Author's note: Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay! (It was just a day though…) Here's the second chapter of "Once upon a mermaid"! Hell yeah! Sorry, but I didn't thought I would make it on time. You'll see why at the end of the chapter. Now! For those who reviewed!

Akakuro Seiya: Thanks for the love! Here´s the second chapter, as promised!

MaliceHawk: Dun dun dun! Guess who appears in this chapter? Hahaha, hopefully it will fulfill your expectations. Hahaha, and I really think that if you were to really send Shizuo after me, I would stop writing the story just to fawn all over him. I LOVE HIM. But do not fear! No Shizuo becoming real on my near future, so the story is safe. For now?

Clear-skyz: Thanks! Hope I can keep it that way.

Guest: Whoever are you, do not fear. The second chapter is here!

NGMS: No sé si llegaras a leer esto, pero me alegra que alguien se esforzara tanto para leer el primer capítulo. Muchas gracias! Jajaja, ojala aun siga siendo interesante para que lo leas. Y no estas sol . Yo tambien hago lo que sea para leer Shizaya. Es tan BUENO!

And finally, thank you all who followed/favorited my story. You make me very happy and inspired me to continue it!

Ok, that's it for the thankfulness. On with the second chapter!

Chapter 2 v.2

Shizuo's POV

It was after a morning training during my second month in Sagena when I finally received official orders from the Captain.

"Sorry for the delay Heiwajima" The man apologized while handing me the schedule that I had to follow during my rounds along with a detailed map of the routes I had to cover. "I feel bad now. On your first day here you were scolded for being late and look at how much time it took for us to finally put your schedule in order" The words spoken would have made you think that the man was at least apologetic, but his tone and face remained almost expressionless.

"Ah, I don't mind" I answered lightly, skimming over the surface of the documents and pretending my attention was directed to the words on the paper.

Truth be told, I've never met a man that puts me on edge as easily as the man before me.

Captain Shiki was by no means a tall, bulky person. By this, I'm not saying that the man wasn't intimidating. There was something in the way the Captain conducted his work, always so unpassionate, almost bored. Yet, the commanding aura surrounding the guy made you think it twice before defying his words. The force behind it all must have been in his eyes, that piercing and unwavering gaze that made you feel as if he could see right through you and into your deepest secrets. I'm not the kind of person who pays much attention to others. To me, it always came down to two options: There were those who pissed me off and those who didn't. But I couldn't fit the man in either of those.

I stopped reading the papers and waited for the guy to discharge me. He just acknowledged me with a barely noticeable nod before shooing me away with his hands. I left the office successfully keeping my unfazed mask on. Once that I made sure that the door was safely closed behind me, I slowly released the breath I was holding through my nose.

I walked back to my room so I could really check my schedule once I was there.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Yo, Shizuo" Tom's voice welcomed me once I opened the door.

I grumbled in response. Walking to my side of the room and sitting on the chair by my desk, finally checking my route and schedule properly.

I noticed that I was assigned to check on the border of the city that was mostly covered by the beach and the port. The time was from 7 AM through 3 PM and it was one of the longest routes, but surely it was because those spots were easy to survey. And I suspected that the news about my superhuman stamina and physical condition had something to do as well.

Whatever, I wasn't going to complain. I had actually thought that they would give me something much worse than this.

"Finally got your round schedule? Let me see" My companion rose from his bed and went behind me so that he could take a look at the documents from over my shoulder. "Huh? Isn't this whole part the beach?" He said while following a big part of the route with his finger.

"Yeah, and part of the port too" I answered, finally reaching the end of the schedule assignment.

I was going to settle it on top of my desk when Tom snatched the stack of paper from my fingers and started to scan it like a madman. His expression was sour when he finished reading the file.

"What?" I asked, knowing exactly what was wrong, but feigning ignorance.

"Shizuo," His voice was serious "I know you don't believe in this whole 'Man-Eating Sirens' deal, but… This route here…" he trailed off, giving another concerned glance at the paper in his hands.

Here we go again.

Ever since that horrific day more than a week ago, he has been acting like this. It seemed like Tom had started to take the superstitions of the citizens into serious consideration. Even though we could still agree that not all the disgraces that happened to the people in Sagena were caused by the sirens, that didn't mean that those deaths near the beach didn't happen either.

It all happened eight days ago. We received a report from some of the fishermen stating that they have found traces of blood on the beach. I was sent along with Tom and three other soldiers to assess the situation.

