#eddisy

I can imagine so many scenarios already, for example:

Beneath the Dark Blue Waves

Hello lovelies 🥰 Here is my third entry for Hellcheer Anniversary Week 🥳

@hellcheeranniversaryweek

Title: Beneath the Dark Blue Waves Prompt: Pirate/Siren Name on Bingo Card: Persephone Rating: Mature Word Count: ~3100 words

Summary: While on a journey by sea to the new settlement called Hawkins, young Chrissy encounters sea creatures whose song causes others to go mad, but calls to her blood and makes her dance.

C/W: Bad Parent/Abusive Laura Cunningham, Monster Fic, Premature Mating Bite (Hellcheer are children), Blood, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Hopeful Ending (this one will probably be a chapter fic).

A/N: Title is taken from the poem The Ocean by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Now on AO3! 🖤

Though there be furies on the waves, Beneath them there is none. ~The Ocean, Nathaniel Hawthorne

The first time she saw him, she was barely 6 years old. She and her family were on a journey to the new settlement called Hawkins on a ship along the East Coast. There were other families there of the gentry class, ready to claim and settle in their new land. Passage had been cheap. Chrissy heard whispers that the ship was manned by former pirates and led by the infamous Captain Hopper, which made the ship a pirate’s ship by Chrissy’s logic. This little tidbit of gossip tickled Chrissy and made her want to dance as she imagined climbing to the tip-top of the ship with her telescope to look out from the crow’s nest and search the ocean for other vessels. Captain Hopper smiled when she asked to climb, but Mother yanked Chrissy sharply to her side and spoke of propriety or property or some nonsense like that.

Chrissy’s brother had just turned a year and was still nursing, which brought Chrissy much relief as her mother spent the majority of the trip focused on Christopher instead of picking at the way Chrissy sat, ate her food, or wore her favorite green dress. Father took charge of her, and she had never been happier to be in his arms on the top deck as the ship dipped with each wave. She laughed when sprays of water pelted them.

The sun was setting as the ship drew nearer to the shore. Captain Hopper carefully tried to steer the ship away from a jetty of rocks. Chrissy was on her father’s shoulders, pointing and shouting at people who waved to them from the beach. She startled when the Captain and several crew members began to scramble and shout. They stuffed their ears with bits of wool. Father swayed in place, and Chrissy cried out when he tilted forward. The first mate grabbed Chrissy just as her father crashed to the floor and crawled towards the edge of the boat. Two stewards forcibly grabbed him and tied him to a pole by the ship cabin.

Chrissy began to cry as her father screamed, not understanding why the crew stuffed wool in his ears as well. They wrapped his head in cloth to secure the wool as he thrashed his head back and forth. The First Mate set her down to assist them. Her father swung a fist and nearly hit one of the men.

Chrissy began to move towards them when she heard a song. It was hard to hear at first with her father’s shouting, but as he quieted down, the melody grew louder, and she realized it was someone singing. A second smaller voice joined the larger voice in harmony, and Chrissy smiled. It was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. She thought of birds soaring, dipping and curving through the air and fish gliding through water and waves following the swirls of the tide. And Chrissy wanted to dance a twirly dance. 

She stepped to the railing closest to the voices and stood on the tops of her toes to see what had caused such a riot on the upper deck of the ship. She gasped as she met the gaze of two beings upon the jetty of rocks. Their eyes were identical—big, round, with the longest lashes, and of the deepest black that seemed like it held galaxies with their swirls of light. The larger one, The Momma, Chrissy thought instinctually, had long, curly black hair, that framed an oval face that was so distinctly human. Dark brows matched her curls, and her full lips curved as she continued to sing. Her chest was nearly bare and covered only by a necklace of pretty seashells of all different colors. The necklace grazed the tops of her bare breasts. Chrissy stared in curiosity, not used to seeing another female without cover as even her mother covered when Christopher nursed. The Momma’s pale skin continued down to her navel, and flesh began to take on scales that glittered in the sun. The scales were white and then gray and then black that matched the beautiful curly hair. And Chrissy saw that instead of legs, the Momma had a large tail that curled around the young one, her boy, Chrissy thought.

