers of pain. That human was definitely different from the others but he couldn't -wouldn't- trust him. All humans were the same in the end. This one wasn't any different.
