Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia: Axis Powers. All rights go to its creator.

A/N: Tumblr user feliciohno, made this Tumblr post: "I keep bitching about lack of mermaid and vampire aus in this fandom but honestly what if both what if one character is the vampire the other is the siren and it's enemies to lovers cause hey theres another bitch on my turf and then the gross romance that I crave."

And that's where the inspiration for this story came from, along with the show Our Flag Means Death.

TW: There is some graphic violence and a bit of character death. No main characters though.

Written for Hetaween 2023 Day 7 Prompt: Vampires and Ocean

A Fight Over Humans

Feliciano didn't have the heart to turn down his brother when he asked him to come along on a voyage. Lovino really liked a younger man named Alfred, although that was currently supposed to be a secret, and Alfred was traveling with a band of pirates who were searching for grandiose treasure.

He hadn't told Lovino that he was a vampire yet, he'd only been one for about 10 years or so. When he tried to get it out he got flustered. He would have to soon, they were in their early thirties, but eventually they would be 40 and it would be hard to explain the youthful face. He didn't think it would be too hard to request working at night.

No one wants the night shift, everyone likes their sleep right? Eh if not, he could always use his hypnosis.

So here they were among the sweaty crew men of the Aglaia, a beautiful wooden ship with a mermaid on its mast, and off white sails. Feliciano was wearing a black cloak with a hood to shield him from the sun. It still burned his skin but at least he wasn't turning into ashes.

Feliciano knew that he would be able to survive off of the men on the ship, he didn't like drinking men of all of their blood. It was a good thing he couldn't turn a human into a vampire from one bite. He didn't want to curse someone else with this fate either.

"Hey Feli, don't screw this up. I don't want you to get thrown overboard."

"Don't worry about me! I'll try my best. You be careful too." Feliciano smiled at the now frowning man.

Really it was Lovino who should be worried about himself, he was lazy and sometimes he said things that made other intimidating people upset. He's had to get Lovino out of trouble a few times for talking to the wrong people at the local bar.

"Of course, you idiota. I know what I'm doing." Lovino waved him off.

Lovino got assigned by the captain, a man with ruby red eyes, pale skin and hair as white as the snow, to swab the deck under the direction of the boatswain.

Lovino grimaced but said "fine" anyway.

"And you? How about you catch rats and assist the cooper."

"Is this position under the deck?"

The Captain, named Gilbert Beilschmidt smirked, "You'll just have to find out, won't you?"

00000

It was under the deck. Feliciano was glad to not have the sun burning his very sensitive skin. Feliciano hoped that this trip would bring Alfred, who was the boatswain, and Lovino together. He was sacrificing a lot to be here now.

Water leaked and got his shoes wet. He didn't mind the rats and easily captured them for the other crewmen. The Cooper told them they were tired of salted pork and would have them for supper.

The Cooper was nice and didn't raise his voice at him, even when he tripped and dropped the wood on the cooper's feet. Feliciano did his job diligently, because the cooper, he determined, would be his first feed.

It was a long 8 hours before they got to rest back in their sleeping quarters, and it smelled really really bad. The day was not over yet and he hoped the blanket he was provided would shield him from the sunlight that leaked through the window.

He met up with Lovino then and asked how his duties were going, did he get a chance to speak to Alfred. Lovino said mostly Alfred was telling him to get back to work upon seeing him not doing so.

Lovino begrudgingly did as he was told, but probably hadn't impressed him.

"Well you'll probably get the time to talk when we have supper! I'm not doing so well at my job but the cooper is nice." Feliciano grinned.

Feliciano went back to work for four arduous hours and then was given his supper. It didn't look appetizing, the rat meat was already cooked so he couldn't get the blood. The Captain led the crew in singing sea shanties as they drank alcohol and ate their food. Feliciano pretended to drink and pretended to eat, accidentally swallowing a few pieces made him immediately have to run out of the room and throw up over the side of the ship.

