(This may have been inspired by a show that my little sister likes to watch. If you don't like it, don't hate on me, I got inspired.)

Virgil took a deep breath of the ocean air as he walked up to the shore of an extinct volcano island, having to take a boat out here. His friend, Patton, dared the anxious male to go explore the island, having been curious for a very long time to see what is on the island. So far, Virgil has found lots of tropical fruits and monkeys on this island. But, Virgil couldn't keep himself near the edges of the island, so, went to the volcano. Virgil reached the base of the volcano and looked up. He hadn't even realized that it was getting darker by the minute, more intrigued by the strange markings that were carved into the rocks.

Virgil decided to circle around the volcano when he slipped and fell down a hole that he hasn't seen before, landing on his face once he reached the ground. "Fuck!" Virgil screamed, sitting up and covering his nose, feeling a trickle of blood start to come out of his left nostril. The smell of seawater was very strong now, which reminded him that he wasn't near the ocean when he fell down the hole. Virgil opened his eyes and widened in response to what he saw.

There was a huge pool of water that was being stopped by rocks that were smooth, probably shaved down by the salt water that keeps licking up on the rocks and splashing onto the bank of pebbles. Virgil saw a sliver of moonlight come in from the opening of the volcano, which was reflecting off of the saltwater and creating light patterns on the walls of the volcano. The strange carvings that were carved in the rocks began to glow, making Virgil almost freak out. The only reason why he didn't freak out is because of the calming atmosphere that he received from the carvings.

There was an odd scent, one that wasn't of salt or water, but of ashes and burning fire. Virgil couldn't find the source of it, so he presumed that a natural forest fire was happening outside of the volcano. Virgil went closer to the water, just in case if the fire got down the hole that he fell in. Virgil fiddled with the rings on his fingers, one from his father, mother, and Patton, all on his right hand so he didn't pick at his skin when he got anxious.

Virgil sighed and took off his jacket and shirt, more blood coming out of his nose. He decided that it would be best if he stopped the blood momentarily by dunking his face in the saltwater pool, which would sting a little, but not much worse could happen. Virgil looked down at the pool, took a deep breath and dunked his entire head underwater. After a couple of seconds, he got his head out of the water, running his hand under his nose to find watery blood instead of thick, mucus blood.

Virgil shrugged, seeing that it was better than nothing, and ran his left hand through his hair, slicking it back slightly. His makeup was surely ruined by now, but he didn't exactly care since he was alone. He looked up at the sky where the hole of the volcano was, seeing that the moon was almost entirely filling the hole of the extinct volcano. How long has he been here on the island? He only arrived here at 6 pm, it couldn't have been almost midnight already. Virgil dug through his jacket pockets, pulling out his phone and looking at the time.

'11:58 pm' shined back at Virgil, making him sigh. He didn't live with his parents, so he didn't exactly have a curfew, but he was always anxious about traveling around at night. 'Guess I'm going to stay here. It's pretty cozy anyway, so I don't mind.' Virgil thought to himself and put his shirt back on.

Two minutes later, the pool started to bubble. Virgil looked at it, startled that a huge fish was going to eat him or something until he heard some nice music coming from the pond. Virgil smiled softly at the tune, and got closer to the water, already have taken off his shoes and socks since he was getting ready to nap on his jacket for the night. Virgil stepped into the pool, looking up at the smiling moon in the sky. Then, his vision went black.

~^~

Virgil woke up on the shore of the volcano island with his jacket and shoes not too far away from him, not remembering much from last night. Virgil shrugged on his jacket and put on his shoes, getting onto the boat, careful not to get himself wet, and heading back to the coast of Florida.

Virgil sighed softly as he walked towards his home that was conveniently near Marquesas Key, which was where Patton had dared him to go to. Virgil picked his house keys out of his Jean pocket, and headed inside, exhaustion overtaking him. Virgil just wanted a bath and a nice meal before he actually goes to bed for the rest of the day. Virgil looked through his fridge, deciding on leftover pizza, and popped it into the microwave to heat it up. Once he ate, he went to go take a bath.

He took off his clothes and threw them in the laundry hamper after emptying all of his pockets, and turned on the water. He took off his makeup with makeup remover, and when he was satisfied, checked the temperature of the water. Once the water hit his skin, he flopped over and into the tub, bumping his head against the porcelain wall, making him yelp in pain.

