It was raining hard as Luis slipped inside the cove, and he found Sapphyre bobbing her head above the water near the shallow arch.
“I think, today, I’m just as soaked as you are!” Luis joked as he stepped across the wet sand with his hands over his brow, shielding his eyes from the downpour. He inched to the edge of the cove to find an area of cover, but the rain was still finding its way through the top of the dome to drench everything within it.
“I’d say I’m surprised to see you, but I know you well enough by now to realize a storm wouldn’t stop you.” She added a smirk to the end of her commentary. “There’s some cover not far from here; I can show you.”
A flash of lightning across the gray sky startled them both, and Luis covered his ears before the booming thunder rattled the rocks.
“I’ll take you up on that,” he said. “Which way do I go?”
“Here,” she waved him into the water.
He seemed surprised. “I get to swim with you?”
She raised her eyebrows as her smile widened. “Is that all right?”
Without another word, a toothy grin spread across his face and he practically dove into the water beside her with a heavy splash.
She laughed as he popped back above water, finding the sand with his knees in the shallow water beside her. With a quick nod of her head, she turned and submerged under the arch. The lilac of her tail skimmed the surface of the water as the depth quickly grew.
He took a deep breath and slipped under after her. He found opening his eyes in the saltwater to be trickier than he expected, and when he did manage to keep them open, Sapphyre had already faded into the cloudy water ahead of him. He kicked back to the surface and let out a relieved breath when she emerged ahead of him.
“You literally disappeared! That’s crazy!”
“Oh—the aura!” She waded back to him. “I honestly wasn’t sure if that worked.”
“It definitely works!” He rubbed his eyes. “Either that or my eyes can’t see through salt water.”
“I’ll have to lead you then,” she nodded as she gently took his hand. “Deep breath.”
They ducked under and he was struck with awe at the clouded mermaid holding his hand. He watched the gills on her neck flare as she glanced back at him and gripped his hand tighter. At once, he could scarcely keep his eyes open as she drove ahead into the ocean. Her tail gave her an impressive speed, and they swam up to the new rock within his single breath.
The rock jutted from the ocean floor, but the middle of it had broken and worn away to create a hollow crevice and an ample covering from the steadily falling rain. The two of them pulled their way into the crevice and settled beside each other.
“You are one fast swimmer!” Luis said, still catching his breath from their swim.
She shrugged modestly. “I do have a tail.”
“I wouldn’t mind one of those.” He grinned.
Her facial expression didn’t react the way he was expecting, and she immediately changed the topic.
“I found this place the other day,” she began. “It’s a riskier for being seen, but at least it has a better cover for rain.”
“You could never see us from the beach,” he attempted to glance around the side of the rock to test his theory, “and it’s definitely cozier—if you don’t mind being squished up against me, that is.”
He wiggled beside her and finally garnered a laugh.
“There we go,” Luis smiled. “I must have insulted merkind with my tail comment...”
She almost seemed worried that he had brought it back up. “It’s not that,” Sapphyre answered slowly.
His eyes were playfully wide as he leaned closer to her. “Can I ask what?”
She rolled her eyes and her upper body away from his continual leaning. “There you go being pushy again.” Her eyes darted over her shoulder. “It just reminded me of something.”
“A bad something?”
“A frustrating something that’s a very long story.”
“I’ve got time. I don’t have to work today.”
She huffed his jovial grin. “I don’t know...”
“All right, all right,” he reset his posture and expression. “I won’t force you, but it seems to help you when you talk about the things that are bothering you.”
She hunched her shoulders as she let out a deep breath. “Well...”
Her eyes strayed to the ocean before them. The falling rain danced across the water and blurred the gray line of the horizon.
The ocean had been even stormier the day she first met Christopher.
—
The unearthly cracking of wood against rock broke through the chaos of a heavy storm. At once, all manner of splinters and flotsam began to rain through the churning water down to the sea floor below. Above, chunks of wood struggled to stay afloat on the choppy surface.
She had to dart away to avoid being struck, looking up at the wreck in curiosity.
A flash of lightning lit the scene from above, and she saw him.
Her eyes grew wide as her mind raced through options of rescuing the silhouetted human body or merely leaving him to the sea. When the body refused to right itself toward the surface, she decided the sea would have to wait.
