Chapter Text
“A monster?” Tango’s voice wavers, but not for the reason that Grian and Scar probably assume. Maybe they think he’s a coward, scared of the idea of something lurking in the water. What if it was Zedaph, what if he’s just the latest experiment in a long line of humans for him to play with until he gets bored.
“ Yes . It looked just like a human, except for its teeth, and its tail. Mumbo was halfway to fishing out a drowning human when he saw the tail, and he screamed loud enough to wake everyone up. By the time that we all ran over to him, the monster had dived back under water. Obviously, since we didn’t know any better, we just brushed it off as him being sleep deprived.” Grian’s eye twitches at that, something Tango barely manages to catch. He would have missed it if he wasn’t studying Grian’s every move. Scar sits down on the pedestal of one of the statues, completely enamored with Grian’s words. Tango’s skin is itching, his every instinct is telling him he has to get out of here right now. Something is wrong here, even if he doesn’t know what yet.
“The next night, it was Scar here, keeping watch. And the monster was back.”
“Have you ever heard of a siren, Tango? And not the panicky “we’re all going to die” ones.” Scar waits for Tango to nod, unsure of where the hell this questioning is going. “He- it was singing to me. Luring me in until I looked over and saw it. It was singing a little tune, and when it saw me it stopped and stared up at me. Its eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight, an electric blue.”
And that puts Tango more at ease. There’s no world where Zed’s eyes could be mistaken for bright blue. And he’s never thought that they could glow, reflect light sure, but not glow. He still isn’t sure where this is going, but Zed wasn’t involved.
“And it showed me its tail, flicked it right out of the water for me. The tail alone was… at least ten feet long, white and blue. Tango, it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. It was amazing. And it spoke to me, asked me about our observatory. It talked to me for ages, about how it learned about human technology and the stars and the moon. And it explained everything to me.” Scar’s voice is fond, speaking gently. He opens his mouth to continue, but Grian cuts him off.
"If we can… obtain another sea monster, we'll be able to perform some experiments and see how the monsters are connected to the Deluge. The monster we met gave me reason to believe that if we study the properties of the sea monsters enough, we will find the answer to unflooding the world." Grian's ecstatic, talking quickly enough that Tango can barely follow. "I know it sounds complicated, but it's actually super straightforward."
"So you want to capture and study a monster?" Tango tries not to think about how he first met Zedaph, tries not to think much of anything regarding the situation, really. He doesn't really want to judge them until he gets more details, especially not after they saved his life.
"Yes. They're the answer we've been looking for even before the world flooded. We just need a monster here to test our theory." Grian's excitement is rubbing off onto Scar, rushing away his melancholy that rose while he was talking about his encounter.
Tango has to wonder if the monster he met became more of a friend than the others were led to believe. He takes another step, trying to follow the pair as they excitedly walk and talk, but his leg crumples beneath him. Grian and Scar catch him immediately, Scar clearing his throat before beaming awkwardly at him.
"Oh, but that's something for the future. Tango, you're probably still tired; you have a long recovery ahead of you, starting with a healthy dinner, and a full night's rest."
He's grateful for the opportunity to get away from them for a bit. The amount of information he's had to process in the time he's been awake is astounding. He walks over to the edge of the cityship, carefully following the perimeter until he finds his generator boat tied carefully alongside Boatem. It's almost amazing how comforting it's become, a safe space for him even though there's a high likelihood it will become his coffin. He doesn't see Zedaph, and he tries to not let that worry him.
He's… unsure of Boatem's true intentions when it comes to their interests in sea monsters. He isn't innocent enough to believe that they just want to have friendly chats. He doesn't want to risk Zed's safety. Not when things are so… up in the air. He needs to be able to recover more before they can leave, and they're offering to take him to Horse Head Farms, something he could only dream of doing on his own.
He hears the distinct sound of a fin hitting water, and tries not to think about how relieved he is to see Zedaph's golden hair and mischievous face.
"Tango! I thought you died. Congratulations for not being dead. I suppose these humans saved you? That's quite the lucky break."
"Zed, you're alright?"
"Of course I'm alright, you silly man. You're the one that had collapsed and started wasting away next to me. I just had a little impailment, you had something far more serious."
"Oh yeah?" Tango's grinning, he missed Zedaph's voice, and he's so glad to see that he's alright. "And what was that?"
"You, my friend, were hungry." And he says it with the intonation of a doctor informing a patient that they need to amputate, or that the disease is fatal. He says it like it's a miracle that Tango survived, and honestly, it kind of is. Boatem is the only reason he's alive right now. He doesn't want to leave yet, but there's something about the cityship that just feels off. Something that makes it feel… he isn't sure, he's probably just paranoid. He wants to leave soon, but he doesn't want to risk missing Horse Head Farms. All he knows for sure is that he doesn't want them to find Zedaph.
"Tango. Earth to Tango. You really get lost in your head sometimes now don't you? Oi, human."
