Chapter Text
The sea had always been Gen's only home. At 19, he didn't know much beyond the coral reef where he had spent his whole life, but he didn't dislike that either. After all, he was just looking for a quiet life in which his only concern was the corals and other ‘sea flowers’ he liked to collect.
Such was his desire for tranquility that he was not in the habit of hanging out with other mermans and mermaids, living mostly in solitude. His only company were the jellyfish that used to swim around him while he collected starfish.
Like any other day, Gen took his little bag made of seaweed and slung it over one shoulder, ready to go out to look for more sea plants. He stepped out of the small cave he had made his home a few years ago, coming across a few schools of fish that greeted him on sight, swimming close to him. Gen laughed softly at the sight of them, and continued on his way, in search of his beloved flowers.
Minutes later, it was not long before he came upon the surface of the reef, and with it, the sun's rays also began to peek through the rocks. Mermans and mermaids were accustomed to living in the coldest and darkest parts of the ocean, yet Gen found that feeling the warmth of the sun was one of the best sensations.
Finally, he reached his destination, the highest part of the coral reef, where the most algae and corals were growing. He began to swim back and forth, carefully observing each species of marine plant he came across. At first, he only collected them for aesthetics, but as time went by, he had begun to study them as well, interested in what use he could make of them.
His little bag of algae began to fill little by little with corals of various colors, however, something else caught his attention. A huge shadow covered the entire reef, causing Gen to look up in surprise. His eyes widened in amazement as he encountered the hull of a large ship.
His curiosity led him to swim slowly to the surface, wondering what humans were doing in such secluded areas of the ocean, since no ships usually passed by. He peeked his little eyes above the water, finding what he assumed was a pirate ship, due to the unmistakable flag at the top of the main mast.
Gen approached, swimming slowly, careful not to be detected by the humans traveling on the ship. As he got closer to the it, people's voices became louder and louder, to the point where Gen could perfectly hear the conversation that was taking place on the deck of the ship.
“I don't remember the last time we set foot on land,” spoke a young boy who seemed to be no more than a simple sailor. “Captain Ibara is still obsessed with that relic, I do not remember the name.”
“Medusa," another man answered, “I don't even know what it is, but I've heard it's an object with some kind of unknown power.”
Gen felt a shiver run down his spine. He knew that artifact. In fact, practically any merman or mermaid had heard of it. It was said that in ancient times it had belonged to a king who ruled over all the oceans. He had heard of ‘that power’ which this Medusa contained, capable of petrifying anyone around it if a few particular words were spoken. Now it rested on some unknown island, whose location was only described in ancient manuscripts that only sea creatures like him were able to read.
“Now he's obsessed with finding some poor critter who can tell him where it is,” the man laughed, “as if he'd be so lucky to have a mermaid show up at his ship voluntarily.”
Gen's eyes widened upon hearing the last words. If he stayed there, he could be in danger. He tightened his grip on the little bag of seaweed he carried dangling from one shoulder, at the same time slowly retreating from the hull of the ship.
“What is that?”
“It can't be…”
Gen looked up, meeting the eyes of the cabin boy he had heard talking a few minutes ago. He froze, not quite knowing what to do, and before he knew it, a net fell on him, catching him in the act.
“Captain Ibara!” the man spoke with a smile on his face as he pulled the net with his hands. “We got something you're going to love.”
The other boy also took the other end of the net in his hands, helping him to pick it up, and Gen, who was pulling on the ropes with all his might in an attempt to free himself, was getting closer and closer to the deck of the ship.
Another man leaned out. This one was considerably older than the other two, and what stood out most about him was his large nose, along with all the wrinkles on his face. He began to laugh at the sight of him:
“I knew it! I knew the seas would be on my side! Pull harder on the net, you useless pair.”
The other two nodded in complaint and did as he asked.
In a desperate attempt to escape, Gen rummaged through the coral he had collected earlier, looking for something to cut the net with. Finally, he found just what he was looking for. A coral of a reddish hue had at the ends of its branches sharp spikes with which he could escape. Without waiting a second, he took it in his hands and began to cut the strings.
The one who must have been Captain Ibara, instantly saw what he tried to do, and slapped the other two men aside to take the net in his hands and pull. And just as Gen was about to be hauled up to the surface of the ship, a gap large enough to squeeze through opened up before his eyes. Without thinking, he dove into the ocean, but one of his tail fins caught on the net, causing it to split in two.
Gen made it all the way to the sea, but a stinging pain began to run through his tail. He looked with small tears in his eyes at his split fin. He tried to swim, but as he moved, the pain increased. With some seaweed he managed to make a kind of bandage to stop the bleeding.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and then looked up, the ship was moving away and did not seem to be looking for him. Little by little, his vision became blurred and a pleasant sleep invaded his mind. Gen closed his eyes and let himself be carried away by the tide, without knowing where it was taking him.
