Leviathan Boyfriend: Agrios #1 (complete)

There is a cave near the anemones that I like to go visit, even though I have been told it isn’t a place we should go. It’s the kind of thing that kids do just to rebel against their parents - enter the cave, poke around, then pop back out before anyone notices. I never really grew out of that, as I enjoyed what I found inside the cave.

It lies just beyond the anemone fields where my people live. Our colony is small, but we’re all very close and protective. The cave has a wide opening at the bottom, and rather than go down or back, it goes up. If you let yourself just float up until you hit the ceiling, you’ll find another opening that you can swim down. Further along that way, you’ll come out onto a beautiful beach. The cave wraps around this section of sand like a bubble, and light shimmers through the holes in the ceiling. Here it is quiet, and I often find interesting things that humans have left behind. 

Like I said, my colony is small and close, and it’s hard to come by alone time there. More likely than not, there is always someone in your business. Since most of the others don’t come to the cave, and only the kids venture to the opening, I am able to claim this small beach as my own.

I come home one evening after visiting my beach to find my family in a panic. There has been a Leviathan sighting in the area, and they were looking for me all day. The Leviathan are monstrous sea creatures who usually take to the deepest parts of the ocean. They are as rare as swimming unicorns for us since we live in the anemones. It’s said that the only occasion the Leviathans come close to shore is to hunt humans, just to remind them that they exist.

“Do you know how dangerous it is out there?” My mother fusses at me as she pulls me back into the anemones. 

“Not until now,” I answer. “It’s probably long gone by now, anyway! I was somewhere safe, no need to be worried. I’m home, aren’t I?”

“That is not the point, Talitia!” she continues to scold. “You should have been somewhere close by! Where are you always going and hiding?”

I dare not tell her about the cave or my beach. I might never see them again if I do. “I was napping,” I force myself to lie.

“Napping!” she scoffs. She pinches my cheek hard. “Napping! Do you know how foolish that sounds?”

“Ow! Mommy, that hurts!” I manage to finally break away from her. “The Leviathan don’t even mess with us. We taste bad because of the anemones, remember?” I grab a tendril of anemone and shake it at her.

“But they can still hurt you! They don’t have to eat you to do that. There are other things, Talitia!” My mother waggles her finger at me.

I roll my eyes and drag my hands down my face. “They’re colorblind too, so they wouldn’t even see my orange tail in the water,” I say, thinking this is the definitive point of the argument.

“Like they can’t see you moving around,” my mother huffs. “How do we even know what they can see? From some silly legends from ages ago?”

“Oh, so now they’re silly?” I ask. “When I laugh at the story of the mermaid becoming human, I’m not paying attention to history. But when I have something to say regarding legends, it’s silly?”

“You’re a child!” my mother blurts.

This is the exact thing that sticks in my craw. My whole body stiffens up, and my tail flicks. I chuckle to myself, shake my head, then give my mother a cold stare. “You think I’m a child?” I snarl at her. “Yet you keep wanting to pair me off with any available male in the colony? I’m a child, and yet you want me to have grandchildren?”

My mom’s mouth drops open, and then she shuts it quickly.

“Fine, Mom,” I shrug. “I’m a child. So like a child, I’m going to run away.” I grab my bag and swim back out of the anemones. I ignore my mother as she tries to chase after me. I swim faster than her, bolting away from the cave at first, then swimming around it to come to the entrance again. 

“Let her stew in it for the night,” I grumble under my breath. “Then we’ll see who-” As I enter the cave, I notice something strange. Part of the entryway has been broken apart, and large chunks of rock are scattered all over the floor. A blast had come from inside, and there are jagged edges in the rock that mark the path of the explosion.

“Whoa,” I whisper. I peer into the cave and look around. “Hello?” I swim inside. “Someone here?” I keep going deeper.

