The Call [Loki x Siren Fanfiction]

Chapter 2

Serendipity POV

I giggle, flitting around the small fish that come to visit me. It’s so amazing to be in the water. I'm in the water so often... Yet I never stop feeling this way. My soul is whole once more. I am free. The mystical fifth limb has been found. It’s the most natural feeling in the world; calling out to the ocean and feeling it answer. Sometimes it gets lonely, and I call out to the ocean creatures. We play games and race and just enjoy being together. 

They don't talk like humans talk, but they feel, and they share their feelings if you know how to listen. And I do. 

A new batch of guppies are always around, looking to explore, and they like exploring my tail. I love my tail. It's as long as a human child, and it shines purple and blue. My fins aren't like how humans imagine them, but I like it that way. It's kind of a secret, the humans don't get to know what it looks like since I only change in the water. Very few humans have seen a guardian's tail and lived to tell about it. 

I swim with some of the older fish, racing towards the surface and laughing together. Swimming as fast as I can feels so good, it's like scratching an itch you haven't been able to reach for hours. The dolphins and I breach, and for one lovely moment we're flying through the air, before falling back into the water. 

We keep swimming together for a few more hours, but eventually fish have to sleep too. One by one, they all leave to find somewhere safe for the night. After I make sure that everyone has somewhere safe, and help those who don’t- I head for one of my caves that has my backup vial, and then to a secluded beach to surface again. 

I crawl across the sandy floor, pressing my tail down so that it isn’t as easily noticeable. I carefully pop my head up and look around for humans. I need to make sure there are no humans nearby because I can’t change my fins unless I am fully out of the water, and I can’t get my fins back until I’m fully in. 

I don’t see anyone, but I give it a third look before I pull myself up onto shore. Once I’m out of the water I begin working on changing to humanish form. It’s similar to splitting my legs in half, but it doesn’t require me to have to do something such as cut them apart. 

The moment I am on the sand I begin longing for my water. If I wait too long, I sink into what humans call depression. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I can’t feel. Everything is numb. Except for the overwhelming desire to be home. It washes over me, crushing into submission, always ensuring I return. 

The first couple dozen times I changed, I would almost pass out from the pain, but a century or two of doing this every couple weeks gets you used to it. In that same time period, I also figured out that I am at my most vulnerable when I am changing, which is why it’s so important that there are no humans around. The moment I can stand up I am good, apart from being dressed in my salt dress. It looks a little odd sometimes, but I have figured out that if I tell humans I am doing what they call ‘cosplay’ they will accept it. 

I throw my head back and inhale as my knees develop, a slight whimper forming. After a few more minutes of agony, my legs are ready. I pull them under me and push myself off the ground. I stand up, a little wobbly, and head for my apartment. 

I realized shortly after getting off the beach that I am very far from my apartment. Ugh. 

I guess I must begin walking. I can’t take a bus or hail a taxi, as I do not have any money. It is not very efficient to have money in your pockets when you enter water. 

I am only a few miles closer when I notice that there is a woman behind me who has been there for a while. I observe her for another couple blocks through reflections in shop windows. She’s got short red hair, and is in almost all black. She looks harmless enough, but I of all people know that looks can be deceiving. 

 I go on impulse and take a sudden right turn. For a moment I relax, but then she comes around the corner, this time with a very muscular man by her side. 

Stercore!

I start to pick up my pace.

I round another corner to see a pair of men waiting for me. I turn to head back the way I came, but the couple is still behind me. I break into a run and dash across the street only for yet another man to show up, this one with an odd hammer by his side. Not far behind him, there is another man with long black hair. 

I am very thoroughly surrounded. 

This really isn’t good. 

I run my hand through my hair that is still damp from the sea, and I wring it out into my hand. I’m gonna need everything I can get. I back myself into what would appear to be a corner, but again, looks can be deceiving. I feel the damp grass under my feet, and I can’t help but grin. 

“What do you want?” I shout at the people following me. They suddenly stop walking, momentarily distracted by my voice. I wasn’t even trying that time. After a moment, they realize that they were staring, and one stepped forward. 

“We want to talk,” He says. I square my jaw and defiantly shake my head at him. He steps forward, and metal begins to assemble itself over him. 

“It wasn’t a question.” He responds.