"Mister! Mister!"

Anon could hear a voice, it felt distant, but he couldn't move. There was a mass of liquid stuck in his body, preventing him from consciousness.

"Mister! Wake up!" Someone kept yelling and poking at the unconscious man.

"Mom! Mom!" He could hear the little fellow yelling.

The boy's mom went running to him as soon as she heard him.

"Jonah! What's going on?"

"The sea spit him up! He was flying and then fell on my rocks!"

She realized her son had a wild imagination and couldn't count on figuring out what happened with his story.

"Sir! Sir!" The woman was next to the little boy, both hovering over the unconscious man. She examined the naked man and saw all sorts of bruises and blood in his legs and head.

"Ma. Is he dead?"

"Jonah, get back."

If he was, she wanted to protect her child from seeing what death looked like at such a young age.

"He's bleeding badly. Somebody call 911!"

People started surrounding them in a circle, trying to help. "He's not breathing!" One of them yelled.

"I know CPR." One of the ladies yelled as if she wanted to give it to him.

"I'm a doctor. Everyone move back!"

Deep in his subconscious, he felt as she started pumping his chest and a mouth placed on his lips. A weird feeling came over him as he was suddenly being filled up with air.

"You are not dying on me. Come on."

After a few times of this, finally, Anon woke up naked on the shore, lying on the ground.

He started coughing up water, but he couldn't get up. He looked at his savior and stared at her in shock, and his eyes widened.

"Are you okay?" The woman's voice was like a melody to him.

The woman helped him sit up. He was about to fall back down, but she grabbed his back, keeping him in place.

"Atlanna, my Atlanna."

"He must have a concussion." One of the people surrounding them suggested.

"Stay still. I'm going to get you help."

The man looked at her and grabbed her, his grip firm.

"You're hurting me." The woman grabbed his hand, and he loosened up, letting her go.

"Atlanna, stay with me."

"I'm not that person. I'm sorry. My name is-." But his lips crushed hers and interrupted the conversation along with her thoughts. She struggled in his grip again. She didn't want to push him and hurt him more than he was and gave in.

"Stay. Stay." He pulled back and whispered as he felt himself weaken and passed out, and she embraced him in so he wouldn't fall back.

She couldn't let this person die in front of her.

"How long before the paramedics get here."

"It seems part of the wave we saw nearby went into the land and blocked their path, they said about an hour. Probably more."

"What?"

"Useless, right?"

"Forget them. My house is nearby, and I have a first aid kit." She turned around to the men that were there and asked her to help her pick him up to take him to her car.

"We can take him with us!" Three ladies added excitedly, and she glared at them. It was apparent they wanted to take advantage of the situation.

"Ladies, how about after he wakes up."

A few men picked him up and took her to her home and cured his wounds. After they helped lay him in her guest bedroom to rest.

It was dark when he finally woke up in a strange place and realized he'd never been there before. He was lying on a bed alone, confined with four walls. He suddenly heard small giggles outside, so he walked to the door and opened it. Trying to make as little noise as possible to no avail as he listened to the noise quiet down.

A little boy was sitting on the kitchen's countertop with a batch of something that looked cool, white, and creamy. "Want some?"

"Jonah, what have I said about Ice cream at night!" A beautiful woman burst in and took the batch from the kid as he tried to enjoy the last of it. He looked at her in awe and wonder. She reminded him so much of his princess. His mate.

"But we have a guest! I was getting it for him." His mother looked back at her child with a glare, narrowing her eyes.

"Bye, Mister!" The child quickly got off the countertop and ran back to his room.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded in response but didn't say anything.

"My son found you unconscious, and we brought you here to heal some of your wounds. You passed out, so we were waiting until you woke up."

"You saved me. Why?" He started walking towards her, and the woman looked at him wearily.

"I'm a doctor. You needed my help."

"But humans are bad."

"So you're saying you're bad too?"

"No, I'm not."

"Exactly. I'm not sure which humans you've met, but I'm not a bad person. Some people just make bad decisions, you know?"

He nodded, pretending he agreed. He didn't want to anger her to have her throw him out as his merfolk family did. He had nowhere to go.

"What is your name?" He asked, meeting her gaze.

"I'm Lucy, and that was my son Jonah. What is yours?"

"Anon."

"Well, Anon. Do you have anywhere to go? Is there anyone you would like me to call for you?"

He shook his head. "I don't remember." He lied. His memories were still foggy, but everything that transpired started slowly coming back to him. She looked like his beloved, and this made his heartache stronger.

"Your head was bleeding when we found you. You might be experiencing some amnesia."

"Is there somewhere I can take you?"

"Can I please stay with you?" He felt a growing need to stay with her and her cute little son.

"I don't think so. I live alone with my son, and I do not know you. I'm sorry."

"Please." He pleaded. Not wanting to be tossed any other human that could hurt him. He'd buy himself time and find a way to be able to stay longer. Something about her lured him. He wanted her.

"I said-,"

"Please. I won't bother you or your child. I just need to figure this out."

"Listen, I can let you stay for a few days at best until we find your family, your home. Tomorrow we go to do some tests at a nearby clinic. Deal?"

"Deal." This made him hopeful that he could stay with the human woman who saved his life. How would he figure this out with such little time he had. Would she love him back?

*** Earlier that day

The leadership of Atlantis sat down in the throne room with a determined look in their eyes. Atlantis King Cesar, Anon's uncle, sat next to his wife, Queen Dawn, on the throne. Next to them, Anon's parents, the second in command. His father, Emperor Lucian, and his mother, queen Bree. And then there was the King's son Perseus, the next in line to be King of Atlantis.

They used to be two completely separated royal families, but when they found out princes Atlanna was his mate, they united the kingdoms. Princess Atlanna died years ago. This haunted Anon since it happened. The loss of a mate is agonizing to merfolk. Half of your soul has ripped apart instead of being bonded as a whole. Their soul represents their life force. The surviving mate's half fades away until they die.

"You must be wondering why I called a meeting with all of you here." Anon looked at them with determination. All of them nodded and waited for him to continue.

"As you all know, the Kraken comes out this time of year to feast and demand a sacrifice for its hunger. Well, I want to be sacrificed to the Kraken."

"We knew you would say something like this eventually." His father answered.

"Anon, we cannot do this. What kind of example would we be setting for our people. You are dying." King Cesar responded, appalled.

"I am fine," Anon growled.

"This is heresy!" Perseus added.

"No, you are not fine! Look at how your scales are aging. Look at yourself, my child. We're supposed to live thousands of years, and you look like you have a few years at best." His mother, Bree, added.

"You do not have to concern yourself about me for much longer. I want this. It's been a decade! Every day is unbearable from beginning to end without my other half." Without the love of his life, his mate, his chosen by the sea goddess Ursula there was no reason to go on.

"No. You must go to the surface to find a mate. You are the head of our royal warriors." Emperor Lucian interrupted.

"How can you even suggest this? I would never do that to my beloved."

"She wouldn't want this for you. My sister would want you to move on." Perseus added.

"None of you understand! I cannot move on."

"But I do. Remember?" The King interrupted. He had been through the same thing and looked at him with much sadness. When he mated with a human, his queen Dawn, he turned her into a mermaid and made her queen of Atlantis. "You must have to find a human to love, bed, and breed. It will save you." He continued.

"I don't want to mate with the same species that killed her. I cannot. There is no one else for me."

"I used to be human. The King's life force was restored, and I was able to be turned. We were able to have children." Queen Dawn adds.

"Is this your final decision?"

"I have the same answer I've given you all the times you've asked me to move on."

"Then we have made ours. You are hereby banned from the sea onto land without being able to change back until you mate and breed an heir." King Cesar demanded.

"Why can't you just let me die!"

"Because you are our brother, our blood, part of the royal family. We do not wish what happened to you on anyone else, and we want you to be happy, to be free, to live the life you have been meant to by the goddess."

"I've made my peace, and this is what I want! I want to spend my last dying breath with my people. Not out there with a killer race!"

"You judge them all for the actions of but a few? You know better than this." The Emperor retorted.

"Do you know better? If they could, they would have all our heads to experiment on for their gain!"

"Enough! You have much to live for. We will not let you waste your life away! It is an insult to the goddess! If we have to ban you until you do your duty, then so be it! And just so you know, you won't have much time. You might have a few years left in merman form, but you will age quicker by turning fully human. It could accelerate the death rate you are in, but we are willing to take that chance to save you."

"What are you saying?"

"That your time is limited, but we will share some of our life force to extend it. You have two years to find a girl to mate and breed."

"Don't do this to me! Let me be with Atlanna! I want to go to her. I want to go with her!"

"No." All of them answered.

"I will come back then."

"You will forget how to return to us, so even if you tried to shift back, you would not remember our location."

He looked at them with disbelief as if they were strangers. "How long have you been planning this out? Were any of you going to tell me? I at least had the decency to explain my suicidal plan!"

"We are doing it for your own good, son, and we start now."

"Really? For mine or yours?"

"You will now turn back into a human and be pushed by the sea into the shore." In an instant, they were transported close to the shore.

"I love you, my son." His mother sobbed.

"Stop this! You have no right!"

"Find a good girl, son. Fall in love. Bring her here. It's your only hope." His father struggled to look at him.

"Father!"

He was engulfed in a wave, and his tail ripped from him agonizingly slow caused him deep wounds in his legs. Then he started having difficulty breathing underwater. His lungs and stomach were filling with it. The wave went on to different parts of the shore and threw him out in one of its extremities, making him fly into the sand and some rocks. He hit his head on the rock's floor and fell unconscious. Succumbing to the darkness.

I will probably turn this into a short story. I just wanted to add a preview until I start to work on it later on.