There was too much water.
Snatch understood, intellectually, that he was at the bottom of a vast ocean, sealed within dark, twisting vaults suffused with magic that somehow kept the rest of the ocean at bay, rendering narrowly survivable what had to be the third-worst dungeon crawl he'd ever embarked on since becoming an adventurer.
Still. It was really, really wet.
He glanced down at the device that had allowed him to make it this far—the flawed crystal amulet his source had lent him. It wasn't exactly optimal, especially since the damn thing kept glitching out. Still, it wasn't as though beggars or adventurers could be choosers. The only really "easy" way to get down here was through druid magic, and Snatch didn't exactly know any druids who hired out to sketchy rookie adventurers.
He clutched his notched steel sword in one hand; his teardrop-shaped blue lantern in the other. Another loan from the lady who'd told him about the vaults. The lantern shed a weak and cold light, and every now and then it went off in these annoying clicky flashes (forcing him to turn it off to avoid alerting anything) but at least it let him see where he was going, and was waterproof. The light glistened off the slick cave walls as he made his way forward, feet splashing slightly in puddles despite his best efforts to be stealthy.
Too much water. He paused, trying to regain his bearings. It took him a moment; these "tunnels" wove through the water and ocean floor like tendrils, meaning he rarely even knew for sure whether or not he was underground or just a few feet of basalt away from frigid saltwater.
He'd taken... he'd taken a left, and then a right, and then gone straight twice. He ruffled his short, dark hair, slowly piecing together where that meant he was now. He wished he'd brought some yarn or something.
"Hello?"
The young adventurer practically jumped out of his mail coat. He spun around wildly, light flashing against the glistening walls. The voice had come from up ahead. Around the corner.
A faint golden glimmer turned his blue light green as they made contact. Someone was up there. Someone with a light.
Snatch took a deep breath to steady himself.
Easy. Easy.
He hesitated, then, after a moment's thought, reached into his pack and drew out one of the few adventuring items he'd thought to purchase before making this trip: A small hand mirror.
He made his way forward, padding as much as he was able, wincing at every little splish. He really needed to learn to sneak better before the next mission.
As he approached the turn, he hesitated, then extended the mirror to peer, through it, around the corner.
A brilliant golden light filled his vision.
Snatch was barely conscious of much in that moment as heat filled his head, striking away any thought that was not golden. He saw a pool. In it was a very pale woman with very long dark hair and very big tea-green eyes. He stared at the mirror, and slowly leaned closer...
Some grain of will sparked through the gilded oblivion, and the mirror slipped from his fingers.
The resultant crash jolted his mind back to alertness. He lurched backwards as he heard a startled, "Oh!" from around the corner.
Snatch leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily. What the hell. What the
fuck
.
The image was burnt into his brain. The woman had been... beautiful. Strange, but beautiful. Her wide mouth had worn the most lovely smile he'd ever seen. Lips a bright bloodred against paper-pale skin, pendulous breasts offsetting a graceful poise. It took Snatch a moment to realize he hadn't even seen her lower half.
Mermaid,
he thought, swallowing.
Has to be.
"Oh, excuse me?" called the voice from around the corner. "Who's there?"
This could be good or bad. Snatch didn't trust fey as far as he could throw them, but perhaps the creature would know where he had to go next. Snatch nodded to himself, mind racing. That would make this whole dungeon crawl a lot easier.
But then there was that light. And hadn't there been something else with her? It was hard to think about, but he couldn't shake a feeling. The image was still burned into his brain. Tentacles. Had there been a tentacle? He knew better than to trust anything with tentacles.
Snatch took a deep breath to steady himself, then shut his eyes tightly and stepped around the corner. "It's just me," he said, trying not to sound too rude.
Even with his eyes shut, he could tell he was in a very bright area now. He heard sloshing sounds in front of him. "Oh. A human. How interesting!"
"Yeah." Snatch chewed his inner lip, feeling strangely bashful. "I, uh... came in through the... there's a passage to the east." A left, and then a right, and then straight twice.
"Oh! I forgot all about that one. Well, you see something new every day." The voice sounded slightly amused. She had a nice voice, actually. Almost saccharine in its sweetness, but with a weight to it, too, like honey, or molasses. "And who are you, human?"
"Al—Snatch." Snatch rubbed his eyes. Something about keeping them shut was making them strangely sore. He felt an odd tic.
"Snatch?"
"Y-yes." He didn't go by that other name anymore. And only his friends called him Alrek. Not many people called him Alrek.
"I see!" She sounded amused at this. Snatch felt a bit annoyed, but didn't say anything. "But I don't suppose I'll have to use it for long, will I?"
"No," Snatch agreed. "I'm gonna be heading out real quick. I just wanted to ask—"
He was cut off by a musical giggle. "That wasn't what I meant."
Snatch paused, still rubbing his eyes. "I... I dunno if..."
"Confused, pet?"
Snatch's eyelids fluttered, but he carefully kept them closed. He couldn't be too careful. He wasn't sure what was going on here yet.
"If you're confused, why not open your eyes?"
Snatch frowned, keeping his eyes firmly shut. Something about that didn't sound right to him. Calling upon his more esoteric skills, Snatch carefully hardened his will. "I... was wondering if you knew where I could find the old vaults here."
