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"Again?! Does she want to meet me again? What is her problem!" An older brunette screamed into her phone. She had started pacing around the room a while ago. She had always been on her phone, never giving attention to her child. Never since the incident.

     She continued to pace around the room, her feet making a creaking sound with each step on the old wood floor. The boards had begun to peel apart and jut out of the floor. The nails on the side of each broken board making the floor dangerous to smaller children unaware of the setting. The woman continued to question the person on the other end, her voice becoming exasperated. "Why should I believe her now?! She's probably just bluffing for crying out loud!?"

     On a small stool untidily tucked underneath a table sat a smaller woman. God had blessed her with a curvy hourglass-shaped body and which sat with its legs crossed over each other. She had her hand on her cheek, supporting her weight on her elbow. She had an annoyed expression written on her face, obviously irritated at the lack of attention her mother was giving to her. She had come used to it on occasion. Her mother never paid attention to her during weekdays. She was always busy, running around taking calls, writing notes, meeting with other people nowhere near important as her daughter. The young woman sighed unto her hand as she thought of the day she had planned out. 

     Today was one of the only days she had to spend time with her mother. She had planned out numerous fun activities they could do together. She had been planning since at least a week before today just to make sure everything would go smoothly. They were about to head out when her mom got a phone call, which she answered instinctively. She has been on it for the past 10 minutes, angrily discussing different plans with the person on the opposite line. The young woman had finally had enough and snapped up, knocking over the wooden stool she was sitting on. "Mom! What happened to our day?!"

     Her mother turned around, her phone still pressed against her ear. She furrowed her brows at her daughter and took a few steps toward her. But then she stopped.

     Someone on the other line must have said something that caught the woman's attention, cause all of the anger that was painted on her face vanished as quickly as it appeared. Soon enough, a smile had found its way onto her face, wrinkling it. The young woman that had snapped out of her stool still stood there, her fists clenched at the scold she was waiting for. Her mother brought her phone down from the side of her head and turned toward her daughter.

"Gold, sweetheart, get my bag together. We're going out."

«««

     The water sloshed around in the open tank as the boat rocked itself to shore. Kyran and Evan were still inside, wondering where they could be going. Evan's scales had painted themselves a blue-gray color. It was a color that rarely faded its way on his scales. That pigment reflected despair, distress, and depression. Kyran had only seen that color cross Evan's scales once before. Evan had been laying down, his face hidden in a pillow and blanket, sobbing. He had lost both of his parents to the barrier that day. Kyran couldn't imagine how he was feeling.

In his side of the tank, Kyran had taken out the blue gem that he kept with him. He had been fiddling with the silver ring around it as a pass time. There was no sound. There was no light. There was no hope. They had taken a stupid risk and now we're suffering the consequences. Kyran wished he could take it back. He wished he could go back in time to tell his past self it wasn't worth it. He would give anything to be back at home. Back in his mother's arms. He wished to be back in a house full of noise and life. But he was here. In this glass box, drifting away to his awaited death.

Kyran couldn't help but wonder what everyone else was doing back in the kingdom. He wondered if anyone even noticed he went missing. What if his parents were glad he was gone? What if they thought, oh well, there are plenty more of him? Or were they despairing just as bad as he was right now? If they did notice he was gone, they would have reported to Funneh immediately. She had been appointed the position of Captain of the Royal Guard just 2 years ago. She had fit right into her new job perfectly. She was always the one for issuing orders to everyone.

Kyran lightly chuckled at the thought, trying to find amusement in his thoughts. He knew that if they made this out alive, Funneh would personally murder him herself. She had always abided by the rules of the barrier. Sometimes she would even patrol out by the border to watch and make sure no one went past it. She would chew him out if he ever made it back.

