Choice
Title: Choice
Pairings: Blainofsky, implied past Klaine and Sebastian/Dave
Warnings: MereFolk, transformation,
Rating: PG 13
Summary: At the age of 15 every merefolk in the clan is given four years to decide whether to return to the water or be bound to the Earth for the rest of their live. Blaine’s choice seemed clear until he realizes his decision has been made fore him.
Notes: This is part of a large Mere-folk verse I’ve been sketching out. Hopefully more of it will be done shortly. I’ve taken liberties with the traditional mermaid stories.
Written for gleempreg's writing challenge
They were simply watching the football game, silently enjoying their relatively new found comfort with each other when it happened. Dave was absent-mindedly running his hand over his expanded abdomen when something catches his eye, it was small, but it was there. It was his gasp that grabs the other boy’s attention and Blaine’s eyes linger on the glow coming from underneath Dave’s hand before their eyes meet. A shocked moment of silence passes before Dave fumbles for words,
“No. No...I can’t...I don’t want...My dad...baby...suppossed...human.”
It’s arrived. Zero hour. Time to decide, although neither one of them has a choice. True, there were plenty of options, it just wasn’t that simple.
For Dave the choice was relatively easier: it was, after all, simply a matter of life and death.
For Blaine it was all he thought he wanted for his life versus what he was supposed to do. It was what Kurt wanted versus what his parents would want. Land versus see.
“Blaine, please.”
Those two simple words spur him into action. It barely takes fifteen minutes before Blaine manages to convince Kurt to drive them and usher Dave out of the childhood home he’ll never see again. He feels bad, but time is of the essence. A fact Kurt understand, even if he does not agree with Blaine on what is about to happen, which Kurt has the tact to wait for Dave’s body to put him to sleep before he voices it.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“And make him go through this alone.”
“Sebastian should...” Kurt points out his eyes looking to Blaine behind him.
The gel-haired boy interrupts quickly, “Even if Sebastian hadn’t ran, we both know what would have happened...how they would treat him if I wasn’t the one bringing him.”
“And you don’t think that won’t happen when they find out he’s the traitor’s son? And what if its a boy? The throne will reject him as an heir, and they’ll all know you’ve lied. Do you really want to be stuck in the water for the rest of your life bound to Dave Karofsky? What about the plan, and New York?”
The words ‘what about me?’ aren’t spoken but they still linger in the air. All of the points Kurt makes are valid, but he’s path is already stone before him. “Kurt, you made your choice when you bound your self to the Land. This is mine. Let me make it.”
They’re nearly there when Dave’s eyes flutter open, he’s a little out of it while his body is preparing for what his about to happen, “Its brighter.”
Blaine forces a smile, “That’s good, it means the baby is nearly done changing and it’ll be your turn soon. It’ll be over soon.”
“My legs...”
“Are going to feel numb. Then they’ll start to fuse, and you’ll have your own set of fins.”
“Fins.” Dave laughs but it catches in his throat and he start to cough violently, his lungs struggling for breath.
“Kurt!” Blaine’s voice is full of urgency.
“We’re here! We’re here.” As the Explorer slams on it breaks just outside the entrance of a cave.
The two boys struggle to get the large jock out of the SUV, but Dave is no help as his feet are now attached at the heel, the bones dissipating to become scales. They’re left to half-carry, half-drag Dave to the small pool ten feet inside the cave.
There’s not time for an argument.
Blaine looks to Kurt, “If you can just tell my uncle what has happened, and make sure Paul gets Dave’s note.”
There’s a nod, “I’m going to miss you.”
Blaine’s eyes hold on to Kurts for a second longer,fighting the urge to cry. “You too.”
Before any more words can be said, Blaine stands with his heels to edge of the water, holding Dave by the armpits and takes one look at Kurt. And smiles. The next second he takes a backwards step into the water dragging Dave with him as they fall into the water. Blaine know better than to fight the rush of water that invades him the second the hit the water. The former bully’s body bucks his legs in one solid motion, now fused until the knee. Blaine’s own legs are now one as well, and he can feel his skin become scale. And he know’s he home.
In a matter of seconds, though it feels like an eternity, the swirling water spins slower and slower until all he can see is the walls of the underground palace he called home until his fifteenth birthday. They’re met with a sudden urge of attention, but Blaine’s father waits until Blaine has seen Dave has been given medical attention and a bed to wait out the rest of the change to greet his son.
“I’m glad you chose to come back.” He father’s smile is a little overwhelming so Blaine simply nods, looking elsewhere. “I just hadn’t expected....you should have brought him sooner.”
“There was a chance the child could have human.”
“Human?” Blaine’s mother make her presence known, “Then he already had Folk-blood.”
“His mother was human.” A nod, “His father was Folk.” Their confusion. His breathe. “He is the son of Paul Karofsky.”
Simultaneously their mouths open in protest, but Blaine cuts them off. “Whose family still lives here. They are not judged for his actions, so neither will he. Especially, when he is carrying your first grandchild.”
They nodded, buying the lie so easily. His mother went over to inform the rest of the Karoskys that Dave had arrived. His father lingered, looking at his son, and the almost full mere-man laying asleep in the infermary bed.
“You’re going to make the throne proud. You’ve made the right choice.”
Blaine’s head nodded, while his brain scoffed with the word.
Choice. His wished. Right. He could only hope.
xxxx
Five months after the disappearance of his son, Paul Karofsky was distracted by the knock at his front door. Swinging the door open he recognized the Merefolk’s ambassador, the sibling of the king and the only Folk with the ability to go between water and land, or as the Land-Dweller’s believed Blaine Anderson’s father.
“Edward Anderson, what do I owe this pleasure?”
The other man’s tight faced response tempted the corners of Paul’s smirk, though it disappeared quickly as he saw the basket in Edward’s hand.
“I can’t...”
“You don’t have a choice, they sent this along as well.”
After relieving duty of the basket and box to Paul, Andrew left as quickly as possible without another word. The exiled Mere-man made his way back inside, setting the basket on the floor to read the note, Dave’s words as written by Andrew, no doubt after returning from his latest visit:
Dad...I’m fine. Married now. Love the water. Went into labor on your birthday. Emmy is beautiful; brown hair, hazel eyes, lavender scales. This her brother, Caleb, born entirely human. Blaine believes he is why Emmy took longer to change in the womb. Take care him please. Make sure he knows we love him. Love you. David