Work Text:
"Stupid Seadragon."
Against his small bed lay a heavy rucksack filled with clothes folded neatly as his maid had taught him for self-sufficiency, a compass he had taken from his pillar, and an atlas to see where he was heading. He puts it on his back.
Dark waters surrounded him, no sunlight reaching him.
He waited for an hour to be sure that everyone had slept. A flute gleamed so brightly on his table. He didn't clean it; they shined for him. Staring at the flute and scale, tries to determine if he can take them, then remembers Sea Dragon's words.
"This scale is your birthright, your destiny. You can't get out of it, no matter what you do. Do you understand, brat?"
Sorrento let out a long sigh and allowed the scale to cover his small body, almost losing his balance but bringing his hands against the bed to steady himself. Jumped on his comfy bed and put his mouth on the end of the flute. His fingers slow-danced around holes to initiate a melody he wanted, soothing like stroking a cat, serene like soft waves. He soon heard bodies at his door collapsing the longer he played. Those guards outside; under Sea Dragon's orders.
Six months in the South Atlantic pillar of not seeing his Lord Poseidon or other generals. Nor the Atlantians. Outskirts of settlements were in ruins, no one had lived there.
A song reached silence. Now he could walk around in those squeaky, heavy boots connected to armour. Or run and shove the notebook with the notes his teacher had transcribed from the siren's songs. He opened the door to see the guards’ bodies slumped on the floor. Blood dripped from their ears. Jumping over their arms to be able to walk out of the pillar for good, a vague sound of running then a loud thud startled him.
At a corner of a corridor, a mermaid came out of her quarters and now lay on the floor, Sorrento understood they kept an eye on Siren General by his orders . Possibly could resist his attempts. Hence he held his flute tightly.
From Sorrento's mouth he once again played something powerful just like poison. It was the last piece he practised before his master passed away in front of him. Seadragon praised him for this. When the siren had finished spreading his venom, he exited the pillar where those dark waters clouded his horizon. By using a scale, he could stay in the water for as long as he liked.
No fish could swim above the pillar. Small steps when approaching the stairs down in the darkness. The flute pointed forward to avoid hitting something or bumping into someone after all the effort he was proud of. A crystal glow gleamed so brightly in front of him, Sorrento knew what it was, a portal to allow him to enter the great ocean.
“Wait.”
Sorrento froze and turned around, a white haired lady wearing a white robe ran to bow to him. A human!
“You are not going to stop me-” The flute had touched the lady’s chin to raise it. He carefully looked for any weakness on the strong face of this unknown person. It would be easier for an attack.
The lady shook her head furiously, “I’m not staying in this place, so excuse me for the interruption.” She met the Siren General to the eye, the deep blue stunned the young purple irises. It was then that Sorrento realised that it was not a lady with a deep voice but, rather, a man. Sorrento forgot what he had to do and cleared his throat.
“Who are you, and why are you not asleep?”
The mysterious man muttered, “I came here after the mermaids imprisoned me for how long, I can’t answer with desired accuracy, I thank you for what you did to those mermaids.”
Sorrento stepped closer so that he could smell this man whom he felt sorry for because his hair was long and untidy, making it difficult to reveal his identity. Another person with long hair was the crazy Seadragon. He can have that stupid hair, stupid Seadragon.
“But how did you get in, only I, mermaids, mariner soldiers and other generals can come here with permission,” Sorrento widened his eyes. “Was it Seadragon who made you a prisoner here? I didn’t know that…you know who I am?”
The pretty man with silvery hair and bangs over his eyes shook his head. “It is my first time seeing you in full scale, General. I knew I could not get out.”
“Seadragon?! Wasn’t this pillar my right? Anyway, you are free now. Hold my flute on your end and let’s go! I can't bear to stay here. Name?”
“Unity.”
As Unity held on to the flute, he and Sorrento entered through a clear portal. On the other side there was life in every direction, though the waters remained dark. Unity tripped over a seaweed wrapped around his leg. Cut it off with bare hands, paused to see swarms of fishes swirling around him and the Siren General. Looking back, Sorrento closed his eyes and played on his flute, forcing marine creatures to help them; many lifted and guided them across the ocean, in direction to the surface.