Far from any land she knew of, she had no choice but to pull the drowning man onto the very same gathering of rocks that had destroyed his boat moments before. He gasped, coughed, and flailed his arms when he felt the solid ground beneath him, but he nearly stopped breathing when he focused his blue eyes on the creature who saved him. Even with the rain barreling down upon them and the waves crashing across their bodies, when their eyes met, both were transfixed. He was in awe of her, and something about him intrigued her. They remained together until the storm faded and the seas calmed.
Christopher was a solitary traveler; he claimed he had detached himself from the rest of humankind. Sapphyre was still a novice mermaid and had not yet felt a connection to the rest of merkind. It seemed as if this meeting of two outcasts was meant to be.
Their passion flared quickly. They swam together and held each other, and couldn’t cease flirting or playing. He claimed he would never return to the shore, and she ceased returning to the village; they lived together among the rocks. For that brief moment in time, they were completely inseparable.
However, his weakness as a human quickly caught up with him. He grew restless and begged her to find him better food and water. They began sneaking into the Crestway marina to gather his supplies, despite her concern for her risk of being seen. He began to leave her under the docks for longer periods—all the while claiming it was hard to find what he needed. Most of all, he urged her more and more to show herself to other humans, or, at the very least, to bring him to the realm of merkind.
She cared so deeply for him, and he seemed to feel the same. Nevertheless, their relationship could not continue as it was. She could not break her vow of secrecy to Enclei by bringing a human into their realm.
Caught in a whirlwind of infatuation and confusion, she poured out her heart to her mother figure. Neva consoled her and presented her with a powerful gift.
Neva was one in a long line of magic-born merkind. This heightened ability was uncommon and extended far beyond a merperson’s protective aura. With abilities such as healing, manipulating water, and protecting, Magic-born merkind were invaluable assets to their village. Nathaneal was the next in Neva’s line, but even he scarcely understood just how powerful his mother’s magic could be.
Though she had her concerns, Neva still presented Sapphyre with a gift of magic that would be able to break the barriers separating Christopher and herself.
With scarcely an expression of gratitude, Sapphyre left her village and returned to the rocks.
When presented with the gift, Christopher’s demeanor instantly changed. Instead of appreciation, he appeared more shocked and taken aback by her offer. He refused the gift and grew more and more repulsed by the idea.
His desires to return to the realm of humankind grew stronger, and their passion grew cold. They began to argue and speak rudely to each other; and at last, he spouted that she was just an obsession—that she and her gift were useless if he could not share his findings with others. The next morning, she awoke to find him gone.
She waited among the rocks and under the docks at the marina. Day after day, with each cycle of the moon, she began to lose hope of ever seeing him again. When she finally hit the end of her anguish, her sorrow turned into a crushed anger.
—
Sapphyre let out a breath. “I was a fool to think that he really cared about me... A fool to fall so hard...”
Luis was whittled to silence. He could feel her sorrow and disappointment in her words and the unfortunate nature of her story. “You weren’t a fool by any means,” he finally spoke, resting his hand on her tail. “You cared for him and tried to keep the relationship alive. You had no way of knowing he would react like that.”
Her lips pulled with a hint of sarcasm. “That’s exactly what Mama’Ne says.”
“And now, that helps me understand,” he sat back against the rock. “Now I know why you were scared when we first met.” He smiled and looked at her squarely. “Thank you for telling me. And thank you for trusting me despite everything.”
She glanced at him as her expression began to lighten.
“I know I’ve made plenty of mistakes, too,” Luis spoke, directing the words into the rain before them. “When I thought I lost you the first time, it was practically killing me to think I’d never see you again... I became obsessed with finding you, and even after I found you—because I was looking for Liana, not Sapphyre.” His posture sagged forward as he gathered his hands into his lap. “I’m so sorry for ever putting you in an awkward position. I was so caught up in who you were that I was blinded from seeing who you are now.”
He blinked as she delicately took his hand, effectively stopping it from wringing the other.
“We both had our struggles,” she pressing her lips into a soft smile. “But we’re here now.”
He beamed. “And here with you is where I want to be. I am so very grateful for your trust and friendship.”
“I am too.”