All I can say is that what we found was not pretty.

After a long walk following nothing but blotches of blood, footprints and an irregular sand trail caused by who-knows-what, we turned after a corner of the boulder only to find an alarming scene before us.

There, less than 50 yards away from us, were two motionless bodies in the sand near the wall. We recognized our uniforms even at a distance. We sent one of the other soldiers to go fetch the Captain while the rest rushed to the bodies.

After a quick inspection, we found out that strangely enough, the cause of death seemed to have been drowning. Sure, there where bloody gashes on their faces, chests and arms, but those weren't deep enough to have killed them, not even deep enough to have left the blood stains on the sand.

But their faces...

Their faces were colored a sickly shade of blue and their eyes were turned inwards, like there was nothing they could have done to defend themselves from such a death. And if that wasn't creepy enough… The rigor mortis that set on their faces was a cringe-worthy smile.

Of course, Tom's paranoia started right after.

Back to the present and the current concern of Tom about my schedule, I could only find it in myself to try and dismiss his worry.

"Come on Tom, you can't seriously think that those two were killed by a-"

"Then what DID kill them, Shizuo?" Tom interrupted me, his tone telling me that he was already tired of my incredulous attitude.

"I don't know! Some burglar that got out of hand or something like that…" I shrugged, really trying not to think too hard about it. Tom released an exasperated sigh.

"Even you can't keep denying that-".

"And do what exactly, Tom?" I asked, my tone was louder than I intended it to be. "It's not like I can go back to the Captain and request for my round to be changed because I think that I 'might be attacked by a siren'".

Tom seemed to entertain the possibility in his head, shivering as he reached the only possible outcome.

Captain Shiki was a very down-to-earth man and not an easily persuaded person. If I even tried to go and dissuade him to change my round just because of Tom's concerns, there was only one result we could think of.

In the best case scenario, I would be forced to follow an inhuman training under his direct supervision. I would even get to listen to him reason about how I was the strongest man in the city and how could I fear the inventions of the superstitious.

A twitch forced itself below my eye just thinking about the expression that the man would wear during my torture. It was well known that the Captain smiled for just a handful of things; delivering punishments was one of them.

"I'm just saying that you should be more concerned about this and not just accept it like it is nothing to be worried about" Tom corrected himself, finally leaving the papers on my desk. "Whatever killed those guys could very well still be there…" The last part was mumbled and barely audible.

I heard it as clear as if he had murmured it in my ear, though.

"Yeah, I know" I responded, acknowledging that Tom's worries weren't completely unfounded. "I'll be careful" I tried to reassure him with a earnest smile.

The worry didn't completely disappear from Tom's eyes, but at least the urgency was gone.

"Promise you won't do anything reckless on your own?" he added, his hands rested on his hips in a scolding manner.

"Sure, sure; I promise" I assured while closing my eyes and swatting a hand in front of me. "But you must already know, Tom, that is not me who looks for trouble. It just naturally knocks on my door" I bitterly mumbled the last sentence.

Tom started to walk back to his bed, lifting both his arms in a defeated gesture. "And that's what worries me the most, Shizuo".

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

I was making my way to the most deserted part of the beach after finishing my round around the port and the sea market. It took me a good four hours to check on the whole place following the route assigned to me, and even then, it was not like my route covered the whole port. It was times like these that made me remember my first impression of Sagena: fucking HUMONGOUS.

After bumping into three-fourths of the Sagena's sellers and getting my feet rolled over a dozen of times, you could tell that I was not in the best of moods. I could only thank whoever god was out there that the rest of my round was in the less populated area of the city.

Less people meant less chances of throwing somebody into the air.

I reached a part of the road close to where we found the corpses of those soldiers. I stopped for a bit and turned to face the waves. I couldn't shake the expression on their faces off my mind.

What could possibly make you smile while you are drowning? An unintentional shiver ran down my spine at the thought. I shook my head and turned to resume my stroll…

And that's when I heard it.

It was barely there, but there was definitely a murmur. I snapped my head in the direction of the voice, only to face the stone wall.

I took a few steps towards the boulder, raw curiosity nagging at the back of my mind. I could hear someone murmuring something that I could not understand, but nobody was there or anywhere near me.

When I was a few feet away from the wall I noticed a fissure in the rock that I could not see before. There was a large rock blocking the chasm away from sight when you faced the stone wall from the sea, but now that I was close enough and looking at it from the sides, I could see that the fissure was big enough to fit a person.

