When I was five, I drowned. For real.

Mom and I had gone to Maldives for a vacation with Gramps, Maddie, and her family. We stayed at a resort on one island. My memory as a child may be a little fuzzy, but I've seen enough pictures to bring them back. During those days, the waters were much cleaner, with brighter tones of blue and green, and the sight of the ocean touching the horizon was wondrous and magical to steal anybody's breath away.

It was summer, I recall. I was playing in the water while wearing a floating tube—a bright yellow one with ducks. I had been splashing the water and when Mom looked away for a second, an enormous wave crashed into us. The backwash separated us and dragged me farther into the sea. Something ripped a hole in my floating tube and I sank like a broken ship, water devouring me whole. A fire started within me, consuming my lungs like hot lava, burning until I could feel no more.

I couldn't breathe.

At some point, my strength weakened, and my struggle gradually stopped. The last bit of my air left my lungs and water rushed up my nose. My weight pulled me to the ocean's bed as the sky above me darkened, my skin tingling faintly. My eyes were wide open, frightened and horrified at my last living moment, until moments later, I realized that something felt amiss.

I'm not...dying?

It was faint, but there was a change in the flow of water. Something touched my back, pushing me back to the surface—like a pair of hands. My body glided through the water effortlessly, and my hands automatically reached for the sun above me.

I risked a quick glance behind me and was stunned to meet with a set of luminescent emerald eyes. There was a light brush of fingers across my cheek. Fleeting, but warm. A smile graced the lips of this odd man-looking creature.

A gentle voice entered my mind.

Do not be afraid, dear child.

I blinked at him, and then he was gone. Poof. Vanished like magic.

That was strange.

I may not have known him at all and should be afraid of him, but I wasn't.

The moment I broke the surface, my devastated family swept with relief to discover me alive. I began coughing up saltwater, gasping for air, and crying for Mom. After they brought me back to the resort, I learned I had gone underwater for nearly ten minutes and it was a miracle I was still breathing when they found me.

They marked the entire incident as a bizarre one. To this day, I'm not sure if everything was a mere dream. And if it wasn't, it could be my first encounter with a merfolk.

I've never told Mom about this. My near-death incident was enough to give her a major heart attack. I let her believe that my merfolk ability had somehow emerged and saved me. Although she was glad it happened, I knew it scared her too. She was afraid that the people from the seas would take me away and never see her again.

Now, that fear of hers remains.

Ever since that incident, she has forbidden me from swimming. But then again, she doesn't have to worry because I've a love-hate relationship with water. As much as I love the sound of waves crashing against the shores and how much it's calling out to me, I fear swimming in it. Afraid that I'm going to sink into the darkness once more.

And right now, I'm drowning for the second time in my life.

My hands flail out wildly, kicking my legs in sheer terror. I can never get used to the way the water rushes up my nose, hits my throat and cuts off my air supply. My heart pounds so hard against my ribcage, as if it's going to break free from my chest. The pressure dips and the muffled sounds in my ears pop. The deeper I sink, the louder the crackles get.

I'm positively sure that I might die this time, and the first person I think of was him.

Zarius!

Zarius!

Za–

Strong arms sweep around me, and I feel myself floating up to the surface. When my head's above water, I cough and gasp out loud for fresh air, thanking the stars for being alive.

Still clutching Zarius's arms, I realize he has me cradled against his chest. I place my hands on his broad shoulders that's covered in the black latex-material suit he's wearing. Water runs off him in rivulets and gleams his face. The sides of his exposed neck, which were covered in inkings before, are now showing lines of gills. Now, he appears a little less human and more of an actual merfolk.

Is this the 'morphing' thing that he mentioned before?

Because I think he looks several times hotter this way.

I peer at him through my wet eyelashes. My heart is still pounding as fast as before, but for a completely different reason now. I try not to think that he has an arm supporting my hips and a hand that's placed on the small of my back. I've never been this close to somebody of the opposite gender.

My teeth chatter as a shiver rocks through my body. "T-t-took you long e-enough..."

He arches a brow. "Still cold?"

The answer is so obvious that I almost want to facepalm myself, but I can't seem to move my freezing hands, much less wiggle those fingers. "D-duh!"

He studies me with a frown. Without a word of warning, he swims us over to the center of Milliken Pond. I'm convinced his wounds are healed. His movement is fluid and almost mesmerizing to watch until my phobia kicks right in again.

"W-wait!" I yelp, clutching onto him tightly. Why the hell is he bringing me farther away from land, knowing that I can't swim? "W-where are we going? Are there any more mutants below?"

"Yes and no," he answers quietly. "They're dead. I killed them when I went down below earlier."

"T-that fast? I literally heard and saw nothing!"

There's a slight pause in the air as he inhales deeply. His expression winces a little, and I know it's because he hates being forced to eliminate his own kind. "In the water, I've full reign over my powers," he explains. "They cannot win against me."

From the way he responded, I'm now curious to see the extent of his powers. If he is going to pull out a trident from behind his back like Poseidon, I won't be surprised at all. In fact, he needs to give me my very own magical surfing board that rides on waves, just like how Aladdin had his magic carpet that glided through the air on its own.

"Did you see the water faeries?! They pushed me down into the water earlier."

"Faeries?" Zarius repeats in confusion and his gaze travels back to where we came from. "Ah, them. They are not affected by whatever is in the water, if that's what you're wondering. Faeries are rather sensitive and protective creatures."

The knowledge catches me by surprise. "They...aren't mutated?"

But they attacked me?!

As if on cue, the group of faeries which attacked me several minutes ago fly above our heads and around us. In the water reflection, they look just like Christmas lights; small, bright and colorful. As they hover around us with batting wings, they garble in a foreign language to Zarius, and I don't miss the dirty looks they shoot me with.

Nudging Zarius, I whisper into his ear as my eyes keep a cautious lookout in case they attack me again. "What are they saying? They look as if they're intending to gorge my eyes out any moment now."

Zarius tips his head towards a certain direction and the faeries immediately scatter off to leave us alone. "They thought you hurt me."

I scoff out loud, yet a flood of relief wash over me. "Overprotective much?"

This time, Zarius gives off a very human-like reaction that I've never seen him do—a humorous shrug—and I burst out laughing in between hysteria and silliness in this whole situation.

A mere human hurting a merfolk who can crush my skull with his bare hands? Gosh.

Amusement slowly fades from Zarius's features, and he returns to the problem at hand. My problem.

"Your fear of water," he deduces, "is what disrupts your abilities. You need to overcome it."

From the look he gives me, he doesn't have to spell out word for word about what he is planning to have me do. Panic sets in on me quickly, and I thwack his shoulder once. Damn, his muscles are as hard as steel and might have actually cracked some of my knuckles. "No, no, no! I know what you're thinking right now, but I can't do this!"

"Hear me out, halfling. I won't let you come to harm."

"Easier said than done!"

A brief silence lapses between us. "Why don't we make an exchange?" he suggests thoughtfully. "You can tell me more about your life on the surface, and I will teach you how to swim."

I don't know what to think about that idea. There is a distance between us and Milliken Pond. I don't think I can make my way back without drowning and flopping like a dead fish in front of Zarius.

"Fine," I give in. My mind is already thinking of several ways I'm getting back at him for this. "Let's get this done and over with."

His hold tightens around me a little. "Take a deep breath, Delia." His electro-blue eyes effortlessly hold me in place. "Trust me."

When he lowers us deeper into the water slowly, I'm internally freaking out. My limbs are stiff and freezing. Yet, when he removes his hand from my back and takes my left hand instead, as if he's trying to give me moral support, I'm taken by surprise by the sheer intensity in his gaze.

At this rate, I don't need the sea to drown me in, not when his entire presence can do that.

Trust him.

And I do. Of course, I trust him. Ever since we met, he has never left me behind.

And I don't think I ever want him to.

🥰