“Though, I will say,” Luis tilted his head toward her, “whatever that gift was, someone sure missed out on an amazing relationship with an amazing merlady.”
Her lips parted and her face flushed red. She turned away and shoved him a bit, but never found words to reply.
“Now when you say Mama’Ne, is that her name?” Luis asked, trying to sway the subject matter.
Sapphyre was almost surprised he didn’t press her for more information, but she accepted his topic adjustment nonetheless. “No, her name is Neva. Merfolk often call a mother figure with Ma’ or Mama’ first, so she is Mama’Ne to me. And since I’m her adopted daughter, she calls me Mi’Phyre for that.”
“Oh, I see; like little terms of endearment.”
“Yep. Siblings use Be’, like I call my brother Be’Thaneal or my sister Be’Khalli.”
“You have a sister?” Luis suddenly lightened up.
“Sort of?” Sapphyre grinned at his interest.
“Ha!” He brought a hand to his lips. “I’ll have to tell Jared.”
“Tell who what, now?” Sapphyre squared her shoulders with him.
“Oh—sorry—my friend Jared—I have this very cryptic story I’ve been telling him about you. I promise it’s absolutely nothing about merfolk or your secrets or stories at all. He just noticed that I’ve been acting different and immediately turned that into I must have found a girl...”
Sapphyre narrowed her eyes as a smirk played on her lips. “Really.”
Luis shrugged exaggeratedly with an awkward grimace.
“My brother said the same thing about me,” she admitted meekly.
It was Luis’ turn to pause and offer a smug grin. “Really.”
“Stop it!” She laughed and pushed him back into place when he attempted to lean against her.
“Anyway,” Luis crossed his arms, “he was just joking around asking if my mystery girlfriend had a sister because he wants to date her.”
“Oh no!” Sapphyre clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. “She’s way too young to be dating right now—but don’t tempt her, she’d be crazy enough to try it.”
Luis burst into laughter. “Honestly, Jared might be crazy enough to wait it out, too!”
Their laughter lulled, and Sapphyre glanced idly into the rain as Luis kicked his feet.
“So, you have an adopted mermaid mom, a sister, and a brother,” he leaned his elbows on his knees, “but you haven’t mentioned an adopted dad.”
Sapphyre’s smile paled. “I never got a chance to meet him. Derrick died over a year ago... but he was a very important part of the village; very well-loved by everyone.”
“Oh,” Luis’s expression followed suit, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Sapphyre shrugged. “Mama’Ne is a very strong woman. She took over the leadership of our village after his death, and now all of her children, including me, are training to pick up some of her duties.”
Luis held out his hands suddenly. “All right, wait a minute; how have I missed that you’re basically the daughter of the queen of your village?”
Sapphyre chuckled and shook her head. “For one, I’m not really her daughter. Secondly, she doesn’t prefer to be called queen.”
“But you’re practically a mermaid princess! How did I get so lucky?” He grinned and playfully took her hand. “What an honor to be in your presence, Princess Sapphyre, Gem of the Sea,” he bowed his head.
She continued to giggle and shrugged him off. “Please, you do not need to do that.” A coy smile remained on her face. “But if you must, my title is Lyra. And our formal names include our village name, so my full name is Lyra Sapphyre’enclei.”
“A bit of a mouthful, but it’s stunningly beautiful.” Luis grinned. “So if I’m just a normal guy from Crestway, would I be Luis’crestway?”
“I suppose so!” She laughed a bit, and then her expression softened. “Although... I would call you Te’Luis.”
He raised his brows. “What does Te’ signify?”
Her face red and her heart pounding in her ears, Sapphyre admitted softly, “Someone you love.”
The wind was again knocked from Luis’ chest, but for an entirely different reason. “You don’t know how much that means to me,” he paused, “Te’Phyre.”
She blushed again and sheepishly leaned against his shoulder. He drew his arm around her and held her, and her tail curled around his legs. Distant thunder would rumble across the waves, but they stayed together in their shelter as the rain fell around them.
When it looked like the storm was growing more intense, they decided it was best to part ways; Luis needed to get back home, and Sapphyre needed to get below the surface before the waves grew too large.
From a safe distance below, an orange mermaid with long golden hair watched as they dismounted from the rock and quietly slipped back to the shore.
“So, this is where she goes...”