Chapter Seven

A hand set down a slick, silver cell phone and then rested on the desk. Anyone who would look at this hand would notice right away the condition of it. Nails; filed down and rounded out to the point of perfection. Skin; well oiled, and fingers adorned with heavy rings. Underneath the hand, however, lay the story of this man. Scarred palms and calloused fingers were worn with a severe pride, a tribute to the hard days at sea when it was man vs. ocean.

The owner of the hand was deep in thought, his dark eyes resting unseeingly on a massive tank on the opposite side of his office. It took up the entire wall and, thought it did not protrude, was about the size of a comfortable bedroom. Coral and marine vegetation adorned the tank, bright colors making the simmering water looking warm and inviting. But it was the creature there that was the real prize.

He'd pulled out three, that fateful day on his mighty ship, the Dualscar. One, the biggest, had been injured, making it no use to him alive, so he he'd forced to kill the beast. He'd had it stuffed and mounted in his living room. The smallest one had attacked his eldest son after he'd killed its father (he presumed it was its father) and had been unfortunately injured. Sadly, he did not posses its body, for some tree hugging animal rights activists had snatched it from him before he could run off with it.

But he'd been lucky enough; there had been enough time to acquire one.

Alive.

It was the second biggest and obviously a skittish creature. It was larger than a human; about seven feet long, and looked magnificent swimming in his office. The markings on this beast were truly incredible, and he was certain there were no others in the world like it.

However, there had been an unfortunate…accident.

The thing had misbehaved and so steps were taken to insure it would never disobey its master again. And anyway, those things didn't need tongues.

Mr. Ampora stood and walked to the tank, smiling as the creature flinched back from him and cowered behind a hunk of coral, glaring mutinously. "That's right, my precious. Soon I might have a friend to join you, if it's who I think it is. But I don't need two of you. And the one coming might be…'damaged goods'. Appearance means everything, after all. So don't you worry—you're not being replaced. I plan on selling the new one. I'm sure scientists will pay quite handsomely to see how you things tick."

Eridan, who was now thoroughly lost, opened yet another door and sighed, "How many cod damn storage closets do we need?! I'm shore we could get by with half as many!" He shut the door with an indignant huff and walked on, eyeing the next one with a weary look, "Let's sea what's behind door number four hundred and twenty! Oh my cod! Another storage closet! I wouldn't have guessed!" He moved to shut the door and then paused, frowning.

"Wait a second…" That couch…that was the couch that had the scale behind it! Eridan grinned and flung open the door again. And there was the locked door behind it! "Somebody had me an award, I'm a genius." Eridan gloated, striding forwards and trying the door.

Locked, as he'd suspected.

But this time he'd come prepared!

Eridan withdrew the master key he'd swiped from Feferi's desk earlier on. Technically he was only borrowing it, and technically it was his as well.

Sliding it into the lock, Eridan turned the key and grinned at the click. Father would be so proud of him. Maybe father would take him out to sea next time, instead of his older brother. Eridan scowled, his face falling. Being the second son was the worst. Nothing he ever did was good enough to earn his father's approval. His older brother got to go on the voyages. His older brother got to come home with tales about how he and father braved the ocean's wrath.

But today was Eridan's turn.

With a determined expression, Eridan opened the door and walked inside.

"Oh my cod…" The whisper left his lips noiselessly as he stared at what he saw before him. It was that doctor guy—he recognized the Mohawk—but in a massive pool and…wearing nothing but underwear. However Eridan's eyes weren't fixated on that. They were currently fixated on the thing in the doctor's arms who was…oh my cod were they kissing?!

The jolt snapped Eridan out of his stupor and he stepped back into the shadows, gaping. Who was that person? Was his skin actually purple? How peculiar…

The purple person drew back and said something quietly to the doctor, which made him laugh. Then the purple person moved away and swam towards the center of the pool, his tail propelling him forward—wait. Tail?

Eridan took off his glasses and rubbed them furiously on his shirt before shoving them back up his nose. He then slowly reached into his pocket and took out the scale, holding it up.

It was undeniable.

This thing was a merman.

And this was its scale.

"Please Tav!"

"Gamzee, I'd love to but you know how dangerous it is!"

"But it went okay last time and I trust you completely with my body."

"Uh, thanks. But I don't want to push it. Maybe during a holiday as something special…"

"Please, Tavros?"

Tavros grimaced at the soft plea. Gamzee was staring up at him with big dark eyes, looking so god damn hopeful and longing and… "Augh FINE! But we are not going beyond the west wing this time."

"AW FUCK YES!" Gamzee crowed, pushing himself back from the wall and swimming around excitedly, "Aww yeeaah this fucker is getting his move on with Tavbro!" He swam to the center of the pool and dived down , propelling himself to the bottom and then shooting upwards. He shot out of the water, spraying droplets everywhere, and curled his tail around so his body flipped backwards elegantly before he crashed back into the pool.

