Chapter 32: Adrift
A rush of water touched Morgan's ears. The sound of breaking waves blanketed him, rocking him with each swell and lull. The slow rush easily synched up with his breathing. It took Morgan some time to appreciate the fact that he could manage even that; or that his heart was still beating, despite everything it had gone through.
'We made it? We're alive?' He tried to lift his head and open his eyes… But both tasks proved tougher than he'd anticipated. It was like he was still a bound and shackled prisoner, with weights on his neck and eyelids both.
However his ears seemed determined to make up for his lack of sight. They picked out the call of the tides, gulls crying overhead, wind sighing along the sand… And a rhythmic splashing through the surf. The sound of someone walking on two feet.
'A land dweller!' He thrashed-
Pain shot through his limbs in retaliation. Something was wrong with him, like someone had pushed knives into every muscle below his waist. That pain was what finally forced his eyes open. He took in a mess of skin and scales, his tail half melted into what looked like a set of legs.
'Wh… What!?' He froze, unable to process what he'd been twisted into. Bile and nausea gathered in the back of his throat, but a groan from Lucina distracted him long enough to swallow the feeling. She lay nearby, half buried by the sand and with heavily lidded eyes. Morgan threw his hand out to try and shield her, desperate to protect her from the stranger. As he stretched his hand out, he noticed that her limbs were the same mess of scale and skin.
'Gods. That's not good.'
He pulled himself closer to her, catching the pained and shallow breaths coming from her; proof that she was hurting as well.
"It's okay," came a voice. Morgan flinched at it, bracing for an attack and more pain… But instead, a hand lightly brushed the top of his head. Unlike Validar's, the touch was gentle, and the voice reassuring.
His eyes couldn't focus; the person remained a stubborn blur of color and vague shapes. Despite that, he thought there was something familiar to her, and the glint of silver hair framing her head. And the dark cloth encircling her arms.
"Don't be afraid; I promise I'm a friend." The voice was almost a balm, and the pain and strangeness in his limbs dimmed. His legs shifted, sloughing off the last of the scales. Forming into something completely human. A hum of magic filled the air, drifting in and out of his hearing; as the stranger murmured, it seemed to ring in their voice.
"Who… are you-?" Morgan choked out, his vision growing dark. Fatigue draped over him, and he slumped against Lucina. He had room for one thought before he fell back into slumber.
'That voice… I know that voice, from… Somewhere.' Somewhere before he'd ever met Lucina-
Somewhere from the surface.
'Mor…gana?' He faded out on that name.
-o-o-o-
"Chrom, wait!" Robin desperately tried to keep up with him, chasing a vanishing set of fins. She kept an arm outstretched in the vain hope she'd somehow reach him.
As she chased Chrom, the water grew thick and murky, lush blue giving way to a lifeless gray. A sickness seemed to clutch at her heart and made her gills stutter, grief and confusion both warring in her.
'Everything is happening so fast. Too fast.' But whatever else, she couldn't lose sight of him. He was confused, scared... And trying to get away from everything. There was no telling where his panicked swimming would lead him. Or what he'd do if he ran into something else.
Images of him getting cornered by hostile Mer, or dashed against rocks flashed through her mind… As well as that vision. Of him struggling for breath at the ends of her fingers.
'I would never do that!' She tried to tell herself… but that didn't shake the cold feeling loose from her heart. It did however spur her onwards. She had to find him before he bled out any more.
'Your fault.' The words hounded her. 'All of this is your fault.'
It seemed an extra insult, that she cut through the water so easily, while Chrom struggled. She glimpsed him through the murk, clawing at the water with his hands and tail. The webbing in his hands flared out, catching an extra bit of handhold.
It was all that kept him ahead of her. She had grace, but he had desperation. She tried to call out for him… Only for a sorrow to choke at her, and steal her words.
'Save your breath for swimming. You have to catch up to him… And what then? What can a Mer like you do, to make things right for him?'
Chrom gave another thrash, the movement snapping at his back like a fish fighting against a line. He scraped his shoulder against one of the rocks, adding a little more blood to the water. She tasted a hint of red, metallic and biting at her senses.