Howls of laughter followed as he was considered weak for not being able to hold down his food.

Later that night, everyone had gone to their sleeping quarters, except for the few night watchmen. Feliciano found the cooper, his blond hair was swept over his face covering one of his eyes, from tonight's supper he learned his name was Henri. He was sleeping peacefully as Feliciano approached him, his stomach growled, hungry for the blood just underneath the skin of his pale neck.

He sunk his fangs into the veins of the man's neck, feeling the warm liquid slide down his throat, Henri let out a whimper, and lightly swatted at Feliciano's face. Feliciano grabbed his hand and placed it back down at his side. He drank for a moment longer, before he pulled his fangs out, lightly licking over the wound so it would heal. He was still hungry but any more and he would kill Henri.

Feliciano decided he'd have just one more feed tonight and he saw a caramel skinned man with his brown hair tied into a ponytail. He was the navigator on the ship. His arm was hanging from the top canopy he was sleeping in. Feliciano slightly traced the vein in his forearm down to his wrist. This part of the body was risky, because it was easier to get blood from, and he could get carried away faster. Feliciano stuck his fangs into the man's wrist, cradling his arm as he swallowed his blood.

The man whimpered and tried to move away from him, but Feliciano held him down a moment longer before taking them out and licking over the wound. He wiped away the excess blood on his mouth. Feli avoided the night watchman's gaze as he blended in with the shadows to watch the moon and the stars in the sky. It was the only comforting thing in his life, a constant because whether human or vampire the night sky was beautiful.

00000

The next day went about the same. Feliciano had to capture rats and bring wood to the cooper to assemble barrels. They maintained the storage below the ship. Just as they were resting, Feliciano and Henri were roused by the Quartermaster, a blonde haired man with blue eyes. They were told to brace for impact, a storm was on the horizon. Wind howled and waves crashed into the side of the boat. They would be helping the Carpenter if any damages were sustained.

Their direction seemed to be nearing an island of some sort, through the thick fog in the sky he could see sharp rocks. The faint sound of a beautiful melody wafted through the air. The Navigator kept them on this path, no one seemed to be alarmed, they were calm, almost too calm

The melody got louder the closer they got to the rocks, the boat had gone quiet although rain poured onto the deck. Everyone's gaze was straight ahead. He found Lovino leaning against a mop, a dazed look on his face. "I'll do whatever you want Alfred…"

Alfred was in a similar state, having not given an order to any of the crew who had stopped working. "I'll be right there…"

Feliciano walked over to where the helmsman and the navigator were standing, eyes glazed over. "We're almost there, keep straight ahead."

"I see, I see…"

Feliciano now knew something was wrong and he tried to grab the wheel but the helmsman stood firm. "NO! We have to get to her! Don't you hear it?"

"She's singing for us! We must go!" The Navigator tried to pull him away.

And there he saw four ugly fish monsters, their eyes green, and teeth sharp as they perched just beyond the rocks they were heading towards. The music was coming from them, and had put the entire crew under some kind of trance. Feliciano tried to steer them away from the rocks, knowing that those fish monsters were probably dangerous.

Where is the captain!?

Feliciano held firm until the inevitable impact of the boat right into the rocks, the boat violently shook and rattled as the bottom smashed to pieces upon impact. Feliciano held on as hard as he could but was ultimately thrown into the water.

He hit the depths hard, struggling for air. Barrels, cannon balls, and coins littered the water around him, sinking deep into the ocean below. When he made it above the surface he screamed for Lovino. He watched as one of the fish monsters with brown scales tore its teeth into the flesh of Henri's arm, blood was already coming from a head wound. Feliciano saw another fish monster with orange scales tearing into the neck of the helmsman, blood soon turning the water red. Feliciano felt tears gather in his eyes as he looked frantically around for Lovino.

He found him swimming a distance away. Feliciano started swimming as fast as he could over to him, only to feel something sharp clamp around his ankle. Feliciano kicked his feet before he was face to face with a hissing fish monster with blond scales.

