Kaiba stood in front of the tank, staring at the mass of floating seaweed, and at the water which was still tinted an unearthly brownish-green.
What the fuck was in this water? They had been purifying for almost three days now. He was getting impatient.
"Should we release a cleansing agent in the water? It would help disperse the organic matter faster," his assistant said quietly, almost as if reading his mind. "Or do you want to continue with the filtration process?"
"Let me think about it," Kaiba growled, turning and walking to his own station to flip his laptop open. He needed to make sure that the thing inside was actually alive first.
"Then I'll come back," she said quietly, and her heels clicked away softly.
Kaiba flipped the lights on and angled them towards the tank, trying to catch a glimpse of what had been caught in the seaweed.
Atem was asleep when a searing white light flooded his senses and he opened his eyes a tiny crack, blinded by the sudden brightness.
Annoyed, he turned over and continued sleeping.
It had been three nights, and no human had come to bother him. No attempts of communication had been made either, so this light was not threatening at all.
Kaiba adjusted the brightness of the lights from his laptop and decided he would stick a camera into the water.
He attached the camera onto the robotic arm hugging the side of the tank and maneuvered the lever with precision, lowering it into the water carefully.
Atem pricked his ears up when he heard something enter the water above him, and he opened his eyes, horrified to discover that it was a camera.
Panicking, he flipped himself upside down and lashed out at it with the end of his tail, breaking the camera off the metal arm and watching it sink rapidly to the floor beneath him.
Crisis averted.
Now what else was the human going to throw at him? Probably another camera. This human was stupid.
Wrapping the seaweed tighter around his body, Atem wrinkled his nose, hating the way everything smelled. The scent of his blood combined with the stale stench of his own waste was making him sick.
Being trapped in this tiny room, floating in his own waste and blood with nothing but a piece of garbage as defense was a special kind of torture indeed.
If he made it out alive, he definitely had a story to tell.
Kaiba cursed silently when he saw the camera break off the arm, and he rushed back to the computer to re-play the feed.
On his screen, the camera dipped beneath the surface of the water, slipping through a layer of seaweed before something gold glinted back at him, and the feed went dark.
Swallowing thickly, Kaiba re-played it again and again several more times, his heart racing excitedly in his chest. Maybe…just maybe, the mineral was difficult to find because it grew out of a living thing!
Dashing back to the robotic arm, he attached another camera to it and decided to wait before lowering it.
Atem was ready for it this time.
He saw only one shadow through the curtain of seaweed, and tensed. One human. Should he be thankful that there was only one human doing this to him?
He heard the camera enter the water again, and he glanced directly upwards, not seeing it.
Kaiba carefully circled the arm around the mass of seaweed, being sure not to disturb the creature head-on this time.
He could quietly insert it in from the side.
Now on full alert, Atem heightened his senses and listened for the high electronic whine.
It was coming somewhere from his left.
Ah…this human wasn't so stupid after all. It was trying to sneak in.
Try me, Atem fumed, seeing a glint of silver through the curtain of seaweed, and he held his breath, waiting patiently.
The metal arm inched closer slowly, centimeter by centimeter, and Atem was getting more and more furious by the second.
He floated off to the side, making sure to let the arm come all the way into his seaweed blanket before he grabbed at it and gave it a vicious yank.
The camera did not budge from the metal arm. It stayed stuck.
Growling to himself, Atem gave it another hard jerk, attempting to rip it off the arm, but it seemed the camera had been attached to it in a different way this time.
Thoroughly fed up, Atem tore a piece of seaweed off with his teeth and tied it around the lens in a pretty knot, and he smirked triumphantly.
Kaiba saw the robotic arm shaking, but it seemed to have hit the center of the seaweed mass.
He glanced over at his laptop, seeing nothing but darkness.
No? Further then.
He moved the arm forward continuously, making sure to go slow for fear he might hurt or scare the creature. After a moment, Kaiba was expecting to bump the thing in the middle, but nothing happened.
So he kept pushing the lever forward, and to his immense surprise, the camera passed right through the center of the mass and came out the other side.
Tilting his head in confusion, Kaiba circled the tank and stared at the camera with incredulous horror.
It had been forcefully tilted upwards, and seaweed had been wrapped around its entire body with eerie precision. What's more, the lens was sporting a cheeky seaweed bow.
Blinking rapidly, fear shot through Kaiba quickly when realized he realized he was dealing with an intelligent creature. One that could tie…seaweed bows?!
Atem bit back a gasp when he caught a glimpse of the human through a strip of seaweed, and he quickly moved the water so that the seaweed once again covered his whole body.
Feeling dangerously naked now, Atem glanced down repeatedly, making sure the tips of his tail were concealed.
He felt the water ripple and the metal arm was removed.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Atem closed his eyes tightly, hating everything.
So this was how it was going to be. Poked and prodded at until…what?
Maybe this human was just as scared as he was.
Would the camera come again?
Kaiba growled angrily as his fingers slipped on the seaweed surrounding the camera, and he decided he needed scissors or a knife.
What the fuck kind of squid tied knots like this?
He stormed off to get scissors, and Atem held his breath, daring himself to feel triumphant.
It sounded like the human was frustrated. He had won.
Smirking to himself, he tucked his arms behind his head and stretched out, feeling stiff. He had been curling himself up into a ball so much, his stomach felt numb.
Atem froze when he heard footsteps returning, and he grit his teeth. Damn! This human was persistent.
Kaiba sliced the seaweed away from the camera and re-adjusted it on the robotic arm with renewed determination. This creature was pissing him off now.
He raised the arm quickly and hovered it above the water, staring intently at the black mass in the center of the tank, wondering if he could be seen.
Atem could only see the bottoms of the human's feet, and he gazed upwards, hating the blurry image of the metal arm hovering over him.
It began to lower into the water slowly, and Atem glared at it spitefully, keeping it in his sight.
It seemed the human was trying the same tactic as before, slowly inching the camera one agonizing centimeter at a time through the seaweed on his left.
Suddenly, the metal arm shot forward with surprising speed, and Atem was caught off guard. He grit his teeth and cursed at it, covering the lens with his palm and forcing the camera at an upwards angle before tying another piece of seaweed over the lens, not bothering to make the knot pretty this time.
He wanted to be left alone, or better yet, released.
How could he communicate this to the camera without being seen?
Kaiba saw the robotic arm shaking, and he lifted the camera out of the water, unsurprised to see that seaweed had once again been tied around the lens, but in a knot this time.
He quickly turned to his laptop and re-played the feed.
The camera entered the water and slowly penetrated the seaweed curtain. In the murky darkness, something that looked like a human hand shot out and slapped the camera away before the image went dark again.
Shaking from head to toe, Kaiba slowed the footage down and froze it at a certain frame where the blurry hand was coming towards the camera.
Unmistakable.
It was a human hand. It had five fingers.
Breaking out into a cold sweat, Kaiba ran to an empty station and switched on the thermal sensors surrounding the tank.
To his supreme amazement, a human-like form was floating in the middle of all the seaweed.
Growing weak all over, Kaiba sat down in the nearest chair and stared at the red and yellow blob on the screen. There was a very distinct head…shoulders…arms and torso, and from the hips downwards, there was oblong form trapping the legs together in the shape of a fin.
A…mermaid?!
Palming his face in dread, Kaiba wondered if he was hallucinating from stress or sleep deprivation.
He gazed at the tank listlessly, the cogs in his mind turning quickly before something clicked.
They had been purifying this water for three days now, using a slow, delicate process to avoid disturbing the environment of water too suddenly. But if the thing inside was half-human, that meant that the water was still dirty…because of…waste.
Nausea clawed its way up his throat and Kaiba rose unsteadily to his feet.
He bent over another station and carefully changed the purification level of the tank's water.
Atem heard a low hiss and he tensed, seeing a series of fins appearing on the floor which were beginning to suck water out from beneath him.
Terrified, he tucked his tail in and grabbed ahold of as much seaweed as he could, preventing them from being sucked down into the black slits.
The human was draining the water?!
Kaiba watched the tank from afar, seeing the curtain of seaweed moving unnaturally upwards, and he bit back a wry smirk. The mer-thing was probably pulling the seaweed up to keep it from being caught in the vents.