It threatened to pull another vision over her eyes. A crackle of electricity buzzed at the edges of her hearing.
'No!' Robin shook her head, letting her nails bite into her palms as her hands clenched. The pain grounded her in reality. And kept her focus on Chrom's dwindling form.
The gray waters blurred past her, the former verdant coral formations turning ashen, like a burned forest. Or like their surroundings had every ounce of life pulled out of them. Even the water took on a strange, flat taste in her mouth and left her senses stale.
But against that, she caught a flash of blue scales.
"Chrom!" She cried out again… Only to notice that he'd stopped, almost as if frozen at the sight of something. Robin grasped at the opportunity, throwing herself forward to close the distance. He was almost in arm's reach.
"Chrom, I-" she paused, looking at what lay before her and Chrom. And she too froze, as icy fear clutched her by the throat.
-o-o-o-
Her dreams were stained with crimson, accompanied by the rhythmic chanting of a far off voice. For a heartbeat, it felt like someone was drawing energy from her, the same as Validar. But instead of yanking it violently from her scales, it was a gentle touch.
'Gem of flame, red as blood,
Stem these changes and stay the flood,
These children are no longer beholden to water,
Let them walk as Naga's son and daughter.'
Lucina woke up to the taste of salt air in her lungs, and the creaking of ship timber. She lay in a hammock, and stared at the ceiling of a cramped room.
"Awake at last?" The voice had a scratchy quality to it, as though the speaker had already worn her throat out. "And mostly human now, from the looks of it."
A twinge of pain and tension shot through her muscles, and her legs kicked out in response-
'Legs?' Lucina stared down from where she'd kicked a blanket free. Of her scales and fins, there was no trace; someone had replaced them with human legs. But they had to belong to her, with how they twitched and kicked when she told them to.
"W-wait… Since when did we have feet?" Morgan's voice reached her ears, sounding just as confused as she felt. And just as sleepy as she felt.
'Swimming for the surface takes more out of you than I thought.' She blinked her eyes a few times, refusing to let them slide all the way shut.
"Ever since I pulled you out of the waves, and worked a little magic of my own." The voice answered, and a figure stepped into the wane lantern light-
Morgan gave a gasp, and Lucina felt her heart stutter.
"Mother-?" She choked out before she could stop herself. But as soon as she spoke, Lucina knew she'd guessed wrong. The figure had familiar white hair… But a different face, one lined with wisdom. The memories of her mother were vague and half blurred, but they were enough to know this wasn't the same person.
The newcomer shook her head.
"No, I'm afraid not. I only have one child… And she's a touch different from you and your brother."
"But… If you aren't her, then who-?"
"Morgana." She answered. "My name is Morgana. And I hope I've proven that I'm a friend to you."
"Well, our enemies aren't exactly in the habit of rescuing us from drowning or dying on the beach." Morgan answered.
"I'll take that as a yes, in that case… Though I should warn you, it will take your bodies time to adjust to their new forms. I wouldn't be surprised if you pass out again soon. Changing from mer to human takes a lot of energy… even with a gemstone sealed in your scales."
At her words, Lucina instinctively reached for her side, and her palm brushed against something curved and smooth, nestled at her hip. She glanced down to see a familiar, ruby gem.
"Though that gem certainly helped… And it's likely why your memories weren't torn to pieces, when you changed forms again."
'Again? H-have we done this before?' Her mind was sluggish in its answers. It dredged up the memory of crashing into the ocean so many months ago, and the way she'd wandered lost and confused through the currents until she found Morgan.
'Oh gods… Is that why I couldn't remember?' She gave a feeble kick, testing her legs again. There was something familiar to them, and they didn't feel as alien as they should've.
"What exactly are we supposed to do now?" Morgan still pressed, but Lucina didn't miss the drowsiness in his voice.
"For now, rest and recover your strength." Morgana said. "And I'll see to the task of sailing us… To where you're needed next."