The boy had stopped singing and stared at Chrissy with the same curiosity with which Chrissy stared at him. The boy blinked his long lashes in his pale face framed with black curls that looked so much like his mother’s. His chest was also bare with a simple chain around his neck holding a small red shell. His pale skin stretched down to his stomach and began to form deep red scales that darkened as they moved down his tail until they were black. He turned to his mother and chattered to her in a language Chrissy did not understand, but his voice was like chimes and bells that dipped into Chrissy’s ears and caused a bubble of giggles to erupt from her belly. 

Both mother and child were silent as they watched Chrissy. The boy slowly returned her smile and began to sing again in the sweetest voice that made Chrissy want to dance her swirly-twirly dance, so she did. Chrissy twisted her little body and pointed her toes as her arms curved around her, slicing through the air in dips and turns like the waves she had been so fascinated by earlier. The Momma looked at her boy and Chrissy, a smile of understanding growing on her face. She joined her boy’s singing, so Chrissy pirouetted like she did in her dance class, and she leapt forwards and backwards, her strawberry blonde hair bright like fire in the setting sun. And Chrissy wanted to sing as Momma and the Boy’s voice grew louder, spurred by Chrissy’s dance. So Chrissy opened her mouth to join their chorus, when she was snatched from the air mid-leap and a hand clamped down harshly over her mouth.

The Momma and her child stopped singing and looked in alarm at the way Chrissy was forcibly tied to the railing. She heard the the boy scream. She twisted her head and saw the Momma pull the crying boy into her arms and look regretfully at Chrissy before she dove into the next wave. Chrissy’s eyes filled with tears, and she turned her head back and saw that it was her mother who had grabbed her and took her away from her new friends.

Mother crossed herself several times and slapped Chrissy to halt her sobs. Chrissy saw that her father had grown calm and had been untied from the pole. The Captain and crew spoke with him in quiet voices, but Chrissy could hear the words “Sirens” and “Mermaids”. Father also crossed himself like Mother. 

The Captain looked on with disapproval as Mother tied Chrissy to the railing as punishment and left her alone for the night. He snuck her some water and bread and untied her when inevitably her bladder filled. He escorted her to his chambers but waited outside while she relieved herself. He reluctantly tied her up again but slept by her overnight to make sure she was safe. He did not hear the splash and small thud or the slither as the Boy made his way across the deck to Chrissy. Nor did he hear Chrissy’s gasp as the Boy drew so close to her, she could count each of his long lashes in the light of the moon. 

His eyes were like the night sky, pitch black with constellations of stars that glittered. His scent was a meld of sweet and savory, like chocolate dipped in the salt of the sea. He leaned closer to her and touched her hair and cheek curiously. His fingers were webbed, and fingertips ended in sharp claws that were as black as the end of his tail. He leaned close to smell her and pressed a cold nose to her cheek, wet curls brushed against her chin. She held her breath as he pulled back to watch her. 

When he saw that Chrissy seemed to have no fear of him, the boy leaned in again. He drew closer and put his lips to her ear. His whisper was low and just as lyrical as his singing voice as he murmured, “Mate. Mine?” He pulled back and watched her again expectantly, a brow raised in question.

Chrissy was young, but she knew enough to know that Mate meant betrothed. And right now, she was betrothed to another boy who was currently in Hawkins and was of Nobility. But Chrissy didn’t like him because he pulled her hair and stole her sweet roll when she last saw him at their old town. And he was not pretty like her new friend. And did not have her new friend’s beautiful eyes and voice and tail. So she nodded her head and whispered, “Yes. Yours.”

The boy flashed her the brightest smile with the sharpest teeth that she instantly loved. He slipped his necklace with the red seashell around her neck. He carefully crawled closer and untied the ropes around her hands so that she could bend towards him. He lifted her loose hair and pressed soft lips against her neck just above her pounding pulse point. He held a finger over her lips and murmured, “Sorry” before sinking his sharp teeth into her flesh. 

