Fathoms

Grounded

Summary: Duo is chided by his family, and with good reason.

Author’s Note: Yes, the chapter title is my attempt at irony. Yes, it was lame. Oh, just read it, already.

Duo and Zechs darted through the slow, heavy current, whipping up a froth of bubbles in their wake. They retreated from the golden light Duo coveted quickly, putting as much distance between themselves and the odd presence they heard as possible. Disappointment swamped Duo, but his foster brother’s concern and panic made him push the emotion down while he allowed him to pull him away.

They rode a rapid eddy toward the grotto, batting away the clouds of seaweed that brushed past their faces and lodged in their hair.

You can let go now.

I don’t think so. I’m not facing Father alone once I have to explain where we’ve been.

Why do we even have to explain?

Because we’ve been gone too long. Zechs’ voice in his head was clipped and impatient. Duo peered over at his brother’s face peripherally and saw his irritated look. Why do you think?

We didn’t do anything wrong!

No, I didn’t do anything wrong. You know the rules. And whenever you get in trouble, I get in trouble.

Duo was glad Zechs couldn’t hear his sigh within the frigid depths.

They’d had this discussion before.

I’m older, and I get to take the blame whenever you just swim off into your own little world. You love getting away with murder.

So what are you, the alpha fish?

Brat. Duo took the opportunity afforded by a large school of yellow angel fish swarming over them as the brothers interrupted their smooth pattern of motion, and he yanked his wrist free from Zech’s grip.

Oh no you don’t!

Leggo!

NO! Get back here, Duo!

Get that stick out of your vent, Zechs.

I’m not letting you run off. Duo pretended he didn’t hear him as he floated at a more sedate pace through the pods nestled in the long cavern. He closed the psychic channel between them, but he felt Zechs fuming at him, anyway.

Duo felt himself yanked back just as he was about to exit the duct at the end of the corridor. Why do you still have that piece of junk?

It’s not junk! Why? Jealous? Duo evaded his brother’s grab for the small knife. Mine! He whipped around in a playful spiral, grinning at his brother’s expense as he tried again to take it from him and discard it. He kept passing the knife from one hand to the other behind his back. He flicked his cobalt tail at his brother and wriggled his anal fin, the merfolk equivalent of shooting him a full moon.

Want him to catch you with it? Might as well announce to anyone within a fathom that you went too close to the surface. Again. Zechs’ voice was deadpan in Duo’s head as he emphasized the last word.

Still not getting it.

Bottom feeder… Zechs swore.

They paused as they reached the gate. Two eel-tailed sentries slithered and coiled together so that they floated back to back, each at the ready for oncoming threats.

Scales, youngsters. The older guard impatiently held out his hand. His opal green eyes raked over Duo with scorn. Just like a live-mater to come wandering home late. Duo stiffened. Zechs flanked his brother protectively now, offended.

Watch your tongue.

Nay. You watch my tongue, guppy. You’re both late. I’d be within my rights to deny you and leave you to the sharks. The beacon sounded an hour ago. He held out his hand again. Scales.

Duo reached for the amulet around his neck and opened it. The guard’s hand darted out and practically yanked it from Duo’s neck. HEY! OW! It’s fine chain was tangled in his long hair, and it smarted when the guard’s rough pull snatched at the locks at his nape.

The sentry’s smirk fell and his eyes widened when he saw the insignia stained on the glowing, pearlescent scale in octopus ink. Prince Duo, he stammered. He released the amulet, which Duo snatched back indignantly.

Fool, his partner hissed. He nodded to the juvenile. Didn’t you see his eyes? he demanded, as though he had noticed them all along, even though he’d been just as incensed at the temerity of the two young mermen to show up so late at the gates.

Zechs projected his words coldly, his eyes hard, narrowed blue chips. It shouldn’t matter who he is. As long as he has identification, he should be treated the same way as anyone else. Zechs unfastened the amulet from his neck and passed it over so that he, too, could be identified.

Prince Zechs. If the sentries weren’t chastened before, they were now. Both of them looked positively green, which had nothing to do with their regular pallor. They returned his scale to him and untwined themselves. Each of them reached up and turned the seaweed-tangled copper wheels that raised the gates.

Both young princes swam up, up toward the low glow of the pods and nests, illuminated by dinoflagellates and jellyfish and the reflecting surface of mother-of pearl canopies over the dwellings’ windows.

The grotto filled a five-mile wide dome and housed the Sanq compound and the towering, gleaming palace that had been Duo’s only home from the night he was found. Zechs led his brother behind him just short of dragging him to the entrance. Passerby swam past them and stared, some pausing to point furtively at the king’s younger child. Speculating about the younger prince’s antics and betting on his father’s reactions was a favorite sport among the locals.

Two more sentries bowed to them as they entered the main hall. The interior of the anteroom was brightly lit, a sharp contrast from the shadowy depths where the boys spent their afternoon. To Duo, it paled in comparison to natural sunlight, even filtering through the water. He ignored the elaborate, sumptuous surroundings and headed for the kitchens. Zechs sighed and shook his blond head, stirring his ripples of platinum blonde hair.

There he goes, letting his stomach run the show. Typical. Duo was known around the palace for having a frenetic energy and a voracious appetite.

He reached into one of the storage nets suspended from the ceiling and helped himself to two oyster shells. He extracted the quivering meat and wrapped it in a length of seaweed, then crammed it into his mouth. He sighed in contentment. Food always tasted better after an adventure.

