#ack no

Welp. This is the first story I’ve ever published on here... I want immense perish now. *nods and pops lips before fuckin’ bolting out*

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Fear. Horror. Terror. The fear of dying.The feeling of dying. Dying. I feel like I’m dying. Why did they do this to me? Why did they break me? Why did no one help me? Why did no one save me? Save… save… save… serve…

It’s what they said before they left. I don’t get it.

Escape.

I needed to escape. I left. Don’t remember. Leave. Don’t come back. Lights. Fire. Burning. Pain. Help. Darkness. Shadows cutting in. Pain.

Awake.

___________

The hybrid shot up from her makeshift bed as her nightmare became too unbearable to handle, each frame instilling fear and panic into her system. Her eyes were wide open and her breathing shaky as she looked around at the cave. There was no one there… why did she bother looking around for anyone? Why did she believe that anyone would actually care enough about her to genuinely come to her aid and help her? They sure didn’t.

The only times they attempted to comfort her was when she was such an emotional wreck that they couldn’t experiment on her. No tests followed those days, but she was severely punished for it afterwards. She shivered as she remembered the pain of the shocks...

As she shook her head out, tears pricked at her eyes. Crying? Why was she crying? She was used to being alone, why did the absence of something warm upset her now? She took a shaky breath before lying back down onto the sandy floor and closing her eyes, curling her tails up close to her chest as she did so.

Just breathe… It’ll be okay, right?

… Right…

The ocean was still dark when she awoke next, but instead of being up jolted awake by a nightmare, a ghostly song filled her ears and caused her to want to investigate. Curiosity is a powerful thing, they always said behind closed doors. As she began to sit up, a sudden jolt of pain in her stomach made her flop back down onto the ground. She looked down to see what it was, only to notice a thin stream of blood oozing from the source of the pain. Her wound had opened up again.

She whimpered quietly in fear as she realized that this time, no one would be able to help sew her back together again like a little rag doll. She watched in shock as the stream grew slightly thicker, and she panicked. She wanted to yell. Scream out for something, anything, to help her. Even if it was little, the thought of her blood spilling out across the ocean terrified her. As thoughts of predators and stupidity flooded her mind, another ghostly song rang from outside of the cave.

She stopped dead in her tracks and looked closer at the entrance of the cave. A rabbit ray? Why was one over here? Well, they did live in the safe shallows, but why was one here? In her cave? As the ray clumsily flopped over to her, she noticed something in its mouth. Creepvines? How did-? WHY did-? The ray came face to face with her and thrusted its tiny head out to her, presenting the creepvines to the hybrid. She looked at it cautiously before reaching for the vines hesitantly. The ray only pushed itself further towards her, as if to want to give her the vines even more.

She finally let go of her tension and graciously took the vines, to which the ray flopped up and down happily and nuzzled her cheek. The hybrid smiled at this and began to patch herself up, tying the vines around her opened wound carefully but tightly. As she finished up, she looked to the ray and tilted her head slightly. “D-Does this look okay to you?”, she asked it softly, wondering if it would respond. It seemed to nod its tiny head and it floated back over to her, swimming laps around her.

She laughed softly at its actions before yawning and looking back down at the sand. Sleep… sleep sounded good right now. She inched her way back down to the ground and waved to the ray before laying her head down. “You can go home now, I’m fine. Thank you.”, she told it before yawning once more and closing her eyes. Only a mere five seconds later, she felt another body bump against her and settle on top of her.

Her eyes flew open and she looked up, only to see the little ray sleeping peacefully on her side. She smiled softly at it before closing her eyes once more and drifting off to sleep.

I guess I’m not so alone…

Morning came slowly, but when it did, and when the first rays of light peeked through the cave entrance, a ghostly song awoke the hybrid. She groggily blinked awake at the noise and looked around. There wasn’t any weight on her anymore. Did the ray grow tired of her and leave? She shook her head out gently and sat up, the creepvines on her stomach still there and intact, thank god. The rabbit ray’s song rang out again and she looked up, relieved to find it still okay and still with her.