-o-o-o-
Chrom stared at the bleached remains before him. He took in the bones of ships and of ancient sea creatures, and they all seemed mingled together in a tangled ruin. Some were bleached from time, but most were blackened by the sea water.
The bones seemed almost serpentine, with a collection of beast sized skulls baring fangs like sword blades. But they looked alien to him… Unlike the broken hulls and masts dotting the sea floor. The ocean remained gray all around them, sapping any colors save for black and white from the remains… But there was still something about those broken things that called to him, that seemed almost vibrant despite the rot.
'Familiar.' He spared the thought, before swimming down. He was distantly aware of something or someone close by, but he couldn't wrench his eyes from the broken hulls.
'A graveyard. This is a graveyard for ships and monsters, both.' And there was a faint, almost painful hum ringing through his bones. It was like power and old pain was sealed into this place, stirring up from the wreckage.
He stretched a hand out, letting his arm steady him as he glided over the top of a ship deck. His fins clumsily brushed the railings, and he squinted his eyes as he looked over the broken back of the ship.
'S-stern. This is a stern.' He wasn't entirely sure how exactly he knew that… Only that it fitted into his head, like a missing puzzle piece. These things were as much a part of the sea as anything else.
Ahead of him was a large wheel, half broken and missing pieces, stolen by the passage of time. But… There was something to it. Something that drew him forward, his hand outstretched. His fingers just brushed against the ship's wheel, the blood on his hand mingling with the wood-
"W-WAIT!" Came a voice, right as the hum of magic surged through his bones. His vision blacked out entirely as the ship erupted with a wave of magic, and threatened to shake him apart.
-o-o-o-
"WAIT!" Robin cried out, a second too late. The water they'd found themselves in was thick with magic, though something about it seemed twisted. Almost corrupted, whether by the ambient death, or something else-
Her thoughts were cut short by the scent of Chrom's blood, and how it mingled with the magic residue coating the ship… And how her mind seemed to twist, as a dreamlike haze swept over her.
Her vision went dark for only a moment. But when it returned, everything was clearer. The waters were no longer dismal, instead painted in the stormy blacks and blues of a bruised sea. Lightning flashed overhead, and the booms of thunder were percussion to a spell being sung.
When she swung her head around, she realized where that song was coming from. Dozens of mer-folk filled the clearing, all of them adorned with gold or steel. Prized marks, showing they were esteemed as either spell casters or as warriors.
And in a blink, Robin saw their quarry. Another collection of ships cutting across the waves… Another set of interlopers.
"They'll learn the folly of their actions soon enough." A regal voice growled next to her. "And idiotic though they may be, they'll still make worthy sacrifices to Grima."
She knew that voice; it had haunted enough of her memories and nightmares. A glimpse of dark fins and gold told her that the mer-folk's king presided over this place.
"Sacrifices to Grima…" Her mouth numbly repeated.
Something stirred, pushing a ripple through the water at his words. Like a sea giant stirring in its sleep, vaguely recognizing its name. The hum of magic rang off the bones scattered in the sand and sea grass… And the grass itself seemed to almost glow in defiance. But that blaze of life lasted only for a moment, right before all the color and vitality was yanked out of the vegetation. A handful of fish went still, having wandered into the clearing, seeking refuge among the kelp and grasses from the storm. Their scales all flaked away, seemingly eaten by something… Followed by their flesh and blood, leaving only a handful of fragile bones to float to the bottom of the ocean.
A taste of the death that was about to come. With the life leeched from the sea bed, the mages had no shortage of power for their spells. Their voices rose, matching the crash of the waves overhead. A second crash lit up the sky, the mages calling down bolts of lightning to strike at the convoy of ships.
The ships fought, valiantly trying to escape the winds that tore their sails to ribbons. In answer, Validar drew talons across his skin, staining the storm-wracked waters with clouds of red.
