"The land of the creatures, oh dear Minecraftia. What a bunch of bullshit."

Markus raised his head to stare at Ivan, who was swinging his half empty bottle of beer. The boy gulped at the sight of the older man with alcohol, with what happened back at their village. Dianne poked her head out of the kitchen and noticed Markus' discomfort. She took a mental note to hide the beer somewhere where Ivan wouldn't find as she stalked over, snatching the bottle our of the man's hand.

Ivan snorted and leaned on his hand, muttering slurred curses under his breath. Hero then ran down the stairs and placed a hand on the man's shoulder.

"You have your afternoon shift tomorrow, get some sleep," cooed Hero.

Ivan shook the hand off his shoulder and snapped, "You act like I'm old, how about you fu-"

"Okay! That's the alcohol speaking. It's awfully late so let's get upstairs," Dianne cut him off before the man could even complete the two words with Markus watching.

Dianne ushered him upstairs and groaned in frustration when she came back. Markus went back to making a check list of items they needed. Hero rested his sword on the table and slung an arm around his brother, looking over the checklist.

"Okay, you and Dianne can go collect the berries and apples we need tomorrow. After that, work on the farm... Then craft some swords and torches," he instructed.

Both Dianne and Markus stared at the teenager with wide eyes. The youngest boy shook his brother's arm off and snapped, "Since when were you the boss?"

Dianne nodded her approval. Hero shrugged and said matter-of-factly, "I didn't say I was. Besides, I'll dig up some coal, I'll collect meat and don't forget, Dianne, I have to chase some chickens for your farm. Then I called dibs on the night shift."

Dianne rolled her eyes and dug around the chest of clothes, pulling out some to fold. Markus threw his quill at his brother, engaging in a brotherly wrestle on the carpet.

○

"Welcome back, fluster-boy."

Hero sighed at Melanie's antics and chucked a rock at her. The mermaid snarled and hit it back with her blue tail, sending the rock to hit the boy.

On the eye.

Hero fell back, holding his right eye. Melanie gasped and crawled onto the rock and over to the boy, stroking the boy's hand to urge him to remove it. He slowly moved his hand aside, frowning when everything far away was blurry to his right eye. There was also a burning pain on his cheek, but he focused more on his sight. "I'm okay. Cover up and get off!"

Melanie chuckled as she slid back underwater, blinking up at her first human friend. She traced patterns on Hero's satchel with a finger, leaving wet trails. She asked, "What's it like on land?"

Hero looked up from writing on his research notebook and laughed bitterly. He scoffed and muttered, "Just as beautifully terrifying as the sea, with zombies, wolves and much more roaming about."

Melanie laughed and nodded her head slowly. "Well, we have sirens, haunted sunken ships and-"

"Mermaids," Hero cut her off.

The mermaid scoffed and lashed her tail, sending water at the young boy. Some drops landed on his beloved research book, and he sighed in exasperation. He wiped it dry with his thumb, Melanie watching his drawing habits carefully. She took note that the boy's tongue stuck out his bottom lip when he's concentrated, and he squints when he's going over his work.

"You're adorable, you know that little boy?"

Hero did not look up from his notebook but he chuckled. He said matter-of-factly, "Don't worry, Mel. I'm reminded everyday back at the cabin."

He then raised his head and glared at Melanie, "And do not call me 'little boy', you're only 28."

The mermaid gave a fake gasp, her hand flying to her chest. She snapped, "You make me sound some like an old fish! You're 15, I have the right to call you that, little boy."

"Fuck off, Mel."

Melanie cocked her head innocently and whispered, "What does 'fuck' mean? I've never heard of that before."

Hero stopped writing and stared at Melanie. He thought the mermaid was joking but the look of utter confusion in her eyes really did mean it. He squinted, double checking to make sure she isn't playing with him. Melanie squeezed Hero's leg in frustration, "Seriously, tell me!?"

That sums it all up for Hero and he burst out laughing immediately. Melanie just floated on the water, looking extremely puzzled. She hissed and dug her long nails deeper on her friend's leg, which ceased his cackling. He winced and shoved the mermaid away from him playfully. Melanie fell back deep into the water, and as she emerged, she stared at the boy with narrowed eyes.

