Blood in the Water

Oh shit we're busted (maybe not)

Maggie's POV

It's been a few weeks since I met Cronus. He was actually a pretty nice guy once he stopped trying to hate me. Ever since that day I would bring history books from my dad's study and read it to them, since they couldn't read English. Soon enough I started teaching them how to read and write the language, and they did the same for me. I found it weird how each symbol was pronounced the same as a letter. The good part is that it made it easier to learn. Now back to the present day.

I ran to the cove with my backpack over my shoulder. It was almost noon, and Eridan and Cronus would be waiting there. Once I reached the rocks, however, they weren't there. I looked around and found a note by one of the rocks. It was scribbled onto the rock in saltwater, and it was starting to dry. It was written in English, but I knew one of them had written it because a lot of the words were misspelled.

Maggie
Yuo hawve to stae avway form tha cowve for a vwile. Dont vwory abot us. Wer fine.
Cronus

Why would he ask me to stay away from the cove? And what had happened to them? It was making me worry. I can't think like this! I always had an issue with staying in small spaces for long periods of time, and the closeness of the rocks was not helping. I grabbed my backpack and made my way up the path to the top of the cliff. I could see the ocean stretch out for miles up there. It calmed me down and I could think clearly again. After a few minutes of staring at the sky I heard voices down below me. Two I recognized, one I did not.
"So this is where ya've been disappearing to every day?" Said the new voice. "Y-yes." Came Eridan's shaky but relieved response. "What the bloody hell does this say?" The newcomer said. He must have found the note. Now I see why Cronus wrote it in English. "No idea. A human must'vwe vwritten it." He lied. They both knew exactly what it said. "A human, eh? If the filthy landdweller came here once it'll do it again, lads." Ok, I could handle a lot of things, but insults like that weren't one of them. "Excuuuuuuuuuuse me! I have a name you know." I yelled from the top of the cliff. Both Eridan and Cronus face palmed. I kept yelling. "And I would like to know yours!" I added. His expression turned from confused to a devilish grin. I failed to notice it. I huffed and sat on the edge of the cliff. When I did my foot slipped and I fell backwards off the cliff towards the water. "SHIT!" I hollered. This is a stupid way to die. I thought as I plummeted towards the water with alarming speed. The newcomer watched in amusement at this while Eridan and Cronus looked horrified. Eridan acted first and leapt out of the water to catch me. He knew that if the fall didn't kill me, his dad would. I couldn't swim either. I expected to land hard on the water but instead I fell into his arms as he caught me. I clung to him, beginning to hyperventilate. He wrapped his arms around me and started shooshpapping me. I started to calm down until I was breathing normally again.

Eridan's POV

Maggie's breathing slowed down and I sighed in relief. I thought she was going to die. Cro jumped in after me and swam over to us. "Is she ok?" He asked, concern in his voice. "I-I-I'm f-fine." She stuttered. He let out a sigh and turned to our father. He looked confused as hell but that quickly changed to anger. "Both of you. Explain. Now." He said with a cold tone. He swam closer to us and Maggie clung tighter. She was terrified. We had told her about our father and she had gone pale in the face when we finished. I was surprised she didn't have a panic attack now that he was circling around the two of us. "Why aren't ya going to kill her, lad?" He demanded. I stuttered a bit before answering. "Wwell, um, sea, this human, Maggie, savved my life. I couldn't kill her after she almost died savving me." I said. It was true, but I didn't say that I was flushed for her. She didn't say anything either about that, even though we had confessed to each other a week ago. Dad circled us again and saw her injury. You could still se some of the tooth marks on her shoulder. By now she was shaking uncontrollably, and I tried to comfort her. She froze completely when dad put a hand on her shoulder. He yanked her out of my grip and held her up. She was tiny compared to him, of course she hadn't been very big in the first place. I tried to protest but Cro held me back. His expression told me to wait. I watched helplessly and feared the worst was coming.

Maggie's POV

I had never been so scared in my life. Not at the incident. Not at the fall I just took. This was whole new level of fear. I was shaking madly as the newcomer held me up. He was huge compared to me. And the look of complete anger he was giving me was enough to make me pale to almost paper-white. "Why." He asked. I risked a glance at him, and I could see confusion in his expression. "W-why w-what?" I stuttered, still terrified. "Why on this bloodily Earth would you save my son's life?" Oh. Oh shit. Now I knew who this was. This was Dualscar. I paled even further before replying. "H-he w-was hurt, s-sir, a-and t-the blood w-was  d-drawing sharks. I-I-I pushed him o-out of the w-way r-right as one a-attacked. I c-couldn'tve j-just left h-him there. I a-almost d-d-died doing it, s-sir." God I was stuttering bad. He looked at Eridan. "Is what she's saying true, lad?" He asked, a bit less anger to his voice. "Yes. It is." He answered. I prayed that I wouldn't be killed. To my surprise, I was pulled into a tight hug. I squeaked and started to panic. "Thank you, lass." Dualscar said to me. I couldn't think of anything to say. "Huh?" I squeaked. "If you hadn't been there to save him, he wouldn't be here now." Ok, this was messing with my head. Eridan told me that their father was one of the most violent mer there was, and that he was ruthless and merciless. So why wasn't I dead yet. He let go of me and I splashed down into the water. Shitshitshitshit. I thought as I tried to stay afloat. Eridan hurriedly swam over and lifted me out of the water. Dualscar looked confused. "I can't swim." I said, gesturing to the stump where my other arm used to be. "Sorry, lass." He said, obviously embarrassed. I giggled and spent the rest of the day with them. It was the most fun I'd ever had. For the first time since the incident, I was able to swim again, of course I had to be helped by someone, but it was fun nonetheless. At sunset I hopped out of the water, sopping wet, and waved goodbye to the Ampora family. As I walked back to my house, I couldn't help but wonder what it was like to be a mer.