In other circumstances, I would have kept my promise to Tom about not doing anything rash, but my mind was set on finding the source of that voice. And the closer I got, the clearer I could hear the murmurs.

I approached the fissure and noticed that my chest plate and boots would not let me continue. Very hesitantly, I removed them and left them on the sand beside the boulder along with my helmet and gloves, just keeping my sword hanging securely from my belt. I took a breath to steady my anxiety before finally taking a step inside of the crack.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

I must say I couldn't have foretold that the rift would lead to a small and humid cavern. The walls and the floor were slippery and hard to get a solid grasp onto, but I managed to reach the inside of the creak without slipping. My sight was having a hard time adjusting to the lack of illumination, but I could tell that what I had in front of me was some kind of water pool.

I strained my ears to see if I could still grasp the voice that led me here, and sure enough I heard it.

Only then did I notice that it was not a murmur per se, it was more like a jumble of gasps and weird words spat together in a low and melodic voice.

I held my breath in and started to force my eyes to accommodate to the darkness and inspect what was in front of me. Sure enough, there was a small body of water right in front, surrounded by rocks. I took a few steps away so I could surround the pond, trying not to fall in the process.

"Hello?" I finally dared to ask, still trying to see from where the voice was coming from.

All that answered me was a loud gasp and a splash of water. I hurried my steps to the sound, seriously thinking that whoever was there must have been scared of my voice and fell into the water.

When I neared the edge of the pool though, there was nobody there.

I looked all over the water surface and the cavern, but all that I could see where rocks and pitch black water. No signs of someone ever being here before.

"What the hell…?" I had to ask. I was sure I heard a voice coming from somewhere in here, but now left alone in this cavern with nothing but the echo of my steps, made me question myself. Was there really a voice to begin with? The murmur had been really soft, like some kind of melody… "Maybe…" I turned away from the pool and from that nagging feeling that I got from it.

My mind then decided it was a good time to remind me of Tom's paranoia and the whole town superstitions. Could those legends hold some truth to them…?

Nah.

"I'm thinking too much about it…" I murmured to myself, trying to reassure my beliefs.

Before I could even take my first step away though, reality decided to slap my beliefs right across the face.

Suddenly, I felt how an iron grip grabbed at my ankles and pulled me with a monstrous strength, successfully making me lose balance. I fell to the ground on my arms, my sword clattering at my side.

"What the fuck!?" I groaned, quickly turning my head to see what the hell was pulling me and realized that I could only see a pair of pearl-white hands firmly holding onto my legs, trying to drag me into the water.

I dug my fingers into the ground and kicked one of my legs free. The hand holding it gave way quite easily in surprise, but the other one remained firmly locked at my ankle, even holding onto it tighter.

"Gotcha".

With all the strength I could conjure up, I managed to pull my leg without letting the hand let go of it. I quickly twisted my body, giving the kick enough pivot to drag the body out of the water and into the ground beside me.

Without losing a beat, I jumped on top of the other's body to restrain them. I took advantage of the surprise attack and made a quick grab for the wrists, rapidly pinning them over their head and straddling their waist between my knees.

I was finally able to see that the person below me was a guy with perfectly white skin and a short black patch of hair sticking to his face and ears. His eyes were closed, most likely because of the hit he received against the ground. I looked at him with the intent of knocking him out the moment he tried to do anything else.

But what greeted my inspecting eyes was a pair of surprised glowing red ones that made my breath get stuck in my throat.

"What the...?", I mumbled, my mind screaming that this was not a human.

The creature quickly recovered and took advantage of my surprise. He managed to slip one arm from my grip and, in a quick motion, he slashed his nails across my chest, making a clean cut on the skin. I hissed at the sudden pain and my hand quickly went to hold down his wrists again. Immediately, the wound started to bleed and a stain blossomed in my shirt.

"You, bastard...!", I roared, but was interrupted mid-cry.

From behind, I felt how something smacked my back with enough force to make me stumble forward. I recovered fast enough to not let the creature brake free from my grip this time. I turned around to see what exactly had hit me and my breath hitched again.

I can't say what shocked me more at that moment, if it was the giant fishtail like muscle, or the fact that it was connected to the lower part of the guy beneath me. I trailed my gaze over his body, seeing how the scales on the tail slowly gave way to an expansion of perfectly pale skin. My eyes widened at the realization: a siren.

"What are you waiting for? An invitation?" A voice spat, successfully snapping me out of my reverie.