Virgil turned his head to see what had tripped him and screamed at what he saw. There was a huge black and purple tail behind him, flopping helplessly around, trying to get Virgil to move, but to no avail. "What in the actual fuck!?" Virgil screamed, squirming to move away from the new appendage that is connected to his body. When Virgil saw that his attempts to move where fruitless, he dragged more of his body into the bathtub, the fins of his newfound tail hanging out of the side of the bathtub.

Virgil stared at the fishtail, that looked close to being a Beta fish without the head, trying not to hyperventilate. Virgil reached down to touch the scales, hesitation running through his entire body. "Jesus Christ..." Virgil muttered, fingers touching the black and purple scales attached to the tail. This was definitely real. He was able to feel his hand touching the tail, his tail. To say that he was freaking out is an understatement.

Virgil sighed to himself and washed his body and hair, his fin flopping around aimlessly like he would when he had his legs in the tub. Virgil pulled the plug in the bath and tried to pull himself out of the tub,  landing on the ground with a loud 'thud'. Virgil groaned and reached up to the towel rack above him and pulled down a towel, starting to pat himself dry. Once he was fully dry, the tail poofed away, leaving a tingling sensation to run through Virgil's body.

Virgil sighed in relief and stood up, grateful to have his legs back, and started to get dressed in a pair of loose boxers and a pastel purple sweater. Virgil shrugged on his black and purple handmade jacket and immediately headed towards his computer. He didn't really listen to the rumors that were linked to the island, but now, now he had to. Considering that one of the rumors was that magic runes were linked with this island, along with rumors of the moon. Virgil brought up website to website to website, getting the same rumors, but was not answering any of his questions.

Virgil brought up a mythology website, looking at it for a very long time. It was explaining sirens and connections in the moon, saying that sirens believed that there is a deity in the moon that gave the sirens these powers, along with Triton giving sirens their long lifespan. It didn't really explain how Virgil got this way.

'Maybe it was a curse of some kind? Who knows.'

Virgil pushed himself away from his laptop, rubbing his temples in irritation, trying to make sense of anything. Virgil stood up from his rolly chair, and headed to bed, wanting to take a nap before heading back there that night.

~^~

Virgil woke up groggily at 4:54 pm, to an obnoxious ringtone that only belonged to Patton. Virgil patted around on his nightstand for his phone, picked it up and answered the call. "Hello...?" "Virgil! Hey, did you go to the island yesterday? Some wildlife person said that there was a boy on the shore dressed in purple sleeping, was that you?" Virgil slowly blinked at the long sentence that came out of Patton's mouth, and said, "Yeah, that was me. I was really tired last night after exploring the place for a bit that I decided it would be best if I stayed on shore and took a nap. I'm at home safely, if that's what you're wondering."

Virgil loved Patton's worrying sometimes, but sometimes he wished his best friend didn't care so much about him and go after Logan for a bit instead of checking up on him after dangerous things happen. Virgil sighed as Patton continued to ramble, having said apology after apology for daring him into something as dangerous as going to the haunted island. Virgil kept reassuring him that he was fine and that he was planning on going back tonight to grab a ring that he dropped on the shore that night. Obviously, he was lying, saying that he would be back before midnight.

Virgil sighed as he hung up the phone, getting dressed in a pair of jeans, a loose T-shirt and his jacket, as always. Virgil headed towards the dock, making sure that Patton wasn't around or on the boat, and sailed off. Virgil docked his boat at the shore, gripping onto his dead mother's necklace under his shirt. He was glad that wasn't lost after what happened last night, but he was nervous about something. He felt something off about tonight.

As Virgil headed towards the hole near the base of the volcano, he made sure not to land on his nose this time, seeing as what happened last time. He smelled fire again, but there wasn't any smoke coming off the island when he arrived. The volcano was inactive, and would not have the opportunity to reactivate again. Virgil had left his jacket on the boat this time and had changed into a pair of swim trunks. Virgil took in a shaky breath and stepped into the saltwater pool, the tail reappearing once he touched the water. Virgil's hands shook as he went underwater, finding that he could breathe.

