It's strange from the bottom of the sea. Depending on how deep you’ve gone, the sun might not even reach you, but if the light does find a way down to you, it’s even more bizarre. It's like standing in a desert, devoid of anything living, except you and your heartbeat. There is no air around you, but only vision-slurring, body-cooling, sound-removing water.

Back when Miriam was still a kid, she would sometimes find herself standing on a beach, listening to the waves. If she was feeling especially brave, she would even take a few steps out into the dark blue ocean. Miriam likes to think that she already back then knew where her real home was.

And home she was. She was standing in the Glass Pyramid, an ancient building beneath the Atlantic ocean that the first Tethered humans had built. It was a sanctuary for people like Miriam; hidden from the normal humans who weren't supposed to know about this more divine breed of humans. The Glass Pyramid was separated into fifteen floors, each one smaller than the one beneath it. Right now, Miriam was standing on the top floor of the building, with a mug in hand while looking out into the ocean through the clear walls. In the nineteen sixties, a deep diver had accidentally stumbled into the pyramid. It had been a hazard getting hold of his film and destroy it, and it had been even more tedious having to set up barriers that blocked normal humans from viewing the pyramid. In the end, though, it ended up being worth it. The Glass Pyramid felt even safer than before, and that made Miriam proud.

Miriam had been elected forty-two years ago when the last leader died. It was no surprise that Miriam had been elected since it had become a tradition to have the oldest, and therefore most experienced, Tethered be the leader. Miriam was currently a little over two hundred years old, which was impressive for a Tethered person.

Tethered people could, in theory, live forever. Once they reached the age of nineteen they stopped aging, both physically and mentally. The reason why the immortality was only a theory, was that most Tethered couldn’t stand the long life. Miriam had seen many dear friends kill themselves to end their inhumanly long life, and she had even thought about doing so herself. Then twenty-two years ago, Erika had come to the Pyramid, and all of Miriam's thoughts about ending her own life vanished. Then two years ago, Erika had woken Miriam up on a quiet Sunday morning, whispering into Miriam’s ear, and now Miriam couldn't even understand why she had ever thought about leaving the world.

Now there were two minutes until Erika and her team would come back from their mission. Miriam didn't have to check the time. She knew it from the way the ocean moved, from the way the ground shook slightly. Most people don't realize how much the planet is moving, but, Miriam supposed, most people didn't live long enough to even have to think of it.

Miriam saw the shapes of bodies swimming towards her.

Two seconds.

It had been nearly two hundred years since Miriam first swam towards the Glass Pyramid. She remembered looking at it for the first time and knowing that this was going to be her forever home. It was love at first sight. Back then, the pyramid had been decorated into carpeted floors and lavish furniture. Miriam had never seen such a beautiful place, and it simply took her breath away. When she closed her eyes, she could still remember the feel of the ornamental rug that used to be in the sitting room.

Miriam took a sip of her tea at the same time the team broke through the glass walls. Erika fell first, landing on her feet, out of breath, with a smile on her face, which was very much an Erika thing to do.

Erika looked at Miriam. She said, “Mission was a success.”

Then the others fell through the roof.

Miriam didn't bother staying any longer. Signaling to Erika, she nodded and took the firepole down. She reached her office quickly, moving swiftly through the maze-like building. Over the years, the Glass Pyramid had had many inhabitants, all of them leaving their own touch on the place, and the result was a cramped and cozy mess. Miriam liked it very much, every day she would learn something new about the Pyramid and all the people before her.

Inside her office, she pressed the yellow button on the wall. Meeting. The buzzer sounded through the radio system, and the sound of people moving on other floors was clear as day for Miriam’s practiced ears.

Back when Miriam was still living her normal life, she would sometimes sneak up to the attic. If she sat on the big old crate, she could see through the hole in the roof. From there, she used to listen to the wind. It made a peculiar sound when it entered that little hole. Like a whistling, like a song. Miriam came up to the attic often, trying to figure out how the wind sang like that. One day she managed to figure it out, and she managed to make the wind sing different songs. That was the first time she ever used her powers.

The meeting was brief. It wasn't even an important mission, only a collapsed building. The most important part of the mission, was for the team to figure out what caused the incident. Miriam had hoped it might be a new Tethered human, they could always use more hands, but unfortunately, it had only been an earthquake.

“I managed to help the civilians out of the site,” Erika reported “Meanwhile Aiden and Shira tried to minimize the damage. Lynn checked on the town’s aqueduct, making sure the earthquake hadn’t caused a leak.”

“Thank you, Erika,” Miriam said as Erika sat herself back down in the chair. Miriam looked around at all the people gathered. “Anything more?”

“Yes, actually” Adi said, rising from his seat. After Miriam, Adi was the oldest. He didn't do missions any more, but stayed in the Pyramid where he made magical objects and provided everyone with valuable knowledge from his many studies. “I’ve been looking at the data Zeph and Javier collected. Someone is definitely using magic in Scandinavia regularly. Possibly a new Tethered. ”

Miriam looked over at Zeph, his head was hanging low and his arms clinging to nothing on the table. Miriam was almost certain his eyes were closed. Zeph had been on a mission to Germany two months ago, along with Javier their healer and tracking expert. Only one of them had returned.

Although these immortal humans could die, it was a rare sight. And Javier’s death was stranger than most. No suicide note, no traces of the murderer other than the fact that Javier’s heart had suddenly grown out of his chest.

Miriam shook her head as if to banish the image. “Okay. We’ll send someone out in a few days. For now, I want everyone to enjoy being in a full house. Meeting over.”

Everyone were quick to get out, the mention of Javier’s name stinging a bit too much. Miriam gave Zeph a friendly pat on the shoulder as he left, and Erika who trailed behind Zeph touched Miriam’s elbow briefly with light fingers. It made Miriam smile. A sad kind of smile, nostalgic and regretful, longing and missing.

The rest of the day was so normal it began to feel strange. There was training, watching television, forgetting to drink water, reading the current news while eating noodles from a cup even thought there was perfectly good food in the fridge. Miriam could feel something underneath her skin, and it was not the normal sensation of youthful magic flowing in her old veins. The feeling was much more human, it made her feel dread down to her bones. It made her feel suspicious.

Miriam decided to go for a swim. She knew the ocean would welcome her and make her worries wash away, just like it always did. And it worked. As soon as she stepped outside, she smiled. She closed her eyes and she swam. Twisting in joy, shaking her hands just to feel the comforting weight of the water restricting her movement. She ran her hands through her hair, and it was like touching silk. She breathed in, breathed out, like a fish.

She was at home.

She didn't hear or feel anything, she only saw the blood as it started to pour from her. She touched her fingers to her chest and found a hole that wasn't supposed to be there. It was also the source of the blood. Her lungs filled with saltwater, her body fell to the ground, feeling the deep-sea pressure for the first time. The ground shook in times with her heartbeat. It was slowing down. Dying. None of that mattered to Miriam. She was at home with the sea, she had come from the sea. She would die at sea, and somehow, someday, she would be revenged at sea. That was the last thought that passed her mind, and it rang truer than any other thought in her entire life.