Sorrento opened his eyes to fishes circling close to him and his comrade, he stopped playing. He stopped playing since they were all in a trance. His hand held a fish before using his flute to whack his head and offered it to Unity as his meal.
Unity brought his hand up, “No, thank you.”
“It is going to be a long way.”
Unity, again, declined.
His scales gave him extra protection from consuming raw fish, as the scale's power eliminated any possible harm. Not a fan eating like this, he spotted Unity is too distracted by the fishes to pay attention, which gave Sorrento peace to finish his small meal.
“Where do you want me to drop you off, Unity? I hope you dye your hair. It will make you look old.”
Unity rolled his eyes at this. “I was already old, I know the feeling. Bluegraad, Siren General?”
Sorrento had a frown on his face while thinking about the countries of Europe, forced to learn by his parents, too boring of a subject compared to the books he wanted to read, “Where is that?”
“Have you not learned, boy? It’s a nation.”
“So it’s no longer there, not a country or a nation in the world.”
“It is a place founded by Athena’s Saints, the blue warriors guarding Poseidon’s gateway. A wonderful place that I once thought ruled all land and sea, as I…no longer think of it as such. Then take me to France, unless France vanishes from your maps.“
“France is still there. It is a bit away from where I’m from, Austria, do you know it?”
Unity widened his eyes, thinking how much the world had changed, “Ah, the Archduchy of Austria, I never visited. Perhaps now it can be the first. Are you going back home? To abandon your pillar without any protection?”
Sorrento played his melody again, one by one some fish did diverts to their brainless, directionless ways and returned to push off their master to the surface, just a few hundred feet of depth were left.
“If the Seadragon wants power over me and what is mine, he can take it and protect it with all his might, that is now his responsibility. Home is always my foundation, my name and blood are there. But that is not all.” Unity made sure that Sorrento didn’t lean too much against the fishes and held him until he was in a standing position.
“My parents, without failure, tell me what I should be doing, which is to serve Lord Poseidon. Not the Seadragon. Seadragon is the older general with experience, but his arrogance is like a god without shame. He has no fear of what he does whilst Lord Poseidon is not around. Seadragon and I should be equals, there is no hierarchy between generals. Our Lord has not awakened in his vessel. I want to find him and serve him properly and up close.”
Sorrento kept playing his flute though his hands began to shake and his face paled. There was a thin streak of moonlight filtered through the murky, shady waters as if it were a pole from where to climb out.
Heavy breaths echoed. Unity flipped his head quickly to see Sorrento panicking. His mouth wide open, surely water shall flood his mouth and damage his lungs.
“Stop moving! I got you, hold on your flute.”
Fish dispenses and swims down to their natural habitat, soon only Unity and Sorrento remain. Sorrento completely leans against Unity as Unity holds the Siren General and his legs work faster to swim upwards, pushing both to the surface.
Only when they reached the surface, a final push led Sorrento to cough loudly for air. He's no longer in Unity’s arms. Lying on the deep waters, floating against such waves. Seeing the full moon in the night clearly for ages as if Unity never saw it before.
Sorrento stopped coughing, to find Unity sighing at him, his legs still in the water.
“Your plan is to return to Europe, what is the next part? Or did you not think about it during your fantasies that will never be real?“
“Let’s go back to the pillar, old man.”
“Your sarcasm is beckoning upon you, young boy. No, our destination is near. There are no boats to stop, so I thought about another way, but I should ask.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Can the scale float on water, on the open ocean?”
While Sorrento was unsure about this, he had seen what his scales were able to do, and so he wondered if they might be able to do much more than he knew. He released it, and an orange-red siren appeared next to him, sinking in the water until it floated. Its legs, half of the body and wing were submerged in messy waves due to the strong breeze.
“Incredible.”
Unity wasted no time placing Sorrento at the neck of the Siren scale; the boy didn’t protest as much since he didn’t want his rucksack to be wet. However he did raise his eyebrows because Unity swam to the back of the scales and got hold of it.
“You have permission to get on it.”
Unity shook his head, “It is not going to move by itself, boy. Unless you want to join me, if that is no problem.”
