Weird Fishes (Sebastian Solace x Reader)

Man of War

Authors note: Hi! Happy Halloween! Please enjoy the update! <3

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Fed up with the endless dead ends, the gnawing frustration of being outmaneuvered at every turn, something inside you finally snapped. Enough was enough. You were done playing this game, done with the cat-and-mouse routine that had twisted your mind into knots. The keycard was out there somewhere, and whatever the hell that thing—no, that asshole—was, it wasn't going to stop you. You could feel its presence taunting you, mocking your every step, but you weren't going to be toyed with anymore. You had been through too much, seen too many things in this twisted, underwater hellhole to let it win. Your resolve solidified like steel in your chest. Fear melted into fury, and with each step, that anger bubbled hotter, turning into a fire that blazed through your veins. Enough of the creeping dread, the second-guessing, the constant looking over your shoulder. You weren't prey anymore—you were going to face whatever this was head-on.

Fists clenched tight at your sides, you stormed back toward Room Fifty. Your heart pounded in your chest, not from fear this time, but from sheer determination. You could feel the tension building inside you, a coil wound so tight it was on the verge of snapping. Each footfall was heavy, purposeful, the weight of your fury driving you forward with reckless momentum. The door to Room Fifty slid open with a mechanical hiss, the sound grating against your nerves like nails on a chalkboard. The stale, suffocating air hit you like a wave, thick and musty, as if the room itself had been holding its breath, waiting for your return. But you didn't hesitate. You didn't flinch. You stepped across the threshold, daring whatever lay in wait to show itself.

The room was as silent as ever, but it was no longer just the silence that made your skin crawl. It was the feeling of being watched—not by something passive, but something calculating, something that was relishing the slow burn of your unraveling. But that only fueled your anger. You weren't here to be a puppet in someone else's twisted game. Your breath came hard and fast as you crossed the room, every muscle in your body braced for a confrontation. The dim light flickered overhead, casting long shadows that seemed to shift with a life of their own. You felt the weight of your fury building in your chest, a solid mass that refused to be contained any longer.

"Oh, when I get my hands on you."  you growled to yourself, your voice cutting through the oppressive stillness. The sound echoed back at you, but you didn't care. Let it hear you. Let it know you weren't entirely cry afraid anymore—or at least for the time being. You could feel your heartbeat thundering in your ears, a war drum that drowned out the whispers of doubt that had been haunting you for days.

"Psssst, over here."

It was him again, that damned voice whispering from the shadows, beckoning you towards the vent with a false familiarity. Your gut twisted, every instinct screaming at you to turn and bolt, but you were beyond second-guessing yourself now. You needed that keycard, and hesitation wasn't an option. You forced yourself to drop down and crawl through the narrow, rusted passage.

Darkness enveloped you, smothering like a wet blanket until a flash of yellow light stabbed through the gloom. You blinked, trying to make sense of what you were seeing. The source of the light—God, it was coming from him. He stood there, or rather, squished awkwardly, half-submerged in the vent space and the side room he was stationed in, his silhouette framed by that eerie yellow glow. He—or it—wasn't fully human anymore. The transformation was grotesque, almost absurd, like a caricature come to life. The light emanated from a grotesque esca, an anglerfish lure sprouting incongruously from the tangled black mop of hair on his head. Large spiny fins where his ears were supposed to be. His eyes, notably he had three, glistened with a sickly greenish-blueish sheen, too wide and too reflective, like the eyes of a predator in deep water.