the delta sun burns bright and violet
by. Poisoned Scarlett

He never had much wet dreams. Compared to other guys he knew, he was pretty tame, always more interested in his music and how to build himself better so as to satisfy his parents ridiculously high standards. But he wouldn't lie that waking up sweating, breath labored and with his dick as high as it could go, was starting to really get on his nerves after the sixth day. Half the time, he did not remember the dreams: only bits and pieces, like pink lips caught between his teeth or her hands, nails digging into his back hard enough to ache, with the faint whispers of his name against his chin that almost always made his eyes spring open and bring attention to the problem downstairs.

She had officially ruined him.

He didn't take that lightly, either—it took a lot to screw with him and she had done it effectively and without much effort. If all it took was three words and a little encouraging with her tits, he was no better than any of the other idiots out there, which, he supposed with a heavy sigh, was another thing he was not good at. Temptation, he'd always had a good reign on it and knew how to control and use it to his advantage, but temptation was winning out this time.

He didn't think he could stand waking up like that, so feverish and needful of her, for much longer.

Soul stared up at the dark sky that night, trying to figure out why he had such an explosive connection with that girl. He could say it was because he hadn't gotten laid in a long time except that theory fell because he'd gone to pubs and strip bars with his crewmates and hadn't felt any particular desire to bed a woman. He was more interested in how many glasses of whiskey he could shoot down in order to out-drink Clay or Black Star—thus far, Black Star was the leading heavyweight champion.

He could sum it up to the fact that she was a mermaid and clearly magical in her own way and, although her singing was what one needed to look out for, she had to have other manners of dealing with men. But then that theory fell as well because a mermaids goal was to drown men and she hadn't—she had just looked at him as he drew his blade to her. It was clear that she did not mean harm to him…so what was her deal?

Or, more precisely, what was his deal?

Somewhere inside, he knew. He knew and it did not bode well with him. It troubled him because guys like him didn't get girls like her. Guys like him didn't get lucky like that. He didn't get lucky like that, never had with anything else and never would. This job he got was pure chance and his weapon gene was just the gods playing a sick prank on him. No luck, just bad luck.

But there was still that nagging in the back of his head, the one that filled him with dangerous hope. He could hear her voice in his head so clearly, as clear as the notes he used to pore over on the piano. Three words that fueled his desire, that haunted his dreams:

You'll be mine.

Mine.

Soul swallowed thickly and tried not to think about it anymore.

"What're you gonna' do after this?" Black Star asked suddenly, arms crossed beneath his head as they both laid on the roof of the cabin; staring at the stars, two friends who'd had too much to drink. "We can only do two years out here before we gotta' look for jobs somewhere else."

"Only Weapons," Soul mumbled. "You're not a Weapon, Star."

"But like hell am I gonna' come back here without you guys!" Black Star argued then sobered up. "You're all worthy disciples! I wouldn't wanna' betray you guys by taking in strays!" Black Star groped for his bottle and shook it, frowning when he found it empty. Soul tossed him his half-full one and the man took a grateful drink. "We've hunted nearly every thing that lives in these waters..."

"'Cept mermaids," Soul reminded absently.

"I'm not killing a mermaid."

Soul opened his eyes and looked at Black Star, who continued to stare at the sky. "I thought you said you'd hunt everything here before the two years were up? That another bet you gonna' lose?" Soul smirked. Those fifty bucks were his when Black Star got paid.

"Mermaids are girls," Black Star told him matter-of-factly, ignoring his last bit, "and I don't hit girls, much less kill them."

Soul snorted, nearly laughing. "Dude, those things aren't girls. They're monsters," he thought about the green-eyed beauty whom he saw every day in the evening from afar; the mermaid who'd saved his life. He felt some guilt for calling her a monster because she very clearly wasn't—not in the fair definition of the word…

You'll be mine, she sighed in his head and he ground his teeth for being so absurd as to actually think her words held any sort of truth in the way he wanted them to.

