#pistrix

"How to Become Friends with a Mermaid"

Lil' Augustine wants to be friends with a mermaid. He thinks that throwing random objects in the water will be enough. Remember: the sea gives, the sea takes. Hey, exactly like legendary pokémon!

Today's fanart was created for us by @cjcraziness, and it's absolutely fantastic!

It was drawn traditionally, and we can't help but appreciate the attention to detail. The artist has managed to demonstrate the fundamental fact that Sangreal, despite looking like a person, is actually a fish… a fish whose species, through a long period of adaptation, has managed to mimic the anthropomorphic form, to instill a little pity in the hearts of intelligent predators, or fear in other creatures, not to mention the advantage of having opposable thumbs! (Although, unfortunately for them, pistrix's dexterity isn't as refined as humans'.)

Look at his sparkling eyes! Wouldn't you like to throw some flake food to this adorable little fish (who, oh well… is several meters long, more of a big fish)?

Sangreal loves flake food. Or dried shrimp. Do you have any dried shrimp?

Oh, and there's a different version too:

...

Summary: A lone mansion sat on the cliff overlooking the sea. Locals told stories of the sea monster that called the mansion it’s home, and affected all around it, including the abandoned beach. It could be summoned, they said, by a single person sitting on the beach at night, as someone said a prayer to the cracked mirror in the hallway of the mansion. When Roman hears of these rumours, he wants to explore the house, and summon the monster from the depths. Unluckily for Virgil, he’s the one chosen to sit on the beach and wait for the monster to appear. And when it seems to take a liking to him, Virgil learns that the sea is a treacherous place. Pairing: Platonic LAMP/Polyampsanders, Dark/Virgil Characters: Virgil, Dark, Roman, Logan, Patton, Deceit. Warnings: None at the moment.

--

Trips to the beach were supposed to be fun, and happen during the day, Virgil mused, but with Roman, everything ended up turning into adventures. Why he had even agreed to come on this stupid trip, Virgil wasn’t sure, but here he was, traipsing along behind Roman, Logan and Patton towards the beach as the moon shone overhead.

This impromptu trip had been long coming, Virgil decided. There was a hidden beach close to where the four boys lived, secluded and abandoned and no one ever went onto it, which was unusual for Florida. The reason – the only way getting down onto the beach was through an abandoned, old mansion that was derelict. It didn’t help that local rumours scared even the bravest adventurers away. According to some people, the beach and the mansion were home to a monster of the sea. A merman, some said, or a man with the bottom half of a kraken, an alluring voice and a taste for human flesh. The monster was so powerful that the sea didn’t touch the sand of the beach when the tide rose, and the strongest rumour was that if the mansion was entered at night and a prayer was said in front of a shattered mirror in the front hall while someone else sat on the beach, the monster would come.

And of course, Roman had had to explore this rumour.

Logan had debunked every single rumour about the mansion with logic, but Roman had shushed him and asked him where his sense of adventure was. Patton was just as excited, and Virgil had come along only because Logan had requested he didn’t leave him alone with their overbearing friends.

Now, Virgil regretted it.

He had drawn the short straw, and his role in this adventure was to venture down to the beach and sit there, waiting for the monster to show up while Roman, Logan and Patton explored the mansion. Roman used the excuse that Virgil basically lived by the ocean, and understood the movement of the tides, so out of all of them he would be the one to tell when the water was rising. He was not going to take no for an answer, and Virgil didn’t have the energy to argue.

So, here he was, trudging down the private access from the mansion to the beach. Apart from swimming around from the local beaches nearby, this was the only access, as the beach was more of a cove, covered on both sides by high cliffs, with the one path cut into the rock. It looked like it would be pleasant during the day, but Roman had been listing all the local rumours and folklore tales on the way to the mansion to psych them all up, and Virgil was now seeing monsters in every shadow.

This was a stupid idea.