Even with the sarcastic tone, I recognized the melodious voice immediately.

"You came to finish what the others couldn't, didn't you?", at this, the guy snarled at me. With the movement, I was able to see two sets of sharp canines on his mouth. "You, human filth!".

At the words, the warning from Tom came back to my mind: "Whatever killed those guys could very well still be there…" My mind went red. Was this bastard the same who killed those men?

"Kill me and let's get this over with, monster" The taunt was said with a bit of defeat, but with such a venomous feel to it that made my blood boil. I have never appreciated that kind of insult, even less coming from a REAL monster.

"Aren't you the real monster here?" I asked, my anger slipping in my tone. The glowing eyes widened before a chirping laughter filled the cave.

"What, am I a monster now because of that puny scratch?" The mirth in the voice took me by surprise. What the hell was wrong with this guy? Who can laugh in this kind of situation?

"Don't pretend you don't know!" My fist closed even more on his wrists, earning me a small whimper from that mouth. "Wasn't it you who killed those soldiers?!"

At the mention, the amusement completely left his expression. His eyes narrowed until I could only see two red slits.

This only assured my assumption. This creature had indeed killed them.

"Bastard…" I snarled. "Why did you do that!?"

"You didn't come here for answers, did you?" The tone was still playful, but now there was a dangerous undertone to it. "If you came here for revenge, go ahead. There's nothing stopping you".

That was true. Just now, he had just confessed to being one who killed them, and siren or not, he had to pay for his crimes. Myself, being a soldier of Sagena, had the duty to protect the peace of the town. I had all the right to punish this creature, so …

With a war cry, I lifted my fist to take momentum and bring it down on his face. However, when my knees rubbed against his side, pain flashed on the other's face and his eyes closed.

My resolution faltered at that and the punch only left a dent on the floor, beside the guy's head. When the creature reopened its eyes, there was plain confusion in them.

I turned my head to the side and that's when I noticed a nasty slash on the guys abdomen, close to where my right knee was. The struggle and the sudden movements seem to have reopened the fairly new scab on it. Blood was now dripping down and onto my pants.

There was something about that scene that made me forget my previous rage, much less think about the danger I could be placing myself in. I just knew I couldn't punch someone that was already injured and couldn't defend themselves, be it a human or not.

"Don't think I'm the same as you, bastard".

The words seemed to confuse the guy even more. I released his wrists and stood away from his body, finally being able to regard it in detail. "Okay, I owe Tom three dinners…"

"What? Just like that?" The incredulous tone used made me glance back to the siren's face. His eyes glinted with something akin to intrigue, much different from the reaction I was expecting. Doesn't he understand that I could have killed him just now?

"Huh…?"

"Oh, I see!", the guy clapped his hands in front of him, as in realization. "You must be new in town… Or you're just a retarded!".

I stood there for a moment. After the words were processed, a toothy smile broke across my face. I could clearly feel how a vein popped out on my forehead.

"Oi, you ungrateful…!" Before I could even retort with my own insult, the guy laughed again. The melodic laughter stopped my train of thought.

"Anyways! You're really interesting!" In a quick jump like movement, the creature jumped back to the pool, only to resurface right after.

Seeing him in the water now, my mind started to reel. I still had a hard time believing that those things I heard about sirens in town were true. And now, I had one of those mythical creatures swimming right in front of me!

"See you around, retarded~. Oh, and you should take care of that scratch there", he said while pointing at the blood on my shirt.

I diverted my gaze for a second just to look at my chest before returning it to the water, only to find that the siren wasn't there anymore.

I stood there looking at the water ripples for some time before realizing that the guy wasn't coming back. I released an exasperated sigh while scratching my head, deciding right then and there that I needed a cigarette.

"Damn citizens and their superstitions" I thought while walking out of the creak, the melodic laughter still echoing in my ears. "They should at least warn you that sirens can be some snarky bastards".

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

OtPr: And we are… DONE! Hahaha, I must tell you. This chapter was very hard for me to write, especially because I couldn't decide which reactions Izaya would have when finally facing Shizuo. Yeah, I admit it. I have a hard time putting Izaya into character. Hope it wasn't too bad, maybe? On the other hand! This was hard to write because I was hospitalized! Yey! Now seriously, writing fanfics must be a real author-related-accident magnet. I have several authors who at some point of their story are hospitalized or something… Hope this was the last one for me. Anyways! You know I love your reviews and follows. Thank you all for your support and the next chapter should be up next week!