(Sequel) John Laurens X !Mermaid! Reader

°Chapter 8: The blame°

"What did I get myself into?" Hercules groaned, arms folded, looking down at Y/N's tail. With the help of John and Hercules, she had managed to climb aboard and sit on deck. Since the curse wouldn't allow both of them to have their legs above water, Y/N remained her tail while John had gotten his legs back temporarily. "I told you. Y/N is a siren-" "Half-siren, half-mermaid," Y/N corrected John. "Yeah, whatever," John aggressively spat back. 

"Let me get this straight. You have a tail which you got rid of for a while with some kind of potion," Hercules said, looking at Y/N. "How did you get involved?" He asked, pointing at John. "She's half siren, she used her witchcraft and made me into this weird ass being," John said, glaring at Y/N. "Untrue, witchery is done by a sea witch, John. Get your terminology straight," Y/N argued back to which John maturely stuck his tongue out. "Secondly, for now, he's half-siren, half-human," Y/N explained. 

"That could explain why you were unaffected by her singing," Hercules said. "Also, never do that again. You almost killed my entire crew," He said, looking back at Y/N. "If he stops being an a$$hole," She said, glaring at John. "YOU TURNED ME INTO A SIREN!" John yelled at her. "YOU WOULD'VE DONE THE SAME!" She shrieked back. The heat started to rise so John yelled at her one last time before heading bellow deck to get away from her. 

"Yeah! That's right! Take advantage of those lil legs!" She shrieked as she folded her arms. "Y/N," Hercules said as he sat down beside her. "Do you ever think about how John feels? You did tear him away from his normal life," Hercules tried to reason. "I know that and I feel guilty about it," She huffed. "So stop bringing it up," 

The ship slowly swayed side to side, heavily contrasting the storm Y/N had caused a few minutes before. The sun was slowly starting to rise from the sea and shone a golden glaze over the deck. "So what's your plan? Go to where the sea witch told you to go and get that item?" Hercules asked. "Yeah, but I don't even know what I'm looking for. Robin told me I'd know what I was looking for when I entered the general's office," She sighed. "I don't know how fast you can swim, but going there manually will take you a few weeks. And we're talking no breaks," Hercules said to which Y/N sighed even more, rubbing her temples.

"So what? I give up?" She asked. "Actually, I can get you there with the boat," Hercules suggested. "You would do that?" She asked. "Well yeah, we've been circling on sea because the Brits told us to get off land," He said. "But if you can put an end to this war, or at least try, I'm with you," He smiled. "Plus, it would give you more time to talk it out with John. He seems more at ease when he has legs," 

"WHERE IS THE CHEESE?!" John yelled, slamming his fist on the cutting board.

The chef slowly backed up, revealing the newly bought cheese to John. "Thanks," John grumbled getting to the cheese and cutting out a big piece out of the wheel. He sat down besides the cheeses and took a big bite out of his piece. The chef hurried out of the kitchen to get away from this moody cheese eater. 

"My blood pressure is gonna be through the roof," John grumbled through the cheese. 

"You're right. I guess I never really considered how heavy this must've weighed on him. It's just that I'm also dealing with some sh*t right now," Y/N sighed. "That's fine. It's okay for you to think about yourself. But don't throw a pity party. You did impact his life drastically. You broke his heart, betrayed him, and then turned him into a merman. That doesn't excuse his actions but also hold yourself accountable," 

After that, Hercules gave her a pat on the shoulder before standing up and leaving to check on John. Y/N uncomfortably shifted a bit, looking at her tail and slowly tracing the tiny individual scales. 

The rest of the crew was informed about the situation yet some of them still couldn't help but stare. When Hercules noticed this on his way to John, he hit one of them over the head and told them to keep mopping the deck.

When Hercules disappeared bellow deck, one of the sailors put his mop aside and walked up to her. "So," He said as he knelt down next to her. "You're the siren," He said, looking at her. Y/N took a good look at the man who was maybe 20 years older than her and then looked at her tail. "No, I'm the centaur," She replied, looking back up. 

"Funny," He said and sat down. "I'm Joseph, nice to meet you," He said reaching out his hand. When Y/N did nothing but look at his hand, he slowly put it away. "The captain rounded all of us up to get off land as quick as possible. I was just a bystander but decided coming along would be better than whatever the Brits had planned for us," He sighed.

"Don't you have any family?" Y/N asked. "I did," He admitted to which she frowned. "But I don't really want to get into that," He quickly said with a warm smile which almost seemed forced. "How about you? Do sirens have parents?" He asked, changing the subject. "I have parents," Y/N said, looking down. "I just don't know where they are," 

"I'm sure you'll find them," Joseph said with that same smile. It was as if he was trying to give her hope. She knew she would probably never see her parents ever again. She couldn't even recall their name or face. What's worse is that she didn't even know if they were alive or not.

Not that it mattered, Y/N lived alone in the sea for 18 years and she would do it again.