With her smirk and her narrowed eyes, she was scheming something and Hero did not like it. He stood up and pointed an accusing finger at her, "No, no, no. Whatever you're going to do, stop it, Mel."

Immediately, Melanie shot out and tackled the boy, wrapping her somewhat muscled arms around the thin boy. She pressed him to her chest and pulled him back, the two colliding into the water. Hero's yell of surprise was cut off when his head went under, pulled by Melanie. The boy began to thrash, eyes wide as he desperately tried to reach for the surface.

Melanie left him there and swam quickly to the sand, Hero staring wide at her fading blue tail as it flicked far from him. He was losing strength and oxygen, and he stopped thrashing. He opened his mouth finally, water gushing into his throat as he choked and allowed himself to drift to the sand.

Melanie returned and screeched when she saw the silent boy drifting down with fluttering eyes. She pulled some sort of place from her herb stash behind a rock and swam over quickly. She grabbed the boy by his shirt and shook him, Hero narrowing his weak eyes in confusion. Melanie snarled in frustration and squeezed her hands around his shoulder, hard enough to draw blood.

He squeaked and Melanie took this chance to shove the herb down his throat. Hero clamped his jaws shut in surprise and started to swallow, the water suddenly becoming clearer. The two were still far from the sea bed, but Hero could see every rock and coral. He realized that he could also breathe, and he slowly kicked his feet and swam up to the surface, his friend following suit.

He sighed as he raised his head from the water, and Melanie appeared a few seconds after. He turned to her with a scowl and snapped, "What was that for? I nearly died!"

The older creature just shrugged and said, "I wanted you to experience the sea. The herb I gave you was extremely rare, okay? It was the last of my stock as well, so please bear with me."

Hero rolled his eyes and looked around the sea, and noticed that he was quite far from the shore. He then dived and gazed at the beckoning sea floor. Melanie dipper her head and said, "You can talk."

Hero just stared, and realized that the mermaid was, in fact, not joking. He hesitantly parted his jaws, and surprisingly he felt nothing different from breathing on land.

"This is pretty cool... It's somehow... Warm though," he muttered.

Melanie tugged at the drenched tank top he had on and suggested, "Take this off then."

The boy's eyes widened and he swam back a little, folding his arms over his chest. His cheeks were flushed red as he snapped, "What? No fucking way!"

The mermaid was still puzzled from the strange word but she frowned and retorted, "You're not fat or something! Just take the soft... Thing off."

Hero sighed and muttered, "Yeah, I know that but I'm not what many expect. As the oldest and... Somehow most responsible in the cabin, Dianne expects me to have godamn muscles. I don't, I'm as thin as a twig! I'm the exact opposite of Ivan, I'm way too short, thin, way too compassionate of my opponents and..."

He stopped his rambling as he whispered to himself, "Everyone dies."

Melanie's frown disappeared as she heard the very last part. She didn't know the complete history of the boy, but from she heard, it wasn't a nice one indeed. She sighed and pulled his arm down towards the sea bed. "Um, I can show you some crab friends I have."

She stopped and her purple eye slits shined before she continued, "There's this crab I met, she's all blue and shiny! Wanna meet her? She's the star of the sea bed and..."

Hero stopped listening and smiled to himself. He had these moments where he would sit in his room late at night, awake and not wanting to sleep. He just wanted to wrap himself in a blanket and just... Talk.

To himself, of course. The topics though, were not... Pretty. He would think of past tragedies, his parents, Peter and that guard he saw after Peter was shot. It would always lead him to blaming himself for whatever happened.

Then he would eventually fall asleep in the middle of keeping his tears in.

He allowed Melanie to drag him through the sea as his free hand went over to his eyes. He shut them tightly, as they seemed to burn. He let out a low groan and Melanie turned to ask what was wrong. He shook his head and muttered, "No, nothing. Show me the... Blue crab, was it?"

Melanie gave him a soft smile before flicking her dazzling blue tail while Hero rubbed the corners of his eyes, wanting the burn to go away.

Power: 26%