"Huh? Sorry, I was thinking."
"Obviously. I asked when we're leaving. We still haven't found the right thing, correct?"
"No, we haven't. But they're offering to take me the rest of the way."
"Oh goodie, and what? I have to swim there? Or is this where we part ways?" Zed's voice is bitter, and Tango isn't entirely sure why.
"Don't be silly, I'll probably stay with them for another day or two but then we can keep going. But we are getting close to them." Tango can't help his excitement at the thought. He'll be able to see Keralis again soon.
"Alright! Two days, Tango. That's it. I don't want to stay here any longer than that." Zedaph looks over Boatem and Tango swears that he can see him shiver. "The place gives me the heebie jeebies."
Tango can't help his laugh, probably louder than he should be. "Heebie jeebies? Where's you even hear that one before?"
"Oh hush!" Zed opens his mouth to say more but the sound of footsteps on metal silences them both in an instant. Tango whirls around, hearing the splash of water of Zedaph ducking out of sight. The woman from earlier walks towards him, a comforting smile on her face and hands held up placatingly.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you there."
"No, you're fine. I'm just…"
"Nervous? Completely understandable. You're on a strange new ship with strange new people, and you aren't sure if you can trust us yet. Especially after Grian gave you his… pitch."
"About you thinking that sea monsters can undo the Deluge."
"I know it sounds impossible, and I'm not really here to convince you to believe us. I just wanted to check on you."
"Make sure I wasn't running away?" He snorts at the thought.
"Partially." She grins as he stares at her in disbelief. "We went through the energy of saving you, we have to make sure you don't run off and starve to death again. I know it might be hard to believe, but we do want you to be alright."
"No, I believe that. I just…" He trails off, unsure of how to continue his line of thought without offending his rescuer.
"You think we're crazy and you are thinking about running while you still can." She winks at him. "You're a lot more polite about it than other people we've tried to convince. I appreciate that."
"Do you try and… convert people a lot?"
"Oh don't say it like that, that sounds way worse than it is! When we have people stop to trade or talk, we tell them. And when they call us insane then we sigh and move on. Why aren't you running, Tango?"
"I, um." His mind locks onto Zedaph, mysterious, curious Zedaph. "Food! If I left, I would starve again. And you're headed the way Horse Head was."
"Right, you're looking for your friends." She stares out at the water, and Tango prays to anything that's listening that Zed will be able to keep himself hidden this time. "What do you think we're planning on doing, if we catch a sea monster?"
The question throws him off. "Excuse me?"
"When we catch a sea monster, what do you think we're going to do? Live experimentation? Torture?"
"I don't know. I'm not sure what your 'solution' requires."
"I see. Well, thank you for being honest with me." She smiles at him again, and walks away, as quickly as she came.
He doesn't know what to think about that. What she wanted or why she came to talk to him then. He glances out at the water again, and when he doesn't see Zed he moves towards the building that they told him the cafeteria was located in.
No one is there when he arrives. He doesn't allow himself to use their kitchen, instead taking a sleeve of crackers, something easy for his stomach. He sits at one of the tables and tries not to lose himself in his mind. He fails, as he always does.
Keralis has been with Horse Head for a while now, he's probably started moving on from Big Eyes. But Tango needs to see him, to reunite, to be safe on a cityship and not stuck on a tiny boat with a sea monster. He misses having someone he trusts wholeheartedly, because as much as he's grown to appreciate Zedaph, he still isn't sure of the creature's next move at any point.
He sighs, once again considering introducing Zedaph to Keralis. It wouldn't work, not the way he wants at least. Zed wouldn't be able to stay. Things are just too… incompatible.
He sighs, leaning back in his chair, and falling when he hears the loud thud and shouting from the outside. He bolts to his feet, running out of the building as quickly as he can, and freezing on the spot when he takes in the sight before him.
Zedaph is tangled in a net, snarling and thrashing against his bounds, even as the metal is cutting into his skin. Impulse and Scar are dragging him towards the center of the ship as the other two follow behind.
"I told you he was odd, Pearl." Grian cackles, hopping around Zed like a flighty bird. "He handled the story about Scar's monster too calmly."
"Yeah, yeah. You told me." Pearl watches him with an amused smile on her face. She had to have been distracting him while they caught Zed. Tango can barely hear them over how hard his heart is pounding. "I'll never doubt you again."
Tango starts to follow them, nearly in a haze. He has to help Zed, it's his fault Zed is caught he has to get him out of there. Zedaph turns and freezes mid snarl and stares at him, wide violet eyes filled with fear. This is his fault.
"Tango! Behind you!" The desperate call makes everyone freeze, turning to face Tango as he spins around and comes face to face with the mustached man.
The mustached man, who is holding up a large pan over his shoulder. Tango barely manages to start forming the thought of stop or don't before it collides with the side of his head.
Tango dreams.