It studied him for a moment, green eyes curious, before Feliciano punched it right in the nose. It screeched and he made his escape toward the island their ship had crashed on.

A small boat had rested ashore, and gathered in a small group was the rest of the crew. The captain, the cook, the quartermaster, and the navigator had made it off of the ship and into a spare boat. Lovino lay rested on the sand, Alfred lay a few feet near him.

Feliciano crawled onto his knees when he made it to shore, only to look back and see the fish monster that attacked him. It sat wading in the water, eyes focused on him first before roaming over to Lovino and Alfred. But then it disappeared under the water again.

"The sirens strike another crew once again." Captain Beilschmidt said, walking over to where the three of them laid, staring over at the wreckage of the Aglaia. "We hadn't stood a chance to their beautiful melodies." He shook his head.

"Sirens?" Feliciano asked.

"Of course, they lured our ship with their beautiful songs straight into the rocks in order to devour our corpses. They appear as beautiful maidens or… men I won't judge, until they're close enough to sink their teeth into your flesh. Then they show their true selves as hideous sea monsters."

It was a siren, a siren tried to eat him, but apparently being a vampire meant they had no effect on him.

Feliciano's cloak only protected him slightly from the sun, he huddled up under a palm tree for shade. Feliciano tried not to stare out at the water, a few dead bodies floated just out there.

They were all assigned tasks, Feliciano was to gather food in the form of fruit. Lovino was to help him.

"I'm glad you're ok Feli."

"I'm glad you're ok too, Lovi and Alfred too!"

Loving nodded as he sat on Feli's shoulders to grab a few coconuts.

"I'm sorry we're in this mess."

"You didn't know this would happen! On the bright side you have more time to spend with Alfred, alone." Feliciano said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Loving shrugged, "I guess."

Shelters were made of bushes, twigs, and leaves for the night. They sat around a fire, eating freshly caught fish and passed around coconut milk to drink.

"Let us have a moment of silence for our fallen men." Captain Beilschmidt said, taking his hat off of his head and placing it on his chest as he bowed.

Feliciano joined them although he felt someone staring at him. When they finished, he locked eyes with someone he didn't remember seeing before. The crew was rather large and he hadn't had the chance to meet everyone but something felt off about the man. His clothes looked a bit too big, his shirt especially, and he didn't have any shoes on. But that was normal.

His skin was rather smooth, his hair was blonde, and his eyes were a vivid emerald green.

"You're not eating your food." He said and Feliciano almost jumped out of his skin.

"I-I am! I'm just not that hungry so I'm not eating it too fast." Feliciano stuffed a piece of fish into his mouth and chewed it slowly.

The man continued to watch him as he swallowed. He felt his stomach flipping, and he stood before promptly throwing up in the sand right near the water.

"Not cooked enough for ya princess?" The Navigator named João, taunted him.

"Damn! I tried really hard to make it good for him." Their cook Antonio said, shaking his head. "Your pallet is too refined for me, amigo."

The man continued to watch him as he wiped vomit from his mouth, green eyes curious, before he turned back to eating. Feliciano noticed he'd eaten the bones and all.

Later that night he was startled by the man crouching over João, who they were sharing a shelter with.

He had the man's entire hand in his mouth, which he promptly spit out upon meeting Feliciano's gaze.

"Y-you're a siren!" Feliciano whispered.

"I don't know what you are yet, but you're not human either."

"Aren't you full already? Haven't you eaten the entire rest of the crew? There were four of you right?" Feliciano placed his ear to João's lips to check if he was still breathing. He was just unconscious.

"They kept me from eating the rest, and I never got to eat you. So I'm still hungry."

"Sorry to hear that, but you're not eating my friends." Feliciano crossed his arms.

"I'll tell them you're not human."

"I'll tell them you're not human first!"

"I'm more human than you."

"They'll notice if you start eating them! They're not just going to let you do that."

