From the Depths
Does no one know how to clean?

It had taken Kirea quite some time to peel herself away from the tank. “May I ask for permission to take notes on his appearance?” She’d been given the tools, but given the situation, she was unsure what was considered forbidden.

Tyson looked to the King for confirmation who simply waved a hand at the two like he was sick of seeing their faces already. Seemingly disinterested as the food before him was far more enticing than what they were doing.

“As long as you abide by the rules laid out before you, I see no reason not to allow it,” Tyson concluded with a nod. "Perhaps make no mention of the species though."

"Notted, thank you." She pulled out the pad and pencil.

A loud scraping sound of a chair being pushed out from under the table made her cringe. King Haith scrambled to his feet, pieces of food that had missed or escaped his mouth falling to the floor. She couldn't help but feel sorry for his chambermaids who had to clean up after that atrocity.

“Report to me when there have been improvements. If it dies, your own lives go with it.” He stated so easily still chewing on leftover bits of food.

She felt a shiver run up her spine at his words. Much to her delight, he left the two alone in the room after that. Kirea slid to the ground next to the tank and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “I really thought I was to be his next concubine.” She admitted.

Tyson joined her, taking a seat beside her on the ground. “He is not the kindest ruler, but you are working under me, I will not let any harm come to you. However, I do fear you may be my last hope at keeping my own head attached to my shoulders.” The conservation was turning rather heavy as he admitted his fears.

“You don’t fear him hearing your banter?” She questioned quite surprised at his words.

“This room was soundproofed, to keep the mer-ah, Siren safe from prying ears,” Tyson Explained. “Many times have I cursed his Lordship out in this very room.” He concluded with a light chuckle.

Kirea let out a half laugh of her own before shaking her head. Looking over her shoulder her expression dimmed. “I don’t know if I can do it, but I’ll try. And not for anything other reason than the health of this creature. It deserves better.”

“I could not agree more.” Tyson looked away from her staring to the distance a pained expression crossing his features as his mind appeared to wander away.

Studying the container to her side she spotted something important at the bottom of the tank, a number of fish lay rotting. “What are you trying to feed him?”

“We have tried many things, all of which you can see at the bottom there, wasting away. He does not seem interested in anything we give him.” Tyson answered.

“Are the fish alive when you try to feed him?” She asked.

Tryon furrowed his brow. “No...we have only given him freshly caught fish, but not live.”

“Being that he is a creature from the sea I would hazard a guess that he doesn’t normally eat dead fish, probably wouldn't touch a dead fish in the sea. We should try live fish, even if we need to help him eat for a while.” She had placed a hand to her chin thinking intently about the next actions to take. Time was of the essence.

“Could you fetch us some live fish? Transport them in a basin or chamber pot if you must, just get them to this room alive.” She stood and began to untie her apron.

“I-I guess I could yes, but what are you doing!?” He quickly covered his eyes as she undid her dress and shimmed out of it.

“I don’t wish to get the new dress soiled, and I must clean his tank, it doesn’t look as if it has been cleaned for quite some time, if at all.” She added while reaching for the edge of the tank and hoisting herself up.

“YOU’RE GOING IN THERE!” He explained rushing to his feet in a panic.

“Indeed, the creature is not in any state to attack me, besides we’ll be dead regardless if we can’t better his condition. Now go retrieve the fish, go, go. We don’t have time to spare, there is no telling how long the siren has left to live.” Sitting on the ledge of the tank she smiled down at Tyson. “No need to be fearful, I am good at my job.”

He was hesitant at first but nodded to her. “Please, be careful, I will be back as soon as I can.” Rushing to the door he glanced back with a concerned frown. He shut the door tight behind him and she heard a small click. Ah, so the room also locks from the outside via a key it seems. No escape for her, and no leaving the room unless he or the King returned, noted.

Twisting her body she gently placed her legs into the water, she recoiled as a slimy texture encapsulated her limbs. “By the gods, and they left you in this! Bloody hell, I am so sorry. I'll see what I can do about fixing this.”

She wasn't sure if it was her movement or her words, but one did seem to stir the Siren. His eyes were half open and fixated on her, however, he didn’t move. Was she afraid? Her rapidly beating heart was evidence of that, but more than anything she wanted to help this poor unfortunate soul.

“I’m going to collect the dead fish from the bottom of the tank, then work on cleaning the glass. Then the plan would be to replace the water.” She told him.

She didn’t know if he could understand her, but she did catch him glance at the decaying carcass’s below him then back up at her, so maybe he could. She slid the rest of her body into the revolting water, she really wanted to just replace the entire tank’s water, but there was no guarantee he could survive out of water. She would have to do this the long, painstakingly hard way.

She was cautious with her movements, careful to not touch or disturb him as she descended into the tank. She couldn't imagine how he felt in this filthy water when it repulsed her. Taking a deep breath she dove to the bottom of the tank, which wasn’t hard, her slender form was a fair bit smaller than his entire being. Her eyes stung as she forced them open in order to see where she was going and what she needed to collect. Reaching down she scooped up several extremely slimy, welled-rotted fish, unintentionally kicking up a cloud of grime that coated the tank floor. It was disgusting, how did they expect anyone or anything to live in this!?

She began to grow angry with the mistreatment of the Siren. It wasn't that difficult to keep the living environment for an animal clean, and yet they still managed to fail at that simple task. If a human was living in garbage it was a given that they were to get ill, the same principle applies here.

Ascending she breached the surface and threw the fish out of the tank a little too aggressively. It could be someone else mess to clean outside the tank. For now, she just needed to get this decay out, already the acidity of the water was affecting her own skin, she could only fathom what it had been doing to him all this time.

For several long minutes, she repeated the action, diving down, collecting and throwing the fish out of the tank. Many times as the fish broke through the surface of the water, so did the smell, she gagged and pushed down the vomit that wanted to come up. She had just about finished cleaning the fish from the left side of the tank when she felt something brush against her leg.

She swallowed her fear and remained still while he moved below her. He had shifted to the left side of the tank, was he making it easier for her to get to the other side? Or was it because it was now cleaner on that side? If he hadn’t moved she would have had to swim under him to continue her work. She smiled down at him. “Thank you, though I am not sure if that was more for me or for you, either way, it helps.” Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ FindNøvᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Suddenly, the doors to the room opened, Kirea barely had time to react before a loud metal sound hitting the concrete startled her and the Siren.

“He has moved!” Tyson stood in complete shock until the smell of the decaying fish hit him and he coughed several times and covered his nose. “What the hell!”

“I am quite sure he can smell underwater, poor thing. To have been putting up with that stretch all this time, you can deal with it for a short while. Did you get them?” She asked.

“Indeed...” He coughed again before dry retching. Regaining his composure he picked up the basin he was carrying and headed toward the tank.

“Good. Next we need to work on changing the water, it is absolutely revolting, slimy and the acidity is much too high. Completely unlivable for marine life.” She stated.

“I can get fresh water and salt it-”

“No, we need seawater, forgive me for cutting you off and being rude, this is important and we cannot waste time.” She added.

“Think nothing of it my Lady, you are saving my hide.” He left the room again, a little too eager to leave the smell of rot and decay behind.

Turning her attention back to the Siren she smiled. “Okay, let us get the rest of these fish out and start getting some of this horrible water out hey?” She spoke to him as though she was expecting an answer.

His eyes fluttered half shut again as he seemed to pay her no mind at all while she continued her work.

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