     The boat had bumped into something, and it sent water splashing out onto the outside wood. The shove woke Evan up from the nap he had been trying to take to ease himself. Kyran got up out of the slouched position he was in to peer at the door across the room. Nothing yet. He heard shouts and yells of orders from up above. Something about an anchor and a sheet. Almost right after the order had been called out, Celeste busted through the door holding a huge dark red sheet. She looked Kyran directly in his eyes before hauling the sheet over the tank, wrapping him and Evan in another veil of darkness. Kyran couldn't see anything, the only source of light was the faint glow of the gem he had been holding onto.

Then a sudden burst of light shot itself into Kyran's vision. It stung Kyran's eyes, and it took him a while to adjust to the new lighting. Kyran finally stabilized his vision and was met with a pair of dark grey eyes. Celeste stared at Kyran with an unusual expression. Kyran didn't know what she was making a face for. They had a mild disliking for merfolk, right? So, why did she look so... sad?

     Celeste jumped back, probably realizing that she had been staring for too long, and dropped the sheet back over the two mermen. There were some bangs and loud noises before the tank was lifted off of the ground. The water sloshed around and took Kyran and Evan with it. Their faces and tails slapped against the cold walls of the tank. Once they had stabilized themselves, they just sat there in silence.

     Here he was again. In a dark setting. No sound, no light, no nothing. Oh, how Kyran hated the dark. The unsettling feeling he got when he was left alone in a room filled with nothing but darkness never ceased to unnerve him. The only sounds he could hear were the unsteady pace of Evan's breathing, and the soft sounds the water made when it folded in on itself. The two just sat there, wondering where they would be going. Neither of them dared to speak. What was there to even speak about? At this point, nothing mattered. They were getting closer to their death, one second at a time.

«««

     "So we're meeting with that weird Yumi girl again?" Gold aggressively asked her mother. She had packed up the stuff she had left out for their day out and instead replaced it with a briefcase that held important papers of her mother's. The pair were walking side by side to their secret meeting place. They have to change it every few months cause people tend to catch on, and the stuff that happens inside those walls should never get out to the public. Another reason why Gold was so suspicious of this whole ordeal.

     "Yes, she made a very important discovery in the last twelve hours." Gold's mother spoke in a firm tone, not breaking her stride for a second. Her black boots made clicking sounds on the wood below her, giving off a very sophisticated look to onlookers. But Gold knew better. She knew her mother was stressed as can be right now. She could see it in the way her hair stuck out at the sides near her ears. It only stuck out when she became stressed about due dates and special meetings she was unsure about. But what could Yumi have to say that could rattle mom up this much, Gold thought. Yumi has always been a nuisance to Gold's mother. She always went on crazy delirious tangents about merfolk and how close she was to finding one. Gold's mother never gave in, though. She gave half responses that suggested she didn't believe in merfolk. Oh, but how wrong that was.

Gold and her mother despised merfolk. Gold, not as much as her mother, but the loathing was still mutual. Ever since the day those two mermaids took and killed her father, Gold has never once thought of a happy ending for another mermaid.

As they were walking, Gold's mother finally spoke up. "I'm sorry."

Gold couldn't understand what she was hearing. Her mother, apologizing?

"Um, what for..." Gold slowly replied. Her mother stopped in her tracks and turned her head around to give her daughter a soft smile.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to do the stuff you wanted, it's just," She hesitated. "This meeting is so very important. To you, me, and your father," Gold's mom ended her sentence and continued walking. Gold couldn't comprehend what was going on. What did her father have to do with this? Eventually, they got to the door and opened it up. The metal hinges made ominous squeaking sounds as the heavy door swung its way open.

"Alright, we're here. Now, where are they." Gold's mother spoke up. The room was dark except for a small candle that was lit on a desk in the middle of the room. Gold immediately recognized the black-haired female in the chair behind it.

"Cassidy, hello! It so good to see you." Yumi ended her sarcastic greeting with one of her sickening grins Gold hated. She never did like the vibes Yumi emitted. They made her feel uncomfortable and queasy. But now, with her sitting behind this dark wooden desk, her hands placed perfectly on top of each other, she looked so much more menacing than she ever had.