How selfish to want something to stay with you…. She swam up to it and greeted it warmly, swimming around it once before settling in front of its face. “It’s so good to see you!”, she chirped happily, thankful that she maybe had at least one friend in this wide ocean. The ray sang its joy quietly and nudged her playfully, bumping its head against her arm. The hybrid flicked one of her tails towards it and looked out of the cave. She hadn’t gotten out in, what, three days? Four? It was probably more than time to try and stretch her tails out. She swam closer to the entrance and waited to see if her ray friend would come with her.

Sure enough, the creature followed suit and parked itself right besides her, waiting for her to give the signal to leave. As the hybrid took a deep breath, she peeked outside and found the waters calm and clear. Nothing else was around. Perfect. She looked to the ray and bounced up and down slightly before bursting out of the cave. The sunshine that filtered through the water felt good on her skin and armor, and she beamed brighter than the sun as she looked around.

A brand new chapter began here.

She looked back to the rabbit ray and looked around. “So! Where should we go first?” The ray seemed to ponder the question before bolting around a bit and returning back to her, pointing its head east.”That way?”, she asked it, almost bursting at the seams with excitement. It nodded eagerly and did a little flip before zooming past her and racing towards the area. “HEY!”, she yelled playfully, speeding up to it as fast as she could. As she followed her guide, she noticed many other fauna around the area that she’d never really seen before. Sure, there were the usual peepers and rabbit rays, but then she found new ones that she’d only ever heard in their tales.

Bladderfish, floaters, boomerangs, skyrays, Garryfish… they were all here… and real… She sped up in her glide, her excitement triggering this. She also found a small number of strange looking fish around what seemed to be one of their forgotten bases. They were multiple shades of gray, and had strange white markings here and there along their bodies, as well as small spike like points. As the hybrid swam by, they seemed to notice her and waved merrily in her direction, making clicking noises as they did so.

She waved back at them and giggled softly at how cute they were. They never talked about these...

After a while, the rabbit ray soon began to slow down, its energy beginning to run out. It slowly swam back to her and pushed itself close to her chest, singing softly and tiredly. The hybrid’s eyes widened and she looked down at it. “A-Are you okay?”, she asked it softly. It seemed to shake its head softly and she hugged it tightly. “Are… Are you tired? O-Or maybe hungry?” The ray seemed to perk up at the thought of food, and the hybrid smiled softly at it. “Here. I’ll get you something to eat, and then we can keep going. Is that okay?” The rabbit ray gave her an exhausted flip and swam over to a cliff ledge, lying down beneath the midst of the vibrant flora and closing its eyes.

She chuckled quietly at it before zooming up and dashing across the area, trying to figure out what it would possibly eat. As she continued on her search, she found another group of rabbit rays and an idea popped up. She carefully approached them and waved shyly before trying to talk to them. “Um, hi? I’m…” She didn’t have a name… dang it. “... trying to find some food for my friend. Do you know where I can find any?...” She blushed deeply out of embarrassment after saying that. Why did she do it?

The rays seemed to understand what she was saying however, as they nudged her gently towards a patch of strange looking mushrooms. They were purple-ish with orange in the middle, and blue seemed to weave into the more mauve-ish areas of the plant. It didn’t look safe, that’s for sure, but these rays knew themselves better than her, so she relaxed slightly. “A-Are these good?”, she asked them as she reached out for one, but before she could touch one, a ray whizzed in front of her and slapped her hand gently. A pit of guilt soon accumulated in her stomach, and she rubbed at her hand slowly. Another ray soon came up besides her and nuzzled her cheek, a sweet song flowing from its mouth.

It nudged the ray who slapped her out of the way quite harshly and bit off a few stems from the plants, grabbing the heads carefully in its mouth and beckoning another member of its pack to go fetch something to put it in. A quick moment passed before the search quest ray returned with a brown satchel slung over its shoulder. It looked like something they’d use… It must’ve come from the base. The satchel wearing rabbit ray swam over to the hybrid and presented the bag to her.

She cautiously reached out for the bag and took it from the ray. The one with the plant heads in its mouth stuffed them deep into the bag and snuffed it closed. The one that presumably left after being rudely pushed away returned as well and put a few creepvines inside the bag, pushing it back open with its snout and closing it again after the deed was done. As the hybrid thanked them and began to leave, she heard two loud roars come from the east.

She froze as she heard them… because she knew just what made them. She thanked them once more before zooming off and searching wildly for her friend. She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw them- two reaper leviathan hybrids… hybrids, like her… The cries of her friend however snapped her out of her thoughts and she inched closer.

“This should be an easy one… Let’s get ‘em, Cymbal.”, the older one said. “You got it, Huffle.”, the other chirped, her voice slightly melodic as she neared the poor rabbit ray. It shivered and shook as it glanced around nervously. They had it cornered against a wall… That just wasn’t fair. The hybrid narrowed her eyes before rushing into the fray, tackling the rabbit ray out of the way and holding it close as they rolled away. The two reapers merely looked at each other in confusion before bolting after the two of them. The hybrid and the rabbit ray crashed into the sand with a thud, but she didn’t let go just yet. She curled up into a ball as she waited for the reapers, her armor keeping both of them protected… hopefully.

The tag team tilted their heads confusedly at the ball of brown speckled armor. “Did they make another one?...” The younger one, Cymbal, asked the other. The older one shook her head slightly. “N-No… they shouldn’tve... “, she said softly, her eyes widening slightly as she inspected the armor closer. “Cymbal-”, she gasped out, grabbing her companions arm and shaking her slightly. “What?”, she asked her tiredly, and quite a bit irritatedly. “Th-they did it-! Th-the thing they said they were going to do with the empe-..” She stopped dead in her tracks. Cymbal leaned closer to her. “Did what, Huffle?”, she asked her again. Huffle stayed silent for a few moments before swimming closer to the huddle mass on the floor. “H-Hey there, sweetie. D-Don’t be afraid. We-We’re nice, you see?” She said softly.

The unnamed hybrid shook her head quietly. “You almost killed them…” Huffle bit her lip as she looked back to Cymbal, who just shrugged. “Killed who, honey?”, she asked her softly. The hybrid collapsed onto her side and let go of the rabbit ray. “Them… my friend…” Huffle looked to Cymbal, who was now approaching the hybrid quietly. “Look kiddo, we’re sorry, but life’s tough out here. Out here, you gotta kill to survive, cuz if you don’t, something else will. Sorry, but that’s reality.” The hybrid sat up and tucked her tails underneath herself. “B-But! Killing innocent creatures?”

The rabbit ray swam up to her and cuddled her warmly as she talked. Cymbal bit her lip before speaking once more. “Yes, even killing innocents…” The hybrid shook her head out confusedly. “B-But I thought rabbit rays were poisonous!” It was in that moment that Cymbal knew… she’d fucked up. Huffle narrowed her eyes at the other reaper angrily and bowled her over, pinning her against the ground as she shot her mandibles out. “YOU TOLD ME THEY WERE SAFE!”, she screamed, grabbing her neck and gently squeezing it. “I-I THOUGHT YOU KNEW I WAS KIDDING!!”, Cymbal shot back. The two continued to bicker for what seemed like ages, and in that span of time, the hybrid was able to give her rabbit ray friend its food and then silently slip away from the cat fight that continued to ensue.

As the duo made their way to the end of their trail, they found it. The thing they always used to talk about. The Aurora.

The rabbit ray led her around the ship, covering almost every square inch of it before backing off and letting her explore for herself. She stared in awe at it all. She’d never seen a ship like this before… She whizzed around it excitedly and explored every nook and cranny she could get in to. It was great! She was never able to do THIS with the white suits before! They didn’t let her, but not anymore!

As the day turned into evening, the small emperor began to grow tired. “T-Thanks for showing me… around, ray.”, she mumbled tiredy. The ray sang happily and seemed to smile as it heard her. She smiled back at it before looking out across the ocean… “It’s a big wide world out there… and I wanna see it all…”, she declared almost drunkenly. “W-We should head b-... back home, huh?...”, she said quietly, almost too quiet to hear. “W… Why am I…? So tired all of a sudden?...”, she murmured as the tips of her vision began to grow black. As she began to fade from consciousness, she saw two blue and red tails appear in front of her. What were they again?...

____

She awoke with a sudden jolt as she finally remember who it was. “HUFFLE AND CYMBAL! RUN RAY RUN-!” “Hush now… you’re okay…”, a voice soothed her. As the emperor’s vision cleared, she saw Cymbal sitting in front of her, as well as another strange hybrid besides her, Huffle keeping watch near the edge of the cave. Th-They were in HER cave? Wh-Where was Ray?

There was no sunlight yet… was it still night? Questions… everywhere… “Hey, hey- chill… you’re cool.” The hybrid hadn’t even noticed that she’d been hyperventilating. As she tried to relax, she heard a ghostly song from above and gasped. “RAY!” The rabbit ray floated down and nuzzled her cheek softly, although there was something different about it now. It was glowing. Well, parts of it. The emperor gasped again and squealed loudly. “RAY! YOU’RE GLOWING!”

She thought for a second before choosing her next words carefully. “I’ve been calling you ray for a bit, haven’t I?... want a name?” The ray seemed to nod slightly, unsure of what to do right there and then. The emperor tapped her chin before making up her mind. “How ‘bout… Electro? Since it looks like you have electric wings now!” Electro nodded and did a small flip before settling down and nuzzling her cheek.

Cymbal chuckled quietly at the rabbit ray. “Cute.” The Sea Emperor hybrid looked at the two before her and raised an eyebrow. “W-Who are you?”, she asked the softly, as to not upset them. Cymbal and the other hybrid shared a look before returning theirs back to her. “I’m Cymbal as you know… and this,” she put a hand on the other’s shoulder as she continued talking. “is Vanessa… Who are you?”, the reaper asked her. The emperor scoffed back slightly at the question. “I dunno. They never gave me a name. I guess I wasn’t worth one.”, she growled lowly, hugging herself tightly as she scrunched her nose up.

“Hey now- you’re worth a lot more than you think you do.”, Cymbal told her. Vanessa nodded vigorously. “Yeah! Everyone is worth so much, even if they don’t think so.”, she said cheerfully. She had a sweet voice, and her eyes absolutely beamed with positivity. The mermaid had already fallen in love with her… “Say… you say you don’t have a name? Well then, let’s think of one! What’s something you remember from your past?” Shit. Nothing but shocks and experiments, scoldings and pain, sadness and fear…

“... shock.” That’s all she said. And Cymbal knew she couldn’t say anything else. “Shock… um, okay. Let’s try and branch off of that.” As the emperor wracked her brain for something else, she remembered something else….

______

“Now, you best not act up! Because all it takes is one spark and… ZAP! And you don’t wanna hurt, right? No? Good. Let’s get started then. Get me the scalpel…”

______

There it was.

It was good enough for her at least.

“Spark.”

Cymbal looked up from her thoughts and tilted her head. “What?” The mermaid swallowed before answering her again. “Spark… y. Sparky.” Vanessa clasped her hands together and pushed them against her cheek in a “dawww” motion. “That’s so cute! I like it!”, she exclaimed happily. “SPARKY!” Sparky blushed as she heard the name aloud.

Huffle looked back from her post and swam towards them. “What about a sparky?”, she asked confusedly, looking around here and there, still in guard mode. Vanessa reached out for the emperor and hugged her tightly. “SPARKY! That’s her name!”, she said loudly.

“Vanessa?”

“She’s great already! I can just tell she’ll be a great addition to the family!”

“Vanessa?”

“I mean just think about it! I have a little SISTER now! AH! You’re my little sis now!”

“Vanessa?”

“We can expand the maple syrup family we made back at the lab! AH! It’ll be so fun!!”

“Hey V?”

“Huffle! You and Cymbal can be co reaper moms! A-And we could be your children! AHH! This is gonna be so fun!”

“V.”

Vanessa finally looked towards Cymbal. “Yeah?” Cymbal looked back towards Sparky, who looked very conflicted. “I think you should give her some space…” Vanessa looked down and noticed Sparky’s expression. “Oh! Right. Sorry, I just- got a little carried away.” She sighed sheepishly before letting go of the smaller mermaid and sitting next to Cymbal again. “Well then kiddo, looks like Vanessa’s already taken a shine to you. So, what do you say? You want in?”

Sparky backed up against a wall as she looked at all of their faces. “L-Look, you all seem like really great… people… but I can’t let you guys do this! There’s a reason I’ve been on my own, trust me.”, she explained cautiously, worried that all of them would pounce on her at any minute. “I-... I can’t put anyone in danger because of me… a-and I can’t get attached to anything again… I’ve already made that mistake once…” Tears pricked at her eyes as she remembered the death of her companion back at the lab, and she rubbed her tears away before looking back at the others.

“So what I’m trying to say is, thank you… but no. I can’t.” She looked away self-consciously before she could could see their expressions. They were most likely nothing short of angry, she was sure of it, but she didn’t want to see if she was right. After a few moments of silence, a hand clasped onto her shoulder and she flinched, worried that that could have been a violent action.

But as she looked up and saw Cymbal’s expression, she saw nothing but kindness and a soft gaze in her eyes. “Listen sweetie, we’re all on the run. The only reason we’ve survived this long is because we have each other. I wouldn’t have survived a day out here if it wasn’t for Huffle saving me from that boneshark… and V wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for my warning to her about the cables back at the Aurora… There’ve been many instances where we’ve all saved each other in one way or another… And we’re all damn lucky to have each other. So, we’re not going to pressure you into anything you don’t want, but what do you say? We’ll protect you from anything… and we’ll take better care of you than they ever did… We can be a family. Just say the word.”

Sparky was shocked into silence. She didn’t know what to say or do. She was just… frozen. Electro swam up to her and nudged her gently towards the others. In the ray’s eyes were some of the clearest words the emperor had ever seen.

Go with them. You need it.

Sparky stiffened slightly before reaching out and hugging Electro tightly. “Thank you.”, she whispered. She looked back towards the other mermaids and smiled softly. “Let’s do it.”

Vanessa squealed loudly and basically tackled the emperor to the ground. “GUPPY PILE!”, she squeaked happily as she tightened her grip on Sparky. Huffle laughed before worming her way in between the two. “Don’t leave me out of this!”, she huffed indignantly before cuddling both of them fiercely. Vanessa and Sparky laughed loudly as Huffle did so, and Vanessa held out a hand towards Cymbal.

“C’mon mom! Join the pile!”, she chided her. Cymbal rolled her eyes before flopping on top of all of them and hugging them all tightly. “Welcome to the family, Sparky. We love aggressively here.”, she said with a light melody in her tone. Sparky tilted her head slightly. Love was an… uncommon, thing for her… but she liked it. A lot. The small family just laid there on the ground, laughing and cuddling one another until all they grew too tired to continue on. They all passed out as the sun began to peek into the cave, and Electro soon fell asleep as well. They nestled themselves in Sparky’s arms and slept peacefully with the others.

The next morning, the small, strange little family awoke with a fresh start and clear mind, all thoughts of the past behind them and their future looking bright. They spent the rest of the day wandering around the safe shallows- playing games, grabbing food, making small-talk and playful banter. It was great. This was the kind of thing Sparky had never had while in containment.

The way she was looking at him. She had no idea, and how could she? That was what he wanted after all. The point. He had become too good at this.

Or so he had thought. For a man who thought he had so much control over himself and the world around him, he had not seen this coming. In his mind he had been playing them all along, only to find that power dissolve between his fingers like hot wax when he tried to grasp it. That was what desperation did to a person. Only now though did he know what true desperation could feel like.

He was still smiling, of course. Just as he had this entire time. Amiria was no fool. He loved her for that, loved her enough that he would do even this.

It was the same hubris that caught him off guard when she suddenly pulled him into a tight embrace. “No!” Elias snapped, pushing away before she could try anything else. He had not intended to…but the mistake had already been made. It would work just as well though, so he went with it..

He pulled back, teeth gritted with anger, wishing he did not have to look at her but knowing he owed her that much. “Not right now! You foolish woman, can’t you see that this, whatever you think this is, is not happening!” She was smart, she had to know what that meant, but he had to be sure. “I do not want to see you nor your…” he could not say anything ill of Valerie, “…daughter, again!”

The way she was looking at him she was wondering why. She could never know, it was the only way to be sure. If anything ever happened to her…He took a deep breath. He was probably about to say too much but he could not leave it like that. Still holding her now rather shocked gaze, he let his expression soften. ”Ami, I am not who you think I am. I am not a good person. You can’t…just…don’t trust me.”

--- ---  { Caught off guard, the Hunter shot up from his seat to stare at the Anon with wide, worried emerald eyes; the fear coupled with the overwhelming urge to be sick. }

What….NO OMG NO SHANTA NO NONONONONONONONO