He escorted her. His red eyes watched intently while the mermaid made way; all on her own, in a trance. They eventually reached the chasm, sinking between dark depths. A sharp smile grew on his face, seeing her swim into the ruins without a doubt. There was no recognition in her eyes.

Seaweed shivered inside, feeling the stagnant water of the chambers drift, someone coming in. Two eyes glinted and opened in the far depths of the vast opening, the bloody mass bowing to greet the one approaching it.

Iara halted for a moment, looking with empty eyes, a shark circling her while she stared at it all. Something deep inside her was screaming. Yet her mind was blank, peaceful. Something was making her feel… at ease. Because she got a wish granted, what she had wanted more than anything.

I must…

Regula chuckled, laying a claw over her chin, leaning her head. She whispered while she contemplated her prey, one last time.

“Time to pay.” There was a loud rip. “With your will.”

The shark watched intently while the red threads tore themselves out of rotten skin. The mass of seaweed hissed as it finally let go of its old host. The decayed figure shook one last time, long vines jolting off, her cold smile replaced with a serene one. The corpse of a once beautiful koi sunk, the parasite finally releasing its hold, no more use for her flesh. Their wishes were granted long ago; it gave her legs, and she paid with her mind and body.

There could not be something accomplished without a price: all their memories, all their thoughts, their own consciousness.

Iara did not react as the mass crawled closer to her, losing its red colour faintly while it did so, turning slightly black. It seemed to reach desperately, impatient. And all the while, everything was dark in her mind. There was only a trace of worry, buried below soothing red.

Everything turned bloody around her, she was an empty shell.

The shark cowered slightly with a snarl. Even if cold, not even he was used to its ways. Yet he still kept himself there, looking sideways while that gray tail trembled, her figure seeming to flinch. Her mind was for sure trying to question why another being reached for it, sinking below her skin, tangling around her, soon settling its will over hers.

She eventually stopped quivering, after an agonizing while. Her eyes opened clear once more, this time red; their azure colour was completely gone. She leaned upright, unfazed by the blood that still emanated from her torso, past the mass that entangled her. A smile grew on her lips; not as warm, cold.

She could finally be. Move free again. Young flesh. No more decaying skin, a beautiful new body to inhabit.

After a deeply satisfying chuckle, she slowly looked over her shoulder, the dress of seaweed laying over her like if it had always been there. Her voice echoed, eyes narrowing sharply in the darkness.

“You know what to do…”

Her tone lacked any compassion; there was only malice, hidden below calmness. And for it, the shark grinned, thinking of prey that escaped long ago. She did not move while he dashed away, fast.

The thought of blood was too tempting for him; the parasite had it, and it was his turn. As well, he would savour the fear of the one who had stopped him from tasting the flesh of its new host first. Now he could kill and get even.

It needed the third in the deal gone. It needed her host at ease, with nothing to awake her, nothing to make her feel regret. Her wish was granted. The payment would not be kept if one voiced disagreement. One had to be silenced, to prevent her from hearing. All was finally settled, too precious to be taken back.

The shark knew those facts. He always knew.

The dead don’t talk.