There you are! Duo suppressed a yelp as someone sharply tugged a lock of his hair, definitely hard enough to hurt. He turned and met disapproving blue eyes. Dorothy planted her hands on her hips and stared him down. What have you to say for yourself, young guppy?

Um…do we have any abalone? Even his thoughts were garbled as he chewed the second oyster. He turned his back on her to rummage through the storage nets again, until she caught his ear and gave it a tweak. OW!

You’ll spoil your dinner!

This is dinner! I’m starving.

Which wouldn’t be a problem if you weren’t so late. Your father was scowling over his prawns a while ago. Zechs wandered inside and shared her look of annoyance.

See what I have to put up with every day?

Triton bless your heart, Dorothy agreed.

He won’t be that mad, Duo reasoned with them.

DUO! He choked on the third oyster and Zechs hurried over to him to pound his back before he aspirated it.

Shit, he muttered.

It’s a good thing you had a snack, Dorothy offered. With the mood he’s in, that might have been your last meal.


*

Milliardo’s eyes were implacable as he studied his foster son. He tugged thoughtfully on a lock of his own hair, woven through with seaweed and small cowry shells. It was white as seafoam and reached down to his waist. He was an imposing man and wasn’t someone to trifle with or keep waiting.

Yet Duo seemed to delight in doing both.

You wandered too close to the surface.

Duo swallowed. It wasn’t that far, Father, hones-

His father held up a hand in warning. Save it. My aides know what they saw. I spoke to the Oracle today and she told me she saw you committing dangerous acts in her vision.

Duo shook his head. It wasn’t dangerous! I wasn’t that close to the surface, Father.

Milliardo’s brows beetled as he leaned forward in his great throne. To Duo, his father seemed to grow with the gesture and eat up the remaining space between them, even though it was a large chamber. Sit. He hesitated.

SIT. The roar in Duo’s mind battered his senses and sent terror spearing through his stomach. Before he could lose control over his bodily functions, he scuttled to a small hassock beside the throne and flung himself upon it.

Ribbons of white lighning sparked in the arctic blue depths of his eyes, the same ones that stared out of Zechs’ face in amusement and disdain for him every day.

My son…do you know…WHY I make rules? Duo swallowed. The king banged his fist against the arm of his seat, and the vibrations created aftershocks that made the room around them rock and shudder. Even the cushion of the water around them didn’t blanket the booming sound.

But Duo wasn’t cowed. At best, Milliardo now had his attention. At worst, he also had his defiance on a weakened leash. His son’s beautiful, unnerving violet eyes never wavered.

Do you know why? he repeated more patiently as he leaned back in his seat.

You think it will keep me safe, Father.

That’s the wrong answer. Because you’re my son. More importantly, I’m the king. It’s part of my job description. The lightning in his eyes shifted, dampening down to mere sparks. But my rules won’t even keep you from harming yourself if you don’t listen, Duo.

Duo sighed heavily. I can protect myself, Father.

You don’t know that, my son. You’ve been sheltered since your birth, so you’ve never had to fend for yourself beyond Sanq. And you should listen to your brother. If Zechs had been privy to their talk, he would have smirked at Duo’s expense.

Don’t know why.

It’s his duty. You’d do well not to take it for granted. We all have responsibilities, even if we don’t always appreciate their value. Milliardo’s sigh echoed his son’s. Your brother loves you. Don’t take that for granted, either. Or my love, for that matter.

Maybe you’d be better off without me being such a nuisance, Duo spat.

He wasn’t expecting his father to rise from his seat. He closed in on him and massive hands nearly ringed Duo’s taut upper arms in his grip. He gave him such a rough shake that his son’s teeth clacked together. You’ve never lost someone close to you! You wouldn’t say such things…! His father’s chest heaved with the attempt not to throttle him. The telltale lightning began to arc from his irises with more intensity and his lips were a thin line.

The small keepsake Duo had been guarding behind his back dropped to the chamber floor. The small motion distracted his father. One of his long, slender tentacles darted out to grasp the object, even as he held Duo immobile.

Milliardo was unique, one of the few merfolk who was a hybrid of fish and the caecelii. His lower body was a deep, translucent aqua green mottled with amethyst scales that shifted color based on his moods. But most impressive were the tentacles that were the legacy of the other side of his heritage, four of them branching and rippling from his waist above his fins. More than appendages, they housed his discharges of electricity that were his natural defense.

He wasn’t one to be trifled with. Duo tested that theory every day.

He lifted the knife up for inspection, turning it over in his grip. Gods… he murmured.

It’s for cutting. Nicked myself on it a while ago.

I know. To Duo’s surprise, his father released him and slowly backed away, focusing only on the knife.

The memories nearly choked Milliardo as he ran his fingertips over the intricate brown gashes burned into the ivory handle. Genuine scrimshaw, something he hadn’t seen in decades and never expected – nor wanted - to encounter again. The blade was well made and clearly the owner had taken good care of it.

Duo was even more surprised when his father handed the knife back to him.

Go to your room. Duo’s stomach growled in protest.

But I haven’t-

GO!

FATHER!

You’re confined until I tell you differently. No trips outside of the dome. I don’t even want you to leave the palace walls for the next three days. Anguish twisted his son’s features and he almost backed down, but Milliardo adhered to his decision.

Violet eyes accused him of being the most hateful creature beneath the waves.

Yes, Father. His son whipped around and darted out of the throne chamber, leaving his father with the sight of his retreating blue fins and long chestnut hair.


You couldn’t possibly understand.