the siren |peter parker x siren!oc|

Serenity: Part 4

She arose from the darkness confused and disoriented. Sleep was an experience she had never felt before, and the grogginess that weighed her down forced her to wonder why humans partook in such a painful ritual. Her species never needed sleep, though they had the capability. Complete blackness for hours, only to feel ill when returning, seemed pointless.

It felt normal, but as soon as her eyes popped open she knew she definitely had been taken from the sea. Her surroundings were contained: a clear looking barrier stopping her from swimming a certain distance in front of her. She accidentally ran directly into it a few times, face first. Exasperated, she tried to open her mouth, but something kept her jaw sewn shut, and her throat tightened when she tried to hum a note. Some device was keeping her from using her greatest and only defense, and that was within reason.

The human from the metal bird sat in a chair in front of her, his head hanging and resting on his chest. She accidentally fell into the barrier one last time, resulting in a loud noise jerking the human awake. He locked eyes with her, his half open, and watched as he fully registered what he had woken up to.

She had no desire to hurt him or her peirasmós, which would shock any one of her sisters. She had spent a half of a century murdering innocent humans, carrying the burden of hundreds of lives lost, and now she was finally able to rescind. Never had she been given a choice to decide what she wanted, so as long as these humans did not hurt her, she would leave them alone. Ideally, she would never have to return to the wretched sea ever again.

The only obstacle she could pinpoint was communication. She watched this human pace back and forth, tapping his fingers on a rectangular box. A few times he looked at her, speaking words that she could not interpret. She tried to listen and understand, but eventually gave up, blocking out the annoying human's voice. No matter how loudly or slowly he talked, she was never going to be able to understand what he was trying to tell her. So she swam.

Eventually, the human gave up too.

Time passed slowly in her new environment. Before, she had a wide range of ocean to explore and sea creatures to interact with. The fish usually avoided most seiren; their menacing auras not mixing well. She had a gentle nature that she assumed came from her father. For hours she would swim with schools of fish, sometimes dolphins, once in a while she would befriend a shark.

The lack of a voice was the worst factor, though. She understood their fear, but she had spent most of her life in song. They sang even when there were no humans around, usually with the trance turned off, and that was what she would do if it were not for whatever was keeping her mouth glued shut. She tried to open it again, using more force, but it just caused her to gag and cough, oxygen bubbles coming from her nose.

An image of her peirasmós flashed across her eyes. She knew he was sleeping in his home thanks to the binding connection that had formed in last moment she was awake. It could have been days or hours since then. She sank to the bottom of the containment and let her eyes slowly shut, feeling slightly disconnected from the water that she was now finding home.

She had not expected the bond to be so strong already. Deep in her mind, she could feel that he was in a restless sleep. Every once in a while, something would jerk him awake. Something inside of her hated that she had this insight. It felt intrusive. If she could somehow tell him...

She reminded herself that communication with him would be limited. It would be a long while before she could verbalize exactly what their connection meant, and probably even longer for him to trust that she was telling the truth. She could only hope they would be patient enough with her to help her learn their language and their ways. As far as she knew, she would be sent back to the ocean as soon as they got what they wanted from her. She did not even know what that was. The thought was sickening.