I suppose it says a lot that I am willing to chase something that can break stone and not my mother. I’ve always been on the dumb side of curious, I am willing to admit that. I was the kid who would take on stupid dares, knowing I would end up hurt, just because I liked the thrill of them. That’s part of how I found my beach.

I swim through the channel leading to my beach, where I am greeted by the sight of dappled moonlight dancing on the surface of the water. I rise to the surface to see that my beach has greatly changed from the short time since I was there last. There are rocks scattered and tossed about, and part of the ceiling has been broken. There is also something huge huddled on the sand.

I duck down behind a stone, spying on this great big thing. It shifts slightly, moving towards the moonlight coming in. It’s huge, taking up the entire beach. Its body is streaked dark blue and deep red. Its bottom half trails tentacles like those of an octopus, but its top half looks more like a shark’s, with arms projecting from its sides. 

That’s when I hear a frustrated whine, and sniffling. The creature flops down unhappily, then rises up. This massive, muscular fiend has a great big head and more mouth than it needs. Its clawed hand reaches up to jab inside its mouth, but after a few moments of digging, it stops and starts crying again. The thing holds its head in its hands and thrashes about. It smashes more of the rocks around it and chips away at the wall.

Fearing for my beach, I decide to make myself known. “Are you ok?” I call out in a small voice.

The creature whines again and looks around. “Who goes there?” he snarls.

“Over here,” I rise up on the stones. “Were you crying?” 

The creature lowers down towards me. Our sizes are comparable to a seahorse and a shark. I would be a two-bite snack to him.

“A mermaid,” he whispers. “Such a chubby one too.”

“Look who’s talking,” I scoff at him.

The creature chuckles. “Smarting off to a Leviathan? When did mermaids get so bold?”

I tilt my head and notice blood trickling down his jaw. “When I heard you crying.” I point at his mouth. “Is something wrong?”

He growls and rears back. “I was out today, hunting a shipping vessel. I think one of the humans’ hooks got lodged in my teeth. I can’t get it.”

I grimace at the thought. “Ow, that has to hurt.”

“It does. It’s agonizing! And it has been all day. My nerves are frayed and I haven’t been able to eat anything since.” He lowers himself down onto the beach, resting his great big noggin on the ground. His head is broad, with fins jutting out the back. The red stripes make a deep ‘V’ on his forehead and down his muzzle. There is a strange, bulbous object on the back of his head that’s a deep blue. It looks like soft flesh compared to the rest of his hide, which is hard armor. 

“If I had something small enough to get in there,” he snarls.

“Too bad I’m chubby,” I scoff.

He glances at me. “No! You could work.” He inches back towards me. “Reach in! Maybe you can get it out.”

“You expect me to fall for that?” I snap. “No way! I shove my hand in there and I’ll be swimming in circles for the rest of my life.”

“I don’t eat mermaids,” he quickly responds. “They’re too bony.”

I grimace at him. “That does nothing to comfort me!”

The leviathan scoffs, then grabs a rock. He sets it in the right corner of his mouth. “Onh ah caht bah.”

I stare at the rock then up at his eyes. “What?”

He takes the rock out. “If the rock is in my mouth, I won’t be able to bite you. So you can go in looking for the hook as much as you want.” He places the rock back in his jaw, then lays his hands flat on the ground before me.

I huff and slouch my shoulders. “I’m going to regret this.” I clasp my hands together and say a quick prayer. Then I ease closer to his mouth, place my head inside, and look around to find where the blood is coming from. I feel around for a moment, finding the slim end of the hook jutting from his teeth. I tug, and the leviathan cries out in agony. I tug again and he screams. Spit splatters against my face.

“Calm down!” I roar at him and yank hard. 

He crushes the stone in his mouth and smashes against the wall behind him. I grasp the hook in my hand, swimming away from him. I cower down behind a stone, peeking over the top to watch him as he slips into the water. 

Things are silent for far too long. I peer around the cave, checking under the water for any sign. As I slip down into the water, a blue glow appears under the surface. The leviathan’s eyes gaze up at me, and I freeze in place.

