Opal stood in the Literature classroom, facing Ardea, Mathais and me. She could feel our anger, triggered by her blabbing.

"Don't throw me out the window," she said with an insecure smile. "I didn't mean to say that."

"You never do!" Ardea replied. "You speak first and think second."

"Or don't think at all," Mathias added.

Surprisingly, she didn't respond. I thought that was wise, considering his current mood.

An audible sigh made us turn to our Literature professor. She still stood there, clenching the backrest of the blue chair with her fingers. I was sure that under the gloves, her knuckles were white.

"You told them," she said quietly. She didn't name the person she was accusing, but I knew it had to be me.

"No," I said. "I didn't say anything. Opal... she found out."

"By snooping," Mathias added.

"I accidentally overheard," Opal explained and walked up to Professor Cyan. "Do you know to whom I told your secret? To you. That's it. Only to you. But since it's your secret, it doesn't count. And you should know that you can trust me."

"I can trust you?" Professor Cyan glanced at Opal sideways. "This whole situation just proves I can't trust anyone."

"Don't say that, Professor Cyan. Here," Opal pulled out a sand-colored chair, "have a seat. Let's talk about it some more. Can we get you anything? A beverage maybe? Ardea, go get Professor Cyan some tea."

Ardea raised her eyebrows at Opal. "Excuse me?" she said. "I'm not leaving you in the same room with Mathias."

Opal smiled and turned to Ms. Cyan again. "See, she's reliable too. I've made her angry but she's still looking out for me."

"At this point, I'm looking out for Mathias more than I'm looking out for you," Ardea replied. "He shouldn't get in trouble just because you can't keep your mouth shut."

I looked in Mathias' direction just in time to see him smile at my elven friend's comment.

"Isn't that nice? You would pick a werewolf over your best friend," Opal said with her hands on her hips. Then she turned towards Mathias and added, "And you, stop smiling like an idiot."

The smile was gone, replaced by a scowl.

"See, this is what I'm talking about," Ardea said. "You have no boundaries. And you need to learn when to back down. Look at him," the palm of her hand indicated in his direction, "he's having a hard time as it is even without your remarks."

Opal's forehead furrowed. I was sure she was trying to come up with a reply that would ultimately only prove Ardea right. I used that time to approach Ms. Cyan. One of her hands was still gripping the chair while the other one covered her mouth.

"Professor Cyan, I'm really sorry," I said softly. "About all of this."

"I should have stayed in that town by the sea," she murmured. Her eyes were staring blankly at the table before her.

"Is that where you went? To the town by the sea?" I asked with hope.

The silence filled the classroom. I looked around only to meet Ardea's, Mathia's and Opal's eyes.

Ms. Cyan noticed the silence as well. She lifted her head and whispered, "Home. I went home."

"So, you went diving, right?" Opal asked to make sure she got it right. "Cause you wanted to feel the connection between you and your home."

Ms. Cyan looked at her with watery eyes and quietly said, "I had to see it one more time. My kingdom. I've been away for so long. I had to see it again."

"You went there?" My eyes widened with surprise.

Ms. Cyan turned towards the bookshelf that stood behind her. She bowed her head and placed one of her hands on the shelf. "They had to hear the truth," she said softly. "To be aware of what had been going on in their kingdom."

"Did they recognize you?" Opal was not rendered speechless like I was.

"No," she said and pulled out one of the books. She started flipping the pages to preoccupy her shaky hands. "Not at first."

"They didn't harm you, did they?" The suspicious nature of my race got me worried. I knew they did not welcome strangers to their territory.

"No. I spoke their language," MProfessor Cyan replied, stroking the words written on the page of the book she was holding. "My language. I still remember it. The language I haven't spoken for so long, yet I still remember every word of it."

"What did they do once you revealed your identity?" Ardea asked another question, mimicking the soft voice Ms. Cyan used.

"They tried to prove that I was nothing but a fraud." Our Professor turned to us once again. "They tried to convince me it was impossible, that I couldn't be their long-lost Princess."

"A princess?!" Opal's eyes widened with surprise. "I didn't know you were a princess! Did the rest of you know that?" she asked the rest of us.

"No," Ardea was the only one to reply. She glanced at me and then at Mathias. He looked away to avoid meeting her elven eyes.

"This is incredible!" Opal was still amazed. "She's a princess. Like the one from Azora's story."

I said nothing. She looked at Ms. Cyan and exclaimed, "You're her! You're the Aquantien Princess from Azora's story!"

"Not anymore," Professor Cyan responded. Her eyes filled with tears. She turned away from us, not wanting us to see her cry. "In a way, they were right. The Princess they knew is gone. She disappeared decades ago."

She took a moment to compose herself. I knew that her old life was painful subject and that speaking of it broke her heart over and over again. Her hands covered her face, then she took a deep breath and continued. "Their Princess was a part of the underwater world. She was free. She could swim as fast as the dolphins. She loved to explore. She had parents. She had a best friend. She was loved. She belonged.

"It's all gone now. It all disappeared on the day they pulled her out of the water. Her parents died. Sanda died. What she left behind so long ago, is no longer there. Her people don't recognize her anymore. The Princess no longer exists. All that's left is this person. Iris Cyan. Nothing but a Princess' shadow."

I looked at the faces of my friends. I did not see them clearly, the tears blurred my vision. Ardea's cheeks were also wet. So were Opal's. Mathias was staring out the window, his back turned to us.

"I'm so sorry," Opal said in a shaky voice. "If there's anything we can do..."

"No, there isn't," Professor Cyan replied. "The most I can expect from you is to keep this a secret."

"We can do that," Opal said with nodding of her head. "We will all do that. Right?" She circled us with her eyes.

"Yes," I said in response.

"Of course," Ardea confirmed.

Mathias still stared out the window. "You shouldn't have gone there," he said. "That was a bad idea."

"No," Professor Cyan turned to look at him. "I don't expect you to understand now, but maybe someday you will. They are still my people. My race."

He faced her. His eyes were as red as they used to be after the nights of the full Moon. "Why torture yourself?" His voice was laced with anger. "You know there's no way back. It can't be undone. We're not who we used to be. You're not who you used to be."

"That's the truth." For once, Opal agreed with our werewolf. "I saw what they have to do to Aquantiens to enable them to live on land. There really is no way back."

"And if there were?" I asked. "If there were a way? Even if the chances were slim."

"Then I'd trade this life for those chances," Professor Cyan said. She stopped crying, but her cheeks were still wet from the tears. "I'm tired. I'm tired of living the life that was forced upon me."

For a few moments we all looked at our teacher in silence, but I knew what I had to do. I turned to the elf and said, "Ardea, I'm gonna need you to call your father."

Thank you for reading, you amazing people.

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