Sarit
My shoulder tension instantly released when I got home. I looked back and saw Chada trailing behind slowly. "How slow!" I smirked, then grabbed him by the wrist.
Time seemed to warp when we were together. I kept wondering when Abyss would come back so I wouldn't be doing whatever this is. I must have gotten lost in thought, because I felt his breath behind me. It tickled my shoulder.
"Stop that," I said. He only got closer, pulling my waist. "I can swim but not as well as you, teach me," he said. I laughed, about to swim away.
"By the way, how do you breathe? Do you breathe water like a fish or air like a whale?"
I looked at him, gauging him once again. For a random human, he sure was very inquisitive.
"Why, are you planning to kill me?" He merely laughed, saying, "Nah, that seems more up your alley." I had to huff and dive down because he was right.
"Will you answer me though?" he said.
What reason would anyone have to get to know me? They all just try to use me in the end.
"Letting people know you is a weakness; it assumes I want a companion and I need none," I said. He looked at me with a quizzical but soft expression. "Not even Abyss?" he asked.
I replied, "Abyss is special. Not everyone can be, or they wouldn't be special. If not for the fact we grew up together, I would doubt him just as anyone."
"Is there no point in this world besides the connections we form?" he said.
"Freedom. Peace," I replied resolutely. He hovered there staring at my face, reading my expression before saying, "I would find that lovely, but I don't think you believe your own words, otherwise you wouldn't even be on this swim with me."
I scoffed, his words getting under my skin. "Don't flatter yourself. I am merely bored. This is my home. Am I to interpret you want my companionship just because I have been in yours?" I said dismissively.
"Yes, I do," he said simply. There wasn't a hint of hesitation in his voice right then; he looked me directly in the eyes. We stayed there for a while, staring at each other once again.
I was feeling more than siren instincts; I hated whatever this feeling was. It made me feel like crying. I hated this man disrupting my life. I felt my heartstrings pull, an ache, a hope I was understood. More than that, it was like looking at someone too good to be true. It may be that humans themselves are this very sort.
I remember Mama always told me about men: enjoy and cherish the man you have in the first three months, because after that you will never have that man again.
"Everyone says that at first, that they want to know me. When they do, they leave. They leak my secrets; they decide they don't like the me that they got to know," I said.
"Well Sarit, you cannot possibly be worse than the you that tried to kill me. I may not know what I have—obviously yet to learn—but that is the beauty of life. Give me a chance?" he said.
"What has gotten into you?" I said, very puzzled.
"Honestly, I am not sure either. However, we'll be stuck together for a while. I am not the type to bury feelings. I want to know all the deeper hues of you. Then I can decide if you're as bad as you pretend to be."
"Good luck with that. You will drown before you even reach the depths of Abyss," I said.
"That's okay, I don't mind taking the risk," he said in a patient tone.
We swam till the sky started to set, the light drifting away. Finally I saw Abyss return.
"I couldn't find either of you back at the company," Abyss said. I choked a bit, not sure what to say. I didn't want to admit my weakness. To my shock, Chada interjected, "Ah, I was feeling a bit sick to the stomach and the staff felt bad and let us go home early."
Abyss turned to me, finding that a bit odd—probably questioning why I would need to go with him if I too was sick. I just looked away and dived down under the water, waving my fingertips between the beautiful plants and rocks. This place may be dangerous but it sure was beautiful. I swam back up, splashing Chada with my tail fin. He coughed a bit but laughed. "Come here, I'mma get you."
I said, "Haha, try if you can," swimming away. Our tails were too powerful; one swish with the power and I was yards away. I loved watching him try to catch up and then poke him in the back and swim away again.
Abyss popped up a bit, playing. "Here, try this!" He formed a bubble around Chada. "Don't breathe if I accidentally pop it." He looked a bit skeptical but swam under; the bubbles of old oxygen trailed out from his bigger bubble to the surface, giving him a bit longer under water between breaths.
I watched Abyss swirl and mix his magic. This was nice to see; it's fascinating. It seemed more than me. Chada was in awe of it, stopping to see something. Abyss looked at me as we neared my home but I shook my head—no way I'm bringing a human there.
We returned up to get him new air. It felt weird having practically a pet human. Abyss and Chada seemed more relaxed now, chatting happily. I glared a bit seeing that. It stirred an uncomfortable feeling in both directions.
Chada looked around, saying, "This is so much better than scuba diving! I never saw this far without my goggles fogging up. Plus I can talk and you can hear me, Sarit!" He looked like a happy-go-lucky dork right then. How is this hunk of a man so easygoing and happy?
Before I thought of a response, we heard a big splash and the seabirds flying away quickly. We hadn't heard such noises normally.
Abyss looked over toward the sound with us, his face paling and looking stricken.
"Ah," I thought. This was reminding him of twelve years ago, when we were attacked—well, more so him, surviving the brunt of it.
Chada looked alarmed and confused, not sure why we were so on edge. The both were clueless how to respond as I pulled them both behind a rock, trying to carefully gauge what was going on.
I glanced further while Abyss trembled behind me, seeing nothing at first. Maybe it was an old sea grenade or something? A land mine? Then slowly I saw the sea turn a slight hue of red around a certain spot.
"Akkorokamui," Abyss said, looking nauseous.
My lips turned to a thin grim line. Chada looked worried between us. "Abyss, wait here. I will go check it out."
"No," they both said in unison, Chada grabbing my hand. I looked back at them; Abyss studied Chada for a split second before resuming his fear.
"I'll be fine. I can avoid detection better, plus I was born not far from here," I said, patting Abyss.
"You were born in another province!" he said.
"Details, smetails. I grew up here, with my mother here. Same thing."
I swam closer cautiously, pouring my powers into camouflage. Behind me at a distance, hiding behind that rock, Abyss looked ready to wrap me in his shadows.
It was hard to tell even in these clear waters; whoever or whatever was here clearly didn't want to be seen.
I saw some fishermen and boats a bit further out but they seemed not only to have not heard it or seen it, they weren't the cause.
Suddenly I saw a trail of red, the marker of Akkorokamui.
I groaned internally. Why now? Because they were back in the region for business? Hadn't they learned from the past?
I worried what Abyss would think trying to sleep knowing these monsters were potentially in the same waters. Those volatile, ruthless creatures still haunt his days as humans do mine. I slowed down, scanning the area, going a bit deeper now; if I wasn't careful I would have almost run into him.
There was a massive Akkorokamui, a being so dangerous and formidable. His tentacles were a mixture of bright blood red and pitch black. I looked closer, studying him and what he was doing. Looking at his face, it was Khun Onyx. He hovered there looking stressed, like his head hurt.
I retreated to Abyss. "It's Khun Onyx. He doesn't seem to be doing anything; maybe he has been out of the water too long."
Abyss looked at me, worried. "That's ridiculous. Is he crazy?" I now turned to Chada. "I think it's time you swim home."
Abyss stopped us. "Wait. If Onyx spots him, he may be human but then he will associate the water with him, and he knows we know Chada." I thought about it. "Wouldn't that make him just deem us human fishermen as well?"
Chada pondered. "Yes, possibly, but what would fishermen like us be doing in the company? It is an association best not risked. I'll stay up here hidden, so go for now."
Abyss and I swam closer. Abyss looked stressed. We paused and hid in the shadows as we observed him. He surrounded himself in shadows of his own, disappearing from our sight.
Abyss sat there staring at the empty space, unsure what to do. When I spotted him again, he started forming a large amount of that red liquid, it burning away the sand and burying a small item, covering it with more sand.
We shared a glance, mutually deciding we would dig whatever it was later.
Now Abyss seemed to ease up a bit, for Onyx seemed to have no intent to attack. He just looked pained and like he was containing massive power. In his hands he clenched a rudraksha of some kind. I don't know why he would bring such a thing into water; the exposure could make it wither away faster.
Obviously I didn't care to ask him, and instead focused on my friend. Dusk turned to twilight as we watched him like this, me getting bored and fighting an equivalent of a yawn.
Abyss, though, his eyes remained fixated. It was like he was studying every detail of him, down to his sheer size in the water. I laughed a bit to myself, wondering how someone so slender and tall on land could be more than three times our size in the water. "Akkorokamui for you," I thought with a scoff.
Maybe that's why it's easier to target them on land even though these are our waters, not theirs—because at least up there they were weak.
When I was starting to lose it from sleepiness, he finally started heading toward the surface, making his way on land. When he transformed he had no clothes. It didn't bother nor interest me the least bit, yet Abyss still watched quietly, not saying anything; his cheeks flushed.
I went back to Chada, who was now fiddling with something. "What's that?" I asked.
"A type of Celtic knot my mom taught me. Look," he said, waving the now-dangling knot that looked a little strange but nice. I looked at it, trying to decipher what it was exactly.
He leaned his face to the side to read my expression. "Here, it's for you."
I looked at him skeptically. "It's not poisoned," he said.
"Not venomous you mean? Because why would I eat it?" I said.
"Yeah, that," he replied.
After dropping him off, I returned to check on Abyss, wrapping the charm around my hair like a tiny ponytail.
Abyss was there staring at the sand. "What is it?" I asked. He looked a bit blank before handing me a small item. It looked like a small wooden memorial. A small grave.
In it, etched: "Abyss, 2004 to 2012."