And still the ships struggled onward. The sails, or what little was left of them, were lashed down. Overhead, outlined against white light, Robin glimpsed sailors swarming the rigging. Her throat tightened, over how small they looked against the storm-
Validar wasn't finished. His hand snatched out, blood soaked fingers tightening around the compass at her neck. A screech of magic blasted from the thing in answer. Her ears were ready to bleed, but even that turned trite when the magic sank in past her flesh and into her bones. Power flooded her, squeezed at her heart until it threatened to burst. It hurt. IT HURT-
'No more-!' She choked out.
A roar echoed through the wasteland, and the waves rose up, the entire sea swelling around them. The ships were driven together like a shoal of frightened fish… And the waves fell upon them like teeth, savaging the hulls, breaking them each one by one.
The bodies of land dwellers fell from the ships, and the slap of them hitting the water was the only cue Validar's warriors needed. They surged forward, swift as any shark… And wielded their gifted metal weapons to great effect. They worked in teams of two or three, swarming the land dwellers and falling upon them with a few swift, brutal stabs.
'Don't-!' The words stayed trapped behind her teeth. She could only watch, powerless to stop the violence.
The waters pulsed red from the bloodshed, but even that quickly faded, the color swallowed up and turned to gray.
As Validar watched, he released the compass, letting it fall back down against her skin. Robin flinched away from him, he skin writhing after being so used. For a split second, it felt like her body didn't belong to her. Jolts of cold still moved through her, and a sick feeling settled in her stomach. She tried to swim free from his grip, lest he decided to work his magic through her again-
"Child, that was an admirable showing of your power." Validar murmured to her. The faint praise in his voice made that sick feeling increase tenfold.
"Don't be so hesitant; after all, we couldn't have done this sacrifice without you." A cold chuckle underplayed his words, before they snapped into orders. "Mustafa, take your soldiers and tear every ounce of metal from these ships. Treasure, weapons… It belongs to our people now. If you see any survivors trying to swim away… Well, I trust you know what to do with them."
'Stop it-' Robin wanted to say. Wanted to cry, or flee-
She shut her eyes against the slaughter. When she opened them, it was to the bleakness of the ship graveyard. The vessels were long since broken, stripped of any valuables, just as the Mer had wished.
'And I… It was because of me.'
"What… Was that?" Came a faint voice… And she saw Chrom staring up at her, half curled against the ship wheel. His tail looked like it wanted to coil around him. And she couldn't say that she felt much different.
"A memory." She choked out. "I didn't know-"
But her words were cut short. A strange howl moved through the waters, the eerie pitch making her skin crawl. That wasn't any human or mer cry, Robin knew; it was a hunting call.
-o-o-o-
Validar swam the length of the palace halls, his dark mood stubbornly persistent. It made him prowl his domain like a hunter, instead of a ruler.
'Two prisoners under heavy guard, and they STILL manage to slip away?' There was still no sign of their guard detail, although Validar had a notion on what had happened to them; one that clenched his hands into fists. They'd either aided in the escape… Or hidden themselves, knowing the cost of their failures.
'Both make them disgraces, and is a transgression worthy of death.' And they saw fit to deprive him of that sentence.
If those two mages ever dared to show their faces, his soldiers already had their orders; capture or kill on sight. He wasn't particular about which at the moment, and Grima could likely go without another pair of sacrifices, if they could only be executed on the spot.
He'd already lost the ruby gemstone, though he hoped he would reclaim it soon enough-
His head yanked up at a strange pulse in the waters. A jolt of magic flooded into his lungs, buzzing in his heart. He tasted something metallic in the back of his mouth. The last time he'd had that sensation was sinking ships-
'It's the same magic as HERS.' He knew in an instant.
"Lord Validar!" Mustafa stood in the entrance, staring at him. "Lord, we all felt a surge of something traveling through the waters. Every spell-sensitive mer in the palace was sent reeling… What happened-?"
He trailed off when he caught a glimpse of Validar's hungry grin.
"…I felt the same, general. And recognized the signature in that call. It came from the ocean graveyard." Validar said. Perhaps Grima still favored him after all, and gave him a message and blessing.
"Mustafa, I want you to send a squadron of your own to investigate it. If they find hostiles, kill them. But if by chance they find anything that can be made a prisoner, do not hesitate to bring them back… And report directly to me."