“Thank you,” he says. 

“Oh, uh...” I glance at the hook still in my hand. “You’re welcome.”

He pets the top of my head, using just his fingertips to do so. “I owe you.”

“No, really,” I chuckle. “Just clean up your mess.” I point towards the surface. “That little beach means a lot to me.”

“You’re one of the anemone merfolk, right?” He asks. “I thought they didn’t like leaving the safety of their colonies.”

“Yeah, well, some of us need space.” I scoff. 

“I understand,” he says. “What is your name?”

“Why do you want to know?” I swim closer to him. 

The leviathan chuckles. “I would like to know your name.” He tilts his head to the side. “Is that so wrong?”

“What’s yours first?” I ask pointedly.

“Agrios.” His voice is like the distant rumble of human cannons. 

“That sounds like an old name,” I swim around him, wanting to look at all his scales and spikes. He’s built like a warship, with many ridges and sharp points in his hide to protect him. You’d think his size would be enough for that.

Agrios watches me as I swim. “That’s because it is old. We leviathans live a long time, and I have lived in these waters for longer than you’d ever know.”

“Sounds boring.” I position myself before him again.

“That is why we often sleep,” Agrios replies. “I just woke up myself, thought I’d see what the humans were up to and then patrol the ocean for a while.” He tilts his head to the side. “Shouldn’t a little mermaid such as yourself be scared of me?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. Should I be scared?”

“You must be either brave or foolish,” he chuckles. 

“More than likely both,” I smile. 

“You still haven’t told me your name.” He holds his hand out.

I grab his fingertips and shake. “Talitia,” I reply. “But you can call me Tali.”

“Tali,” he murmurs. “Pretty name. It suits you.”

My face feels warm as my pulse speeds up. “Yes, well.” I clear my throat as I take my hand back. “You stop eating fishing vessels. I heard there are warships close to the mainland. Those might be better for you. Big, muscular naval officers are probably much better food.”

Agrios laughs. “I suppose so.” He tilts his head back. “I suppose I should go and clean up my mess like you told me to do. You head on back home.”

I scoff. “Home, right.”

Agrios hesitates and looks back at me. “You do have a home, don’t you?”

I nod with a bitter look on my face. “I do, but I’ve been having a fight with my mother,” I grumble at him. “She called me a child because I wasn’t home when there had been a leviathan sighting.” I look at him again. “I suppose that was you.”

“She was scared for your safety,” Agrios replies.

“She didn’t have to call me a child!” I snap. “She keeps trying to marry me off, but I am still a child to her?”

“Why don’t you come back and talk with me while I clean up?” He suggests. “I’d hate to send you home angry.”

I huff and shrug my shoulders. “Sure.” I follow Agrios back to the surface, then take a seat on a stone while he fixes the mess he made. He takes up the boulders and rocks he scattered, and begins using them to construct a small stone hut near the water. 

“How long were you asleep for?” I ask him.

“Not sure,” he shakes his head. “Sometimes it’s for decades, maybe a century. It’s always different. It’s so hard to count the years, too. I’ve been alive so long that everything blends together. Time doesn’t really matter.”

“That sounds tough,” I grumble.

He chuckles. “You get used to it. Numb is more like it.”

I sit up straight on the rock. “Can you die?”

“Why?” Agrios grins as he looks at me. “Are you planning on killing me?”

“Of course not,” I chuckle. “It’s curiosity. But you never know what you’ll need to do one day.”

Agrios lowers himself down to me again. “We can will it, if we so desire,” he answers with a low, smooth voice. “One of my friends had fallen in love with a human woman,” he murmurs. “They were together all her life, and when she died, he did too.” He frowns. “Such a small amount of time, and he was willing to stop living because of it.”

“I take it you’ve never been in love,” I smirk.

Agrios shakes his head. “No. After that happened, I became afraid of it.” He smiles at me. “It didn’t seem quite worth the effort to be in love if I was going to die at the end of it. What about you?”