Letting out a tense sigh, Kaiba exited the lab and decided he would come back after taking a nap.
If he was still hallucinating a mermaid in the tank after he woke up, then it was real, and it was something he would have to deal with.
If the tank contained a dead specimen because it had been killed after a vigorous purification, Kaiba decided that that was better than discovering he had netted a fucking mermaid.
Because mermaids didn't exist.
They were fucking mythical creatures, and he was a man of science, not fairy tales.
Atem took deep gasping breaths, gratefully filling his lungs with crisp water, and he felt his head spin dangerously. Oh praise the Gods!
Wait.
Atem blinked and gripped the seaweed tighter, his heart thundering in his chest.
Somehow…after having pushed away three cameras, his water was being changed to suit his needs.
Was it possible that…the human had seen him?
Impossible, right?
How would the human know exactly what he needed?
Breathing lightly, Atem began to feel lightheaded, and his nose stung terribly.
Oh no…this was…fresh water!
I'm going to die, Atem thought weakly, wondering if he was going to use the last of his healing strength to stay alive in fresh water. He had already used most of it to fix his tail, and he hadn't eaten anything in days.
Where was the energy going to come from?
Deciding that being seen was better than being forced to sit in fresh water for hours, Atem surged forward through the seaweed and slapped his palms against the glass. To his absolute horror, the room he was staring at was empty.
The human, or humans, had left!
Frantic, Atem dove down to the very bottom where the salt water was being sucked out through the vents and took two large breaths before swimming his way to the very top of the tank where the fresh water was being poured in, and he wondered if he could stuff the seaweed into the pipe to keep the water from coming out.
It was worth a shot.
Giving his tail a powerful swirl, Atem gathered all the seaweed up in his arms and swam upwards towards the rushing water.
Using all of his strength, he balled the seaweed up and attempted to clog the pipe, but the water cascading down was too powerful, and he was weak. It was like he was swimming up against a vicious current, and on his freshly-healed tail no less.
His arms weakening terribly, Atem grit his teeth, his eyes watering from the assault of fresh water. It was getting harder to breathe, and there was no real air at the top of the sealed tank.
Why? Atem cried to himself. What did I do to deserve this? I will not die here!
He lunged upwards in one final attempt, but the seaweed was too slippery and the water was relentlessly pouring down on him.
Fading in and out of consciousness, Atem realized he going to pass out.
Darkness crept in through the corners of his vision before enveloping him completely, and his arms went limp at his sides.
Kaiba sat up slowly and stretched, silencing his buzzing phone alarm and catching a glimpse of the time on the screen.
3:11 AM.
The purification should have been completed by now.
He pushed the blanket off of himself and hurried to the elevator, feeling giddy with a mixture of dread and excitement.
The metal doors slid open and Kaiba rushed towards the tank, almost slipping in his haste at the sight floating before him.
It was a man. A beautiful man with spiky tri-colored hair, floating amidst stray strands of seaweed, wearing a golden crown, a neckplate covered in glittering jewels, and various golden armbands.
But the most striking thing about him was the tail.
It was long, thick, and a dull red color.
Awestruck, Kaiba daringly stepped closer, wondering if the man faking sleep.
He raked his gaze up and down the merman's form, taking in his muscular chest, the toned arms…and the fingertips that were slowly turning blue.
Wait.
Kaiba blinked, his heart stopping in his chest.
Oh shit.
Was it…dead?!
He rushed to push the emergency button in order to drain the tank before running to check the water properties on his laptop. Tapping the screen impatiently, Kaiba was horrified to discover that he had accidentally filled the tank with fresh water.
Now fully panicking, he turned his gaze back to the tank, seeing thick strands of seaweed hanging from the pipe in the ceiling.
Oh god…oh fuck.
The merman had clearly tried to stuff the seaweed into the pipe to prevent the fresh water from coming in, but had failed and lost consciousness.
Oh shit.
Kaiba gripped his hair in distress, seeing the body of the merman flop eerily against the glass.
He had killed it!
Shit. Shit. Shit.
The water drained completely and Kaiba stared nervously at the lifeless form before he decided to fill the tank with salt water again. And he would draw water directly from the ocean. Time was of the essence right now, so he wasn't going to fiddle around with different salt levels.
Water came cascading down from above, and Kaiba swallowed dryly, standing beside the glass, knocking on it nervously.
He decided to keep the tank filled only a third of the way, leaving the merman half-submerged and face down in the water.
Kaiba shut the pipe and held his breath, unable to tear his eyes away from the glittering earrings the merman was wearing.
If he wasn't mistaken…the stones in his jewelry were exactly what he needed.
One test to make sure. But was snatching jewelry off an unconscious body considered theft?
Also, had he just committed murder?!
Distressed, Kaiba slipped his phone out and sent an email to his staff, giving them the next three days off. He didn't need people coming in to see this.
If this thing was dead, he needed to dispose of it privately.
If this thing was still alive…well, he was fucked either way.
Atem slowly opened his eyes and a headache pounded at his temples.
Sunlight streamed in from the small square above him, and he turned his head to the side, realizing he was elbow-deep in water. Salt water. He dove his head down into it, taking deep shuddering breaths.
By some miracle, he was alive.
Coughing lightly, Atem felt his lungs ache, and he managed to sit up.
His heart skipped several frantic beats in his chest when he saw one human sitting very close to the glass.
Atem bared his fangs in a hostile grimace and tried his best to calm down. Showing the fact that he was scared wasn't going to solve his problem.
The human did not move, and Atem frowned.
His eyes were closed. Asleep?
Daring to move closer, Atem pressed his nose up against the glass, his breath catching in his throat when he realized…this human was beautiful. He was male, with light brown hair, and pale skin. His features were sharp, and his lips looked almost like a woman's.
Backing away slowly, Atem glanced up, seeing miles of tank above him, and the residual strands of seaweed that were still hanging from the pipe.
So this human was intelligent. He saw the seaweed and put two and two together.
Splashing the water angrily with his tail, Atem padded his hands up and down the glass. There was no way out. What, was he going to be kept here like an animal?
Were there going to be other humans? Cameras? He no longer had the protection of the murky water and the seaweed.
Kaiba heard the merman splashing around and he decided to keep his eyes closed until he had calmed down. Good, he was awake.
Now what?
He held his breath and daringly opened one eye slowly, seeing the edge of a sparkling red tail with thin, golden veins, and his blood ran cold.
The color of the tail looked different now. It looked alive.
Atem knocked on the glass three times after seeing the human's eyelids flutter, and he lowered his arm quickly, wondering why he wanted to wake the man. And how would they communicate?
What genus of human was this man?
Atem frantically tried to recall what he had learned in his studies. Was this an Asian Human? Or a European Human? Did this man speak English? Japanese?
Atem decided to try.
"Wake up," he said tentatively, using Japanese first, and to his great surprise, the man raised his head and looked him straight in the eye.
It was as if an arrow had been shot through Atem's chest. The man's piercing blue eyes seared right through him, slowing his heart down to a slow, painful pound.
Handsome. A human with the eyes the color of the sea.
Blinking rapidly, Atem looked away, angry with himself. He knew beautiful humans existed, but this was his first time seeing one up close.
Kaiba opened and closed his mouth silently, unable to speak after being shocked into silence.
It…talked! This thing was definitely alive, and he was not hallucinating, because he had just woken up from a second nap.
"Did you…Did you almost…" Kaiba composed himself and rose to his feet, wondering how formal he ought to be. "You almost died."
"Thanks to you," the merman shot back with a venomous glare, his angular eyes flashing dangerously, and Kaiba felt his stomach twist strangely.
Right. It could talk, and respond intelligently. Time to make his demands.
"Give me your earrings," Kaiba said stiffly, wondering if he should've asked more politely. "And I'll give you something you need."
Atem sat up straighter, attempting to remain composed even though he was only sitting in a few inches of water like a dead fish. This man…however attractive, spoke foul words and was only after his jewelry! Humans were greedy!
But…his mother's earrings for the price of freedom? A good trade.
"Deal," Atem said readily, unable to look the man in the eye, so he decided to focus on his nose instead. "I give them to you after you release me back into the ocean."