If Mustafa found this order strange, he didn't show it. Instead he dipped his head, and murmured an agreement before swimming off to martial his men.
'And let us pray your search will prove fruitful.'
-o-o-o-
Chrom flinched from the strange cry, leaving the wheel behind.
"That doesn't sound good, whatever it was." Robin whispered, trying to look through the gloom.
Her answer came in the form of long, twisting figures angling out of the gloom. Things that still possessed flesh, blood… And a feral gleam in their eyes that spoke of hunger. In another heart beat, she realized that she and Chrom were the only other living things in the entire clearing. And floating the way they did, they also made for easy targets.
The forms surged towards them, barreling out of the foggy waters. They were long, sinuous bodies flecked with scales and fins. What could have been the remains of stunted wings were now used to push the creatures through the water. As they swam their jaws gaped open, their fangs eerily similar to the skeletons decorating the sea floor.
"Sea serpents!" The words came out of her in a yelp.
Robin darted towards Chrom, reaching out to him without speaking. He looked ready to flinch away from her, even with the feral cries of the serpents filling the water. As she watched, rush of water swelled up behind her, and the fins on her head twitched. Trying to warn her-
Robin ducked down.
Her tail gave a thrash, and she curled forward. Robin dropped to the mossy wood, the green softening the impact along her arm. She rolled over her shoulder, and stared up to where a long, serpentine shape crashed its jaws into empty water. The teeth sheared through bubbles, where Robin had been a moment ago.
When it failed to find living flesh, the sea serpent turned its attention on Chrom. A low hiss seeped out of its jaws, its blazing eyes fixed on him. Chrom glared back, standing his ground. His fists wouldn't do much against those teeth, but he brought them up anyway.
'He can't face that thing alone!' The sea serpent's coils tensed like a giant spring, preparing for a strike. The golden, glowing eyes fixed Chrom in his spot, pinning him to the wheel.
Robin yanked herself back up, tail flailing violently to push her towards Chrom.
She cast about for a weapon, knowing her body wouldn't stand up against the sea serpent any better than Chrom's would. And yet knowing that, she still surged forward, throwing herself between Chrom and the lunging jaws.
"Face me instead!" Robin shouted, cutting through the water.
'There must be something-!' Right as she thought that, she found a trace of steel laying embedded in the planks. It was more rust than sword now, the edges nipped away by the saltwater and left pockmarked.
But it still filled her hand, better than any soup ladle. Robin yanked the sword up, rolling with the motion. It took her straight into the path of the sea serpent's lunge, and Robin brought the sword up in a spinning arc. The two strikes met, rust and fangs clashing… And it was the sea serpent scales that gave way. The power in those coils worked against the serpent, helping the blade tear a long rent along its neck.
The sword snapped with a dull clank of metal, as the rusted steel gave up. But the damage had been done.
Blood clouded the waters, and the serpent yanked back with a scream that set the water to shivering. Chrom winced from the shriek, almost tumbling from the wheel. Robin dropped the sword, ignoring how the cloud of blood stuck to her arms and scales when she swam.
Instead she reached out for him, praying this time he wouldn't spook. Because there were other dark forms circling the ship, and she doubted a broken sword would do much against them.
-o-o-o-
Robin barreled down out of the gloom, hand stretched out to him… And still coated with red. Chrom shrank from her touch, waiting for lightning to spring from her hand. Just like it had in his visions.
"They'll tear us apart! Chrom, please-!" Her tail gave a thrash towards him.
A shape circled them, Robin yanking her head up. A soft sound echoed in her throat, and the hum of magic built in the air. Lightning crackled to life on her fingers, and the bottom of his stomach threatened to drop out-
But it wasn't his flesh that the magic landed in. It crackled up from the ship wrecks, striking a shadowy form that melted away in a shriek.
"Robin-?" He whispered, blinking at her. And still a little confused over how she hadn't attacked him. Instead she'd done everything she could to help him against the monsters drawing in. One of them was already fixed on her, ready to snake forward and bite into her back.