Cannibalism was a thing, but only in drastic measures when the food ran out.

"There are still some bodies floating around. How about those?"

"I want these, they're fresh."

Feliciano huffed, they truly were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Feliciano didn't usually resort to violence but this siren was giving him no choice. He bared his fangs and pinned the siren down, apparently he was stronger than him.

"You have two choices. Leave or I'll drain you until the last drop of blood leaves your body."

The siren's eyes were wide as they looked up at him, "I-I'll leave. But could you tell me what kind of creature you are?" The siren asked.

"A vampire." Feliciano said, letting him go.

The siren scrambled up, giving him one last lingering stare before leaving out of the shelter.

Feliciano peaked out, seeing him drive right into the water, a splash echoing to his sensitive ears. He let out a sigh of relief before he decided to take this opportunity to drink from João again.

00000

Feliciano found it difficult to concentrate, he was on edge that the siren could come back and eat someone while he wasn't paying attention. He'd scared him off with an empty threat, who knows if sirens blood is poisonous to vampires? Feliciano was extremely vulnerable in the daytime and the greenery was large to hide behind. All he had to do was drag someone behind the bushes and start devouring them.

It didn't help that he always felt like someone was watching him.

Feliciano was sent further inland to find more branches; they were building a raft to fit supplies and food rations. He was gathering branches from shrubbery when he heard something snap! He turned, seeing the green eyes of the siren, in human form again. The siren flinched at meeting his gaze.

"What are you doing back here? I told you to leave!"

"I studied your weaknesses."

Feliciano on instinct, clutched his cloak, it was literally the only thing stopping him from becoming ashes.

The siren approached him, taking slow careful steps on his bare feet as he got closer.

"The sun." The siren's hand gripped the one clutching his cloak.

He had more specific weaknesses, one of these branches through the heart could kill him too but you know the sun is a major one.

Feliciano trembled, this was literally it, he was going to die and he didn't even get to tell Lovino goodbye. His eyes filled with tears, before they spilled down his cheeks.

And then suddenly he was presented with a sort of umbrella made out of palm leaves and branches. The siren placed it in the hand he was holding.

"You're not going to kill me?"

"We can't be rivals if you're dead."

Feliciano didn't really understand that reasoning. He'd rather they be friends or at least just never have to be in each other's presence again.

"G-grazie. Do you have a name?" Feliciano asked, at the very least so he wouldn't sound suspicious calling him a siren.

Then he made a screeching noise followed by a series of vocal clicks. "But that's not very human-like…um a man I ate before was named Arthur, I'll take that one."

Feliciano grimaced but held out his hand. He was met with furrowed bushy eyebrows and hesitation. Then he grasped his hand finally.

"Nice to meet you Arthur, I'm Feliciano." Feliciano gave him a nervous grin.

"F-feli- si- an-o."

"Chi."

"Feliciano." Arthur said, his cheeks faintly salmon colored. And then he backed up into the greenery again.

Feliciano was not sure if that was a good sign or not, but how nice of him to make him this shade.

"What the hell are you doing, just standing out here?" Loving said coming out of the pathway he'd gone through. "Oh! We could use those sticks, good job idiota."

Loving snatched his umbrella, snapping off the branches from the leaves. He was left with the leafy shade part that he could place on his head.

Feliciano followed Lovino back to the beach, still grinning at the si–Arthur's helpful gift.

They were sitting around the fire again a few hours later.

Feliciano looked at his gathering of food, feeling his stomach rumble in protest.

He felt someone reach around him and grab a handful of berries. He looked behind him and was nose to nose with Arthur again who was crouched on his haunches behind him

"Pretend to eat but pass your food to me."

"U-um…ok." Feliciano made sure no one was looking and passed his pieces of fish to him, through an exchange of hands.

"You're finally getting used to my food, huh?" Antonio asked him, glancing at the noticeably smaller pile.

Feliciano smiled and patted his stomach, "Si very delicious!"