"You were wondering something?" The molasses voice laughed. "No wonder you're so lost, pet. Wondering. Wandering. So confused. Hard to think straight, see straight, wandering around with your eyes closed."
"Wasn't..." Snatch's eyes were really aching. He longed to open them, but something held him back. He was just getting so disoriented. She was speaking nonsense now. "They weren't closed 'til now."
"Why?"
"'Cause..." Snatch wasn't sure if this was something he should tell the fey he was worried about possibly hypnotizing him, but he was having trouble remembering why he was so worried. Then he remembered, or, at least, thought he remembered. "I saw you. In the mirror. And you were... maybe gonna hypnotize me?"
He was surprised at the questioning tone he put at the end there. His eyelids twitched.
"And you came forward to ask me anyway?" The sweet voice giggled. "Seems a mite foolish, if you thought I was planning to hypnotize you. Are you so trusting, pet?"
Snatch's head was starting to pound. Something told him that it was because his eyes were closed—that if only he opened them, he would feel much, much better. But he knew it was important not to do that. Because then he'd see the lights.
"You... might not..." he muttered, feeling embarrassed. Why
had
he come forward? Reckless of him.
"That's right, pet." Her voice was soothing and easy. "I might not! In fact, I would
never
do such a thing to you! So you needn't worry."
"Oh." Snatch hesitated. "But... I saw you. And. You were. Hyp. Hypnotizing. Me." It was like picking words out of letters in the clouds. He half-felt like he was making it all up as he went along. By the time he reached the final word, he realized he could no longer remember the first. "Hypnotic," he repeated. That was the one concept that still felt firm. Hypnotic. She was hypnotic. He needed to keep his eyes closed.
"How so?" In contrast to his choppy, confused stuttering, her voice remained smooth and slow and sweet. It wrapped around him like a warm blanket, easing his headache, making him feel weak inside. His eyelids twitched.
"Um..." Some part of Snatch recognized the danger now. But that part of him was drowned out by the headache, by the sweetness in her voice. And it was so hard to think of what to say. He was just so confused. He couldn't see anything. His only lifelines to tell him he wasn't just drifting in an endless void were the coldness of the stone beneath his feet and the words of the mermaid. "I felt... dizzy looking at you."
Yes. It was so much easier to remember now that she had asked, he realized. He almost smiled with simple relief—if he'd forgotten, it would have been a sure sign that he'd been hypnotized, right? "You were so bright. Golden lights shimmered around you from a... from a... a golden orb dangling over your head. A tentacle was holding the orb up. It's flashing. Made me feel weak. Confused."
"Aw. Poor, dear pet." As her words filled his mind, the throbbing in his temple receded and died, just for a moment, like chewed tobacco on a bee sting. "But it sounds like you've got a rather active imagination. I haven't got any tentacle. There isn't any light."
"Y... yes, you do," Snatch muttered, clutching his head. "I saw it with my own eyes! It was... gleaming... filled me head... makes me wanna obey..."
"Well, I wouldn't
dream
of asking you to believe my words over your own eyes." Snatch couldn't suppress a sigh of relief as her long, sensuously-spoken sentence applied extended relief to his aching temples. "So why not take a look?"
Snatch opened his eyes.
The gorgeous mermaid smiled at him. Oh, she was even prettier seen directly. Slim and tall, at least from the waist up—the tip of her dark fish tail splashed playfully out of the pool behind her. The light flashed and sparkled, absorbing his attention instantly. Looking at it, Snatch instantly felt so, so much better.
"There's my
good pet
," she said softly, beckoning with one finger. "Why don't you come closer, then?"
"Nn." Snatch hesitated, his toes dragging against the stone as he stepped forward. "Stop."
"Stop what?" the mermaid asked, her voice as sweet as sunrays. The light flashed. "I'm not doing anything, as you can see. It's not my fault if you're feeling a tad...
dizzy
."
Snatch swayed slightly. His eyelids fluttered, but did not close. They would not close, now that the light had them.
"Are you alright?" the mermaid asked, her supple red lips turning down in a frown. "You look a little tired. Maybe you should lie down."
"Mm." Snatch shook his head. The light felt so good, so perfect, it had to be a trap. Her smile was too beautiful. Had to fight it. Had to resist. "R-resist..."
"Resist what?" the mermaid asked, licking her ruby-red lips. "Come closer, pet, I can scarcely hear you." The light flashed. "And you need a closer look. It's so
dark
in here."
"Nn..." But Snatch was stumbling closer, and he dragged his feet a little less with every step. "S-stop..."
"Stop what?" The mermaid smiled as he came to the edge of the pool. Oh, how he ached to give in to that smile.
"I..." He stared down at her. The light glimmered and flashed as the mermaid reached up, taking something from his left hand. He barely registered this, and barely noticed as the light around him grew a little less green and a little more gold. His thoughts had been almost totally split between two schools: The need to resist and the desire to submit.
And with every glimmer, a few of those thoughts changed sides. "Stop... f-flashing..."
A pause. A flash.
"Hm." The mermaid raised an eyebrow. "Boy, you're
tough
for a human. Most of them can't even tell there's a light by now."
"L-light?"
After a moment, the mermaid grinned. She had very sharp teeth. "Okay, sweet pet," she cooed, "I promise to be nice. No more flashing." She winked.