Meanwhile, not far away, a beautiful caravel sailed decisively over the waves, while a flag bearing the drawing of what in our time would resemble a rocket fluttered gently in the sea breeze. Its owner, a man who was known to be the greediest man who had ever sailed those seas, stood at the bow with his arms folded, scanning the horizon for any sign of a storm. His lips drew into a bright smile as he saw that, for the next few days, all looked set to be calm. He turned, meeting his petty officer, Tsukasa, who was looking at him seriously:
“Ryusui” he called him, “according to Ukyo, there is a port near here. We have few provisions left, so it would be best to stop there before nightfall to replenish our supplies and rest.”
The other man nodded at his words and without much thought agreed with him. He walked to the stern of the ship, waving on the way to Kohaku and the rest of the gunnery team, who were training tirelessly on the deck. Ryusui took the helm in his hands and turned it with all his might:
“Comrades!” He announced, addressing his crew, “We'll take a short detour to replenish supplies! If anyone has any objections, speak now.”
A silence fell over the entire surface of the ship, being broken by a young man who came out of one of the cabins:
“Captain Ryusui, why ask if you know you're going to do whatever you want.”
The aforementioned laughed loudly at the comment.
“You're absolutely right, Senku,” he replied, and then turned the rudder even more, causing the ship to turn around.
And, as the sun hid behind the horizon, the caravel finally docked at the port of a small island, known to be one of the most frequented stops by pirates.
Ryusui was the first to set foot on land, being followed by his crew. Tsukasa followed close behind, and beside him, hopping about, Suika walked as well, incessantly asking if they could have some meat for dinner that night. The poor girl was tired of eating only fish and bread for weeks, but she couldn't complain much either, since the person in charge of the meals was none other than François, a renowned chef in all the seas who, with few ingredients, was capable of cooking a dish that would bring even the most fearsome of pirates to their knees.
“Stay near me, Suika,” Ryusui reminded her.
Behind them were Senku and Chrome, the latter questioning his friend and teacher without pause, who was huffing and puffing, asking him to give him a break. They had been working all day on a new tool for the carpenter who was in charge of taking care of their much-loved ship, Kaseki, and Senku wanted to forget about it a bit, enjoying the sort of ‘vacation’ that Ryusui had decided to provide them that night.
Kohaku was following them with laughter, as she was apparently still bragging about the beating she had given Hyoga that afternoon. The boy was shushing her, starting to walk faster in an attempt to lose her, while Nikki laughed, agreeing with the other girl.
Meanwhile, Taiju, who was also part of the gunnery team, was walking hand in hand with Yuzuriha, who was working with Kaseki taking care of the ship's craftsmanship, specifically the sails, as well as the crew's clothing.
Along with them were François, Ukyo and Sai, the captain's brother, who were discussing the possible directions their journey could take in the coming days.
Minutes later, Kinro dragged Ginro out of the ship, who was sobbing and telling him to let him stay at his post in charge of the watch. His brother did not trust him at all, suspecting that the other boy would sleep in the crow's nest as soon as he could.
“Kinroooo," Ginro called him as he grabbed the gunwale with hands and feet.
“Stop acting like a child,” Kinro scolded him as he pulled on him unsuccessfully. “Follow Ryusui and stay with the rest of the crew. I'll take care of the watch tonight.”
Magma didn't take long to arrive, easily grabbing Ginro by one leg and dragging him away with him.
Kinro didn't entirely approve of his brother being treated like this, but when he got like that, he had to admit he was unbearable. He sighed and walked back into the ship.
Meanwhile, Ryusui pushed open the doors of the first tavern they came across with both hands, making sure his entrance was triumphant. He walked to the bar and took a seat on one of the stools, leaving a bag full of gold coins on the table.
“Serve us your best meat, please," he asked the barkeep, who nodded with nervous laughter, looking at the coins in his hands with a twinkle in his eye.
Suika, who was standing behind next to Tsukasa, started jumping up and down with joy, happy to know that her wishes had been fulfilled. Tsukasa laughed at the sight of her, understanding her happiness.
Gradually, the entire crew gathered in the tavern, driving away some customers, but that mattered little to the owner. After all, Ryusui had provided him with such a sum of money that he wouldn't have to worry about eating for a year.
Suika sipped happily from her orange juice while Ryusui took a long sip from a pitcher of beer, being scolded by Ukyo for drinking so much. Tsukasa was enjoying having a few seconds of quiet, eating his steak in silence, and Senku was doing his best to keep Chrome from swatting him, as he had taken it upon himself to swat a fly that kept circling around him.
When they had finished dinner, Ryusui also took care of renting some rooms for the night. Many of the crew decided to go to bed early to be able to perform normally the next day. On the other hand, Chrome jumped excitedly on the bed he had been given, insisting to Senku between silent shouts that they go to the beach.
It was a tradition they had since Chrome had arrived on Ryusui's ship and Senku had taken him on as his apprentice. Whenever they arrived at an island, while everyone was asleep, they would take advantage of the fact that there were few people around town at night to walk the beach, looking for stones and minerals that might be of use or of any interest to them.