'She tried to kill you-!' His thoughts screamed. His limbs stayed leaden, fixed to his sides, while his back tried to flinch away from Robin. The red on her skin was vivid-
Red that she'd gained only because she was protecting him. The fight with the sea serpent was more real, more violent than that strange half dream he'd been trapped in. And he'd trust this Robin more than he would any dream.
"Hold on!" Chrom broke from his fear and surged towards her, grabbing her outstretched hand and yanking her down. His other hand stayed fastened to the ship's wheel, serving as an anchor. He snapped his hand out, fingers meshing with hers. And this time there wasn't any lightning, nor bleeding.
They crashed into the deck, right as the serpent barreled past them. Its jaws gnashed closed just inches apart from Robin's head.
"Th-thanks-" She tried to say, but didn't have room for anything else. More shapes were cutting their way through the depths, angling towards them.
"If you've got any suggestions for how to survive this, I'm all ears." Chrom whispered. The first sea serpent, a crimson and green beast, thrashed into a turn, trying to double back towards them.
"For starters, don't stay here!" Robin pulled him into her wake, twisting through the water. His own tail felt clumsy, forcing Robin to drag him behind her. Like this, they were an easy target and meal. Chrom focused hard on his fins, flailing his tail back and forth in an imitation of Robin's motions. Suddenly they were thrown forward, thanks to his clumsy but strong movements. They almost slammed into the ship mast, only for Robin to clutch him close and tumble past. He swore the grain of the wood bit at his fins.
"Sorry!" He hissed out, the wreckage spinning around him as Robin set them right. He expected to feel fangs in his back at any moment-
Instead a crash shook the ship, right as they bumped into the deck. Chrom glanced up to see a set of coils, thrashing and tangled around the mast.
"Barely got out of that." Robin breathed out. "You focus on swimming forward, I'll worry about guiding us."
Chrom followed her orders with a rush, and sent them back into the waters. His tail ached from the effort, and it barely kept them beyond the reach of the monsters. The hunting howls followed them, as a new set of serpents glided forward, ready to finish what their others had failed at.
He risked a glance back.
Maybe he didn't remember much, but Chrom was certain of one thing; he didn't want to find himself facing up against those teeth. The monsters weren't shy about stretching their maws open, the wane, gray light glimmering across their steely fangs.
"What are those things?" He hissed out.
"S-sea serpents. I remember now. They should be preying on fish or whale carcasses. Not us." Robin said, eyes darting back to the serpents. She didn't linger on them for long however, focused on guiding herself and Chrom. "But something's gotten into them, and driven them mad. We can't outswim them, either."
Chrom swallowed his groan, knowing he shouldn't have asked. He urged his tail faster, but knew it was useless. His strength was next to nothing, and even that tiny fragment was fading fast.
-o-o-o-
'That's not good.' Robin felt a weakness spreading through Chrom. His body wasn't used to swimming like this, and they were slowing. 'No way of outpacing them in open water. We can't fight them with our bare hands.'
She cast around, looking for anything-
In the corner of her vision lurked an inky black spot. Robin turned to it, and saw a dark gap torn into the stern of the ship. Robin grabbed Chrom by the shoulders, the motion so sudden it sent them into a roll.
"There!" She stretched a hand out to steady them and point out the gap, as they shot towards the rent in the ship deck. One hopefully too small for the serpent's jaws.
'Or its teeth. The teeth are probably what I'm worried about the most.' The sarcastic thought was all she could manage before she put all her focus into swimming. Behind them the water trembled with shrieks from the beasts, bloodlust coloring their cries.
They were mad with hunger. And perhaps something else. That buzz of magic hadn't stilled, and seemed determined to twist up in her head. A part of her wanted nothing more but to turn around and fight, to clash with the creatures-
'Don't let that magic into your head!' She mentally screamed at herself, and then at Chrom when he froze for a moment, muscles tensing and almost considering a fight. She flung them through the rent in the ship, letting the blackness of the interior consume them and shield them from sight.
The light cut out as they plunged into shadows. The ruined stern cabins rose around them, closing them off.
