The Fiery Merman (Part 2/2)
A Maddy x Match AU, based on the FANtastic artwork of DragonMarquise :🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐠🐠🐠[Part 1/2]🐠🐠🐠Mr. Match‘s decision was final: The pirate would do anything and everything, to get turned into a merperson, so he could eventually make his pink-haired, mysterious mermaid his wife!!But how in the known world should this be possib…?!! Of course!!! There was someone, who might be able to help him with all that "hocus-pocus stuff" … at least, he had picked up the one or other rumor, tale, … legend of a mystical, wise shaman, said to live on a remote island, erased from maps and covered in dense mist - which he presumably had conjure up, all by himself, somehow -; thus, no human being could have ever been capable of attaining his refuge …Nonetheless, Match was not the type of guy to give up that easily, if there was still a „blaze of hope“ at the horizon!Hence, he left the pirates' secret harbor (behind) in one of the lesser rowing boats of the World Three - heading for the closest unknown haven around ... a terrain, where he had never been, before, in order to start his search for more detailed information on this fairytale-like isle, disguised and unseen by the navy, as he thought ... not knowing, he had already attracted the attention of one of their undercover agents - a spy, who called herself "Miyu", in her unsuspected role as harmless fortune teller:She had studied a whole catalogue of Most Wanted posters of the entire coast line, long enough to immediately recognize any members of Captain Wily's horrifying crew, as soon as she'd come across one!Surprisingly, when Mr. Match called in to her fake "mystic shop", praying, this may be the right location for certain answers to his supernatural questions, something inside of her was so touched by his narration of magic and tormenting desire, she just couldn't ring the alarm for her navy comrades, in the attic of the building, to arrest him ... Nobody else would have understood his situation like she did - confronted with whimsically fantastic forces beyond any ordinary person's imagination -; after all, the choice of her alias was inspired by actual talents and visions, she possessed ... yet without any "solid" evidence to verify their existence to others, who had used to mock on her for what she'd been struggling to demonstrate to them, so many years already.And now, there was this EX-pirate ... not a threat to the innocent residents, anymore ..., who was a true believer in the unbelievable, unfalteringly eager to take on even "reality", itself, for his love - how could she ever have refused to help him with the "gifts" she got?!Therefore, Miyu offered her new customer to meditate the rest of the day for him, attempting to contact "higher beings", in his name, whom she referred to as "Nettling Navigators" (or "NetNavis" for short), owed to the way they teasingly and annoyingly communicated with her, conveying said visions to her mind, whenever they wanted, while leaving her with a "burning/nettling" migraine, afterwards.She promised to draw an exact map for the destination of his odyssey, in case, those spirits would consent to navigate her hands; thus, all he needed to do was waiting for the next day to come ... waiting ... waiting ... waiting ... a felt scorchingly infernal eternity long ... inside his unadorned, cheap hostel room, staring into a melting candle's dancing flame ... fantasizing about it being his beautiful mermaid's luscious hair, moved by the gentle streams of the sea ... or her slinky lionfish tail, ... until he inevitably dozed off, dreaming of that one divine kiss she had shared with him, the last time, he'd seen her ...His dream, his memories, hopes and anticipations were so intense, ... he utterly slept over the agreed appointment ...!!This was as for why he effectively woke up to the "fortune teller" tickling his nose with a corner of the freshly inked map, after she had decided to make a home visit, this one exceptional time. And she did not regret it - earning not only some money, but also a good laugh and a profuse fountain of gratitude as well as returning to her alibi shop (to recover from that bothersome ghostly headache) with the satisfying feeling of having finally proven her paranormal skills to someone, who was definitely worth it.Meanwhile, Mr. Match had already made his way back to his stolen yawl, not willing to waste any precious time, anymore!!! He gladly put anything he got into crossing the faaaaaa...ar distance to the legendary island, fighting the untamable, powerful ocean and unpredictably temperamental weather longer than any mortal man before him ... though, in the end, he lost this battle alongside his consciousness, when all his physical energy had been consumed by rowing day and night, without the shortest break - passed out, he didn't realize, how close he, in fact, had come by then: The fog-covered shores of the hermit isle started to become aparent, standing against the setting sun's fading light like a sparkling castle, made of white clouds.Under shut eyelids, he gradually returned to his senses - feeling the cold air of the night on his skin, ... smelling the salty fragrance of the sea, ... hearing the soft rustling of the waves, as they brushed over the sand and against his tub and oars. Every single muscle within his upper body was sore and stressed out, yet still, he couldn't simply stay down and lie around, there, if ... if this was truly the "place of miracles", he was craving for - at least, the heavy mist lived already up to the legends, when he stumbled around, attempting to find a way to the hub of the island ... until his pyrophilic instincts were suddenly jumping into action: Match was able to detect a familiarly squirming light, shining through the wafts of haze and the jungle's thicket, working on him like a signal flare!!The faster he approached the beacon, the more smoke and heat welcomed him, reassured him, invited him to urge to their source; a wide meadow, cleared of any shrubbery, actually, a picture-perfectly circular yard with two cottages, built high up in an obviously prehistoric, overgrown tree, connected to one another thru a dilapidated suspension bridge and supported by several wooden piers, solely a few feet behind the open fire pit, that guided him.Gazing into the flames, his eyes then noticed a moving shadow in one of the lodge's unglazed windows - the mage!! Finally!!! Who else could that be?!, Match's thoughts were racing.In no time, he made it up the rope ladders, to the porch's planks, where a beaded curtain replaced a conventional door, so he was not quite sure, whether he should knock or bluntly step in; after all, he didn't want to be rude and intrude the home of the most certainly only person on Earth, who'd be capable of providing salvation for his love-sick heart and soul."Mr. Match, here you are. Please, come in", a solemnly calm voice ended his hesitation ... as if the owner of said serene tongue was reading his mind ...Unusually bashful, the red-headed and -blooded pilgrim entered the hut, taking in all the odd and unaccustomed objects within the shady room. It was so dark and stuffed with bizarre items, he couldn't even spot the wise man, at first, before the friendly, pleasant voice spoke up, once more, elucidating how the same multidimensional spirit beings, that Miyu nicknamed as "NetNavis", had been informing him about any details of this comparably unique voyage, already, which made any further word of explanation more or less redundant; instead, the slim, middle-aged hermit got straight to the point, introducing himself as "Maha", a short form of his full name, no Western mouth could ever correctly pronounce, meaning "The Great" in a language, nobody in these Western areas was able to understand. And whereas Match still wondered, why all clairvoyant people, he met, carried 4-letter-names with an "M-", the sage went on declaring how he COULD fulfill all of the expectations put on him, IF there wasn't one essential hindrance:Decades ago, while Maha had been a late teenager and not as "great" yet as he was now, his birth place - his real home - had been discovered by Captain Wily and his covetousness to conquer the entire world, even beyond the known lands! Maha's people were open-minded, social and much too pacifistic to offer resistance , when he started to wreak death and destruction upon their communities, prior to enslaving or executing the complete population, village by village!!As a young, brave priest, Maha stood up against him, trying to appeal to his humaneness - a virtue, Wily did not hold, at all, anymore. Though, what he held was a cunning sense for profitable opportunities ... such as the chance to take a authenticated "wizard" into his services, whether this was voluntarily or not. Hence, Maha was abducted alongside the sacred grimoire, he had sworn to protect with his life, on behalf of the past generations of spiritual leaders preceding him.On the long journey back into the West, Wily's armada was attacked by an impressively equipped navy fleet, so the pirates lost many of their ships - among them was the one called "Gospel", transporting all of Maha's kidnapped compatriots, whereas he was locked up in Wily's own chambers, unable to do anything but to pray for the Guiltless and Lost!!!Years later, he eventually managed to escape this painful existence in captivity and exploitation, however ... without the grimoire, which had been and still was key to