"Ok, Yumi. Cut the crap and show me the tank," Cassidy yelled, keeping her face still as stone. Gold still couldn't make out what was going on. Her mother and countless other friends and past lovers had always told her that she was the most oblivious little flower they had ever seen. She hated it when they called her that. It made her feel immature and stupid. But right here, right now, was a plain example of that stupidity.

"Oh, of course, right this way," Yumi picked herself out of her chair and walked towards another door in the corner of the room. As they passed by the desk, Gold grabbed the candle and continued following her mother and Yumi. Gold soon realized she didn't need to bring the candle, for the room they entered was completely illuminated. Lamps and candles lined the walls and gave off a burnt golden glow.

Gold had found herself standing slightly behind her mother. Although she had been trained in self-defense, she still didn't trust any of these people except for Alec, who stood the farthest away from her. In the corner of the room where everyone had chosen to stand, a large red-cloaked rectangular prism stood. Gold took notice of long streams of darker-coated fabric coming from the top of the box.

"Is this it? This is where they are?" Cassidy motioned towards the cloaked box. Celeste stood right next to it, clutching into a hand full of the red sheet. What was she talking about? Why didn't she just tell Gold why they were here. Suddenly, Cassidy lunges for the fabric, trying to tear it off. That's as until all four of the opposing team stopped her in her tracks.

"Ah, ah, ah! Not yet, Cass. Payment first." Yumi snarled. Cassidy flinched and clenched her fists into balls.

"I want to see them. I know your tricks, Yumi. When have I not kept my word?" Cassidy threatened. Yumi rolled her eyes and gave a small and swift hand motion to Celeste.

"Ok, then. You can see them, but you won't be taking them until I have my part of the deal. Both parts of it!" Yumi barked before Celeste aggressively peeled the sheet off of the box.

«««

The light stung. It stung so badly. It was different lighting than the one on the ship. This lighting was so much brighter. And it was everywhere, not just in selective corners. Kyran's eyes fluttered open, still seeing black in most of his vision. His eyes had barely begun to adjust to the light when he heard a half-screech half-gasp come out of an unfamiliar human.

The screech woke Evan up almost immediately, and it's adjusted Kyran to the scene before him. He recognized Yumi, Celeste, Alec, and Elijah, but standing before him here two completely different humans. They look practically identical, aside from the taller woman's wrinkles and her pale blue eyes as opposed to the smaller girl's smooth skin and golden eyes. Kyran would've been more entranced by them if they weren't paralyzed in what Kyran could only assume was fear. The older woman immediately ran up the tank and pressed her hands against the glass, looking at every square inch of the tank. Despite the more obvious winner in the beauty department (Evan), the lady had her eyes fixated on Kyran. He watched her eyes drift from his facial features to his translucent fins, to his missing scales and even his scar. She took a step back and harshly grabbed Yumi by the shoulders. Kyran would've listened to what they were saying, but he was too focused on a different entity. The girl in front of him stood so much more calm than what Kyran could assume was her mother.

She was very pretty. All of her features complemented each other perfectly. Like the color of autumn leaves complementing the dark browns of the season. After looking at her face for far longer than Kyran wanted to admit, his eyes ran down and caught sight of something he never would have guessed to see again.

This girl that stood in front of him. This girl he thought was as beautiful as the shiniest shell he could ever find, wasn't a stranger. He recognized her and she recognized him. A strange string of fate had led them both here. To meet and discover each other. Except that string was no metaphor.

For this girl had three shiny blue scales hooked onto a necklace that rested on her beautiful sun-kissed skin. Like puzzle pieces coming together, the pair locked eyes and something clicked that even Kyran couldn't bring himself to understand. Her.

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𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 - 𝘢𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 16, 2020
𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 - 𝘫𝘶𝘯𝘦 21, 2021
2620 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴
~𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙖

𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬. 𝘪 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘮 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬!