The Last Step - Castle Swimmer Headcanons

Post Ep 34 (Literate Version)

   Silence flowed throughout the cavern, the water cold. Susca stared at the two young mers in front of her, unsure of what exactly to say. One was known as 'the beacon', a savior of mer society. The other, her own son, doomed by the shark prophecy to shed his blood for the curse. Both of them continued to stare at Queen Susca, each with their own shocked expression. It almost seemed to Susca that the beacon was afraid for her son. Maybe, if the prophecy was different, the beacon could be a friend. But in order to lift the curse from all of shark kind, one of them has to die. It was time, she decided, to admit the truth. Prince Siren needed to be sacrificed. With a deep inhale, the refined queen broke the silence. 

     "I... really hate that is has come to this, but we mustn't wait any longer. My people, YOUR people, Siren, are in danger."

     The shark prince quietly gasped at his mother's confession, unable to believe that she would truly say that. "W- wait- You don't actually m- mean that, right?"

     Susca loved her son more than anything else in the world. She really tried to avoid it, she really tried to change the prophecy's roles, so that her son wouldn't have to die. Unfortunately, however, Siren wasn't able to kill the beacon, and ended up getting quite attached to him instead. Clearly, Susca thought, the surface god did not will for the beacon to be slain. She couldn't change the prophecy no matter how hard she tried, and it was almost too much for her to bear. She continued her speech, figuring things would be better once her people are saved. "....I'm sorry. Beacon, you must take this."

     Susca watched with great sorrow, as the shiny mer in front of her grasped the ceremonial spear from her hands. It looked way too big for him, she thought. Kappa glanced at the large weapon is his hands, eyes widening with what was obviously a rising level of panic.

     "H- Hold on!" Kappa began shouting; "I don't wanna kill anybody! There's a better way, right? A way where nobody has to die? S- Siren did nothing wrong! I- I- I can't kill him."

     Susca retained the calm in her voice. "I'm sorry, Beacon, but not in the prophecy."

     The queen stood surprised as the beacon looked her dead in the eye. His face, his very aura seemed different all of the sudden, like he was in great distress. Kappa continued to panic, somewhat unaware that he was raising his voice. "Forget the prophecy! Just because a bunch of old dead people said so, all these terrible things have to happen?! I am SICK, and TIRED of all these stupid prophecies! Did anyone ever ask how I felt about it? Did anyone?! My entire life, I have done NOTHING but fulfill OTHER people's plans. I'll admit, I went along with it, but this DRAWS THE LINE. I- I- I can't... I..."

     Kappa's volume decreased steadily, holding the spear close to his chest, similar to what a young child would do. Susca and Siren looked at each other, unsure of what to do. The young mer with the shiny tail fell down onto his tail, covering his face with his knuckles. He was crying.

     Siren remained still in pure awe. He wanted to do something to comfort Kappa. Kappa had said something to Siren earlier about the pressure of his being the beacon, but the shark prince didn't entirely realize his troubles until now. He loved Kappa dearly, and while Siren was now relieved he didn't have to kill the beacon after all, he now knew the terrifying truth. The prophecy wants Kappa to kill him. Siren gently swam closer to the crying mer, quite upset himself. Siren didn't know what to say to his friend to make him feel better, but he desperately wanted for Kappa to smile again. The young prince had several words come to his mind, and he just said them, without thinking about it.

     "Hey... Kappa, it's okay. We'll find a better way. Right, mother?"

     Siren looked over his shoulder to his mother, eyes begging for a positive response. Siren didn't have much experience in situations like this, seeing as he never really had a friend like this before. At least, not one as special to him as Kappa. Siren carefully rested a webbed hand on the beacon's shoulder. The beacon was still quietly sobbing, looking up to acknowledge Siren's gentle comfort.
     "K-.... Kappa, I've spent my entire life hidden away waiting for this moment where I can be useful. It's okay for you to kill me."

     Kappa interrupted the last part of Siren's sentence, returning to absentminded shouting and stuttering, subtle tears running down his face. "It's not just that! You think I WANT to kill you? I can't do it, Siren! I'm not going to murder my only sensible friend just for some stupid prophecy that won't even go right! It's my one job, my ONE JOB, all to do what the surface god tells me, but I- I can't do it... I can never do any of it how they expect me to... Just...."

     Kappa drops the heavy spear to the ground with a loud clank, throwing his hands over his face.
     "Just....." The beacon pushed the spear a little bit closer to his friend. "Just stab me."

     Siren put both of his hands on Kappa's cheeks, forcing the shiny mer to look at the prince. "Kappa, no. You're the BEACON, you have to stay. I'm the one who needs to-"

     Siren stopped talking abruptly when his koi friend moved his face away from Siren, once again covering his face, spontaneously shouting at the ground, voice breaking.
     "I DON'T WANNA BE THE BEACON ANYMORE!"

     Kappa sobbed into his hands, a little bit embarrassed that he wasn't able to stop himself, especially in front of Siren. Kappa had thought things similar to this before, he just never really voiced them out loud the way he's doing now.
     Siren bent lower to the ground, meeting Kappa at eye level. The young prince quietly whispered something into the beacon's ear. Susca couldn't quite hear it, but after he said that, she watched her son pull Kappa into a hug, the beacon shakily breathing and grasping tightly to his friend. For a few seconds, Susca found herself unable to say anything.

     Queen Susca was happy her son had finally made a bond, at the very least. She truly didn't want her son to die, and clearly the beacon wasn't interested either. Perhaps her husband was right. Perhaps there was a better way to put an end to the curse. For now, the best thing was to try to figure it out. Perhaps she could head back to the castle, forget about the prophecy and enjoy a nice dinner with her son, and his friend.
     The queen shark's train of thought stopped abruptly, for a sudden idea had come into her head.
"All.... All right. I have an idea."

     Kappa's face arose from the prince's shoulder, looking up at Susca. "A- Already.... What is it?" He asked, voice raspy and quiet.

"You... aren't going to like it." The queen responded.

"That's okay..." joined Siren comforting and petting the head of the shaken beacon.
"Whatever it takes."