{LeviHan} Beyond

Chapter 2: Troublesome Crew

"Deep within the sea laid a castle and its people- mermaids and mermen. A thief had broken into the castle, and thus, the troublesome crew plotted their escape from the King's wrath. It was this theft was when... the two worlds would begin to collide."

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Levi's POV

"Isabel!" Of course she swam up ahead full-speed with the satchel dangling behind her. If she wasn't careful- the leather straps would break. Her scales aren't as smooth as everyone else's, so it was definitely a possibility. "Slow down!"

She shouts without giving another look to me, "We gotta hurry! I'm sorry I tripped the security, Big Bro!"

"Now's not the time to apologize! Apologize later! Where's Farlan?"

My eyes quickly scanned the area for my close friend- yet he was never in sight. Our plans were breaking apart faster than we can escape it. Damn... what went wrong? Was it our piece of information? Were we too slow and got caught? Or was Isabel right that she made a simple mistake. Either way, we got a satchel of gold... everyone needed it.

"Farlan!"

Suddenly, his figure started to swim towards me. His orangish-brown tail rapidly moving up and down as he kept his hands by his side. "Missed me?" He asked with a smirk. "Where's Isabel?"

I pointed ahead, seeing the faint figure of her swimming away. "Up ahead. Keep an eye on the satchel- her scales might break the straps. I'll stay back here in case if it falls. After all, I'm the quickest to retrieve it."

"You might get caught."

"I rather get caught than you guys." Confessing that from the bottom of my heart, I felt... light-headed. "Let's hurry it up then- I rather not be caught in vain."

Swishing our tails as quickly as we could, we were still being chased. Members of the royal guard were after us. Carrying their bronze weapons, they were slowed down just a bit. But only a bit. Soon enough, they would catch up to us.

"Wait..." Farlan began as Isabel finally slowed down. The waters grew warmer, yet up above, there was no light. The ground suddenly rose, giving shimmering patterns. That was rare to see unless... "We're close to the shore..." 

"Tsk," I scowled, swimming upwards, "humans. Don't get caught. We don't want that..."

Isabel nodded her head, gripping the satchel in her hands. "I rather give up to the guards than to the humans. The horrors some merfolk say about them... how they take and never gave up our ancestors up. How they had to brainwash them..."

"Levi!"

Quickly looking down, I see the guards swimming over. "Scatter!" Isabel swam to the right and Farlan to the left. I followed Isabel since she still had the satchel. If something bad happens, I'll quickly resolve it and buy time for both of them to escape. 

Striding behind her was nothing but a breeze. Was it because of my experience of being a thief or just because the color tail I have? I wonder...

For some reason, Isabel turned straight towards the human realm- where was she going?! "Isabel!" I shouted, trying to follow her. "Get back here!" She's trapping herself here... we'll be caught! The gold will be confiscated and Isabel... I don't care if I'm caught... but if she got caught... I can't stand it.

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I followed her for awhile, feeling somewhat safe. Royal guards tend to stray away from the humans, and they might've thought we crawled onto land or something like that. I heard it is possible... to blend in as regular humans... but that required heavy magic to do so.

"Isabel!" I hissed, scowling at her. 

"Is someone there?" I could hear almost a shriek on shore- a human! A female at that too. "Hello?" Even though the land was now sand, I could hear her coming closer- no wait... Isabel! She's flapping her tail on the water- did she get stuck?!

Peeking just a bit- this woman was walking towards Isabel. Dammit... I can't let Isabel be taken away... she must escape... that's when my sharp teeth came out- overlaying my normal ones. I won't kill her... just to startle her...

I dragged myself along the shallow shore- feeling each tiny rock and shell dragging across my scales. My skin grew warm as I felt it rub against the rocky shore. I curled my blackened tail just enough so I could pounce onto her. She continued to move, that human, and she seemed... lost...

When I felt she was close enough, I did it. I pounced onto her. Her yelp was exactly what I needed. Her fear...

Biting into her flesh, it was merely just a small and harmless bite. Yet I did draw blood- only slightly. The taste of it lingered in my mouth as I pulled away. "Leave us alone..." I scowled to the human girl before pouncing off of her. I grabbed Isabel's hand and we dragged ourselves back into the ocean. 

I hope I'll never see that human girl again.