Mermaids in Massachusetts

The Argument

The words hit Austin like a freight train. "Gone?" he asked, his voice cracking at the end. "Gone?" He'd only known Mason for the time he'd been here, and he didn't even particularly like the guy at first... but Mason had grown to be one of his best friends, ever, and the thought of him being gone made him sick to his stomach.

"Yeah," Tanner murmured, looking at the ground beneath their feet. Silence filled the room, and Austin took a deep breath.

"Did... did you find his body?" Austin whispered, almost too scared to say it. "If you found his body, I want to have a proper service. He deserves it, more than that. He deserves to be living. He deserves... I dunno, happiness and maybe a puppy..." He closed his eyes, wincing at the thought. "The little fucker never even got to see a puppy."

Tanner looked up at Austin, his eyes scanning over his crying form. "His body? Austin, he's missing, not dead." For the second time that day, Austin was blown away by the meaning of a sentence.

"He's... alive? Bloody hell, you could have just told me he was missing," Austin said, smoothing a hand down his face. It was alright. Mason was alive. Captured, maybe injured, maybe beaten, but alive. But then again, maybe he was molested, maybe he was tortured, maybe he was... killed. "Oh my god, where is he?" Austin said, his face paling once again.

"Well you see, Austin," Tanner said, his voice irritated, "that is sort of the point of the phrase 'missing.' I do not know where he is."

"Yeah, I kinda got that, thanks." Austin said, smiling tightly. "Believe it or not, I understand English."

"This is hardly a time for sarcasm, Austin!" Tanner shouted. Austin's eyes narrowed.

"Has it even occurred to you to get up, go look for him? He was willing to risk his life for you ungrateful bastards, and you're sitting on your ass, waiting for him to, like, magically show up. What the actual fuck."

"Guys?" Ian croaked, but it went unheard.

"Is it not? Because every time Mason has left, he has always come back! That is what he does."

"Tanner, this is serious. He was kidnapped, practically, and we need to save him, god forbid what might happen if we don't."

"But Austin, do you not see? He can take care of himself. He is a grown up man with responsibilities and an understanding of the world we live in. He can fend for himself, he does not need us spoon feeding him."

"Spoon feeding him? Ha," Austin said, his tone bitter, "Trying to save someone's life, selflessly risking yourself and trying to better things is now being called spoon feeding? Wow. Never heard that one before."

"You sound like Isaac."

"You sound like Trent."

"Guys?" Ian said, slightly louder. No one payed attention.

"I'll have you know that Mason is strong-"

"Strong? But invincible? I-"

"Not invincible, brave! Able!"

"No one said he wasn't brave."

"He's stronger than ten of you-"

"I'll have you know that-"

The two mermen continued to talk over each other, Austin's face growing hot with anger. "At least I didn't leave him!" Tanner shouted, and Austin prepped his answer, ready to reply.

With that, a thunderous boom shook the very foundation of the Teach's building. The force of it all caused Austin to fall back, landing roughly on his tail. He watched as Tanner stumbled, leaning against the wall behind them. Light shone from every angle, and Austin had to shut his eyes it was so bright. He pulled what would be his knees to his chest, sliding his hands over his ears. The noise was deafening. The light was blinding. Austin felt helpless.

The bang. The sound. The snap. With that, mixed with the looks on his companions faces, it wasn't hard for Austin to tell that whatever was happening was bad. Very bad. Dust skittered from the floor as the gravity shifted, and Austin reached his hand out, reaching for Tanner. Whatever was happening, whatever was going on- it wasn't good.

A hand gripped his arm, and he knew it had to be Tanner's. Austin took a deep breath, and it all stopped. Just like that, it all stopped.

It was very sudden, without a decrescendo of any sort. Austin's eyes snapped open, and he looked around the room. Ian was the only one not covering his ears.

"Does that happen often?" Austin asked, but judging by the look on Tanner's face, he already knew the answer.

"Never," Tanner said, pulling himself off the ground.

"We have to find out what's going on," Austin said, making for the door.

"What? Austin, we have about 400 different problems going on right now, we cannot waste time," Tanner said. Austin turned around, glancing at the boy. This was not wasting time. This was changing it.

"Tanner, just hear me out. I come from a place where everyone has access to everything. Well, mostly, anyways. We know things, like how shit works and where to go and stuff. I mean, I'm garbage at speeches, but what I'm trying to say is that I know how this will end if we don't follow that light, not to mention if we don't follow Mason. He's out there, somewhere, probably scared out of his mind. If I've ever read a fairy tale- and I have, plenty- I know that there's a reason the knight tries to save the princess; she doesn't like it where she is. We have to be the knights, Tanner. We have to fight the dragon, metaphorically, and save our prince. And in order to do that... you have to trust me. Be my knight in shining armor, Tan. Trust me. We'll take down whatever stands in our way."

Austin stared at Tanner, hoping his impromptu speech helped out in some way. Tanner just stared back. An awkward silence followed, and Austin bit his lip, worried that he might have messed up.

"Austin, what's a knight?"

Austin sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought.