CHAPTER 111: FAREWELL, MY SIREN

The waves lapped at their bare feet. The tide whispered against the shore, pulling in and out with a rhythm that was neither morning nor night. The sky above the dream was painted in shades of indigo and violet, stars dissolving into saltwater mist.

Hermes stood at the edge of this world, his eyes meeting Glasán’s, the only other figure who seemed solid against the haze.

"When are you leaving?" Glasán’s voice carried over the sound of the sea, not in the cadence of his Irish tongue, but in Hermes’ own modern English.

Irish has a beauty of its own, but the words slid too smoothly.

Hermes hesitated. "... Soon. We’re just trying to solve the mystery of how your sister turned into a merrow."

Glasán’s hands hung loose at his sides, but his jaw was tight. "There’s so many things I do not understand. But what I do know is that... you’re leaving. Right when I just decided to throw away my chances of becoming king."

"I’m sorry." Hermes lowered his head, as if apology could soften the weight of inevitability.

"No, don’t apologize." Glasán’s eyes glimmered with the reflections of the waves. "After seeing what might happen to me if I become king, I’m glad that you came and changed my fate."

The tide crept higher. Foam kissed their ankles. The sea of this dream seemed to lean closer, listening.

"And to imagine everything that my descendants would go through, all because of my fears, my pain..." Glasán’s voice wavered, but he did not look away. "I should be the one apologizing. To them, to Somhairle..."

Hermes corrected softly, "It’s Somner. In the future, all the firstborn male descendants would have the name Somner. He is the hundredth."

He looked down at Glasán, who was glowing like a spectre or some kind of oceanic creature. Like the moon had come down to sit beside him and listen to his tales of the future.

"At first we thought it didn’t make sense since he was definitely not the 100th generation after you, but now it made sense. The other Sumners... they were taken down by your bloodline. Possibly quite early, as there’s no records of it anymore in our time. As far as everybody remembers, there’s only been one Somner bloodline."

The waves rose to their knees now, cool and insistent. But the two of them did not feel any anxiety or unease...

Just the melancholy of accepting loss.

Glasán swallowed hard. "Then what happens now? Since I won’t be marrying... Doesn’t that mean Somner would not exist?"

"Yes, well..." Hermes exhaled, staring at the line where the sea blended into the sky. "Dante, the guy from earlier, said that he can still go back to the time we came from. But yes, he virtually would ’not exist’. Nobody would remember him, there would be no records of him being born."

"I don’t want that to happen." Glasán said with sudden urgency.

His eyes burned, even as the waves climbed to their waists. "You care for him, right? So... I’ll still marry. I’ll still gain an heir."

Hermes’ voice cracked. "Glasán, you don’t have to. That’s too cruel—"

But Glasán cut him off, his voice steady despite the tide rising into his chest. "Hermes. Don’t misunderstand me. I would not become the king that was shown there."

The Siren Knight smiled at him. "I would instead try to make sure to teach everyone to use the gift properly. I would not give it to my half-brothers so easily... they would need to prove themselves first. And I would give it to Muirenn, have her help me teach our descendants to be kind and forgiving."

Hermes’ throat tightened. "That’s... very kind of you. Thank you."

"It hasn’t happened yet, so don’t thank me."

"But still," Hermes said, stepping closer, his hand brushing against Glasán’s as if afraid the dream might pull him away. "To sacrifice this much for the sake of everyone else... for me. Thank you."

Glasán smiled faintly, though his eyes brimmed with sorrow. "Hermes, aren’t you also doing the same? You could have chosen not to go through all this trouble... to not meet me. But you did it for the sake of others."

The waves swallowed their shoulders now. The dream blurred at the edges, collapsing into nothing but sea and sky.

"I’m glad you are the first man I’ve loved," Glasán whispered. "And you will always be."

Hermes gave a small kiss. Chaste, like when one would say goodbye.

Once they parted, Glasán tilted his head. "But... What of the real Heimon? Does he truly exist?"

"Yes. He and I are the same, just that he was the ’me’ of this timeline." Hermes said. "When I leave, he will be here and... And perhaps you will come to love him too."

Glasán shook his head. "It’s not the same."

"It will be." Hermes insisted. "I know it... Trust me."

It’s the same with Apple, Hermes thought. Not the same person, but the same soul reflected back in a different vessel. Somner and Aphrodite had come to love him too.

But...

Glasán will have Heimon, and he would have no Glasán.

Hermes shivered as the water rose to his chin. He could feel the dream dissolving, dragging this siren further from him.

The siren dies once he returns to his time.

Then...

Glasán spoke, since he knew Hermes’ thoughts. They were connected in this dream, acutely aware of what the other was feeling.

"It’s not the same as death or me leaving you behind. Because I will still be here, in your heart."

Hermes gave a sad smile to that...

And the water swallowed them, as the shared dream has reached its end.

***

Hermes blinked against the brightness of the sun outside, and saw Glasán lying beside him, breathing steady.

But something remained of the dream, a shimmer in the air.

When they went to join the others for breakfast, Glasán surprised them all.

"Hello, guys." He said in modern English but with a noticeable accent.

Then, suddenly unsure of himself, he spoke back in middle Irish. "Did I speak rightly or did I make a fool of meself?"

The others froze. Even Apple, who was usually unflappable, blinked in shock.

Glasán looked down at his hands, almost embarrassed. The other two were surprised, but Hermes’ other self could tell what was happening.

"So then... he knows the truth now?" Apple asked quietly in Middle Irish.

"Aye." Hermes answered.

He explained their shared dream, and asked where Dante was. The three told them that the old fox went out to hunt right after serving them breakfast.

"Come then," Aphrodite muttered as they finished their bread and eggs. "Let us see what power lies in that cave... and what curse brings forth the merrow."

And so they took their horses and their wagon to River Nore.