"They're not monsters, they're cursed."

"…Cursed?"

"Yeah, you didn't know?" Black Star stifled a yawn. "Sid doesn't want to hunt them cuz of that. He says we will one day but that's only so there aren't any problems with the crew. But mermaids aren't real monsters: they're cursed women cast out into sea. Sid says it's the witches who do it—they find girls with Grigori souls, because their souls are powerful and witches can't control them, and curse their hearts so they have to live in the sea until their soul mate comes 'round to save them."

Soul flinched at the word soul mate.

"Most of them die out there, waiting for them. Mermaids live a sad life, y'know? I mean, imagine waiting for a soul mate whose terrified of water? No wonder they wanna' drown everyone," Black Star mumbled and gave the bottle back to Soul. But Soul did not take another drink from it. "They're just jaded and sad, no need to go killing them when they have a chance at being happy."

Sad... Soul thought of that green-eyed girl. She never looked sad but maybe he just hadn't looked hard enough. He had been so intent on avoiding her, of not being dragged under her spell and trying to shake whatever pull she had on him, that he never noticed if she was sad. She hadn't even sung and he never heard of a man dying without a mermaid singing first. She hadn't even tried to enchant him. She saved his life, for Christ's sake!

You'll be mine.

Soul felt a knot form in his gut and this time he took another drink of whiskey before his thoughts led him to dangerous territory.

"Hey,"

"What?"

"How do they know when they've found him? Their soul mate?"

Black Star shrugged. "Mermaids are cursed, so they've got some magic in 'em. They must just know."

With that, they lapsed back into silence. Then Soul sat up, grunting with the effort it took, and he rolled his eyes when Black Star's hand immediately snaked to the bottle and he clutched it to his chest.

"Relax. I wasn't gonna' take the bottle with me. I need to piss," he said and snickered when Black Star still didn't let go of the bottle. "I think that bottle might be your soul mate!"

"Pfft, that'd be awesome! She'd never leave me!" Black Star grinned toothily. "And she'd always make me feel good!" He took another chug to prove his point and sighed in utmost satisfaction. Soul smirked but left the man to his liquor, jumping off the roof a little unsteadily and going down the steps to the bathroom. He'd take a piss in the ocean except he didn't know if that green-eyed mermaid was there or not.

He wondered what she did all this time. Did she just swim around? Maybe sleep? Did mermaids even sleep? She did tell him mermaids didn't dream so perhaps they didn't sleep, either? Soul wondered this as he waited for the bathroom to vacate. She hadn't tried to reach out to him again. Maybe he should try? Not that he would be anything of a soul mate to her—he was a twisted bastard, anyone who knew him could see that, and he was most definitely not soul mate material. Soul grimaced, looking down at his shoes. He'd probably fuck that up somehow, if he was, not that he was saying he was. Or that he wanted to be. No. That was insanity. Soul stopped thinking about it before it really pissed him off.

"Better let it air out, man!" Clay grinned unrepentantly at Soul when he opened the door. "Whooo, that was some chili!"

"Aw, dude, c'mon! I gotta' take a piss!"

"Piss in the ocean, genius, not like anyone's gonna' see you!" Clay rolled his eyes and returned to their small lounge where the other guys were still eating and watching some movie Kilik had brought along for listless nights like these. Soul took a risk and stepped inside the bathroom but quickly ran out. No matter how much he needed to pee, he was not going to punish himself that way.

Soul slouched outside with a heavy frown, deciding he'd give the bathroom a half hour to air out like Clay said before he ventured back in. He looked at the roof, able to hear Black Star happily snoring, likely clutching the bottle to his chest like some teddy bear. With a tiny smirk, Soul leaned on the rail and watched the water. It was a calm night with the barest of winds although the air still felt cold. He buried his nose in the crook of his elbow and found himself wondering about that green-eyed mermaid again.