"No deal," Kaiba answered coldly, shoving his hand into his pocket and curling his fingers into a tight fist. "You give me the earrings, and you get more water."
Atem ground his teeth angrily, unable to believe his own ears. What was this?! Was he being denied a basic need…for the jewelry?
"How dare you," Atem seethed, losing his temper quickly. "That's as if I'm asking for a lock of your hair, while I deprive you of oxygen."
"You look like you can breathe just fine," Kaiba answered mildly, thinking he could run enough tests on this merman to know just what he needed to survive. He was half-submerged for now, and if he changed the water every few hours, it should be fine.
Literally just like taking care of a goldfish.
"Are you going to wear my earrings?" Atem asked nastily, and he saw a muscle jump in the man's cheek. Jackpot. He had made the man angry.
"I'm going to melt them down and use them to make revolutionary strides in technology," Kaiba answered truthfully, deciding to keep his anger in check.
He held the power in this situation. This mer-thing was just taunting him.
"Melt them?!" Atem cried, his stomach curling with disgust and dread. "These were my mother's!" At least if the human was going to wear them, he'd feel better about giving them up.
"How about one of my rings instead?" Atem suggested cleverly, holding up his middle finger in a rude gesture he had learned from a young American boatman, and he saw the man react with a laugh that made his hair stand on end.
Kaiba found that he couldn't stop laughing, and he gripped his sides, wondering why this was so funny. This guy was quite entertaining, tail and freaky three-colored hair aside.
"I'm being serious," Atem said uncertainly, wondering if this human was demented. Who laughed after being insulted?
"Fine," Kaiba said, straightening up fully, smirking. "Can you tell me where I can find more of those stones? It's the black one…with the blue center."
Atem frowned and realized the human was only after one particular stone. The most expensive and rare one out of them all. What's more, he recalled the largest one of these stone had been stolen from the kingdom's treasury several moon cycles ago.
Had humans somehow managed to get their hands on this stone?
Was it going to be viciously hunted now, like gold and diamonds?
But at least gold and diamonds were worthless.
This stone was not.
"Would you give me my freedom in exchange for one of those stones?" Atem asked genuinely, thinking that Mahad would send up the whole treasury just for his freedom…and then murder this man to take the treasury back.
"No," Kaiba answered simply, knowing he was being played. "I need more than one, and for a long period of time. Tell me where to dig, and we have a deal."
"Dig?" Atem frowned, wondering why the human thought that this stone came from the sand. "A sea demon lays these stones. You can't dig for it. You hunt for them."
Kaiba felt another laugh clawing its way up his chest and he swallowed it forcefully, feeling the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. A sea demon. Priceless. If this was a game show, he would've won the prize for most ridiculous answer.
"You don't believe me, but it's true," Atem said plainly, crossing his arms firmly and looking away, attempting to sound bored and less frightened. "I've just divulged a secret and told you where to get the stones. Release me."
If he killed his human right before he was released, everything he told him now would be erased. It was fine telling this human such things.
"No you fucking didn't," Kaiba retaliated, leaning against the glass and doing his best not to stare at the merman's smooth chest. "You just told me it came from a fucking demon. Where is the demon's…lair?"
"Don't know. I'm not a hunter." Atem said plainly, and Kaiba bit his tongue lightly, watching the merman examine his extremely long claws which looked dangerously sharp. "If you won't release me, at least give me more water and put me in a shallow pool. I don't want to be fully submerged."
So I can escape, Atem thought nervously, and he saw the man shake his head and smirk handsomely.
"You can have shallow water, and I'll lower the glass," Kaiba replied, moving to press a button along the wall, and Atem's eyes followed him like hawk.
A mechanical whirring filled the room and the glass began to sink into the ground. Atem watched, astounded.
He was up against a very dangerous foe. This man had tools at his disposal. Tools that could easily kill him, like the pipe with water above his head.
Suddenly realizing how helpless he was, Atem couldn't help but think that this man already knew of the merpeople's existence, and his glass cage was almost too well designed.
"You don't intend to let me go!" Atem cried, pressing his palms against the glass which was still sliding downwards. "You want to keep me here forever! Why? Are you going to let other people come in and see me? Will you charge them money? You want money?"