Chrissy could feel a cry coming from her throat, so she pressed her lips firmly together and suppressed the sound. She closed her eyes and saw flashes of images: The Momma’s fin and wide smile as she beckoned with her finger. Diving beneath a huge wave into the calm blue depths below. The moonlight casting a different light into the deep but illuminating the way to caves. Underground caverns that led to a city bigger even than her hometown. In the distance, she could see other creatures like the Momma and the Boy, with fins of iridescent blues, pinks, and golds. 

He pulled back a second after the bite. His mark throbbed on her skin. She opened her eyes and saw the constellations in his eyes swirl. Her blood appeared black on his lips. His tongue swiped it away quickly. He placed his pointer and middle fingers on his teeth and pressed down hard enough to draw blood. He held up his hand and raised his eyebrows at her in question. Chrissy nodded quickly. He gently turned her head and rubbed the blood on his fingers along her wound. 

For a moment, she saw the images again, his images, she guessed, what he saw when he dove beneath the dark blue waves. Then she saw him swimming, older this time, his curly hair longer than his mother’s, furling behind him, and his powerful red-black tail swishing as he propelled himself forward towards the underwater city. He looked back and smiled. She had the strangest sensation of floating and glanced down. Glimmers of a vermillion tail overlaid the skirt of her green dress. 

Chrissy couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her. The Boy placed a finger over her lips and glanced behind him nervously. Captain Hopper remained snoring on his bedding. 

They both startled when they heard a large splash. They turned and saw the Momma dragging herself towards them with strong arms and her tail. Her curls were plastered to her head and body. Her mouth was set in a thin line. The moonlight shown on her starry eyes. Chrissy instantly recognized a mother’s anger and placed herself in front of the boy determinedly, but her hands shook. She could feel the Boy at her back, peeking around her shoulder.

Momma stopped and seemed to smother a smile at Chrissy’s defensive position in front of her child. She beckoned both Chrissy and the Boy forward and pointed to Captain Hopper. Chrissy looked to the Boy, who smiled and nodded his head in reassurance. They moved as quietly as they could past the sleeping captain and met Momma at the railing at the far end of the ship. The Boy slipped his hand into Chrissy’s and tugged her closer to him.

Momma stilled and sniffed the air. Her black eyes focused on first her son and then Chrissy, taking in her boy’s open affection towards her. She drew close to Chrissy and immediately scented the blood on her neck. Her eyes widened. She brought her hand up, and Chrissy cowered back against the Boy. Momma cooed as quietly as she could, her soft voice soothing Chrissy’s fear. She gently turned Chrissy’s head to the side to examine the area where her son’s blood lay. She looked to her son in question, who held her gaze.

“Mate,” the Boy whispered.

Momma took a careful breath. She leaned closer to them and whispered, “Too soon, Eddie.”

The Boy, Eddie, frowned and tears filled his eyes. He spoke softly in their language, but Momma stopped him and looked pointedly at Chrissy. “English.”

Eddie took a breath and wiped his eyes. “She sad, Mama. Her mama not good.”

Chrissy nodded her head in agreement. “Mother is mean,” she whispered.

Momma nodded her head in understanding, but whispered, “You need to be with your people right now. It is too soon to come with us.” 

Chrissy looked down at her hand in Eddie’s. She could feel the tips of his black claws against her skin, but he was so careful with her. Tears began to stream down her cheeks, and she sniffled.

Momma gently lifted her chin and wiped her tears away with her knuckle. “What is your name?”

“Christine Cunningham,” she whispered. “But I like Chrissy.”

Momma smiled, and Chrissy saw that she had Eddie’s same sharp teeth. “Chrissy. You are too young to be with us now. You have some growing to do. But later, when you are of age, then you will belong with us. If you choose to at that time.” She looked at Eddie expectantly.

“Mine,” he said, pulling Chrissy even closer.