He couldn't get the thought that she was sad out of his head; it bugged him too much. It figures Black Star would be the one to give him something to think about, Soul brooded. His eyes moved back to the waters rippling softly as their boat glided through and he shifted so his chin rested on his arm. It wasn't like anyone was going to hear him—the guys were too engrossed with the action flick and Black Star was out cold. And if someone did hear him, he could just play it off. No big deal.

"Hey?" He called out, hesitantly. "You out there?"

The waters remained still. He felt a twang disappointed and he sunk his head back into his arms. Probably the alcohol that was making him feel like this, he thought, all guilty and stupid.

"…Are you okay?"

Soul snapped his head up and stared into big green eyes that watched him worriedly. He straightened up—so she had been there! Ha! He'd been right! But his triumph quickly deflated when he realized he had absolutely nothing to say to her. What was he supposed to say? If what Black Star told him was true, that she was cursed by a witch to remain in the water until her…soul mate saved her? Then what? It wasn't like, and Soul soured at the thought, it wasn't like it was him who'd save her or anything.

Something that innocent, that pretty and quaint, could not have anything to do with him. Hell, he'd threatened to kill her and called her a monster on more than one occasion. If she hung around this close to the boat, she'd surely heard him… and his guilt came back full-force and he slouched again and hoped the emotion didn't show on his face.

"M'fine," he replied and watched her gently float in the water. "Aren't you cold?"

The girl smiled a bit and shook her head. "I'm used to the temperature. It does not bother me anymore."

Anymore, his mind hissed and he gripped his arms. "Anymore?" He decided to ask and then he saw it—that little glimmer in her eye as her head bowed. Sadness. Great, he would need to apologize to her for being a jackass now or else he wouldn't get a good nights rest and it was mopping duty for him tomorrow! Not that'd he'd get much sleep anyway, what with the images she'd only too willingly provided his brain to use against him.

"Well, sometimes the waters freeze," she told him and he cringed at the thought of living in subzero waters. "But since we always keep away from deep waters, it isn't so bad. It's better during the summer."

"You can't die, right? From cold waters?"

"No," she shook her head. "I just feel cold like…like you would if you did not wear that!" She pointed to his jacket and he glanced at it.

"My jacket?"

"Yes….It's called a j-jacket?"

"You don't know what a jacket is?" He rose a brow and she pinked a little, sinking into the waters with embarrassment. He felt his mouth twitch when she puffed her cheeks out stubbornly afterwards, clearly not liking the fact that she did not know something. He was onto her but, at this point, all of her cutesy little gestures were probably just all her.

"Well, I live in the sea so I would not wear any of that!" She defended.

"But you've gotta' have seen it before. Never thought of asking or anything?" He teased.

"No," she glared. "Because no man would talk to me. They think I'll drown them."

His humor drained at that and he sobered up, feeling bad again. Well, she had a point there. He even said it once to her face; another thing to apologize for. "Considering your kind has a history of drowning men, you can't blame us," he shrugged.

The girl only hummed back, her tail breaching the water a little as she pushed herself along to follow the boat. He noticed her tail was a sweet coral pink color; scales flashing beneath the moonlight. After a second of thought, Soul pointed at his pants and she cocked her head curiously. "You know what these are called?"

"…Um…"

"Pants," he told her and she tried the word out carefully. "These are shoes and beneath my jacket," he tugged on it in case she forgot, "is my shirt. Those are the general words, if you wanna' be specific then my shirt would be a Raglan t-shirt."

She looked up at him with such wonder he kind of wanted to ruffle her hair or pinch her cheeks. But he didn't think reaching down to do that would end well.

"Does it bother you to wear such things?"

"Clothes? Nah, used to them," he grinned. "Don't you feel weird swimming around naked?"

"No…" Maka replied, glancing down at herself. Soul tried not to look. Really, he did. "I've been like this for as long as I can remember."

That caught his interest. "So you were born in the sea?" He asked, carefully. "You have a mother like you?"