unlocking most of the potencies, that were his original birthright, if he just had have enough time to memorize each and any magic recipes + formulas, inside!Piecemeal, Match understood the deal, while listening to Maha's story: He was supposed to retrieve the book from Wily, in order to make his own destiny come true ... Well, nothing easier than that: Acquainted to all presumable sites along the coasts, where the World Three would most certainly be anchored, during the current season; being supple, sly and audacious enough to slip in and out the captain's office, without creating a fuss; he was surely more suitable for the task than the shaman, himself!Nonetheless, he should not have to leave, all on his own, therefore, the two walked to the shores, together, where someone was already sitting in Match's yawl - a tall, dark-blond merman with a broad grin and remarkably sky blue eyes ... as well as the tail & fins of an electric eel: "May I introduce you to Count Zap, the good friend, who helped me to flee and find this covert, here, back in the days?", Maha smiled.Whether this "Count" was a genuine aristocrat or simply popular enough as a famous musician among his people, to give himself a boastful artist name like that, didn't matter, in any way, to Mr. Match - the one exclusively important thing was to get hands on that witchery book, as quickly as possible, and the more reliable allies he had, the better!This attitude appeared to amuse Count Zap, a lot, as he - bursting into loud laughter - revealed that he had a whole squad of "reliable allies" with him: one slap of his electric fin onto the water ... and a group of more merfolks emerged from the blackish tide - the proudly self-called "NetAgents", despite this "net" was to be regarded all literally, since they were the guardians of their realm, rescuing any merpeople and other sea life from the fishermen's nightmarish traps, before the victims were to slowly strangled and suffocated.Looking around, from one face to another, the ex-pirate felt not too comfortable with dragging the youngest members of the troop - a pair of brunet half-guppy twin brothers and a fuchsia-ginger jellyfish girl - into a dangerous adventure like this, however, an older boy with a deep lapis lazuli eye color and hair as black and white as his orca tail affirmed that the trio would be much tougher than they seemed, at first sight. Thus, they all accompanied the mettlesome sailor on his last remaining mission ...... back to the colossal ship, where this entire paranormal swirl had started to pull him into its dark depth ...The plan was pretty simple: While the NetAgents were splitting up into two teams, one to distract the crewmates on night watch duty, the other to damage the vessel's bottom, so it would slowly start sinking - enough time for the pirates to escape unharmed, but without the possibility to give chase -; it was Match's job to additionally incinerate all sails, in order to go safe, and climb into the captain's cabin, to snatch the longed-for treasure.Unfortunately, the captain wasn't called "Wily" for nothing: he effortlessly recognized Mr. Match's signature on this assault and woke his helmsman/closest confidant Mr. Gauss, recalling he and that "eel-man" had a bitter feud from ages ago.In the meantime, Wily, himself, intended to take care of the young firestarter - encountering him in the stateroom, exactly when "the thief" packed the tome up in a bag; challenging Match to an epee duel, he was certain to win!All his experience and still present adroitness corroborated his confidence, at the beginning, as he pinned the red-maned daredevil down, his back against the desk, after having managed to wrench his rapier out of the tanned hand ... Nevertheless, even an old terror of the Seven Seas was nothing but an old man, at some point, and Match had noticed Wily's minor difficulties with the legs, the one or other time, in the past: the way he was rather "cling to" his skull-crested scepter, like to a crutch, than using it with lordly elegance ... On this account, a nimble kick, sweeping the captain off his feet, fixed the problem and granted Match the brisk exit, he originally had in mind ... Perhaps, it was plainly time for Wily to compile all his mammon and retire ...Back outside, it took a second for Mr. Match to discern the "merkids" with his puny yawl, at one side of the enormous cruiser, whereas they shouted out to Count Zap, not to drown the coxswain, when he had him headlocked and pulled out of his boat, into the cold billows - the victorious end of a years-long vendetta ... and Mr. Gauss was lucky to survive and remember it for the rest of his days!Although, it was the same route, as they returned to Maha's isle, the time felt much shorter for the