“Not yet,” Momma said as firmly as she could in her whisper. She looked at Chrissy again and smiled softly. She ran her fingers through Chrissy’s long strawberry blond hair and rubbed her cheek softly, just as careful with her claws as Eddie. Chrissy found herself leaning into the maternal touch. 

“You can be like us, Chrissy. You are different than your kin. You have something more. Your blood sings when we sing, and you dance where others would grow mad.” She pressed a kiss on Chrissy’s forehead. “But you must be patient and wait.”

They all heard the Captain begin to stir in his sleep. Momma gestured at Eddie and nodded towards the water. “We must go.”

Eddie sniffled but nodded his head. He turned to Chrissy and hugged her tightly to him. Chrissy pressed her face on his cold chest and tried to stifle the sobs that wanted to come forth. She squeezed her arms around his neck. 

“Goodbye, Eddie,” she whispered.

“Goodbye, Chrissy,” he answered. He brought his lips closer to her ear. “I find you now. Always.” He touched a spot of his blood left on her neck and held it up to her eyes to see.

They heard Captain Hopper groan on the other side of the ship. Momma took Eddie in her arms and raised him to the railing. He smiled sadly at Chrissy and jumped into the ocean below. Momma lifted herself to the railing. 

“Goodbye, little one,” she whispered before following her son into the water.

Chrissy ran to the railing to catch a last glimpse of them, but they were already gone. She could feel an ache in her chest now, suffocating and heavy. She could no longer suppress her sobs. She laid her head on the railing and cried and cried and cried until she could feel the warmth against her back as the sun began to rise, and she felt like there were no more tears left in her little body. She wiped her eyes and nose with the skirt of her dress, not caring if Mother found her indecent and impolite.

Chrissy gasped when gentle hands turned her around. Captain Hopper’s kind eyes took in her blotchy and puffy face. He found the dried blood on her skin but couldn’t find a source for it. He examined the red seashell hanging around her neck and sighed in understanding. He knelt by Chrissy and put his hands on her shoulders.

“You can’t tell anyone what happened,” he said in a low voice. “Your parents will call this unnatural. They’ll try to hurt you and him.” He tucked the seashell beneath the collar of her dress. “Hide this. Pretend you found it on the beach if anyone asks. Understand?” Chrissy nodded. He held her gaze a moment longer, worry etched across his features. “You find me, you hear? If that bi…mother of yours becomes too much. You find me, and we’ll figure out a way to get you away. Okay?”

“Yes,” Chrissy whispered.

He jerked his head towards the bedding. “Get some more rest before the rest of the ship wakes up.” She held her hands out to be tied, but he pushed them down. “Never you mind that. I’ll deal with her if she complains.”

Chrissy went to the bedding by the railing and curled up under the blanket. It was warm from Captain Hopper and smelled a bit like tobacco. She didn’t think she would, but she very quickly fell into a deep sleep. She dreamed of the city beneath the waves, starry eyes, curly hair, and kind smiles with sharp teeth. She dreamed of a song that moved her limbs to dance even as she slumbered. She dreamed of her Eddie and his momma and did not hear her mother’s attempts to scold the captain for untying her, the Captain’s heated response and declaration that it was a cruel punishment, or her mother yelling at her father for not defending her against the peasant captain.

Chrissy slept through the day and night and half the morning the day after. She missed the heated argument between her parents as Father attributed her sleeping to illness due to exposure from her overnight punishment. When she awakened, she was in her bed in their new home at Hawkins and wearing one of her sleep gowns. Her memories of the ship, her Eddie, and his momma were fuzzy the way that dreams are, and she wondered if she had dreamt it all. Her only confirmation that it was all real was the silver chain with the small red seashell still hanging around her neck and tucked into her gown, and the heat in her veins as the ocean called to her.

(click for better resolution!)

belated semi-valentines day-esque hellcheer <3 the tree was fun and am once again screaming from atop a tall hill how fun it is to create diff 80s looks for chrissy. art this is based on under the cut