Sorrento pouted and turned his head, bringing his rucksack at the front to draw out his compass and atlas. He gestured for Unity to lean up to check what is looking at.
“Seadragon did come into my room and pointed where the pillar on this map was, right there.” Sorrento pointed to a spot which was in the ocean, near the continent to Africa but too far to travel there. Unity realised that land travel had many complications if they chose that option.
“Siren General, ocean or land route?”
Sorrento ogled at him. What a stupid question !
“Ocean route, but we must keep an eye out for boats. Then the scale can have a rest.”
Unity did not say anything. He pushed the scale, and his legs started to swim in the best direction on course.
“When we find a boat, I will practise my melody so you can fall asleep. I still don’t know how you didn’t at the pillar, I played what my master taught me without mistakes.”
In Greece, Kanon dealt with a little pink boy throwing a tantrum, he felt a light breeze of power that did not belong to him, he flipped his head to make sense of it, in the direction of the south- Sorrento!
His Cosmo told him the chosen one for the Siren General had crossed the boundary of the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the night. He could not believe the troubles from the growing army of Poseidon, his splitting headache did not help, especially when Io jumped and bit him in the arm.
“Aaaaaaah! I will put you to sleep, you puta brat. ¡Tus picaduras me hacen un maldito políglota!”
The compass pointed to the North West. Sorrento raised his arm where the device had shown him. When Unity saw this, he steered the siren scale according to the general’s wishes. A question just came to his mind and puzzled him to an extent that he needed an answer from the boy.
“Siren, did no one really teach you how to swim? I am dissatisfied with your tutor’s failure to teach you these basics. If I wasn’t there, it would be the first time to see a Marina General drowning.”
“I didn’t drown, I can’t drown as a general, silly Unity! Austria doesn’t have many swimming grounds… Who says I have finished my training? When I find Lord Poseidon, he will give me the best lessons.”
Unity stopped swimming and looked up in awe of the child’s stupidity. “Respectfully speaking, Lord Poseidon never met you before nor did you, what do you know about the vessel?”
Sorrento scoffed. “My parents have information about him, they know everything, when I come home, I have to memorise it very well. Julian Solo is the vessel’s name. The Solo family is one of the richest families in Greece.”
A sound of something coming to them, made Unity peep behind. Sorrento stopped his yapping and a white light flashed over them. It was a huge black ship they saw with lots of boxes above. Soon after, a small boat, which fit a handful of people, floated down the water. Its machinery made it possible to reach them both.
One shouted, “Para onde você está levando seu filho?” until he got elbowed by another man and scolded him in their language before turning to Sorrento and Unity he asked more questions judging by his tone, and how surprisingly melodic it sounded.
"O que você está fazendo aqui? Vem com a gente, estamos aqui para te ajudar.”
The Siren General attempted to speak in his native language to see if they understood it, “Ich-” but he didn’t get to finish because Unity, out of nowhere, jumped to grab his face and made him copy his lips. “Sim, caímos de outro navio. Aceitamos sua ajuda, onde você está indo?”
“Portugal.”
“Ah, muito obrigado.”
Unity made his way over the boat, the ship men managed to get Sorrento and place him and the scale down on the boat. A quiet ride towards a main boat, on the deck where both of them had never seen so many huge boxes stacked on another. They were led to their one small bed in a room and given some food to eat. The ship's men had checked Sorrento and gave the boy a change of clothes and blanket before they left.
But it did not matter how much food Unity was offered; he declined once again. Sorrento leaves it as that before giving him a weird look.
“What was that?”
The white haired man blankly looked at him.
“You speak that language? I don’t understand it.”
Unity laid down on the floor and closed his eyes, “A self-taught polyglot is my status. I know thirteen languages. That one was Portuguese.” No more words he heard from that person, Sorrento sighed and put a blanket over himself before he fell asleep.
Sorrento stood on the deck as the horizon captured his sight, a sun had settled for the upcoming night.
Few days had passed on the boat. This gave him time to plan his next move if he landed in Portugal or travelled to the north to find a river route in Germany, closer to Austria and furthest from the Seadragon General. His family would deal with Unity later.