A breath later came the crackle of wood, screaming and splintering as something heavy crashed into the ship. The walls shook all around them, tremors from the impact shuddering through the water and pushing Robin into a stagger.
She shivered from her place in the shadows, flinching back as the shaking only increased. The broken path to the ocean was obscured by twisting coils… And a collection of teeth tearing at the deck, desperate to enlarge the hole.
"We're not going to last long in here-" Chrom whispered; all around them, the rotted wood groaned to prove his words. As he spoke, his arms tightened around Robin, warm points against the chilled and black water.
"I know, I just hoped we'd get a few seconds." Robin answered, glancing about. There wasn't much to see however; the cabin had been stripped of valuables, and with the sea serpent coiling outside and blocking the light, it was near impossible to see anything.
A soft glow washed over the room. She whipped around to try and find the light source, only for her eyes to settle on her tail, and the patterns of light tracing down it. The same was true for Chrom, patterns of light on his scales and skin flaring up. Together they illuminated the sparse interior of the ship. Robin picked out the metal frame of a trap door set into the floor, and swam towards it. Her path took her right under the violent thrashes of the sea serpent, and she clung as close to the floor as she could.
Robin grabbed the metal ring and yanked back, a cloud of bubbles releasing from the doorway.
"Hurry-!" She tried to call out to Chrom, only for a crash of timber to steal her words. The serpent forced its head into the room. The sword cut on its face contrasted against the glaring, yellow eyes fixed on her-
But not Chrom, as he barreled towards the creature's face and clawed at it. His tail slammed against the serpent's snout, while his talons drew bloody scratches and clouded its sight. It snatched its head back with an angry hiss, and Robin snapped a hand over Chrom's dorsal fin before he could give chase.
"This way!" She yanked back… And silently thanked the gods that he listened to her. They plunged through the trap door in a barely controlled tumble, while the sea serpent screeched in frustration.
It lurched back, head crashing through the ship deck and jagged edges drawing deeper cuts on the serpent's face. That gave them room to dart through the opening. An escape hatch lurked on the other side of the room, even as the darkness in the ship threatened to eat their light.
The tiny, glowing hold of the escape hatch drew them forward.
"I hope those things are too hunger blind to think about other exits." Robin whispered to herself. The currents seemed to howl outside the ship, and Robin could only pray they'd be close enough that they could slip into the currents and escape.
But on the edge of the sea currents, she swore she heard something else. Hints of voices; they seemed to sing to her, coaxing her to move faster with every churn from her fins. Robin wriggled her way through the exit.
Something scraped her arm, earning a wince from her, but then she was through. Chrom followed as well, heedless of any scratches he picked up.
"We need to-" A spike of noise took her words. Almost in response to the commotion, Robin's cuts all stung. Extra threads of blood leaked out and clouded the ocean. The same happened to Chrom, but he didn't notice, too distracted in his struggle with swimming towards her.
Robin reached out to him, gripping him hard against the maelstrom of sound.
Overhead came a tangle of scales… And Robin's eyes fell on a dozen serpents. They all gathered in a knot of fangs, closing and tearing at one form. A serpent, the same green and red monster that had first gone after them… And as Robin watched, its emerald scales gave way to crimson as it was shredded by the razor fangs of the other serpents.
'They sensed the blood from that thing…' And they'd decided the wounded serpent was an easier, more available target. And the monster's blood seemed to only flow more freely, courtesy of the sounds vibrating through the waters.
Chrom made a choked noise as he watched the spectacle, taking in just how gruesome it was. It also wasn't the end of what they faced; beyond the hisses and fighting serpents, there were voices carried on the waves. Voices that magnified the formerly muted magic in the waters.
"That doesn't sound good," Chrom muttered, eyes casting around for another hiding place. He grabbed her by the arm-
Another vision seemed to explode in her eyes, of fighting her way to the surface.
'When I met Chrom.' But this time, beyond the ship she saw in the water, there was something else. A whisper of a prayer in her head, working its way onto her tongue.