"Yeah yeah I'll get the wheelchair." Tavros grumbled, hiding his grin as he went back into the storage room for the device. He hadn't bothered to bring it home since that night, seeing as he knew something like this would happen in the future. Unfolding it and making sure it was steady, Tavros wheeled it out to the ramp where he found Gamzee waiting, bouncing up and down and slapping his tail in the ankle-deep water. "Calm down for a minute, I need to get you in this thing."

"Sure thing, bro!" Gamzee said, settling down and grinning like a maniac.

Tavros knelt down and placed on hand under Gamzee's tail, under where his butt would be, and the other on his back. He waited until Gamzee had looped his arms around his neck before lifting him up with a grunt. Good thing about all the swimming and animal handling—it gave you some serious muscles. He deposited Gamzee gently in the chair and waited for him to get situated.

"Ready!" Gamzee said, his tail flicking around anxiously, "Can we see the penguins? And sharks? Can you tell me more about them? Do they eat people? Can we see the—"

"Woah woah calm down, Gamzee!" Tavros laughed, pushing him towards the storage room, "Don't worry we'll see all of it. And yes, sometimes they do eat people. But only stupid ones."

Gamzee chuckled and leaned forward eagerly, his eyes bright as they passed from his world in Tavros' world.

Tavros smiled and wheeled him out of there, turning and pushing Gamzee down to where the penguins where. They'd start there and work their way back.

As Tavros' footsteps faded, the hall was silent for a long while. Then, two sets of footsteps came from the opposite direction. One set was swift and nervous, treading lightly and quickly. The other was steady, solid, and held a great amount of command about it. Though the nervous person was leading the way, it was clear even from a distance who was in charge.

"In here, father." Eridan showed him the door and then hastily got out of the way.

Mr. Ampora strode past him, leaving the lingering smell of salt and cigars behind. He made his way to the other door, taking his time, though inside he was as anxious as his second born son. Was this it? Had he finally found the creature again, after all these years? He pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Do we really have to go back?" Gamzee asked, glancing back longingly at the jellyfish.

"Yes, I don't want to push luck. We can do this again some other time, okay?"

"That janitor guy didn't see us, right?"

"No, but it scared the living daylights out of me." Tavros chuckled, pushing Gamzee into the storage room. "We can—do you hear that?"

Gamzee paused and cocked his head, listening intently for a few seconds before pointing at his home, "There. Somebody is in there. And they don't sound very happy."

Tavros felt something burn away his insides like acid at Gamzee's words, "Stay here," he said quietly, "and don't make a sound."

Gamzee nodded, wondering what was going on. He sat back in his chair and watched as Tavros cautiously made his way to the door. Something felt slightly off about this…something felt…wrong. Gamzee sniffed the air and felt something tickle the back of his mind; a memory, pushed down into the deepest waters of his mind. He frowned and sniffed again, then felt something hit him. Something primal and urgent; fear. "Tavros!" He whispered, just as his friend disappeared through the door.

Keeping close to the wall, Tavros peered out to see what was going on. He could hear them quite clearly now—probably thanks to the yelling.

"It was here! I promise, father! It was here and it was purple and had this…this…" Eridan waved his hands in the vague outline of a tail.

"And what?" A man responded, his back to Tavros, "It just got up and walked away?"

"No!" Eridan said desperately, "I don't know where it went! But it was here! I saw it! Look—here's the scale!" He thrust his hand out like a drowning man grabbing for a life raft. Pinched between his thumb and index finger was a shiny, dark purple scale.

Tavros' eyes widened at the sight of Gamzee's scale. He'd found one just like it, but when he'd gone home it had somehow fallen out of his pocket. And Eridan must have seen it and…oh no. Tavros had no idea who the other man was, but he was big and intimidating and seemed to scare Eridan pretty badly. Eridan had called him 'Father'. So it was Eridan's, no doubt.

He backed up slowly, turning around and creeping back into the storage room. He caught sight of Gamzee and hurried over, "Gamzee, what's wrong?" His friend's pupils were narrow slits and he looked about ready to pounce on someone and rip their throat out. The look cleared slightly as Tavros spoke, and the merman shook himself.

"I…I don't know. Who's in there?" Gamzee asked, feeling jumpy.

"Eridan and his father, I think they came to get you." Tavros said softly, "Be very quiet, okay? I won't let them take you."

"Take me? Take me where?" Gamzee asked, twisting around in his seat as Tavros searched for something, "Tav, what's going on?"