"Shit..." Virgil said and saw a small hole that was big enough for a person to slip through. Virgil swam towards it, finding himself near the reef of the island. Virgil found it easy to swim with his new tail, making him grin in excitement. Virgil saw something shining in the distance, something small. As Virgil swam towards it, it looked like the shine was getting bigger and forming into the shape of a large fish, confusing Virgil. Once he got close enough, he saw a mermaid, no, merman, singing and collecting gold jewelry that is in the sand. Whatever wasn't gold, he'd throw off to the side, not as intrigued with iron-rusted jewelry. Virgil got closer, alerting the merman of his presence. 

"Stop right there!" the merman said, looking Virgil dead in the eyes with his glowing red irises, giving off a menacing aura. The water around them seemed to get hotter as Virgil stopped swimming towards him, smelling fire and ash again. Was this man making that smell? He doesn't have any fire around him, they're underwater! Virgil coughed slightly, and said, "Sorry if I startled you. I was simply seeing what the glowing was-" "You can't have any of it! This part of the sea belongs to King Thomas, and people that are not in his pod are not welcomed here!" The merman exclaimed, flicking his tail at Virgil, a burst of hot water hitting Virgil in the face, clearly unpleased that Virgil has not gone away yet.

Virgil huffed and coughed at the sudden humidity change in the water, the scalding water burning his skin a tad. Virgil glared at the merman, and said, "Well, that was rude. I did not want any of the jewelry that you have so obviously claimed," Virgil moved his hair away from his eyes to get a good look at the man, who looked like his tail was part koi fish. Stunning, really, but he mustn't get distracted now, "I was just curious to see who else would be here. But, I do have a few questions if you could-"

The merman was suddenly up close, eyes wide, circling around him. Was he, scenting him? Virgil could hear him sniffing, making Virgil go rigid when the merman came back to his level. "This magic... I haven't seen this in a very long time. No wonder you didn't back away," he muttered, scanning Virgil's body with his eyes. "My name is Roman. I apologize for the rude introduction, I thought you were apart of another pod, seeing your tail color and all," Roman says, and got closer to Virgil, placing his forehead against Virgil's in a sort of greeting.

Virgil's eyes went wide and he backed away a bit, face flushing a red that matched Roman's sash that is around his waist. He cleared his throat a bit and said, "V-Virgil. Um, what do you mean by 'pod'?" Roman smirked, and made a clicking noise that was close to a dolphin, and said, "Well, it's a group of sirens, we call it a pod, like a pod of dolphins!" Virgil nodded, feeling weird around this flamboyant merman, petting a fish that swam by, amazed that the fish didn't swim away once he touched it.

Roman smiled, obviously pleased by something, and hung the jewelry around his wrists and neck. He grabbed Virgil's hand and said, "Come with me, my father must meet you! He's only told me the tales, but, now that you're here, I believe all of them! Come, come!" Roman tugged on his hand softly, with Virgil hesitating. "W-Where are we going? How long will it take?" Virgil asked softly, his face a deep red.

"We are going to the pod, and, don't worry, it will only take 10 minutes tops!" Roman exclaimed, obviously excited. Virgil looked in the distance behind Roman, not seeing anything shiny or in shadows of fish or human. "Um, I don't see anything in the distance..." Virgil muttered, causing Roman to laugh. "Of course not, silly! The pod is never close to islands or land! We have to be further out in the ocean to stay safe!"

Roman grabbed Virgil's other hand, looking him in the eyes. "We have powers that humans do not. We are able to swim really fast because of our powers! You just have to put hands together like this," Roman put Virgil's hands in an upside-down cup motion, "then you swim and follow my lead!" Roman chirped, making it look easier than Virgil thought it would have been. Virgil nodded slowly, and Roman twirled around, making happy chirping noises.

"Follow me!" Roman started swimming, with Virgil following, and started to swim like a torpedo with Virgil not too far behind. And, as Roman promised, they were somewhere heavily populated in about 10 minutes.

"Whoa..."

Virgil looked up at the huge ship that had sunk to the bottom of the ocean, looking like a very old pirate ship, with algae and seaweed covering the entire ship. What surprised Virgil the most was the number of mermen and mermaids that surrounded the entire boat, mingling amongst each other. There were even children swimming around adults and teenagers. What caught his eye was the oldest looking merman that held a staff in his left hand, smiling softly and talking with the fish people around him.

To be continued... Maybe?

2758 Words