'Naga, please give me a way out… Take what you need, but let me escape Validar. Let others be spared his schemes. And… let me find her, if I can. Let me find my mother-'
Robin fought to blink her eyes clear, shivering a little in waters that seemed to have gone frigid. The only warmth she felt came from the pair of arms wrapping around her, holding her against the sudden rush of water.
"What just happened-?" Robin croaked out.
"I… thought that I was swimming through a dream for a second, before we both crashed into this," Chrom whispered as he bumped his shoulder against a ship hull, functioning as a crude lean-to. Through the gaps in the boards, Robin had a shuttered view to the rest of the ocean.
It was soon clear why Chrom was keeping his voice low, when she looked through the slats. The clearing had turned into a roil of foam, blood, and dark forms. The serpents had broke off from their feeding frenzy, darting towards smaller forms that had intruded on them.
Robin's heart gave a stutter when she saw the details; the human torsos and fish tails, and the weapons they all clutched. They could have been a match to the mer-folk she'd seen in the earlier vision, both in appearance and brutality. She turned her head when one tore a serpent's eyes out of its socket. She could hear their general shouting orders.
"Clear the beasts out! Harvest what you can from them, and make sure they don't come back to desecrate this spot again!"
-o-o-o-
"This is the territory of Grima now, not any of the living." Chrom winced at the name, tightening his grip on Robin. There was something to that name he didn't like, something that tugged at his memories-
'Grima-'
He'd lost the ability to breath, for a split second. The water turned traitor in his lungs…
Until a warm touch brought him back, and eased his breathing. Fingers brushed over him, and coaxed his gills back into fluttering.
Breath returned to him in a gasp, banishing the pain in his head and whatever his thoughts were about to focus on. Instead he focused on the touch, and how it anchored him. The touch had to belong to Robin, with how gentle it was… And the odd feeling of peace that flooded through him.
"Chrom…" Strange, how she made his name sound like a prayer. Chrom had just enough room to think that, as his eyes blinked. The water blurred in an out, the bubbles turning into motes of smudged light in his vision. His eyes only focused when he caught strands of silver drifting in the current.
Her hair twisted in the waters, catching the bubbles that trailed out of his throat. His lungs remembered how to work, instead of drowning on water. For a moment Chrom lay there, remembering how to breathe.
Silence cloaked him, save for the rushing of the currents and his own heart pounding away, trying to tell Chrom that he was still alive. Somehow. Robin froze over him, eyes fixed on his, and looking terrified that if she so much as blinked, it would make him flicker out.
The rays of light shimmered down, picking out bright flecks in her hair and tail. She only exhaled when he did, matching her breathing to his.
"Are you okay?" She finally asked, her voice almost lost in the rush of bubbles.
"I-I think so…?" His arms shook when he tried to lift himself up. His fingers dug trails in the sand, his tail giving an answering sweep. He slumped, his elbows sinking into the silt. "I'm still breathing at least… Despite..."
He touched a hand to his gills, wincing at how sensitive they were.
"What… Happened to me?" Chrom whispered. Robin dipped her head, breaking eye contact… And looking oddly guilty.
"I have an idea, maybe." Her fingers lifted from his shoulder, brushing at his bangs. Her other hand touched her own forehead.
"…When I lost my memory, I didn't know how to move. And thinking back about it hurt." Robin glanced down at his tail, that strange, guilty look flashing through her face again.
"I worry… Maybe since you can't remember, your body is fighting against you, too."
"I-I only felt my gills give out, when I tried to remember… And I admit, that makes me hesitate on trying to recall anything else." And it had been her touch that had brought him back, Chrom realized. "I'm not in a hurry to drown… Plus, I think we've got a few more things to worry about." He looked through the ship rent as he spoke.
Outside the scene had turned grim; finned shapes tearing into each other. The serpents were maddened by bloodlust, while a strange fervor drove the Mer and kept them from breaking. Even as one of their own was shaken like a rag and rent apart, they still scythed through the monsters.
"We better lay low." Robin said. "Hope it's okay that you stay with me, for a little longer."
That thought didn't fill him up with as much dread, anymore.