excited sailor, now, that his arms clasped the witchery book so tight onto his chest, he could feel his heart pound against the hard covers ... solely a little more time ... hopefully, the transformation process, itself, wouldn't take too many hours ... He had come this far, had been going through so many flames of hell, ... Match had ultimately been running out of mental energy and patience.Providentially, his personal pot of good fortune had not been maxed out yet:Reunited with his irreplaceable grimoire, Maha instantaneously picked out the demanded recipe and commenced on cooking - a single portion for a single guest ... of an outlandish sustenance, he labeled as "Curry"; what an unexpectedly humble, even kinda cute term for something, that should be capable of altering an adult human's plenary physiology ...!?Drops of anxiety poured into Mr. Match's euphoria ... especially, as the wise man recognized, he was missing a bunch of ingredients!Anyways, to refill his supplies, he only had to pass the bridge to his second apartment, containing a shrine, assembled around a bowl-like portal, described as a PET - "Polydimensionally Etheric Transfer" - between this world and innumerable others. Whenever Maha was in need of something unavailable on his hermit sanctuary, this compact vortex enabled him to obtain it, if he had other goods to "sacrifice", in exchange.With this handy "shopping system", the magic meal was ready to save the tensed up pyromaniac from his unbearable despair, still before dawn ... and from the first spoon on, its supernatural power was perceptibly flowing thru Match's veins, throbbing inside of every single cell ... His brief farewell from Maha ended on the advice, to take the final couple of bites AFTER having arrived at the beach, so he could reach the ocean ahead of the transformation's ignition - which was definitely the perfect word for the feeling underneath his skin: Any "normal" people would have agonized under the immense, rapidly increasing internal fever, scalding them, more and more, with any move ... Mr. Match, however, savored this heavenly cozy warmth, all the way to the now reddish orange lustering water, where he thankfully devoured the crumbs, left over of his "bewitching" breakfast - even licking the plate -, in the morning sun's initial rays of light ...Even though, he collapsed into the shallow waves, as soon as his legs merged into the muscular tail of a Red Fire Goby fish, he didn't feel as much pain as he had awaited - astonishingly, the most dominant emotion, in these minutes, was ... RELIEF.Breathing via gills, using his fins for swimming, it all was absolutely natural, right from the start, hence, he was able to easily keep up with Count Zap's speed, when he led him to the Mega-Cities at the seabed!There, Match learned that it had never been his mermaid's fault, why she'd never talked to him: average merfolk was simply not capable of communicate verbally, outside the water; exclusively the NetAgents owned this competence, thanks to another enchanted/enchanting beverage from Maha's kitchen ...!!What a blessing, to have such incredible comrades, he thought to himself ... until the Count unveiled another ace up his sleeve - a "small" welcome-gift for the beginning of Mr. Match's new life - ... Covering his eyes with a large leaf of seaweed, the giggling musician shoved his new friend towards a coral reef ... to a spot, where all the other Agents had been waiting for them, already ... alongside someone, whom they had been seeking for him (according to the characterization, they got from him, while traveling to the World Three), the second half of the night as well as the entire morning long, during the time of his "rebirth" ...... thus, the blindfold wasn't removed by Count Zap, but by a dainty, soft pair of hands with tender, long fingers ... at the same time, as a high-pitched, melodic and playful sounding voice whispered into Match's ear: "Hello, my savior ..."The kiss, that followed, equaled the one on the devastated pirates' island ... he couldn't believe his luck ... his HAPPY ENDING!! ... Finally, he got to know her name - "Maddy", how feminine, sassy and gorgeous, such as she was, herself ... he would be worshipping it, in all eternity, just like the children and grandchildren, they might be having, someday ... though, there was no Rush for any plans concerning a more or less distant future, yet; there was solely the desired time as inseparable consorts ...... and the one downer, the fiery merman had to cope with:Lighting a blaze and watch it burn, now, always required returning to Maha's shores and circuitously crawl out of the tide - the most awkward and fairest price to pay for the fruition of ALL of his wishes.🐟🐟🐟THE END🐟🐟🐟
ThanasiaNightfall