The walkie-talkie on his hip crackled and Virgil jumped so badly he slipped on the wet rock and fell to the sand below. Luckily, he hadn’t been that high up, but the sand was wet too, so it was not a nice impact. Shaking his head and doing a quick check to make sure nothing was broken, Virgil pulled the radio up and waited for Roman to talk.

“Are you on the beach?” Roman’s voice distorted as it came through the speaker, and Virgil rolled his eyes. They had phones, why did Roman insist they brought these old toys?

“Yes, thanks to you.” Virgil responded, “Can we get this over with now? I’d rather not be sitting on this beach all night, and the tide is about to come in.”

“We’re doing a bit of exploring first, then we’ll say the prayer.” Roman declared, and there was another crackle as he turned his own walkie-talkie off.

Virgil sighed and looked out over the beach towards the sea. One rumour had already been debunked, since the rocks and the sand of the beach were soaked with sea water. Clearly, the tide rose up the cliffs and was not afraid of this beach. Pulling out of his phone, Virgil began to record the scene, pointing out the dripping moisture on the rocks so that he could show the evidence to Roman later. When he was done, he settled down on a semi-dry rock in the middle of the beach to wait miserably until his friends were done.

It was better to be down here, Virgil reasoned as he shivered at the pick up of a chill wind. Roman and Patton would be pranking each other up there in the house, and while Virgil loved his friends, he was not of the best disposition for being terrified in a supposedly haunted house. His anxiety was already acting up just sitting on this beach alone, so badly that he had had to put his earphones in and play music quietly. He would be able to hear the radio if Roman wanted to get hold of him, but the music kept his imagination at bay, and that kept the shadows away.

Losing track of time as he lost himself in the music, Virgil only noticed the tide coming in when he felt it lap at his feet, dangling over the edge of the rock. Jolting up, he swore. The beach was a light layer of water already, and he had to get back now before he was completely cut off from getting back up to the mansion. The experiment was over, no monster had come, and he was not staying down there to drown. Tides came in dangerously fast in these parts, Virgil knew that, he had seen it happen more than enough times, so Roman would just have to wait to do this again until a time when the tides were not due to come in.

Splashing down into the water, Virgil hurried back over towards the path up to the mansion. Water leaked through his converse immediately, and it was cold and disgusting, and Virgil was going to kill Roman when he got back up the cliffside. Pausing for just a moment on the rocks to take a picture of the scene – the cove beach really was beautiful as it filled up with the darkened waters – Virgil began to make his way quickly up the path. He slipped every now and then, his wet shoes not helping his grip on the already damp rocks, but it was easy enough to scramble up. Judging from the discolouration on the rockface, the sea came halfway up the cliffside, and when he was just above the halfway point of the path, Virgil paused and turned to look back.

Such a beautiful scene, marred only by the body floating in the water.

Wait…a body?

Virgil did a double take and flipped the torch light of his phone on immediately, his breath hitching. It was just an illusion, it had to be. Something else floating in the water that his anxiety had turned into a body. But, as his eyes scoured the surface of the water, Virgil’s heart leapt into his throat. There was a body in the water.

Well shit.

Before he knew what he was doing, Virgil stumbled down towards the edge of the water and peered out at the body. It was floating towards him, carried by the tide, and in the light of Virgil’s phone, the skin looked ashen grey, but not wrinkled or decomposed as Virgil assumed it should be after being in the water. Was the person dead? Why didn’t he have a stick so he could poke at them.

Without thinking, Virgil reached out to grab the body when it floated close enough to him. Panicked or not, he couldn’t leave this person floating in the sea. He would get them out and call for his friends and they would call an ambulance. Sure they would have to explain what they were doing at the abandoned mansion, but they could potentially save a life.

But really, when had life ever been that easy?

As Virgil’s fingers brushed the grey suit the body seemed to be wearing, a tentacle appeared from the waves and wrapped around his wrist. With a shriek of fear, Virgil lunged back, trying to tear his hand away, but whatever had grabbed him was too strong, and with a single tug, Virgil lost his footing and tumbled down into the icy water.