Hearing the tone in Gamzee's voice, Tavros moved back over, "Shh, it's okay. I'm just going to take you back outside. It'll be fun, but you have to be extremely quiet. Here, put this over your tail and make sure nothing shows." He handed Gamzee a blanket and then went and rummaged through his own clothes bag. Thank god he always packed a sweatshirt in case it got cold. Pulling it out, he handed it to Gamzee and quickly explained how it worked, watching as his friend pulled it on and zipped it up. "Okay, perfect. Just don't move around a lot." He reached forwards and pulled the hood up over Gamzee's head, so all that could be seen were a pair of worried yellow eyes.

"Tav?"

"It's okay, but you have to be quiet now." Tavros soothed him, pushing Gamzee out of the storage room and, on impulse, closing and locking the door behind him. He didn't run, but he was damn near it. Instead he marched, tanks flying by as he sped walked towards the loading docks out back. As he went he fished out his cell phone and dialed a new number, praying he would answer.

After quite a few rings Tavros was about to hang up until, "Why the FUCK are you calling me? I'm off duty! Not working! What part of 'nine-to-five' do you fuckasses not understand!? If that bubble brained moron has his ball stuck in the FUCKING RAFTERS again—"

"Karkat shut up!" Tavros hissed, earning a shocked silence and a confused looked from Gamzee. "I need you to meet me by the loading docks now. It's an emergency. Your friend from college is with me."

"Shit why didn't you say so? I'll be there in a minute."

Tavros snapped his phone shut and tucked it into his pocket.

"Where are we?" Gamzee asked curiously as they hurried through a holding room, past large shipments of fresh fish, filters, nets, and other things needed to keep an aquarium up and running.

"At the back of the Aquarium. Hang on a second." Tavros stopped him by a door and wrenched it open, locking it in place and then wheeling Gamzee through and shutting the door behind him. He was in the middle of locking it when he heard a soft 'motherfuck…' and looked around.

Gamzee was sitting limply in his chair, eyes and mouth open wide as he took in the outside world. A warm breeze danced by, caressing his half dried hair and whispering over his uncovered face. The night was clear, not a cloud in the sky, and Gamzee stared in rapture at the stars. His eyes moved over everything. The dumpsters, the street, the stairs, the ramp, the lamp, the truck parked a few yards away, everything. Nothing missed his hungry gaze, but he remained completely motionless for the duration of his vision feast, like something had gone out of him.

"Gamzee?" Tavros called softly, "Are you okay?"

"…m'fine…" Gamzee murmured distractedly, staring in wonder at the stars again. His eyes fell on the moon and he couldn't tear them away.

Tavros looked behind him, towards the closed door, and swallowed with difficulty. Those people were still there and Gamzee (along with himself, for that matter) were in a lot of danger. But they couldn't do anything until Karkat got there. So he took a breath and walked over, laying a hand on Gamzee's shoulder, "That's the moon. It's like a small sort-of planet that revolves around Earth. Those little sparkly dots up there are the stars, billions and billions of miles away. The bigger ones are other galaxies, I think, and they hold dozens of planets and moons and stars."

Tavros went on, relaying all he knew about the solar system as Gamzee sat quietly and listened. Once he'd used up all his knowledge, Tavros moved to the things around them. He pointed them out, gave them names, and was surprised to find out how much Gamzee already knew. It seemed, despite having lived in the same enclosed room all this life, Gamzee knew a fair amount about the outside world. What he couldn't seem to get over was the sensory overload.

Pictures were one thing. Smelling the crisp, clean evening air was a whole other story. Feeling the wind brush against your cheeks and hearing the sound of crickets chirping was something completely alien to the merman. And he merely sat there silently and soaked it all in.

A car appeared at the entrance of the loading area, and Tavros waved at it, breaking off on his explanation of how people had traveled to space. The car came to a screeching halt in front of them and Tavros pushed the wheelchair up to the vehicle.

Karkat jumped out and ran around, opening the back door, "Get him in." He said gruffly, looking around with narrowed eyes.

Gamzee allowed himself to be maneuvered lengthwise into the backseat, his back against the other door, his tail across the seats, and the blanket still covering his tail, in case somebody peeked in.

Tavros leapt into the passenger seat and Karkat sped off into the night.

Unnoticed by all of them, a man stepped out from the shadows and flicked a cigarette to the ground, crushing it under the toe of his boot. He flipped open a cell phone and dialed a number, holding it up to his ear, "Dad? Yeah. They have him. Yes I'm sure. Okay." He snapped the phone shut and grinned, "Swim, swim as fast as you can, but your little friends can't save you now."

He smiled and reached up, brushing his fingers over the jagged scars on his forehead left by that creature when it had attacked him; right before he'd taken his three-pronged spear and slashed the fucker across the face with it. Payback was a bitch—and this Ampora wasn't done by a long shot.

That thing would pay with its life, one way or another.