Atem knew that humans usually lived by three basic concepts: money, love, and food.
Not necessarily in that order.
This man wasn't after love or food, because he asked for earrings.
It was money! It had to be that.
To his horror, the man let out another chilling laugh and pressed the button on the wall to make the glass stop moving downwards.
"I don't need money," Kaiba sneered, feeling a pit of dread swirling low in his chest. "I need the material to make my technology better."
To make more money.
Because all of this sea exploration had led him to nothing but a talking fish in a tank and impending bankruptcy.
"You want to make the technology to make your money." Atem said cleverly, catching on quickly. "You have a lot of money, I can see that already, but you need more. You can have gold instead. It sells much faster. You don't want the stones. No one knows what it is."
Cute, Kaiba thought angrily, biting the inside of his cheek tightly before responding, "I want it because no one knows what it is. I've lowered the glass, so I've done my half of the bargain. Now give me one of your earrings."
Atem blinked rapidly and shook his head. If it wasn't for anything other than his freedom, he would not relinquish his mother's earrings.
"You can have my crown," Atem said desperately, lifting it off his head and holding it out with shaking arms. "There are three stones you can use in this, as opposed to the one in the earrings."
"I see," Kaiba smiled wryly, "The earrings have sentimental value. You'd rather give me something more valuable."
Atem swallowed tightly and gripped his crown, wondering if he could slit this annoying man's throat with one swipe if he got close enough. Humans bled red blood, just like all mammals in the sea, and it was messy.
But Atem vowed he would do anything for his freedom.
"Okay, I'd like to think I'm fair," Kaiba said coldly, eyeing the three round stones sitting embedded at the edge of the crown, and their icy blue cores sparkled back at him enticingly. "You give me three stones, so I'll give you water, food…and?"
"Freedom," Atem said through clenched teeth, deciding he could wait it out a bit longer before breaking free.
"We'll talk about it," Kaiba replied with as much warmth as he could muster, and he walked towards the buttons on the wall again and moved the robotic arm over the glass edge of the tank.
There was no fucking way he was getting within arm's reach of this talking monster with a man's body and fish's tail. It had claws and fangs, features clearly meant to hurt flesh.
Atem narrowed his eyes at the man and then at the metal arm being lowered into the tank. Damn. This man was too smart.
He glared at the man for a long moment before gently hooking his crown onto the metal arm and watching it rise over the edge of the glass barrier.
Fine. He would bide his time.
"Tell me your name," Atem demanded, thumping a fist against the glass and he heard the man laugh maniacally again.
"Is that your third request? My name?" Kaiba asked, his eyes widening with glee, and his chest tightened strangely again at the way the merman was glaring at him.
"My water needs to be cycled through every hour. I don't eat kelp or sea urchin, and yes," Atem said in a rush, thinking he would include as many demands as possible to help him stay alive.
After all, the fresh water incident had almost killed him, and it seemed to have been an honest mistake.
This human wanted him very much alive.
"What's wrong with sea urchin?" Kaiba wondered out loud, thinking that he enjoyed a good cold marinated sea urchin, and he received a distasteful hiss in response.
"It's food for peasants," Atem replied smugly, knowing that this statement would strike a nerve in the human. "You mortals would eat the dirt beneath your feet if you could."
"Ten plates of sea urchin for tomorrow's dinner it is," Kaiba answered blithely, giving the merman a wave over his shoulder while he walked to the exit. "My name is Seto Kaiba."
"Good riddance," Atem said bluntly, rolling his eyes."Human Seto Kaiba."
Author's note:
The reveal of the majestic merman!
Kaiba is behaving surprisingly normal (due to his denial)
atem just wants out! Someone help him!
edited by: setokaibaes
btw! i'm now taking cummissions/requests on my (check AO3, if you're reading on this site)
for 500 -1,000 word one-shots to help my bunny next month for his mouth (surgery) (where a nasty abscess has been living and needs to be extracted soon)
3
example prompt: kaiba and yami handcuffed together for 24 hours
please hmu! every little bit helps (hugs)
-Ugli