Erisol Aquariumstuck

Chapter 1

I sighed as I walked along the beach, the setting sun burning the back of my neck. I knew I should have reapplied sunscreen when I got home but I didn't have any with me now.
"Thii2 ii2 2tupiid...." I muttered to myself. What kind of a high school gave their kids community service hours over summer?
I bent down to pick up a can when I heard a mantra of splashing and glubbing. I frowned and lifted my head to see a large figure sprawled out on the sand of the beach.
I frowned and quickly set my black garbage bag down, sliding down the hill I was on and skidding to a stop beside the creature.
I widened my eyes. It was a mertroll! I had questioned these creature's existence. There was one named Feferi in the aquarium but that was it. I had honestly thought that it had been genetically modified or something.
I crouched beside it. It was tangled in a fishing net that must have been cast out. Idiots.
"Hey buddy."
It looked up at me with wide eyes and instantly started slapping it's bound tail weakly on the shallow surface of the water.
"Hey! Cut that out a22hole!"
It whimpered and stopped its slapping. I looked up and saw that the net had been even more wrapped around its tail.
"You de2erve iit," I muttered.
"Can you plwwease help me?" It whimpered.
I blinked. I should have known. Feferi talked too. "Ii would but you ju2t 2pla2hed me."
I watched as its gills fluttered frantically. I reached out hesitantly and ran my hand along its skin. It was dry and very very warm.
"How long have you been out here?" I asked.
"I dwwon't knoww.... I lost track."
I pulled out my switchblade and it flailed slightly. "Hey hey hey. Calm down, fii2h face. Iim tryiing to help you."
It fell still and I started to gently cut the net off of its body. It's skin and fins were cut deep by the net and violet blood leaked onto the sand.
"That look2 pretty bad...." I murmured.
It tried to turn around to go back into the sea but the grid pattern on its skin clearly caused it too much pain.
I took a deep sigh. "Ii'll take you to my hou2e to get you fiixed. The aquariium ii2 clo2ed for the niight. Ii'll take you there tomorrow."
"Okwway...."
I put on a stoic face before lifting it off the ground. I cringed at the feeling of blood seeping through my long sleeve shirt. It tried to not press its bloody body against me but was too weak to resist.
I sighed loudly. I'd never admit it but.... It was kind of cute. I didn't really want to take it to the aquarium but the people there would take much better care of it than I could.
I set it in the back of the family van. I realized my dad was going to kill me for getting blood on the seats. But then again, it was a matter of life and death.
I wiped my hands on my khaki pants and climbed into the drivers seat, backing out of the parking lot and down the main road.
Every time I passed over a bump the mertroll grunted in the back. I couldn't blame him, and after getting the initial annoyance, I didn't mind.
I pulled into the driveway to the house I shared with my dad and my twin brother, Mituna. I stepped out of the car and hefted the unconscious mertroll out of the back seat. I unlocked the front door and walked inside, kicking it closed behind me.
"Dad! Tuna! Ii'm home!" No response. Typical. After Mituna had suffered brain damage from a hit to the head during a fist fight from some bullies, my dad always favored him and would purposely send me out of the house to spoil him. I sighed and thumped up the stairs. I lay the bleeding mertroll in the tub and turned the water cold, splashing it onto the creature's body to wash the blood off.
It stirred slightly and I stopped. It lifted its head, eyes glazed in pain and probably from blood loss. It carefully draped its tail over the side of the tub.
"Hey.... Ii never got a chance to a2k your name," I said softly, in case it didn't want to talk.
It looked up at me. "My name is Eridan.... Eridan Ampora."
I nodded, smiling. "Ii'm 2ollux Captor."