I roll my eyes. “I grew up with everyone in my colony. So I’ve known every available mate all my life. I have no interest in any of them. It feels too weird.”

“So, you’re waiting for a stranger to sweep you away?” Agrios chuckles. 

“Not necessarily,” I shrug. “I don’t need romance or a mate to be happy with myself. I mean sure, it would be nice, in a way. But it isn’t necessary.”

“So what if someone did come along who stole your affection?” Agrios asks. “What then?”

“Don’t know.” I hum thoughtfully. “I guess it all depends on the person, what I would do. Fall in love? Sure, why not? Mate? That’s the real ‘if’.”

“You don’t like mating?” Agrios snickers.

“That’s awfully personal,” I scoff. “What about you?” I point at him. “Have you ever mated?”

“Nope,” he answers.

“Is that how you die?” I giggle.

Agrios pushes me gently. “Not at all. But it’s a one-time thing.”

I furrow my brow. “You lose it if you use it?”

Agrios rolls his eyes as he grins. “No. I can still use it, it’s just-” he huffs. “Us leviathan only have one chance to be fertile. One egg, one seed, that’s it. So the first time has to really count.”

“No wonder there aren’t a lot of you.” I then laugh. “I suppose that’s a good thing. Too many of you and there would be no room for the rest of us.”

“We also live so long, it’s not really a necessity.” Agrios glances back to the beach. “On another note, do you approve of my work?”

I look around in the moonlight and nod. “It’ll do. The little hut is a nice touch.”

“I figured if you ever wanted to run away again, you would have a nice little shelter to come to.” Agrios glances down at me. “You can hide things there.”

“Could be nice,” I smirk.

“Will you be going home now?” Agrios asks in a low voice.

I sigh and nod. “It’s home. I have to. All I wanted to do was get away for awhile. Hopefully my mom will think about what she said and realize how much it hurt.” I glance up at Agrios. “And what about you?”

“What about me?” he chuckles.

“Will you be going home?” I hug onto my tail. “Wherever that may be.”

Agrios gets a distant look in his eyes. He bows his head and a low grumble rises in his throat. “It’s so boring there.”

“Well, then,” I sigh as I slip back into the water, “if you intend to linger around these parts, I suggest you be careful about who sees you. Who knows who you are going to freak out?”

“If I stay,” Agrios starts before we both go back under the water, “can I still see you?”

I glance up at him as his eyes and parts of his body begin to glow. “You would still want to see me?” I ask, a bit confused.

“I like you, Tali,” he replies. “Today has been enjoyable for me.”

My heart is sputtering away again. “Yeah, well,” I grumble as I think about it. “We would have to be careful, my mom couldn’t know about it. But yeah.” I start to grin. “I would enjoy hanging out more with you too.”

Agrios swims with me back down to the mouth of the cave. As I slip out, I watch as he slithers along the ground. His body is long, and the tentacles make him seem so much bigger. The way the glowing points on his body light up, he looks like a constellation that fell from the sky. 

“How often do you come to the cave?” Agrios asks.

“Almost all of the time,” I tell him. “You’re more likely to find me there than anywhere in the anemones.” I point back towards home. “Stay away from there.”

Agrios chuckles. “I promise. The anemones smell bad to me, anyway.”

I sigh as I contemplate heading back home. “Maybe we can see each other tomorrow?” I ask in a timid voice.

Agrios nods. “I would like to, Tali. But-” he starts, “try to make up with your mother first. It sounds like you don’t understand one another very well.”

I sigh heavily. “Fine. I’ll try,” I grumble. “But I’d still like to see you anyway.”

Agrios nods. “In the cave, then.” He swims away, going in the opposite direction as I am. 

I head home to the anemone forest, but float outside it for a long time. I’m still not ready to face my mother, and part of me wishes I had gone back with Agrios. I glance over my shoulder, looking through the dark waters to where we parted.