“Siren!” That old man screamed. Unity’s hair was down, “Behind you!”
A huge wave from the other side of the ship cast a huge shadow over the boy, overwhelmed by the wetness hitting him and got hold of his arms, Sorrento struggled but the grip of the water was too strong and found himself off the ship, into the ocean, North Atlantic Ocean.
The golden triangle waited to swallow him up. As Sorrento was no more, the triangle radiating outlines vanished.
From the deck, Unity stepped back to what had occurred. Shaking his head to clear his shock and a feeling of sheer audacity bubbling within him, his fingers advanced as he devised a plan. He ran to a room where the Siren scales was, none of the shipmen noticed him. They got a net for a boy who was already gone.
“Let me go!” Sorrento was hanging upside down from his leg. His head felt funny, but the Seadragon in his scale didn’t care.
Seadragon’s tired face desired sleep and at the entrance of the pillar he approached, Io sat down and had a spoon to eat out a huge slice of watermelon on his lap. Io looked up with a pink stain around his lips, the Seadragon walked past, thinking what reward to give who calmed the Latino boy down.
The Siren General’s leg became itchy from the Seadragon’s anti-bite gloves he had worn in case the little Siren decided to act up. Which was partially true, as he had screamed like a banshee.
Sorrento didn’t behave at all hence he was thrown into a dark prison corner. Kanon did not say a word when he closed the door, killing off the last source of light before locking it for good.
“Seadragon! Open up right now! I am a General! Open it! Open it.”
But he walked away, smirking at the poor kid whose fate is unknown.
That is not how it works, Siren. Kanon thought as he walked back to his quarters.
A long night seeing he had no plans to sleep as he intended to complete his work. He sat back to read more papers about finances until a knock on his door interrupted him.
“Excuse me sir,” a mermaid spoke, “someone is waiting for you-”
“I don’t have time right now.”
“They have the Siren scales.”
Kanon put on his Seadragon scale and followed the mermaid to an area near the pillar, a man with a fringe and tied up hair observed the general with a disapproving look. His arms crossed and shook his head as he leaned against the scales.
Perhaps this Seadragon General was born into this fate or like him, used it for ambition and power.
“Leave us.” Seadragon sternly signalled for the mermaid to leave and looked Unity in the eye, “I know who you are, Unity of Bluegraad. You shouldn’t be here.”
Scale had told Kanon everything about his man, Kanon could feel the answers to his soul.
Unity frowned and walked through Kanon’s body. Stopping to stand behind him, feeling the scale for the last time, not caring that the current Seadragon had gone pale, “Your feeling of illness finally came out, I unlocked it. Look at you, acting as if you know my past. What about my two hundred and fifty years? I agree with you as a spirit, a land of the dead suits me. You know who is waiting for me. It was for her and for him that my perishing body found them and lay with their corpses. I died in the sea, with them. I never returned to her, a punishment for not dying in the war. I have been walking in the sea ever since, living in silence and witnessing the return of the civilization of Atlantis and its growth. Like me, you will end this. You are not true, Seadragon.”
Kanon attacked him with his golden triangle, it didn’t do its intended purpose.
“It is useless against spirits.”
Kanon analysed Unity and got down to business, ”What do you want?”
“Simple, free the Siren and let him be with Poseidon, that guarantees his loyalty to you. Choose to trap him, you create an enemy. You are wise to know this, Kanon.”
Some time passed with no exchange, and Kanon chortled. “Seeing how he sneaked out from his pillar and managed to get on a boat with people. With training, he will be a good spy. You and the Siren are free to depart. Wait here.”
The Seadragon left to get the Siren. Unity glanced up to the surface, “I will never return here again, Seraphina. If the spectres find me, I will be there soon," he murmured in a short soliloquy of his life, devoid of fond memories.
“Unity, you stupid Seadragon!”
Little Siren General ran to his scales and put them on, “Are you dead? Are you an spirit? How come only Kanon and I get to see you? Do you know Portuguese?-”
“Enough questions, Siren, let’s go.”
Sorrento got his rucksack on his back and Unity carried his not too heavy scale for him, he turned around to the place that was once empty - full of life for now.