And their exchange continued until his entire pile was gone. When he looked back again Arthur was gone.

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Feliciano was sitting on the beach one night, staring at the moon, a crescent shape in the sky. Tomorrow morning they would be leaving, hopefully with enough food and water until they found another vessel to capture them.

Feliciano felt eyes on him again, and he met Arthur's gaze, he sat beside him on the sand in human form.

"We're going to be leaving soon. G-grazie for everything and not eating what's left of the crew. I don't know why you've been so nice to me."

"You're the only vampire I've seen, and your compassion for humans is interesting."

"I used to be human. I was turned into a vampire, not born one. I also can't really turn my back on my brother even though it would probably be easier to. He's still family, you know?"

"I wish my brothers cared about me that much." Arthur grumbled.

"I'm sure they do, they probably just have a funny way of showing it." Feliciano smiled at him.

Arthur hugged his knees to his chest.

"You look at the moon and the stars too?" Feliciano asked him and he gave him a nod.

"I've always wanted to go somewhere else, maybe there are more creatures out there like you or me."

"I don't trust bringing you along with us. Towns and cities are filled with humans, as well as vampires and werewolves alike, it would be like a buffet to you."

Arthur shook his head, "I can curb my hunger. I've done it ever since the first night."

Then Feliciano was staring into his eyes again, "Please take me with you."

Feliciano felt a little bad for him, all he did was wait for ships to pass, any possible company was food. They were actually alike in this way: trying to blend in and not letting their urges hurt people. Why not give him a chance? He was the only one who knew his secret anyhow, and it was nice not to have to hide it from him.

"Alright but if you try to eat anyone, you know what will happen."

Arthur vigorously nodded at him. They sat in silence for a few moments, only the sounds of the crashing waves filled their space.

"Your skin glows in the moonlight." He felt the hairs on his arm raise as Arthur traced his fingers down his cheek. He was rather close to him.

"Does it?" Feliciano never noticed before.

"I never get to see whatever it is humans see when they look at me, but I assume it's the same as when I look at you."

Feliciano was feeling a bit flustered now, being called beautiful by a siren has to be some sort of high praise right?

"Y-you're just saying that. Vampires usually look nice to appeal to humans." He let out a giggle, although he was trying to deflect from feeling embarrassed.

"No." Arthur's cheeks were salmon colored again.

Feliciano felt himself drawing near to his lips, the ones that had probably been stained with the blood of hundreds of men. He should be disgusted, but was he not also the same? Blood stained his lips when he'd first been turned; he'd made that fatal mistake of draining too much.

And maybe they each just wanted someone who understood that need to belong.

Feliciano pressed his lips against Arthur's, cupping his face in his hands briefly. He pulled away and the siren looked bewildered, as they both caught their breaths.

"A-ah sorry! That was a kiss, usually humans do it with someone they like."

"I can see why, that was very pleasant."

Arthur had a small smile on his lips, and the way he looked up at him through his eyelashes Feliciano thought he was kind of cute.

Arthur picked up a shell before placing it to Feliciano's ear, "You can hear the ocean." And then he covered Feliciano's other ear.

Feliciano couldn't help but chuckle, they were already by the ocean. But he couldn't hear anything, it was complete silence.

"I guess it doesn't work for me."

"Hmm…that's strange."

Feliciano shrugged, "That's ok. I could show you my favorite constellations instead." He then told him that they often looked like animals, these certain clusters of stars.

He pointed and traced the stars. Arthur seemed to be enjoying visualizing the shapes, Delphinus the dolphin was up in the sky this time of year as well as Ursa major a large bear. Sagittarius, a half man horse was also in the sky tonight.

Arthur had never seen a bear before, and asked in a slurred voice what it was.

Feliciano soon realized he was talking to himself, as Arthur had fallen asleep on the sand.

"Sweet dreams." Feliciano got up, and made his way toward a makeshift shelter, daylight was soon approaching.

A/N: Thank you for reading!