Chapter Text
Moonlight reflects on the rippling, pitch black water.
A lone boat floats in the middle of nowhere, the light swell sloshing gently against the wood. Two hunched figures sit opposite of each other in silence while a small flame, shielded by a metal structure with little apertures filled in with slovenly cut pieces of glass, flickers and casts ominous shadows over the layers and layers of dirty fabrics they’ve wrapped around themselves.
Now and then, a harsh breeze whooshes over their heads, the cold sneaking down their necks, making them shiver and their teeth clatter.
Both men are turned inwards, arms crossed tightly in front of their chests, heads lowered, and hoods pulled deeply over the better part of their faces – a position assumed after endless hours of waiting, waiting and more waiting.
Everything’s quiet, save for the sounds the waves create as the boat rocks gently from side to side.
It takes a few more hours for something to happen, the dark, star-spangled night sky above them now a dusted grey, and another few moments for one of the men to notice. The head of the taller man suddenly snaps up when a faint splattering noise reaches his ears. With a new-found energy, he gives his partner a sharp jab in the side before looking out over the water to find the source of the sudden noise.
Not ten feet from the boat, the water has begun to whirl and swirl and burble. The trail of commotion rounds the boat and a tension settles over the men as they follow it with their eyes. It’s moved from their right to their left side when the water calms down again. A few, uneventful and quiet, seconds pass.
And then, the water starts to glow.
Spots of silver shimmer dance and flit over the soft waves in the shape of an uneven circle, creating a stark contrast to the deep blackness of the saltwater.
Almost simultaneously, the men avert their eyes. The smaller one fumbles hectically for something under his feet, his hands trembling almost imperceptibly. This isn’t an easy job, they both know that. It’s not supposed to be easy, or else everyone would be doing it.
Amidst the shimmer and shine, a head emerges from the water. It’s like the world spins slower when she appears, chin tilted upwards and eyes looking heavenward and the droplets of water trickle down her body are illuminated by her light, glittering like little diamonds. Slowly and gracefully, the jaws of the men surely would’ve gone slack if they’d just looked at what was happening right in front of their noses, she tips her head forward and fixes her gaze on them.
The taller man’s hands tremble as he reaches out, like he means to pet a well-behaved animal. Her head tilts almost imperceptibly to the side. Neither of them is looking at her and the way his arm is raised in her direction, the way their heads are lowered and how they’re leaned forward just a bit makes them look like they’re in front of an ancient entity, praying for whatever it is they desire.
Another sharp wind blows around them and the trembling of the man’s hand intensifies as the icy cold bites his skin.
Their strange behaviour makes her curious, to say the least. Usually, men practically throw themselves into the water to be closer to her and she never even has to move a finger to lure them in.
With a flick of her tail, she moves closer, the shimmering silver light she emanates gently pooling around her.
The closer she gets, the more the posture of the taller man stiffens.
She’s seven feet away when the man suddenly hisses a sharp command to his partner.
“Now!”
Something coils around her hip and then she’s roughly pulled under water, shine quickly dwindling. The startled yelp she lets loose is swallowed by the eternal silence of the ocean as she gets yanked closer and closer to the boat. Any attempt to free herself seems useless and every flap of her fins appears to wrap the net tighter and tighter around her tail. Blood rushes in her ears and fear pounds in her head, deafeningly loud.
The men pull on the ropes of the large net with combined forces, grunts and groans of exertion sound alongside the erratic splashing of water.
Finally, they haul her into the vessel.
Awful smelling rags are hastily pulled over her upper body. She’s enveloped so tightly she can scarcely breathe for a moment, least of all move her arms to defend herself. They’ve reduced her to fitful breathing, a ridiculously quick heartbeat, strangled noises of fright and the flimsy movements of her silver scaled tail. Two strong hands pin her down and somewhere, on the other side of the boat, someone starts to chant.
The words are powerful, ancient, and fear tightens its grasp on her heart when she swears she can feel the ocean tremble from deep within. She’s frozen in place and now she’s the one who trembles.
The chant gains in volume, becomes more and more menacing before it’s suddenly cut off.
The pain that follows the silence forces a blood curling scream up her throat.
She feels like she’s being ripped apart and put together completely differently and so, so wrong. Sizzling and crackling and snapping fills the air and she starts to twitch so violently not even her assailants can hold her down.
Consciousness leaves her, then. Leaves her behind in a cold, wet boat timbered out of rotten wood and moth-eaten fabrics obscuring the view on her body. Except for the pair of legs hanging limply over the railing.
The taller man leans forward and takes both legs to pull them into the vessel.
He sighs as silence sweeps over them.
“Let’s get the demon on land.”