"No, she's…she's human. My father as well," she looked troubled as she said this. Soul let her continue without interruption. "My memories from being human are gone. I don't remember anything from my past. I only know I was human once because my sisters tell me I was and tell me that I can be, again."

"How?" He asked, so far Black Star's version of them sounding true.

"They say that one day someone will come and when they see me, they will be able to resist all other songs and yearn for mine," Maka looked a little happier as she said this and his eyes softened. "And he will save me but first he will have to follow me into the water…"

"Follow you… into the water?" He repeated, apprehensively.

She nodded. "If the man is of worth and honor, if his feelings are sincere and without taint, he will not drown and he will break the curse." She looked back up at him and he saw that perpetual sadness in her eyes, that sadness that made his gut knot up and his heart feel heavy. "And when the curse has been broken, he'll take me back to land and I'll be happy again."

"So you can't walk on land, huh?"

"I can."

"Eh?"

"I have a limit," Maka told him uncomfortably. "A few hours at best before I must return to the waters or die. Some of us have tried to live normal human lives like that…but they must be unable to, after knowing what they will always miss when they return to the sea, and they choose death instead of waiting for someone to break the curse," she told him and Soul felt really bad now.

He watched her swim for a second and then he slouched a little more and grumbled something out. She perked at attention, her brows creasing because she hadn't caught what he said, and he stifled a sigh and figured his pride could take a little beating—only because she was sad and he did not want her to be anymore sad than she already was. Even if she was screwing with him, there was no need to make her life any worse. Living out in the ocean, waiting for someone who might not even come…that was actually quite sorrowful.

"Sorry," he sighed out. "For trying to kill you that time you saved me. I…won't do it again," he lamely ended and she smiled back, almost impishly.

"You mean you weren't trying to lure me into a calm just now so you could kill me?" She innocently taunted and he smirked, liking her spunk.

"Why? Does it look like that?"

"Maybe."

"Well, it isn't like that," he punctuated his words with a smug grin. "You're too far, anyway."

"So if I were closer," she drew the last word out and he couldn't help the tremble that raced down his back at the low tone of her next words, "you would still not try to kill me?"

"No. I had it wrong. You're not a monster," he told her and her own smile faded, too. She looked down and he clenched his jaw. "You're just a girl who was at the wrong place, wrong time. So, I'm sorry for calling you a monster. And I'm sorry for making things harder than they already are. That wasn't cool."

"…Thank you," she quietly said and smiled up so brightly at him that he was stunned for a moment. Just a moment but it was enough of an opening for her to spit water at his face.

"What the hell, woman, I just apologized and you spit water at me?" He growled, wiping his face with the sleeve of his jacket. "Argh, gross!"

She stuck her tongue out. "That's what you get for calling me names!"

"I said I was sorry, tiny tits!"

She narrowed her eyes. "I have the feeling of that being an insult."

He grinned sarcastically. "No, of course it's not. What gave you that idea? It's totally a compliment. Your tits aren't small, they're just not there—argh! Sick, that got in my mouth! Alright, sorry, jeez!" He spat out salt water and sent her a dark look she smirked at.

"What does tits mean?"

"...Nothing," he coughed. She pursed her lips at his sudden nervousness. "Just...uh—dammit, quit it!" He dodged when she tried to spit water at him again. "It means boobs!"

"What are boobs?" She demanded, growing frustrated with his generations strange words.

"Uh...breasts?"

She stared at him and he stared back and felt vaguely dreadful. Maybe he should have lied to her instead of telling her the truth? And he was right when she suddenly dived down and, when he leaned over to look, his eyes rounded at the huge splash she made with her tail. He cursed and stumbled back but couldn't evade the wave in time. He barely bit down a loud curse. The waters were freezing! He couldn't understand why she wasn't frozen yet.

"Call me that again," she told him, voice dropping dangerously, "and I really will drown you, you imbecile!"