Senku finally agreed, sighing, putting his leather shoes back on.
When they reached the beach, Chrome didn't think twice about taking off his shoes and starting to scamper across the sand.
"I'll look around over there, you can look around here, we'll meet in an hour at the inn."
He told him without further ado, and then disappeared, without giving Senku any chance to complain (even more). After sighing for the fifth time, with the help of an oil lamp, Senku walked among the rocks of the beach, careful not to slip and fall into the sea. He instantly regretted not having asked Tsukasa for help. From time to time, he would accompany them on their little nighttime adventures ‘just in case, so they wouldn't accidentally kill themselves’ as he put it.
He walked with slow steps, until he reached a beach that seemed to be much less frequented. His feet stepped on the sand and Senku had to suppress a groan as some stones stuck in his foot. With the help of the flashlight, he shone the light on the ground, so he could see exactly where he was putting his feet.
So far, he hadn't found anything that particularly caught his attention. He had hoped to see a cave that made contact with the sea, since the it usually brought very interesting things, but for the moment there was no sign of them.
Suddenly, a lump in the sand caught his attention. It looked like some kind of animal that had become stranded. He approached little by little, and as he got closer, he realized that it was not an animal, but a person.
He started to run, now caring less about the stones that stuck in his feet, until he finally reached the mysterious castaway. He looked like a young man, about his age, his hair was two different colors, half black and half white. He inspected him a little more and his eyes widened in surprise as he realized that the boy had no legs, but rather a long fish-like tail coming out of his torso to end in a pair of long fins. Senku's nose wrinkled as he saw how one of them seemed to be split in half, some blood was coming out of it, although it seemed that the bleeding had stopped a while ago.
Without much thought he checked his pulse, finding that the merman (or so it seemed) was still breathing. Senku sighed, calmer now, then looked around for something to help him carry him to the ship. He didn't consider himself someone particularly strong, as that was the role of Tsukasa and the gunnery team, so he highly doubted he would be able to carry the boy in his arms.
Still, he could try. Resigned, he set the oil lamp down on the sand, and slipped one arm under the young man's torso while the other slipped under the tail. He lifted him up slowly, breathing heavily. Senku turned around, retracing his own steps, walking slowly. Every now and then he had to stop to rest, his face looking like a tomato from all the exertion he was putting in.
Finally, Senku made it to the beach where he and Chrome had parted ways, and he started walking back to the ship, careful not to let anyone see him. Who knows what the people of that town would have made of seeing a merman in his arms, knowing that in many of those places they were considered evil beings and even had a reputation for eating people. Although Senku knew that this had nothing to do with reality and was only mere legends.
Kinro greeted him in surprise, climbing down from the crow's nest as soon as he saw him.
“Senku? What are you- What is that?!” Kinro pointed in horror at the boy in his arms.
Senku, meanwhile, his voice cracking with shortness of breath, asked him to hold him so he could catch his breath. Kinro did as he asked, still with some fear.
They carried him to the cabin where Senku and Chrome used to work and laid him on a long table. They both watched him carefully.
“I found him on the beach,” Senku told him without taking his eyes off the mysterious man, “he seems to be injured.”
Kinro nodded, looking at the split fin. A grimace came over his face as he imagined how much that must hurt.
“We should tell the captain,” Kinro turned to Senku with a serious expression, “before we do anything, I mean. He's the first one who should know about this.”
The other pondered his words for a few seconds, one hand on his chin. Ryusui would probably be very happy to have a sea being on his ship, he would even brag about being perhaps the first pirate with a mermaid on board. Senku rolled his eyes, already imagining the scene.
“Wait until tomorrow to tell him, I'm staying on the ship tonight to make sure he's all right. You can go rest at the inn, if you see Chrome tell him I'm sleeping here tonight.”
Kinro looked at him doubtfully, then nodded and withdrew without saying anything. He closed the cabin door behind him, leaving the other boy alone with the merman.
Senku looked the young man in front of him up and down. He made sure with his decent medical knowledge that, aside from the broken tail, the boy was fine. Nothing seemed out of place, so he fetched a bandage to wrap the wound, but not before cleaning it. He had never healed a sea creature like that, he had always made sure Ryusui's crew was safe, but beyond that, he wasn't quite sure how to take care of a wound like that. He didn't know much about fish anatomy (or whatever anatomy that guy had).
Not knowing quite what to do, he took him back into his arms, careful not to let the wound make contact with anything, to lay him on his bed. He looked at him again and sighed. Who knew what kind of trouble he was in now.
He yawned, and decided to give himself a little rest, plopping down on Chrome's bed that was right above his, hanging from the cabin ceiling.
He closed his eyes, however, he had trouble falling asleep, wondering what it meant that this being had come ashore on this island, and in such a condition. Finally, he fell asleep, dreaming of a merman that now seemed familiar to him.