–

“He’s not answering.” Roman pouted as he paced the cliffside.

He, Logan and Patton had finished exploring the house fifteen minutes ago, and had said the prayer at the mirror and yet had heard nothing from Virgil to say he had seen a monster. Roman was utterly disappointed, Patton was trying to comfort him and Logan wasn’t surprised.

The fact Virgil hadn’t reappeared was concerning.

“I bet he’s taking pictures of the tide coming in.” Patton offered enthusiastically, but even his voice was tinged with a little doubt.

“But he would answer the radio if he was.” Logan pointed out, “Why don’t you try calling his phone?”

Sighing, Roman pulled his phone out and dialled Virgil’s number. It rang nearly to voicemail before it finally clicked and Virgil’s voice answered. “Virgil!” Roman demanded “Where are you?”

“I went home.”

“Without us?!” Roman exclaimed, “You could have at least let us know!”

“I went home.”

“Yes I got that the first time.” Roman huffed, “Fine, well we’ll leave now as well. Patton says he’ll see you tomorrow.”

Virgil didn’t reply, so Roman ended the call and crossed his arms.

“He went home without us.” He explained, pouting again, “So rude.”

“Come on kiddo, he might have had a panic attack and needed to go without saying anything. You can’t hold that against him.” Patton suggested, getting to his feet and brushing sand off his pants. “Let’s go home and we can check up on him in the morning.”

“I suppose.” Roman nodded, “Well, it was worth the trip anyway.”

Logan gave him an unbelieving look, “Are you serious? What did this trip even achieve?”

Roman glared at him, “That the people of this town have an amazing imagination, that’s what.” He declared, “Now come on. We can grab some pizza on the way home.”

Turning their backs to the ocean, the three friends began to walk away. As they drew further and further away from the mansion, Roman couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been wrong with Virgil’s voice. Had he had to go home for a panic attack, he would have been apologising profusely, or at least sent Patton a text so that Patton didn’t worry. He wouldn’t have just left them without a word. But then again, it could have been so bad that he didn’t think of that. Maybe Roman had interupted him in the middle of sending said text. Something felt off, but Roman decided he would ask Virgil about it tomorrow.

For now, he was hungry.

–

The blind terror of being drawn into the sea but something strange overrode the terror in Virgil that he couldn’t breathe. His vision was filled with nothing but murky sea water and he could feel whatever creature it was that had grabbed him surrounding him completely, drawing him in. Hot water followed, what Virgil assumed was a hot breath as the creature’s mouth neared him, growing wide to each him, and Virgil opened his mouth to scream again, accidently swallowing a lot of sea water.

Lips met his own, and shock froze him.

Pain shot at Virgil’s neck and his instinct was to grab for it, but the creature would not release his hands. When the lips of the creature left his, and Virgil was still alive, he dared to blink his eyes open and found he could see perfectly under the water now. And he was breathing. Actually breathing. Under water.

“What the fuck?!” The exclamation came out as bubbles, but the creature seemed to understand him, and drew back so that Virgil could see him.

And boy did he regret being able to see him.

Raven hair flowed in the current of the water, and yet still managed to cover one eye. His eyes were deep red, almost like wine, and they were deep and intriguing and Virgil could barely tear his eyes away. Naked to the waist down, the creature was grey, the same colour as the skin of the body Virgil had seen, but where should have been legs, there was a body that belonged to what Virgil could only describe as the legendary Kraken.

Whatever he was, he was undoubtabley the sea monster.

Fuck.

“Normally when someone comes onto my beach, they’re trying to search for me.” The creature said, and Virgil was able to perfectly understand him, which he didn’t understand, and which made him panic more. He was struggling in the creatures grasp, but it did not let go of him, holding him in the churning water as it’s deep red eyes swept over Virgil’s entire body. “But you,” The creature continued, “You merely sat and listened to music. Odd.”

The creature’s voice was just as alluring as the rumours stated, and Virgil couldn’t stop himself from replying.

“I didn’t want to be here.” Another stream of bubbles came from his mouth, but the creature understood him immediately. “My friend wanted to find you.”

“Hmm, it’s always the ones that don’t want to be here that I end up catching with that little trick.” It chuckled, “Do you have a name, precious thing?”

“V-Virgil.”

“A pretty name.” The creature purred, “You can call me Dark. Are you frightened?

All Virgil could do was nod. The pressure of the water over his head, the misunderstanding about how he could suddenly breath with only a kiss, and the fact that he could understand this…man-Kraken hybrid was not helping Virgil.

With a wave of the tentacles that were idling in the water, Dark pushed them both towards the surface, and Virgil gasped for air when the broke the waves. His neck ached again as his body readjusted to breathing as it was meant to, and with the ability to gulp air, Virgil began to hyperventilate. Dark seemed content to watch him, holding him above the waves and Virgil had to force himself to calm down. Breath in for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, breath out for eight seconds. In, hold, and out. In, hold and out. It took longer than normal, but considering the situation Virgil had found himself in, he could understand that.

Coughing the water out of his lungs, Virgil tried to rip his hands free and Dark let him go, floating on top of the water and watching as Virgil floundered to tread water.

“What…who…how did you…I…am I dead?”

“Not dead, not yet.” Dark smiled, and revealed a row of sharp teeth, “You’re in my domain now.”

“You’re…you’re the sea creature.” Virgil cried, trying to swim backwards away from Dark, but the creature grabbed his ankles and held him down. “The monster! Shit.”

“An interesting reaction.” Dark hummed, “Most people have one of two reactions – they want to capture me and put me on show, or they want to kill me. You, my precious thing, you just swear and try to swim away. Why is that Virgil?” The way Dark said his name sent shivers through Virgil, but he couldn’t stop himself from listening, so he thought of his friends instead.

Logan would love this. He would want to examine Dark and find out how he ticked.

Roman would be so happy that the rumours were true.

Patton would be angry that he had pulled Virgil into the water and seemed intent to keep him there. The thought of Patton fighting this mysterious creature made Virgil smile, and Dark caught the movement and tilted his head to the side. He had gills on his neck, Virgil noticed, and with his hands free, Virgil grabbed at his own neck.

Dark grinned, “You don’t have anything there right now, but if you go back under the water, you’ll feel the difference.”

Virgil had no intent to go down under the sea again, but Dark had other intentions and dragged Virgil back down. Scared, Virgil opened his mouth to scream, and yet he didn’t choke, or splutter. The water rushed in, and then, with his hands still pressed against his neck, Virgil felt gills open in the skin there, and the water came out again.

“What is this?!” He cried.

“I helped you breath. I don’t want you to die yet Virgil.” Dark shrugged, swimming around Virgil even as he kept two of his tentacles wrapped around Virgil’s legs, wrapping his body entirely around him, “I want to show you the world you summoned.”

“I…I didn’t summon you.” Virgil whispered, “My friends-.”

“Your friends have doomed you then.” Dark murmured, “Swim with me Virgil. I can show you some incredible things, but only for this night.”

How he wanted to resist. How his anxiety wanted to resist. The fight or flight reflex that Virgil was so familiar with was screaming inside him to punch this mysterious monster until it let him go and swim as fast as he could for the shore. Get away. Escape. Get away from the danger. And normally, Virgil would have listened.

But this time…he couldn’t listen. Whatever Dark was, all he needed to do was speak, and Virgil was persuaded. Panicked or not, he wanted to swim with him. And in the back of his mind, Virgil was acutely aware that if he refused, Dark would probably kill him. Survival was key, but the want deep in his gut to swim with him drove him more.

Dark was waiting patiently, hand outstretched.