Black Hearted

Part 81

Sean laid his head across his arm, watching Nate work. He found it fascinating to watch the sparks of static leave Nate's fingers to intricately mold the seams of the metal together. Every few minutes Nate would whisper something to the metal and blow something over it that would make the metal shine. After finishing it, Nate pulled the crown into the water to cool it down. Setting the cooled piece of jewelry back on the ledge, Nate looked it over and told him. "I think this looks right. But... I wonder why they called this a Sea Crown? Looks more like a... circlet... or a... bracelet." Sean chuckled to himself, sleepily uttering out. "Probably sounded better than saying Sea Jewelry." Nate chuckled, turning it over in his hand. A thin silver rope chain connected to a circle with the prongs of six tridents around the edges. While nestled in the center where all the trident handles touched was the blue heart shaped diamond jewel. As they both stared into the jewel, they began to marvel at it.

Within the depths of the dark jewel, they could see beautiful landscapes beneath the sea. Sean smirked to himself, mumbling out. "Hard to believe Mark had that inside him this whole time..." Nate raised his head with a concerned expression, causing Sean to quickly add. "Long story. I'll fill you in later. Right now, we should go." Sean sat up, then put a hand to his throbbing forehead. His brain felt so tired and dizzy. Laying back down, he groggily said. "Nate... I don't feel good..." Nate rose up from the water a bit to place a hand on his forehead, asking him with worry. "Sean, when you were attacked by the Sirens... Did you see what they looked like?" Sean shook his head groggily, unable to stay upright. So he laid back down to rest. He felt so lightheaded and he was starting to feel like he was going to throw up. Nate coaxed Sean into turning over onto his stomach, looking over the scars that were still across his back. As Nate looked over the wounds, Sean mumbled out. "I... I didn't see them... There were so many."

Nate held him still, pulling something from his back that made Sean jerk and scream in pain. Whatever it was, it was in deep and it felt like a knife slowly cutting his skin as it came out. When Nate pulled it free, he sank in the water a bit and cursed. Sean looked over the long thin black spike in Nate hands with teary eyes. Nate looked over the spike, muttering to himself. "Looks like a fucking Weever Merman spike." Sean blinked, asking a little scared. "What does that mean?" Nate set the spike aside, telling him seriously. "Sand dwellers. Not native to this region... but a lot of the Sirens aren't. Weevers have fins along their arms with venomous spikes. I've run into a few along the beach shores of the Mediterranean. They sunbathe in the sand along the shore... get too close and the fuckers shoot you with the fucking things. They wait for the venom to paralyze you in pain and then drag you into the depths to either eat you or toss you to the Trench Dwellers." Sean clutched his heart, shakily asking him. "Am I going to die...?"

Nate didn't answer, he just told him seriously. "Stay here. I'll be right back." Sean snatched Nate's arm, panic setting in as he pleaded with him. "Nate! Don't leave me! Please!" Nate rose up from the water to lean on the edge, giving him a brief kiss. The kiss calmed Sean, before Nate told him with a small smile. "I need to get something to help you. Just relax. Stay calm." Nate pushed off the edge, sinking beneath the water and out of the tunnel. Sean laid back down, curling up a bit. He didn't like that he felt so tired. He could barely keep his eyes open, but he refused to let himself sleep. The cold was starting to make him shake, causing him to rub his body for warmth. With Nate gone, the cave was filled with the light echoing screams of Merfolk fighting throughout the water. He could even still hear the thunder booming overheard. Nate had only been gone a few minutes, but it felt like hours. As a ripple indicated movement under the water, Sean sat up to ask if Nate had found what he needed. Only to see that the thing that slowly breached the surface wasn't Nate.

Sean covered his mouth as he watched the merman breach the surface menacingly. This merman's eyes were a solid black with black scales around his eyes, giving him a hollowed eye look. The merman's pale skin was covered in sickly looking white scales with bands of black going down his body that coiled behind him like a snake. The merman puffed air out of its flat vertical nose holes, his lips curling back to reveal sharp teeth. Sean pressed his back to the wall, shaking uncontrollably. He could barely move without feeling sick... How was he going to fight this thing?! The man flicked out a long black tongue, before starting to hum to him. Sean took a shallow breath and tried not to listen to it. Slithering up to the edge, the merman rested his black scaled fingers on the edge. Sean unfolded his tail to form fit against the wall, his head was already fuzzy as it was without the Siren's humming adding to it. Shaking from the cold, he eyed his trident. One good hit was all he'd need.