Encanto One-Shot AU Collection

(Giant Siren AU): Human Stuff

Antonio swam through the colorful reefs, swimming past the marketplace. Other sirens were selling goods, from food to shells, to precious pearls. Antonio wasn't looking around the market though. He was scavaging for human things.

It wasn't uncommon for ships to crash or sink near the Encanto islands. His abuela said that whenever the humans, especially pirates, got too close, they would always sink. He didn't know how though...whenever he asked, the adults would always say "I'll tell you when you're older." And if you asked him, he was pretty grown up. He asked one of the older kids who had just gained their tail, and they said that the humans were trying to attack the Guppy Grotto so they sank them to keep them safe.

Antonio knew there had been a recent wreck. Mirabel was nearby, looking near where the trenches were. He wasn't allowed over there yet, not by himself. His mamá said it was too dangerous, and while there were sirens down there, the water was too strong for him to swim in. Which he didn't mind.

"Oh!" Antonio's eyes sparkled with joy and curiosity as he swam closer to a part of the shipwreck he had finally found. It was a little ways away from the reef, on the lower parts of the ocean floor. He swam closer. A smaller ship, maybe a fisher ship? He wondered if there was any fish leftover...

As he swam closer, he saw something shiny in the corner of his eye. Getting closer, he could see the sun reflecting off of it in the clear waters. He carefully pushed the wood away, narrowly evading splinters. It was small, and silver, a round object. It was attached to a chain, but not like the anchor chains like the ones that his prima, Luisa, wore. It was smaller, lighter. He picked it up, his small webbed hands tracing it.

"Antonio!" Mirabel called, and he turned around. His prima and best friend swam up to him, a big smile on her face, her seaweed back hanging by her side. "Find anything interesting?"

Antonio showed off the small object he found. There was a small knob on the top, and he pressed it gently. It flew open, surprisingly both of them. Antonio recognized the numbers inside, but he still didn't know what it was.

Mirabel swam closer, eyeing it carefully. Her fins perked up as she finally realized what it was. "I've seen this before!" Mirabel said, cradling Antonio in her hands as he held the small thing. "I think they're called clocks...or was it watches? I'm not sure, but apparently, they're supposed to tell time!"

"Time? Like how we use the sun and shadows to tell time?" Antonio asked, looking up curiously at Mirabel, who nodded.

"Yup! I think humans forgot how to use the sun, so maybe that's why," Mirabel shrugged. She wasn't entirely sure herself though; she had only seen similar objects a handful of times.

Antonio hummed softly before dropping it into Mirabel's bag; it sank easily he noticed. Antonio went back towards the ship, searching it once more. This time, he had Mirabel's help. She easily picked up a part of the ship, and more stuff was revealed, the inside of the ship. Able to fit his smaller body in unlike his older cousin, he carefully looked around the wreck, not finding anything interesting. Just as he was about to tell Mirabel, he saw some sitting on the now broken cot in the corner.

He swam closer, pushing aside the broken furnishings and waterlogged books. He picked it up. It was soft, or at least as soft as it could be underwater. The buttons almost look like eyes. It looked like an animal but it wasn't...alive. Almost like one of the animals he would see on the island. It confused. Him.

Antonio swam out, going back to Mirabel, who was using her tail to push the wood towards the trenches. Deep sea sirens seemed to love the stuff and always requested shipwrecks be pushed to the trenches. Antonio sat in Mirabel's palm, hiping the small, unmoving animal. "What's this thing, Mira?"

Mirabel looked at the object, which was tiny compared to her, and even small but guppy standards. But she recognized it. She had seen it before a good amount of times. "Oh, it's a stuffed animal! Maybe a bear? Though adult humans don't use these..."

"Who does?" Antonio asked and Mirabel hesitated, her eyebrows furrowing before he shrugged and looked back at him.

"Little kids. Like human guppies. But as far as I know, there were no kids on the wreck," Mirabel said, mumbling the last part, which piqued Antonio's interest.

"Human guppies? Can I see?" Antonio asked with enthusiasm. Mirabel looked at him wide-eyed before taking the vear and putting it in her bag.

"Hey, how bout we go eat? We can explore more after lunch. Are you hungry?" Mirabel asked, quickly changing the subject. Antonio's eyes lit up at the suggestion of food.

"¡Sí!" Antonio beamed, and Mirabel held him carefully, swimming back towards their family's cave. Thankfully she was able to distract him from more questions. Though she failed to notice Antonio's gaze shifting from her bag, where the stuffed bear was, to the surface.

Was there really a kid on that ship?