"M'kidding!" He whined and wiped his face of water. He would need to shower now, he sighed and gave her a weary look. "Sorry. I mean it this time, I was just kidding around," he rolled his eyes when she fixed him with a look.

"Okay," she flicked a drop of water at him that hit him right on the forehead. He growled but wiped it off without any complaints. "Now I forgive you!" She giggled and laughed when he glared and grumbled about confusing, irritating women. His ire melted away at the sound of her laughter. It was warm and pretty and it made him feel strange—content, almost. He wanted to continue hearing it but before he could ask her what was so damn funny, in an attempt to cover up his gooey uncool feelings, he heard footsteps approach and suddenly she was gone; not a ripple of water in sight that told him she had been there in the first place.

"The others have gone to bed," Sid announced himself and came to stand next to Soul. "You should be, too. Where's Black Star?"

"On the roof."

"Sleeping?"

"Yeah."

"Not again," Sid sighed. "You'll get him down later?"

"And let him punch me like he did last time? Not fucking likely," Soul snorted derisively. His eyes returned to the sea and he wondered if she could hear them talking. If she could, he didn't want to say anything stupid. Well, stupider than usual.

"With the way you keep staring at the ocean like that, you'd think a mermaid sang her song," Sid humored and Soul stiffened. He rose a brow at his wet shirt, the splotch of water he could see on his pant leg. "You nearly fall overboard or...?"

"Uh, it was wet and I slipped..." he slowly said and Sid gave him a long look before bursting out laughing. Soul heaved a sigh and darkly thought that mermaid girl better be happy he was keeping her a secret. His secret. Soul frowned at his own dumb thoughts and turned back to the rail, leaning on it as Sid gazed out at the ocean with mirth.

"I'll tell you something that'll give you a reason to trip over your feet," Sid suddenly said. Soul spared him a glance. "I heard a mermaid sing once!"

"Serious?"

"As serious as death! And it didn't do a damn thing to me. I didn't want to follow her down into the waters and my thoughts didn't turn to mush or anything like the others described it."

"You ever figure out why?" Soul asked, feeling he already knew why.

"I found her, during one of my hunting trips," Sid told him musingly. "I don't know where she is now but I know that she's out there, somewhere."

He knew who he was talking about. He wondered if he remembered how she looked, if he would be able to pick her from the rest, and he found himself voicing his second thought and it was met with wry amusement.

"Of course I would: I saw her that day. Bad luck since it was the last week of the season but she told she'd find me again."

"Is that why you keep coming back?"

"Partly," Sid reached into his pocket and shuffled out a cigarette from the box. He offered one to Soul but he shook his head. He brain felt stuffy with information and really what he needed was to sleep on everything that just happened. The soul mate thing, the curse, that green-eyed girl…whom he never caught the name of! As he seethed, Sid continued talking: "I also enjoy the sea. Especially nights like these, when the waters are calm and the winds are quiet."

"And then there's the storms," Soul grumped. "And the feeling of puking when you eat Kilik's mystery meat."

"Now that's on you, Soul! Eating things with the word 'mystery' in it is not the type of man I am!" Sid grinned. "I'd rather go hungry than eat that mans creations! I'm still surprised Black Star is able to stomach them…"

"He's not human," Soul muttered and they both had a chuckle at the thought.

When Sid finished his cigarette, he clapped his hand on Soul's back and told him to tuck in for the night. Black Star could stay on the roof although if he made a fuss that no one woke him up in the morning, Soul was in charge of controlling him. With that, Sid headed back down the stairs and soon after it became silent again. Soul gazed down at the water for a second, seeing nothing ripple beneath it and no sign of that girl anywhere.

"My names Soul," he said, in case she was listening. "Night." He leaned off the rail and began to head back inside when he heard her—just a squeak but he heard her.

"…M-Maka!"

And she was gone by the time he looked but at least he knew what to call her now.